A MURDER IN LAWN RIDGE

A MURDER IN LAWN RIDGE

NORMAN V. KELLY

Although he was living in Edelstein, Illinois he knew this area pretty well. He also knew the man whose house he was looking at that very cold September 21, 1983. It was only 38 degrees and the weatherman told his listeners that it was a record low for this date. The big man shivered a bit as he trekked silently up the road staying mainly in the grass. He knew the folks in tiny Lawn Ridge had dogs, lots of them, and he wanted to be stealthy. He stood in the shadows of a tree looking at the small, narrow driveway toward the garage located on the west side of the house, waiting…listening.

He was on the move again his breath shallow and easy he didn’t want to get too excited, slow and easy does it. He walked on the left side of the unattached garage. Once he stood in the shadow of the garage, he stopped and leaned against it his eyes never leaving the darkened house, keenly alert for sounds from within. All was quiet as he went around to the rear of the house where he would try the door first, then the windows. He didn’t like to leave any signs of forcible entry if possible, well aware that the police found valuable clues at the scene of the break-in. In a heartbeat he was standing inside the kitchen in a half crouch, eyes wide open, heart pounding, ready to react to danger.

He had a small flashlight that he used sparingly until his eyes became accustomed to the darkness. Easing forward he took his first steps inside the house. Did he hear something…someone? He stopped, cocked his head toward the hallway and the bedroom. Yes…he heard it again, and just as he was thinking about bolting out the back door the hall light went on. His heart in his mouth he froze. Somebody was coming and it didn’t look like he would have time to get away. He snapped on the light for a moment, just long enough to reach into a drawer where the lady of the house kept the butcher knives. His hand grasped one of the larger paring knives as he began a very slow retreat. Suddenly the kitchen light was on and the lady of the house screamed in terror as she saw the huge man standing there in the kitchen. Did she recognize him?

Terrorized she turned to run down the hall, but the man was much quicker. Halfway down the hall the woman felt the strong hands of the intruder on her shoulders. The scream in her throat was stifled forever.

TUESDAY NIGHT

James Scott scurried around his modest four-room house there in Lawn Ridge, located on a gravel road that separated Peoria County from Marshall County. He and his young bride had moved into the house last spring, and they enjoyed the quiet existence. He kissed his wife good night and left the house. It was almost a ritual for him to visit the Lawn Ridge Tap just a stone’s throw from his house before going to work. He got his can of soda and his chewing tobacco, hesitating only long enough to kid some folks in the bar that were eating raw potatoes. Saying good night, Scott left the saloon around 11:10 that September 20, 1983 for work over at the Caterpillar in Mapleton, Illinois.

NOT IN LAWN RIDGE

After a long night at work Jim Scott finally was pulling into his driveway around 7:45 the next morning, a Wednesday. It was a beautiful early fall morning, the kind of day he hated to waste sleeping. He went inside expecting to be greeted by his young bride he called out as he walked inside. As he looked down the hallway that separated the four rooms of the house he saw her there on the floor. Heart pounding, he ran to her calling out her name and as he looked down at his pajama clad wife he noticed blood…an awful lot of blood.

The dreaded call of a possible homicide went out to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department in Lacon, Illinois. In short order Sheriff James Frawley had his troops over at the Scott home making an inch-by-inch search of the house and area. Coroner Robert Ries was soon there making a preliminary investigation of the body. He scheduled an autopsy and told the sheriff that they could move the body. The crime tech people swarmed over the place as Sheriff Frawley contacted the Illinois Division of Criminal Investigation and the Peoria and Stark County Sheriff Departments. He knew this murder would stun the folks in Marshall County and he was not letting any egotistical thoughts about jurisdiction cloud his judgement. Whoever did this was a dangerous, perhaps maniacal killer and he had to be caught as quickly as possible.

Who on this planet would want to kill a sweet, lovable young woman like Pamela Marie Scott? Like every TV mystery program the spotlight quickly shines on the husband of the female victim. In this case that thought may have entered the investigator’s minds, but not the minds of the people that knew Pam and James Scott. No, the killer of Mrs. Scott was not a citizen of the local community. A murder like this could happen in Peoria, Illinois, or Chicago, but certainly not here in tiny Lawn Ridge, Illinois…no way. An ominous fog of fear swept over Marshall County and as the word spread around the surrounding counties the fear increased. In towns where everyone knew everyone the very thought that a killer could be living next door caused suspicions to run rampant.

PAMELA MARIE SCOTT

Pamela was mourned throughout the county and for those that knew her the pain was deep. Pam was born June 22, 2963 to Ronald and June Loser of Princeville, Illinois at the time of her death. She graduated from Dunlap High School where she was known as a friendly, sweet girl that was active as a majorette. The couple was married fifteen months before the murder moving in to the small house there next to a gravel road that separated Marshall and Peoria Counties. They were a happy twosome, and well known in the neighborhood.

Just a stone’s throw from the Scott home was the Lawn Ridge Tap a very local watering hole where friends and neighbors met to talk over the world’s problems. Linda Rumbold, the owner and proprietor was a friend and neighbor of the Scotts, but knew Jim better because Pam did not drink. A neighbor woke Linda up with the horrific news about the murder of Mrs. Pam Scott.

“You just don’t think it could happen here, it’s scary, real scary, you don’t think it could happen but my God, it did.” She shook her head “Jim would stop in every night before he went to work to get his can of soda and his chewing tobacco.” She smiled “I remember we were in the tap eating raw potatoes when he came in and kidded us about the potatoes.”

Jim’s good friend Rich Placher used to ride with Jim to work. “Jim got bumped so I didn’t ride with him anymore. Jim called me and asked me to be a pallbearer. I went over to his house to get his motorcycle and secure the place after the police were finished with It. I also took care of his dogs. Pam’s death hit me like a kick in the head.”

