Shore: Possible Victims

 << Previous Post in this Series: Introduction

In this post, I will briefly summarize 16 cases of rape and murder that I believe occurred at the hands of Anthony Allen Shore. Of those cases, Shore confessed to murdering four of the victims and raping one of them. One other case is that of Shore's second wife. She claims that Shore nearly strangled her to death while raping her.

For this series, I will limit the discussion to attacks for the 12-year period between 26 September 1986 (when Shore murdered Laurie Trembly) and 16 January 1999 (when Shore raped Amy Lynch). I am aware of one possible attack by Shore prior to his murder of Laurie Trembly, but I am not presently at liberty to discuss that attack. I am aware of at least two attacks after the rape of Amy Shore. I will mention them later in the series. I will not, however, analyze them in detail due to insufficiency of information.

I have a database of unsolved cases of young women abducted and attacked in the Houston area for the 22-year period between 1981 (when Shore moved backed to Houston) and 2003 (when Shore was arrested for the murder of Carmen Estrada). I can attribute only a minority of those cases to Anthony Allen Shore. The victims listed in this post are a subset of all those cases I have in my database.

I will discuss the attacks in the order in which they occurred. I will reserve any effort to justify my attribution of the cases to Anthony Allen Shore until later posts in this series.

Now for the list of the definite and possible victims of Anthony Allen Shore.

26 Sep 1986: Laurie Trembly -- Shore confessed to murdering this young woman. I have described this case in substantial detail here.

26 Sep 1988: Shandra Charles and Marcell Taylor -- The sixteen-year-old girl and her three-year-old nephew were murdered by precise stab wounds to their necks in a field a mile and a half from where Shore was living. Texas executed Preston Hughes for the murders, though he was innocent. My extensive series on that case is outlined here. The petition for Habeas Corpus I prepared for Hughes is here.

02 Feb 1989: Monalisa Espinosa -- This sixteen-year-old girl went missing from 10120 Irvington Boulevard in Houston. I learned of her case only recently from Victor Jackson. Victor married Monalisa's mother, Alice, some time after the murder. Working together, Victor and I have been able to uncover additional information about Shore that is relevant to this series. Because Victor and Alice Jackson are determined that Monalisa's murder be solved, they allow me to mention their names and (eventually) share their contact information. It is their determination and involvement that has prompted me to resume blogging on a limited basis.

15 Dec 1989: Jane Doe Westheimer -- The body of this unidentified young female was discovered at 5433 Westheimer Road in Houston on 29 December 1989. I estimate the date of her murder to be two weeks prior to the discovery of her body. It's important to remember that the date of her murder is approximate.

08 Sep 1990: Stephanie Beuhler -- This eighteen-year-old female had a flat tire near the corner of Westheimer Road and Beltway 8. The police believe she was abducted when she attempted to walk the half-mile back to her home.

16 May 1992: Carmen Estrada -- Shore confessed to murdering this young woman. He was tried and convicted for her murder, and her murder only. Shore sits on death row now because of her murder. I have describe this case in substantial detail here.

19 Oct 1993: Selma Janske -- Shore confessed to raping this young woman. She survived the attack, desires to remain anonymous, and the name used herein is an alias adopted from the book Strangler. I have described this case in substantial detail here.

13 May 1994: Trellis Sykes -- This sixteen-year-old girl was abducted as she walked to school. Her body was discovered in a field near the 3900 block of Redbud in Houston. She had been beaten and strangled.

07 Aug 1994: Diana Robellar -- Shore dragged this nine-year-old girl into a van as she walked home from a nearby store. Shore raped and strangled her. He dumped her body behind a large, abandoned storage building. Shore confessed to murdering her. I have described this case in substantial detail here.

06 Jul 1995: Dana Sanchez -- Shore confessed to murdering this young, pregnant woman. I have described this case in substantial detail here.

07 Jun 1997: Erica Garcia -- The body of this fourteen-year-old girl was discovered in the vacated Alief General Hospital at 11101 Bellaire, Houston. She had been raped and strangled.

08 Dec 1998: Melissa Trotter -- This nineteen-year-old female was abducted on the date indicated. Her body was discovered in the Sam Houston National Forest 25 days later on 2 January 1999. Larry Swearingen was convicted of murdering her and sentenced to death. Because Swearingen was in jail when Melissa Trotter was killed, I have described him as The Most Innocent Man on Death Row. I presented my hypothesis that Shore killed Melissa Trotter here.

