1982 Breckenridge murders

[dynoguy88]

I watched the UM rerun last night about the murders of Bobbie Oberholtzer and Annette Kay Schnee that took place in Breckenridge, Colorado in early January 1982. (This was actually a case I mentioned as being one of the scariest I ever saw in a reply to another post a couple weeks ago.) The case, I thought, was very interesting seeing that both women dissapeared on the same night (actually within ours of each other) in Breckenridge, both women had been hitch-hiking home, both were taken out into the woods and shot in the back as they were running away from their killer, and strangely, both of their bodies were found with a orange sock on or nearby.

Coincidently, I got a book in the mail yesterday that I ordered over Amazon.com about a real life murder mystery, over 500 pages with details about a killer from Colorado and his victims over the past 20 years... and Bobbie and Annette are mentioned as most likely being 2 of the victims (pictures, lots of info, and even info about the filming of this case for the Unsolved Mysteries segment)

One of things mentioned on the back of the book reads...

"On February 13, 1982, 21 year old Mary Brown accepted a ride from a handsome, polite stranger in the ski resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado. Hours later, her battered bloodied body was treated my emergency room doctors who couldn't believe a human being could have inflicted such massive traumatic injuries."

Isn't that interesting? Just a little over a month after Bobby and Annette were murdered, this Brown girl was almost killed in the exact same fasion, same place, hitch-hiking taken out to the woods, only difference is she survived and the others didn't. A man named Thomas Luther was arrested for the attempted murder and sent to prison. He denied to police that he had killed Bobby and Annette, but bragged to several other prison mates that he had killed 2 other women out in the woods.

I wonder why Unsolved Mysteries never mentioned any of this. It's just too much of a coincidence the way these women were attacked.

Well, I've only read about 50 pages so far, but according to the back of the book, this Tomas Luther guy was released in 1993 (or he escaped or something) and continued his hobby of attacking and killing women, this time near Denver. So I don't know what happens to the guy at the moment.

The Unsolved Mysteries segment about Bobbie and Annette had an update, all it mentioned was that Bobbie's husband Jeff is no longer a suspect in this case and that the police are currently investigating other leads. I know they are trying to find more info, but it really seems as though that Thomas Luther was probably the killer of these women.... unless there was another killer who lived in the same town, at the same time, and killed women in the exact same fasion. I just wonder why none of this other info was mentioned in the UM segment. Weird.

[Kane]

Originally posted by dynoguy88
Isn't that interesting? Just a little over a month after Bobby and Annette were murdered, this Brown girl was almost killed in the exact same fasion, same place, hitch-hiking taken out to the woods, only difference is she survived and the others didn't. A man named Thomas Luther was arrested for the attempted murder and sent to prison. He denied to police that he had killed Bobby and Annette, but bragged to several other prison mates that he had killed 2 other women out in the woods.

I wonder why Unsolved Mysteries never mentioned any of this. It's just too much of a coincidence the way these women were attacked.

Well, I've only read about 50 pages so far, but according to the back of the book, this Tomas Luther guy was released in 1993 (or he escaped or something) and continued his hobby of attacking and killing women, this time near Denver. So I don't know what happens to the guy at the moment.

The Unsolved Mysteries segment about Bobbie and Annette had an update, all it mentioned was that Bobbie's husband Jeff is no longer a suspect in this case and that the police are currently investigating other leads. I know they are trying to find more info, but it really seems as though that Thomas Luther was probably the killer of these women.... unless there was another killer who lived in the same town, at the same time, and killed women in the exact same fasion. I just wonder why none of this other info was mentioned in the UM segment. Weird.

I think maybe the cops have suspected Thomas Luther in the 1982 murders mentioned in the segment in question. But I think the main reason it wasn't mentioned could be that the cops have had only suspicions and perhaps too little (if any) evidence to publicly name Luther on the show. Therefore, it is hardly unusual for certain details to not be mentioned in a segment for a show like Unsolved Mysteries or 60 Minutes.

By the way, I have a book called "The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers," and found Thomas Luther's name in the appendix section of the book. (The book was newly published when I bought it in the spring of 2000, two years ago.) According to the details, he was born in 1957, and his crime spree is believed to have spanned two decades, starting sometime in the 1970s and ending in 1994. Although he is suspected of at least nine murders, he was apparently charged with only one: In 1996 he received a sentence of 48 years in prison for a murder in Colorado. That same year, he also received two 50-year terms for assault and attempted murder (also in Colorado). So he is evidently locked up safely away from society.

[dynoguy88]

Aw, Kane, you ruined the ending of the book for me! LOL...just kidding. I kind of figured that he would be captured since a book was written about him and his victims. This time, I hope he STAYS behind bars.

As far as the connection is concerned, from what I read so far, after Luther was arrested in February 1982 for attempted murder and rape.. (the month after Oberholtzher and Schnee were murdered) he bragged to other prison inmates that he killed 2 women out in the woods. And, his girlfriend stated to police that he was watching the news with her weeks earlier when Annette's picture was flashed on the news and he said, "They'll never find that b****."

