← Who Did What Now
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Carvana is so easy. Just a click and we've got ourselves a car.
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See so many cars. That's a clicktastic inventory.
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And check out the financing options payments.
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To fit our budget. I mean, that's Clickonomics101.
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Delivery to our door.
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Just a hop, skip and a click away. And bot no better feeling than when everything just clicks. Buy your car today on car delivery fees may apply. Hello delicious friends, and welcome to. To who did what now, the history podcast that is not your history class. With me, your host, Katy Charlewood, history harlot and reader of books. And welcome one and all to the very first episode of 2026. Oh, yes, I very nearly said the 2026 season, but that is incorrect because I like my ass, just don't quit. So, yeah, I am. I'm really excited for this year. I've got so much more plans and I'm better organized this year. So those of you who are relatively new to the podcast, if you have joined in recent months, first of all, you may be wondering, what was that music that, my friends, as long time listeners. No. Was the original theme song for the podcast. I really wanted something a bit older. And initially I had also considered a variation of Green Sleeves, right. But every version I found of it just kind of sounded really sad. And I couldn't get it to work with how I wanted it to go because I did not want this to be a very depressing history podcast. But that being said, I managed to find this sort of 1920s song that I was really, really excited about because I really love 1920s as, as a whole, because from a sociological and historical standpoint, it is this beautiful pocket, this interwar period, which is very exciting and odd. And there's art and there's just so many weird and wonderful things happening in this, like, pocket of time. And you have music and art and fashion and a whole lot of, like, social change happening. And it's wonderful and also awful. But I, I just, I really love it as a general, as a general rule. And I found this song by the Rhythmic 8 and I loved it because it was called Kansas City Kitty, which I'm fairly certain is a euphemism for something. But I really, really enjoyed this song and I mistakenly assumed it was in the public domain. It was not. It is, however, now in the public domain. So I can now use it again because all the 1920s music is available now. Ha cha. So I can finally, I can finally use it again without having my content taken down now. I was always worried about Using the word content because it feels a bit, I don't know, like I'm reducing what I'm doing. But that's, that's silly. It's just another word for the thing I make. Right? So I teach history on the Internet and I do it this way now, circling back, as we were, to this whole situation about what this year is going to have now, from about August last year, I started doing like month long themes and I found that this works so much better for me and I think it works better for you. So, like, research is actually taking slightly less time because I have the historical context for each setting, which is so much easier when you're trying to explain it to other people to have understanding yourself. Because I jump between locations and time periods and that in itself can be quite daunting and difficult to then jump between. And it made researching a lot more difficult on, on my side, let alone trying to then gather all that information and then produce this. But also when it came to the social media side of things, to also create it in digestible chunks. But I have a full fun year ahead and this month we are starting with one of my just like favourite little pocket topics, 1940s crime. Now, am I choosing 1940s crime specifically so I can do this voice? Yes, but also so I can dress in your cute vintage outfits when you're making your social media videos? Also, yes, but also because I'm genuinely very interested in it and I wanted to start the year with something like, I could have gone for a bit more positive stuff, but history is depressing as a general rule. So I thought let's just jump right in to a bunch of muddles. Like let's go with 1940s crime, folks. But I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, katie, it's been over five minutes, quit your jibber jabber and fact me, in fact you. I will. But first we've got to get our source on. Our sources are Federal Bureau of Investigation file number 628-0864, Federal Bureau of Investigation file number 877089. Yeah, you know what? You know what? There was a lot of reading in this. There was a lot of reading in this. So I'm naming them. Okay, this was not fun. We also have Texas Ranger Files, the U.S. bureau of Prison Files. We have number 52857L. We also have articles from the Arkansas Democrat, the Arkansas Gazette, the Dallas observer, the Dallas Times Herald, the Dallas Morning News, Kansas City Star, Texarkana Daily News, the Texarkana Gazette, New York Times and USA Today. On top of that, we also have Sexual Homicide Patterns and Motives by Robert Ressler, Anne Burgess and John Douglas. The man who Caught the Phantom Killer by Blair Case Most Evil by Steve Hodel still at Large A casebook of 20th century killers who Eluded justice by Michael Newton. Moonlight Murders in the Town that Dreaded Sundown by Vic Dellinger. Serial Killers the Moonlight Murderer of Texarkana by Brett Hartle the Phantom Killer Texarkana Moonlight Murders by Joseph Gehringer. The Phantom Killer Four Months of Terror in Texarkana by John Sanchez