Photos of eleven young women murdered in and around Galveston in the 1970s. “Today these girls may finally rest in peace because their killer has gone to hell,” one investigator wrote after hearing the news of Edward Harold Bell's death. A local man, Michael Lloyd Self, was charged with their murders in 1972 and convicted of Shaw's murder in 1975. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Since the Chronicle story about Bell’s confession, relatives of the victims have expressed confusion, and some doubt. The series will include interviews with Chronicle reporter Lisa Olsen, who broke the story, as well as the police detective, Fred Paige, now retired, who worked on the case. Several times, he stayed at psychiatric institutions, at times trying to lure young female patients he met at them. Eleven teenagers—Colette Anise Wilson, Brenda Jones, Rhonda “Renee” Johnson, Sharon Shaw, Debbie Ackerman, Maria Johnson, Gloria Gonzales, Kimberly Rae Pitchford, Georgia Geer, Brooks Bracewell and Suzie Bowers—were brutally murdered throughout that time, some of them in pairs. Are there more out there? Bell reportedly said in his confession that he killed several of the victims in pairs. Bell seemed to be at the wrong places at the wrong times about 98% of his miserable life if he isn't the killer here, but Ash takes us further into his other known crimes and the last 5 murders that many attribute to his name. Galveston.com is the official website of Galveston Island tourism & marketing, offering Galveston, Texas tourism information, events, restaurant & attraction information, hotel & vacation rental reservations, live webcams, and more. “And there were some people who would never talk to me because they were afraid of him — they were afraid that he might get out.”. Chris Kincheloe of the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office to the Chronicle. In 2011, he wrote the Houston Chronicle claiming to have killed a string of girls he referred to as “Eleven who went to Heaven” in Dickinson, Houston, Clear Lake and Alvin, Texas, the paper reports. Galveston 1900: Swept Away. ... She began fighting the killer current, managing to lose the constricting shirt, leaving her in her trousers and undershirt. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. interview with the Houston Chronicle in 2011. The conclusion of our look into the Galveston 11 (part of the Texas Killing Fields) begs the question, did Edward Bell rape and murder these girls? ©2020 FOX News Network, LLC. He confessed to killing and dismembering Morris Black, whose remains began turning up Sept. 30 in Galveston Bay. ZFPHGX. In 2011, after serving 17 years in prison, Bell made a bombshell claim that in the 1970s, before he killed Dickens, he kidnapped and murdered 11 girls who had disappeared from the Galveston, Dickinson, Houston, Clear Lake, and Alvin areas and whose deaths had till then remained unsolved. The pair was able to uncover circumstantial evidence that linked Bell to the crimes, but found no definitive proof. or redistributed. The series is scheduled to air on A&E beginning Thursday at 8 p.m., with back-to-back hour-long episodes. His letter was not shared with a grand jury. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Legal Statement. Ed Bell is a convicted sex offender and murderer. An A&E documentary in 2017 tried to connect him to a string of unsolved murders, including two Galveston girls who went missing in 1971. Are there more out there? The Galveston County Sheriff's Office arrested Eric Alzafari late last year. "As bad and as mean as he is, he could be telling the truth because of his conscience ... Not knowing is heartbreaking.". Listen to Morbid: A True Crime Podcast episodes free, on demand. The pair was able to uncover circumstantial evidence that linked Bell to the crimes, but found no definitive proof. Photo: The next four parts are planned for 9 p.m. on subsequent Thursdays, starting Oct. 26. Are there more out there? Are there more out there? I've never been able to prove anything he has said," said then-Capt. He was arrested at a yacht club in Panama in 1992. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. “People were afraid of him,” Olsen told Houston Matters. This photo provided by Collin County, Texas, jail shows Jeremy Rashaud Harris. Many believe he was involved the killings. In 1972, a gas station operator and convicted sex offender from Galveston, Michael Lloyd Self, became a suspect in the murders of Rhonda Johnson and Sharon Shaw. In a new … Market data provided by Factset. He had a long history of flashing young girls - ultimately, in 1978 he ended up murdering a man who caught him exposing himself. Now, an A&E series will re-examine the case. Former homicide detective Fred Paige has a theory about who killed them. Rhonda Renee Johnson and Sharon Lynn Shaw were two American teenage girls who disappeared in Harris County, Texas, on the afternoon of August 4, 1971. A convicted murderer suspected of killing 11 girls in Texas died Saturday morning in prison, taking any information he may have had about the young girls’ deaths with him. “Maria’s death impacted my life more than any other single event. She had been an investigator on the case in recent years. In … The conclusion of our look into the Galveston 11 (part of the Texas Killing Fields) begs the question, did Edward Bell rape and murder these girls? Bell eluded police for about 20 years after he was released on bail following the murder of the Marine, Larry Dickens. