Angela Hammond Case...Closer to being solved?

[1990UMFan]

The following interview, done earlier this year, in the link I've posted, is of an interview with an author who has done a LOT of research into a serial killer named Larry Hall. Hall killed women who were very similar to Angela in age, build, hair color and body type; He killed in almost every Midwestern state and was operating from 1981 to 1994 before he was captured. His MO was VERY VERY similar to the MO used by Angela's abductor--He would stalk and target women in desolate areas and snatch them up, and he is an organized serial killer who also has attributes of a disorganized killer. He's believed to be responsible for up to 40 murders of young women. He was a dirty looking man with a beard and mustache.


The author and Hall have been in corespondence for a long time and Hall is considered a strong suspect in the case of the Springfield Three. He and his brother Gary are known to have been in the area in the Spring of '92, as he has admitted to having five bodies buried in Mark Twain Forest in Missouri...He has claimed three of the women buried were from Springfield, MO, and the other two women are from small towns in MO, the names of which he did not recall.

Apparently, the Clinton, MO police have discounted the idea that Angela's abductor drove a pick up truck, and they even have a sketch of her probable killer--which came as a shock to me. The sketch happens to look eerily like Larry Hall's own mugshot.

Btw I should probably come out with this. I was a member here from 2010 to earlier this year. My name was CuriousMind90 and I made a number of posts here about the Hammond case and others. I couldn't access the email which I'd used to register the account anymore, so I made a new one.

[1990UMFan]

The interview is here. If you've any interest in the Springfield Three or Cheryl Ann Kenney or Angela Hammond's cases, it will make for very interesting reading.
http://www.truecrimediary.com/index....e=cases&id=174

[1990 UM fan]

To my knowledge, they still have DNA evidence they collected from the phone booth that Angela Hammond was abducted from before they remodeled the whole area years later. If they can test that against Larry Hall, then her case might be blown open.

[Steve W.]

That would be quite a breakthrough if they can match that DNA they collected from the Angela Hammond case to this guy.

Many of us that frequent this site know that this is one of the most-discussed cases on here.

[TheCars1986]

If Larry Hall used vans to abduct his victims, I don't think he's responsible for Angela's abduction. Both Rob, Angela, and other witnesses reported a pickup truck seen near the phone booth where Angela was abducted.

[1990UMFan]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

If Larry Hall used vans to abduct his victims, I don't think he's responsible for Angela's abduction. Both Rob, Angela, and other witnesses reported a pickup truck seen near the phone booth where Angela was abducted.

According to the interview, Clinton Police have discounted the pickup truck story. And if you read the interview, Hall had help in committing his murders, possibly sometimes from his brother and even perhaps other accomplices who are at large. Remember, he traveled all over the place. He might not have been using HIS car that particular night.

In my mind, there are only 4 possibilities as to who Angela Hammond's murderer was at this point which we can narrow it down to:

1) Larry Hall (perhaps with an accomplice). Hall operated in the Midwest including Missouri in the early 1990s and targeted women who resembled Angela. He was a thrill or lust killer, using sexual violence against his victims before murdering them. He was able to navigate many of these back alley, backwater areas due to extensive travelling. He was a mixed Serial Killer with Organized and Disorganized traits. His MO is quite similar to that of the man Angela met at the Phone Booth. Knows a great deal about Missouri and claims to have 5 bodies buried in Missouri's Mark Twain Forest. Three of them from Springfield, MO; Two from small towns which he can't remember the name of. Hall resembled Angela's description.

2) Marvin Chaney and Jesse Rush (and possibly accomplishes 'Parel' and Greg Marshel), two serial killers who were operating in the MO area in 1991 and who confessed to the murder of Trudy Darby and were apparently involved in three other murders for which they were not charged due to lack of evidence. They used a barn as the setting for torturing, raping and murdering the women they abducted and disposed of the bodies by burning. Their associate Marshel burned the barn down for them, erasing any evidence. Chaney had a beard and resembled the man Angela described. Like Hall, the brothers and their associate had a similar MO in their killings to that of Angie's killer.

3) Kenneth McDuff. His MO was very similar and it is unclear where exactly he was in April 1991. He has long been listed as a possibility.

4) An unknown, someone whose name is STILL not known to us, or who is known for other murders but whose name still hasn't been connected with Angela's. I believe this to be the least likely option.

I believe that between Hall, Chaney and Rush you probably have the killers of Angela Hammond, Trudy Darby, Cheryl Ann Kenney, and the Springfield Three and possibly several other murders and disappearances in Missouri in the period from the late 1980s through mid 1990s.