Texarkana Moonlight Murders, the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture The Texarkana moonlight the Unsolved case of the 1946 Phantom Killer by Michael Newton. A Real Life Horror The Texarkana Moonlight Murders by Tim Reynolds. Also in addition, furthermore, in the name of transparency, I did, I did listen to several podcasts on the topic. I wish I hadn't, but I did. Now, first of all, and that's how I learned about the topic is I was listening to one of my short form podcasts like last year and it was one of those episodes that's between like 18 and 35 minutes long. Don't remember which one it was actually, but I'd heard about it and I was like, oh, that's interesting. I must write the name down in my book and I'll talk about it at a later date. And so here we are. But I, I was like, let me listen to some podcasts about it because one, I'm a true crime girly and two, sometimes I can get a better understanding of a location or a community. You know, if I'm listening to something about the area by someone from the area. And so it's always good to get that perspective. Now unfortunately, near enough every podcast I manage to listen to seem to be more focused on being dramatic and flowery as opposed to, you know, factually correct. But I digress. I will be covering discrepancies throughout this just. Yeah, because that's, that's who I am and what I do. So without further ado, are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then let's begin. The Texarkana moonlight murders were a series of double murders, slayings, allegedly is perpetrated by one man, the Phantom killer who stalked so called lovers lanes for his victims in the twin town of Texarkana. Now before I go on, consider this your blanket trigger warning for this episode and the next. I shall be discussing violent crimes, assaults, attacks and murders against women, men and children. As usual, I will be as clinical as possible when discussing these attacks, both. But I will be providing accurate information. If you feel that this is going to cause you any distress whatsoever, feel free to exit stage left and we will see you the next time around. And with that, let's slip into some context. In 1946, Texarkana was in fact two cities connected by name. Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas. Is that like Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, or am I conflating the two concepts? Anyway, Texarkana was connected not only by name, but by culture, sharing a community and history. And with that, let's slip into some context. In 1946, Texarkana was in fact two cities connected by name, Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas. Now, is that. Is this. Is this like Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. Is it like one city over two state lines? Yes. No, Maybe. Anyway, Texarkana was connected not only by name, but by culture. They shared a community and they shared a history. Right. So from about the 1850s, railroads were pushing their lines through the states. Right. And they were big business. Now, we've all heard about the railroad barons. Like, we've seen the Gilded Age. Yeah, like, and I will cover that at a later date now. So I'm going to say there were what we would call keen rivalries, See, competition between these railroad builders. So you've got the Cairo and Fulton railroad, it's making its way across Arkansas. And then you've got the Texas and Pacific Railroad, it's laying track across Texas up to the state line with Arkansas. Right. So and this area, the state line between Texas and Arkansas is like the most practical place for these different railroads to connect with each other. Like, you've got a river, a bridge comes later on. Like, builders of the Texas and Pacific Railroad began selling lots from this site from the 8th of December, 1873. Right. And with the opening of the Red River Bridge, the aforementioned bridge, the following year. So 1874, that was, well, less than four months later, actually. Right. And this allowed a link up with the Iron Mountain railroads track. So up to Little Rock and the Cairo and Fulton railroads track, which brought them over to like St. Louis, Missouri. So you've got these railroads meeting up in this location. It's a really good hub. There's natural resources, it's a decent place to be. So they're selling lots and they're like towns, I guess. Now, the thing is, you might be wondering yourself is why is it called Texarkana? Well, there are three stories. Right. Again, near enough. Every podcast to listen to. Said just one. But anywho, three, the first being was that there was a Red river steamboat named the Texarkana. And they were like, yep, that'll do. Sort of like when a character has to think of a name quickly in a movie and they look at an empty glass and they're like, George Glass. You know, like that. The second story of how the town got its name is that there was a man called Swindle, I shit you not. And he owned a store in Redland, Louisiana who made a drink called Texarkana Bettles. And also people were like, yeah, that'll do that. That's a good name. Gonna, gonna take that. But the most popular theory, the one that gets banded around the most, is that of a Surveyor of the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway, right, Colonel Gus Noble. And so when the railroad was being constructed, allegedly he nailed a placard to a very, very old tree reading Tex Ark, Ana, Tex Arc Anna. This is the name of a town to be built here. Like that's all on the placard, right? Texarkana. This is the name of a town to be built here. Cause Texarkana is a portmanteau of Texas, Ark and Saw and Louisiana. Although this was a place where two states connected, good old Gus here mistakenly thought that the Louisiana northern border was only 