A convicted murderer serving a 70-year prison sentence died leaving unanswered questions about the unsolved killings of 11 missing girls. Bell sent prosecutors in Texas letters containing his confession in 1998 but they have remained secret until now. Possible serial killer Edward Harold Bell is due to be released from parole in the fall of 2017. Edward Harold Bell, a convicted killer who in 2011 admitted to killing two Galveston teenagers in the 1970s, died Saturday. She says that there will always be an emptiness, a part that is missing and will never be returned. 2-min read. In anger, she tried to attack him, yelling, "I hate you! Ariel Ackerman, the wife of Debbie's brother, Daniel, told The Police News, "In the wake of this . Years after their deaths, the series reports that a man named Edward Harold Bell penned a letter to authorities claiming that he had allegedly been brainwashed into killing two of the girls. Despite the violent nature of the crime against Dickens, Bell's bond was set at $125,000. Dorothy came out and Dawna asked her if he was dead. After the airing of the episode a man recognized Bell as someone he had recently conducted business with in Panama City. He was eventually arrested in Panama just months after an episode of Unsolved Mysteries aired, renewing public attention on his case. Another is believed to be Gloria Gonzales, who vanished in October 1971; her remains were found in close proximity to Colette's. Pictured is the Dickinson pasture owned by Edward Harold Bell in the mid 1970s. Galveston surfer girls Debbie Ackerman, 15, and Maria Johnson, 15, went missing after hitch-hiking on November 15, 1971. However, Galveston prosecutors refused to present his written confessions to a grand jury. He was an avid hunter and a champion horseshoe player. Bell said he made it all up for a specific purpose. 2. As Dorothy continued talking to the police, Larry went out and took the keys out of Bell's truck in an attempt to keep him there until the police arrived. Bell claimed that he was "fearful" of Larry and had no way to retreat from the situation. Gloria Gonzales went missing in October of 1971 (her body was found near Wilson's). Bell continued to demand his keys. All eleven potential victims linked to Edward Bell were found at the Killing Fields. He was stopped by police at least a dozen times for masturbating and flashing AT girls. To employ every one who wants to work in the . In an interview, Pruns said he once visited a property where Bell kept horses, raccoons, various critters, and a travel trailer painted to look like a red caboose. The State of Texas, Relatives unsure of killer's claim in Texas deaths. When they opened up the back door of the police car, she immediately knew that he was Larry's killer. [2], On August 24, 1978, while driving his red and white GMC truck around Pasadena, Bell stopped in front of a group of young girls, pulled down his pants and began masturbating in front of them. Bell claimed that his victims were from Houston, Galveston, Webster, and Dickinson. He has since been named as a "person of interest" in the murders of six young girls in the Galveston area. [10] This argument was disproven, and Bell was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 70 years imprisonment. The Sentinel reported that it took nearly 20 years to get a conviction for the murder, because when Bell was out on bail, he fled and lived under assumed names for years. He had been living there with a teenage girl. He claimed that he shot them and disposed of their bodies near a remote bridge. He was employed by Greer Industries for many years as an operator for 42 years. She felt that when he got off the plane, he seemed arrogant, which infuriated her. At Bell's trial, the prosecution's chief witnesses were Dorothy and Dawna. Bell's case is far more complicated than it initially may seem. He got out and pointed his rifle at one of the officers. Letters. 1,890,000 TO SEEK NORTHWEST JOBS Legion Confers on Post-War Employment Plans. 0. [2] Bell would also claim in later interviews that his father encouraged him to do violent crime, ranging from robbing banks and raping girls, in addition to encouraging him to kill himself. Bell claimed in a 1998 letter to police that he had murdered 11 girls in Galveston County. Aliases: Butch Apr 20, 2019. He was only convicted of one murder from 1978. But in September 1984, the illusion of small-town security was shattered for a local couple, "Sue" and "Bill". Ex-homicide detective Fred Paige and Lise Olsen, an investigative journalist for the Houston Chronicle, teamed up to reopen the case of the "eleven who went to heaven." As he got in it and drove away, she fired and hit it. Colette's bones were found in a reservoir along with those of a missing Houston girl, Gloria Ann Gonzales, 19. I have not killed anyone.". Search. Holding many offices in the Masons, teaching country western dancing, participating in motorcycle events, mem The Great Gatsby. However, the events of September 6 would test her character in ways she never imagined. When Bell made the claim that he was allegedly responsible for some of the unsolved murders covered in The Eleven, he was already serving a 70-year prison sentence for another murder. Due to a lack of evidence, neither were charged for their confessions, and . He also listed former scoutmasters, a cousin, and three of his ex-wives as part of "the program." Another six young girls were killed in the area in the mid-to-late Seventies. In 1994, he appealed his conviction, but it was upheld. 