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. [1][5] His death was met with relief from both Dickens' and the other victims' family members, who believed that he was responsible for their deaths. He also invested in a surf shop that they were known to visit. r . However, Dawna agreed to do so. By Lise Olsen . His actions caught the attention of 26-year-old Larry Dean Dickens, a Marine with a young daughter, who rushed in and got hold of the man's keys in an attempt to prevent him from fleeing. That summer, twenty-six-year-old Larry Dickens was visiting his mother and sister in Pasadena, a suburb of Houston. Mrs. Edwards was dying of cancer and had previously discovered her . Bell, a convicted killer serving 70 years for a 1978 slaying near Houston and who was under investigation in the unsolved deaths of several missing girls has died after collapsing at a Texas prison. Yet another is speculated to be Suzie Bowers, who vanished from Galveston in 1977. Sue had always considered herself strong and self-reliant . From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. Through their diligent efforts, they came up with the following list of potential victims: Collette Wilson went missing from Alvin, Texas, in June of 1971. She felt that once that happened, they would all be able to go on with their lives. In fact, he said, there . Due to a lack of evidence, neither were charged for their confessions, and . Show 6 article text (OCR) THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW 6 Fri., April 27, 1945. The identity of the remaining three victims are unknown. Harris County prosecutors reportedly never investigated the claims and lost the letters from him. Advanced Search When asked about the letters he wrote in 1998, Bell said he was suicidal and wanted the state to execute him; he supposedly made it all up. In an interview, Pruns said he once visited a property where Bell kept horses, raccoons, various critters, and a travel trailer painted to look like a red caboose. Edward Harold Bell speaks to Houston Matters producer Michael Hagerty from prison in 2017. Adelaide Bell. The man who wrote the letter, Edward Harold Bell, was never questioned by the police. This photo provided Sept. 28, 2011, by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Edward Harold Bell. Larry refused to give him his keys. He pointed the gun at Larry again. ", Bell's life journey is far from straight-forward. She could not have been more wrong. After making his confessions, he informed a reporter for the Houston Chronicle that he would only offer evidence to support his accusations if he was granted immunity from prosecution. Search. In July and September 2011, Bell was interviewed by a Houston Chronicle reporter. Edward Harold Bell . He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Betty A. Tomlinson; his daughter, Darlene S. Richardson (Steve) and grandson, Chris Richardson (Kathleen) all of Victoria. This case first aired on the December 2, 1992 episode; it was updated on the April 21, 1993 episode. They asserted that they could not confirm his confessions. As she opened up the newspaper one morning, she saw a picture of the intruder. He crashed his truck into a fence. Five weeks later, he shot Larry Dickens while masturbating in front of five Pasadena girls. Bay was a Purple Heart recipient and proud of his three bronze stars and one . Motel Murder. Kim Pitchford went missing in January of 1973. "One thing they wanted me to do for sure was rape a girl," Bell said to the Houston Chronicle. At that same time, his mother, Dorothy Lang, was standing at the kitchen window. She ran to him as Bell turned around and drove off. Additionally, he made a purchase at a surf shop they frequently frequented. Bell continued to demand his keys. Pictured is the Dickinson pasture owned by Edward Harold Bell in the mid 1970s. He also claimed that he did not mean to kill Larry, and that he had accidentally tripped on his rifle when he shot him. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Detective Fred Paige and Lise Olsen's excellent investigation work uncovered a generous amount of circumstantial evidence linking Bell to the crimes but found no definitive proof. Blue Bell Hill, Chatham, Kent, UK (Carcinoma of Stomach & Gastric Ulcer) . Kimberly Rae Pitchford, 16, disappeared after taking a driving class before her body was found in 1973. Edward was born in Corinth, WV on July 17, 1941, a son of the late Edward Harold and Mary Virginia "Ginny" (Martin) Koontz. degree at Texas A&M University, where he played in the Aggie Band. [2] After spending some time in treatment, he was released, only be rearrested for a similar charge in 1969 after he exposed himself to the 13-year-old daughter of a Lubbock policeman. Now serving a 70-year sentence for murdering a Houston-area Marine vet in 1978, Bell has come forward asking for immunity and ready to plead on the murders of as many as 11 young girls in the Houston-Galveston area in the early to mid 1970s. Bell became a silent partner at Doug's Dive and Surf Shop. Bell graduated from the City College of New York and led a successful career in real estate development before teaching at GSAPP. Tips that finally led to his arrest poured in after Bell became the subject of a 1992 "Unsolved Mysteries" episode. Trial Court # 284,590 . April 20, 2019. 