2 to 3 miles south of the town, when in fact it was about 30 miles south. But either way I the name stuck. So this twin town had been growing steadily since then. You know, it had some crime, to be sure. I mean what town hadn't at some point? Although a lot of the more prominent crimes over the years had been specifically alcohol related. Are we surprised? No, we're not. So like Prohibition was a thing, so you've got that as part of it and then you've got just drunken related escapades, so on and so forth. But in 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution repealed the ban on selling alcohol and ended the, quote, noble experiment of Prohibition. However, several counties still fond of the temperance movement chose to stay dry anyway. Bowie county was one of them. It was, yes, one of the 46 Lone Star counties that continued to prohibit the sale of alcohol. Now, banning booze in Bowie county is all fine and dandy, but it does well to bear in mind that on the other side of Stateline Avenue in Miller County, Arkansas, one could legally purchase an alcoholic beverage any day but Sunday. Of course, by the time 1946 rolls around, Texarkana was a enjoying the fruits of the post War economic boom with a population of about 40,000. All in all, with both sides, it was relatively unscathed by war, at least on the surface, as they had only lost 196 souls in various battles throughout the Second World War. Those who did return were lucky in the fact that they had jobs to return to. The twin city thrived from the economic boost of the Red River Army Depot and the Lone Star Ammunition Plant, both of which had provided gainful employment during wartime. Texarkana also boasted natural resources, with timber, rockwool, sand and gravel being great exports, and of course, the utilising of those railways. On top of this, there was a strong economy from agricultural crops like corn, rice, soybeans, cotton and pecans. So Texarkana, whose motto is, unsurprisingly, twice as nice, had a host of routes pumping jobs and money into the local area. Now, I know that I said that veterans of war returned relatively unscathed, but there were invisible wounds of trauma, of war, like now, what we would call ptsd. But at the time, let's face it, there was a notion of don't ask, don't tell, squash those emotions down into the deepest, darkest depths of yourself. Because why carry so much emotional baggage when you can compress it down to a conveniently sized grief case? But of course, I digress. If you did happen to show that you were affected, it wouldn't be therapy. No, no, no. The best you could hope for was some gossip around the corpse cart or a trip to the sanitarium with your very own special jacket for self hugs. And these fellas returning home, they, I mean, they were looking at the fact that they not only had employment opportunities, but they also had leisure activities, right? There was so much to do in 1946 Texarkana because it could afford to do it. You had drive ins, community dances like those hosted by the Veterans of Foreign wars hall, the vfw. They had bands playing swing music so that returning soldiers could jitterbug with their hometown sweethearts. And let's not forget the moving pictures with movie theaters showing stars on the silver screen. And lest we forget that out on the fringes of town there were road houses, some that even had gasp burlesque shows. Now, like, it's funny because, like, whenever I was reading the reports on it, it was like girly shows. They have girly shows? Do they? Do they have girly shows? Is it. Is that because a lot of burlesque performers, they would travel around and do shows in these sort of locales on the fringes of town like this was this, this was, this was, I'm not saying big business, but it was a business, you know. So all in all, Texarkana was a very typical small southern town and war was over. Everyone, well, everyone white, felt safe. But that comfort blanket, that sense of safety, it is about to get torn to shreds. All on one fateful February night. It was 22 February 1946, and a couple were getting cozy in a car that Friday night, getting some spring special alone time. Earlier that evening, James Hollis, or Jimmy to his friends and his recent paramour Mary Jean. Larry had been out on a double date with his brother Bob. And Bob's special lady friend, whose name I could not find. The couples had gone to see the latest Universal creature feature, the House of Dracula, starring John Carradine as the titular count. Now I think actually that the film had been released 10 or so weeks earlier because it was released the previous year. And isn't it nice when films are in the cinema and you can still go see them more than three days after release? Yeah, you know what? Sidebar, actually, because I thought this was interesting. John Carradine, who plays Count Dracula in the movie, he claimed to have tested for the original Dracula film, a fact that has been denied by absolutely everybody else involved. Right. He's like I was going to be Dracula. And everyone was like, no you weren't. Because the role of the count in the original version went to the incredible Bela Lugosi. Now I'm, I'm just saying, going to pop it in here now that neither of them had a patch on Christopher Lee. And that is all I'll say on the matter. Now back to Jimmy and Mary Jean. After seeing the monster mash moving picture, Jimmy dropped his brother and unnamed gal off before taking a detour with mary jean. The 24 year old insurance agent had promised to return his father's Plymouth, that's a car before midnight, as he pulled onto a dirt road about a mile away from Texarkana, Jimmy was ready to break that promise for some one on one time with the 19 year old divorcee in the passenger seat. See Jimmy, he had recently