Texarkana Moonlight Murders

"Phantom Killer" and "Phantom Slayer" redirect here. For the 1942 film, see Phantom Killer (film). For the 1982 video game, see Phantom Slayer (video game).

Texarkana Moonlight Murders
Officers searching for clues down Morris Lane in 1946.
LocationMiller County, Arkansas, and Bowie County, Texas, U.S.
Date (1946-February-22) (1946-May-03)February 22 – May 3, 1946
(10 week period)
Weapons
  • .32 pistol
  • .22 rifle
Deaths5
Victims8
Perpetrator"Phantom Killer"
(unidentified)

The Texarkana Moonlight Murders, a term coined by the contemporary press, was a series of four unsolved serial murders and related violent crimes committed in the Texarkana region of the United States in early 1946. They were attributed to an alleged unidentified perpetrator known as the Phantom of Texarkana, the Phantom Killer, or the Phantom Slayer.[1] This hypothetical suspect is credited with attacking eight people, five of them fatally, in a ten-week period.

The attacks occurred at night on weekends between February 22 and May 3, targeting couples. The first three attacks occurred at lovers' lanes or quiet stretches of road in Texas; the fourth attack occurred at an isolated farmhouse in Arkansas. The murders were reported nationally and internationally by several publications,[2][3][4][5] and caused a state of panic in Texarkana throughout the summer. Residents armed themselves and, at dusk, locked themselves indoors while police patrolled streets and neighborhoods. Stores sold out of guns, ammunition, locks, and many other protective devices.[6] Investigations into the murders were conducted at the city, county, state and federal level.

The prime suspect in the case, career criminal Youell Swinney, was linked to the murders primarily by statements from his wife plus additional circumstantial evidence. After Swinney's wife refused to testify against him, prosecutors decided against pursuing murder charges. Swinney was convicted on other charges and sentenced to a long prison sentence. Two of the lead investigators believed Swinney to be guilty of the murders. The book The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders (2014), written by James Presley (nephew of Sheriff William Hardy "Bill" Presley), concludes that Swinney is the culprit. The events inspired many works, including the 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown. This film is the basis for much of the subsequent myth and folklore around the murders.

  1. ^ "FBI releases archive on Texarkana's Phantom Killer; over 1,000 pages available online". Arkansas Online. February 7, 2020. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  2. ^ Texarkana Terror. Life. July 10, 1946. pp. 40–41.
  3. ^ Presley, James (May 6, 1971). "Texarkana Gazette article". Texarkana Gazette.
  4. ^ "Texarkana Daily News article". Texarkana Daily News. April 15, 1946. p. 2.
  5. ^ "Texarkana Gazette special limited edition tabloid: The Phantom Killer at 50: A Retrospective". 1995. p. 16.
  6. ^ "Texas Moonlight Murders – The Phantom killer held a town hostage". Gangland Wire. March 12, 2018. Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2020.