Pizza murders connection

[1990 UM fan]

I don't know if anyone else has ever brought this up, but I can't help but think that Sherry Eyerly and Morris Davis' cases are somehow related. I don't think it's unusual for a criminal to pick out a certain kind of person to target, and in this case, pizza delivery personnel. Let's go over the cases, shall we?

Sherry Eyerly, an 18-year-old pizza delivery woman for a Domino's pizza restaurant in Salem, Oregon, disappeared on July 4th, 1982 after leaving to deliver a pizza to an address in a remote part of Salem around 9:30 pm. Her delivery van was later discovered abandoned, with 3 boxes of pizza scattered across the ground. There were no signs of a struggle, but police later determined that the address she was supposed to go to was fake, as well as the name of the person who placed the call. The call was placed from a hotel. A day later, an unidentified person called the Domino's where Sherry worked and demanded a ransom in exchange for her safe return. The caller never called back and no money was ever collected. A suspect named Darrell Wilson was questioned and he denied knowing Sherry, but later said he was acquainted with her. He drove a lime-green truck similar to one seen near the area where Sherry disappeared from. He later committed suicide after being questioned by police. Police searched his truck for physical evidence involving him in Sherry's disappearance but found none and cleared him as as suspect. In December of 2007, a man named William Scott Smith, who was already serving a life sentence for murdering 2 other Salem women, confessed to the abduction and murder of Sherry Eyerly. He stated that he and a now-deceased accomplice, Roger Noseff, had planned to abduct another female Domino's worker but was not on duty and abducted Sherry instead. Noseff was the one who placed the fake call. Smith said he strangled Sherry to death and threw her body in the Pudding River, where his other victims were found. Searches in the river yielded no trace of Sherry and police believe that due to flooding of the river since her disappearance, her remains may never be found. Her body has never been located to this day.

On April 5th, 1985 in Great Falls, Montana, police responded to a multiple shooting at a vacant house around 11 pm. One of the paramedics, Cliff Davis, recognized the victim as his own brother, Morris Davis, a Howard's Pizza delivery man. Morris later died at an area hospital, having been shot 8 times at point blank range. It was learned that whomever killed Morris, selected a vacant house to lure Morris to. The killer removed a "for sale" sign from the yard and called from another location. He forced his way through the back door of the home and waited for Morris. After shooting Morris 8 times, he stole Morris' delivery wallet. 3 years later on May 11th, 1988, police arrested a man who was driving a stolen car that was reported missing from Oregon 3 days prior. When they searched his pockets, they found 2 receipts from a pawn shop. One of the receipts was from a .22 caliber pistol, which was also reported stolen. The pistol's bullets matched the ones found at the Morris Davis crime scene. The man who sold the gun had stolen it from a friend. The man was cleared of any involvement in Morris' murder. The gun's owner was questioned in Morris Davis' murder and denied any involvement. Police could not find anything linking him to the crime and believe he has no knowledge of the murder. Police are still baffled as to who stole the gun, killed Morris Davis with it, and then returned it to the owner without anyone knowing.

Is it a coincidence that 2 pizza delivery personnel were murdered within 3 years of each other and 761 miles apart? I find it intruiging that both Sherry and Morris were each lured to a fake address when their killer or killers placed fake calls as oppose to any other approach to kill them at random. Are there any other bizarre unsolved murders of pizza delivery personnel around the northwest United States or elsewhere in the country around this same time period?

[zack007attack]

It might just be a coincidence but based on the MO and vicinity of the cases, there could very well be a connection.

I think Morris was murdered solely for robbery but when Sherry fell prey, perhaps she was kidnapped because the perpetrator saw it as a bonus opportunity to use her for more sadistic purposes.

[QuenSolen]

One thing that I'd like to point out is that the gun in the Morris Davis case was proven NOT to be the murder weapon after additional testing. The original testing was flawed and gave a false positive.

[justins5256]

No connection, IMO.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by justins5256

No connection, IMO.

Agreed. The MO and everything about it seems so different, not to mention the distance.

[1990 UM fan]

was Sherry robbed of any money? I never heard about that. It's not unlikely that a killer like this could change their modus operandi according to a person's gender. Strangle a woman, shoot a man. You don't hear about men strangling other men often.

[1990 UM fan]

Originally Posted by QuenSolen

One thing that I'd like to point out is that the gun in the Morris Davis case was proven NOT to be the murder weapon after additional testing. The original testing was flawed and gave a false positive.

Oh yeah. Back to square one I guess.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by QuenSolen

One thing that I'd like to point out is that the gun in the Morris Davis case was proven NOT to be the murder weapon after additional testing. The original testing was flawed and gave a false positive.

