Knoxville Grandma Killed by Travelling Salesman

[TracyLynnS]

Okay boys and girls... My remembery has failed me again and I need your help.

Recently, a true crime show (I don't think it was UM, because they caught the guy right away) featured the murder of a gentle loving young grandma who lived in a neat little townhouse just a couple of blocks from her daughter and baby grandson in the knoxville area.

The daughter (blonde short hair, very softspoken) visted with her mother by phone and in person several times a day. The grandma worked out of her home (transcribing medical documents for an out of state medical facility, I think?). But I know that her job was working on her computer from home.

The day she was murdered, van loads of travelling magazine salesmen were going door to door in her neighborhood. While she was upstairs working on the computer, one of the salesmen found her front door to be unlocked and quietly let himself in. He rummaged around the first floor looking for money, checks, valuables, etc.

The grandma heard him in the house and confronted him. He then raped and murdered her, helped himself to a soda, and smoked a cigarette. He stole her car, went to a convenience store to ask the clerk where the motel was located, and used the grandma's atm card in an attempt to get more cash.

He then told his boss that there was a family emergency back home in NYC, so his boss bought him a bus ticket and sent him home. The cops figured it all out while the bus was in transit. They pulled the bus over, arrested the killer, who obviously had a previous record, and found grandma's jewelry and other belongings in his bags. Her blood was on his clothes.

Here's the completely selfish, rude, gruesome, unfeeling, callous, and ridiculous reason I am even bringing this case up. When the grandma was sending out her last email in the re-enactment, the word in the subject line was: anal.

That's it. I want to know why she was sending an email to a friend or acquaintance, as they stated in the program, with the subject line of "anal". Why would the segment producers even consider using that? Why not use "funny joke" "how's your petunias coming along" or some other benign subject? IIRC, her last email wasn't business related, and even if it was, the subject line would not have said "anal".

Anyway, it just bugged me that whoever was working on the reenactment wrote up the dummy email for the scene and that's what they chose to use. The camera does a close up on the screen a couple of times, so my eyes were not playing tricks on me.

So I guess my post is partly to complain, partly to figure out which program this was on, partly to figure out the name of the victim because I forgot, and then to speculate on WTH were they thinking?!?

[everybodylovesrs]

I remember the case, but not the woman's name or show. I'm pretty sure it was likely FBI Files, Forensic Files, or New Detectives, though.

[crystaldawn]

It was definitely a Forensic Files episode but I can't remember the victim's name.

[everybodylovesrs]

Forensic Files, Eskalene DeBorde is the 66 year old grandmother.

Law enforcement officers in Knox County say they found a horrifying scene where the Knoxville woman was stabbed to death in her townhouse.

A traveling magazine salesman with at least two prior convictions was arrested aboard a bus in Virginia Tuesday in the death of Eskalene DeBorde, 66.

Rodger Broadway, 21, was captured in Wythe County, Va., shortly after midnight as he stepped off a Greyhound bus en route to his home state of New York.

Sheriff Tim Hutchison said it was "the most brutal scene that I have been to."

DeBorde, a medical transcriptionist who worked from home, was found dead in her townhouse Monday evening by her daughter, Elizabeth Noffsinger. The first floor had been ransacked and DeBorde's car taken.

The victim was beaten, raped and stabbed in the neck with one of her own kitchen knives after the assailant broke through her barricaded upstairs door, Hutchison said.

"It was very obvious that she was beaten and that she had her throat cut, and then she was stabbed through the neck," the sheriff said.

"She couldn't have died any more violently," Noffsinger said Tuesday.

Authorities said the force of the stabbing with the knife left the body pinned to the floor.

DeBorde had a habit of leaving her front door open for Noffsinger, who lives nearby. The daughter found her mother that evening. An ambulance was called at 8:20 p.m. DeBorde was dead at the scene, authorities said.

Authorities estimate DeBorde was killed between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Neighbors remembered seeing white vans carrying traveling magazine salesmen through the area that day.

Authorities tracked Broadway through the use of the victim's stolen ATM card. They said a videocamera in a convenience store filmed Broadway as he checked DeBorde's bank balances but withdrew no money from her account.

