Was there a serial killer in Texarkana Texas?
They were attributed to an alleged unidentified serial killer known as the Phantom Killer or Phantom Slayer. This hypothetical perpetrator is credited with attacking eight people, five of whom were murdered, in a ten-week period….Texarkana Moonlight Murders.
| Texarkana Phantom Murders | |
|---|---|
| Perpetrator | “Phantom Killer” (unidentified) |
Who was the killer in The Town That Dreaded Sundown?
the Phantom Killer
Based on the real life Texarkana moonlight murders of 1946, the Phantom Killer is a deranged serial killer primarily stalking various lovers’ lanes and murdering its occupants, as well as terrorizing residents of the town of Arkansas. He was portrayed by Bud Davis.
Why is Texarkana famous?
Sitting at the crossroads of four states, Texarkana has been known for a century for its iconic courthouse and post office building that straddles the state line between Texarkana, Arkansas and its sister city, Texarkana, Texas. The courthouse is one of the two most-photographed courthouses in the nation.
Is Texarkana a sundown town?
In a tradition that began in 2003, a free screening of The Town That Dreaded Sundown is held each October near Halloween by the Texas Department of Parks and Recreation at Spring Lake Park in Texarkana, Texas.
Why is Texarkana called Texarkana?
Texarkana was founded in 1873 on the junction of two railroads. The name is a portmanteau of Texas, Arkansas, and nearby Louisiana. One tradition tells of a Red River steamboat named The Texarkana, c. 1860.
Did the Phantom Killer wear a mask?
The Phantom Killer On February 22, 1946, at midnight, lovers Jimmy Hollis and Mary Jeanne Larey were violently assaulted in their car. Both survived, and Larey was able to describe their attacker to police: a man in a white mask with cut-out holes for his mouth and eyes.
What is the story about The Town That Dreaded Sundown?
A hooded madman stalks the lovers’ lanes of Texarkana in this fact-based account of a 1946 killing spree.The Town That Dreaded Sundown / Film synopsis
When Was The Town That Dreaded Sundown made?
December 24, 1976 (USA)The Town That Dreaded Sundown / Release date
Is Texarkana flat?
Located within the Ark-La-Tex subregion of Southwest Arkansas, Texarkana is located in the Piney Woods, an oak-hickory forest that dominates the flat Gulf Coastal Plain.
How many Texarkana’s are there?
Texarkana consists of two separate municipal designations: Texarkana, Arkansas, the county seat of Miller County, Arkansas. Texarkana, Texas, located in Bowie County, Texas.
Does Texarkana touch Louisiana?
Texarkana is in Miller County and is named after three states: Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. The two separate municipalities, Texarkana, Arkansas, and Texarkana, Texas, sometime function as one city.
Is the phantom killer still alive?
Some have insisted for decades that Swinney had to be the Phantom, but there were other candidates. One of the strongest, college student H. B. (Doodie) Tennison, 18, killed himself in November 1948, confessing to some of the murders in a suicide note. Officially, the case remains unsolved.
Did the phantom killer get caught?
Authorities arrested him for auto theft in 1947. Youell’s wife originally claimed he was the killer but later recanted her statement. Swinney was a habitual offender and spent much time in jail. Although authorities and townspeople believed Swinney was the killer, no one ever proved it.
Who was the Sundown killer?
On September 15, 1994, Youell Lee Swinney died a free man in a Dallas nursing home. He was 77 years old. Thirty years after the attacks of the Texarkana Phantom, a horror movie entitled The Town That Dreaded Sundown was released in theatres, on December 24, 1976.
How old is Texarkana?
Texarkana’s History Texarkana, Arkansas, is in the top 15 largest cities in the state and is located within the Ark-La-Tex subregion of Southwest Arkansas. The city was founded at a railroad intersection on December 8, 1873, and was incorporated in Arkansas on August 10, 1880.
Did they ever catch the killer in The Town That Dreaded Sundown?
A hooded man who had attacked eight people was later dubbed the “Phantom Killer” by the Texarkana Gazette. The true-life killer was never identified or apprehended.
Is Texarkana a city or two?