1902 July 7, 1902. Fearing for the safety of her child, she instinctively attacked. Bell spent his time in the mental ward baiting underage patients. In interviews with Lise Olsen, Edward Bell denies killing anyone, even Larry Dickens. Most victims were 11 to 16-year- old but he repeatedly avoided arrest and prosecution. His confession matched details of the crime scene. However, after his death, many of the victims' relatives stated that they believed he was responsible for their deaths. Bell became a silent partner at Doug's Dive and Surf Shop. Not knowing is heartbreaking." . The show reopened the case to the public and closely followed Paige and Olsen's investigation. pg-13 2013. Police reports showed that in February of 1972, Bell was arrested after flashing a fifteen-year-old and he was driving a 1971 white Ford van. EDWARD HAROLD BELL, Appellant. Robert Edwin "Bay" Tomlinson, 97, of Victoria, Va. went to be with the Lord on February 26, 2023. One Texas detective, Deril Oliver, told The Houston Chronicle that Bell was "the closest thing to a real suspect [for the 11 murders] that we ever had. They were last seen accepting a ride from a man driving a white van; he happened to own one at that time. People watching The Eleven may wonder who Edward Harold Bell is, and if he is responsible indeed for what he claimed he did. Let the Houston Public Media newsroom help you start your day. Elizabeth Edwards "collapsed in a ball" in an airport parking lot and tore off her shirt in a fit of anger, the witness said. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! She could not have been more wrong. Nearly 20 years ago, in letters he wrote to local prosecutors, Texas murderer Edward Harold Bell claimed the Marine he'd shot and killed in 1978 was not his only victim. series Unsolved Mysteries. Two viewers recognized Edward Bell and called in with tips when this story aired. son. I didn't want statutory rape on top of the flasher charge." Wanted For: Murder, Indecency with a Child Texas is fortunate that Larry Dickens stepped in that afternoon and stopped Edward Bell. Dorothy had him lay on the ground in their driveway. Journalist Lise Olsen and retired police . As she pulled closer, they made eye contact. HAROLD EDWARD BELL MAY 14, 1939 - JUNE 29, 2006 Howard Edward Bell was of Cherokee decent. According to records and Bell's own admissions, he was stopped by police at least a dozen times for masturbating and flashing girls between 1966 and 1978. The City of Galveston is putting up $70,000 for a project in the downtown cultural arts district and another $30,000 for a project that could go anywhere in the city. She vanished after taking a driver's ed class in Houston. The grief "welled up" in her again. This template will categorize articles that include it into Category:Stubs. Unsolved Mysteries Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. Motel Murder. After making his confessions, he informed a reporter for the Houston Chronicle that he would only offer evidence to support his accusations if he was granted immunity from prosecution. In 1998, Edward Harold Bell wrote multiple letters to prosecutors in Galveston and Harris counties, confessing to the murders of numerous young women. In the letters, he also told the paper that he had admitted to some of the same murders to prosecutors in Galveston and Harris counties in 1998, but he was never charged after prosecutors were unable to find any direct evidence to link him to the crimes. Trial Court # 284,590 . Mary Livingston Ludlow. We're in the process of transitioning services for our Today in Houston newsletter. Investigators Think They Know Who Killed Eleven Girls Around Galveston in the 1970s, Killer who claims he murdered 11 girls may have lied: documentary, Texas killer's death leaves unanswered questions in girls' slayings, "People Were Afraid of Him" Killer's Death Leaves Hope for New Information. Edward Harold Bell . Despite these claims, Bell was not investigated until 2011. By the time of his release, now divorced and forbidden contact with his children, Bell married a 17-year-old female patient and the pair moved a beach house in Galveston. Scream. In 1998, Bell wrote several letters to prosecutors in Galveston and Harris county, claiming that he had killed eleven teenage girls between 1971 and 1977. The Eleven, airing Thursday at 9 and 10 p.m. on A&E investigates 11 murders that occurred in rural Texas in the 1970s. Although Bell was not forthcoming in his A&E interviews, perhaps the show will be able provide answers for the families of the deceased whether things lead back to Bell or someone else. According to reports, Harris County prosecutors never looked into the allegations and misplaced the letters from him. She forced the intruder from the bathroom and then drove him out of the house at gunpoint with a gun from her nightstand. Five murders occurred in 1971 and six more occurred from about 1974 to 1977. Bell, a convicted killer serving 70 years for a 1978 slaying near Houston and who was under investigation in the unsolved deaths of several missing girls has died after collapsing at a Texas prison. Harris County prosecutors reportedly never investigated the claims and lost the letters from him. Their bodies were found in a river in 1976. Bell, 72, is serving 70 years for the 