separated from his wife. The what's and wherefores, I do not know. What I do know is that on Lovers Lane, under the half Moon, Jimmy and Mary Jane were ready to get down to business, 1940s style. The couple were, and I quote, necking for about 10 minutes. This may shock you sidebar, but I had to look up necking just to see what it actually related to Physically, I say, as if I've lived my entire life in a convent. But to clarify for everyone, it was kissing and some over the shirt stuff, right? As far as I can ascertain from the descriptions that I had to look up. I had to look up necking. Oh, my goodness. So they had been smooching and whatnot for about 10 minutes, all alone on Lovers Lane, or so they thought. It's around 11:45pm and the amorous pair are disturbed by a flashlight blinding through the window, like on the driver's side. Unsurprisingly, the couple are startled. I mean, you see a flashlight beam in the window of your car, I would assume, like I would assume it was police, right? Wouldn't you? You'd assume if that's coming in, it's the cops. I mean, it's that or a really bad voyeur. Now, Jimmy, he looks out the window to see a hooded figure stooping beside the car. And with a gruff voice, the man said, I don't want to kill you, fellow. I don't want to kill you, fellow, so do as I say. The couple followed the hooded man's orders, both of them getting out of the car and standing on the driver's side, where they stood for a moment, a bit anxious and confused, presumably being sized up by the prowler, before he snarled at Jimmy too. Take off your goddamn britches. Now, baffled and alarmed by the order, Jimmy hesitated before his date urged him to comply with the frightening figure in front of them, brandishing a torch in one hand and a gun in the other. Now, he told him to take off his britches, which is trousers if you're in Europe or on this side of the Atlantic, and pants if you're over, like in America. So Jimmy dutifully unbuckled his belt and stepped out of his slacks. And he stood there, exposed and vulnerable. Why has this man forced this action? Was it a power play? Was it a way of showing authority? Was he getting satisfaction from being in control? Or was it even a distraction, a diversion for the male victim to focus on, either to buy the attacker some time or to have him focused elsewhere? Or again, like I said earlier, is it this idea of shame to have this power over this young fellow standing there in his boxers, Right? Because that's what he's doing. He's standing there in his boxers in front of this domineering figure in the semi darkness. Suddenly, the attacker lunged at him. And there was a noise so, so loud that Mary Jean thought it was a gunshot, when in fact it was the sound of Jimmy's skull cracking. The assailant had slammed the young man in the head with his pistol twice in quick succession. Jimmy Hollis dropped to the ground like. Like a sack of spuds. Believing that her date had been shot in front of her, the terrified teenager scrambled for Jimmy's trousers and pulled out his billfold wallet, frantically showing it to the attacker to show that Jimmy had no cash on him. Assuming that it was some kind of robbery, the man called Mary Jean a liar, insisting that she had a purse in the car. But she didn't. And again, was this. Was this a diversion tactic? A distraction? Was this him just playing with her for his own enjoyment? Either way, this man was bursting with rage or perhaps even excitement. Was he getting a thrill from Mary Jean's fear and confusion? Knowing that he had eliminated his primary obstacle, Jimmy. Fuelled by something, he swung at the lovely brunette, as the tabloids would call her, hitting her with such force that she crumpled to the ground. Mary Jane felt as though she had been beaten with a heavy pipe, although it was likely the attacker's flashlight or pistol. Dazed and discombobulated, she pulled herself back up onto her feet and. And the masked figure whose six foot plus frame lumbered over the five foot four teenager told her to run. And so she did. She trotted and teetered, trying to run away from the danger, encumbered by her high heels. She had been on a date, after all, and she had dressed for the occasion. Initially aiming for a ditch by the road, the attacker shouted for her to run down Lovers Lane towards Richmond's Road. Behind her, she heard the groans and grunts of Jimmy as the attacker let out a flurry of kicks against the young man who was curled up on the dirt. Her heart was racing, blood trickling from the wind on her head, and. And she ran. And her heart skipped a beat as she saw a moment of salvation. She threw herself on an old model car parked on the road, hoping whoever was inside could save her. But as she peered in the windows, no one was in there. Panicked, she thought it must be the assailant's car. And she tried to pick up speed again. And she had barely taken a few steps when she heard his heavy breathing behind her. And before she knew it, the masked gunman had overtaken her and stopped her in her tracks. There he was, blocking her path. As she caught her breath, he asked her why she was running. What? And may I add, the fuck. When the exasperated and fearful Mary Jane responded that he had told her to, he again Called her a liar and smacked her in the head again. And in those mere seconds between his accusation and his swing at her head, the 19 year old believed that she was going to die at this masked man's hands. And as she fell to the ground, he threw his body on top of hers. His hands reached up under her skirt and ripped off her underwear. He then sexually assaulted her. Now, four separate Texas Ranger files describe Mary Jean's assault as attempted rape. And lest we forget, this is the 1940s understanding the criminal mind and