16 Jan 1999: Amy Lynch -- This young woman was Shore's second wife. He nearly choked her to death while raping her. She was waiting at the courthouse door to file divorce papers the first morning the courthouse was open after Shore's attack. Shore's attack on her is discussed in Strangler.

I will begin analyzing the attacks as a whole and individually beginning with the next post in this series.

Shore: Introduction

I am returning to blogging temporarily to present a case that Anthony Allen Shore is responsible for killing seven more young women and one young man beyond the four murders to which he has confessed. If I am correct in my assessment, then Texas has attempted to execute an innocent man four times for one of those murders, and did in fact execute an innocent man for two of those murders.

To determine whether or not Shore committed any particular murder, I relied on four criteria:

1. Was the victim the type of person that Shore would murder? 

2. Was the murder performed in a fashion consistent with Shore's other murders?

3. Was the possible point-of-first-contact between Shore and the victim near Shore's home?

4. Was the timing of the murder consistent with a random walk analysis of Shore's other murders?

I understand that even a strong match on all four criteria does not prove that Shore committed a specific murder. I note, however, that I have identified eight murders that meet three or more of the criteria. The chance that all eight are only coincidentally consistent with Shore is exceptionally small.

In other words, I believe my analysis shows that Anthony Allen Shore is responsible for three times as many murders as he has confessed to. By extension, I believe my analysis reinforces my argument that Larry Swearingen did not kill Melissa Trotter, despite Texas' repeated efforts to execute him for that murder. Similarly by extension, I believe my analysis reinforces my argument that Preston Hughes killed neither Shandra Charles nor Marcell Taylor, despite the fact that Texas has already executed him for those murders.

I will present my analysis in this series, beginning with my next post in which I will identify the other victims of Anthony Allen Shore.

Next  Post in  this Series:  Possible Victims   >>

The Skeptical Juror and The Trial of Bryon Case

I have converted The Skeptical Juror and The Trial of Byron Case to PDF format and I have placed it among my Skeptical Juror Docs. I make this PDF version of the book public and free.

The Skeptical Juror and The Trial of Byron Case

Mother's Day 2013

Last year was a difficult year, for many reasons. One of the reasons is that my mother died. She died before Mother's Day 2012, so this will be the second that I cannot wish her a happy Mother's Day.

Even when my mother was alive, Mother's Day meant something different to me than most people. I've noticed that most (not all, but most) of the people who fight stubbornly to free loved ones are mothers. On Mother's Day, therefore, I find myself thinking of those who have lost children for crimes they did not commit.

It seems inappropriate to wish them a happy Mother's Day as their children languish in prison, or lie in a grave, for crimes they did not commit. Furthermore, it seems insensitive to merely ignore them for fear of not having the right words. I therefore want to take this opportunity to offer my best wishes to some of those mothers, to those I have worked with and continue to work with.

I offer my best wishes to Evelyn Case. Her son Byron is serving two life sentences without possibility of parole for a murder he did not commit. Byron's petition to Governor Nixon for an absolute pardon is here. My two letters to Governor Nixon in support of that petition are here and here. My book on the case is here. The Kindle version, which I shall soon make free, is here.

I offer my best wishes to Pat Ledford. Her son Michael is serving 50 years without the possibility of parole for a murder he did not commit. Michael's petition to Governor McDonnell, which I prepared with the help of his mother, is here.

I offer my best wishes to Brenda Johnson. Her son Preston Hughes III was executed for a crime he did not commit. Preston's application for Writ of Habeas Corpus, which I prepared, is here.

I also offer my best wishes to Alice Jackson. Her teenage daughter, Monalisa Espinosa, was murdered. The case remains unsolved. I have recently been contacted by Victor Jackson. Victor believes that his step-daughter was murdered by Anthony Allen Shore. Victor and I have quickly built a working relationship that has led to some new discoveries in the case of Anthony Allen Shore. Because of Victor, I have decided to resume blogging on a limited basis.

On this Mother's Day, 2013, I offer my best wishes to Evelyn Case, Pat Ledford, Brenda Johnson, and Alice Jackson.

Going Dark Once Again

I am taking another hiatus from blogging. I don't know how long I will be away. I know only that I am now deeply involved in another project, one that is not depressing and discouraging, and that the siren songs are too seductive to resist.