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Thread: Lester Eubanks - Ohio

  1. #1
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    Lester Eubanks - Ohio


    Mary Ellen Deener




    Edited

    Authorities release updated list of ‘Dangerous Dozen’ from Ohio

    CLEVELAND, Ohio – The U.S. Marshals Service released on Monday its updated list of the “Dangerous Dozen,” the most-wanted fugitives from northern Ohio.

    Lester Eubanks is a Mansfield-area fugitive wanted for escape. In November of 1965, authorities say Eubanks raped and murdered a 14-year-old girl in Mansfield when she was walking home from a local laundromat. At the time of the offense, Eubanks was on bond for an attempted rape. Eubanks was convicted of murder and rape and sentenced to the death penalty in May of 1966. In July of 1972 his sentence was commuted to life in prison due to the death penalty being abolished by the Ohio Supreme Court. In December of 1973, Eubanks was taken to a shopping center in South Columbus to partake in a Christmas shopping event hosted by the prison. Eubanks did not return as scheduled after the shopping. An age progressed photo of what Eubanks may look like today is included in his wanted flyer.

    http://fox8.com/2017/03/13/authoriti...zen-from-ohio/

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Composite of Lester Eubanks


    Escaped Ohio killer getting national attention


    Lester Eubanks went from Death Row to Christmas shopping for good behavior. He hasn't been seen in 45 years

    By Phil Trexler
    WKYC.com

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — When a convicted killer escapes from prison, they generally don’t stay free for long.

    Because modern prisons are so secure, escapes are rare. When they do happen, there’s a typical response. Panic among the public. An intense, large-scale response from law enforcement with 24-hour news channels bringing it all to millions of eyes.

    We saw it in full swing with the 2015 escape of David Sweat and Richard Matt, two convicted killers who broke free from the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York. Their run lasted 20 days, hunted down by more than 250 officers.

    For one Ohio escapee, Lester Eubanks, he’s had over 45 years of freedom, living on the lam in anonymity as the state’s most notorious escaped murderer. He’s about to get national broadcast attention for the first time in the internet era, a move that law enforcement believes will finally end their hunt.

    “I believe that once we're able to put that picture in front of the right person, we're going to be able to get him into custody,” said David Siler, a deputy U.S. Marshal based in Cleveland. “This is our number one priority.”

    Eubanks’ escape still boggles the mind. He was originally sentenced to death for killing 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener in Mansfield. That sentence was lowered to life in prison after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the death penalty.

    Eubanks became a model inmate, endearing himself to guards. Perhaps even having close ties to those working at the prison in Columbus.

    As a reward for good behavior, during an era when less restrictive rehabilitation techniques were being implemented, Eubanks was taken Christmas shopping in December 1973. He was dropped off at a mall. Alone. And told to report back after picking out his gifts.

    Eubanks has not been seen since.

    “We couldn't believe it,” said Myrtle Carter, Mary Ellen’s sister. “Christmas shopping. Really? From Death Row? Christmas shopping?"

    At the time, there was little media coverage. And over the years, warrants were left to expire. Law enforcement essentially abandoned the case.

    In the 1990s, Mansfield police revived the case and in the national TV show America’s Most Wanted featured the case. The move brought out tips, but nothing concrete. It was the only national broadcast exposure ever given to Eubanks’ escape.

    In the past year, ever since U.S. Marshals took over, media coverage has ramped up. A $25,000 reward is being offered. Euanks is on the department’s Most Wanted list.

    And now, for the first time since the internet evolved, Eubanks’ escape is about to get national exposure that authorities believe will produce the tips needed to finally end the hunt.

    Two production companies have flown producers to Ohio in recent months, interviewing potential subjects and collecting records. However, neither project has been formally announced.

    Siler believes Eubanks is still alive, even at age 75.

    “The fact that an associate would me, have the audacity to tell me, you don't know where he is, you're never going to find him, that tells you one, he alive. two, they have contact with him,” he said.

    Investigators believe that national media exposure is what their investigation needs. While media in Ohio have covered the case extensively in recent years, and some national print media have recounted the case, no broadcast media have covered the case in the internet era.

    “With the Eubanks case, we're trying to utilize every national media outlet in order to get the word out in reference to this monster,” Siler said. “Being able to see him, show his picture to every person possible, that’s how we're going to get this guy in custody.”

    https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/es...1-b5310506a023
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #3
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    FBI renews public plea to find former death row inmate, 75, who vanished in 1973 when he was allowed to go to the mall to do Christmas shopping

    The FBI has renewed its plea to find a death row inmate who escaped from prison in 1973 and has not been seen since.

