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The Town That Dreaded Sundownwas a 1976 documentary film that was base on actual crimes entrust in Texarkana in 1946 . A hooded killer terrorize citizen in rural area surrounding the border between Texas and Kansas . Dubbed the “ Texarkana Moonlight Murders ” by the press , eight masses were attack and five were mutilate within the duet of three months . The film purported to be a genuine limning of the criminal offence , with only the names of the victims change . However , Charles B. Pierce ’s film was not an accurate depiction of what occurred , and took many liberty with the facts . A “ meta - sequel”produced by Jason Blumin 2014 only helped to further blur the truth .
Screenwriter Early E. Smith follows the canonic outline of the criminal offence , but tally exploitatory element to the story which undercut the celluloid ’s credibleness . The writer also create completely fictional scenario , including a chase between law enforcement and the cause of death , which have colour the public ’s perception of the truth for many years . Unlike popular law-breaking moving picture such as Oliver Stone’sNatural Born Killers(1994),which was loosely inspired by a mixed bag of events , and David Fincher’sZodiac , which focalise on one man ’s fixation with a veridical serial killer , Sundowncarried the system of weights of criminal offense that affected actual people .
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The attacks began on February 22 , 1946 when a youthful duad , parked in an domain screw as “ lovers ’ lane ” were confronted by a hooded alien yield a torch and gun . The driver of the car , Jimmy Hollis ( 25 ) and his girlfriend Mary Jeanne Larey ( 19 ) were ordered out of the car after being severalise by the interloper that he " did not want to kill them " . After fracturing the skull of Hollis with the gun , Larey was also hit in the head but , bizarrely , also distinguish to run aside by the assailant . He get up with her , sexually assaulted her , but let her go after the attack . The hooded perpetrator ’s behavior , at times planetary , seemed to suggest an uncertainty in his actions . He would show none of these sign in his next three attacks .
The True Crimes In The Town That Dreaded Sundown
March 24 , 1946 another dyad was confronted in a different area also known as a “ lover ’s lane . ” This time , both victims were not so lucky . Richard L. Griffin ( 29 ) and his girl Polly Ann More ( 17 ) were found dead in his car from gunshot wound to the head . Less than a calendar month later on on April 13 the killer took the lives of Paul Martin ( 17 ) and his friend Betty Jo Booker ( 15 ) – both shot with the same shooter used as the premature double - slaying , a .32 automatic Colt pistol . After Martin and Booker were killed , the Texarkana Daily News used the “ Phantom Killer ” moniker in a newspaper headline , which was soon used to describe him by the national media .
The last attack by the hooded killer consume place on the night of April 13 . marital couple Virgil and Katie Starks , both in their 30 , were shot in their home located on a 500 acre farm 10 mi northeast of Texarkana . Virgil was shot and kill while sit in a chair in his sustenance room . Katie was shot twice in the face while essay to call the police . She survived the ordeal after pass to a distant neighbor ’s house for help . The Phantom Killer never struck again , and though there was a robust manhunt and investigating no one was ever convicted of the crimes . WhileThe Town That Dreaded Sundownmay have played with the fact of the actual casing , it did keep the memory of the tragic result alive for decades . Even today the movie is shown once a year around Halloween in an outdoor theatre of operations in Texarkana . It is presently available to stream onAmazon Prime .
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