Linda talked about the dogs. “We have dogs, they have dogs, and if a strange car came down the road why those dogs would bark. I checked… I guess nobody heard anything. All we had in the bar that night were regulars.”

Over at Dunlap High School the silence in the halls reflected the sadness for Pam Scott. In the principal’s office, Craig Whitlock told the press that “Pam was a frail girl, sorta small but she was friendly and always very pleasant.”

Steve Caldwell, owner of Steve’s Market gave Pam her first job when she was sixteen. “You couldn’t walk in to the store without Pam talking to you. She always came up and said, ‘hi, howya’ doin’ and it wasn’t mechanical either.”

Granny Bee, assistant to the butcher loved Pam. “She was a hard worker, she’d scrub ceiling to floor. She was great with kids and loved her step-kids, it’s going to be hard on them…really hard.”

The intruder took some personal items of Pam’s including her wedding ring. Pam’s great aunt went with Jim to get a wedding band for his wife. He would put it on her finger and bury her with it. Pam’s great aunt, Kay DeWeerth who’s pain was so deep she trembled, “Anything for Pammy,” she said “anything.”

A MURDER IN LAWN RIDGE

PART TWO

Who Murdered Pam Scott?

On a Saturday three days after Pam’s life was taken, her husband, family, neighbors and friends attended a three-hour visitation. Pamela Marie Scott was laid to rest at Swan Lake Memorial Gardens. She was dressed in a western outfit Jim had bought her for a wedding out at Prairie Park. Tucked inside her casket were a leather jacket, Jeans and a T-shirt. Pam left behind her parents a sister, a brother, and her two beautiful step-children.

A LINGERING FEAR

There was a run on double locks up in Lacon and in the surrounding areas. People that never locked their doors now made almost a ritual out of securing their homes. The question about the silent dogs still haunted them as they wondered how anyone could walk the neighborhood streets and not stir up the dogs.

The Marshall County, Peoria, Stark and State authorities talked to over 250 people as they pushed their investigation fourteen and fifteen hours a day. Motive can drive an investigation but in the death of Pam, police were pretty certain that burglary was the motive. Consensus was that the man had gotten in to the house through the bathroom window and was surprised by Mrs. Scott. They have no idea what she might have said but perhaps she knew the man and if so, the killer felt he had to silence her.

Police verified alibis, took statements and followed up on hundreds of tips. Some of the men took and passed lie detector tests, while others were cleared of suspicion by other means. The police were now three weeks into the investigation and still no arrest. It just didn’t seem possible that the police, in fact all those departments, couldn’t solve the murder of Pam Scott. It was frustrating to everyone and very scary for the local citizens.

OCTOBER 25, 1983

The great news spread through Marshall County like rolling thunder as The Lacon Home Journal and Peoria Journal Star reported that a suspect was arrested in the murder of Pamela Scott. Who…who was it? The bets were on some transient or a deviate from Peoria, being the killer. Wrong! The man arrested was currently living in tiny Edelstein, Illinois.

The suspect was a big man six-foot four and 240 pounds, unemployed and an acquaintance of James Scott. The county folks rejoiced at the good news and now could only hope that this man police told the media was Carl W. Allwardt was indeed the killer of Pam Scott.

Sheriff Frawley refused to say why the man was in the LaSalle County Jail, but the rumor was the prisoner was more secure there. Frawley said that the man had confessed he had entered the Scott home, but other details were not reported. They questioned the suspect in Toulon, transferred him to Ottawa, but at the moment, details were sketchy. The talk was about who this guy was and whether or not the locals knew him. Was he in the tavern the night of the murder? Was he one of the regulars or was he considered a stranger? Questions… a lot of questions but very few answers.

ARRAIGNMENT

Judge James Bumgarner of the Tenth Judicial Circuit traveled around to the smaller counties administering justice, and was the judge at the suspect’s arraignment. It would be the first chance that the folks got a look at the alleged killer so there was some excitement in the courtroom. Finally some details were coming out and the reporters and citizens clamored for the news.

Edward Zukosky the prosecutor was there presenting the case for the People. Kevin Galley would represent the defendant as the Public Defender. The charges would include home invasion, murder, burglary and whatever else they could conjure up to keep this man in jail forever or perhaps execute him. Zukosky argued for a higher bail but it was finally set at $300,000.00. The sum made little difference however, since it was clear that he could not come up with a bond even if it were a few thousand dollars. Finally, before the hearing was over three counts of murder were included in the charges.

GIVE US SOME DETAILS.

According to what the investigators found out, Carl Allwardt, a 33-year-old unemployed man from Edelstein admitted that he had entered the home of James Scott with the intent of burglarizing the place. The man told police that he had been drinking at the local tavern until around two in the morning and upon leaving the saloon he walked about 2 blocks up the road. He told them that he had actually entered another house but finding nothing to steal he selected the Scott home. He was in the act of looking around, when he was surprised by Mrs. Scott. At that point he grabbed a paring knife and slashed her throat.

Sheriff Frawley and his people arrested Allwardt at 7:50 p.m. on October 24, 1983, at his residence over in Edelstein, Illinois. The suspect had only a minor police record, and was certainly not a man that police would naturally suspect. Once he was confronted with what the police had on him he readily admitted the crime. Frawley said that the suspect gave a very detailed confession. Police then took the suspect to two gravel roads in rural Edelstein where the admitted killer led them to two separate piles of personal things he had tossed in some deep ditches in a wooded area. They found bloodied clothing, the murder weapon, a paring knife, Pam’s purse with her I.D. and personal effects. Her checkbook and rings were also recovered. Police found $3.67 cents in the purse.

Coroner Robert Weiss in his inquest reported that the woman’s throat was slashed and that the attacker slashed her at least four times. There was also a cut to her arm indicating that she had tried to defend herself from her attacker.

