Also by Corey Mitchell*
Dead and Buried
Murdered Innocents
Evil Eyes
Pure Murder
Savage Son
*Available from Kensington Publishing Corp.
PRAISE FOR COREY MITCHELL
Strangler:
“No one faces evil head on like Corey Mitchell. Strangler is his best book yet. Horrific, shocking, and utterly disturbing.”
—Gregg Olsen, NY Times bestselling author of A Wicked Snow
“Incredibly intelligent, attractive, and charismatic, Tony Shore seemed to have it all. Corey Mitchell unmasks this beguiling character to reveal a self-centered monster bent on destruction. A must-read, cautionary tale of manipulation, control, and murder.”
—Diane Fanning, author of Written in Blood
“Strangler reads like a horror movie. It was such a frightening story that I held my breath from the very beginning and didn’t breathe again until it was finally over!”
—Dale Hudson, author of Die, Grandpa, Die
“Corey Mitchell’s fast-paced book literally sizzles with his portrayal of dastardly deeds in my hometown. It is true-crime storytelling at its chilling best.”
—Steven Long, author of Every Woman’s Nightmare
“In Strangler, Corey Mitchell takes you into the heart of a gripping mystery set in Houston, Texas. The more you learn about the charming Tony Shore, the more the truth behind the deception will haunt you.”
—Sue Russell, author of Lethal Intent
“The taut, cool writing of Corey Mitchell is the perfect counterpoint to the strangling humid heat that envelops the Houston crime spree. Parents, keep your children indoors and read this with the knowledge that it could happen anywhere.”
—Del Howison, editor of Dark Delicacies
“Corey Mitchell provides a fascinating and educational insight into the crimes and thought process of a narcissistic serial killer. Having interacted with such offenders, I appreciated the accurate depiction of the personality traits displayed by Tony Shore. Highly recommended!”
—Roy Hazelwood, former FBI profiler and author of Dark Dreams
“Corey Mitchell has done it again. Strangler is provocatively chilling and delivered with a compassionate respect for the justice that trumped perceived criminal superiority.”
—Joyce King, author of Hate Crime: The Story of a Dragging in Jasper, Texas
“Strangler is a chilling account of the investigation, case history, and subsequent courtroom drama about convicted serial murderer and pedophile Anthony Allen Shore. For police detectives, it is a primer about the machinations of a sexual predator who preys on young girls. For prosecutors, it outlines some great courtroom tactics and legal truths. For female readers, this story demonstrates that relationships should be looked at from all angles and constantly reevaluated. For parents, the advice rings loud and clear: know, warn, and monitor your daughter’s whereabouts—one of his victims was age nine!”
—Andrea Campbell, forensic artist and author
“Anyone addicted to TV’s CSI owes it to themselves to read Strangler. In fact, Strangler could launch CSI: Houston. Are you paying attention, Mr. Bruckheimer?”
—Dennis McDougal, LA Times bestselling author of Angel of Darkness and Mother’s Day
Evil Eyes:
“Brilliant and scary as hell.”
—Time Warner
“Excellent writing. Top-notch storyteller.”
—Clear Channel
“Nailed the real story.”
—City of Houston Mayor’s Office
“Corey Mitchell is the best true-crime author today.”
—101 X
Murdered Innocents:
“A gory, yet sensitive, true-crime tale that will scare the hell out of you.”
—Poppy Z. Brite, bestselling author of Liquor: A Novel and Lost Souls
“Corey Mitchell uncovers yet another level of the insanity behind the world of youth and violence.”
—Aphrodite Jones, bestselling author of A Perfect Husband
“A compelling book with provocative details of a city’s response to lost innocence; whether justice was delivered or denied, Corey Mitchell presents a solid case that hope for healing never fades.”
—Joyce King
“Murdered Innocents is not a book you will read and forget. On this journey through a botched investigation, questionable interrogations and the eight-year ordeal of the victims’ families, Mitchell raises questions about the pursuit of justice that will haunt you for a long time to come.”
—Diane Fanning
“Corey Mitchell takes us right inside the search for justice—a disturbingly long and convoluted search at that. A haunting and thought-provoking book.”