Missouri and the Midwest seem filled to the brim with serial murderers who all had similar MOs in this period. Creepy.

[1990 UM fan]

I thought they ruled out Darby's killers in Angela's case? Kenneth McDuff is a likely possibility but he was executed in 1998 so I don't know how else they'd go about finding a connection other than DNA testing. I still thinking testing the DNA from the Hammond crime scene against Larry Hall would be their best bet at the moment.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by 1990UMFan

According to the interview, Clinton Police have discounted the pickup truck story.

I don't know how accurate that article is, but that totally goes against what Rob Shaffer and multiple other witnesses have stated. They all agree that Angela was taken or being stalked by a guy driving a dirty pick up truck.

[Steve W.]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

I don't know how accurate that article is, but that totally goes against what Rob Shaffer and multiple other witnesses have stated. They all agree that Angela was taken or being stalked by a guy driving a dirty pick up truck.

Who were the multiple other witnesses?

I thought Rob was the only one who supposedly witnessed this pick-up truck and tried to chase it down.

If detectives there are now ruling out the pick-up truck theory, then maybe that means that Rob was lying/making that story up all along and that he might actually be responsible for Angela Hammond's disappearance.

[saywhat]

Originally Posted by Steve W.

Who were the multiple other witnesses?

I thought Rob was the only one who supposedly witnessed this pick-up truck and tried to chase it down.

If detectives there are now ruling out the pick-up truck theory, then maybe that means that Rob was lying/making that story up all along and that he might actually be responsible for Angela Hammond's disappearance.

Quote from that article: "He then said they had pretty much discounted the pickup truck theory".

Now, this is secondhand information at best. Who knows what the investigator actually told this person. That said, if it is true, it is very interesting. The pick-up truck seemed to be quite central to the whole story as presented on UM, given the very specific description of it given by the boyfriend. IIRC, according to the boyfriend, Angela also described the truck to him while they were on the phone. Nonetheless, as far as I know, there is nothing to verify the claim that the investigator has discounted the pick-up truck theory, so I'm taking that with a large grain of salt.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by Steve W.

Who were the multiple other witnesses?

I thought Rob was the only one who supposedly witnessed this pick-up truck and tried to chase it down.

If detectives there are now ruling out the pick-up truck theory, then maybe that means that Rob was lying/making that story up all along and that he might actually be responsible for Angela Hammond's disappearance.

I really hope this doesn't turn into another "Rob did it vs. no Rob didn't" thread.

The Charley Project website, along with several newspaper articles written at the time of Angela's disappearance say there were "several witnesses" who placed a man (who fitted Angela's description she gave to Rob over the phone) in the convenience store parking lot who was driving a green pickup truck.

[XCalibur]

I brought up Larry Hall as a suspect myself a couple of years ago in a thread. I did then and still believe he could be a strong suspect in Angela's abduction and probable murder.

Even if the pickup truck story is true, it doesn't discount Hall. He was known to drive and procure various older vehicles.

[1990UMFan]

Originally Posted by XCalibur

I brought up Larry Hall as a suspect myself a couple of years ago in a thread. I did then and still believe he could be a strong suspect in Angela's abduction and probable murder.

Even if the pickup truck story is true, it doesn't discount Hall. He was known to drive and procure various older vehicles.

Would be nice if he was in that the case could finally have closure, especially if Angie is one of the five women buried in Mark Twain Forest. If he gives up the exact location, like he says he will if given immunity, she could be given a proper burial and her family could finally have closure.

I refuse to believe that a good chunk of America's serial killers happened to converge in Missouri and the midwest in general in 1991/1992 and that the guy is still totally unknown. I believe firmly that between Chaney, Rush and Hall, one of those three is Angie's killer.

[TheCars1986]

What really confuses me is that police initially thought that the abductions of Angela, Trudy Darby, and Cheryl Kenney were all related yet when they found out who murdered Trudy Darby (Rush and Cheney) all of a sudden they do a 180 and rule them out in the Hammond and Kenney case?! It's weird.

[Steve W.]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

What really confuses me is that police initially thought that the abductions of Angela, Trudy Darby, and Cheryl Kenney were all related yet when they found out who murdered Trudy Darby (Rush and Cheney) all of a sudden they do a 180 and rule them out in the Hammond and Kenney case?! It's weird.

Maybe it was just wishful thinking on their part (one perpetrator, not as much work).