January 24, 2024 • 27 mins
A pregnant woman is strangled to death by her own telephone cord on a warm summer night in 1966.
In this episode of "Box in the Basement," hosts Arlene and Leah delve into the haunting cold case of Ruby Lewis Stevens, whose life was tragically cut short in El Paso, Texas, and remains El Paso's oldest cold case.
Ruby, a young, pregnant wife living in the heart of El Paso, was found strangled in her home in 1966, a crime that remains unsolved to this day. The hosts, driven by personal experiences with unsolved crimes, aim to shed light on these forgotten cases, hoping to find justice for the victims and their families.
The episode paints a vivid picture of El Paso in the 1960s, a bustling city with a population of around 300,000 at the time, known for its cross-border trade, military presence, and vibrant cultural blend. The year 1966, a pivotal period in history marked by political upheaval and cultural shifts, sets the stage for this tragic story. Listeners are taken on a journey through time, exploring the local and global events that shaped the era, from the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War to the space race and the cultural revolution in China.
The podcast also dives into the details of Ruby's life, her marriage to James Stevens, a U.S. Army soldier, and their humble beginnings in El Paso. Ruby's gentle nature and low-risk lifestyle make her murder even more baffling and highlight the randomness of such violent acts.
Walk through her last day, the evidence, victimology, and learn how many more boxes are sitting in basements of cases just like Ruby's.
Is there any evidence to help solve the case today?
Support Box in the Basement & Our Causes
- Leon Laurales: Website & GoFundMe
- Follow us on Facebook & Instagram
- Donate to Seasons of Justice
- Listen to Darkcast Network Shows
- Join Uncovered.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
bree (00:00):
Please be advised this episode contains detailed
discussions of violence andsexual content and may not be
suitable for all listeners.
Leah Collier (00:09):
El Paso, Texas sits in the heart of the
Chihuahuan desert.
Nestled against the borders ofNew Mexico and the international
boundary with Juarez, Mexico.
And reaching to the ruggedlybeautiful Franklin mountains.
It is a busy city with heavycross border trade.
A large military andintelligence community.
(00:29):
And a fusion of Mexican andAmerican culture.
This is the backdrop for one ofEl Paso's oldest cold cases.
Where a young husband discoversthe body of his pregnant wife.
With a telephone cord wrappedtightly around her neck.
Hello, and welcome to box in thebasement podcast.
(00:50):
I'm your host, Arlene.
And I'm Leah.
In 1996, my world was shatteredwhen my uncle Leon Lorella is.
Was shot execution style and asmall town in Texas.
To this day, his murder remainsunsolved.
And the pain of that injusticecontinues to haunt me, my family
(01:12):
and Leon's friends andcoworkers.
Here at box in the basement.
We want to shed light on theoverwhelming number of unsolved
murders and disappearances herein Texas and beyond.
Ultimately, we want to getjustice for Leon.
And for all the victims whosecases are sitting, collecting
dust in a box, in a basement.
(01:34):
El Paso today is a city with apopulation that hovers right
around 680,000 people in spanssome 258 square miles into the
desert and mountains.
The metropolitan area extendsinto two countries and two us
states.
Uh, forming a unique mix ofcultures, economies, and
(01:54):
histories.
El Paso's roots stretch deepinto the annals of history.
Starting as a point of passageon the Rio Grande day long
before Texas became a state.
The city's foundation is steepedin a rich blend of native
American, Mexican, Spanish, andAmerican influences.
(02:15):
Evidence.
And it's architecture, cuisineand local customs.
Historically.
El Paso's economy relied onmining and agriculture.
Not unsurprising for an oldWestern town.
Today.
It is a diversified modern citywith a large government and
military presence.
(02:35):
And a significant manufacturingand healthcare sector.
Fort bliss is one of the largestmilitary complexes in the United
States.
And serves as the cornerstone ofthe local community and economy.
The entire metropolitan area,which is made up of El Paso.
Juarez.
And Las Cruces, New Mexicoconsists of about 2.7 million
(02:59):
people.
And is the largest bilingualbinational workforce in the
entire Western hemisphere.
In 1966.
The world teetered on the edgeof transformation and turmoil.
A tenuous dance between progressand conflict.
Lyndon B Johnson was thepresident of the United States.
(03:22):
And was navigating both thedisastrous Vietnam war.
And the civil rights erasimultaneously.
The space race was in full forceas the cold war dragged on.
With the Soviets, making thefirst unmanned controlled
landing on the moon.
China began its culturalrevolution under Moussa dong.
(03:43):
Which would drastically rerouteits social economic and
political trajectory for thedecades to come.
Also in 1966, Charles Whitmanterrorized the university of
Texas after climbing to the topof the clock tower on campus.
And killing 14 people with arifle.
(04:04):
1966 was the first year Medicarewas available to Americans and
the Supreme court decided.
Miranda versus Arizonaprotecting the rights of the
accused.
This is where the Mirandawarning came from.
MIT biochemist hark.
Herana deciphered the DNA codefor the first time.
(04:25):
China's synthesized insulin forthe first time and the FDA
declared the birth controlpills, safe for human use.
The week of August 31st, 1966.
Ruby Lewis Stevens and herhusband would have probably been
hearing the Levin spoonfulssummer in this city.
On the radio.
Along with Bobby Hebb.
(04:46):
The happenings, Sam, the shamand the pharaohs and Donovan.
And of course.
The beach boys, Bob Dylan, andthe Beatles.
