Freeway Phantom

Overview

The Freeway Phantom is the haunting pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer responsible for the murders of five girls and one woman in Washington, D.C., between April 1971 and September 1972. Distinct from the infamous Freeway Killer, this case has puzzled investigators and captivated true crime enthusiasts for decades, leaving behind a trail of horror and unanswered questions.

Quick Facts

• Victims: 6
• Span of Crimes: April 25, 1971 – September 5, 1972
• Country: United States
• State: District of Columbia
• Date Apprehended: Unapprehended

The Murders

Carol Denise Spinks

On the evening of April 25, 1971, 13-year-old Carol Denise Spinks, who lived in Southeast D.C., was sent by her older sister to a nearby 7-Eleven for groceries. Just a half-mile from home, Carol was abducted. Her body was discovered six days later, on May 1, 1971, at 2:46 PM, behind St. Elizabeths Hospital. She was found on a grassy embankment next to the northbound lanes of I-295, about 1,500 feet south of Suitland Parkway. The autopsy revealed that she had been both physically and sexually assaulted before being strangled. Disturbingly, Carol was dressed but missing her shoes, and the medical exam indicated she had likely been killed only a few days prior to her discovery.

Darlenia Denise Johnson

Next, on July 8, 1971, Darlenia Denise Johnson, a 16-year-old from Congress Heights, was on her way to her summer job at the Oxon Hill Recreation Center when she vanished. A witness reported seeing her being forced into an old black car driven by an African-American male. Eleven days later, her body was found just 15 feet away from where Carol had been discovered. Even though police had received an anonymous tip providing details only the killer could know, the body was found too decomposed to determine the cause of death definitively, but evidence of strangulation was present. Like Carol, Darlenia was found dressed but without her shoes, a disturbing pattern that was beginning to emerge.

Brenda Faye Crockett

The chilling pattern continued with the abduction of Brenda Faye Crockett, a 10-year-old from Northwest D.C., on July 27, 1971. After being sent to the store by her mother, Brenda failed to return home. Approximately two hours later, the phone rang, and her 7-year-old sister answered. Brenda was on the line, crying and claiming, “A white man picked me up, and I'm heading home in a cab.” In a bizarre twist, she stated she believed she was in Virginia before abruptly hanging up.

A second call came through, again from Brenda, but this time she was alone with a white male in a house. When her stepfather asked to speak to the man, heavy footsteps were heard in the background, and Brenda hung up once more. Authorities concluded that Brenda had likely made these calls under the direction of her abductor, designed to mislead and delay the investigation.

The following morning, a hitchhiker found Brenda's shoeless body on U.S. Route 50, near the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. She had been raped and strangled, with a scarf tied around her neck, intensifying the urgency for investigators to capture this predator.

Nenomoshia Yates

On October 1, 1971, Nenomoshia Yates, a 12-year-old girl, was walking home from a Safeway store around 7:00 PM when she was abducted. Her body was discovered within three hours of her disappearance, just off Pennsylvania Avenue in Prince George's County, Maryland. Similar to previous victims, her shoes were missing, and unidentified green fibers were found on her clothing. A witness reported seeing her get into a blue Volkswagen, but this lead ultimately led nowhere. It was after Nenomoshia's tragic murder that the name “Freeway Phantom” was first used in a Daily News article to describe the gruesome series of killings.

Brenda Denise Woodard

The case took a haunting turn with the murder of Brenda Denise Woodard on November 15, 1971. The 18-year-old had just had dinner with a classmate and boarded a city bus around 11:30 PM to return home. Six hours later, her body was discovered in a grassy area near Prince George's County Hospital, along an access ramp to Route 202 from the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. She had been stabbed multiple times and strangled, and unlike the other victims, she was still wearing her shoes. A coat had been placed over her body, with a chilling note from the killer tucked in one of the pockets. The note read:

this is tAntAmount to my
insensititivity [sic] to people
especiAlly women.
I will Admit the others
wheN you cAtch me iF you cAn!
FRee-wAy Phan Tom

Investigators believed the note had been dictated to and written by Brenda, suggesting she may have known her abductor, as there were no signs of duress in the handwriting.

Diane Denise Williams

The Freeway Phantom’s final known victim was Diane Denise Williams, a 17-year-old senior at Ballou High School. On September 5, 1972, after cooking dinner for her family, Diane went to visit her boyfriend. She was last seen boarding a bus at 11:20 PM near his home. A few hours later, her strangled body was discovered dumped alongside I-295, just south of the District line. Diane's shoes were again missing, although no signs of sexual assault were found, only traces of semen assumed to belong to her boyfriend.

Investigation

The Freeway Phantom case has seen numerous investigators and generated a significant amount of public interest over the years. The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC) set up a telephone hotline for tips and received information through the mail. Many leads were investigated thoroughly. However, due to the common practice at the time of detectives retaining case files, many documents related to the Freeway Phantom case have been lost or discarded, leading to a frustratingly incomplete record.

The investigation has been reopened and closed multiple times over the years, but it remains an open cold case in the MPDC Homicide Division, with a standing reward of $150,000 for information leading to the capture of the killer.

Suspects

Green Vega Rapists

Among the suspects were members of a gang known as the Green Vega Rapists, responsible for numerous rapes and abductions in the Washington D.C. area. Investigators interviewed gang members serving sentences at Lorton Prison, where one inmate implicated another member, providing details about a homicide that matched the Freeway Phantom's modus operandi. However, after a public announcement about a breakthrough, the informant recanted and refused further cooperation.

Edward Sellman and Tommie Simmons

Two ex-cops, Edward Leonard Sellman and Tommie Bernard Simmons, were arrested in connection with the murder of Angela Denise Barnes, a girl initially considered a potential victim of the Freeway Phantom. However, it was later determined that Barnes was not linked to this case, and the investigation continued.

Robert Askins

In a twist of fate, Robert Elwood Askins, a 58-year-old computer technician with a dark past, became a person of interest in March 1977, when he was charged with the abduction and rape of a 24-year-old woman. Askins had a notorious history, including the poisoning and stabbing of multiple women in the late 1930s and 1950s. When police searched his home in connection with the Freeway Phantom murders, they discovered court documents containing the word “tantamount,” which matched the killer's note to Brenda Woodard. Despite this, no physical evidence linked Askins to the murders, and he was never charged.

Askins died in prison in April 2010, asserting until the end that he lacked "the depravity of mind required to commit any of the crimes."

Conclusion

Today, the Freeway Phantom case remains a chilling reminder of the unsolved horrors that linger in the shadows of our communities. With each passing year, the hope for justice fades, but the tragedy of the victims lives on, their stories begging to be remembered. As investigators continue to sift through old evidence and new technology emerges, perhaps one day the identity of the Freeway Phantom will finally be uncovered.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Freeway Phantom
• Smith, Brendan L. (July 1, 2009). "We Want These Cases Closed". Washingtonian.
• Thompson, Emily (2017). Unsolved Child Murders: Eighteen American Cases, 1956–1998. Exposit Books.
• Fountain, John W. (September 20, 1997). "KILLINGS UNSOLVED 25 YEARS LATER". The Washington Post.
• Thompson, Cheryl W. (May 22, 2018). "Six black girls were brutally murdered in the early '70s. Why was this case never solved?". The Washington Post.