Newspaper Clippings:
----------------
Stories:
This newspaper clipping (see comments) is from the Daily Journal in Johnson County dated April 4th, 1978. The picture shows S.W. Wilkins, who is the part-time ACO (Dog Catcher) in Franklin, Indiana at that time. This clipping is pointed to when people debunk the "Robbery Gang" theory. They note that the image shows a clean shaven guy who is nearly bald on top with some hair on his right side and more on his left side.
I'm not trying to convince anyone to subscribe to this theory. What I absolutely AM trying to do is facilitate conversation to keep this in the forefront of people's minds AND to counterpoint the argument that he is not the bearded man identified by Mary Rein after he confronted her and her boyfriend behind the Burger Chef that horrible night in November, 1978.
First off, this article ran in early April, 1978. That's a full 7 months (and then some) before the incident. IF this picture was taken the day this article was published, which is unlikely, how much facial hair can the average man grow in 7+ months? I've seen guys (and a few women) get pretty burly during "no shave November". Multiply that by seven months and you can easily have a full beard.
Second, this is 1978 photo technology printed in a black & white newspaper. The picture is not necessarily a clear and accurate representation of how he (or more specifically his hair) looked at the time. Zoom into the picture. Notice the hair extending onto his collar? See how much hair is on his left side? Now, look at the photo from his right side.
His hair looks really sparse and splotchy here doesn't it? But look closer at the rest of his right side, for example his right shoulder. That's the sun obscuring some of the image in the photo. It is shining down on top of his head and washing out the photo here as well. Is he really bald on top, patchy hair on the right side, and having thick hair on his left side and in the back? Or, as I am pointing out, is it more likely that it's an old technology photo, a black and white paper, and the sun shining on part of his body making the picture look washed out? Look at the dog, you see a similar effect on the canine. We can reasonably assume the dog isn't bald. Finally, on this same point, look at the color photo of the lovely young woman (see comments) on her wedding day. It's the same woman in the black and white newspaper article from the same paper and general time. See how the sun distorts her picture?
Now, this is all assuming the photo was taken right around the time of the article (April 1978). Yes, this is possible, but is it probable? I don't think so, and here's why. Look at his surroundings. He's clearly outside of a larger non-residential type building in a municipal area. I point this out because, around 1976 or 1977, the town of Franklin's leaders ordered the city's animal shelter to be burned down because of it's condition. For months, the city didn't have a place to take stray dogs. This led to an agreement with S.W. Wilkins and city leaders to allow Wilkins to keep strays at his home for up to three days while trying to find the owner.
However, he was only allowed to keep 2 - 3 dogs there. If it got over that limit, he destroyed the dogs by shooting them. This caused a lot of problems in the city because people weren't happy when they found out their strays were shot and killed. This is clearly not a picture outside of his home and it's unlikely that it's in a residential area based on how it looks.
Does this mean that it's an old picture? Not necessarily, but it becomes more likely that it is not as recent as the article. Also, here's another thing to consider, S.W. Wilkins had been the "dog catcher" for quite a few months prior to his article. From what I can gather, about 18 to 24 months possibly. Of course, that's an estimate, but that's the way it looks from the articles highlighting the struggles for the city from an Animal Control standpoint.
Also, a lot of times, when someone is appointed/hired into a new role in municipal government work, the local paper does an article on it. They take a picture, write up a little bio, and do an introduction type thing. It is possible that this picture is not just older, but months older. If a guy can get a decent scruff in days, some nice beard in a month, and a full on bush in 7 months, how much of a beard and long hair could a guy get in a year or two?
From what I gather, Jayne Freidt left the Plainfield store months earlier. I believe she had been at the Speedway store for three months prior to being promoted, and was the assistant manager for another three months (around 6 months total). If this is correct, that means even if the clean shaven S.W. Wilkins was an accurate representation of him in April of 1978, it certainly does not mean he couldn't have had his beard by the night of the abduction and murders. Plus, in that time, Jayne likely wouldn't have seen him to know him as clean shaven during the time she left Plainfield and the night of the incident.