Each released iconic albums in1966.
Out to steal a million was thenumber one at the box office and
Jacqueline Susanne's valley ofthe dolls dominated the New York
(05:07):
times bestseller list for muchof the year.
Star Trek and Batman may theirtelevision debuts in 1966.
became a snack food staple.
And surfing went mainstream withthe release of the endless
summer.
England when the FIFA world cup.
Notre Dame and Michigan, we'retied for the top college
(05:29):
football team and Texas Westerncollege.
Now the university of Texas ElPaso started five black players.
And upset Kentucky in the NCAAbasketball championship.
The Boston Celtics win the NBAchampionship.
The Montreal Canadiens when theStanley cup.
(05:50):
The Baltimore Orioles would goon to win the world series.
In 1966 was the first year theSuperbowl was played with the
green bay Packers winning.
This was before the NFL, as weknow it existed.
And the game was actually calledthe AFL NFL world championship
game.
(06:10):
Just a little football triviafor all of you.
A long shadow would be cast inthe brutal summer heat in El
Paso, Texas.
However a monster prowled thestreets and tore at the illusion
of progress.
Ruby Louis Stevens, just 18years old.
(06:32):
Would be taken from the world inan act of horrific inexplicably
brutality.
Ruby was born in cloud craft,New Mexico, which is a small
village tucked in the mountainsabove the Tila Rosa basin.
And located in the Lincolnnational forest.
Today Cloudcroft has apopulation of around 750 people.
(06:55):
And it's a tourist attractionfor those traveling in and
through the Southern part of NewMexico.
I used to live in Alamogordo,New Mexico, and I would drive up
the mountain to Cloudcroft inthe summers to escape the heat.
It's a beautiful spot.
I think it's around 9,000 feetabove sea level.
So summers are pretty mild upthere.
Lots of little shops,restaurants, that kind of thing.
(07:17):
It's a nice place to spend anafternoon.
Ruby lost her parents the yearbefore her own death.
But she did have a joy in herlife.
And she had recently marriedJane Stevens, especially in the
us army.
They were expecting their firstchild at the time of her death.
(07:40):
The young couple moved to ElPaso and began their life
together it was a humblebeginning, but it was happy by
all accounts with the couplesspending time with James
military buddies and Rubysettling into a quiet routine as
a homemaker.
Uh, Ruby was a gentle soul,quiet and unassuming.
(08:01):
And she took pleasure in life.
Simple joys.
Her risk profile was extremelylow.
Which makes her murder all themore mystifying.
She was not one to venture outalone.
She didn't engage in anyhigh-risk activities.
And she had no known enemies.
It's a stark reminder thatsometimes even the most ordinary
(08:24):
lives.
Are touched by the darkest partsof humanity.
August 31st, 1966 was anordinary Wednesday and the
greater El Paso community wasfirmly in its mid week.
Stride oblivious to the turmoilabout to wreck a young family,
just getting their start.
It was a clear day, hot and dry.
(08:46):
As Ruby likely set about hernormal routine of household
chores after her husband, Jamesleft for work at Fort bliss.
That evening James and Rubywelcomed some of James's friends
to their small house on federalavenue.
In the central part of the city.
This would be the last happyinteraction Ruby would have with
(09:07):
anyone while she was alive.
The timeline gets murky fromhere on out, but we do know that
James spoke to Ruby on thetelephone at around 8:20 PM.
He was working the overnightshift on post.
We also know that a neighbor ofthe Stevens's was a woken around
1:30 AM by a woman screamingstop.
(09:29):
What do you want?
The screams abruptly stopped.
Uh, car fled the scene and thenall was silent.
Arlene (09:36):
James Stevens returned to his home from work around six
30 the next morning.
Some articles say he found thefront door open slightly.
Others just say the door wasunlocked.
But in any case, this was thefirst indication that something
was a mess.
He walked into the house andfound his young wife lifeless on
(09:58):
their bedroom floor with atelephone cord wrapped around
her neck.
Ruby's nightgown had been pulledup around her.
Exposing multiple bruises andindicating a violent struggle in
which had once been a happyhome.
I'm like many of the cases wecover or plan to cover.
(10:19):
Police had the murder weaponreadily available.
The telephone cord was stillaround.
Ruby's neck.
It was wrapped so tightly, itwas embedded into her neck.
And the firefighter charged withremoving it had difficulty
getting it loose.
The house itself told a story ofviolence.
(10:40):
The normal tidy bedroom was indisarray.
And there were dishes scatteredin the kitchen.
And close strewn about.
Ruby fought her assailant hard.
She had bruises and wounds onher arms and hands.
Her state of partial undressinitially led investigators to
believe sexual assault had beenemotive.
(11:01):
But there was no evidence of asexual assault found.
And as we've said, in othercases, just because no evidence
of an assault was found doesn'tmean it wasn't a motive.
Before we go on, let's remindourselves that this was 1966.
Forensic science was stillfairly rudimentary compared to
(11:23):
what we have today.
It would be another two decadesbefore DNA evidence was even a
thing.
Surveillance cameras.
We're not stuck on everytraffic, light and doorbell.
There were no cell phones orcars with computers and GPS and
trace evidence as a concept wasstill fairly new.
(11:44):
Investigators had to rely onwitnesses and the scientific
tools of the time.
Unfortunately here, there werenot many witnesses as the crime
occurred in the middle of thenight.
The neighbor Arlene mentioned afew minutes ago was pretty much
it.
And even that was problematic.