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. “I was going to let the state kill me,” he said. “I believe he took a life precious to me and my life has never been the same since,” she said. They were able to determine that Bell often had access to the areas where the crimes were committed and also found that witnesses saw two of the missing girls get into a van that matched the description of one Bell owned at the time. Bell’s death leaves unanswered questions about the unsolved murders of 11 girls he claimed to have killed, the Houston Chronicle reported.. Bell was already serving time for killing Larry Dickens, an ex-Marine from Pasadena, when he admitted in 2011 to kidnapping and killing several girls who had disappeared from Galveston, Dickinson, Houston, Clear Lake and Alvin in the 1970s. A Galveston County jury, at the end of a jury trial early Monday, found Tiaundra Kae Christon, 23, guilty of one count of tampering or fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair a … ©2020 FOX News Network, LLC. It wasn't for a lack of effort.". The conclusion of our look into the Galveston 11 (part of the Texas Killing Fields) begs the question, did Edward Bell rape and murder these girls? The claims were later explored in the 2017 A&E series “The Eleven,” which followed the efforts of Houston Chronicle investigative journalist Lise Olsen and former Galveston homicide detective Fred Paige as they tried to determine whether there was any truth to the claims. "The bottom line is Ed Bell has said these things (before). Roy is a heavy-drinking criminal enforcer and mob hit man whose boss set him up in a double-cross scheme. Years later, in 1996, a man by the name of Edward Harold Bell, who was at the time serving time for an unrelated murder, would claim in a letter to police that he had murdered 11 girls in Galveston County in the 1970s, including Colette Wilson, yet there would never … Noone was ever caught for these brutal murders and the families of all involved have never found answers to who killed their children and why. Bell had a history of arrests for exposing himself to young girls. Although Bell was serving a 70-year sentence for killing Larry Dickens, an ex-Marine who was shot after confronting Bell for exposing himself to a group of neighborhood girls, he’s long been suspected of other murders as well. I don't know. Self-described serial killer Edward Harold Bell died in the Texas prison Saturday, leaving unanswered questions about the unsolved murders of 11 girls he claimed to have killed… Rita Brestrup, a sister of victim Maria Johnson, also believes he was responsible for taking the life of her sibling in 1971. From what I’ve read, no physical evidence has linked Ed to the murders. The Eleven: On the Trail of a Serial Killer Between 1971 and 1977, eleven young girls from southeast Texas were abducted and killed in similar circumstances. Is it fodder? National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX. 113 AM CST Sat Dec 12 2020 Edward Harold Bell. Edward Harold Bell, who was serving time for the 1978 killing of an ex-Marine, collapsed and died in the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota at the age of 82. Galveston prosecutors reopened the murder cases of two of the girls, Debbie Ackerman and Maria Johnson, in recent years, but never filed any charges against Bell before his death. Zone Forecast Product for Southeast Texas. Are there more out there? Disappeared with no trace until their bodies were found murdered and dumped in fields and marshlands. Nothing can take her memory away.”. After his death was announced, Galveston Police Officer Michelle Sollenberger wrote on Facebook, “Today these girls may finally rest in peace because their killer has gone to hell,” the Chronicle reports. A convicted murderer suspected of killing 11 girls in Texas died Saturday morning in prison, taking any information he may have had about the young girls’ deaths with him. His confession letter written to prosecutors in the 1990s also had names and details of the killings that suggested he could have been the killer, but Bell would later go on to deny his involvement in the murders. Now, an A&E series will re-examine the case. After … Bell, who is up for parole this fall, claims to have killed the girls – who were killed in the 1970’s in different areas of Texas -- referring to them in an interview with the Houston Chronicle in 2011 as the “11 that went to heaven.”. He remained the key suspect in the murders. Legal Statement. Bell had been on the run for 14 years after shooting Dickens, and was eventually found living at a Panama yacht club in 1993 with a teenage girl. W ith one serial killer suspected as being responsible for … Across the 1970’s, eleven teenage girls went missing from Galveston County in Texas. "It makes it hard that we don't know if this Bell guy is a nut or if he's telling the truth," said Dotti Walker, the aunt of one victims, Sharon Shaw. Crime Time is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. All rights reserved. 