Yes, that speculates that he wasn't clean shaven before at any time. But, remember, one of the ISP Detectives stated he had known S.W. Wilkins for five years and never knew him to be without a beard. Does that mean the ISP Detective was lying? Not necessarily as I know a lot of people that I don't see for a period of months. Especially when working in law enforcement doing long shifts, nontraditional schedules, days off in court, etc.
Just like those pointing to the article as being proof Wilkins couldn't have been involved and was not there, what I just outlined is not concrete and does take freedom with some points. Because we don't have a lot of information that I can only assume is in the files, we have to speculate. Am I saying the "Robbery Theory" is correct? Nope, and even though I subscribe to it as of right now, that's subject to change.
However, this article and accompanying photo is not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the theory is garbage, that none of the crew was involved in the incident, or even that S.W. Wilkins couldn't have been the man identified by Mary Rein just doesn't appear to be based in reality. At the end of the day, we all have our own thoughts and suspicions. We need to talk about them, bounce them off of one another, and even nitpick them. Let's not take that personally or stop talking. This is what helps to fine tune things, bring new ideas to light, and keep the conversation going. Jayne, Ruth, Danny, and Mark deserve justice. Their families deserve answers.
* Source: Jim Snider (FaceBook)
---------------------
The Burger Chef murders began at a Burger Chef restaurant in Speedway, Indiana, on the night of Friday November 17, 1978. Four young employees went missing in what was initially thought to be a petty theft by themselves of cash from the restaurant safe. By Saturday morning it became a clear case of robbery-kidnap, and by Sunday, when their bodies were discovered in rural Johnson County, a case of murder. While investigators believe they have identified some or all of the perpetrators, without physical evidence they have not been able to prosecute those who remain alive.
At some point between 11 pm (closing time) and midnight on November 17, 1978, four employees of Burger Chef restaurant in Speedway, Indiana (at 5725 Crawfordsville Road) disappeared: Jayne Friedt, 20, Daniel Davis, 16, Mark Flemmonds, 16, and Ruth Ellen Shelton, 18. A fellow employee who came by at midnight to visit the four noticed that the restaurant was empty and the back door ajar and raised the alarm.
Initially, police did not consider this a serious case, given management reported the loss of only approximately $500 from the safe and no clear signs of a struggle. It was thought to be a case of petty embezzlement, with the assumption that the pilfered cash had been used by the youths to go partying that night. Change had not been taken from the registers.[5] Though the purses of the missing women had been left at the shop, the petty theft theory initially seemed most likely and the scene was cleaned up by employees early Saturday morning.
When the four did not show on Saturday morning and Friedt's Vega was found partially locked in town, concerns grew. It became evident that they had been abducted while closing up the restaurant for the night, with the attack possibly beginning as they removed trash bags out the back door.
On Sunday afternoon, hikers found the bodies of the four over 20 mi (32 km) away in the rural woods of Johnson County. Both Davis and Shelton had been shot execution-style numerous times with a .38 caliber firearm. Friedt had been stabbed twice in the chest. The handle of the knife had broken off and was missing; the blade was later recovered during an autopsy. Flemmonds had suffered a blunt-force head injury, which coroners had believed he had suffered when he fled his captors, only to have the misfortune of colliding with a heavy object, possibly a tree trunk, which thwarted his flight. Flemmonds was later determined to have been bludgeoned—possibly with a chain—prior to his death.
The leading theory has been that they had been kidnapped during a botched robbery, possibly after one of the victims recognized one of the perpetrators.
A 16-year-old eyewitness saw two suspicious men in a car outside the Burger Chef just before closing on the night of the murders. Both were white and in their thirties. One man had a beard, and the other was clean-shaven with light colored ("fair") hair. The police had models of the suspects created in clay to assist the investigation.