Think about it.
(12:04):
You're asleep in your house andyou hear what this neighbor
heard.
Stop.
What do you want?
First off.
You'd probably be wondering ifyou actually heard something or
if you dreamed it.
And then there's the lack ofcontext.
You're next door.
You have no idea what's goingon.
And this makes no sense to yourtired brain.
(12:27):
I've been awoken in the night byloud sounds and it's pretty
disorienting.
We have a neighbor who throwsloud pool parties that stretch
far into the night.
Sometimes we'll hear screams areyelling and it's crazy.
I get up and go to the back doorand determine it's just a party
and go right back to bed.
This neighbor had limitedmobility, so he wasn't able to
(12:50):
go investigate.
Like I do.
Then your brain starts goingover all the possible scenarios.
Maybe the young couple next doorwas just fighting and blowing
off steam.
Maybe it's a mother and herteenage son having an argument.
There are a millionpossibilities to consider.
The neighbor also said he hearda car speed away.
(13:13):
Dogs barking.
And then it was quiet.
Another neighbor also toldpolice he heard a scream and saw
a car drive away.
Yet another Unnamed., witnessreported seeing a man removing a
screen from a kitchen window atRuby's home.
But I don't have any moredetails than that.
Unfortunately.
(13:41):
Investigators focus initially onthree of James Stephen's work
friends.
As they were the last people,other than James himself, seeing
with Ruby the night she wasmurdered.
These men were subject torigorous questioning and even
polygraphs, which they allpassed.
Law enforcement was essentiallyback at square one.
(14:03):
With an entire city of potentialperpetrators looming ahead in
their investigation.
To their credit.
Investigators documented thestate of Ruby's body and the
crime scene, meticulous sleepand their notes.
But the piece of the puzzle thatwould likely make this a
solvable case today.
DNA.
(14:24):
Was simply not in the toolkityet.
Police interviewed Ruby'shusband, James, of course.
And his account simply outlined.
The horrifying moment.
He found his pretty young wifedead on the bedroom floor.
Quote.
I walked in the house and foundher there.
(14:45):
Uh, check to see if she wasbreathing and I call police on
our other telephone.
End quote.
Detectives question otheracquaintances of the victim.
But no solid leads were everdeveloped.
The couple was still fairly newto the area.
Remember?
And they didn't have a lot ofclose friends or associates.
And hadn't had time to make anyreal enemies that anyone knew
(15:08):
of.
Okay.
So what are our thoughts on thisone?
It's the oldest cold case we'vediscussed so far.
So we have to consider thetechnology or lack thereof.
I don't think this is a case oflaw enforcement dropping the
ball.
It seems like the investigatorswere competent and did a good
job of collecting and analyzingevidence they had with the tools
(15:30):
they had available to them atthe time.
They interviewed a lot ofwitnesses and acquaintances.
They just simply didn't haveenough to go on.
I agree.
I don't think that this is amatter of incompetence or
laziness.
Because the couple was so new tothe area.
I think it's possible.
Maybe even probable.
(15:51):
That this was a matter of Rubybeing a target of opportunity.
Or this being a case of randomviolence.
Nobody ever wants to considerthe possibility of random
violence because it's franklyterrifying.
But it does happen.
Maybe someone took a chance andbroke into the little rental
house, hoping to find somethinguh, value to steal.
(16:14):
Maybe someone noticed Rubyearlier that day and thought she
lived alone and decided to breakin to sexually assault her.
Yeah.
Remember, we did have that onewitness claiming they saw an
unknown man removing a screenfrom Ruby's kitchen window prior
to her murder.
So it's entirely possible.
A local Creek either knew herhusband's schedule or thought
Ruby lived alone and decided tobreak in.
(16:37):
We know that eye witnesses,testimony, isn't always
reliable.
So we'll take that with a grainof salt but it does raise the
possibility, like you said, Iknow the investigators, Claire,
James Stevens, coworkers earlyin the investigation.
But there's a chance.
One or more of them was involvedand lied their way out of
(16:58):
suspicion.
They were the only people whoreally knew anything about the
young couple.
Thank you where they lived.
They would have known James'sschedule.
And they would have no Rubywould have been alone that
night.
The lack of technologicaladvancements really hurts the
process here.
If one of these guys was lying,the tools we have available
(17:21):
today may have been able to linkthem to the crime.
But the evidence available atthat time clear those guys.
So we're just speculating.
And let's talk crime rates for asecond, just to kind of put
things in perspective.
El Paso kind of gets a bad rapbecause of its proximity to the
(17:42):
border.
But historically it's actually alot safer in terms of violent
crimes than other large cities.
In 2021, it was the thirdsafest, large city per FBI data
in the entire us.
El Paso is a big city and it wasa pretty good sized city in
1966.
Sitting right around 300,000people.
(18:05):
And that's just the city of ElPaso that figure doesn't include
the larger Metro area.
There were 16 murders in El Pasoin 1966, which translates to a
murder rate roughly equal to themurder rate in the city today.
1966 was well before the spikein violent crime in the 1980s
(18:26):
and 1990s.
We're murders in El Pasonumbered in the high fifties on
average.
State of the investigation todayis pretty much the same as it
was in 1966.
No suspects.
No leads, no nothing.
He'll pass the police and themedia have both noted that the
evidence that is available inthe cold case archives.
(18:49):
Related to this case as wellpreserved.
And meticulously documented.,.
It's just waiting on a usabletip or the ability of
investigators to analyze a pieceof evidence with the right tool
or the right process.