Police told the reporters that Allwardt had made quite a bit of noise at the back of the Scott’s home, apparently trying to determine if any was at home. He then entered the house and as he was looking around, Mrs. Scott woke up. She confronted the intruder and was then chased down and slashed. The prisoner was detained in LaSalle County to await his trial.

FOLKS SIGH WITH RELIEF

So there it was. The terror subsided, people would never be the same, the town would never really forget, but the stark terror was over. The days turned into weeks, then months, and finally at the end of 114 days there was a trial to attend. Surely this killer would be sentenced to death row, after all wasn’t that where he belonged?

Mr. Zukosky commented that he’d never gotten much pressure to seek the death penalty. They had this admitted killer where they wanted him and the death sentence was certainly a possibility.

October was the month Judge Bumgarner had set for the trial of Carl Allwardt. The preliminaries were out of the way and the physicians had examined the defendant pronouncing him fit for trial. The defense attorney Kevin Galley from Lacon was a damn good lawyer, so the killer’s rights would be protected. All was ready, the jury pool was rounded up and the County of Marshall was excited. This trial is one of those hot tickets I told you about and folks were anxious to either be on the jury or in the audience when the big show began. The judge postponed the trial!

THE BIG SHOW IS CANCELLED

It costs money to put on a major trial and when plea bargains can accomplish so much, the trial is often a waste of assets and time. This case seemed to fit well into the mold of saving money and obtaining justice in the bargain. The SA and the public defender discussed the up-coming trial at length and finally an agreement was made. The defendant would plead guilty to some of the charges if some of the other charges were dropped. The death penalty would not be sought, and the matter would be concluded with a lengthy jail sentence. This might not be a politically wise move on the part of Mr. Zukosky, but as I said, he was not getting any real pressure for the death penalty. Picking a jury that would vote for the death penalty was not that easy to do in the first place so the deal was made. Now all they had to do was to get the judge to accept the terms and this case could be marked ‘Solved and Closed,’

On October 26, 1983 all parties met in Judge Bumgarner’s courtroom. The plan was to have a full-blown hearing on the plea-bargaining and the sentencing as well. The defendant would be questioned by the judge, and then, and only then, would Judge Bumgarner decide the final outcome and fate of Carl Allwardt.

James Sackfield, the sheriff and other investigators were in attendance as the hearing got under way. The defense and the prosecutor had prepared well and things moved along rather smoothly. The plea of guilty was entered and the prosecutor told the judge that the defendant would plead guilty to the third murder count and the others would be dropped.

The judge instructed the defendant that he had a right to a trial, and certainly did not have to plead guilty. After making sure that Allwardt understood his rights the judge asked him if he had anything he wanted to say.

Clad in the orange uniform of a county prisoner the big man looked up at the judge and in a surprisingly low voice for such a large man Allwardt addressed the court.

“The only thing is your honor is that I am truly sorry. I am sorry for what happened. I still don’t know why It happened. I mean I still don’t know why it happened and probably won’t for a long time.”

Judge Bumgarner then sentenced the defendant, killer of Pam Scott, to fifty years in the state penitentiary. The prisoner was given credit for the 114 days he had spent in jail then led off by guards to his cell. He would then be transferred to the state facility where he would stay until his parole…if ever. He was also fined for some costs of $95.00 but he certainly did not have money to pay it. The prisoner would become eligible for parole in twenty-five and one half years. Mr. Zukoski told reporters “I’m glad that justice could be served.” Bang went the gavel and the case was closed. The memory of Pamela Marie Scott would linger in the minds of all the people that knew her and forever in the minds of the people that loved her. One day long after this book has been forgotten, Pam’s killer might walk out of the pen into freedom, but the people of Marshall County will never forget Pam Scott. Her death was such a tragic loss, such a senseless killing that it is hard to comprehend. The sad thing is that that is true for all the cases in my book, Murder In Your Own Backyard, available only in the Peoria library. This true story was taken from the pages of that book. ******** After being paroled, Carl William Allwardt, 59, pleaded guilty in February 2010 to criminal trespass to a residence in Toulon. He admitted entering a neighbor's home about 1 a.m. Jan. 30, 2009, in circumstances chillingly similar to those in which he killed Pam Scott.

He has since been released. A quick check of IDOC records shows no current record of him. He is presumed to be a free man as of 02.09.2015 ********

See more at: http://www.pjstar.com/article/20100417/News/304179912/?Start=1  Editor’s Note: Norm is a monthly contributor to ASO, a Peoria Historian and author or hundreds of articles about Peoria, Il. norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net

The Deadly Triangle

THE DEADLY TRIANGLE

 NORMAN V. KELLY

 The year was l982, for you folks that were here in Peoria, Illinois at that
time you probably remember the phrase “Turn out the lights when you
leave.” They were talking about Peoria, our hometown, and it only got worse.
Jobs were hard to come by and many of us lost ours during that down period
in Peoria’s History.

 I remember when I first got wind of the story I am about to tell you. It
was the middle of January, l982, a typical winter’s day here, and after
lunch I walked down by the river. Truth is I never walk anywhere, I
ran, coming to a stop down by the Cedar Street Bridge. What caught
my attention were the seven or eight police cars that had gathered there
near the edge of the river. I also saw a rescue vehicle from the fire
department and a couple of media cars. Being nosey, I slowly walked up

as close as I could to see what in the hell was going on.

 Nobody paid any attention to me and since I saw no yellow crime scene
tape I kept going. I saw four men all dressed in black diving gear, and
as they walked toward the river, I heard a man say “if what the Peoria
Police Department wants is down there we’ll find it.” I later found out
that that man was Sergeant John Ronan who headed the elite group of
divers from Detroit, Michigan. The Peoria authorities had asked them
to come here to look for a body that apparently was missing somewhere
out there in the dark, murky Illinois River. The media swarmed around
the spokesman as he looked out at the river. “Truth is it could be right

out there or in the Mississippi by now.”