I really think this has to be the guy. He was arrested for ATTEMPTED murder, if he admitted to police that he had murdered Bobbie and Annette too, there would be no chance that he would ever be released from jail in his life time. Heck, not even HE is THAT stupid.

After he got out of jail in 1993, he killed another young woman named Cher Edner that March. He drove her out to the woods and murdered her when he was SUPPOSED to give her a ride home. Hmmm, sound familiar? If this guy isn't the murderer of Bobbie and Annette, than it would have to be the BIGGEST coincidence EVER!

[mercy1825]

Sorry to activate an old post, but I wanted to comment on an aspect of your dialogue. From what someone mentioned, Luther savagely beat and attacked the victim who survived, and the two victims on the segment were shot once or twice. This difference in MO leads me to believe that the killer may not have been Luther.

[nohwheregirl]

Originally Posted by mercy1825

Sorry to activate an old post, but I wanted to comment on an aspect of your dialogue. From what someone mentioned, Luther savagely beat and attacked the victim who survived, and the two victims on the segment were shot once or twice. This difference in MO leads me to believe that the killer may not have been Luther.

This comment brings up something I've been thinking about lately. Most of what we know about serial killers is from the FBI, their profilers, and the serial killers they've caught. I think any detective would tell you that it's easier to catch a serial killer who has uses the same MO every time. But what about those other serial killers who vary their MO, and are less likely to be caught or recognized as serial killers? I think many of us are very quick to assume certain things about serial killers, but they're really only characteristics that the "caught" serial killers are statistically more likely to have.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by mercy1825

Sorry to activate an old post, but I wanted to comment on an aspect of your dialogue. From what someone mentioned, Luther savagely beat and attacked the victim who survived, and the two victims on the segment were shot once or twice. This difference in MO leads me to believe that the killer may not have been Luther.

I think if you read the book you might feel differently. I don't have time to go back and find every detail so I'll post what I remember from the book.

Yes, Luther beat the victim that survived (savagely with a hammer which he also raped her with) but that took place very close to a residential neighborhood - in his van with homes very close by. If he had shot her, many, many people would have heard the gun shot and probably noticed the van speeding away. In fact, when the girl escaped, she was able to run to a house that was just down the street and get help.

Now, if you compare that with the murders of Bobbie Oberholtzer and Annette Schnee - which of course were featured on the UM segment - you'll notice that both of these women were killed out in the middle of nowhere. Annette was driven down a small dead end road in the middle of the woods and Bobbie was driven out over a scenic overlook. The chances of anyone coming accross the scene of the crime were slim to none. You could have shot a cannon off and nobody would have heard it. Also, the weather that night was bitterly cold - around 5 degrees below zero. Nobody would be out miles and miles from no where in the middle of the woods on such a miserable cold night.

Serial killers don't always murder their victims in the same fashion. The book as well as the Breckenridge police made note of this. Luther attacked Mary Brown with a hammer. A few years later, he attacked a woman with a knife. In another case, he attacked a woman with his bare hands in which he tried to strangle her to death. So I think it's very possible he could have shot Bobbie and Annette.

Some other interesting notes...

*Both Bobbie and Annette matched the physical descriptions of ALL of Luther's other victims - Attractive females with shoulder length hair.

*Annette's body wasn't found until 6 months after her murder. While Luther was in jail for the assault on Mary Brown (the victim that survived) he saw a news segment showing Annette's picture - he stared at the picture with this awful glare and said, "They'll never find that b*tch."

*Also while he was in jail for the assualt on Mary Brown, Luther bragged to other inmates that he had killed two other women out in the woods. (Interesting.)

*Luther's live in girlfriend stated that he was gone the entire evening of the murders and didn't come home until very late that night.

*Luther called off of work the day before and the day after the murders.

Unsolved Mysteries made NO mention of these facts.

But the fact that seems the most obvious was the location and timing of attacks. Bobbie and Annette hitched a ride home in Breckenridge, the same thing happened with Mary Brown. The attack on Mary Brown took place less than a month after Bobbie and Annette were murdered. That seems like too much of a coincidence to me.

[mercy1825]

I definitely see your points and am leaning towards agreeing with your hypothesis that Luther may be responsible for these two murders. Obviously, I did not read the text you speak of, and cannot comment on the comparisons with any integrity. However, a good question is this: How many cases of murdered hitch-hikers were there in that area of Colorado around that time period? If there were few, Luther probably is our guy due to the probability and coincidence factors, but it seems that in the early 1980's many women began to finally stop hitch-hiking due to the frequency of murders and rapes by such killers as Ed Kemper and many others. This was a common MO it seems, at that time. If the text discusses that information (how many hitch-hiker murders in that area at that time) I would be very appreciative if you would share it with us. Thanks a lot!!!

[dynoguy88]

Back in 1982, EVERYONE in that area (women AND men) hitchhiked. Everyone got to know each other. Murders were extremely rare for that area and time period. The murders threw Summit County, and particularly Breckenridge, into a panic.