motivations and the language pertaining to certain criminal acts and attacks was not yet understood or widely accepted. It would now be classified as a forcible sexual penetration with a foreign object. It is a form of sexual sadism and from my limited understanding can be a part of the desired scenario of a fantasy driven sexual assailant. In this instant, the assailant assaulted the victim by forcibly penetrating her vagina with the barrel of his gun. Now, before we go on, I would like to remind you all that rape is about power, about having control over another person. Sexual gratification is secondary, a byproduct, if you will. Power is the goal when it comes to sexual assault. The be all and end all of it is that it's an attack regardless of the tool involved. Whether by a foreign object, a weapon, a dildo or a penis, it's an attack. At the end of the day, it's an attack. Like if I stabbed someone with a pitchfork, you wouldn't be saying it's about farming anyway. When the gunman stood up, Mary Jean had no idea how much longer her ordeal would last or what else he was going to put her through. Bleeding, violated and in tears, she struggled to her feet. Deciding death would be a better fate than more of his abuse. She told him, go ahead and kill me. Fully expecting to be shot, she stood defiant, only for the masked man to turn his back on her, walk back in the direction of where Jimmy had been. He left her standing there alone in this rural, rather isolated dirt road at night. And I think, and this is my personal opinion, that her agency may have been what saved her. Now, there are several dramatic retellings of this crime and they often say that there were headlights in the distance and this spooked the assailant and so he turned and left. But there's nothing in any of the reports, in any of the witness statements. There is nothing to suggest this is the case. And I, and I don't know if this is just woeful thinking on my part, but, but that information isn't anywhere. It's as if someone pulled it to be more interesting to give a reason or justification. But the chasing, the cat and mouse, the power play, toying with her, like, that's what he was doing. Like, and this, this is no longer fun. If she's like, fine, do it right, Shoot me right, she's done. And that standing up, like, like it's not fun for him anymore. And as far as we know, as far as any of the information we have, this is his first known attack, right? We don't know if he's done it before. Like, this is an escalation. I mean, they tend to escalate and attackers tend to, because they're seeking especially fantasy based assailants, they tend to seek gratification. And he has walked away. And adrenaline must have been pumping through her veins because she thinks this for a game of soldiers. And as soon as he walks away, she absolutely legged it. She ran for a good half mile at least until she made it to a house. And when she got there, she did not swing and miss. She started wailing and whacking on that door, begging, screaming for help. And when she was waiting for someone to answer the door, someone to get up and open it, she saw a car pass by and she tried to flag it down, but it kept going towards Richmond Road. Now, later, when she's questioned, she would say it was a strange car, but not the same one that had been parked at the lane earlier. Right? Now, here's the thing. If, if you're driving at night and a woman just starts screaming at you from the side of the road, a 1940s Texarkana, I can understand that. Maybe that might be. That might be a weird thing. Also, drink driving laws weren't what they are. So, you know, or there is every possibility that this was her attacker. There's every possibility. But whatever happened, whatever car it was, it just went by. But there's also the possibility that it was the same car, because, remember, she's been assaulted, she's got a head injury, and also she doesn't name what type of cars they are. And back then there was not as many types of cars. And as someone who can rarely tell a type of car, I also get it. You'd be lucky if I'd be like, it's blue, round, it's a square car. Like, I wouldn't be able to tell you the majority of what cars look like unless. Unless they're very specific, like an Aston Martin DB5. And that's only because I watched a lot of James Bond movies. Sidebar. Anyway, now, after she tried to flag this car down and it just kept on going, right? Desperate, Mary Jane ran to the back door of the house and started banging on it, right? Eventually, you know, the residents, they get up, they come downstairs, they open the door, and shocked at the sight of this disheveled young woman on their porch, like, they. They suss it out for a minute. They don't. They don't just let her in straight away. It is a moment of going, what? But they do. They bring her indoors before calling the county sheriff's office. And just as he appeared, the assailant was gone. He had not gone back to finish Jimmy off, because Jimmy had already gone. So he had managed to stumble and stagger to the road, where he managed to stop a car that was going by. And again, there's a bleeding person waving at you from the side of the road. At night. It's, you know, after midnight. That's. That's kind of scary. Now, it's a relatively rural road, it's after midnight, and a beaten and bloody man in his underwear is on the road. Now, the driver, he pulls over, but he refused to let the clearly injured man into his car. Instead, he zoomed towards town, where he called the Texarkana Funeral Home. Now, before you think that's a bit pessimistic, the mortuary had an ambulance, and within 15 minutes, it was on its way to Lovers Lane, and the attacker was now, well, gone, leaving both his victims alive. A mistake he would not plan to repeat.
