The Atlanta Child Murders
Ransom
Two weeks later on July 30, 1980, eleven-year-old Earl Terrell went with some friends to the South Bend Park swimming pool. Earl began to misbehave and the lifeguard threw him out of the pool. After that, Earl disappeared.
Earl's aunt, who lived next door, got a phone call. "I've got Earl. Don't' call the police," he told her. Shortly afterwards, the man — who sounded like a white southerner — called back, saying, "I've got Earl. He's in Alabama. It will cost you $200 to get him back. I will call back on Friday." (Detlinger and Prugh).
According to Detlinger, police learned of a child pornography ring that was operating right across the street from the South Bend Park pool. John David Wilcoxen was convicted when police found thousands of photos of children pornographically displayed. Police dismissed the connection between Wilcoxen and Terrell because the photos were of white boys, but a witness claimed that Earl Terrell had been to Wilcoxen's house several times. Also, there was some disagreement as to whether the photos were actually all white boys or not.
- Setting the Stage
- The Looming Crisis
- Ominous Beginning
- Two More Boys
- End to the Lull
- Jefferey
- A Murderous Rampage
- STOP
- Ransom
- Witnesses to Murder
- The List
- Making Sense of the Crisis
- No End In Sight
- Links
- A Murderous Change of Pace
- The Jo-Jo Connection
- Chaos
- A Deadly April
- The Last to Make the List
- Dettlinger and His Map
- A Splash From the Bridge
- Wayne Bertram Williams
- Up to No Good
- Building the Case
- Pulling it Together
- Gearing Up
- The Trial
- Patterns
- Damaging Testimony
- Mounting Evidence
- On the Stand
- Going Down!
- Fiber Analysis
- Under a Microscope
- Challenging Evidence
- Probability
- Reasonable Doubts
- Unfair Trial?
- Race War?
- More Than One
- A New Investigation in 2005
- New Chapter 2006 — Ku Klux Klan Connection
- New Chapter 2006 — The Child Molester Theory
- Bibliography
