{"id":5154,"date":"2019-05-06T10:20:12","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T15:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/?p=5154"},"modified":"2019-05-08T12:59:12","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T17:59:12","slug":"the-unsolved-murders-of-texarkana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/?p=5154","title":{"rendered":"T-Town’s Unsolved Murders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Horror films are great, but it\u2019s never fun to find out the film is based on a true story. The people of Texarkana might be interested in learning about a horror film based on an event that took place in their very own hometown. The film, The Town That Dreaded Sundown<\/em>, premiered in 1976, followed by a sequel. The world premiere was held in Texarkana on Dec. 17, 1976, before it was released in theaters on Dec. 24. These films are loosely based on the horrific moonlight murders of the Phantom Killer.<\/p>\n

The attacks occurred in the spring of 1946, from late February to early May. The murderer attacked young and middle-aged couples. The first two victims, Jimmy Hollis and Mary Larey, survived an attack that occurred on February 22, 1946. The second attack occurred four weeks later, ending the lives of Richard Griffin and Polly Ann Moore. Three weeks after that, the Phantom Killer struck again, this time taking the lives of Paul Martin and Betty Jo Booker. Three weeks later, on May 3, 1946, Virgil Starks was shot and killed in his home by the Phantom Killer, and Straks\u2019 wife Katie was left severely wounded.<\/p>\n

As in the films, the real Phantom Killer was never identified. However, the prime suspect in the case was Youell Swinney, who was never convicted of the murders. The case remains unsolved, which has left the town of Texarkana in suspense.<\/p>\n

For more information on the murders click here<\/a> or here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Horror films are great, but it\u2019s never fun to find out the film is based on a true story. The people of Texarkana might be interested in learning about a horror film based on an event that took place in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[210,200,142],"tags":[517,531,105],"class_list":["post-5154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-movies","category-texarkana","tag-horrorfilm","tag-thetownthatdreadedsundown","tag-texarkana"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3odG9-1l8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6778,"url":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/?p=6778","url_meta":{"origin":5154,"position":0},"title":"It’s Time To Go To The Perot!","author":"Victor Vargas","date":"November 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Perot Theatre is one of Texarkana\u2019s oldest cultural icons. Located downtown it is one of the oldest landmarks being established in 1924. People often forget about it because it can be overshadowed by the Cinemark or attribute it to \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d ballet performance. However, it is more than just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Uncategorized"","block_context":{"text":"Uncategorized","link":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/?cat=141"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4935,"url":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/?p=4935","url_meta":{"origin":5154,"position":1},"title":"Christmas at the Perot Theatre","author":"Epiphany La'Sha","date":"December 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"For the first time in 40 years the Perot Theatre is open to the public to play holiday movies, in a collaboration between the City of Texarkana, Texas and TRAHC, and Perot Theatre to bring Texarkana a new holiday tradition. 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Most schools or businesses closed until further notice. \u201cOut of an abundance of caution the Texas A&M University\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Community"","block_context":{"text":"Community","link":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/?cat=312"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7288,"url":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/?p=7288","url_meta":{"origin":5154,"position":3},"title":"Groundbreaking for New TAMUT Building","author":"Angel Mendoza","date":"April 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Texarkana is set to witness a significant leap in higher education as Texas A&M University-Texarkana prepares to construct the new Business, Engineering, and Technology Building. This state-of-the-art facility, named in honor of James C. Morriss, founder of JCM Industries, promises to transform the university and the surrounding community. 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I have recently made it my mission to find something to do in Texarkana, and what I have found\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Community"","block_context":{"text":"Community","link":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/?cat=312"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eagleeyemedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/3ACCA839-183D-4204-9779-B46A57AEC4E1-169x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5154"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5504,"href":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5154\/revisions\/5504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eagleeyemedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}