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We're prohibited by lock EIGHTEAM plus terms 24 00:00:58.159 --> 00:00:59.960 and conditions applying see website for detail. 25 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:11.280 You are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking 26 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:14.400 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 27 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:18.799 written about them Geese, Bundy, Dahmer. 28 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:20.560 The Nightstalker DTK. 29 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:25.280 Every week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking 30 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:29.480 and infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with 31 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:33.519 your host journalist and author Dan Zupanski. 32 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:46.959 Good Evening. On August thirty first, nineteen seventy two, Helen Hanks, 33 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:50.200 a pretty thirty four year old mother of three, disappeared 34 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:54.719 from her place of employment at Willcox Advertising in Valdosta, Georgia. 35 00:01:55.319 --> 00:01:59.280 After a brief investigation by local and state authorities, the 36 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:03.159 case went In the fall of nineteen eighty, a farmer 37 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:06.799 clearing a field south of town discovered a buried object, 38 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:10.319 a box containing the dismembered remains of the missing woman. 39 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:16.120 After several months of investigation, police arrested Foxy Wilcox, his son, 40 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:20.199 Keller Wilcox, and two long term African American employees of 41 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:24.520 Wilcox Advertising. Keller was charged with Hank's murder and the 42 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:28.120 others with concealing a death. The Wilcoxes were members of 43 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:31.879 a prominent and wealthy Valdosta family. To defend their case, 44 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:36.439 they hired famed defense attorney Bobby Lee Cook. Keller Wilcox's 45 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:40.360 murder trial in January nineteen eighty two pitted Cook against 46 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:44.439 a local prosecution team led by District Attorney Lamar Cole. 47 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:50.000 The case against Wilcox was entirely circumstantial, making the outcome uncertain. 48 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:55.319 After a trial marked by controversy and conflicting testimony, Wilcox 49 00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:58.719 was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, all the 50 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:02.960 while proclaiming his innocence. In nineteen eighty five, he was 51 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:06.599 freed by a federal judge based primarily on his the 52 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:10.719 harsh interrogation of the black witnesses. The true story of 53 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:13.680 this horrific murder has all the elements of a work 54 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:19.120 of suspense fiction. Money, power, sex, race, and the haves 55 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:23.599 versus the have nots. Multiple lives were forever changed. The 56 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:26.439 outcome would have been totally different if the box had 57 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:30.400 been buried only six inches deeper. The book that we're 58 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:34.360 featuring this evening is six inches deeper, The Disappearance of 59 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:39.400 Helen Hanks with my special guest author William Rowlings. Welcome 60 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:41.879 to the program, and thank you very much for this interview. 61 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:45.759 William Rowlings, it's my pleasure to be here. Thank you 62 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:46.520 for asking me. 63 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:50.120 Thank you so much, and congratulations on this book. 64 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:51.319 I've just discovered it. 65 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:54.919 As I mentioned speaking to you beforehand, this book was 66 00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:58.280 released in twenty twenty, but I've just discovered your work. 67 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:04.840 And congratulations on this incredible Booklet's let's get right to Valdosta, Georgia. 68 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:07.919 Maybe you can just tell us where this is. You 69 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:09.960 say it's about fifteen miles to the south of the 70 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.599 Florida state line. But tell us a little bit about 71 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:17.480 Valdosta and the one person and a person named Ernest 72 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:20.399 Keller will Cox, Sr. And how he came to be 73 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:22.759 in the area and his background. 74 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:26.399 Valdosta, Georgia is a town of perhaps forty thousand or 75 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:30.360 so people in the extreme south of the site of Georgia. 76 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:34.439 It's a part of the state that historically was nothing 77 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:39.519 but great pine forest and later on became famous turpentine production. 78 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:42.839 And in fact, most of this area is probably where 79 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:45.360 they're on the vine because there's not a lot of industry. 