1978 murder of Larry Dickens, a Marine who confronted Bell after he exposed himself and began masturbating in front of a group of girls in Pasadena. They were able to determine that Bell often had access to the areas where the crimes were committed and also found that witnesses saw two of the missing girls get into a van that matched the description of one Bell owned at the time. The killer says he murdered Debbie and Maria in the letters. He assumed the identity of a dead cousin named Cecil Boyd and told people to call him 'Wally.'". He allegedly shot them, then dumped their remains close to a deserted bridge. Missing Since: October 1978. She pleaded with him to not shoot Larry, but he did so anyway. It was there that Bell met Doug Pruns through a mutual friend. Edward Harold Bell parked his truck in a residential neighborhood in Pasadena, Texas. However the killings he lays claim to started a long time before that. As he walked toward Larry, Larry backed up toward the house. Edward Hunter Ludlow (1810 - November 27, 1884) was an American physician and real estate broker. After completing a Houston driver's education course, she disappeared. He was leaning on the washer, and the man was standing next to him with the gun pointed to Larry's head. Sue had always considered herself strong and self-reliant. The outlet reported: Bell reportedly responded by shooting Dickens five times, per witnesses. He claimed that it started with his father, but continued on with scoutmasters, a cousin, and his three ex-wives. Sue fired at the intruder as he ran down the stairs to the main floor. She also went to the police station and looked through a book of mugshots. He owned a pasture just a few minutes' drive from the store where they were last seen. Edward Harold Bell speaks to Houston Matters producer Michael Hagerty from prison in 2017. father. 27 November 1884 (aged 73-74) Spouse (s) Elisabeth Ludlow. The Hoseins' original plan was to kidnap Murdoch's wife, Anna, and hold her for ransom, but the Murdochs happened to be in Australia that particular week. This article is a stub. [1][5] His death was met with relief from both Dickens' and the other victims' family members, who believed that he was responsible for their deaths. The case was featured on a 1992 episode of Unsolved Mysteries that also earned Matthew McConaughey his first TV acting credit for playing Dickens in the re-enactment of the crime. Colette Anise Wilson, 13, never arrived home near Alvin after attending a summer band camp. Adams ordered him to stop, and he did. In 2000, he died in prison without ever receiving a new trial. One girl was the thirteen-year-old daughter of a Lubbock police officer. Lang told the man that he better leave because the police were on their way. Mrs. Edwards was dying of cancer and had previously discovered her . Michael Hagerty is the senior producer for Houston Matters. Edward Harold Bell, 54, was found guilty of murder Monday in the 1978 slaying of Larry Dean Dickens, a 26-year-old oil field roughneck. An ex-Marine, youth counselor, and oil field roughneck, he had a three-year-old daughter. Bell admitted that Debbie Ackerman and Maria Johnson got into his van outside the Baskin-Robbins the day they went missing, but said he didnt kill them. They were last seen accepting a ride from a man driving a white van; he happened to own one at that time. Senior investigators in Galveston have believed for a long time that Bell was behind more crimes but prosecutors have not pressed charges because they do not believe they have enough evidence. Bell remains the lead suspect at this time and it is very hard for me to believe he is innocent. This photo provided Sept. 28, 2011, by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Edward Harold Bell. He also invested in a surf shop that they were known to visit. Bell identified another victim as "Pitchford", who was later determined to be sixteen-year-old Kimberly Rae Pitchford. Screenshot/A&E. The Eleven, airing Thursday at 9 and 10 p.m. on A&E investigates 11 murders that occurred in rural Texas in the 1970s. Finally, Dorothy got them from Larry and gave them to him. He turned around and began to pursue the vehicle. He identified two of the 1971 victims as Debbie Ackerman and Maria Johnson, fifteen-year-old Galveston "surfer girls" who disappeared after hitchhiking. Edward Harold Bell, who was serving time for the 1978 killing of an ex-Marine, collapsed and died in the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota at the age of 82. GALVESTON. Both confessed to killing women in this area. Along with Panama, he also had lived in Mexico and other parts of Central America. The dispatcher told her that police units and an ambulance were on the way. Former Detective Paige teamed up with Chronicle reporter Lise Olsen to try and determine whether or not he was responsible. As she opened up the newspaper one morning, she saw a picture of the intruder. That summer, twenty-six-year-old Larry Dickens was visiting his mother and sister in Pasadena, a suburb of Houston. In July and September 2011, Bell was interviewed by a Houston Chronicle reporter. In the reflection, she saw a man walking into the bathroom. All four of the female victims disappeared near Bell's apartment. Rita Brestrup, a sister of victim Maria Johnson,also believes he was responsible for taking the life of her sibling in 1971. Another victim from 1971 was thirteen-year-old Colette Wilson, who vanished after leaving a band camp. [3], "Deaths in Custody | Texas Justice Initiative", "Texas killer's death leaves unanswered questions in girls' slayings", "Relatives unsure of killer's claim in Texas deaths", "Brutal asesino en serie viol a 15 nias", "Investigators Think They Know Who Killed Eleven Girls Around Galveston In The 1970s", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Harold_Bell&oldid=1131805328, This page was last edited on 5 January 2023, at 21:17. Five murders occurred in 1971 and six more occurred from about 1974 to 1977. She was discovered in January 1973. By Adam Carlson. Adelaide Bell. Crime Stoppers: Texas Most Wanted Fugitive #1, Police nab slaying suspect after 14 years, Flasher Convicted of Killing Man Who Tried to Stop Him, Edward Harold Bell vs. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed to ABC13 Eyewitness News Edward Howard Bell died Saturday while in their custody. Other economic assets include timber (mainly hardwoods), agriculture (livestock, fruit, and truck farming), and lead and zinc mining. There was no tangible proof linking him to the other crimes. Meanwhile, Dawna Dickens, Larry's sister, was returning home from cheer practice and saw the man walk from her garage to his truck, get a rifle, and walk back up her driveway. Because of the trauma of the situation, Dorothy felt unable to identify him. In Bell's truck, police found the murder weapons and pornography. . Another viewer claimed that Bell had lived in Panama for several years. He is likely to respond violently to any confrontation. [5], For the next fourteen years, Bell travelled around various locations in Mexico and Central America using a sailboat, posing as a dead cousin named Cecil Boyd. She ran to him as Bell turned around and drove off. Bell graduated from the City College of New York and led a successful career in real estate development before teaching at GSAPP. Finally, a decade-and-a-half after Larry had been gunned down before Dorothy's eyes, his accused killer shuffled past her at the airport, shackled in hand and leg cuffs. Adams took Bell back to the scene where Dawna and Dorothy identified him. She went through page after page, but never saw anyone that resembled the intruder. [2] After graduation, he found work as a licensed diver and married his first wife in San Marcos, with the newlyweds then moving to western Texas, where they had three children. He stated that it began with his father and spread to his three ex-wives, scoutmasters, and a cousin. She was shocked to see that he was nude from the waist down and masturbating. [6] After spending time in Costa Rica in 1988 and 1989, Bell moved for a few months in Boquete, Panama, before finally settling in Panama City, where he married for the third time to a young girl from Chepo. son. As reported by Lise Olsen of the Houston Chronicle, who is one of the central investigators in The Eleven, when Bell had skipped bail, "[He] roamed coastal towns in Mexico and Central America, guiding dive trips, and living aboard a sailboat. However, in neither theirs nor any other case were any charges ever brought against him. Published on October 17, 2017 12:53 PM . Heading the list was the knife-wielding intruder. . Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. He has given a chilling confession from his prison cell where he is serving a 70-year sentence for the murder of a former Marine in 1978. The Australian soap is set to make a comeback on Amazon Freevee, with . Especially since, as seen in the A&E series, he later denied everything he wrote years ago. Edward Harold Bell . She then saw a red-and-white GMC pickup truck driving up near it [2] His claims were never conclusively verified, and he died behind bars in 2019, having recanted his previous claims. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Betty A. Tomlinson; his daughter, Darlene S. Richardson (Steve) and grandson, Chris Richardson (Kathleen) all of Victoria. He crashed his truck into a fence. Many believe he was involved the killings. He died a suspect in 2019, per the outlet. Edward Harold Bell was convicted of murder and sentenced to 70 years in prison for the death of Larry Dickens. Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel told the, In 2011, he wrote the Houston Chronicle claiming to have killed a string of girls he referred to as Eleven who went to Heaven in Dickinson, Houston, Clear Lake and Alvin, Texas, the. Blue Bell Hill, Chatham, Kent, UK (Carcinoma of Stomach & Gastric Ulcer) . In January 1985, the Texas governor's office released a roster of the state's most wanted criminals. His marriage finally ended, as did contact with his children. Six of them were murdered in pairs. Now serving a 70-year sentence for murdering a Houston-area Marine vet in 1978, Bell has come forward asking for immunity and ready to plead on the murders of as many as 11 young girls in the Houston-Galveston area in the early to mid 1970s. Sue had always considered herself strong and self-reliant . Reports revealed that Ackerman and Johnson's abductor tied them up, stripped them from the waist down, and left their bodies in the bayou exactly as Bell had claimed. ", Bell's letters suggest that he believes that he was "programmed" into becoming a murderer. His confession matched details of the crime scene. BELL Edward Harold View source History Talk (0) Stub.
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