The El Paso police cold caseunit has this case and they've
(19:09):
actively worked on it in thelast few years.
So while that box is still inthe basement, it has seen the
light of day in recent years.
Law enforcement doesn't thinkit's hopeless.
They believe it's solvable.
Ruby's husband.
James is now dead.
Movies parents both died beforeshe did.
(19:30):
There is nobody left in thiscase, but it haunts the greater
El Paso community as well aslocal law enforcement to this
day.
These are the cases that are themost heartbreaking to me.
I feel obligated to tell thestory and to do what I can to
help find answers for the sakeof finding answers and for
getting justice that Jamescouldn't get for her.
(19:53):
While he was still alive.
This is Bree producer here atbox in the basement.
How many boxes are in thebasement that are just like
rubies.
In this case, the death was bystrangulation.
Not the most common murderweapon.
So let's take a look at how manystrangulation cases of women in
general.
There have been 6,917 murdersusing strangulation since 1976.
(20:19):
With 3,747 unsolved.
Women are strangled twice asoften than men who have 3,179
cases, total.
This is a much differentstatistic than gun violence.
Now, if we add aged 18 to 24,there are 1,420.
(20:41):
Total cases with 743 unsolved.
So half going solved.
Why.
Let's take a look at the solvedcases.
21% are committed by anacquaintance 16%.
The husband 16% boyfriend.
And 13% stranger.
Now let's use the victimologyand evidence to examine each
(21:03):
group of perpetrators.
I took a look at some similarcases from the FBI's behavior
analysis unit and applied someof their theory of this case
based on these statistics.
First it started with thelocation, her home more often
than not.
It points to someone who knewher and was somehow in her orbit
and could gain access easily.
The other option is that it's alocal paper who saw an
(21:23):
opportunity.
This might lead investigators tochecking for reports of peeping
Toms in the area.
Weapon strangulation.
Now this points to a perpetratorthat was not prepared.
This weapon is considereddisorganized.
The addition of the phone cord,according to the FBI, BAU means
the killer likely underestimatedhow hard it is to strangle and
(21:46):
had to find another weapon.
This usually means young anddisorganized.
Strangulation is also up closeand personal.
Oftentimes people think thatthis means that the killer must
have known their subject ortheir target.
And this could mean that thekiller knew her and became
enraged, but there's alsoanother option that she is the
proxy for a woman that thekiller hated.
(22:08):
His ex his mother, the realtarget of his homicidal rage.
Now let's take a look at thevictim.
A pregnant, newly married, 18year old with no sexual assault.
This could point to jealousy,anger that the woman has wronged
him by becoming pregnant withanother man's baby.
Uh, this often can bring outemotions in ex lovers.
(22:33):
Now let's take a look at thecircle of suspects.
Husband often in stranglingcases, the intimate partner
would have likely strangledtheir partner before hand as a
leading indicator.
Also domestic violence increaseswhen a woman is pregnant.
And this case the husbandappears to have had an alibi as
he was at work.
Ex-boyfriend.
This one is interesting in ourstatistics.
(22:55):
We have boyfriend in this case,it could be an ex-boyfriend, a
pregnant woman was murdered.
So, and with no sexual assault,it could point to an ex lover.
He would be stalking her andeven perhaps waiting outside her
apartment and looking for anopportunity to confront her
after her husband left.
(23:17):
I'm not sure if there was an exenrolled town and maybe he
became enraged that she moved onto a new life, but it is worth
investigating.
Acquaintance the same could betrue for an ex-boyfriend as an
acquaintance, someone that wasin her orbit that became jealous
and enraged, that she moved awayand became pregnant.
Someone that was in her highschool that may have had a crush
(23:40):
on her.
This was like the Idaho formurder case where the murderer
had been in the orbit of thosethat he murdered, but not
necessarily knew them..
And in the stranger, this wouldbe the peeper.
This person would likely havebeen caught.
Peeping in the neighborhood,even though there was no sexual
assault that was found, thethrill of the murder itself can
(24:01):
be sexual.
Last, but not least.
We have to look at post offenderbehavior, this offender would
have likely been so upset thathe had committed a murder most
likely because he wasn'tplanning it.
That he would have gotten out oftown and tried to get away from
the crime until it actually dieddown.
(24:21):
He would be mortified that hecommitted this crime.
He may have been under theinfluence of alcohol or drugs,
which lowered his inhibitions,making him more likely to commit
the crime.
This is most likely a person whowould have had remorse if you
have any information about thedeath of Ruby at Lewis Stevens
on August 31st, 1966, pleasecontact the El Paso police
(24:44):
department at 9 1 5 2 1 2 4,000.
Or submit a tip anonymously atthe department's webpage.
This podcast has a biggerpurpose than Just providing
information and theentertainment.
The homicide victims, familiesrights act is a bipartisan bill
(25:04):
that was signed into law byCongress in 2021.
And we want to see it put intoaction.
This law establishes asystematic process for reviewing
case files.
Related to cold case murders.
The focus is on providing amechanism for the families and
friends of murder victims.
To request a formal review ofsuch cases.
(25:29):
We need an attorney or teams ofattorneys and legal
professionals To take on thebold and brave fight against the
system around the country.
In our case, we need someone tofight for Leon to help not only
put fresh eyes on the case.
But to get his body zoomed, tosearch for evidence that was not
(25:50):
collected the first time around.
We and other families andfriends need assistance with
getting foyer requests.