80 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:48.240 There's not a lot of agriculture there now. But Valdosta 81 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:51.160 is different in the fact that the interstate in ninety 82 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:53.360 five was put through in the nineteen sixties and it 83 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:57.120 sort of became a regional center, sort of an island 84 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:00.360 of urbanity in the middle of rurality to you, if 85 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:04.199 I can use that term, and a lot of it's 86 00:05:04.199 --> 00:05:08.279 sort of the dominant town in the area. The Wilcoxes 87 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:11.759 were there since the early part of the night of 88 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:17.399 the twentieth century. Of the grandfather of Keller Wilcox, who 89 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:21.680 was the prime person in this saga, was an attorney, 90 00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:26.600 as was his father, Foxy. They did well business wise 91 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:28.920 and married well over the years, and so by the 92 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:32.279 time this tale took place, they were a very well 93 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:36.040 respected family because of their tenures. Things in the South 94 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:38.120 have less to do with money than they do with 95 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:41.319 family and social connections. But also they made a good 96 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:43.839 bit of money and were fairly wealthy. They were, as 97 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:45.680 I say in the book, I think the Krim dela 98 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:47.560 Krim of the South Ast society. 99 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:53.319 You talk about Foxy Wilcox being having a background with 100 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:57.079 his grandfather being an attorney and his father, but you 101 00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:00.199 say that he soon lost interest in the law. Tell 102 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:02.079 us about what his new interest was. 103 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:07.600 To get this straight. The person eventually indicted most prominent 104 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:10.759 with this murder was Keller Wilcox, who was born in 105 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:15.480 nineteen fifty. His father, Foxy Wilcox, was an attorney who 106 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:18.680 liked many attorneys over the years, may turn to something else, 107 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:22.720 and he became very successful in the outdoor advertising business, 108 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:27.600 and that's where much of the income came from. Keller, 109 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:30.600 on the other hand, was at the time of this 110 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:34.959 story began, was just in the midst of college, He 111 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:38.079 had just gotten married, was a younger, younger man. He 112 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:41.519 was the only child of his two parents, and certainly 113 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:45.480 he was he had before him a bright future if 114 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:49.000 he simply maintained that which he would inherit. So that 115 00:06:49.639 --> 00:06:53.000 sort of sets the background for what happened in August 116 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:54.319 nineteen seventy two. 117 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:58.360 You say there were prominent people in this community, but 118 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:02.800 tell us a little bit more about this advertising company 119 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:06.399 and its employees and what they actually did and some 120 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:09.879 of the challenges or the real challenge that faced them 121 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:12.360 in nineteen eighty to back. 122 00:07:12.279 --> 00:07:16.600 Up, outdoor advertising means basically billboards, and as you are 123 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:21.439 probably aware, billboards are everywhere. Prior to the administration of 124 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:24.839 London Johnson in the late nineteen sixties, they were unregulated 125 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:29.199 more or less in federal highways, and the company, in fact, 126 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:31.879 the entire industry, a billboard industry, faced a lot of 127 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:35.199 challenges about getting their billboards up, but they did well. 128 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:39.160 They did well, and both Foxy, the father and Keller 129 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:41.839 and the son they've actually had, both had the same name, 130 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:46.800 which is Ernest Keller Wilcox. They did quite well in 131 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:50.279 the business and had markets all across South Georgia and 132 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:55.680 North Florida. Things were really doing well. Their employees consisted 133 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:57.600 of the father and son in the office and they 134 00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:00.680 would have a secretary perhaps plus a few salesman, but 135 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:04.639 the main flute of their employees were persons who put 136 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:07.519 up and took down the billboards. So these were all 137 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:12.759 African American and that fact came into play later in 138 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:13.600 the story. 139 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.399 Now you talk about this business that they had, and 140 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:19.360 they had a secretary that joined in nineteen seventy two, 141 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.800 the same time that the same year that Keller joined 142 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:26.879 his father in this company as a salesman and marketing. 143 00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:29.360 So tell us a little bit about Helen Griffin. 144 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:33.559 Helen Griffin Hanks. She was married to a man named 145 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.720 James Nykes, who was thirty four years old in nineteen 146 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:41.039 seventy seventy two. She was the mother of three children. 