The Nightstalker: The Chilling Crimes of Linwood Forte

In the quiet town of Goldsboro, North Carolina, the year 1990 was marred by a series of heinous crimes that would haunt the community for years to come. At the heart of this storm was Linwood Earl Forte, known ominously as "The Nightstalker." Born on July 25, 1964, in North Carolina, Forte was a man whose dark deeds would eventually earn him a place on death row.

The Murders

The terror began on May 26, 1990, when 70-year-old Eliza Jones became the target of Forte's first recorded attack. As she lay in bed, Forte attempted to strangle her, but his plan was thwarted by the unexpected arrival of Jones' daughter. Eliza, unable to recall the details of her attacker, left investigators with no leads.

Just two months later, on July 14, the body of 79-year-old Hattie Davis Bonner was discovered. She had been suffocated in her bed, a scene eerily similar to the attempt on Eliza Jones. The pattern was becoming clearer, yet the authorities remained baffled.

The violence escalated on October 6, when Forte broke into the home of Alvin Bowen, a retired Southern Bell executive, and his blind wife, Thelma. Upon being discovered by Alvin, Forte ruthlessly stabbed him multiple times before strangling Thelma. In a bid to obliterate evidence, Forte set the house and their car ablaze. The fire, however, was extinguished by quick-acting neighbors and authorities, but still, no solid clues emerged from the ashes. Desperate for answers, the local Crime Stoppers offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Investigation and Arrest

The spate of murders rattled the Goldsboro community, sparking fears of a serial killer on the loose. Initially, the local police dismissed this idea, citing no concrete connections beyond the similarities in the Bowen crime scene and an unrelated murder of a local waitress. However, as investigators delved deeper, patterns emerged: elderly victims, late-night attacks, homes adjacent to vacant lots, and the consistent method of strangling or suffocating female victims. Despite these revelations, the cases remained unsolved, some of the most notorious cold cases in North Carolina's history.

In 1996, Forte's criminal activities caught up with him when he was convicted of firing a gun inside his Dudley home. This conviction required him to submit a DNA sample to CODIS, an act that would eventually unravel his web of crimes. In 2001, a breakthrough occurred—Forte's DNA matched the evidence from the Nightstalker murders. On April 30, 2001, authorities arrested him at his workplace in Dudley. During his time in custody, detectives linked him to the 1994 murder of Dora Ann Thomas, a 46-year-old woman found raped and strangled in her Goldsboro apartment. Although Forte was never tried for this crime, he remains the prime suspect.

Trial and Imprisonment

The trial of Linwood Forte was swift and decisive. Given the compelling DNA evidence, his defense team chose not to call any witnesses. The jury found him guilty, sentencing him to death for the murders and handing down four life sentences for the rapes. The courtroom was filled with a mix of relief and emotion; victims' family members expressed gratitude towards the prosecution, while jurors were visibly moved by the gravity of their verdict.

In the year following his conviction, Forte's appeal related to an attempted prison escape and assault on a guard was rejected by the North Carolina Court of Appeals. As of July 2022, Linwood Forte remains on death row, awaiting execution, a grim reminder of the horror he unleashed on Goldsboro.

Sources

For further details on the case, visit the original Wikipedia article: Linwood Forte.