Here is a passage from the book -

Breckenridge was still the sort of town where people didn't bother to lock their doors. Anybody who had lived there more than a couple of months knew everybody else, and they watched out for each other. Even strangers were greeted warmly, so long as they didn't act too much like the monied snobs in Vail or Aspen.

The only violent crime was apt to be the heat of passion sort of thing - friends who got in an argument after having a little too much to drink and took a few swings. A night in the pokey and they were friends again by morning. There was the occasional robbery of a gas station or conveniance store, usually by some stranger passing through. But people in these parts couldn't remember the last time there'd been a murder so near Breckenridge until Bobby Jo Oberholtzer (and eventually Annette Schnee).

The dissappearence and murders of the two women changed the town, forever. It would never again be as innocent and trusting. Residents went out and bought guns for protection, something nobody would have imagined before the murders.

The difference in the atmosphere seems pretty different than before. Here is another passage taken from the book that also makes Luther look pretty guilty -

Detectives Richard Eaton and Charlie McCormick keep Luther on the short lists of suspects and follow each lead as it appears. They have tried to trace a report that an airline stewardess in California, who sold Luther the truck he was driving in 1982 when he assaulted Mary Brown, was later found beaten to death. But so far, it remains a rumor.

Initially, Eaton was troubled that Bobby and Annette were executed with a gun, while Luther attacked his other known victims with a hammer and his hands. But then Luther was convicted of shooting Cher Elder to death in 1993.

Breckenridge is no longer a stranger to murders and other violent crime. It keeps Eaton too busy to devote much time to the murders of Bobby and Annette. But he still pulls over whenever he reaches the summit of Hoosier Pass and also pauses by the small white cross beside a stream if other matters take him to Alma. "No one stops being a suspect until I got the guy who did it," he says.

Although they're not his cases and he keeps a discreet distance, Richardson remains convinced that Oberholtzer and Schnee are Luther's work. He points out that the murders, rare for the area back then, stopped when Luther was arrested.

There are other factors that continue to point the finger at Luther for the murders. He wasn't working the day of or after the murders yet he told investigators that he was. He drove a truck similar to the truck the hitchhiking Breckenridge couple insisted having seen Bobby in the night she hitched a ride home. And by his own accounts, he had access to several guns.

To this day, Luther has not been charged with the murders of Bobby and Annette. It is nice to know that he is in jail and will remain there the rest of his life but it doesn't give justice for the women's families and friends. There's not a doubt in my mind that he is the killer.

This book is really good. There's even a section that talked about the filming of the Unsolved Mysteries segment and how they filmed it exactly 10 years to the night that both women were murdered. It's also cool that the UM crew went to the exact locations where both women were found dead to film. This show wasn't just awesome, they went into great detail without getting too gory.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

Some other interesting notes...

*Both Bobbie and Annette matched the physical descriptions of ALL of Luther's other victims - Attractive females with shoulder length hair.

*Annette's body wasn't found until 6 months after her murder. While Luther was in jail for the assault on Mary Brown (the victim that survived) he saw a news segment showing Annette's picture - he stared at the picture with this awful glare and said, "They'll never find that b*tch."

*Also while he was in jail for the assualt on Mary Brown, Luther bragged to other inmates that he had killed two other women out in the woods. (Interesting.)

*Luther's live in girlfriend stated that he was gone the entire evening of the murders and didn't come home until very late that night.

*Luther called off of work the day before and the day after the murders.

Unsolved Mysteries made NO mention of these facts.

But the fact that seems the most obvious was the location and timing of attacks. Bobbie and Annette hitched a ride home in Breckenridge, the same thing happened with Mary Brown. The attack on Mary Brown took place less than a month after Bobbie and Annette were murdered. That seems like too much of a coincidence to me.

I might have missed something, but was Luther a suspect in the murders of Bobbie and Annette before UM aired the segment? If so, was it generally known? I only ask because there's always the possibility that the cops suspected him, but that it wasn't publicly known, and therefore they didn't want to publicize that fact, and risk scaring an unsuspecting Luther. That could explain why UM didn't mention the facts that you pointed out.

As a general rule, if you suspect someone of a crime, you don't want to make it public information unless you are sure that your suspect (or person of interest) already knows that he's a suspect. In other words, you don't want the suspect to be the last to know that he's under suspicion.

Just a thought.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by Kane

I might have missed something, but was Luther a suspect in the murders of Bobbie and Annette before UM aired the segment?

The general opinion of the police at the time of the segment was that Luther could very well have been a suspect. But at a dead end, the chief police officer contacted Unsolved Mysteries with hopes of getting some more information. Interestingly enough, the book didn't make any mention of why Luther wasn't mentioned in the segment but I would assume you are correct in the fact that they didn't want to alert Luther that he might be considered a suspect.

[OriginalNightstalker]

While it is true that law enforcement studies the Modus Operandi of the serial killer, like someone mentioned in a previous thread the smart ones will change their MO, but usually their signature will stay the same which is why law enforcement think the signature is just as, if not more important than the MO.