Later that year, a man in a bar in Greenwood bragged that he had been involved in the killings. Police subsequently questioned him, and while he passed a polygraph claiming to not have been involved, and officers were unable to bring charges on other grounds, he provided the names of others he suggested belonged to a fast-food robbery gang, who investigators suspected may have been involved. While following up on these leads in Franklin, officers spotted a man who bore a strong resemblance to the 'bearded man' composite. Summoned for a lineup, the man shaved his beard (which he had had for the previous five years) the night before he was to appear. A neighbor of his, who had not been spotted by the original witness, but who had been named by the Greenwood suspect, subsequently went to prison for strongarm robberies committed with a shotgun. Another associate named by the Greenwood suspect who fit the description of the fair-haired man also subsequently was imprisoned for other armed robberies of fast-food restaurants. However, without confessions—despite offers of plea deals to any suspects not directly responsible for the killings—and without direct physical evidence of the involvement of the suspects in the murders, the police were not able to effect an arrest.
At the time there was some speculation that the murders were tied to other crimes which had shocked the town over the preceding months, such as the murder of Julia Scyphers and the Speedway bombings. At the time the perpetrator of the bombings was still on the loose. However, these were subsequently found to be unconnected to the November murders.
Investigators continued to follow leads relating to possible suspects as widely as Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Chicago and Dallas. However, they were not able to find any more promising leads, or to locate the evidence they believed would have been most useful: the firearm, the handle of the knife, and the chain used in the murders. Nor have any perpetrators made confessions to police, though the son of the bearded suspect has told police that he confided in him that he had been involved prior to his own death.
Ken York, one of the original investigators on the case, has noted that the deaths of the Greenwood suspect and the bearded suspect, from an apparent suicide and a heart attack respectively, came suspiciously close after the release of the armed robber named by the suspect from the Greenwood bar.
Despite thousands of hours of police investigation, as well as Burger Chef offering a reward of $25,000 to anyone who could capture the murderers or provide information about their whereabouts, the attackers were never prosecuted, and the case remains officially unsolved. Indiana state police continue to hold the case open, and have reportedly investigated the possible use of new DNA-tracing techniques developed since the initial investigations.
Several investigative agencies were involved, including the Speedway Police Department, Indianapolis Police Department, Johnson County Sheriff, and the Indiana State Police.
Over the years, different agencies have honed in on different groups of suspects. For example, detectives from Johnson County have believed that a particular gang of fast food hold up men were involved, while those from Marion County (Indianapolis) believed at least for a time that a particular gang of drug dealers and low end criminals from the west side (The Valley) were the culprits, or at least knew some details. Then in the mid 80s, there was a belief among some Marion County detectives that a Speedway drug dealer was involved, and this was supported by the "confession" of Donald Forrester who later recanted his confession. Some elements of his confession were supported by evidence at the crime seen, although other elements were not supported. Detectives have been torn over how much, if anything, Forrester knew.
One interesting detail in the events in Speedway that evening is that around the time the kidnappings were beginning or underway, a vehicle was stopped by the SPD for erratic driving at the intersection of 21st and Cunningham. This is about a block or two from the Burger Chef. The driver may have been ticketed. The next day, a .38 firearm was discovered in that area. It traced back to that driver who was thought to be an associate of one of the Marion County suspects. This driver has never been identified in newspaper accounts.
This page is for the purpose of discussing this awful crime and for sharing information people may have about it, whether turned in to law enforcement or not. If you have any information, please call the Indiana State Police in order to report it.
Over time, many of us will share information, newspaper accounts, rumors, theories, questions, and the like. It should go without saying that the expectation for this group is that everyone is respectful, courteous, and understanding. Please review the rules which are pinned to the top of the homepage.
* Source: Mike Jones (FaceBook)
-------------------------
Movie:
Movie Trailer:
<iframe src="www.facebook.com" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>
* Photos for Movie © Netflix and Umbrella
-------------------
The Burger Chef Restaurant:
* Photos Found on Google Public Domain Search
----------------
Stories:
This newspaper clipping (see comments) is from the Daily Journal in Johnson County dated April 4th, 1978. The picture shows S.W. Wilkins, who is the part-time ACO (Dog Catcher) in Franklin, Indiana at that time. This clipping is pointed to when people debunk the "Robbery Gang" theory. They note that the image shows a clean shaven guy who is nearly bald on top with some hair on his right side and more on his left side.