It blows our minds that so manymurders occurred from 1976 to
1997.
In Brownwood, Texas under thewatch of the same investigators,
(26:10):
responsible for handling Leon'scase.
We're going to look at all theunsolved murders in Brownwood.
And maybe even if you solvedones, if it helps uncover what
was happening in that era thatleft so many families
devastated.
And a community living in fear.
(26:30):
If you want to hear more aboutvictim focused.
Unsolved cases.
And get updates about what weknow.
Please subscribe, like and shareour podcast.
Also visit our website.
Justice for leon.com to donateto our cause to hire an
attorney.
You can also join our email listto stay current on developments
(26:54):
on Leon's case and other cases.
We cover as they happen.
pleaSe follow and lagger.
Bigger Facebook pages for box inthe basement.
And justice for Leon Corellasand follow our Instagram pages
Please be advised this episode contains detailed
discussions of violence andsexual content and may not be
suitable for all listeners.
Leah Collier (00:09):
El Paso, Texas sits in the heart of the
Chihuahuan desert.
Nestled against the borders ofNew Mexico and the international
boundary with Juarez, Mexico.
And reaching to the ruggedlybeautiful Franklin mountains.
It is a busy city with heavycross border trade.
A large military andintelligence community.
(00:29):
And a fusion of Mexican andAmerican culture.
This is the backdrop for one ofEl Paso's oldest cold cases.
Where a young husband discoversthe body of his pregnant wife.
With a telephone cord wrappedtightly around her neck.
Hello, and welcome to box in thebasement podcast.
(00:50):
I'm your host, Arlene.
And I'm Leah.
In 1996, my world was shatteredwhen my uncle Leon Lorella is.
Was shot execution style and asmall town in Texas.
To this day, his murder remainsunsolved.
And the pain of that injusticecontinues to haunt me, my family
(01:12):
and Leon's friends andcoworkers.
Here at box in the basement.
We want to shed light on theoverwhelming number of unsolved
murders and disappearances herein Texas and beyond.
Ultimately, we want to getjustice for Leon.
And for all the victims whosecases are sitting, collecting
dust in a box, in a basement.
(01:34):
El Paso today is a city with apopulation that hovers right
around 680,000 people in spanssome 258 square miles into the
desert and mountains.
The metropolitan area extendsinto two countries and two us
states.
Uh, forming a unique mix ofcultures, economies, and
(01:54):
histories.
El Paso's roots stretch deepinto the annals of history.
Starting as a point of passageon the Rio Grande day long
before Texas became a state.
The city's foundation is steepedin a rich blend of native
American, Mexican, Spanish, andAmerican influences.
(02:15):
Evidence.
And it's architecture, cuisineand local customs.
Historically.
El Paso's economy relied onmining and agriculture.
Not unsurprising for an oldWestern town.
Today.
It is a diversified modern citywith a large government and
military presence.
(02:35):
And a significant manufacturingand healthcare sector.
Fort bliss is one of the largestmilitary complexes in the United
States.
And serves as the cornerstone ofthe local community and economy.
The entire metropolitan area,which is made up of El Paso.
Juarez.
And Las Cruces, New Mexicoconsists of about 2.7 million
(02:59):
people.
And is the largest bilingualbinational workforce in the
entire Western hemisphere.
In 1966.
The world teetered on the edgeof transformation and turmoil.
A tenuous dance between progressand conflict.
Lyndon B Johnson was thepresident of the United States.
(03:22):
And was navigating both thedisastrous Vietnam war.
And the civil rights erasimultaneously.
The space race was in full forceas the cold war dragged on.
With the Soviets, making thefirst unmanned controlled
landing on the moon.
China began its culturalrevolution under Moussa dong.
(03:43):
Which would drastically rerouteits social economic and
political trajectory for thedecades to come.
Also in 1966, Charles Whitmanterrorized the university of
Texas after climbing to the topof the clock tower on campus.
And killing 14 people with arifle.
(04:04):
1966 was the first year Medicarewas available to Americans and
the Supreme court decided.
Miranda versus Arizonaprotecting the rights of the
accused.
This is where the Mirandawarning came from.
MIT biochemist hark.
Herana deciphered the DNA codefor the first time.
(04:25):
China's synthesized insulin forthe first time and the FDA
declared the birth controlpills, safe for human use.
The week of August 31st, 1966.
Ruby Lewis Stevens and herhusband would have probably been
hearing the Levin spoonfulssummer in this city.
On the radio.
Along with Bobby Hebb.
(04:46):
The happenings, Sam, the shamand the pharaohs and Donovan.
And of course.
The beach boys, Bob Dylan, andthe Beatles.
Each released iconic albums in1966.
Out to steal a million was thenumber one at the box office and
Jacqueline Susanne's valley ofthe dolls dominated the New York
(05:07):
times bestseller list for muchof the year.
Star Trek and Batman may theirtelevision debuts in 1966.
became a snack food staple.
And surfing went mainstream withthe release of the endless
summer.
England when the FIFA world cup.
Notre Dame and Michigan, we'retied for the top college
(05:29):
football team and Texas Westerncollege.
Now the university of Texas ElPaso started five black players.
And upset Kentucky in the NCAAbasketball championship.
The Boston Celtics win the NBAchampionship.
The Montreal Canadiens when theStanley cup.
(05:50):
The Baltimore Orioles would goon to win the world series.
In 1966 was the first year theSuperbowl was played with the
green bay Packers winning.
This was before the NFL, as weknow it existed.
