Oliver Munson

[adamcuthbertson]

Just watched this segment again. He was a schoolteacher from the Baltimore, Maryland area. He purchased a car from a man named Dennis Watson in January of 1983. Two months later Watson was arrested for selling stolen cars and the car Munson purchased was stolen. Oliver was scheduled to testify against Watson in court on February 16, 1984, but three days before the trial he vanished while on his way to school. The next day his car was found abandoned a few blocks from his home. This wasn't the first time something happened to witnesses who were set to testify against Watson. In the 70's, two witnesses died under mysterious circumstances. They were both supposed to testify against Dennis Watson for a robbery he committed. One was burned in his car and the other died of a drug overdose. Munson's disappearance did not affect the outcome of Watson's trial. He was convicted and sent to 10 years in prison, but was paroled in 1989 after serving half his term. I believe Oliver Munson is gone. I just want to know if there have been any further updates to his disappearance.

[SitcomsAreTheWay]

There haven't been any updates to this case. However, it's such a coincidence that he disappeared not to long after he had agreed to testify. Considering Watson's history, it would only be natural to think that he was somehow involved in Oliver's disappearance. But there hasn't been any concrete evidence to link him.

[themaninblack]

he could have had an outside contact do him in.
after all somebody like him has friends who do the dirty work for him.

[DJ_Foxx]

Originally Posted by themaninblack

he could have had an outside contact do him in.
after all somebody like him has friends who do the dirty work for him.

This is what makes me so mad at this case. If they knew that witnesses against Dennis watson had the tendency to turn up dead or missing, why didn't the police prvoide Oliver with some kind of protection???

[supersally1974]

Oliver Wendell Munson's profile has been updated on doenetwork:
http://www.doenetwork.org/
Case File 2006DMMD

Circumstances of Disappearance
Munson, a bachelor and somewhat of a recluse, was last seen in 600 block of Orpington Road in Catonsville, Maryland on February 13, 1984. At 7:50 a.m., a neighbor saw Munson leaving his home, alone apparently heading to work.
Wendell was a industrial arts high school teacher in Howard County, MD, and never arrived at school.
He had an occasional girlfriend, but on weekends he often left town to visit his mother and two brothers on the Eastern Shore.
His family reported him missing the next day, February. 14, after checking his home.

On February 16, the 1980 Ford Pinto belonging to Munson is found parked on Braeside Road in Catonsville, about two blocks from his home. The right front tire is flat, apparently due to a slow leak. In it was his touring cap, he usually wore, and had his lunch bag and school notebook on the front seat.

Munson hobby was working on the old cars that littered his yard. Investigators believe that he may have been murdered in retaliation of testifying against an auto theft ring. Mr. Munson had unknowingly bought a blue 1973 Datsun 240Z car from a ring member the year before he disappeared. This car had been stollen the on the morning of Munson's disappearance.
On February 27, the blue 1973 Datsun 240Z that had been stolen was recovered at the edge of Leakin Park in West Baltimore.
In the car were two business receipts with Munson's name, traces of unidentified blood, and a small-caliber shell casing.

His body may have been dumped or buried somewhere, perhaps in Leakin Park, near where the stolen car was later found. February 28, 1984 City police searched Leakin Park without success.

ON May 28, 1985 Munson was legally declared dead, the victim of "presumptive homicide," his body was never found.

[cuba_libre]

I never understood why Munson didn't get the protection from the police. He was set to testify against a dangerous dude, whose reputation had to be known by the cops for witnesses against him dying/disappearing.

[sdb4884]

Originally Posted by cuba_libre

I never understood why Munson didn't get the protection from the police. He was set to testify against a dangerous dude, whose reputation had to be known by the cops for witnesses against him dying/disappearing.

Yeah mystifying hey

[sdb4884]

I wouldn't be surprised if Denis Watson is in prison now serving time for some sort of crime. He was paroled for the car dealership fraud in 1989.

[sdb4884]

Completely dumb police work on this one. Surely they knew of Watson's previous crimes in relation witnesses. They are partly to blame for Munson's prediciment.

[cocytus]

Originally Posted by supersally1974

Oliver Wendell Munson's profile has been updated on doenetwork:
http://www.doenetwork.org/
Case File 2006DMMD

Circumstances of Disappearance
Munson, a bachelor and somewhat of a recluse, was last seen in 600 block of Orpington Road in Catonsville, Maryland on February 13, 1984. At 7:50 a.m., a neighbor saw Munson leaving his home, alone apparently heading to work.
Wendell was a industrial arts high school teacher in Howard County, MD, and never arrived at school.
He had an occasional girlfriend, but on weekends he often left town to visit his mother and two brothers on the Eastern Shore.
His family reported him missing the next day, February. 14, after checking his home.

On February 16, the 1980 Ford Pinto belonging to Munson is found parked on Braeside Road in Catonsville, about two blocks from his home. The right front tire is flat, apparently due to a slow leak. In it was his touring cap, he usually wore, and had his lunch bag and school notebook on the front seat.

Munson hobby was working on the old cars that littered his yard. Investigators believe that he may have been murdered in retaliation of testifying against an auto theft ring. Mr. Munson had unknowingly bought a blue 1973 Datsun 240Z car from a ring member the year before he disappeared. This car had been stollen the on the morning of Munson's disappearance.
On February 27, the blue 1973 Datsun 240Z that had been stolen was recovered at the edge of Leakin Park in West Baltimore.
In the car were two business receipts with Munson's name, traces of unidentified blood, and a small-caliber shell casing.