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Hey, Sal. Hank. What's going on? We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car at Carvana. And it was so easy. Too easy. Think something's up? You tell me. They got thousands of options. Found a great car at a great price, and it got delivered the next day. It sounds like Carvana. Just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right. Case closed.
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Buy your car today. On Carvana. Delivery fees may apply. Bowie County Sheriff William Henry Presley, or Bill, as he was known, was the first to arrive on the scene with three deputies at 12:30am now, that just shows you just how quick this attack was. 45 minutes from the flashlight beam through the driver's window of the car to the sheriff and his deputies arriving at the scene. Sheriff Bill Presley had tried to question the two victims with varying degrees of head injuries before realising that that was fucking stupid and decided that medical intervention was the best course of action. By now, the adrenaline would have been Wearing off. Mary Jean and Jimmy, he was slipping in and out of consciousness, compounded with Mary Jean's head wound and the trauma she's endured from being sexually assaulted. And you know that Jimmy had several severe scalp fractures. Putting the victims in the mortuary ambulance and sending them to Texarkana Hospital was probably the best course of action. When they reached the hospital on Pine Street, Jimmy was already unconscious. He was diagnosed with two or three skull fractures, depending on which report you read. And he slipped into a coma and he was placed on the hospital's critical list. Mary Jean, on the other hand, was sent home after her scalp wound was stitched up. I mean, it was only a 50 bed hospital and she'd been violently attacked, but yeah, a wee chain stitch, maybe a French knot, and off you trot. Back at the crime scene, the police found the attack site where Jimmy lay bleeding. And about a hundred feet away, like from the pool of blood, they found his slacks. And the only car at the scene was Jimmy's father's Plymouth. The old car that Mary Jean had seen was gone. It also would never be identified. And old, old isn't really a lot to go on. The other car that passed her, that did not stop. Well, the sheriff considered that perhaps the driver was the attacker fleeing the scene. And the police, they had no evidence, you know, that they had limited forensics and they were relying on witness testimony. In the days following the attack, the sheriff attempted to get a description of the assailant. And here's where it gets interesting. Both victims gave different descriptions of the attacker. Both agreed that he was at least 6ft tall. But that's where the similarities end. Mary Jean claimed that the gunman was an African American man with a white mask that resembled a pillowcase with the eyes cut out. Okay, not quite a sidebar because it is, because this is adjacent. But I did read one report of saying that it looked like a burlap sack, but every single other report said white and like a pillowcase. Which is weird that they would say it's like a pillowcase and not just was a pillowcase with the eyes cut out. Like, I mean, I feel like that's enough to go on when Jimmy woke up a week later. Right. He, on the other hand, claimed the attacker was a white man with a light tan and he was about 30 years old. And he wasn't sure if he was wearing a mask. So bear in mind it's darkish. I mean, there's a half moon. But the assailant, he has a flashlight and these two have both suffered a traumatic event. And lest we forget, the human memory is unreliable. On top of this, both victims had their skulls beaten with what I assume to be the butt of the gun. So it's not a huge stretch to assume that people who sustained head injuries that resulted in confabulation. Basically it's damage to the prefrontal cortex which can create false or altered memories. And yes, I know, I'm aware it is 1946, so the science hasn't quite caught up yet. But, you know, effectively bonk on head makes remembering hard. Right. So the police, they don't think about any of that because it's 1946, and they come to the conclusion that obviously Mary Jean was lying. There's a theory that the police chose to believe Jimmy over Mary Jean because this was 1946 in the south and racial segregation wasn't just normal for the time period, it was the law. Like paranoia was rife and incidents of racial violence could be triggered with a whisper. Basically, four years prior, a racist mob dragged Willie Vinson into a black man threw Texarkana behind a car before hanging him from a cotton gin wench. The white racist Mob lynched a 25 year old black man because he looked like the attacker of the plant's wife. So Willie vinson had been arrested, shot in the stomach. I'm not sure which came first. And he was in the basement of the Texarkana Hospital when 15 men came in and just took him. They took the man with a bleeding stomach wound, Attached him to the back of a car, Dragged him through the streets, and then hanged him from a cotton gin winch. Now, if you're thinking why did she say hanged instead of hung? Because that is the method of execution. It's hanged. He was lynched. Right. And sheriff Monroe watts investigating the