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.. Despite his rough upbringing, he graduated from Columbus High School and went on to earn a P.E. But in September 1984, the illusion of small-town security was shattered for a local couple, "Sue" and "Bill". Daily Mail Reporter Both confessed to killing women in this area. "They wanted me to rape girls and rob banks and rob people. Dorothy ran in to help him. When Bell climbed out of the vehicle, he was nude from the waist down and walked over to a nearby . Ex-homicide detective Fred Paige and Lise Olsen, an investigative journalist for the Houston Chronicle, teamed up to reopen the case of the "eleven who went to heaven." They were last seen accepting a ride from a man driving a white van; he happened to own one at that time. Despite the fact that some thought he was a publicity-seeking "kook," others were certain he was the murderer. Bell also owned a field near where two middle school students, Georgia Geer, 14, and Brooks Bracewell, 12, were last seen in Dickinson in 1974. He was previously married to Esther Williams. Dorothy came out and Dawna asked her if he was dead. Larry Dickens, Lang's twenty-six-year-old son, ran over to the man's truck and took the keys from the ignition while his mother called the police. After graduation, he worked as a traveling pharmaceutical salesman and married his first wife in San Marcos. Bell claims not to know the names of other girls. The show reopened the case to the public and closely followed Paige and Olsen's investigation. 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. NAVASOTA, Texas (AP) A man serving 70 years for a 1978 slaying near Houston who was also under investigation in the unsolved killings of several missing girls has collapsed and died in a Texas prison. He was living under the name of his deceased cousin, "Cecil Boyd". Another is believed to be Gloria Gonzales, who vanished in October 1971; her remains were found in close proximity to Colette's. They placed him under arrest, and the FBI, along with the Panama City Police Department, brought Bell back to the United States. Suzie Bowers went missing from Galveston in 1977. Credit: Texas Monthly The Eleven: On the trail of a serial killer. In 1998, he sent letters to Harris and Galveston County prosecutors in which he confessed to killing seven young girls. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up. 3. "The police killed Larry Dean Dickens and blamed me," Bell claimed, despite all evidence to the contrary. He asserted that he had made up his admissions in order to receive the death penalty when he was interviewed for the documentary The Eleven in 2017. Bell murdered Dickens and remained on the run for 16 years. These unverifiable claims and allegations introduced doubt into these alleged confessions, but many investigators and detectives involved reportedly believe that Bell is responsible for what he claims to be. Edward Harold Bell confessed to murdering 11 Texas girls. As he walked toward Larry, Larry backed up toward the house. Despite these claims, Bell was not investigated until 2011. [7], Despite several investigations into his claims, Bell was never charged with any other murder besides Dickens'. He then shot the gun in the air and told Larry that he would kill him if he did not return his keys. She does not believe that he expected her to fight back. 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. People watching The Eleven may wonder who Edward Harold Bell is, and if he is responsible indeed for what he claimed he did. After the airing of the episode a man recognized Bell as someone he had recently conducted business with in Panama City. June 10, 2021. The man's name was Edward Bell. The pair was able to uncover circumstantial evidence that linked Bell to the crimes, but found no definitive proof. Elizabeth Edwards "collapsed in a ball" in an airport parking lot and tore off her shirt in a fit of anger, the witness said. In a 1985 episode of America's Most Wanted, he was named as Texas' most wanted fugitive, bringing further attention to his case and reinvigorating the search for him. 2-min read. Prosecutors in Galveston reopened Debbie and Maria's cases after learning new information through their investigation, and Bell was identified as the "primary suspect." He turned around and began to pursue the vehicle. In interviews with Lise Olsen, Edward Bell denies killing anyone, even Larry Dickens. A jury found Edward Harold Bell guilty of murder and assessed punishment at seventy years confinement. Referring to them as the "eleven who went to heaven." Unfortunately, prosecutors could not develop DNA samples or evidence to corroborate his claims in the letters and he was never charged with any of the murders. The Eleven: With Michael W. Bunch, Sonya Van Sickle, Kristina McCormick, Natalia Villegas. Another victim from 1971 was thirteen-year-old Colette Wilson, who vanished after leaving a band camp. She feels that it is not right that Bell can be out on the streets, exposing himself to children and doing other bad things, while Larry has been dead this entire time. Harris County medical examiner's records and newspaper archives show Kimberly Rae Pitchford, a 16-year-old who lived near Hobby airport, never returned home after taking a driver's education class at Frank Dobie High School in Houston. By the time of his release, now divorced and forbidden contact with his children, Bell married a 17-year-old female patient and the pair moved a beach house in Galveston. The driver, Bell, then forty, parked and started looking around the area. He was an avid hunter and a champion horseshoe player. Shockingly, Bell was not done; he went back to his truck and retrieved his high-powered M1 rifle. Four months passed without further clues to his identity. Holding many offices in the Masons, teaching country western dancing, participating. Their bones were recovered in a bayou in 1976 and weren't identified until 1981. 