track the killer had returned to the Phillips’ bedroom and the bloody footprint on the porch, the DA said, was his.
In court, Phillips had to ink his foot, so that the prints could be compared. When this ink print turned out to be much smaller than the print on the porch, the prosecution insisted that carrying the dead weight of his wife would have made Jimmy’s foot spread, leaving a larger print. So Phillips picked up his own defence attorney. Still the footprints did not match.
Nevertheless, Phillips was convicted of second-degree murder and was sentenced to seven years. However, the Texas Court of Appeals overturned the conviction before the end of the year. No one was ever caught for the Servant Girl Annihilator killings and soon the Austin newpapers had the opportunity to compare their own killings with those in London’s Whitechapel.
One of the largely overlooked suspects in the Ripper murders was a Malay cook named Maurice who sometimes worked on ships. In October 1888, The Times of London said that he had threatened to kill Whitechapel prostitutes, but had then disappeared. The Austin Daily Statesman discovered that he had been employed at the Pearl House, a small hotel in Austin, in 1885, leaving in January 1886, just after the last murder. Most of the victims lived near the Pearl House. Jack the Ripper and the Servant Girl Annihilator could have been one and the same man. It is an intriguing theory but now, with the passage of time, impossible to prove.
For over a hundred years, the Servant Girl Annihilator was overshadowed by the famous Jack. But now he has come into his own and Austin offers a tour of his murder sites.
The Baton Rouge Serial Killer
Nearly 120 years after the Texas Servant Girl Annihilator, another serial killer set to work in Louisiana. The first known victim was Gina Wilson Green, a 41-year-old nurse and office manager for Home Infusion Network. A divorcee, she lived alone in a block on Stanford Avenue in Baton Rouge, near Louisiana State University. Her body was found in her apartment on 23 September 2001. She had been sexually assaulted.
The cause of death was strangulation. According to the autopsy report she died at about nine o’clock in the morning. Her purse was missing, along with her Nokia cell phone. This was later found in an alleyway on the other side of town.
Seven months later, there was a similar killing. At around two in the afternoon on 31 May 2002, the body of 22-year-old Charlotte Murray Pace, a graduate student at Louisiana State, was found by her roommate at a townhouse on Sharlo Avenue in Baton Rouge. Death was due to stab wounds, but she, too, had been sexually assaulted. She had put up a fierce fight and it was likely that her killer had been wounded. Another strange coincidence linked the two killings. Charlotte Pace had moved into the townhouse on Sharlo Avenue only two days before. Previously she had lived just three doors away from Gina Green, although there was no evidence that they ever knew each other.
Again items were missing. The killer had taken the keys to Charlotte’s BMW along with a brown and tan Louis Vuitton wallet that contained her driver’s licence. A silver ring had been stolen and, again, her cell phone was missing. However, her assailant left behind a clue in the form of a footprint. It been made by a man’s Rawlings brand trainer, size 10 or 11. It was easy to identify because it had a unique pattern on the sole. Unfortunately it was a brand found widely in discount stores.
Then, on 12 July 2002, Pam Kinamore went missing. She was an antiques dealer who ran her own business, Comforts and Joys, in Denham Springs, a few miles east of Baton Rouge. It was a Friday evening and she shut up shop as usual before driving home to 8338 Briarwood Place in Baton Rouge itself.
Her husband arrived home later to find his wife’s car in the driveway, but she was nowhere to be found. He was immediately concerned. She did not usually head off
In court, Phillips had to ink his foot, so that the prints could be compared. When this ink print turned out to be much smaller than the print on the porch, the prosecution insisted that carrying the dead weight of his wife would have made Jimmy’s foot spread, leaving a larger print. So Phillips picked up his own defence attorney. Still the footprints did not match.
Nevertheless, Phillips was convicted of second-degree murder and was sentenced to seven years. However, the Texas Court of Appeals overturned the conviction before the end of the year. No one was ever caught for the Servant Girl Annihilator killings and soon the Austin newpapers had the opportunity to compare their own killings with those in London’s Whitechapel.
One of the largely overlooked suspects in the Ripper murders was a Malay cook named Maurice who sometimes worked on ships. In October 1888, The Times of London said that he had threatened to kill Whitechapel prostitutes, but had then disappeared. The Austin Daily Statesman discovered that he had been employed at the Pearl House, a small hotel in Austin, in 1885, leaving in January 1886, just after the last murder. Most of the victims lived near the Pearl House. Jack the Ripper and the Servant Girl Annihilator could have been one and the same man. It is an intriguing theory but now, with the passage of time, impossible to prove.
For over a hundred years, the Servant Girl Annihilator was overshadowed by the famous Jack. But now he has come into his own and Austin offers a tour of his murder sites.
The Baton Rouge Serial Killer
Nearly 120 years after the Texas Servant Girl Annihilator, another serial killer set to work in Louisiana. The first known victim was Gina Wilson Green, a 41-year-old nurse and office manager for Home Infusion Network. A divorcee, she lived alone in a block on Stanford Avenue in Baton Rouge, near Louisiana State University. Her body was found in her apartment on 23 September 2001. She had been sexually assaulted.
The cause of death was strangulation. According to the autopsy report she died at about nine o’clock in the morning. Her purse was missing, along with her Nokia cell phone. This was later found in an alleyway on the other side of town.
Seven months later, there was a similar killing. At around two in the afternoon on 31 May 2002, the body of 22-year-old Charlotte Murray Pace, a graduate student at Louisiana State, was found by her roommate at a townhouse on Sharlo Avenue in Baton Rouge. Death was due to stab wounds, but she, too, had been sexually assaulted. She had put up a fierce fight and it was likely that her killer had been wounded. Another strange coincidence linked the two killings. Charlotte Pace had moved into the townhouse on Sharlo Avenue only two days before. Previously she had lived just three doors away from Gina Green, although there was no evidence that they ever knew each other.
Again items were missing. The killer had taken the keys to Charlotte’s BMW along with a brown and tan Louis Vuitton wallet that contained her driver’s licence. A silver ring had been stolen and, again, her cell phone was missing. However, her assailant left behind a clue in the form of a footprint. It been made by a man’s Rawlings brand trainer, size 10 or 11. It was easy to identify because it had a unique pattern on the sole. Unfortunately it was a brand found widely in discount stores.
Then, on 12 July 2002, Pam Kinamore went missing. She was an antiques dealer who ran her own business, Comforts and Joys, in Denham Springs, a few miles east of Baton Rouge. It was a Friday evening and she shut up shop as usual before driving home to 8338 Briarwood Place in Baton Rouge itself.
Her husband arrived home later to find his wife’s car in the driveway, but she was nowhere to be found. He was immediately concerned. She did not usually head off
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