crime, Found no leads whatsoever. So this is a city with racial bias baked in. So there is the possibility that Mary Jean's memory of her attacker could have been influenced by this. But on top of this as well, Sheriff Bill presley may not have wanted another violent attack or lynching on his watch. Right. There's also this idea that patriarchy, though, that because she was a woman, especially one who suffered sexual assault, that she was more emotional and, and as such, less reliable as a witness. What is that? Hysteria? You say to shreds, you say either way, the police believed that the victims were lying about knowing their attacker. They believed that their discrepancies existed to cover up that they knew their attacker, which is why they didn't want to Say who it was. So they were deliberately giving conflicting reports so that they could not catch the person. Right? Now of course that can and has happened. A victim not wanting to name their attacker out of fear, threat, shame, and a thousand other terrifying reasons. But in this case, nighttime head trauma, possible mask hood. Hang on, hang on. Sidebar. No, I mean, not quite a sidebar because it's relevant. There's a violent white hooded figure in the south and not one person suggests clan. Like I, I read the reports, I read every report and it's not, it's not a mention, it's not a suggestion, it's not a consideration. Okay, you know what? You know what? Actual sidebar, right? When I studied American history in college, like one of the, the areas we covered was the Ku Klux Klan. Like we were studying the civil rights movement because history doesn't exist in a vacuum. And my lecturer was always adamant that we had both back backstory and context. Right. Lore is important. And for my non US listeners who haven't heard of the Klan, the Klan was everywhere. Authority figures, people of good standing, teachers, ministers, sheriffs. Who do you report racists attacked to when law enforcement authorities are part of it. Now, on the podcast, I typically don't talk about certain aspects of black history because I am a naturally blonde, grey, green eyed, I don't know, someone tell me what colour my eyes are. White women. And there are certain stories that are not mine to tell. But one day, don't ask me when again, I'm genuinely not sure. But I will do a whole clan history which if you're not versed in, will make some things very, very clear and will also relate to the modern world somewhat. So cover ups and mishandling of information and evidence when it comes to prominent members or their family members isn't new. But there is always the possibility again that Mary Jean's memory was distorted by racial bias. She did not say African American. She said a more word of the time. And I'm not gonna say could have been distorted by racial bias or she could have been absolutely correct. You know, we don't know. The police badgered the couple for two months incessantly. And the police, they badgered the couple for two months incessantly, right? For them, like it was so difficult for them to ascertain a motive. Like they had dismissed robbery like that wasn't on the cards and they didn't mention the sexual assault publicly. At this point, it would have been more convenient for the police to blame the attack on the couple as an act of revenge or jealousy as opposed to a violent, random stalker hunting lovers lane. And like, why would someone attack a couple that he doesn't even know? Like, they even questioned and cleared Mary Jean's ex husband, right? So for two months, two months, they were hounded and accused of protecting their attacker's identity. Both victims suffered horrible nightmares following the attack. And that coupled with the harassment from the authorities. Mary Jean Leary ended up leaving Texarkana to live with relatives in Oklahoma. And Jimmy Hollis, he was in hospital for three months, recovering. He was receiving treatment, and he was also signed off for work for a further six months. And instead of staying in Texarkana, he ended up moving to Louisiana to get away from it all. But when he was first questioned by police, Jimmy warned Bill Presley that the gunman would attack again and that they had to stop him. Meanwhile, the police, believing that the couple were protecting their attacker and that this was a personal attack, decided that it wasn't really necessary to keep looking. Hwat hhwat to them, it wasn't exactly a matter of urgency. I mean, this kind of attack wasn't going to happen again in the safe community of Texarkana. And the community agreed. Like, they also thought that their home, you know, couldn't have bred a violent attacker. Like, he's not from ours. It must have been a passing vigilante or someone with a personal grudge. Like, nobody would do this from our area, from our safe, lovely home. No. As if they weren't lynching a man with a fatal bullet. Wind in the stomach four years earlier. But unfortunately for everyone involved, Jimmy Hollis was right. This was not an isolated attack and the assailant would strike again, except this time it was going to be fatal. And I think that is a good point to pause this story. There will be a part two, partially because I. I knew when I was writing this, I am not finished writing this, that it was so dense, so information dense, that it really needed time and proper