On June 26, 1957, Margaret Harold and her date were parked on a lover's lane road near Annapolis, Maryland. Another car pulled up alongside and a young man got out and shot Harold in the head, killing her. The woman's date escaped on foot and called police but when they arrived on the scene the killer had departed, having lingered long enough to rape Harold's corpse. A subsequent search of the area revealed an abandoned cinder block building. Inside the walls were plastered with pornographic pictures and morgue photos of dead women.
On January 11, 1959, the slayer struck again near Apple Grove, Virginia. Carroll Jackson, his wife Mildred, and their two little girls, five-year-old Susan and 18-month-old Janet, were reported missing when their car was found abandoned. There was no sign of the family until March 4 when Carroll and Janet were discovered in a ditch near Fredericksburg. Little Janet had been placed in the ditch alive but suffocated to death when her father's body had been thrown on top of her. Carroll died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Two weeks later Mildred and Susan Jackson's bodies were found in a shallow grave near Annapolis. Both had been sexually assaulted and bludgeoned to death. A nearby abandoned structure was revealed to be the likely murder site when investigators found a button from Mildred's dress on the floor.
The cases were at a standstill until an anonymous letter was mailed later that spring. The author accused a thin, quiet jazz musician named Melvin Rees of being the killer of the Jackson family. Investigators discovered Rees had been a student at the University of Maryland during the time of the killings and had known Wanda Tipton, a former Maryland student who's picture had been found in the abandoned building near the scene of Harold's murder. The only problem was that Rees was now a traveling musician and nobody knew where he was.
The anonymous letter writer came forward in person in early 1960 and told authorities that Rees had contacted him and was currently working at a music store in West Memphis, Arkansas. Rees was finally arrested and a search of his home turned up notes describing the Jackson family's murders. The man who witnessed Margaret Harold's killing confirmed that Rees was indeed the man he saw put a bullet into Harold's head.
Rees was convicted by the state of Maryland of Harold's murder and sentenced to life in prison. Virginia added a death sentence for the other four slayings, though it was eventually changed to life in 1972. Rees died in prison in the 1990's.
Investigators strongly suspect Rees was also responsible for four homicides in the area around the University of Maryland. Teenagers Mary Shomette, Ann Ryan, Mary Fellers, and Shelby, Venable were all found raped and slain in seperate incidents. Rees was never charged in any of those four murders.