For two days the divers went about their grim task, slithering along the
muddy, ice-laden waters to no avail. So far, who the body was or why

the police thought it was there was unknown to the folks in Peoria.

 THE THREE PLAYERS

 As the title of this piece implies, this is a love story, bizarre, unbelievable

and horrible, but nonetheless it is a love story. In this case, there were 

two women both in love with the same man. Throughout history that

has spelled trouble and it certainly was no different in this case. 

 Linda Firebaugh, a thirty-year-old woman that had a ten-year-old daughter

living with her was running a business out of her home over on
Fredonia Avenue called The Valley of the Dolls Escort Service. The
police had their own version of what that business really was, so they
knew about Linda and had often encountered her in one capacity of the

other. 

 The other woman in this drama was Paula Shaw also known as

Paula Anderson, age 25. The police later told the press that Paula had
worked for Firebaugh way back when she was a younger woman, and
the two were apparently friends as well. At the time this story unfolded,
Paula was living over on Third Street with the man in this story,
Charles “Hassan” Taylor. He was a thirty-three-year-old man from

Chicago who was on parole for shooting a man in a tavern brawl.

 So mix these three, two women in love with Taylor, let it stew a bit, and
then duck. Paula and Linda had clashed a bit over Taylor, Paula telling
Linda to leave ‘her man alone, and stay out of their lives’. Of course
that did not work, so Paula made up her mind one night to bring all this
to a head. She asked Taylor to come over to her house and bring Linda
with her. She called Taylor right back and told him to bring Linda
Firebaugh over to her brother’s home there at 1015 Butler. Her
brother Joel was in jail at the present time on a traffic problem and the

house was empty.

 Moments after Taylor delivered Linda the two rivals got into a shouting
match. Charles Taylor then grabbed Linda’s arm jerking her toward
the stairs that led to the basement. She screamed and struggled, but he
managed to get her down to the furnace area. He then took a pair of
handcuffs from his pocket, snapped one loop over a steam pipe and the
other on to Linda’s slender wrist. He then walked back up stairs, turned

the light off at the top of the steps and slammed the door shut.

THE MISSING WOMAN

 Firebaugh’s relatives reported her missing, and the police appealed

through the media to help them find her. The last time she was seen
according to investigators was the night of January 19, l982 when she
left her home to meet a man over at the Holiday Inn in East Peoria,

Illinois. Police never found that man, nor did they run down any other 

leads that sounded promising. Their investigation did lead to several people that knew Linda very 

well, including Taylor and Shaw. 

 About that time Joel Shaw got out of jail and when he got home he reported a

few things different in his house there on Butler. A mattress was found
in the basement and some of the bricks down there were missing. Police
found dirt on the floor and what amounted to the appearance of blood

on the floor and walls. Interesting…very interesting.

MISSING OR DEAD?

 Police decided to take Charles Taylor and Paula Shaw into custody. 

They questioned them at length about their relationship with Linda 

and their business relationship as well. The state’s attorney

soon got into the act and charged the two with housebreaking and
kidnapping. Later they added aggravated kidnapping. Authorities held
them both until the SA managed to get a $100,000.00 bond on their
heads, which pretty much guaranteed that they would remain behind
bars. Of course what the SA really wanted to do was charge the two
with the murder of Linda Firebaugh, but where was the body? What

proof did they have that the lady was dead, or had been murdered?

 Once in jail, her rights explained to her, Paula Shaw began leaking to the
police the bizarre story of the missing Linda Firebaugh. The police
indicated that she talked plenty but what she said was primarily lies.
The blame was put upon Taylor, and the police decided that since they
had them both in custody they would not jump to any early conclusions.
Slowly that process worked in getting at the truth. Of course what the
SA wanted was the body, the corpus delicti. Literally in Latin this
means “the body of the crime.” It does not mean the actual body or
corpse. But if they could not produce the body of Linda how would they
prove their case? The SA can try a person for murder even without a

body, but it sure as hell complicates matters.

 After careful study of the statements Paula Shaw had given
investigators the state’s attorney decided to charge her with two counts
of murder and two counts of kidnapping. Taylor was not charged with
murder and his two charges remained as they were. Linda was taken
before a judge and her bail bond was set at a half million dollars,

Taylor’s stayed at his initial $100,00.00. 

 The SA’s office was going to have to rely on the February 9 and 

February 15 statements they had from Paula Shaw to convict her. The 

statements gave conflicting stories, so the reliability of them would be a major

question for the jury to decide. Still the SA had to proceed even though
the body of Linda Firebaugh was still missing, but they felt that they
knew exactly what had happened to it. All the SA had to do was
convince the jury that the woman was dead, and that Paula had not only
killed Linda Firebaugh she had also managed to conceal or discard the

body.

WHAT DID THE POLICE REALLY HAVE?

 All the details would come out in the trial, but the police did allow some

of the information they had gathered to reach the media. First, they
found blood on the walls and the basement floor of Shaw’s brother’s
home. Her brother certainly had absolutely nothing to do with the
murder and in fact was a victim as well because shortly after he got out
of jail the uninsured house was destroyed by fire. A victim of arson he
was now out of his house and home. Police suggested the missing bricks
were used to weight the garbage bags down when the dismembered
body of Linda Firebaugh was tossed in the Illinois River, explaining the

presence of the Detroit divers.

 What the authorities learned about the last days of Linda’s life was even
more shocking. Remember Linda was attached to a pole down in the
basement of Paula’s brother’s house. After two days of her horrible
ordeal Linda managed to get lose from the cuffs making her escape
through the basement window and away she ran to a nearby neighbor
for help. Seconds after she got to the house Taylor and Shaw barged in
behind her demanding to know where Linda was. Taylor then went to
the bedroom where she was hiding and dragged her out kicking and
screaming back to the home on Butler. What kind of help did she get

from the people she begged for help? None!