147 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:45.639 She had worked a very apparently very intelligent lady. From 148 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.679 all that I had been able to find out, she 149 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:52.600 had previously worked for another timber company there in Valdosta, 150 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.279 but had come to work early in nineteen seventy two 151 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:58.720 boy twenty percent rais, giving her a weekly salary of 152 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:03.559 one hundred and twenty dollars per week. Her husband, James Hanks, 153 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:09.279 was a prison guard making a modest salary, and between 154 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:13.039 the two of them they were raising three children and 155 00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:15.759 probably struggling a bit. But she was saying to be 156 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:20.039 very intelligent, very hard working, and very honest, assault of 157 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.559 the earth kind of person who was in a position 158 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:25.039 of secretary for this company. 159 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:29.080 Tell us about the situation with Keller in terms of 160 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:30.720 his marital status. 161 00:09:31.159 --> 00:09:35.960 Keller had been going to college at Valdosta College at 162 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.799 the time it's now Valdosta State University. But he started 163 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:41.480 off college and early on had wanted to go to 164 00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:45.120 medical students supposedly, but that didn't pad out, and actually 165 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:48.000 after about in his third year of college, he actually 166 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:50.279 dropped out and went to work for his fall. The 167 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:53.399 full time, he had been going out with a girl 168 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:59.200 named Jean King as Ja and King, and they were 169 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:04.679 married in around the first of August nineteen seventy two. Incidentally, 170 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:08.960 Jean's father, Willard King, at that time was working part 171 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:12.559 time for Wilcox out in No Advertising Is doing various 172 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:15.840 mechanic type of jobs and other related He would later 173 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.559 become a full time employee of the company, but at 174 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:22.120 the time he was working part time. So in August 175 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:25.080 nineteen seventy two, Kerol Wilcox was a uly wit and 176 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:28.600 things were apparently going f until one day. 177 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:34.159 You want to talk about the Neil Johannson and merit, 178 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:38.519 the switch up that happened in the marital life of 179 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:40.840 these two couples, Well, I. 180 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:44.159 Can that happens later on, sort of happens a bit 181 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:48.399 later on in the story. He and Jean were a 182 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.360 member of a social group and there was another fellow 183 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:55.679 named Neil Johansson, who all reports was very handsome. Believe 184 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:59.759 Joehansson was a very handsome police officer. He was married, 185 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:04.399 as was Keller, and they ran in a social group together. 186 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.200 A few years later, it turned out that both Jean 187 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:12.440 Keller's wife and Neil Johansson's wife file for divorce within 188 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:14.840 a few days of one another, and their divorces were 189 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:17.039 granted within a few days of one another. A few 190 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:22.639 weeks later later Onwned Jean married Neil Johansson and Keller 191 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:27.879 was single. As things would go on, a few years later, 192 00:11:28.200 --> 00:11:32.519 Neil Johansson died under what I was there suspicious circumstances 193 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:35.879 and was said to have died from autoerotic self expiciation. 194 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:39.080 At least that was the consensus of the caroner and 195 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:43.200 others who examined the situation at the time. Keller later 196 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:47.519 went on to marry another lady and named Sonia, and 197 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:51.759 he got married around the first of November nineteen eighty, 198 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:55.879 so it had been his marriage to Jane was fairly 199 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.080 short lived, and by nineteen eighty, which is a critical 200 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:01.720 year in the story, he was he'd remarried for a 201 00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:04.759 second time. He'd remarried for a second he'd married for 202 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:05.320 a second sex. 203 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:08.399 I'm sorry, let's go back, and so let's go back 204 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:12.480 to Lamar Advertising, and we talked about the situation where 205 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:16.919 things were changing with the Beautification Act, but also that 206 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:22.279 Lamar Advertising was offering accounting services to small companies like 207 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:26.679 Wilcox Advertising. So on August twenty ninth, tell us about 208 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:30.080 this plan and the plan from the for the company 209 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:32.679 to meet in Atlanta with Foxy and Keller. 