Texarkana Moonlight Murders

I've always kind of thought of him as a Zodiac wannabe, kind of a sloppier, dumbed-down version of the Zodiac.

The Phantom Killer case out of Texarkana sounds like early Zodiac type stuff.

And then just the idea of writing the letters and communicating with law enforcement and the, the press, I mean, that takes us all the way back to Jack the Ripper.

Do...

What do you take, Mike, from any of these other killers out there? What do you think Zodiac took from any of these other killers?

Well, with the attacks of, of people in some of those areas, like on Lovers' Lanes, where the Phantom Killer struck or Son of Sam struck, those are easy opportunities, and to find people that aren't paying attention, they're out in isolated areas, they're easy targets.

And I think that's perhaps why he searched for people like that.

And so I went searching for different cases across the United States with Lovers Lane scenario attacks, and, uh, they just started piling up so, so many I couldn't keep track.

Stores ran out of guns, ammo, and locks, and by then, the man had a name.

The Phantom Killer.

The prime suspect was a man named Yoel Sweeney, but he was never charged with any of the murders.

Officially, they're still unsolved.

We're going to investigate and go down a couple little rabbit holes on a local murder case.

Few unsolved murder cases in American history have generated as much fear, speculation, and fascination as the Texarkana Moonlight Murders.

During the spring of 1946, a mysterious attacker terrorized the Twin Cities of Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas.

Over ten weeks, eight people were attacked.

But unfortunately for the residents of Texark, Kansas, it's just gotten worse.

When the Phantom Killer is on the loose...

You better hightail that caboose.

But let's see the fate of those who stayed in 1976's The Town Who Dreaded Sundown.

He doesn't say that.

God, what are you saying?

And like the phantom killer is behind them.

And so he kind of backs up.

I also have a little tie into horror from this area.

I recently discovered the Texarkana Moonlight Murders that occurred back in 1946.

I've lived in the area for around 20 years and have never heard about this dark time of the Phantom Killer till I found the movie The Town That Dreaded Sundown.

I'm curious on your thoughts on the original and or remake.

But there's the marriage certificate that talks about where she's from.

Number 18, so the 1946 Texarkana Phantom is hooded like the Zodiac Killer, which I note is very...

Coincidental, if you will.

We didn't have internet, we didn't have social media, we didn't have likely news reports that were going around at this point in time in order for that picture to have gotten out.

Exactly, and that's the precedence I'm trying to show with the blueprint of what we are looking at here.

So again, this crime scene is within 20 to 30 minutes of the Red River Arsenal Army Base, just like the lipstick killings were within miles of the naval base.

Number 19, the Texarkana phantom uses the word britches, the southern reference, which, of course, Texarkana is southern.

And I'm not sure where that culminates from, like other statements that actually were derived in Lubbock, Texas, which is where Jack is notably from.