1 of 23 Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. appears in a Galveston County courtroom on Friday, Sept. 25, 2014. This fourplex is where Robert Durst lived in Galveston. Read more In Focus: Clear Springs vs Pearland High School Football Playoffs They were able to determine that Bell often had access to the areas where the crimes were committed and also found that witnesses saw two of the missing girls get into a van that matched the description of one Bell owned at the time, Houston Matters reports. Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel told the, In 2011, he wrote the Houston Chronicle claiming to have killed a string of girls he referred to as “Eleven who went to Heaven” in Dickinson, Houston, Clear Lake and Alvin, Texas, the. FPUS54 KHGX 120713. The case was featured on a 1992 episode of “Unsolved Mysteries” that also earned Matthew McConaughey his first TV acting credit for playing Dickens in the re-enactment of the crime. About the Series. Market data provided by Factset. In the letters, he also told the paper that he had admitted to some of the same murders to prosecutors in Galveston and Harris counties in 1998, but he was never charged after prosecutors were unable to find any direct evidence to link him to the crimes. Controversy arose in … Edward Harold Bell, who was serving time for the 1978 killing of an ex-Marine, collapsed and died in the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota at the age of 82. He made a written jailhouse confession, claiming he murdered 11 girls near Galveston, TX. Sign up for our Crime Time Newsletter and subscribe to our true crime podcast Martinis & Murder for all the best true crime content. 130 FPUS54 KHGX 120714. The Eleven, airing Thursday at 9 and 10 p.m. on A&E investigates 11 murders that occurred in rural Texas in the 1970s. Bell has been inconsistent over the years, denying the written confession when interviewed by law enforcement officials and then saying that he would provide details if he were to get immunity from prosecution, according to the Chronicle. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The new nonfiction limited series, “The Eleven,” follows investigators as they reexamine the murders of eleven teenage girls after discovering a confession letter from current inmate and convicted murderer Edward Harold Bell. All rights reserved. Edward Howard Bell, who is up for parole this fall, claims to have killed 11 girls – in different areas of Texas – referring to them in an interview as the “11 that went to heaven.” Edward Harold Bell, 79, a serial sex offender and self-described serial killer, was serving time for the murder of ex-Marine Larry Dickens, whom he … HOUSTON – Several members of the Fifth Ward community gathered to seek the public’s help finding the killer of a well-liked store clerk. Both city officials and the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office have confirmed that Joshua Feast, 22, was killed late Wednesday during an encounter with a police officer. The area in and around Galveston County, Texas was a scary place to be for young women in the 1970s. In early 1972, skeletal remains of both girls were discovered in and around Clear Lake near Galveston Bay. ZFPHGX. The conclusion of our look into the Galveston 11 (part of the Texas Killing Fields) begs the question, did Edward Bell rape and murder these girls? Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel told the Associated Press that no foul play was suspected in Bell’s death, however he declined to discuss any specifics of how he died due to medical privacy laws. Texas Dept of Corrections, Decades have passed without answers – their murders are in cold case files in police departments in Galveston, Brazoria and Harris counties in Texas, Enter Edward Howard Bell, a convicted killer serving a 70-year prison term for a murder of a Marine who tried to stop him when he exposed himself to a group of young girls. The conclusion of our look into the Galveston 11 (part of the Texas Killing Fields) begs the question, did Edward Bell rape and murder these girls? He said that he had committed crimes after being “brainwashed” to be violent by his father, among others. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. In a prison interview with Houston Matters in 2017, Bell claimed he had admitted to the murders because he had been suicidal. Now that Bell has died, some are hopeful additional witnesses may come forward with information about the cases. A six-part documentary series on A&E, starting Thursday, will examine the long-unsolved murders of 11 young women in and around Galveston and Houston in the 1970s - … In disturbing letters sent to Harris and Galveston county prosecutors in 1998 - but kept secret for 13 years - Bell claimed to have killed seven girls, including two Galveston … In a description of the series, A&E says: “Olsen and Paige must try to piece together evidence that demonstrates a definitive link between the convicted killer and girls…before he has the possibility to walk free.”. Throughout the 1970s, the cities in and around Galveston County, Texas were haunted by the brutal murders of eleven teenage girls. 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