Texarkana Daily News/Public DomainInvestigators search Morris Lane for clues about the Phantom Killer.In 1946, a masked killer haunted the twin towns of Texarkana in Texas and Arkansas. The so-called Phantom Killer attacked young couples over a terrifying 10 week period, ultimately killing five people. But despite a vigorous investigation, the Texarkana Moonlight Murders have never been solved.Though police had a prime suspect, a career criminal and car thief named Youell Swinney, Swinney was never charged with murder. Instead, the Texarkana Murders have become one of the regions most infamous cold cases, with the Texas Department of Public Safety declaring the 1946 killings the number one unsolved murder case in Texas history.This is the chilling story of the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, and the shadowy Phantom Killer who remains unknown to this day.The First Attack Of The Texarkana Phantom KillerThe Texarkana Moonlight murders began in February 1946. Then, the Phantom Killer attacked a young couple, 25-year-old Jimmy Hollis and 19-year-old Mary Jeanne Larey. Wikimedia CommonsJimmy Hollis, one of the first victims of the Phantom Killer, in 1945.Just before midnight on February 22, Hollis and Larey parked along a local lovers lane after seeing a movie together. They had been there for about ten minutes when a man walked up to their car. The young couple got one look at him and realized immediately that something was very wrong. He wore a white mask over his head with cutout places for his eyes and mouth. He pointed a flashlight and pistol at us, Larey told the Texarkana Gazette. He came up on the drivers side of the car and told Jimmy something like this: I dont want to kill you, fellow, so do what I say.'Larey and Hollis got out of the car, and the stranger soon to be known as the Phantom Killer instructed Hollis to take off his pants. Hollis, with urging from Larey, complied. And then the stranger attacked. After Jimmy had taken off his trousers, the man hit Jimmy twice on the head, Larey recalled. The noise was so loud I thought Jimmy had been shot. I learned later that the sound was his skull cracking.Larey tried to offer the attacker money from Hollis pocket, but the Phantom Killer struck her and told her to run. Larey did, but the stranger soon caught up to her, grabbed her, and sexually assaulted her with the barrel of his gun.The attacker then ran off, possibly because hed seen the headlights of a car that Hollis had flagged down. This was the first time the Phantom Killer attacked anyone. But investigators initially thought that it was a random act of violence, and Larey and Holliss differing descriptions of the suspect made it challenging for them to investigate. According to the Arkansas-based AY Magazine, Hollis told them that the man would almost certainly strike again. If you dont find him, Hollis warned, hes going to kill someone.As it turned out, Jimmy Hollis was right. The Texarkana Moonlight Murders BeginOver the next 10 weeks, the Phantom Killers reign of terror continued and quickly turned deadly. On March 24, 1946, Bowie County Sheriffs deputies and Texarkana police found the bodies of 29-year-old Richard Griffin and 17-year-old Polly Ann Moore, his girlfriend. They were found in a car parked alongside another lovers lane about 100 yards south of the highway. Both had been shot in the head with a .32 caliber Colt pistol.Like Hollis and Larey, the young couple had gone to a movie and then retreated to the privacy of the lovers lone. No one knows exactly what happened next, but Griffin was found on his knees between the two front seats, with his pockets turned out, as if someone had tried to rob him. Moore was laying in the back seat, but investigators suspected that she had been killed outside of the car on a blanket, then placed back inside. Investigators had little to go on, and nothing to connect the scene to Larey and Hollis, except that it included some elements of an apparent robbery.But then, on April 14, the Phantom Killer struck again. That morning, the body of 16-year-old Paul Martin was found along North Park Road. He had been out that night with 15-year-old Betty Jo Booker, whose body was found a couple of hours later, almost two miles away. Both had been shot with a .32 caliber Colt pistol, and AY Magazine reports that Booker had been sexually assaulted. The Tillman Johnson CollectionPaul Martin and Betty Jo Booker, two young victims of the Phantom Killer.At that point, police realized they had a serial killer on the hand, as the gun from the Martin/Booker slaying matched the gun from the Griffin/Moore murder. But the Phantom Killer wasnt done yet. The final murder of the Texarkana Moonlight Murders came on May 3, 1946. Then, Katie and Virgil Starks were at their home just north of Texarkana. It seemed like a regular night Katie had gone to bed, and Virgil was up reading the newspaper. But around 9 p.m. Katie heard broken glass. She then found her husband dead, alongside two bullet holes in the window. Katie ran to the telephone to call the police, but was shot in the face through the same window. Despite being badly injured and blinded by her blood Katie managed to escape and get help. That was the last time the Phantom Killer ever struck and, after 10 terrifying weeks, the Texarkana Moonlight Murders seemed to come to an end. So, who was behind them? The Unsuccessful Search For The Phantom KillerJohn BinghamA replication of the hood used by the Phantom Killer during the Texarkana Moonlight Murders. Local and federal investigators diligently tried to solve the Texarkana Moonlight Murders and, in doing so, questioned hundreds people. Eventually, they did develop a prime suspect. According to AY Magazine, investigators had noticed that each time a murder occured, a car was stolen nearby. The stolen car would then turned up abandoned, suggesting that the Phantom Killer was perhaps a car thief. This led investigators to a 29-year-old car thief and counterfeiter named Youell Swinney. When he was arrested in July 1946 by Miller County Deputy Sheriff Tillman Johnson for car theft, Swinney purportedly asked: Mr. Johnson, what do you think theyll do to me for this? Will they give me the chair? This struck investigators as suspicious, as a car thief would not face the death penalty although a murderer certainly could. The Tillman Johnson CollectionSuspect Swinney (third from left) with investigators. Investigators thought theyd found a new break in the case when they started talking to Swinneys wife, Peggy, who implicated her husband in the murders of Martin and Booker. But Peggy ultimately recanted. And, as a spouse, she could not be forced to testify against her husband. Swinney was ultimately found guilty of car theft, for which he served 27 years in prison. But the identity of the Phantom Killer remains unknown. Who was behind the Texarkana Moonlight Murders? Though the memory of the murders remains strong in the region today and theres even an annual screening of the 1976 horror movie based on the murders called The Town That Dreaded Sundown no one knows the identity of the killer. Instead, true to his moniker, the Phantom Killer simply disappeared. After reading about the Texarkana moonlight murders, discover the terrifying story of the Zodiac Killer. Then, learn about these six unsolved murder cases.The post The Haunting Story Of The Texarakana Moonlight Murders, The Unsolved 1946 Slayings Perpetrated By The Phantom Killer appeared first on All That's Interesting.