210 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:35.720 It's kind of hard to imagine today, but back in 211 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:39.039 the dark ages before computers, I guess we've all lived 212 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:41.759 through those books were being kept by hand. But the 213 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:45.799 nineteen nineties and the years that following were certainly transitioned 214 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:50.120 when everyone moved from handwritten bookkeeping to a computerized bookkeeping. 215 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:54.559 Wilcox Advertising recognized that it needed to move up in 216 00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:57.639 the world, so they had an affailiation agreement with Lamar 217 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:01.799 Outdoor Advertising, which is still well known company in that field. 218 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:02.320 Own. 219 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:07.480 I believe it was August twenty ninth, nineteen seventy two. 220 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:11.480 Keller and his father went to Atlanta, and you have 221 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:14.080 to understand that's to the northern part of the state 222 00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:18.080 of Georgia. They drove to Atlanta and met with others, 223 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:23.279 including the executives of the Lamar Advertising company. They stayed 224 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:26.159 there for a couple of days and return back to 225 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:31.200 Valdosta on the thirty first of office, arriving sometime that afternoon, 226 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:33.600 and that the time of their arrival became a cryptical 227 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:34.279 figure later. 228 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:38.759 Now this is according to Foxy and Keller about their 229 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:42.799 time arriving back from this trip back to the office. 230 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:47.879 What do they observe, what do they report? How does 231 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.279 the police find out about what happens? Tell us what 232 00:13:51.639 --> 00:13:53.799 happened soon as they get back to this office according 233 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:54.399 to them. 234 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:57.120 Well, according to them, they got back to the office, 235 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:00.840 and the time actually varying, as they were several times 236 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:03.519 that they sent that guy back to the office. But 237 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:07.000 when they got there, it was apparently around four point 238 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:09.440 thirty by the in between four and four thirty by 239 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:12.120 the initial report. I want to make it clear. They 240 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:15.159 came up and Helen Hanks, the secretary of her car 241 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:18.679 was in the parking lot. The keys were in the ignition. 242 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:21.559 They opened the office door, which was unlocked. The radio 243 00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:23.759 was playing, the lights were on, and they called for 244 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:26.799 their secretary, Helen. She was not there. They said, oh, 245 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.639 she must be in the restroom. That waited a few 246 00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:30.799 minutes and knocked on the door. She wasn't there. They 247 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:33.159 searched the place according to the history that was given, 248 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:35.960 and low and old she was gone. There was no 249 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:38.679 indications to where she went and what happened. So they 250 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:42.639 called the police. The police arrived perhaps around five point 251 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:45.960 thirty or thereabouts. Again, there's some slight controversy. They made 252 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:51.600 a fairly perfunctory investigation of the scene and they left 253 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:55.759 thereafter the time that they left was a police left 254 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:59.120 was an issue of controversy. The police said about six thirty. 255 00:14:59.159 --> 00:15:02.840 Others said perhaps his latest eight o'clock. That those numbers 256 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:06.320 become important later on the story. As I noted, Keller 257 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:09.200 had been married to Gene King for only about three weeks, 258 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:12.279 and that night there was a party being given to 259 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:18.360 the newlyweds at an elegant little country resort named Ocean Pond, right, 260 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:21.360 and they would do there at seven o'clock. Well, for 261 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:24.759 whatever reason they could did not arrive at that time. 262 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:27.080 They called us and they'd be late, and didn't arrive 263 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:31.399 until nine o'clock. They were apparently checking on the missing secretary. 264 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:35.919 Now you talk about calling his wife, calling his wife 265 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:39.080 Jean and telling her that he got in at a 266 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:42.320 certain time, but that was around five o'clock. What did 267 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:46.039 he say, and this is important later, what time did 268 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:48.320 he say that he came in and what did he 269 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:51.919 tell her at five o'clock regarding this Ocean Pond thing 270 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:53.879 that he was supposed to attend on their behalf. 271 00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:56.840 Well, he told his wife initially that he got in 272 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:00.360 at three point fifteen three point thirty in the afternoon. Later, 273 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:05.559 as things would sort out, there was the authorities could 274 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:08.159 establish a fairly good timeline as to when they left 275 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:10.960 Atlanta and so forth, and so so that that seems 276 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:13.440 like it would have been correct later when there were 277 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:18.840 conversations with authorities. That time became later, perhaps four thirty. 