William Perry Jackson

Last updated
William Perry Jackson
BornJanuary 1955 (age 69)
Milwaukie, Oregon, U.S.
Other namesPete Jackson
Conviction(s) Murder x5
Escaping custody
Kidnapping
Criminal penaltyWashington:
Life imprisonment x2 (murder)
10 years (escape)
Oregon:
Life imprisonment x3
Details
Victims5 (one as accomplice)
Span of crimes
May 21 –August 10, 1980
CountryUnited States
State(s) Oregon, Washington
Date apprehended
August 22, 1980
Imprisoned at Oregon State Penitentiary, Salem, Oregon

William Perry Jackson (born January 1955) is an American serial killer who, together with two accomplices, killed five people during robberies in Washington and Oregon from May to August 1980. Convicted and sentenced to multiple life terms in separate trials, in addition to another sentence for escaping from prison, he is currently serving his sentences in an Oregon prison.

Contents

Murders

The first death linked to Jackson occurred on May 21, 1980, when he and 27-year-old accomplice Gary Allen Smith went to a kiosk in the Portland Transit Mall, where they beat up the janitor, 45-year-old Calvin Toran. After stealing $10 from him, they threw him in the back of their van and drove to Forest Park, where they stabbed him to death. [1] On June 11, Jackson and Smith decided to break into a home in Vancouver, Washington occupied by 74-year-old Hazel Wilson. After prying the door open, the pair went inside and beat up the elderly woman until she was unable to get up. Jackson and Smith then ransacked the house, stole some valuables and promptly left. Wilson was found two days later by a concerned neighbor and driven to a local hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries on June 14. [2]

Jackson and Smith then started hitchhiking between Washington and Oregon, eventually finding themselves in Portland in early August. On August 5, they broke into the house of 59-year-old Julia Annabell Armstrong and proceeded to beat her to death before ransacking her home. [2] Two days later, they were picked up by 18-year-old Michael Anthony Butler, who agreed to aid them in their crime spree. Later in the day, while searching for gas in Chehalis, Washington, the trio went inside the home of 78-year-old Theodore May, whom they proceeded to beat to death in his garage. They then stole some cash, other valuables and gas before returning to their car. [2]

On August 10, the trio were driving near Scholls, Oregon when they spotted 14-year-old Charmel Ulrich and 13-year-old Laurie Leach walking along a rural path. [3] Jackson then convinced him to pull over, then he and Butler got out to talk to the girls. Suddenly, they shoved Ulrich inside the car but failed to capture Leach, who managed to escape. Smith then drove the car an isolated area near Rose Lodge, all the while Jackson and Butler raped Ulrich in the back seat. [3] When they got there, they then forced her to make a phone call to Leach's mother through a telephone booth, and after she finished, Smith stabbed her to death. The body was then dumped in a remote wooded area east of Waldport. [3]

Arrest and first trial

While investigating Ulrich's kidnapping, local authorities learned that a man by the name of Michael Anthony Butler had made remarks about the incident that indicated he had intimate knowledge of the crime. He was then arrested in Forest Grove and brought to the nearest police station, where he readily admitted guilt to the abduction and murder, even offering to show detectives where he believed the body might be buried. After initially leading them to some campgrounds in Hood River County, Butler eventually found the correct burial site. [3] Using information provided by him, both Jackson and Smith were arrested on August 22. Each man was then charged with kidnapping, rape and murder, and held on $500,000 bail. [4]

At trial, Smith pleaded not guilty to the charges relating to Ulrich's murder, with his trial being set for October 15 at the request of his court-appointed attorney. [5] At his request, the trial was expedited even further and started on October 11, done in conjunction with Jackson's attorney, who was granted a similar request. [6] In January 1981, he was convicted and automatically sentenced to life imprisonment, as the death penalty had been temporarily suspended at the state level at the time. [7]

Approximately a month later, Jackson waived his right to a jury trial in the Toran case and agreed to plead guilty. [1] After receiving a life term in that case, Jackson and his attorneys offered to plead guilty in the Ulrich case as well, but this motion was denied by Judge Richard Burke. [8] In response, Jackson's attorney petitioned the Supreme Court to have Burke removed on the grounds of prejudice against his client. When this was denied, Burke agreed to lift a gag order regarding the confessions, much to the dismay of Jackson's attorney, who wanted some of the evidence suppressed. [9]

In the end, Jackson was convicted for this and two of the other murders, for which he was given consecutive life terms in prison. Shortly after pleading guilty and receiving another life for the murder of Wilson, he volunteered to participate in medical research programs as a test subject for drug experimentations. [10]