    Lester Eubanks was at one point facing the death penalty for shooting dead 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deneer after trying to rape her in Mansfield, Ohio, in 1965.

    He had his sentence commuted to a life sentence and charmed guards in the Ohio State Penitentiary so much so that they let him go to a mall, unsupervised, to do Christmas shopping in 1973.

    Eubanks had arranged to meet an accomplice at the mall where he escaped. He has not been seen or heard from since.

    Now, after decades of trying unsuccessfully to find him, the FBI is renewing its campaign to locate him by cooperating with the ABC Podcast, 'Have You Seen This Man?'

    The FBI is also circulating a composite image of what it believes Eubanks could look like now - 46 years later.

    Eubanks was sentenced to death for first-degree murder and perpetrating rape in 1966. His death penalty was commuted to a life sentence in 1972.

    It's not clear why his sentence was commuted.

    Astonishingly, one year later - due to good behavior - he was allowed to go Christmas shopping at a mall in Columbus without a chaperone. He was never seen again.

    Eubanks was in his early 20s when he attacked Mary Ellen. Her family took part in the podcast.

    'She just always was giggling. You know, a little girl. Always giggling and - and having fun,' her older sister Myrtle, now 72, said.

    Eubanks grabbed her off the street then took her to be raped but she fought him. He shot her then bludgeoned her with a brick to make sure she was dead.

    He was arrested not long after the murder after police matched his footprints to the crime scene.

    Eubanks confessed to the crime and was sentenced to death.

    He was due to be electrocuted in the notorious chair at the Ohio State Penitentiary, which is where the Shawshank Redemption is set, but had his sentence commuted to life without parole.

    'It was like watching a movie - our movie.

    'It happened that night, by the-- that next afternoon, he was caught. Six months later, he was-- the trial. The sentence. And he was gone,' Myrtle said.

    Just a year later, he and a handful of other trusted inmates were allowed to go to the mall without a chaperone to do Christmas shopping.

    Dale Fortney, a former police officer in Mansfield, Ohio, said it was 'ridiculous' that he had been given so much freedom.

    'Lester went from death row, to commuted to a life sentence, to then, a year or two later, now he's such an honor prisoner that he can be taken unescorted and left in a mall to go Christmas shopping.

    'I think normal people can't comprehend that this could actually happen.'

    US Marshals believe Eubanks had help from inside his family.

    Their suspicions are intensified by the fact that in 2015, many of his relatives declined to help them look for him.

    'Blood is thicker than water. There's someone in the family that knows where he is,' U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott said.

    However one relative who did see him after he escaped has spoken out.

    The man is now in his 50s. He was a teenager and lived with Eubanks in the mid-70s, when he came a father figure to him.

    He said authorities had a slim chance of finding him.

    'You're looking for this dude and he's been gone for what, 40 years?

    'And it's like, you haven't found him yet. What the hell makes you think you're going to find him?'

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...aped-1973.html
    "How do you get drunk on death row?" - Werner Herzog

    "When we get fruit, we get the juice and water. I ferment for a week! It tastes like chalk, it's nasty" - Blaine Keith Milam #999558 Texas Death Row

  4. #4
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    Police Launch Fresh Appeal To Find Unsolved Mysteries Child Killer Lester Eubanks




    Investigators in America believe they are closer to locating convicted child killer Lester Eubanks, who has been on the run for the past 43 years. He is the main suspect in the 1965 death of 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener.

    The case has come under the spotlight this week after Netflix released the second batch of episodes for its Unsolved Mysteries reboot series


    Lester has been missing since December 7, 1973 and is wanted for escaping the custody of the Ohio Department of Corrections after he was allowed to go Christmas shopping - a revelation that has outraged Twitter.

    The killer was serving time for the murder of 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener.

    On November 14, 1965, Mary Ellen and her younger sister were at a laundromat, but they ran out of change.

    When she left to get more change from another laundromat, she never returned. Mary Ellen's body was later found nearby. She had been shot two times, sexually assaulted and beaten with a brink.

    Eubanks was later arrested for her murder.



    Eubanks was convicted in May 1966 and sentenced to death, but the Supreme Court declared in 1972 that the death penalty was unconstitutional, and his sentence to commuted life in prison.

    He later became an "honour inmate" at the Ohio penitentiary where he was incarcerated which is how he earned the privilege to go Christmas shopping at Great Southern Shopping Centre from which he disappeared.