Detectives recovered DeBorde's 1997 Mazda Protege and tracked down the salesmen at a motel. The salesmen's manager said he had taken Broadway to catch a bus home. Knox County deputies contacted Wythe County, Va., authorities to stop the bus.

In Virginia, the key to the victim's stolen car was found in Broadway's back pocket.

http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/archive...006&t=814973-1

[TracyLynnS]

Thanks so much EverybodylovesRS!

I can't believe that I forgot her name. Eskalene is very unusual. The way I remember stuff, I'm surprised that I didn't at least recall that she had an odd first name.

Over the past ten years, I've had these magazine salesmen come to my door 5 or more times, at 3 different houses. My doors are always locked, and I never let them inside.

Twice, though, I agreed to buy a subscription. Both times, my check was never cashed and was sent back to me without an explanation. This was with the Go Doers company.

I tried looking them up on the internet to see what they're all about, but didn't find any good information back in the late 90s. Since then, there's been tons of bad info about them online. Lots of scamming and stealing, and worse.

Back when they sent my uncashed checks back to me, I figured their whole operation was a scam to get people to pay for their magazines in cash, then the subscription just never, ever, arrives, and the buyer has no way of ever tracking the purchase.

[carebears]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

Okay boys and girls... My remembery has failed me again and I need your help.

Recently, a true crime show (I don't think it was UM, because they caught the guy right away) featured the murder of a gentle loving young grandma who lived in a neat little townhouse just a couple of blocks from her daughter and baby grandson in the knoxville area.

The daughter (blonde short hair, very softspoken) visted with her mother by phone and in person several times a day. The grandma worked out of her home (transcribing medical documents for an out of state medical facility, I think?). But I know that her job was working on her computer from home.

The day she was murdered, van loads of travelling magazine salesmen were going door to door in her neighborhood. While she was upstairs working on the computer, one of the salesmen found her front door to be unlocked and quietly let himself in. He rummaged around the first floor looking for money, checks, valuables, etc.

The grandma heard him in the house and confronted him. He then raped and murdered her, helped himself to a soda, and smoked a cigarette. He stole her car, went to a convenience store to ask the clerk where the motel was located, and used the grandma's atm card in an attempt to get more cash.

He then told his boss that there was a family emergency back home in NYC, so his boss bought him a bus ticket and sent him home. The cops figured it all out while the bus was in transit. They pulled the bus over, arrested the killer, who obviously had a previous record, and found grandma's jewelry and other belongings in his bags. Her blood was on his clothes.

Here's the completely selfish, rude, gruesome, unfeeling, callous, and ridiculous reason I am even bringing this case up. When the grandma was sending out her last email in the re-enactment, the word in the subject line was: anal.

That's it. I want to know why she was sending an email to a friend or acquaintance, as they stated in the program, with the subject line of "anal". Why would the segment producers even consider using that? Why not use "funny joke" "how's your petunias coming along" or some other benign subject? IIRC, her last email wasn't business related, and even if it was, the subject line would not have said "anal".

Anyway, it just bugged me that whoever was working on the reenactment wrote up the dummy email for the scene and that's what they chose to use. The camera does a close up on the screen a couple of times, so my eyes were not playing tricks on me.

So I guess my post is partly to complain, partly to figure out which program this was on, partly to figure out the name of the victim because I forgot, and then to speculate on WTH were they thinking?!?

The name of the Forensic Files episode was death by salesman. Roger Broadway was the killer and Eskilene Diboarde was the victim.People have already mentioned the killers name and victims name in previous posts.

[cocytus]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

Thanks so much EverybodylovesRS!

I can't believe that I forgot her name. Eskalene is very unusual. The way I remember stuff, I'm surprised that I didn't at least recall that she had an odd first name.

Over the past ten years, I've had these magazine salesmen come to my door 5 or more times, at 3 different houses. My doors are always locked, and I never let them inside.

Twice, though, I agreed to buy a subscription. Both times, my check was never cashed and was sent back to me without an explanation. This was with the Go Doers company.

