In the badlands of Texas something horrible, something evil, was on the loose. It’s open season on young women. Snatched off the streets and dumped in the dark. Is anyone safe in a serial killer’s paradise? Dark Minds s2e4: Texas Killings Fields, 2013
Over 30 unsolved murders since the early ’70s. ibid.
The Calder Fields are just an enigma. Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields s1e1: Nobody Sees Anything, woman, Netflix 2022
It’s a place where bad things happen. ibid.
Since 1983 Galveston County has an unusually large number of mysterious disappearances. ibid. US news
Just yards off this busy highway, abducted girls and women have been killed and dumped. ibid. UK news
The Calder Road killings have haunted this part of Texas for a really long time … Why are so many women dying around here? … These cases are old. ibid. author
Laura Miller, age 16, disappeared 10 September 1984, League City, Texas … remains discovered 2 February 1986. ibid. caption
Heidi Fye: Eleven months before Laura Miller disappeared. ibid.
The discovery of her [Heidi] remains in Calder Field was pretty horrific. ibid. family
Jane Doe, age unknown, remains discovered 2 February 1986. ibid. caption
These killings of young women had been going on as far back as 1971. ibid. man
Maria Johnson & Debbie Ackerman: They were 15 when they disappeared in November of 1971. ibid. woman
By the time they disappeared there had already been other mysterious disappearances. ibid.
In the past 6 months, 7 teenage girls and young women aged 13 to 21 have been found murdered in the vicinity of Houston, Texas. ibid. black-n-white TV news
Clyde Hedrick was attracted to Houston in the 70s and 80s by the construction boom … ibid. Lise
Clyde Hedrick had been involved in the mysterious death of a woman named Ellen Beason. ibid.
Another body is found on the same piece of land. ibid.
These guys didn’t know what to do. They were stuck. Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields s1e2: Culture of Suspicion, journalist
Detectives were wondering if [Robert] Abel [ex-Nasa scientist] was their guy. ibid.
In April of 97, Laura Smither, a twelve-year-old ballerina, went jogging from her Friendswood homeland and completely disappeared. ibid.
Laura’s murder is only one of at least thirty-five still unsolved cases in a three-country area involving missing or dead young women. ibid. news
We see men who were dominant, violent people who were transient. People like Clyde Hedrick. ibid. woman
Kelli Cox, age 20, disappeared 15 July 1997, Denton, Texas. ibid.
Jessica Cain, age 17, disappeared 17 August 1997, Tiki Island, Texas. ibid.
As time passed and no evidence materialised, the Calder Road killings, they were frozen cold. Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields s1e3: The Reckoning
There are a lot of victims here. ibid. woman
After the trial for tampering with the body of Ellen Beason, he [Clyde Hedrick] got into trouble with the law time and again. ibid. man
We exhumed her [Beason] body. And she has a massive skull fracture … ibid. rozzer to Clyde Hedrick
For thousands of backpackers travelling to Thailand is a rite of passage. Chrissie Annesley was one of them … Koh Tao: a remote island of just eight square miles. Death on The Beach I, Sky Crime 2024
‘People came here in their thousands. It’s a hotspot for a party scene.’ ibid.
The island’s darker side … The dangers can come from locals and tourists. ibid.
‘I was worried about Koh Tao because it was only four months after two [Hannah Witheridge & David Miller] British backpackers had been murdered.’ ibid. Chrisssie’s dad
‘All of a sudden it was a global news story … I started to report what happened.’ ibid. ex-resident & campaigner Sue
Following Chrissie’s death the Thai authorities conducted an autopsy: Respiratory and circulatory system failure due to consumption of narcotics together with various types of medicines and alcohol drinks. ibid.
‘The police are completely out of their depth.’ ibid.
‘There was hundreds of people running through the crime scene taking pictures …’ ibid. UK reporter
Bloodbath in Paradise. ibid. UK front page
‘The atmosphere on the island following David’ and Hannah’s murders increasingly got worst … trying to intimidate us.’ ibid. UK reporter
‘There are bigger forces at play on this island.’ ibid. ex-resident & campaigner Sue
‘Someone came up to him [local], pulled out a gun and blew his brains out.’ ibid. alleged gambling debt
‘The word on the streets was that the Tuwichian family were involved. From that I understand they are the most powerful family on the island.’ ibid.
‘There were other deaths on Koh Toa unexplained … It’s left to us the parents.’ ibid. Chrissie’s dad
He [Chrissie’s dad] discovered more and more unexplained deaths. Death on the Beach II
2000: 36-year-old Ian Jacobs from Birmingham headed out to Koh Toa for a diving holiday … ibid.
‘There’s a ferry leaving in the morning; you need to be on it.’ ibid. rozzer to Ian’s dad
Social media erupted with speculation. ibid.
Here was a man saying, ‘I’ve got the money. I’ve got the power. Don’t mess with me.’ ibid. UK reporter
‘If you ever want to find yourself suspiciously dead in Koh Toa, the good thing to do is to go around asking questions.’ ibid.
‘I didn’t have a hope in hell for them [Zaw Lin & Wai Phyo]. I knew where this was going to go.’ ibid. ex-resident & campaigner Sue
‘Witnesses had been intimidated.’ ibid. UK reporter
I have found someone who said that’s not true. I am determined to get to the bottom of this. Death on the Beach III, Chrissie’s dad
Ben Harrington: They told me that Ben had had an accident on his moped … ‘He was missing his watch and his wallet.’ ibid. Ben’s mum
‘I started getting messages from other families saying that their sons and daughters died on that same island.’ ibid.
‘My best guess is that it was a bungled mugging.’ ibid. ex-resident & campaigner re Ben