And the game was actually calledthe AFL NFL world championship
game.
(06:10):
Just a little football triviafor all of you.
A long shadow would be cast inthe brutal summer heat in El
Paso, Texas.
However a monster prowled thestreets and tore at the illusion
of progress.
Ruby Louis Stevens, just 18years old.
(06:32):
Would be taken from the world inan act of horrific inexplicably
brutality.
Ruby was born in cloud craft,New Mexico, which is a small
village tucked in the mountainsabove the Tila Rosa basin.
And located in the Lincolnnational forest.
Today Cloudcroft has apopulation of around 750 people.
(06:55):
And it's a tourist attractionfor those traveling in and
through the Southern part of NewMexico.
I used to live in Alamogordo,New Mexico, and I would drive up
the mountain to Cloudcroft inthe summers to escape the heat.
It's a beautiful spot.
I think it's around 9,000 feetabove sea level.
So summers are pretty mild upthere.
Lots of little shops,restaurants, that kind of thing.
(07:17):
It's a nice place to spend anafternoon.
Ruby lost her parents the yearbefore her own death.
But she did have a joy in herlife.
And she had recently marriedJane Stevens, especially in the
us army.
They were expecting their firstchild at the time of her death.
(07:40):
The young couple moved to ElPaso and began their life
together it was a humblebeginning, but it was happy by
all accounts with the couplesspending time with James
military buddies and Rubysettling into a quiet routine as
a homemaker.
Uh, Ruby was a gentle soul,quiet and unassuming.
(08:01):
And she took pleasure in life.
Simple joys.
Her risk profile was extremelylow.
Which makes her murder all themore mystifying.
She was not one to venture outalone.
She didn't engage in anyhigh-risk activities.
And she had no known enemies.
It's a stark reminder thatsometimes even the most ordinary
(08:24):
lives.
Are touched by the darkest partsof humanity.
August 31st, 1966 was anordinary Wednesday and the
greater El Paso community wasfirmly in its mid week.
Stride oblivious to the turmoilabout to wreck a young family,
just getting their start.
It was a clear day, hot and dry.
(08:46):
As Ruby likely set about hernormal routine of household
chores after her husband, Jamesleft for work at Fort bliss.
That evening James and Rubywelcomed some of James's friends
to their small house on federalavenue.
In the central part of the city.
This would be the last happyinteraction Ruby would have with
(09:07):
anyone while she was alive.
The timeline gets murky fromhere on out, but we do know that
James spoke to Ruby on thetelephone at around 8:20 PM.
He was working the overnightshift on post.
We also know that a neighbor ofthe Stevens's was a woken around
1:30 AM by a woman screamingstop.
(09:29):
What do you want?
The screams abruptly stopped.
Uh, car fled the scene and thenall was silent.
Arlene (09:36):
James Stevens returned to his home from work around six
30 the next morning.
Some articles say he found thefront door open slightly.
Others just say the door wasunlocked.
But in any case, this was thefirst indication that something
was a mess.
He walked into the house andfound his young wife lifeless on
(09:58):
their bedroom floor with atelephone cord wrapped around
her neck.
Ruby's nightgown had been pulledup around her.
Exposing multiple bruises andindicating a violent struggle in
which had once been a happyhome.
I'm like many of the cases wecover or plan to cover.
(10:19):
Police had the murder weaponreadily available.
The telephone cord was stillaround.
Ruby's neck.
It was wrapped so tightly, itwas embedded into her neck.
And the firefighter charged withremoving it had difficulty
getting it loose.
The house itself told a story ofviolence.
(10:40):
The normal tidy bedroom was indisarray.
And there were dishes scatteredin the kitchen.
And close strewn about.
Ruby fought her assailant hard.
She had bruises and wounds onher arms and hands.
Her state of partial undressinitially led investigators to
believe sexual assault had beenemotive.
(11:01):
But there was no evidence of asexual assault found.
And as we've said, in othercases, just because no evidence
of an assault was found doesn'tmean it wasn't a motive.
Before we go on, let's remindourselves that this was 1966.
Forensic science was stillfairly rudimentary compared to
(11:23):
what we have today.
It would be another two decadesbefore DNA evidence was even a
thing.
Surveillance cameras.
We're not stuck on everytraffic, light and doorbell.
There were no cell phones orcars with computers and GPS and
trace evidence as a concept wasstill fairly new.
(11:44):
Investigators had to rely onwitnesses and the scientific
tools of the time.
Unfortunately here, there werenot many witnesses as the crime
occurred in the middle of thenight.
The neighbor Arlene mentioned afew minutes ago was pretty much
it.
And even that was problematic.
Think about it.
(12:04):
You're asleep in your house andyou hear what this neighbor
heard.
Stop.
What do you want?
First off.
You'd probably be wondering ifyou actually heard something or
if you dreamed it.
And then there's the lack ofcontext.
You're next door.
You have no idea what's goingon.
And this makes no sense to yourtired brain.
(12:27):
I've been awoken in the night byloud sounds and it's pretty
disorienting.
We have a neighbor who throwsloud pool parties that stretch
far into the night.
Sometimes we'll hear screams areyelling and it's crazy.
I get up and go to the back doorand determine it's just a party
and go right back to bed.
This neighbor had limitedmobility, so he wasn't able to
(12:50):
go investigate.
Like I do.
Then your brain starts goingover all the possible scenarios.
Maybe the young couple next doorwas just fighting and blowing
off steam.