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. [12] In addition to this, Panamanian authorities announced that they considered him a suspect in four rape-murders committed in their country: two while he was residing in Boquete, and another two in Panama City. In the A&E series, Bell denied having "killed anybody," including Dickens. As Dorothy continued talking to the police, Larry went out and took the keys out of Bell's truck in an attempt to keep him there until the police arrived. 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. The victims were all teenage girls, and each . Nothing can take her memory away.. Lena Madge Crain crossed the divide to her Heavenly Home on Saturday, February 25th after several months of home health care. He stated that it began with his father and spread to his three ex-wives, scoutmasters, and a cousin. Another six young girls were killed in the area in the mid-to-late Seventies. If you are a true crime fan, you have probably heard of the Texas Killing Fields. Unsolved Mysteries Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. 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. Following his capture in Panama City, Panama in 1993, he was extradited, convicted and sentenced to a 70-year term for the murder of a Marine in 1978, and later confessed to killing eleven girls during the 1970s. [13] According to him, some of the case details found in the letters had not been released to the public. Investigators Lise Olsen and Fred Paige are on a mission to examine the confessions of inmate Edward Harold Bell. Dawna feels that Larry's murder has broken up their whole family. In a prison interview with Houston Matters in 2017, Bell claimed he had admitted to the murders because he had been suicidal. By This article is a stub. Wanted For: Murder, Indecency with a Child The Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed to ABC13 Eyewitness News Edward Howard Bell died Saturday while in their custody. Real Name: Edward Harold Bell Bell sent prosecutors in Texas letters containing his confession in 1998 but they have remained secret until now. Because of the trauma of the situation, Dorothy felt unable to identify him. The victims were all teenage girls, and each of their murders have remained unsolved for decades. He also invested in a surf shop that they were known to visit. pg-13 2011. While his wife Allison . She then tried to block his exit with her car. Bell contends in three points that the evidence was legally insufficient to support the verdict, that he was denied effective assistance of counsel, and that the court erred by failing to instruct the jury on voluntary conduct. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Paradise Lost. Bell is currently considered a suspect in the murders of several young women near Galveston in the 1970s. Edward Harold Bell, in prison for murder, responds to a theory from two investigators that he might be a serial killer responsible for numerous murders of young women in and around Galveston in . He fired a shot in the air, then shot Larry several times in the chest. Actor: Gymkata. Details: Bryan, Texas, is the type of place that people have in mind when they dream of escaping the big city. Years after their deaths, the series reports that a man named Edward Harold Bell penned a letter to authorities claiming that he had allegedly been brainwashed into killing two of the girls. Ian Smith, Melissa Bell and Annie Jones will return to Neighbours. He agreed to report to another in-patient treatment program at the University of Texas Medical Branch to avoid prosecution. According to reports, Harris County prosecutors never looked into the allegations and misplaced the letters from him. [8] On February 14, 1993, a joint operation conducted by the FBI and the Panamanian National Police led to Bell's arrest at a yacht club in Panama City. Both girls were known to frequent the surf shop and likely would have recognized Bell if he pulled up alongside them and casually offered the pair a ride home. He was caught by police shortly afterwards and interned to await trial on a $125,000 bail bond; however, when the trial date came about, Bell did not appear and was thereafter designated as a wanted fugitive. Then, a few months after his release, he married her, Bell was thirty-one. In 1998, Edward Harold Bell wrote multiple letters to prosecutors in Galveston and Harris counties, confessing to the murders of numerous young women. Bell remains the lead suspect at this time and it is very hard for me to believe he is innocent. At the time, Bell was serving a seventy-year sentence for the 1978 murder of a 26-year-old Pasadena resident who had attempted to stop him from publicly masturbating in front of a group of .

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