The Murders of Phyllis Butto & Martha Read

In February 1975, Austin was rocked with a savage and senseless crime that disturbed even the most experienced homicide detectives when 21-year-old Phyllis Butto was stabbed to death in her home. The murder baffled police. The following June, when a markedly similar crime took place, Austin Homicide Investigators scrambled to find clues. 25-year-old Martha Read was also riddled with stab wounds. Though a couple promising leads came their way, the cops couldn’t find anything that made sense or stuck. Law enforcement in Texas’s Capital City, anyway, was facing a new challenge that worsened as Austin grew: something they called “faceless crime.”

If you have any information about the 1975 murders of Phyllis Butto or Martha Read, please call the Austin Police homicide tip line at [phone], the Homicide Unit at [phone], or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at [phone]

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The Austin American-Statesman, The Tyler Morning Telegraph, and The Wichita Falls Times-Record were used as sources for this episode.

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