 More damaging evidence was obtained when police got their hands on
the blue jump suit that Linda had worn the day she was abducted and
chained to the steam pipe over there on Butler. There was no doubt that

the SA would be faced with a circumstantial evidence case but he was 

confident he had enough to convince a jury. It was time to bring this

case to a trial, let the people decide. There, the minute details would be

laid out in a sensible, chronological order and justice would be served.

THE AXE MURDERER’S TRIAL

PEORIA COUNTY MAY 11, 1982

 So with that sobriquet attached the trial began that warm day in May,

l982. It was one of those hot tickets trials that few trials in Peoria managed 

to be, after all it had the right ‘stuff,’ a love triangle, murder,

dismemberment, and Intrigue, all the ingredients of a macabre horror
movie. It caught the imagination of the people that read about it, and

some of them meant to be in the audience to hear it all first-hand.

 For the People were State’s Attorney John Barra and his assistant Darilynn 

Knauss. Paula Shaw was represented by Michael Brandt, a competent

local lawyer. In the opening arguments the jury and spectators knew
they were in for some horrific details as Barra outlined the last terrorfilled
days of the victim, Linda Firebaugh. That was all right with them,

they didn’t come to be told a bedtime story.

 The People would rely almost solely on the very statements that police
took from the defendant wherein she described the treatment given to
Linda before and after she was axed to death. According to Kimberly
Bentley, one of the first witnesses, Paula had worked as a prostitute for
Firebaugh and that Paula loved Charles Taylor. The evidence then went
on to show that both women loved this ‘Hassan,’ Taylor and that the
relationship between the old friends had grown hostile. Barra quickly
admitted to the jury that the body of Linda Firebaugh had never been
found, and that the People’s case would rely on the statement of the

defendant and corroborating evidence.

 Police Detective Charles Cannon was then sworn in and his testimony
included reading the statements he had taken from the defendant. The
first statement was February 9, 1982 and in that statement Paula told
the officers that she had watched and gagged as Taylor decapitated and
dismembered the body of Linda Firebaugh. The officer then switched
statements and reading from his notes, he told the jury that on

February 15, 1982, the defendant changed her tune. 

 The detective said that Paula wanted to get the story straight, so the 

officer took her second statement as evidence. He then told the jury 

that Paula confessed that it was she, not Taylor, that had wielded the 

axe and killed Linda Firebaugh. Another officer, Sammy Hoskins took 

the stand to discuss the second confession. Shaw said that Taylor telephoned 

her and told her to meet him at the house over on Butler. Shaw said in her 

statement that Taylor had brought along Linda and that he had taken her to 

the basement where he handcuffed her to a steam or ceiling pipe. 

 The couple stayed there that night, but in the morning they went over to 

Third Street to make sure that Linda’s ten-year-old got to school. Paula then 

said “I told Linda that if she could get the cuffs off to run as fast as she could 

because neither of us knew what Hassan was doing.” Later the evidence showed 

that Linda had escaped by getting out of the cuffs and crawling out of the window. 

Linda then ran to a nearby neighbor’s house and gained admittance. “Linda asked 

me why Taylor was holding her and I said, ‘I don’t know, I’m just as scared as

you are,’” Paula then told the police in her statement that “Hassan is mad at me 

and blames me for letting you escape.”

 The officer continued reading the statement to the jury. She said that it
was Thursday night when Taylor killed Firebaugh. “He ordered me
down in the basement with an axe and ordered me to kill Linda. I

started to shake and couldn’t do it. I brought the axe up, but when it came down 

it hit the floor.” The officer glanced up then continued “Linda screamed and Taylor

grabbed the axe. That’s when Linda yelled ‘No, Hassan, please don’t. This isn’t
necessary.’ Hassan then held her head down with his foot and took her

head off.” 

 A multitude of expressions were on the faces of the jury and the spectators as the 

real horror of the murder was read into evidence. The statements would become 

exhibits and go with the jury to read during deliberations. If the defense could not 

come up with something dramatic to overcome them then Paula Shaw was doomed 

that first day of her trial. 

 Now the jury would hear that the February 15th. statement was the

‘real’ truth and that most of what Paula told the police on the ninth of
February was false. They shifted a bit forward hoping to finally know
the truth. Who killed Linda Firebaugh, this Hassan Taylor or the

defendant Paula Shaw?

 When Taylor brought Linda to the house on Butler, according to
Shaw’s second statement, it was she, Shaw that told Taylor to take her
to the basement since she was screaming and Shaw was afraid it would
alert the neighbors. Shaw then talked with Linda alone in the basement
telling her that she loved Hassan and that all she wanted was for Linda
to leave them alone. The next morning, a Thursday, Paula Shaw told
Taylor to bring her the fire-axe that she kept in the kitchen and to find
some garbage bags. Taylor did what he was told to do.

 The officer told the jury that Linda had made up her mind what to do

about Linda Firebaugh. “ Paula told me that Linda was a threat to
Hassan, and she didn’t want anything or any person to harm him.” The
officer looked over at the judge, then continuing, she said “Paula said
she hit Linda in the neck with the axe ‘one, two, three times I guess.’
“She told me that after the head came off, she chopped her hands off,
then her feet.” The audience murmured bringing a stern look from the
judge but he did not use his gavel. This was stunning evidence, horrific
and graphic indeed. The officer paused, took a deep breath, then said
“She said the axe was going all over the place; she could hardly control
it. She could not control the axe any longer and that is when she called
Taylor. Taylor was upset with her and told her that the job had to be

finished, so he did the rest of it.”

 Defense attorney Brandt attacked Hoskin’s testimony pointing out to
the jury that the officer had told a different story to the grand jury.
 “Isn’t the reason you didn’t take a written statement
 then and tell the grand jury is because you did not
 believe the story yourself?”
Officer Hoskins shook her head “No, that’s incorrect.” Evidence was
then put forward that the outfit Linda Firebaugh was wearing at the
time of her disappearance was found at the defendant’s residence on

Third Street. 