Maybe it's a mother and herteenage son having an argument.
There are a millionpossibilities to consider.
The neighbor also said he hearda car speed away.
(13:13):
Dogs barking.
And then it was quiet.
Another neighbor also toldpolice he heard a scream and saw
a car drive away.
Yet another Unnamed., witnessreported seeing a man removing a
screen from a kitchen window atRuby's home.
But I don't have any moredetails than that.
Unfortunately.
(13:41):
Investigators focus initially onthree of James Stephen's work
friends.
As they were the last people,other than James himself, seeing
with Ruby the night she wasmurdered.
These men were subject torigorous questioning and even
polygraphs, which they allpassed.
Law enforcement was essentiallyback at square one.
(14:03):
With an entire city of potentialperpetrators looming ahead in
their investigation.
To their credit.
Investigators documented thestate of Ruby's body and the
crime scene, meticulous sleepand their notes.
But the piece of the puzzle thatwould likely make this a
solvable case today.
DNA.
(14:24):
Was simply not in the toolkityet.
Police interviewed Ruby'shusband, James, of course.
And his account simply outlined.
The horrifying moment.
He found his pretty young wifedead on the bedroom floor.
Quote.
I walked in the house and foundher there.
(14:45):
Uh, check to see if she wasbreathing and I call police on
our other telephone.
End quote.
Detectives question otheracquaintances of the victim.
But no solid leads were everdeveloped.
The couple was still fairly newto the area.
Remember?
And they didn't have a lot ofclose friends or associates.
And hadn't had time to make anyreal enemies that anyone knew
(15:08):
of.
Okay.
So what are our thoughts on thisone?
It's the oldest cold case we'vediscussed so far.
So we have to consider thetechnology or lack thereof.
I don't think this is a case oflaw enforcement dropping the
ball.
It seems like the investigatorswere competent and did a good
job of collecting and analyzingevidence they had with the tools
(15:30):
they had available to them atthe time.
They interviewed a lot ofwitnesses and acquaintances.
They just simply didn't haveenough to go on.
I agree.
I don't think that this is amatter of incompetence or
laziness.
Because the couple was so new tothe area.
I think it's possible.
Maybe even probable.
(15:51):
That this was a matter of Rubybeing a target of opportunity.
Or this being a case of randomviolence.
Nobody ever wants to considerthe possibility of random
violence because it's franklyterrifying.
But it does happen.
Maybe someone took a chance andbroke into the little rental
house, hoping to find somethinguh, value to steal.
(16:14):
Maybe someone noticed Rubyearlier that day and thought she
lived alone and decided to breakin to sexually assault her.
Yeah.
Remember, we did have that onewitness claiming they saw an
unknown man removing a screenfrom Ruby's kitchen window prior
to her murder.
So it's entirely possible.
A local Creek either knew herhusband's schedule or thought
Ruby lived alone and decided tobreak in.
(16:37):
We know that eye witnesses,testimony, isn't always
reliable.
So we'll take that with a grainof salt but it does raise the
possibility, like you said, Iknow the investigators, Claire,
James Stevens, coworkers earlyin the investigation.
But there's a chance.
One or more of them was involvedand lied their way out of
(16:58):
suspicion.
They were the only people whoreally knew anything about the
young couple.
Thank you where they lived.
They would have known James'sschedule.
And they would have no Rubywould have been alone that
night.
The lack of technologicaladvancements really hurts the
process here.
If one of these guys was lying,the tools we have available
(17:21):
today may have been able to linkthem to the crime.
But the evidence available atthat time clear those guys.
So we're just speculating.
And let's talk crime rates for asecond, just to kind of put
things in perspective.
El Paso kind of gets a bad rapbecause of its proximity to the
(17:42):
border.
But historically it's actually alot safer in terms of violent
crimes than other large cities.
In 2021, it was the thirdsafest, large city per FBI data
in the entire us.
El Paso is a big city and it wasa pretty good sized city in
1966.
Sitting right around 300,000people.
(18:05):
And that's just the city of ElPaso that figure doesn't include
the larger Metro area.
There were 16 murders in El Pasoin 1966, which translates to a
murder rate roughly equal to themurder rate in the city today.
1966 was well before the spikein violent crime in the 1980s
(18:26):
and 1990s.
We're murders in El Pasonumbered in the high fifties on
average.
State of the investigation todayis pretty much the same as it
was in 1966.
No suspects.
No leads, no nothing.
He'll pass the police and themedia have both noted that the
evidence that is available inthe cold case archives.
(18:49):
Related to this case as wellpreserved.
And meticulously documented.,.
It's just waiting on a usabletip or the ability of
investigators to analyze a pieceof evidence with the right tool
or the right process.
The El Paso police cold caseunit has this case and they've
(19:09):
actively worked on it in thelast few years.
So while that box is still inthe basement, it has seen the
light of day in recent years.
Law enforcement doesn't thinkit's hopeless.
They believe it's solvable.
Ruby's husband.
James is now dead.
Movies parents both died beforeshe did.
(19:30):
There is nobody left in thiscase, but it haunts the greater
El Paso community as well aslocal law enforcement to this
day.
These are the cases that are themost heartbreaking to me.
I feel obligated to tell thestory and to do what I can to
help find answers for the sakeof finding answers and for
getting justice that Jamescouldn't get for her.
(19:53):
While he was still alive.
This is Bree producer here atbox in the basement.
How many boxes are in thebasement that are just like
rubies.
In this case, the death was bystrangulation.