—Sue Russell
“Corey Mitchell proves that he is the leading voice of true crime with Murdered Innocents, a complex, frightening, and frustrating tale of Texas Terror.”
—Dennis McDougal
Dead and Buried:
“A front seat on a roller coaster of terror.”
—Dennis McDougal
“Some of the most up-close, incisive true-crime coverage in a long time.”
—Poppy Z. Brite
“A powerful and frightening book. It is not to be missed.”
—Dana Holliday, coauthor of Zodiac of Death
STRANGLER
COREY MITCHELL
PINNACLE BOOKS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Also by Corey Mitchell*
PRAISE FOR COREY MITCHELL
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Epigraph
PROLOGUE
Part I - CARMEN
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
Part II - DIANA
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
Part III - DANA
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
Part IV - TONY
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
Part V - THE STATE OF TEXAS v. ANTHONY ALLEN SHORE
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
EPILOGUE
IN MEMORIAM
Acknowledgments
T
easer chapter
Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals connected to this story.
PINNACLE BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2007 by Corey Mitchell
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Pinnacle and the P logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-0-7860-4262-3
First Kensington Mass Market Edition: September 2007
eISBN-13: 978-0-7860-4263-0
Kensington Electronic Edition: February 2018
For Emma Mitchell,
with love and respect,
Daddy
One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star.
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton
PROLOGUE
Friday, July 14, 1995, noon,
KPRC Channel 2 Newsroom,
Houston, Texas.
“There’s a serial killer out there.”
The male voice on the other end of the “Bat Phone” spoke calmly. Twenty-three-year-old Barbara Magana, morning assignment editor for NBC television news affiliate KPRC, listened to her end of the telephone with only half an ear. Her job was to monitor the police scanner and answer phone calls for any possible stories and then assign them to reporters to air on the evening news at six.
While many of her coworkers left for lunch, Magana had answered the Bat Phone, which was used as an emergency tip line. Everyone who called the tip line claimed his or her call was urgent. Usually they weren’t. Most of the time they were simply reporting an automobile accident or a purse snatching, all too common occurrences in the fourth-largest city in the United States.
The Bat Phone also received its fair share of wack jobs.
At first, Magana only partially listened to the caller. Another nutcase she assumed. “How do you know?” she responded.
“I’m going to tell you where you can find a body,” the man replied rather nonchalantly.
“Tell me where I can find the body,” Magana requested in an almost sarcastic tone.
The caller, however, did not hesitate. He began to describe a location just north of Houston, near the George (H. W.) Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Magana patiently wrote down the directions, but did not understand where one of the streets was located.
“Richey Road in Pasadena?” Magana inquired.
The man had been referring to the Richey Road off Interstate 45 (I-45) in North Houston. The caller was getting tired of Magana’s inability to take dictation and let his frustration be known. “No, listen to me. I’m going to tell you exactly where it is.” He was adamant that she do everything perfectly.
After the man snapped at Magana, her demeanor visibly changed. She realized this was not some fruitcake after all. She was on the phone with someone who knew where a murdered corpse lay.
The man proceeded to give Magana a precise description of the location of the body. “Take I-45 until you hit the Richey Road exit. Turn right and head up until you come upon Northview Park Drive and turn left. Go all the way to the end of Northview Park, where you will come to a dead-end sign. You will find the body lying in some tall grass. Some tall weeds.”
Magana instinctively reached for her Houston Key Map guide to find the location. She used one on her job all the time.
The caller eerily informed her, “Don’t go for your Key Map. You won’t find it. It’s a brand-new subdivision. It’s not on a Key Map yet.”
Magana was completely freaked out. Is he watching me? she thought. She also started to wonder if the caller was more than just a witness.
“You can use your chopper to find her,” said the caller, referring to the Channel 2 News helicopter, which was often used for live coverage. “She’s lying faceup and your chopper should be able to spot her rather easily.”
Determined not to let this man get off the telephone, Magana asked, “What can you tell me about the victim?”
“Her name is Ruby,” began the caller. “She was born on May eleventh. She is wearing several gold rings on her fingers. She is fifteen years old.”
