Texas Killing Fields (location)

The Texas Killing Fields is an area bordering the Calder Oil Field, a 25-acre patch of land situated a mile from the stretch of Interstate 45 known as the "Highway of Hell" because of its high rate of traffic accidents.[1] Since the early 1970s roughly 30 bodies have been extracted from the towns around the Killing Fields, mainly consisting of young girls.[2] Despite exhaustive efforts by the Texas City Police with the assistance of the FBI, very few cases have been solved. A film, Texas Killing Fields, released in 2011, and a book, Deliver Us, published in 2015, are based on cases from the fields.

The fields have been described as "a perfect place [for] killing somebody and getting away with it."[2] After visiting some sites of the recovered remains in Texas City, Ami Canaan Mann, director of the film The Texas Killing Fields, commented, "You could actually see the refineries that are in the South end of Texas City. You could see the I-45. But if you yelled no one would necessarily hear you, and if you ran there wouldn’t necessarily be anywhere to go."[3]

Victims

[4]

Suspects

It has been speculated that many of the cases are the work of a serial killer, because of a number of similarities with some of the cases. Many of the victims fall into the age range of 10–25 and many shared similar physical features with a few having similar hairstyles. Another parallel is that the majority of the bodies were found next to a water mass.[5] Although they are convincing characteristics, lack of evidence and technological development at the time of the crimes limited the ability to conceive solid evidence that there were multiple serial killer(s) preying along the I-45.

One suspect was convicted murderer Edward Harold Bell, 72 years old in November 2011, who claimed in a 1998 letter to police to have murdered 11 girls in Galveston County. Although he had been a longtime suspect, prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence.[6][7]

Arrest in the Krystal Jean Baker case

In April 2012, 16 years after Krystal Jean Baker's beaten, raped and strangled body was found, Kevin Edison Smith was arrested and convicted for her murder.[1] In 2009, Smith had been arrested on a drug charge in Louisiana, and around the same time a detective tested Krystal Baker's dress for DNA and the match was confirmed using advanced modern-day technologies that were not available at the time of Krystal's disappearance.[8] The jury deliberated for no more than 30 minutes before Smith was sentenced to life in prison.[9]

Film adaptation

The Hollywood adaptation of the deadly events that occurred along the I-45 was released on September 9, 2011, with the title Texas Killing Fields. Directed by Ami Canaan Mann and starring Sam Worthington and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the film is loosely based on the real cases while depicting a fictionalized portrayal of the struggle local police faced in attempting to solve the murders. The film focuses on the lead police detectives, Capt. Brian Goetschius and Mike Land, who dedicated their careers to solving the mysteries of I-45. The filmmakers hired officers Brian Goetschius and Mike Land as consultants while making the movie.[10]

Janet Miller, mother of victim Laura Miller, said in an interview with the Dallas Morning News that she was angry at first about the idea of a film, stating “I was upset because no one notified me. The parents should know what’s going on.” Screenwriter and Federal Agent Donald Ferrarone said he drew information from an interview with a kidnapping victim and the family of one of the deceased.[11][12] Tim Miller, father of victim Laura Miller, said he saw the film for what the filmmakers had intended, to raise awareness about the crimes and generate new tips about the crimes. In an interview with CBS News for 48 Hours Mystery, actor Sam Worthington said, “People you never know might just go and see the movie and go, 'Oh, I remember when someone went down in the fields, and I remember a certain car and a certain person seemed a bit dodgy.' Maybe a family can then know what happened to their daughters.”[8]

Book

Author Kathryn Casey's book, Deliver Us: Three Decades of Murder and Redemption in the Infamous I-45/Texas Killing Fields, was released by HarperCollins in January 2015 and examines 19 murder cases, from 1971 through the 1990s.[13]

The author told the Shreveport Times that Deliver Us is a cautionary look at the horrific toll the crimes have taken on the victims' loved ones. "Most of the cases remain unsolved," she said. "I interviewed investigators, victims’ families and friends and the men suspected of incredible evil.” It was, Casey noted, difficult to research and write. “It’s more personal than anything I’ve ever done."[14]

References

  1. 1 2 The mystery of the Texas Killing Fields... And how one man may hold the answer to the 30 young women found murdered there | Mail Online
  2. 1 2 The real-life mystery of Texas' killing fields – CBS News
  3. ↑ Extra: "Texas Killing Fields" director on real-life cases – 48 Hours – CBS News
  4. ↑ http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-18559_162-10009885-2.html/
  5. ↑ "The Killing Fields": Disappearance of Texas girl still haunts 48 Hours reporter – Crimesider – CBS News
  6. ↑ Police: No corroboration for killing confession – The Galveston County Daily News : News
  7. ↑ "Serial killer Edward Harold Bell's chilling confessions: 'I murdered 11 teenage girls' - Daily Mail Online". Mail Online. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  8. 1 2 The Killing Fields – 48 Hours – CBS News
  9. ↑ "Man convicted in Texas City girl's 1996 slaying". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Detectives hope 'Killing Fields' film help solve 60 murders – Houston Chronicle
  11. ↑ Victims' kin skeptical on film on Galveston Co. killings – Houston Chronicle
  12. ↑ http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20111021-killing-fields-movie-based-on-slain-missing-texas-girls.ece/
  13. ↑ "True-life horror story". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  14. ↑ "Bestselling Texas author writes about area crimes". shreveporttimes.com. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.

External links

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