278 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:21.679 There's a difference of an hour hour and a half 279 00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:24.840 there as to when they actually arrived. Apparently they were 280 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:29.000 in one car. They went to I believe the Elder 281 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:32.360 will Cox's house. Fox's house, dropped him off, went back 282 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.720 to the office, and then supposedly he the Elder will 283 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:39.600 Cox Foxy came down to check on the situation. The party, 284 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:42.559 which they knew the Worged were due to attend, they 285 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:45.399 should have, of course gone together. This was a big deal, 286 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:47.519 and as I said, these were these were prominent members 287 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:50.440 of the community, and the party was sponsored by some 288 00:16:50.519 --> 00:16:53.320 other prominent members of the community. It was a social 289 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.279 event and one that you would not dare be late to. 290 00:16:56.399 --> 00:17:01.320 And yet neither Foxy nor his were their own time. 291 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:04.039 They both showed up together about nine o'clock in the evening. 292 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:06.720 He told his wife that she should go ahead because 293 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.079 he would be late. He had to work about how 294 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:11.440 to see what was going on with the mission secretary. 295 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:16.559 Now we didn't talk about that. Keller calls Helen Hanks, 296 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:20.240 her husband, right, and then he comes to the office. 297 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:23.400 What does he observe? What does he say he saw? 298 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:27.200 Well, he was, as noted, a prism guard and he 299 00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:29.359 had gotten off work as our call, around four point 300 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:31.400 thirty and by the time he got home it was 301 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.200 around five. And it's about that time our little laughter 302 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:37.440 when Keller called him and said Helen is missing. We 303 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:40.000 don't know where she is. He lived in a city 304 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:43.519 of Morgan, which would have taken him perhaps twenty twenty 305 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:46.759 five minutes to get to her place of employment. And 306 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:50.960 when he arrived, Keller was there and two policemen or 307 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:55.359 three policemen eventually were there. He searched about, didn't find 308 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:57.720 his wife. The interesting thing is that when he walked 309 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:02.920 into the door, he observed are going through Helen's pocketbook 310 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:05.759 looking for some keys. You have to understand that she 311 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:09.079 was the secretary or I guess the words today would 312 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:13.279 be the executive assistant, and she held the keys to 313 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.640 such things as the gas tank when they used to 314 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.039 gas up the trucks, and he handed the pocketbook to 315 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:23.799 Helen's husband, James Hanks, and he fished around and found 316 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:26.319 us out of keys and handed them back to Keller. 317 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:28.960 These were apparently the keys to the lock on the 318 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:32.720 gas pump, right, and Keller made the unusual statement which 319 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:36.599 Hanks remembers in that Keller said, quote, she won't be 320 00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:40.440 needing these anymore. Quote at least that's what James Hanks, 321 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:43.640 her husband said. He his words were wow. 322 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:48.599 Now there is a assistant police chief, Lois Arnold, and 323 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:53.640 he also serves as the department's investigative officer. He went 324 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.680 to the will Cox advertising office a little bit later 325 00:18:56.920 --> 00:18:59.599 tell us what he observes and some of the things 326 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:03.039 that right away or said to the media by police. 327 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:07.359 Well, he went and looked around the office and did 328 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:11.720 some I can use the word light interviewing, in my opinion, 329 00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:15.480 didn't really take didn't seem to take the case that seriously, 330 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:19.799 and remarked fairly privately that she had probably run off 331 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:22.839 with another man or something like this, which if you 332 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:25.640 once you got to know the lady, it would have 333 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:30.640 been totally foreign. Right, And so the case was pretty 334 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:33.920 pretty much dismissed the case and the importance to the case. Oh, 335 00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:36.319 she's just gone, she'll come back. She got tired of 336 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:38.799 living with her husband and ran off with someone else, 337 00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:40.200 and there's no evidence west. 338 00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:44.599 Of There were a couple of will Cox employees interviewed, though, 339 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:48.240 and one was Jerry Davis and another one was John Goodman. 