I've been waiting to read something like this!!! It just seemed so far-fetched, to be honest, the whole story about the gun being far away and the owner innocent. Either the guy was guilty or the gun was wrong and I always leaned towards the latter.

1990 UM Fan, you are right about MOs being able to change and such. I wonder if Sherry's abduction could have been robbery motivated at first (because of the ransom call) and as she was a pretty young woman it could have also been for other reasons I have to wonder if this new confession is really legit or not.

But besides the distance and all that, I think that these were two separate killings. As others have mentioned, back then it was so easy to give out false addresses or addresses people wouldn't question and lure people into traps. That's why most delivery companies have policies now that forbid employees from entering houses. And I'm sure now people google map addresses and will know off the bat if they're fake. But in the 80s, it just wasn't like that.

[TheCars1986]

I believe Sherry Eyerly was abducted for the purpose of holding her hostage to receive a ransom. I think Morris Davis was killed by some random junkie who needed quick cash.

[pardilia]

The fake address thing has been around for ages with delivery food. Even for those not wanting to kill the delivery person, it was (and I'm sure still is) popular to call them out to a fake/wrong address so they can steal the food out of the car. Especially "back in the day" before drivers carried more money and more food.

It'd be like assuming that ATM holdups and other rather common crimes are related because of a similar MO.

[QuenSolen]

idyla, I can't say I'm too sure about that "fake call" ploy being popular anymore. Afterall, with caller ID, and easier ways to trace calls, it would be so much more difficult to call anyone anonymously. One of the only options would be to use a payphone so that if/when it's traced, it couldn't lead back to you.

NOT that I am suggesting anyone do this...

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by QuenSolen

idyla, I can't say I'm too sure about that "fake call" ploy being popular anymore. Afterall, with caller ID, and easier ways to trace calls, it would be so much more difficult to call anyone anonymously. One of the only options would be to use a payphone so that if/when it's traced, it couldn't lead back to you.

When I was in 8th grade, a couple friends and I called a Little Caesars and ordered a pizza to a teacher's house as a prank. (Seems incredibly lame and stupid now but we were 12, and we thought it was hilarious at the time.) This was the early 90's, just months before caller ID had come out, when a kid could do that or any caller could call in and not be detected.

While I don't think Sherry and Morris' deaths were connected in the slightest, they were victims to a different time period. Think about it. Back in the day, this could be considered the perfect crime. Make a fake name, order a pizza to some lonely place, and from there, you're free to rob, kill, kidnap, rape, do whatever you wish to the delivery man/woman. This kind of crime might have happened much more than we think because of the simplicity of the entire thing.

[Hockeygirl]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

When I was in 8th grade, a couple friends and I called a Little Caesars and ordered a pizza to a teacher's house as a prank. (Seems incredibly lame and stupid now but we were 12, and we thought it was hilarious at the time.) This was the early 90's, just months before caller ID had come out, when a kid could do that or any caller could call in and not be detected.

While I don't think Sherry and Morris' deaths were connected in the slightest, they were victims to a different time period. Think about it. Back in the day, this could be considered the perfect crime. Make a fake name, order a pizza to some lonely place, and from there, you're free to rob, kill, kidnap, rape, do whatever you wish to the delivery man/woman. This kind of crime might have happened much more than we think because of the simplicity of the entire thing.

I did that a couple times when I was younger too. I even called a Chinese resturant once asking for one egg roll. Lame yes, but I was 12.

I think with the case with Sherry, her abductor planned to kidnap her. She's probably delivered to his place before. He saw something he wanted and he took it.

I just want her family to be able to live with peace. Also for her to have a proper funeral.

I'm not familiar with the other case.

Also with Sherry's case, did the police ever look at the history of her deliveries ?

[1990 UM fan]

Originally Posted by Hockeygirl

I did that a couple times when I was younger too. I even called a Chinese resturant once asking for one egg roll. Lame yes, but I was 12.

I think with the case with Sherry, her abductor planned to kidnap her. She's probably delivered to his place before. He saw something he wanted and he took it.

I just want her family to be able to live with peace. Also for her to have a proper funeral.

I'm not familiar with the other case.

Also with Sherry's case, did the police ever look at the history of her deliveries ?

If you read Sherry's profile on the Charley Project website, it'll say that her abductor and his accomplice planned to abduct another woman but that woman never arrived for work, so they abducted Sherry instead. I don't think she knew them previously or they knew her. She was selected at random.

[scc1222]

I don't see how they can say there were no signs of a struggle.3 pizzas scattered across the ground sounds like she struggled to me.