 Along with the outfit, Linda’s purse and rings were discovered as well.

Bentley, a teen-ager was a witness and she told the jury that she saw
Shaw wearing one of Firebaugh’s rings. The jury also heard that the
blue jumpsuit belonging to Linda was offered as a gift to Shaw’s

mother. The trial would continue after lunch, the jury already had a lot of 

evidence to mull over…all of it bad for the defendant.

THE DEFENSE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

 Mr. Brandt looked over at the jury. “Where is the body? The police

couldn’t find it. Professional divers couldn’t find it. Where is the body?” 

If the jury believed Firebaugh was murdered, fine, but his client certainly did 

not kill her.

 “I would suggest to you the evidence we have heard
 all points in one direction only…Charles ‘Hassan’ Taylor
 was the killer, not Paula.”

 Brandt then went on to tell the jury that Taylor was on parole for
shooting a man in a barroom fight and the center of a bizarre love
triangle with the two women. He then got a bit more specific, calling

Taylor a “psychopathic, psychotic maniac.” He then went on to tell the jury that 

Firebaugh’s captivity in the basement was some sort of perverse game the trio was

playing. The defense told the jury that even if his client was involved in

disposing of the body it was after the murder and she wasn’t liable.

 The People, through assistant Darilynn Knauss countered with “It was
Linda Firebaugh’s last day of life and Paula Shaw decided what she was
going to do and how to get Firebaugh out of her life forever.” She then
went on to ask the jury “Not to let a confessed murderer walk out the doors
of the courtroom, the same doors Linda Firebaugh will never walk through.”

 State’s Attorney John Barra had the last word calling the slaying a

“Senseless, bizarre and inhumane crime.” He approached the jury,
turned and looked over at the defendant. He dismissed those that thought just
because Shaw had no criminal record that she was incapable of such a crime.
“What kind of lady would be involved in holding a person hostage? What

kind of lady would have gone on with life after this brutal event as if nothing had 

happened? What kind of lady would have taken the very last outfit Linda Firebaugh 

wore, planning to give it to her mother as a present?” He was back at his table now 

looking over at the jury, gesturing. “What kind of lady could have worn one of the 

victim’s rings even before the blood had a chance to dry? What kind of lady? 

No kind of lady, because Paula Shaw is not a lady, she’s a murderer.” He went on 

to remind the jury that “They tied her up to a pole just like livestock and they 

butchered her like beef cattle.”

DID THE JURY BUY IT ALL?

 The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated almost nine hours before they brought back 

their verdict of guilty to the two counts of murder,aggravated kidnapping and kidnapping.

The defendant, head down, stood as Judge Peter J. Paolucci read the first verdict. By 

the time he had gotten around to the two murder charges the defendant was sobbing 

audibly, her head on her lawyer’s shoulder. The defense attorney told the reporters that he 

would appeal, adding, “What we have here is a missing person, and Linda Firebaugh hasn’t

even been missing four months.”

THE JUDGE PASSES SENTENCE

 If Paula Shaw had something to cry about when the jury convicted her of murdering 

Linda Firebaugh the sentencing she received must have been utterly devastating. 

Judge Peter Paolucci sentenced the defendant to 85-years in the state penitentiary. 

Describing the grisly axe murder of Firebaugh as “Hideously cruel and an atrocity,” 

the Third District Appellate Court affirmed the verdict of the lower court. It was 

August 2, 1983 when the SA’s office heard the good news. The court also upheld the 

85-year sentence the lower court had handed down and indicated that they found no 

reversible errors during the trial.

 A clear motive for the murder was never established although some
evidence existed that Taylor wanted to go into the prostitution business
with Shaw and a cab driver. Killing Firebaugh cut down on the

competition.

 Charles “Hassan” Taylor had his day in court up in Rock Island, Illinois and 

the same judge sentenced him to a total of thirty years for his part in the murder. Taylor 

was convicted for residential burglary and kidnapping. The judge described Taylor as 

being beyond rehabilitation noting eight felony and misdemeanor convictions in the

past fifteen years.

You might be happy to hear that a judge sentenced the neighbor over on Butler to 

2 years for obstructing justice in this case. Remember he was the neighbor Linda ran to for help but got none. I won’t mention his name, surely he understands what a terrible mistake he made…I

hope.

Shaw went to Dwight Correctional Center, where she died of lung cancer in early 1996 at age 38.

Taylor, meantime, went to Illinois River Correctional Center near Canton. He was released in late 1996.

Today Charles Taylor is currently incarcerated at the Dixon Correctional Center. He's serving
a 9 year sentence for burglary. That conviction was in Cook County. He's due to be released
December 1, 2017.

Editor’s Note: Norm is a local historian and well-known author of books and
articles about Peoria’s bawdy past. More details in his book MURDER IN YOUR
OWN BACKYARD, available in our library. norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net

Murder In Our City Hall

MURDER  IN  OUR  CITY  HALL

  NORMAN  V.  KELLY

 It was Thursday morning October 29, 1936 down on the first floor of The Peoria City Hall when the drama that would shake up the folks in Peoria, Illinois really began. At least that is what the readers of the Evening Star thought when they picked up the evening paper from their front door stoop.

 Truth is it began three years earlier with divorce proceedings over at the courthouse.  Like all marriages there are ups and downs but lately it seemed the marriage of David and Wilma Roe had a lot more downs than it did ups.  They began their marriage living over at 511 Millman just two blocks from where my grandmother’s house stood and still stands today.  The neighbors certainly were aware of the squabbles going on but so far no police had been called.  The divorce got as far as a first meeting with a judge but the decree was never signed and life went on.  It culminated in the office of the chief of police on October 29, 1936 and would end that same afternoon on the third floor of the city hall. It was the talk of the town and the headlines screamed out as the downtown paperboys sold their EXTRAS all over town.