His body may have been dumped or buried somewhere, perhaps in Leakin Park, near where the stolen car was later found. February 28, 1984 City police searched Leakin Park without success.

ON May 28, 1985 Munson was legally declared dead, the victim of "presumptive homicide," his body was never found.

The police really did screw this up.
One question I had: Munson was a bachelor. Was he also gay?
That would explain how somebody could have got him alone w/ no struggle and no witnesses.
That would also explain why Munson didn't have a girlfriend or wife that would have reported him missing.

Not to let the car thief off the hook, but Munson's disappearance may have had something to do w/ his personal life rather than to do w/ this case.

This why Unsolved Mysteries had so many problems w/ cases like this. They never gave additional details that might have sparked things in people's minds.

[TheCars1986]

Considering it it was BPD investigating it doesn't surprise me that it's still not solved. I grew up in Baltimore City and on more than one occasion in took police over 45 minutes to show up after someone dialed 911. Watson was definitely involved but I guess as the old saying goes, "no body, no crime".

[Kane]

Originally Posted by cocytus

One question I had: Munson was a bachelor. Was he also gay?
That would explain how somebody could have got him alone w/ no struggle and no witnesses.
That would also explain why Munson didn't have a girlfriend or wife that would have reported him missing.

That could explain why Oliver Munson had no girlfriend or wife, but it's worth noting that the mere lack of a significant other doesn't necessairly mean the person is gay. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't prevent some people from rushing to judgment on the matter.

There might be some other explanation for Oliver's bachelorhood. Maybe he hadn't found the right woman yet or, quite possibly, he had been carrying a torch for someone in particular.

[dynoguy88]

The thing I always wondered about this case was how exactly Oliver was abducted. A neighbor sees him leave his house just before 8:00 to go to work. Then he never made it to school. At that time of morning, in broad daylight, during rush hour where there would, no doubt, be many people on the road going to work themselves, somebody would have seen something.

The fact that Oliver's books and paper lunch were found in the front seat would suggest there was no struggle inside the car. The only scenario I can think of is that Oliver could have been at a red light and his abductor's pulled up next to him aiming a gun at him. At that point, he would have left his car willingly and been forced to enter the killer's car. An accomplice might have then gotten in to Oliver's car and they both left, killed Oliver, dumped his body somewhere and then dropped Oliver's car off in a residential neighborhood 3 days after he is last seen alive.

Hilton Solomon's car, which was stolen just hours before Oliver vanished, was no doubt driven by the killers. Oliver's hat was found inside, and video store receipts in Oliver's name were found inside with some blood on them. This also might have been the car used to drive out to God knows where to dump the body. Although it's strange that the only blood found inside the car was on the video receipts on the floor.

It's too bad the police couldn't check with the video store records for the days that someone used Oliver's account. Video stores in my area have security cameras. But I highly doubt they would have had security cameras in 1984 when Oliver went missing.

I agree with those who thought the police messed up big time. Oliver should have had 24 hour protection during the days leading up to the court date where he would have had to testify against Dennis Watson.

[cocytus]

Originally Posted by Kane

That could explain why Oliver Munson had no girlfriend or wife, but it's worth noting that the mere lack of a significant other doesn't necessairly mean the person is gay. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't prevent some people from rushing to judgment on the matter.

There might be some other explanation for Oliver's bachelorhood. Maybe he hadn't found the right woman yet or, quite possibly, he had been carrying a torch for someone in particular.

I think that you may have misunderstood me.

If I remember correctly Oliver Munson was a larger man.
Even if he were a passive type of guy, he still could have been perceived as menacing by shorter people or by people that didn't know him.

If he were gay and cruised, then encounters w/ strangers wouldn't have seemed to have been an oddity for him and would possibly explain why he may have willingly got into another person's car.

There's also the unfortunate possibility that Mr. Munson was still involved w/ the car theft ring in a peripheral role. He did have a number of vehicles on his property and he possibly could have been looking for a "cheap" source of parts for those vehicles.

That may be how the car thief knew that Munson was testifying, where he lived and what his daily schedule would be.

[DJ_Foxx]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

The thing I always wondered about this case was how exactly Oliver was abducted. A neighbor sees him leave his house just before 8:00 to go to work. Then he never made it to school. At that time of morning, in broad daylight, during rush hour where there would, no doubt, be many people on the road going to work themselves, somebody would have seen something.

The fact that Oliver's books and paper lunch were found in the front seat would suggest there was no struggle inside the car. The only scenario I can think of is that Oliver could have been at a red light and his abductor's pulled up next to him aiming a gun at him. At that point, he would have left his car willingly and been forced to enter the killer's car. An accomplice might have then gotten in to Oliver's car and they both left, killed Oliver, dumped his body somewhere and then dropped Oliver's car off in a residential neighborhood 3 days after he is last seen alive.

Hilton Solomon's car, which was stolen just hours before Oliver vanished, was no doubt driven by the killers. Oliver's hat was found inside, and video store receipts in Oliver's name were found inside with some blood on them. This also might have been the car used to drive out to God knows where to dump the body. Although it's strange that the only blood found inside the car was on the video receipts on the floor.

It's too bad the police couldn't check with the video store records for the days that someone used Oliver's account. Video stores in my area have security cameras. But I highly doubt they would have had security cameras in 1984 when Oliver went missing.

I agree with those who thought the police messed up big time. Oliver should have had 24 hour protection during the days leading up to the court date where he would have had to testify against Dennis Watson.

I thought when his car was found, one of the tires was flat as well???? Or am I thinking about another case?