Bloodshed in the Bluegrass

There had been 19 homicides in Louisville in 1982. As of June 30th, 1983 there had been 32. Homicides were up by a staggering 70%. The most puzzling of the homicides were the four black females that had all been killed execution style in the last month.

Time was of the essence. A serial killer was on the loose.

Sources :

Courier Journal: 3/19/78, 3/24/81, 6/5/83, 6/7/83, 6/14/83, 6/17/83, 7/3/83, 7/4/83, 7/8/83, 7/10/83, 7/9/83, 8/8/8...

This is a story from 1980’s Louisville that has one of the most unusual endings we have ever discussed on the show before.

Sources:

Kentucky Vital Statistics

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DD-ZQMN

Murderpedia

https://murderpedia.org/male.H/h1/harper-edward-lee.htm

Harper v Commonwealth 1985

https://law.justia.com/cases/kentucky/supreme-court/1985/694-s-w-2d-665-1.html

cincinnati.com

https://www.cincinn...

June 10, 1982 around 1:30am,  a woman had just completed her shift and was waiting for the bus on 4th street in downtown Louisville. A man in a lime green Camaro tried to abduct her at gunpoint. The arriving bus thwarted the attempt and the woman went straight to the police. She later picked the suspect out of a line-up. Unfortunately, the woman identified the wrong man. The real perpetrator was an active serial killer and he was l...

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January 4, 1983 around 5pm, members of law enforcement descended upon a home located in Glomawr Holler in Perry co KY. The man they were looking for was wanted on a federal warrant for violating parole.

No one expected the terror that infiltrated this small Appalachian community or the salacious chain of events that preceded it. Sources:

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April 27, 1990 around 12:30 pm, a 15 year-old girl emerged from the woods and walked three miles to Howardstown Liquors in Nelson county. She told a tale straight out of a horror movie. Her story prompted an investigation that led to answers in several unsolved disappearances and homicides.

Thursday, August 25 1985, around 10:30pm  KSP Trooper Phillip Yates spotted a 1979 GMC Jimmy barreling out of a corn field onto US 68 near Burgin, KY. The vehicle had been reported as stolen. A shoot out, high speed chase and a crash later, the suspect fled on foot.

February 8, 1933  in the Tomahawk community in Martin county, authorities broke down the door of a small mountain cabin. Inside the home, members of a family were chanting, dancing and praying while the family matriarch, bound in chains, lay dead on a makeshift altar.

In Eastern Kentucky in the 1930's, the Black Legs Gang was accused of terrorizing citizens Magoffin and Floyd counties. These masked men were allegedly breaking into homes, ripping people from their beds and beating them with switches. The violence was carried out mainly because the victims supposedly talked bad about the gang leader. Others were beaten because they had dirty homes, refused to work or failed to send their kids ...

Wednesday April 23, 1986 two blood spattered women walked into Humana Hospital on Richmond Rd in Lexington, KY. One woman went to use the phone to call a cab while the other headed to the bathroom to wash up. A nurse noticed the blood on the two women and quickly alerted a police officer. The women were arrested for public intoxication.

In this episode, we will be telling the story of Donald Harvey, one of the most prolific serial killers in Kentucky and possibly the United States. He murdered at least 15 people who were under his care while working at the Marymount hospital in London, KY in 1970’s . He killed a confirmed 47 people and his total number of victims is estimated to be as high as 58.

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