 It seems that Wilma Roe had written a letter to Chief Fred Nussbaum and he had arranged a meeting with the couple in his office before they went to their scheduled meeting with Mrs. Smith of the Family Welfare Association up on the third floor.  The truth is that office had already taken two of the children to a home within its organization for safe keeping.  The oldest daughter, Donna had accompanied her parents on the fateful day of October 29, and she was one very upset young girl of six years old. Her two sisters, Shelia, age 5 and Janet age 2 would probably soon be joined by Donna the way things were going so far. Chief Nussbaum read the letter from Mrs. Roe out loud so her husband could understand that Wilma not only wanted a divorce, she also told the chief that she was afraid of her husband and that he had threatened to kill her.

 It was a tense scene inside the chief’s office and terrified little Donna could hear the loud voices out in the waiting room where she sat, wide eyed and scared out of her wits. Finally, the meeting ended and a truce seemed to have been worked out.  Wilma left the office with her daughter to head to the Welfare Office and David told his wife that he would see her in Mrs. Smith’s office.

 Winifred Smith, an accomplished and experienced social worker sat at her desk listening to the couple, first one then the other. The battle raged back and forth and after an hour or so, she had made some progress.  She also separated David and Wilma then brought them back together. She made a telephone call to Elizabeth Geisel the executive secretary and as she waited Dave sat in the council chambers alone. After talking to Mrs. Geisel a lunch break was decided upon and around one in the afternoon they met once again.

 Mrs. Smith would later relate to the local newspaper reporters that Mrs. Roe was ‘Mortally afraid of her husband.’ David had made it clear how he felt about the matter when Mrs. Smith had written down his quote which she shared with the newspaper reporters. “My wife ran off with my very own brother. I don’t care about that she can have him. All I want is my oldest daughter.”

 Mrs. Smith separated the couple again and waited for Mrs. Geisel to come back.  Mrs. Smith went to fetch David but saw him coming back on his own. Mrs. Roe screamed and started to run.  As she passed David he reached out to stop her and as he did so he pulled a .32 revolver from inside his jacket and fired point blank into the side of his wife’s head. She fell instantly to the floor fatally wounded.  By then Mrs. Geisel walked up to David Roe and as he looked up at her David fired his weapon at Mrs. Smith.

 In all Mr. Roe had fired four shots, but Mrs. Smith had not been hit.  In a quick move David Roe pointed the gun at his temple and fired. He fell dead upon the floor next to his wife. By then Donna stood among the adults looking down at her dead parents as their blood began to spread over the tile floor. Pandemonium followed as every police officer in the building and terrified office worker seemed to appear from nowhere.  Dr. Wilbur Weinkauf, of the Health Department pronounced the couple dead.

 The coroner’s inquest was held to a packed courthouse room and all the details were pretty much covered. Of course the jury ruled the case a murder/suicide and over the months the story slipped away. As in all the other cases there are more details but space prevents their being printed here. I left this story with sadness for The Roe family and especially Donna.  I hope the kids managed to live fruitful lives after such a personal tragedy struck them so early in lie.

Editor’s Note: Norm is a monthly contributor to News and Views, a Historian, Author and some of his stories are on line.  This Story is for norm’s friend Stacy. Contact Norm anytime at norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net .

DIARY OF OUR RIVER CITY - Part Two

Simeon De Witt Drown

DIARY OF OUR RIVER CITY

Part Two
                                       
NORMAN V. KELLY

In my last post I introduced you to Mr. Simeon De Witt Drown, who really began a recorded history of our town which evolved into our City Directories. I thought I would start up where I left off and see if we can pick up some interesting tidbits about those folks way back then.

Winter 1845: On the criminal docket there was an interesting case that the local folks were eager to be part of: People vs. Nomaque described as a “half-breed” was charged with the murder of a Frenchman named
Pierre Landre. Nomaque entered a plea of ‘Not Guilty’ and his trial was set shortly after the plea. A jury found him guilty of killing the Frenchman and sentenced to hang. His lawyer appealed the case and while awaiting that decision Nomaque escaped and ran into the vast Prairie. It might interest you to know that the only residing attorney in Peoria at this time was John L. Bogardus.

December 6, 1845: There was a ‘war’ going on between Mormon and Anti-Mormons in Hancock County and as a result the sheriff of that county, J.H. Backenstoss was arrested for murdering Franklin Worrell, a Mormon. He was tried here in Peoria, Illinois and the jury took all of fifteen minutes to find him ‘Not Guilty.’ That little war was serious business and during the conflict almost 100 homes were burned to the ground and several men on both sides were killed.

November 20, 1850: A jury of Judge Kellogg’s Court found Thomas Brown and George Williams guilty of robbing and murdering Mr. Hewitt, a cattle buyer from Peoria. The beating and robbery took place on Spring Street here in Peoria and the men were hanged out in the Prairie. Today that would be Second and Sanford down in the South-end. Our population was a little over 6,000 and well over 15,000 people jammed together around the dual gallows that were built out there. The hangings took place on January 15, 1850. Imagine that throng of people on that bitterly cold, snowy day. Can you imagine that spectacle? I described that scene in my book Until You Are dead. Our local library still has a couple copies. Actually Brown and Williams were the first killers to face execution here in Peoria, Illinois. Six more would follow and two other men were executed by electric chair.

JUDGE WILLIAM KELLOG

September 7, 1853: School Master Seary was acquitted this day when a jury found him not guilty in the whipping of a ‘scholar.’ On that day Mr. Erford’s jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in his trial for ‘Maliciously shooting a Mule.’

April 4, 1857: At noon on that exciting day the first train passed over the first rail road bridge built across the Illinois River at Peoria, Illinois. That span connected the Peoria and the Oquawka tracks heading towards the Tazewell banks. The massive bridge was 600 feet long and a draw span of 203 feet. It was a marvel to local folks and truly an important day for the future of Peoria, Illinois. Spectators cheered the wood-burning locomotive “George C. Bestor.” Throngs of spectators screamed and yelled their welcome then the young boys ran after the locomotive as it passed over the bridge.

