On motive — robbery seems farfetched, although Borgie’s pockets were turned out. Subterfuge? Possibly, because Borgie never had more than a few dollars. It’s the shot in the mouth that bothers me. Borgie was shot at the dump (two sets of footprints leading to, one returning from the place where the body was found indicate the killer was a man wearing a size 11½ work boot), and the killer obviously ordered him to open his mouth before he stuck the gun in. All these factors (Borgie’s low intelligence, trusting nature, history of homosexual trafficking), and the obviously perverse nature of the shooting, point to a homosexual killer.
So far, Sgts. Lane and Vecchio have conducted their investigation along standard lines (see case file # 79-008-H for details). There have been no leads, and I am now instructing the officers to strongly follow up on the homosexual angle.
Respectfully, Bill Silbersack.
From the Des Moines, Iowa, Register, October 2, 1979:
A teenaged girl was found raped and brutally knife-hacked in an abandoned grain-storage bin outside Des Moines last night.
The victim was discovered by two teenage boys who broke in to vandalize the bin. Realizing their civic duty, the boys called police and confessed their own crime while reporting the grisly scene. Des Moines police arrived, and forgot about misdemeanor Breaking and Entering the very second they saw the remains of Wilma Grace Thurmann, 19, of Brewster Street in Des Moines.
“The girl’s throat was slashed from ear to ear, and her arms and legs were amputated and strewn about the floor of the bin,” Officer John Belton told the press, “An ID was easy, because I knew Wilma myself, not personally, but by sight.”
When pressed as to how he knew the late Miss Thurmann, Officer Belton refused to comment. Later our reporters learned that the deceased was a “hustler” who used to solicit truck drivers at the diner two miles south of the bin. She was known to have a key to the abandoned structure, and known also to take her “tricks” there.
“The victim’s occupation might make for a difficult investigation,” an unnamed police spokesman wrote in a general press handout distributed this morning. “But rest assured that Miss Thurmann’s killer will be pursued with vigor.”
Summary Homicide Investigation Fact Sheet, distributed to all personnel points within the Des Moines Police Department on 10/4/79.
Crime(s) — Murder (1st Degree), Aggrav. Sex Asslt.
Place of Occurrence — R.F.D. # 71-A (near Sagamore Truck Stop-Exit) East Des Moines
Victim — Thurmann, Wilma Grace, W.F., blond, blue, 5'1", 105 lbs., D.O.B. 7/3/60
Time of occurrence — approx. 2100 hours, 10/1/79
Disposition of victim at time of occurrence — victim found by youths B&Eing. Catching officer stated in crime scene rep. # 79-14-H: “I entered the bin carrying a five-cell from my patrol unit and saw a young white female with her arms and legs chopped off and her throat cut. I examined the body up close and determined it to be Wilma Thurmann, a local hooker. I checked out the rest of the bin and found her arms and legs lying on top of mounds of hay.”
Forensic disposition — raped before death. Blade marks behind right ear indicate rapist/killer held knife there while performing intercourse. Semen found in victim’s vagina at time of autopsy (O+ secretor) differs from semen traces found in victim’s stomach (AB+ & O-). Victim’s police record shows five convictions for soliciting sex acts, and she was known to use bin for performing oral sex acts on customers, hence O+ secretor is probably rapist/killer’s blood type.
Exact cause of death — asphyxiation caused by choking on blood from throat wound.
Evidence found at crime scene — none. Dirt leading to, from & inside bin brushed free of footprints. Latent fingerprints at scene — none (absence of viable print-sustaining surfaces accts. for this).
Eyewitnesses — none
Prev. area crimes with corresponding M.O. — none since 1947, connection implausible
Disposition of weapon — not found during search of area, canvassing of local retailers being conducted. All units watch for: single-edged knife, 7" long, cadmium steel hacksaw, blade teeth 1/32". Detain all male suspects harboring or known to harbor.
Current status of investigation — unsolved, no hard suspects, eight detectives assigned full-time. All officers who have arrested or otherwise interrogated Wilma Grace Thurmann or any of her known associates are instructed to phone in salient information to Det. Lt. H. V. Miller, Squad Commander, East Des Moines Precinct.
For further information regarding the progress of this investigation, see case file # 79-14-H. All reports under that designation are available to all D.M.P.D. personnel wishing to acquaint themselves with this assault/homicide.
From the Lincoln, Nebraska, Plains-Advocate, December 10, 1979:
It is now a week since Russell Luxxlor was found shot through the head in a wheat field outside Lincoln. Leads are few, and police are baffled.
At first, the authorities thought the killing was part of a bungled robbery attempt. Luxxlor’s wallet was in his pants pocket, picked clean of identification and credit cards, while three hundred dollars in cash remained untouched in a “secret compartment” in the victim’s windbreaker. That theory was then abandoned when it was learned that Luxxlor was a homosexual and a long-term denizen of Lincoln’s “gay” scene.
Lincoln Police Department spokesman Lt. Mills Putnam told Plains-Advocate reporters: “We base the homosexual theory on a fact pertaining to the way Mr. Luxxlor was shot. We are not disclosing the fact in order that we may save it for interrogation purposes.”
In a later press release, Lt. Putnam stated: “We have now slightly amended our homosexual hypothesis. We think Mr. Luxxlor was killed for the identification he was carrying. We base this on the fact that all his ID was gone when his body was found, and he was last seen in a bar in Lincoln with a man who matched his own physical description. We are now looking for a white man in his early thirties, 6'2"-6'4", 190–210 lbs., dark hair and eyes and large build.”
Mr. Luxxlor was buried in a Methodist service yesterday, and the victim’s father, the Reverend Maddox Luxxlor of Cheyenne, Wyoming, told a group of reporters and police gathered at the funeral home: “You people have no right to defame my son! Your job is to catch his killer, not judge him!”
The effort to apprehend the killer continues.
Addendum Report, submitted by Detective Sergeant Joseph Stinson to Detective Lieutenant Mills Putnam, both officers attached to Homicide Sector Three, Lincoln Police Department.
10/18/79
Lt.—
Here’s another wrap-up on the Luxxlor job. 1. — Mugs have been shown to gay-bar people — no ID on the guy Luxxlor was seen with.
2. — Friends, relatives, K.A.’s — goose egg. Statewide query on the weirdly striated .38 slug — ditto, but if this thing doesn’t crack soon I’ll run a nation wide bulletin. Gun in mouth M.O. the same, I’ll draft an “urgent” on that one soon and hit the surrounding states and the feds with it.
******!!!!!! — Man matching description of Luxxlor & suspect seen last night — trying to sell “cold” credit cards at Henderson’s Hot Spot Bar (11819 Cornhusker Road). Informer phoned in tip anonymously, said suspect was 6'3", 200, brown eyes, dark hair — “big and intense-looking.” The suspect got hinky and left when the tip man asked the name on the cards. Tip man said suspect may he driving a metallic blue van. I’ve issued an A.P.B. & vehicle detain order county-wide, and I’ve told the men on the squad to shake down their informants.