In 1946 between February 22nd and May 4th, a series of grisly murders and attacks in which five people were killed and several injured occurred. The victims were couples parked on back roads and lovers’ lanes areas in the adjoining border towns of Texarkana, Arkansas, and Texarkana, Texas.
On the evening of February 22nd, 1946, Jimmy and Mary had just been on a double date with Jimmy's brother Bob and his girlfriend.
It was about 11:45p.m. when the couple parked on the road lateral road off of Richmond Road, a mile north of the Beverly addition, near Taylor Street. About 10 minutes later, a bright flashlight was shone in the couple's faces. A man walked up to Jimmy's driver's side door. The man was wearing a white hood made from what looked like a pillowcase over his face with holes cut out for the eyes and mouth. At first Jimmy thought it might be a prank and told the man that he had the wrong person. The man replied with "I don't want to kill you fellow, so do what I say". He was armed with a pistol and demanded the couple get out of the car. Mary and Jimmy both climbed out through the driver's side door. The man then told Jimmy to take of his "goddamn britches". At first, Jimmy refused, but with Mary's urging he relented and removed his pants. The man then suddenly slammed the pistol twice into Jimmy's head. A loud cracking sound could be heard. The sound was so loud that at first Mary thought Jimmy had been shot, but it was the sound Jimmy's skull cracking that made the terrible sound.
Mary thought that the man wanted to rob them, so she picked up Jimmy's pants and pulled out his billfold and told the man "Look he doesn't have any money." The man told her she was lying and that she had a purse. Mary told him that she didn't, and she was knocked to the ground with the gun. Then man ordered her to stand, and when she did, told her to run. Mary started running towards a ditch when the man told her to run to the road instead. As she ran, Mary could hear Jimmy groan as the man beat and stomped on him. The man then began running after Mary, who was having trouble running in high heels.
Mary came upon an older car parked further up the street facing their vehicle. She quickly looked inside to see if anyone was in there who could help her, but there was no one inside. She started to run again but was overtaken by the man. The man asked her why she was running. She reminded him that that is what he told her told her to do. He called me a liar again and then knocked her down with the gun once more and preceded to assault her sexually with the barrel. She managed to get up and told the man to "go ahead and kill me." She fled on foot, believing she was being chased. She made it a half-mile to a Beverly residence at 805 Blanton Street, where she screamed for help and banged on the front door. As Mary was banging on the door a car passed by, but it did not stop when she called out to it. The residents of the home finally opened the door and let Mary in to call police.
While Mary was calling the police, Jimmy had regained consciousness and alerted a passing motorist who also called the police. Within thirty minutes, Bowie County Sheriff W. H. "Bill" Presley and three other officers arrived at the scene, but the man had already driven off. Jimmy's pants were found 100 yards away from the attack. Jimmy and Mary were both taken to Texarkana hospital. Jimmy was in critical condition with multiple skull fractures. He ended up staying in the hospital for months. Mary's head wound was stitched up and she was released from the hospital the next day. However, Mary was deeply traumatized, and she had nightmares, so she moved to Frederick, Oklahoma to live with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Long. For the first time in Mary's life, she was extremely nervous and would not go upstairs by herself or sleep alone.
Jimmy and Mary had differing descriptions of their attacker. Mary claimed that she spotted a light-skinned African American male under the mask. Jimmy said their attacker was a tanned white man, and around 30 years old, but was unable to see his features because he had been blinded by the flashlight. However, both agreed that the man was around 6 feet tall. Jimmy told authorities that the next victim the attacker gets a hold of will be killed.
The authorities were having a difficult time believing that Mary nor Jimmy knew who their attacker was. They thought that the pair were covering for someone. The first suspect was Mary’s estranged husband, but he was able to provide an alibi that placed him nowhere near the crime scene. Allegedly, there were more people arrested but then let go.
Jimmy was finally released from the hospital on March 9th,12 days after the assault. He was told that his recovery from multiple skull fractures would be a long and arduous process, and he couldn't return to his job for at least six months.
Three months after the attack, Texarkana Gazette hired Paul Burns, a Linotype operator and pilot who owned his own plane to take reporter Lucille Holland to interview Mary. By the time of the interview, officers had not publicly linked Jimmy and Marry's attack with any murders. The report appeared in the May 10th edition of the Texarkana Gazette. In the article Mary stated that she would know her attacker's voice anywhere because rings always in her ears. She also said, "Why didn't he kill me too? He killed so many others." In the article Mary also gave the same description of the attacker as she gave to authorities.
After the first double murder, Mary traveled Texarkana to talk to the authorities in hopes they would connect the incidents and help identify the murderer; but they questioned her and insisted she knew who her attacker was. After the second double murder, a Texas Ranger went to Frederick to question her again.
In 1965, Mary passed away from cancer at 38 years old in Billings, Montana.
Jimmy's son, David first learned of his father’s brutal attack while in the fourth grade. Old newspaper clippings provided some insight. Years later his mother would tell David stories that revealed just how deeply the attack affected Jimmy.
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