May 18, 1857: Peoria was excited today as most of the town’s 12,000 citizens seemed to be flocked around the huge building on a downtown street as the ceremonies got under way for the opening of Rouse Hall.
The theatre and office complex covered the entire city block of Main and Jefferson Streets and would remain the leading show house in Peoria for almost a half century. The building was built by one of Peoria’s leading citizens, Dr. Rudolphus Rouse and leased to a showman named John Huntley who always put on great shows like the “Merry Monarch” and popular singers from throughout the United States. The theatre drew thousands of People from all over to Peoria, Illinois

May 23, 1851: I had to bring you this piece since as a child the arrival of a circus or a carnival in Peoria drove all of us kids into a frenzy. We had a lot of out door activities on the river and the arrival of attractions like carnivals and circuses was always the high light of the summer. Just look at how Peorians reacted in 1851. Nixon and Kemp’s Eastern Circus, certainly one of the largest traveling circus in America, arrived in Peoria today and the entire town rejoiced. All of the circus members paraded through town followed by the largest Calliope ever built and certainly the first one to arrive in Peoria. The massive contraption was pulled by 40 horses and sent the folks into a wild frenzy. Clowns, acrobats, jugglers and get this…‘necromancers’ furnished most of the entertainment.
Editor’s Note: Norm is a local Historian and true crime writer and welcomes your questions and comments. norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net

DIARY OF OUR RIVER CITY

DIARY OF OUR RIVER CITY

NORMAN V. KELLY

Part One

Peoria,IL - 1839

For those of you that read my story last month about Rudolphus Rouse, you are well aware of how quickly Peoria became a sophisticated city. Through out our history we had a plethora of men and women that stepped up to give us a boost, and I spent over three decades trying to praise them. I thought I would bring you some early history in a form of a diary that was devotedly kept and guarded by our keeper of the records, the folks at the Peoria Public Library. Even before we became a city in 1845, there were newspapers located here, followed quickly by a library and record keepers, court files, and police reports. That record was scrupulously kept. The only time it was distorted was during the time our pet gangster Bernie Shelton lived here. Then our uncles and grandfathers took over with gangster stories that they loved to perpetuate upon gullible listeners. A lot of so-called historians did the same thing. Me? Why I stuck to the record, but it is always more fun to read fiction than it is musty old historical records. I did it because that is where you will find the truth about Peoria, Illinois, its people and its history.

We are not a city yet, and there is a lot of activity way out in the county by January 1843. By then Philander Chase, founder of Jubilee College, let it be known that “No baptismal rite performed on a Mormon by a
Mormon had any saving value in the eyes of Heaven.” Strong language and of course there were repercussions to Philander’s statement.

On February 1, 1843 somebody must have had the authority and control of the town’s purse strings to issue this rule. Anyway the Peoria Waterworks Company was authorized by legislature to improve any spring water within two miles of Peoria.

On the evening of February 13, 1843 an Abolitionist meeting being held by The Anti-Slavery Society to pick officers was broken up by slavery sympathizers, led by Mr. Underwood. Now this was a private meeting being held at the Main Street Presbyterian Church. Didn’t we name a street after Underwood? Remember way back then, because of our Constitution and Bill Of Rights folks had the same inalienable rights as we do today. Apparently Underwood and his gang did not believe that to be true.

Main Street Presbyterian Church

During the very early spring folks still tried to cross the river to East Peoria on horse and buggy even though the local authorities warned people of the dangerous conditions. Two children riding with the Rodecker and Parker families drowned when their buggy broke through the ice on the Illinois River. That was February 28, 1843 at the foot of Main Street.

Newspapers were established in Peoria even before we became a Town in 1835. By 1845 when we became a City and for decades the newspapers competed with each other not only politically but for the almighty dollar as well. Many local politicians, business men and women and police officers felt their wrath. A sample was this zinger:
“The thing called a ‘jail’ in this county is not worthy the name.”
Peoria: January 1844.

Printed on 2-7-1844, The Democratic Press went against the local newspapers in trying to squelch the rumor that folks in the Town of Peoria, Illinois were suffering and dying from a mysterious disease known only as ‘The Black Lung.’ The editor pointed out that the last death among the 1,600 inhabits was recorded way back on December 8, 1843. Some folks laughed at this statement and the rumors persisted.

James K. Polk

November 4, 1844 certain newspapers gleefully reported that
The County of Peoria registered their usual Democratic majority
by casting 1,169 votes for James Polk, Democrat and 846 for Henry Clay, Whig… for President of the United States. By the way Lincoln never won here either. Polk won the election.

On December 10, 1844, Charles Owen died. Owen had declared that he was 110 years old and came to Peoria from Virginia in 1822. The article went on to state that Mr. Owens came to Peoria carrying a load of whiskey, which he sold to one of the local Indian tribes. No not the Peoria Indian who had been driven out of this area by 1720.

A man that took it upon himself to be Peoria’s first census taker and local historian, S.D.W. Drown let the folks know on January 16, 1844
that Peoria’s population was 1,619. Mr. Drown also published a ‘Town Directory’ which evolved into ‘The City Directory.’ There would be very little recorded history of early Peoria without the dedication of Mr. Drown.

By March of 1844 steamboats were a vital link to the outside world and along with our whiskey moved Peoria along head and shoulders above all the other villages and towns that sprung up along the Illinois River. However, none grew so substantially as Peoria, Illinois, ‘The Gem along the Illinois.’
Next month let’s take another peek into the ‘Peoria Diary’ and see just how our forefathers prospered in Peoria, Illinois, ‘The Pearl on the Illinois.’

Editor’s note: Norm is a true crime writer, Peoria historian and author. He welcomes your comments. norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net