I'm not trying to convince anyone to subscribe to this theory. What I absolutely AM trying to do is facilitate conversation to keep this in the forefront of people's minds AND to counterpoint the argument that he is not the bearded man identified by Mary Rein after he confronted her and her boyfriend behind the Burger Chef that horrible night in November, 1978.
First off, this article ran in early April, 1978. That's a full 7 months (and then some) before the incident. IF this picture was taken the day this article was published, which is unlikely, how much facial hair can the average man grow in 7+ months? I've seen guys (and a few women) get pretty burly during "no shave November". Multiply that by seven months and you can easily have a full beard.
Second, this is 1978 photo technology printed in a black & white newspaper. The picture is not necessarily a clear and accurate representation of how he (or more specifically his hair) looked at the time. Zoom into the picture. Notice the hair extending onto his collar? See how much hair is on his left side? Now, look at the photo from his right side.
His hair looks really sparse and splotchy here doesn't it? But look closer at the rest of his right side, for example his right shoulder. That's the sun obscuring some of the image in the photo. It is shining down on top of his head and washing out the photo here as well. Is he really bald on top, patchy hair on the right side, and having thick hair on his left side and in the back? Or, as I am pointing out, is it more likely that it's an old technology photo, a black and white paper, and the sun shining on part of his body making the picture look washed out? Look at the dog, you see a similar effect on the canine. We can reasonably assume the dog isn't bald. Finally, on this same point, look at the color photo of the lovely young woman (see comments) on her wedding day. It's the same woman in the black and white newspaper article from the same paper and general time. See how the sun distorts her picture?
Now, this is all assuming the photo was taken right around the time of the article (April 1978). Yes, this is possible, but is it probable? I don't think so, and here's why. Look at his surroundings. He's clearly outside of a larger non-residential type building in a municipal area. I point this out because, around 1976 or 1977, the town of Franklin's leaders ordered the city's animal shelter to be burned down because of it's condition. For months, the city didn't have a place to take stray dogs. This led to an agreement with S.W. Wilkins and city leaders to allow Wilkins to keep strays at his home for up to three days while trying to find the owner.
However, he was only allowed to keep 2 - 3 dogs there. If it got over that limit, he destroyed the dogs by shooting them. This caused a lot of problems in the city because people weren't happy when they found out their strays were shot and killed. This is clearly not a picture outside of his home and it's unlikely that it's in a residential area based on how it looks.
Does this mean that it's an old picture? Not necessarily, but it becomes more likely that it is not as recent as the article. Also, here's another thing to consider, S.W. Wilkins had been the "dog catcher" for quite a few months prior to his article. From what I can gather, about 18 to 24 months possibly. Of course, that's an estimate, but that's the way it looks from the articles highlighting the struggles for the city from an Animal Control standpoint.
Also, a lot of times, when someone is appointed/hired into a new role in municipal government work, the local paper does an article on it. They take a picture, write up a little bio, and do an introduction type thing. It is possible that this picture is not just older, but months older. If a guy can get a decent scruff in days, some nice beard in a month, and a full on bush in 7 months, how much of a beard and long hair could a guy get in a year or two?
From what I gather, Jayne Freidt left the Plainfield store months earlier. I believe she had been at the Speedway store for three months prior to being promoted, and was the assistant manager for another three months (around 6 months total). If this is correct, that means even if the clean shaven S.W. Wilkins was an accurate representation of him in April of 1978, it certainly does not mean he couldn't have had his beard by the night of the abduction and murders. Plus, in that time, Jayne likely wouldn't have seen him to know him as clean shaven during the time she left Plainfield and the night of the incident.