I tried looking them up on the internet to see what they're all about, but didn't find any good information back in the late 90s. Since then, there's been tons of bad info about them online. Lots of scamming and stealing, and worse.

Back when they sent my uncashed checks back to me, I figured their whole operation was a scam to get people to pay for their magazines in cash, then the subscription just never, ever, arrives, and the buyer has no way of ever tracking the purchase.

You may want to review your bank statements from when you sent the check in poster. There may be some inaccuracies in your account.

By returning your check uncashed, they may have reassured you. However they now have your routing number and account number and that information is worth quite a bit of money to a crook.

Although nothing may have happened, it couldn't hurt to go back and review your statements and if you find anything suspicious,to close the account and open another one.

[TracyLynnS]

Originally Posted by cocytus

You may want to review your bank statements from when you sent the check in poster. There may be some inaccuracies in your account.

By returning your check uncashed, they may have reassured you. However they now have your routing number and account number and that information is worth quite a bit of money to a crook.

Although nothing may have happened, it couldn't hurt to go back and review your statements and if you find anything suspicious,to close the account and open another one.

Yep, I did all that and also checked my credit report a few times. That happened several years ago, and I've changed banks a couple times since then.

I remember one of the salesmen clearly. His street name was Shorty Ruff Ruff. He told me he was going straight after a life of crime and was finally off drugs. I thought maybe the organization he was working for was part of a program helping felons to seek and maintain gainful employment (or whatever it is that they're required to do to be in compliance with their parole).

About a year ago, I had yet another one of these traveling magazine salesmen come to my door (I'd moved since the last time they'd showed up). It was during an all day long rainstorm. The kid didn't even have an umbrella with him and the houses were spaced very far apart on a long dirt country road. That kind of door to door sales, during bad weather, with the salesman walking long distances between potential customer's houses, and at a time of day when most people are at work can't be legitimately profitable.

Because of my past experiences, knowing that it had to be a scam to either get cash or get my bank info, I declined and sent him on his way. Still, I was very uncomfortable with the fact that this guy now knew where I lived, what I looked like, which of my neighbors were home or gone at that time of day, what kind of cars I had in the driveway, and he even saw one of my kids.

Since then, I've moved and never answer the door unless I'm expecting visitors or a postal delivery.

[cocytus]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

Yep, I did all that and also checked my credit report a few times. That happened several years ago, and I've changed banks a couple times since then.

I remember one of the salesmen clearly. His street name was Shorty Ruff Ruff. He told me he was going straight after a life of crime and was finally off drugs. I thought maybe the organization he was working for was part of a program helping felons to seek and maintain gainful employment (or whatever it is that they're required to do to be in compliance with their parole).

About a year ago, I had yet another one of these traveling magazine salesmen come to my door (I'd moved since the last time they'd showed up). It was during an all day long rainstorm. The kid didn't even have an umbrella with him and the houses were spaced very far apart on a long dirt country road. That kind of door to door sales, during bad weather, with the salesman walking long distances between potential customer's houses, and at a time of day when most people are at work can't be legitimately profitable.

Because of my past experiences, knowing that it had to be a scam to either get cash or get my bank info, I declined and sent him on his way. Still, I was very uncomfortable with the fact that this guy now knew where I lived, what I looked like, which of my neighbors were home or gone at that time of day, what kind of cars I had in the driveway, and he even saw one of my kids.

Since then, I've moved and never answer the door unless I'm expecting visitors or a postal delivery.

Actually, you be surprised how profitable those types of operations are. The ones that are mostly legitimate make a profit by the fact that they rarely pay payroll taxes and that they have their employees working on commissions. They can also make quite a bit of money selling your name and personal information to companies that send out mailing lists/e-mail lists.

The ones that aren't legitimate can either scam you out of your money,collect your personal information and use that for nefarious reasons or can also sell your name and address to companies that make up what are called "sucker lists."

It's a pretty lucrative, quasi-illegal business and I think that the authorities didn't have more serious issues to deal with that they probably would crack down on this more than they have so far.