consideration. Now, I didn't want to brush over facts or victims and I didn't want to half arse this. So you are getting a second episode and you are getting it soon. I am going to finish writing it. And as soon as it is written, it's being recorded and it's being posted. So you should have that before. Before typical release day of the podcast. Now, I. I guess, I guess, I guess we do what we always do, which is recommendation time. You know what, let's give us a second to. Just because I feel myself getting angry on behalf of the victims and I'm gonna have to take some throat coat tea because I can feel myself stressing. But, yes, recommendation time. This case did actually. Did actually inspire a horror movie, a slasher movie, technically, which is. Which is unsurprising because that's what we do. We take horrible times and we make them into entertainment. Now, I like to think of what I do as edutainment, so I'm educating you while entertaining you. Now. Also, like, we are going to be covering the murders and the suspects and everything in the next episode. And I know fine and well there's going to be some arsehole out there who's going to be like, if you weren't super chattering so much, you'd be able to get it into one episode, which first of all, piss off into. No, no, I would not. Like, I would have to remove information because the next episode, it's long. It's longer than this. And that's without me having jibber jabber in the beginning. Like, that's before all that. And that's without me having the sources in, because they're here. I put them in here so that you wouldn't have to have them next. Now, in order for me to tell the story and have it so succinct it would fit into one episode, I would have to remove a lot of information about the victims. And I won't do it because we brush over them or I see them always brushed over as if they weren't fully fledged people whose lives were fucking snuffed out. And they deserve more respect for that. And so I'm not going to ignore the people they were before they were killed. And now here's the thing as well, this is not me shitting on other podcasts. Like, they are dealing with a lot of the information they have available to them. I have access to more information because of what I do. Like, as a historian and as a sociologist, okay? It also helps that my area of expertise in history is the rise of sensationalism and the use of print as propaganda in the late modern period. So I'm already using a lot of these resources and I'm already versed in them. So I'm not going second and third hand for information a lot of the time, which is what a lot of these people have to do. And so, again, also, I listen to true crime podcasts for fun, okay? They soothe me. Okay? We've been through this and I don't think it's fair to be shitting on other podcasts because a lot of them are Doing their best. Now there's one that I don't like and I'm not going to talk about it because they're shit and mean and I don't respect them for the way that they treat victims or the fact that they don't know how to read a fucking autopsy report. But I'm not gonna get into that. Not gonna get into that. Okay, now. Oh, yeah. Belfast. I have a show in Belfast. February 1st. I kept thinking it was January 31st. It is February 1st. It's like St Brigid's Day or the day before St Brigid's Day. It's in bulk over here in Ireland. And I'm in Belfast. I'm in the Sunflower Comedy Club. It is gonna be full fun. I'm going to tell jokes. I'm going to be full of pasta because I'm going to an Italian restaurant before. So I'm definitely going to wear some kind of corset because I'm just like, man, I'm going to eat. I'm going to eat my weight in pasta. But of course, before we go anywhere else, recommendation time. You know what? You know what? It's 2026. Recommendation time. You know what I'm gonna do this week is I'm gonna recommend my friends stuff because I haven't read anything new this week because I've been so busy with this. So I'm gonna recommend for reading Tart by Becky Jane Crossley. It is fiction. It is the story of a bisexual lady. So enjoy. For lessening for listening, there is a podcast by a longtime friend of this podcast called On Fire for History, which is a U n on fire for history. There's the amount this person knows about Alexander Hamilton and, and the, the pamphlet they will on. They will be a guest on the show at some point when I can finally organize that. But you should, you should go listen to it. They're great for watching. You know what? You know what? Stranger Things. You know what? It was, it was a bit wobbly for a minute, but I for one enjoyed the finale right here. Here's the thing. At the end of the day, Stranger Things was a love letter to 80s media and it ended exactly like a love letter to 80s media would like. We're so used to these big, shocking, terrifying sort of big heart, gut wrenching finales of shows that we can't enjoy a happy ending. Spoilers. Well, a happy ending for some people. Some others did not get a happy ending. And also it's kind of about who did. Anyway, I'm not going to get into it. But go watch it. Enjoy it as a whole. You know, you're allowed to grieve when something ends. Just don't be a dick about it. And with that, I will see you in the next episode very soon. Adios. Au revoir of Weirda Zam, my friends. Bye. Bye.