Yes, that speculates that he wasn't clean shaven before at any time. But, remember, one of the ISP Detectives stated he had known S.W. Wilkins for five years and never knew him to be without a beard. Does that mean the ISP Detective was lying? Not necessarily as I know a lot of people that I don't see for a period of months. Especially when working in law enforcement doing long shifts, nontraditional schedules, days off in court, etc.
Just like those pointing to the article as being proof Wilkins couldn't have been involved and was not there, what I just outlined is not concrete and does take freedom with some points. Because we don't have a lot of information that I can only assume is in the files, we have to speculate. Am I saying the "Robbery Theory" is correct? Nope, and even though I subscribe to it as of right now, that's subject to change.
However, this article and accompanying photo is not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the theory is garbage, that none of the crew was involved in the incident, or even that S.W. Wilkins couldn't have been the man identified by Mary Rein just doesn't appear to be based in reality. At the end of the day, we all have our own thoughts and suspicions. We need to talk about them, bounce them off of one another, and even nitpick them. Let's not take that personally or stop talking. This is what helps to fine tune things, bring new ideas to light, and keep the conversation going. Jayne, Ruth, Danny, and Mark deserve justice. Their families deserve answers.
* Source: Jim Snider (FaceBook)
---------------------
The Burger Chef murders began at a Burger Chef restaurant in Speedway, Indiana, on the night of Friday November 17, 1978. Four young employees went missing in what was initially thought to be a petty theft by themselves of cash from the restaurant safe. By Saturday morning it became a clear case of robbery-kidnap, and by Sunday, when their bodies were discovered in rural Johnson County, a case of murder. While investigators believe they have identified some or all of the perpetrators, without physical evidence they have not been able to prosecute those who remain alive.
At some point between 11 pm (closing time) and midnight on November 17, 1978, four employees of Burger Chef restaurant in Speedway, Indiana (at 5725 Crawfordsville Road) disappeared: Jayne Friedt, 20, Daniel Davis, 16, Mark Flemmonds, 16, and Ruth Ellen Shelton, 18. A fellow employee who came by at midnight to visit the four noticed that the restaurant was empty and the back door ajar and raised the alarm.
Initially, police did not consider this a serious case, given management reported the loss of only approximately $500 from the safe and no clear signs of a struggle. It was thought to be a case of petty embezzlement, with the assumption that the pilfered cash had been used by the youths to go partying that night. Change had not been taken from the registers.[5] Though the purses of the missing women had been left at the shop, the petty theft theory initially seemed most likely and the scene was cleaned up by employees early Saturday morning.
When the four did not show on Saturday morning and Friedt's Vega was found partially locked in town, concerns grew. It became evident that they had been abducted while closing up the restaurant for the night, with the attack possibly beginning as they removed trash bags out the back door.
On Sunday afternoon, hikers found the bodies of the four over 20 mi (32 km) away in the rural woods of Johnson County. Both Davis and Shelton had been shot execution-style numerous times with a .38 caliber firearm. Friedt had been stabbed twice in the chest. The handle of the knife had broken off and was missing; the blade was later recovered during an autopsy. Flemmonds had suffered a blunt-force head injury, which coroners had believed he had suffered when he fled his captors, only to have the misfortune of colliding with a heavy object, possibly a tree trunk, which thwarted his flight. Flemmonds was later determined to have been bludgeoned—possibly with a chain—prior to his death.
The leading theory has been that they had been kidnapped during a botched robbery, possibly after one of the victims recognized one of the perpetrators.
A 16-year-old eyewitness saw two suspicious men in a car outside the Burger Chef just before closing on the night of the murders. Both were white and in their thirties. One man had a beard, and the other was clean-shaven with light colored ("fair") hair. The police had models of the suspects created in clay to assist the investigation.