Magana wrote furiously as the man recited the information. Sensing that he was wrapping up the conversation, she boldly decided to ply him with one final question.
“Am I talking to the killer?”
There was only silence punctuated by short drawn breaths on the other end of the phone.
“Am I talking to the killer?” Magana asked again.
Again, a breath. And then a small laugh. The phone went dead.
Magana hung up the Bat Phone and glanced up at the newsroom clock: 12:37 P.M. She had spoken to the alleged killer for thirty-seven minutes. She logged the call in the company book and then kicked it into high gear. She started by looking up the address of the alleged body dump. In her mind Magana kept thinking of nearby Pasadena, but she eliminated that thought from her head and focused on North Houston. She was able to pinpoint the location as just outside the city limits. She then picked up a different phone and notified the sheriff’s department of a tip about a possible murder victim.
* * *
Friday, July 14, 1995, 2:35 P.M.,
17000 block of Northview Park Drive.
Harris County Sheriff’s Department (HCSD) Homicide Division detective William “Bill” Valerio arrived at the dead end of an industrial-area concrete road. He was the one who fielded the tip call from Barbara Magana. Northview Park Drive is located just east of Interstate 45 and south of Richey Road. At the time, the area was considered to be a “light industrial area.” It is currently home to a typical American big-box urban sprawl with a Lowe’s and generic chain restaurants, like Chili’s and T.G.I. Friday’s.
Instead of immediately rushing to the location provided to him by Magana, Valerio opted to hold back. He believed that people who call in tips for dead bodies oftentimes may hang around the scene and attempt to interject themselves into the investigation. He had a feeling that would be the case here, so he drove around the area looking for a male between the ages of thirty and forty, probably white, possibly Hispanic. It was easy work. There was practically no vehicle traffic in the area and absolutely no foot traffic.
Detective Valerio was joined at the scene by Harris County Sheriff’s detectives Roger Wedgeworth and Bill Taber. The three men began their search in a field at the dead end of Northview Park. It was covered in dense thornbushes making it nearly impossible to even walk through, much less search. They glanced at one another and concluded that no one would be able to successfully dump a body in that particular area.
The officers then decided to search the three dead-end streets off Northview Park. The first street, North-trace Drive, is located on the west side of the field they had just searched. They found nothing.
The second street, Willow Drive, is located on the north side of Northview Park. Again, they found nothing.
The officers got back into their cars and headed over to Northview Park Drive, off Richey Road. At the end of the wide concrete road, Detective Valerio exited his cruiser and made his way over to the nearby field overgrown with tall green grass, acutely aware of the oppressive heat that had marked this unreasonably hot summer, even for the notoriously scorching Houston.
Taber and Wedgeworth pulled their vehicle up next to Valerio’s. Taber headed toward the west side of the street while Valerio checked the east side.
The familiar, acrid smell caught Detective Taber’s attention.
“Valerio, get o
ver here!” Taber hollered. Valerio sidled up to the edge of the field. He noticed that the green grass was blotted with a large twenty-foot-long pathway of dead brown grass. At the upper portion of the dead grass path was an image that would forever be etched in the mind of the thirteen-year veteran detective. It was the severely decomposed body of a human being. It appeared as if a scarecrow had been blown off its perch by a tornado, its clothes and hat ripped off in the process, revealing nothing but the skeletal remains.
As Valerio stepped closer to the body, combating the stench and controlling his gag reflex, he noticed a full head of black hair, almost like a wig, atop a human skull. The skull was not completely shorn of all its flesh. It appeared as if the skull were wearing a Leatherface mask from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It was a grayish tan color. Bits of the skull peeked out at certain points. The victim’s eyeballs were missing and the ears were halfway chewed off. Valerio turned his head away and gathered his senses. When he turned back to the corpse, he looked closer at the neck. There appeared to be some type of yellow nylon rope, like a boat-docking rope, twisted around it. The ends of the rope had been purposefully melted to prevent fraying. Inserted within the rope was what appeared to be two pieces of a broken blue toothbrush handle. The end with the bristles was positioned directly below the area of the ligature. The entire contraption had the rudimentary appearance of a crude tourniquet.