Not the most common murderweapon.
So let's take a look at how manystrangulation cases of women in
general.
There have been 6,917 murdersusing strangulation since 1976.
(20:19):
With 3,747 unsolved.
Women are strangled twice asoften than men who have 3,179
cases, total.
This is a much differentstatistic than gun violence.
Now, if we add aged 18 to 24,there are 1,420.
(20:41):
Total cases with 743 unsolved.
So half going solved.
Why.
Let's take a look at the solvedcases.
21% are committed by anacquaintance 16%.
The husband 16% boyfriend.
And 13% stranger.
Now let's use the victimologyand evidence to examine each
(21:03):
group of perpetrators.
I took a look at some similarcases from the FBI's behavior
analysis unit and applied someof their theory of this case
based on these statistics.
First it started with thelocation, her home more often
than not.
It points to someone who knewher and was somehow in her orbit
and could gain access easily.
The other option is that it's alocal paper who saw an
(21:23):
opportunity.
This might lead investigators tochecking for reports of peeping
Toms in the area.
Weapon strangulation.
Now this points to a perpetratorthat was not prepared.
This weapon is considereddisorganized.
The addition of the phone cord,according to the FBI, BAU means
the killer likely underestimatedhow hard it is to strangle and
(21:46):
had to find another weapon.
This usually means young anddisorganized.
Strangulation is also up closeand personal.
Oftentimes people think thatthis means that the killer must
have known their subject ortheir target.
And this could mean that thekiller knew her and became
enraged, but there's alsoanother option that she is the
proxy for a woman that thekiller hated.
(22:08):
His ex his mother, the realtarget of his homicidal rage.
Now let's take a look at thevictim.
A pregnant, newly married, 18year old with no sexual assault.
This could point to jealousy,anger that the woman has wronged
him by becoming pregnant withanother man's baby.
Uh, this often can bring outemotions in ex lovers.
(22:33):
Now let's take a look at thecircle of suspects.
Husband often in stranglingcases, the intimate partner
would have likely strangledtheir partner before hand as a
leading indicator.
Also domestic violence increaseswhen a woman is pregnant.
And this case the husbandappears to have had an alibi as
he was at work.
Ex-boyfriend.
This one is interesting in ourstatistics.
(22:55):
We have boyfriend in this case,it could be an ex-boyfriend, a
pregnant woman was murdered.
So, and with no sexual assault,it could point to an ex lover.
He would be stalking her andeven perhaps waiting outside her
apartment and looking for anopportunity to confront her
after her husband left.
(23:17):
I'm not sure if there was an exenrolled town and maybe he
became enraged that she moved onto a new life, but it is worth
investigating.
Acquaintance the same could betrue for an ex-boyfriend as an
acquaintance, someone that wasin her orbit that became jealous
and enraged, that she moved awayand became pregnant.
Someone that was in her highschool that may have had a crush
(23:40):
on her.
This was like the Idaho formurder case where the murderer
had been in the orbit of thosethat he murdered, but not
necessarily knew them..
And in the stranger, this wouldbe the peeper.
This person would likely havebeen caught.
Peeping in the neighborhood,even though there was no sexual
assault that was found, thethrill of the murder itself can
(24:01):
be sexual.
Last, but not least.
We have to look at post offenderbehavior, this offender would
have likely been so upset thathe had committed a murder most
likely because he wasn'tplanning it.
That he would have gotten out oftown and tried to get away from
the crime until it actually dieddown.
(24:21):
He would be mortified that hecommitted this crime.
He may have been under theinfluence of alcohol or drugs,
which lowered his inhibitions,making him more likely to commit
the crime.
This is most likely a person whowould have had remorse if you
have any information about thedeath of Ruby at Lewis Stevens
on August 31st, 1966, pleasecontact the El Paso police
(24:44):
department at 9 1 5 2 1 2 4,000.
Or submit a tip anonymously atthe department's webpage.
This podcast has a biggerpurpose than Just providing
information and theentertainment.
The homicide victims, familiesrights act is a bipartisan bill
(25:04):
that was signed into law byCongress in 2021.
And we want to see it put intoaction.
This law establishes asystematic process for reviewing
case files.
Related to cold case murders.
The focus is on providing amechanism for the families and
friends of murder victims.
To request a formal review ofsuch cases.
(25:29):
We need an attorney or teams ofattorneys and legal
professionals To take on thebold and brave fight against the
system around the country.
In our case, we need someone tofight for Leon to help not only
put fresh eyes on the case.
But to get his body zoomed, tosearch for evidence that was not
(25:50):
collected the first time around.
We and other families andfriends need assistance with
getting foyer requests.
It blows our minds that so manymurders occurred from 1976 to
1997.
In Brownwood, Texas under thewatch of the same investigators,
(26:10):
responsible for handling Leon'scase.
We're going to look at all theunsolved murders in Brownwood.
And maybe even if you solvedones, if it helps uncover what
was happening in that era thatleft so many families
devastated.
And a community living in fear.
(26:30):
If you want to hear more aboutvictim focused.
Unsolved cases.
And get updates about what weknow.
Please subscribe, like and shareour podcast.
Also visit our website.
Justice for leon.com to donateto our cause to hire an
attorney.
You can also join our email listto stay current on developments
(26:54):
on Leon's case and other cases.
We cover as they happen.
pleaSe follow and lagger.
Bigger Facebook pages for box inthe basement.
And justice for Leon Corellasand follow our Instagram pages
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.