340 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:51.599 Jerry Davis being one of the last people supposedly to 341 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:54.400 have seen Helen Hanks. So what does he have to 342 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:55.960 say in terms of what he saw. 343 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:59.160 Well, he said that there had been interaction between Keller 344 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:03.839 and Helen, and that is Keller had grabbed Helen by 345 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:05.839 her rear end and she had turned around and slapped 346 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:09.240 him and tried to slap him, and apparently he had 347 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:13.240 been sexually harassing her. It was also said that Keller 348 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:18.039 had referred to her using foul words and spoken badly 349 00:20:18.119 --> 00:20:22.440 about her, and something Keller later denied. But these were 350 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:26.960 sort of unbiased reports that came along early in the case, 351 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.359 before anybody knew what the fate of Helen Heights would 352 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:33.160 eventually be, and so there was no doubt that there 353 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:37.640 was evidence of sexual harassment there with Keller approaching Helen, 354 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:40.079 despite the fact you'd only been married three weeks. 355 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:42.559 Now, you say that was confirmed by a second employee, 356 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:47.519 John Goodman, but also that there was confirmation of something 357 00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:51.680 else in terms of her dissatisfaction. What else was that? 358 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:56.240 Yes, there was there were other It would come out 359 00:20:56.359 --> 00:20:59.400 later that she had spoken to at least two other 360 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:03.720 female saying that she was being sexually harassed. Number one, 361 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:07.839 number two in her pocketbook, which was still there in abandoned. 362 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:11.680 There were applications for employment saying that she would be 363 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:15.119 available to go to work on October first, which basically 364 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:18.240 was one month for her disappearance. She intended to quit 365 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:21.880 her job. She had expressed concern about several things, and 366 00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:24.480 this seemed to be quite well documented and at least 367 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:27.640 up It came up later in the investigation, but there 368 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:30.480 was no doubt that something had been going on there 369 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.039 that had driven this woman to quit a job that 370 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:35.680 she'd only had about eight or nine months. And see 371 00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:36.759 other employment. 372 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:40.079 Now, there was a person named Willard King, and this 373 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:44.319 is Keller's new father in law of just a few weeks, 374 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:48.359 and he's a full time employee of Pepsicola Biling Company 375 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:52.640 in Cordel. And we hadn't mentioned, but part of that 376 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:55.680 trip that they had gone on. There was a stop 377 00:21:55.720 --> 00:22:00.559 in Cordel, tell us about Willard King and the Discovery remix. 378 00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:04.200 Well, and you know down here at South we pronounced 379 00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:10.599 things different. It's actually cordial, thank you. But he was 380 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.119 working in Cordel, and on their way back from Atlanta, 381 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:16.319 they stopped and met him, and he gave a timeline 382 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:19.000 as approximate time as to when they left that city 383 00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:22.680 and headed to south of Valdosta. There was its I 384 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:27.880 seventy five is Expressway, and that became critical later on 385 00:22:28.039 --> 00:22:30.920 in establishing the timeline as to when they actually got there. 386 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.279 It's pretty it's a pretty much straight road without any 387 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:39.200 any deviations, and so you could accurately calculate the rate 388 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:42.279 of speed, which in those days was pretty fast, and 389 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:45.640 that was important. The other thing was that he would 390 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:48.839 come in on the weekends working part time at Wilcox's 391 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:52.000 Advertising and do various repair work. And when he came 392 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:56.079 in a few days after Helen's disappearance, he noticed that 393 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:00.799 one of the boxes that he normally sent his chest 394 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:04.720 was missing. When I say boxes, this advertising company had 395 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:09.039 large boxes that measured perhaps four feet long, two feet 396 00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:12.519 wide two feet high that were covered with galvanized metal 397 00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:15.880 that were designed to withstand heavy use, and those were 398 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:20.839 where the folded pieces of paper that would eventually put 399 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:24.240 up a buildable, which were stored and carried. He noticed 400 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:27.240 that a box was missing. In fact, he duly reported 401 00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:30.000