    The case has also been profiled on America's Most Wanted.

    https://www.tyla.com/news/tv-and-fil...banks-20201020
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  5. #5
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Age enhanced photo of Lester Eubanks


    Lester Eubanks, fugitive for 47 years, now being sought in Los Angeles


    Mansfield man was convicted in 1966 of killing a 14-year-old girl

    By Lou Whitmire
    Mansfield News Journal

    MANSFIELD - Convicted child killer Lester Eubanks of Mansfield is being sought in the Los Angeles area after being convicted of killing a 14-year-old Mansfield girl in 1965 and walking away from a prison shopping trip with other honor inmates on Dec. 7, 1973, having been a fugitive ever since.

    After reviewing recently obtained photographs that allegedly show Eubanks working and socializing with people in Los Angeles County — including a former waterbed factory in Gardena — the Marshals Service began focusing their investigation there, U.S. Marshal and spokeswoman Anne Murphy of Cleveland confirmed Monday.

    Eubanks might have lived in Gardena, South Los Angeles, Long Beach, and North Hollywood at various times, Murphy said.

    Officials also believe he worked as a janitor at St. Francis Hospital in Lynwood in the late 1980s or early ’90s, Murphy said.

    “We are still focused on the L.A. area. We believe that he may have never left the Greater Los Angeles area,” Murphy said. “We know that he has a footprint there, we know that he has associates throughout the area. We just need to talk to those people."

    In October, the marshals service increased the reward from $25,000 to $50,000 for information leading to Eubank's capture.

    Officials said the new photographs were among the rush of tips that came in after ABC News ran a segment on the case for the podcast, “Have You Seen This Man.”

    Murphy said the point of releasing the photographs is the marshals don't know who the people in photographs are, but would love to talk to them in hopes they may have more information on Eubanks.

    History of the Lester Eubanks case

    Mary Ellen Deener went searching for change for the laundromat on Nov. 14, 1965.

    It was the last time the 14-year-old was seen alive.

    Lester Eubanks grabbed Mary Ellen as she walked along the sidewalk. He dragged her behind a house in the 300 block of North Mulberry Street, raped her, shot her twice and left her for dead.

    But Mary Ellen didn't die, not right away. Eubanks, who lived in the neighborhood, reportedly heard noises and returned to the scene. He finished the teen off by smashing her in the head with a brick.

    She was found with a handful of nickels and dimes next to her.

    The case was fairly straightforward. Eubanks was convicted in May 1966 and sentenced to death. In 1972, the Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional, and his sentence was commuted to life in prison.

    Eubanks could have faded from public consciousness, but he was back in the news on Dec. 7, 1973, after escaping while Christmas shopping in Columbus on an honor assignment.

    Eubanks has been on the run ever since.

    "I really believe we're going to catch up to this guy," Deputy U.S. Marshal David Siler told the News Journal in 2017.

    Monday, retired Mansfield police Det. Capt. David Messmore said he was contacted by "America's Most Wanted" TV producers recently since he worked on the cold case at the police department.

    Messmore said his parents operated The Fairmont Dairy Store and he and his parents knew Deener's mother and the family who were in the store frequently and lived nearby.

    "I remember the mother was real nice. The little girl who was killed was real quiet, just a little girl," Messmore said. "He (Eubanks) and I were the same age but I didn't really know him because he came to school when I graduated that same year and he was on an indictment from another case. He tried to rape somebody (else)."

    Messmore said the whole thing about Eubanks being allowed to shop in downtown Columbus, from where he escaped, is unbelievable.

    Messmore said he was responsible for getting the warrant for Eubank's arrest reinstalled. "They hadn't even put out a locator or warrant for him and I got that reinstalled in the computer system for all of the United States," he said.

    Eubanks, who now is in his mid-70s, was described as a 5-foot-11-inch male with black hair and brown eyes. At the time of his disappearance, he weighed approximately 175 pounds. Other unique physical characteristics include a mole under his left eye, according to the U.S. marshals.

    Eubanks featured on Netflix

    In October, Eubanks was featured on "Death Row Fugitives" on Netflix's "Unsolved Mysteries."

    U.S. Marshal Brian Fitzgibbon said after the Netflix showing that the marshals service received a lot of tips from people filling in the holes.

    He said in October that the marshals service had no information on Eubanks' whereabouts, and no tip from the public is too small.

    "There's nothing putting him in a place (location)," Fitzgibbon said. "We're looking for any information to his life on the run or the history of his life on the run," he added.

    https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com...es/7044314002/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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