Arkansas Gazette

Wednesday, May 8, 1946

Sixth Slaying Adds Worry at Texarkana

The sixth slaying to occur in the Texarkana area in six weeks was disclosed today and residents of this section wondered if it were the work of the "mad killer" whom officers suspect is at large in the district.

Today's developement was the discovery of the body of a man on the tracks of the Kansas City Southern railroad in Little River County, about 16 miles north of Texarkana.

Dr. Frank G. Engler, Little River County Coroner, reported that the body was identified by a Social Security Card issued in Kansas as that of Earl Clifton McSpadden. The same name appeared on a registration card issued at the Shreveport employment office dated yesterday. No address appeared on either card.

A Jury empaneled by Dr. Engler returned a verdict to the effect that McSpadden had been stabbed to death elsewhere and the body placed on the tracks.

Coroner convinced victim was murdered

Dr. Engler said that although the body had been mangled by a train, there was no bruises as there would have been if the man had fallen from the train. He said there was a deep wound two inches long on the left temple which was serious enough to have caused death. He said that cuts on the hands indicated the victim had struggled with the assailant armed with a knife.

The left arm and leg had been severed presumably by the train which passed the nearby station in Ogden at 5:30 this morning. Blood was discovered on the highway only a short distance from where the body had been found.

The body was discovered by a Negro early this morning. It was taken to Phillips funeral home at Ashdown while officers sought to locate relatives of the victim. They announced tonight that they had located a brother living in Dallas, Texas.

They are uncertain whether the killing is the work of the mysterious muredrer who shot and killed Virgil Starks, a farmer, in his home and who is believed to have killed Polly Ann Moore, Richard Griffin, Paul Martin and Betty Jo Booker in previous unsolved murders near Texarkana.