Later that year, a man in a bar in Greenwood bragged that he had been involved in the killings. Police subsequently questioned him, and while he passed a polygraph claiming to not have been involved, and officers were unable to bring charges on other grounds, he provided the names of others he suggested belonged to a fast-food robbery gang, who investigators suspected may have been involved. While following up on these leads in Franklin, officers spotted a man who bore a strong resemblance to the 'bearded man' composite. Summoned for a lineup, the man shaved his beard (which he had had for the previous five years) the night before he was to appear. A neighbor of his, who had not been spotted by the original witness, but who had been named by the Greenwood suspect, subsequently went to prison for strongarm robberies committed with a shotgun. Another associate named by the Greenwood suspect who fit the description of the fair-haired man also subsequently was imprisoned for other armed robberies of fast-food restaurants. However, without confessions—despite offers of plea deals to any suspects not directly responsible for the killings—and without direct physical evidence of the involvement of the suspects in the murders, the police were not able to effect an arrest.
At the time there was some speculation that the murders were tied to other crimes which had shocked the town over the preceding months, such as the murder of Julia Scyphers and the Speedway bombings. At the time the perpetrator of the bombings was still on the loose. However, these were subsequently found to be unconnected to the November murders.
Investigators continued to follow leads relating to possible suspects as widely as Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Chicago and Dallas. However, they were not able to find any more promising leads, or to locate the evidence they believed would have been most useful: the firearm, the handle of the knife, and the chain used in the murders. Nor have any perpetrators made confessions to police, though the son of the bearded suspect has told police that he confided in him that he had been involved prior to his own death.
Ken York, one of the original investigators on the case, has noted that the deaths of the Greenwood suspect and the bearded suspect, from an apparent suicide and a heart attack respectively, came suspiciously close after the release of the armed robber named by the suspect from the Greenwood bar.
Despite thousands of hours of police investigation, as well as Burger Chef offering a reward of $25,000 to anyone who could capture the murderers or provide information about their whereabouts, the attackers were never prosecuted, and the case remains officially unsolved. Indiana state police continue to hold the case open, and have reportedly investigated the possible use of new DNA-tracing techniques developed since the initial investigations.
Several investigative agencies were involved, including the Speedway Police Department, Indianapolis Police Department, Johnson County Sheriff, and the Indiana State Police.
Over the years, different agencies have honed in on different groups of suspects. For example, detectives from Johnson County have believed that a particular gang of fast food hold up men were involved, while those from Marion County (Indianapolis) believed at least for a time that a particular gang of drug dealers and low end criminals from the west side (The Valley) were the culprits, or at least knew some details. Then in the mid 80s, there was a belief among some Marion County detectives that a Speedway drug dealer was involved, and this was supported by the "confession" of Donald Forrester who later recanted his confession. Some elements of his confession were supported by evidence at the crime seen, although other elements were not supported. Detectives have been torn over how much, if anything, Forrester knew.
One interesting detail in the events in Speedway that evening is that around the time the kidnappings were beginning or underway, a vehicle was stopped by the SPD for erratic driving at the intersection of 21st and Cunningham. This is about a block or two from the Burger Chef. The driver may have been ticketed. The next day, a .38 firearm was discovered in that area. It traced back to that driver who was thought to be an associate of one of the Marion County suspects. This driver has never been identified in newspaper accounts.
This page is for the purpose of discussing this awful crime and for sharing information people may have about it, whether turned in to law enforcement or not. If you have any information, please call the Indiana State Police in order to report it.
Over time, many of us will share information, newspaper accounts, rumors, theories, questions, and the like. It should go without saying that the expectation for this group is that everyone is respectful, courteous, and understanding. Please review the rules which are pinned to the top of the homepage.
* Source: Mike Jones (FaceBook)
-------------------------
Movie:
Movie Trailer:
<iframe src="www.facebook.com" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>
* Photos for Movie © Netflix and Umbrella
-------------------
The Burger Chef Restaurant:
* Photos Found on Google Public Domain Search
- Case Status
- Cold - Still open, not active atm
- Date Discovered
- Nov 17, 1978
- Location
- Speedway, Indiana
- Evidence Description
- Relevance Score
- Your Role
- Just an amateur sleuth
- Life Status
- Deceased
Attachments