Prison escape

In early August 1982, Jackson was extradited to Washington, where he was to face a sentencing trial for the murder of May. [11] On August 5, he and a convicted robber named Gus Allen Turner broke through the plaster ceiling of their cell at the Lewis County Jail and climbed through, re-entered the courthouse and then managed to lower themselves to the ground using a rope made of blankets. From there, they split and went their separate ways, with Jackson fleeing to his native city of Milwaukie, Oregon, where he was arrested later that afternoon. [11] He was then charged on first-degree escape charges, offering to plead guilty if the county sheriff spent a few weeks in isolation with him. [12]

Further trials and status

The following month, Jackson agreed to serve as a witness against Smith at the latter's trial for the murder of Hazel Wilson. During the proceedings, the two men gave conflicting accounts of what had happened, with Jackson claiming that Smith had sexually abused, beaten and stomped on the elderly woman while he just idly stood by. [13] Near the end of his testimony, he even said that Smith supposedly joked about hitting her with a frying pan, calling it "the old kaBANK! [sic] trick". [14] Smith would eventually be convicted of the murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, but continued to proclaim his innocence, in addition to verbally degrading his former accomplice. [15]

After this, Jackson appealed some of his sentences to the Oregon Supreme Court, arguing that some statements should not have been admitted as evidence. This tactic did not work for the murders of Armstrong and May, for whose murders his convictions were upheld. [16] [17] He was then granted a resentencing trial for the murder of Ulrich, but was again found guilty and resentenced to life imprisonment. [18] As of October 2022, Jackson remains incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary and continues to serve his sentences.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bonin</span> American serial killer and rapist (1947–1996)

William George Bonin, also called the Freeway Killer and the Freeway Strangler, was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured, and murdered young men and boys between November 1968 and June 1980 in southern California. He was convicted of 14 murders, but he confessed to 21 and is suspected of even more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Bundy</span> American serial killer (1942–2003)

Carol Mary Bundy was an American double murderer and suspected serial killer. Bundy and Doug Clark became collectively known as the Sunset Strip Killers after being convicted of a series of lust murders in Los Angeles during the late spring and early summer of 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Franklin Wright</span> American serial killer executed in Oregon

Douglas Franklin Wright was an American serial killer who murdered at least seven people in Oregon between 1969 and 1991. He was sentenced to death for three of these murders and was executed in 1996 at the Oregon State Penitentiary, becoming the first person to be executed in Oregon since 1962. He was also the first person executed in Oregon by lethal injection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Morin</span> American serial killer

Stephen Peter Morin was an American serial killer who was suspected of being responsible for at least forty murders of young girls and women and 7 men in the period from 1969 to 1981. Since Morin led a transient lifestyle and constantly moved around the country, the exact number of his victims is uncertain, but he is suspected of a total 48 violent crimes across the United States. In the early 1980s, he was pursued by the federal authorities. Morin had created multiple aliases. These names included Rich Clark, Robert Fred Generoso, Thomas David Hones, Ray Constantino, and Constatine. The court found Morin sane and sentenced him to death by lethal injection. In 1985, he was executed by Texas after waiving his appeals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William G. Zuern Jr.</span> American murderer (1958–2004)

William Gerald Zuern Jr. was an American convicted murderer who was executed by the state of Ohio for the murder of a Hamilton County sheriff's deputy working as a corrections officer in the county jail. Zuern spent 19 years and 7 months on death row, with lawyers fighting his death sentence. His execution occurred on the day before the 20th anniversary of the crime for which he was condemned.

The San Quentin Six were six inmates at San Quentin State Prison in the U.S. state of California who were charged with actions related to an August 21, 1971 escape attempt that resulted in six deaths and at least two people seriously wounded. The San Quentin Six were Fleeta Drumgo, David Johnson, Hugo Pinell, Johnny Larry Spain, Willie Tate, and Luis Talamantez. The dead included George Jackson, a co-founder of the Black Guerrilla Family; two other inmates, and three guards.

Charles H. Turner was an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon. Prior to his presidential appointment as U.S. Attorney, Turner worked under his predecessor, Sidney I. Lezak, for 14 years. He was appointed as Lezak's replacement by President Ronald Reagan.

Thelma Anne Taylor was an American teenager who was abducted and murdered in Portland, Oregon in 1949, after having disappeared on August 5. Her body was discovered the following week, on August 11. Taylor's murder received national attention and became a cause célèbre. The perpetrator, Morris Leland, was executed in 1953. The murder occurred in the St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland near the St. Johns Bridge and land that is now known as Cathedral Park.

William Paul "Bud" Thompson was an American criminal, spree killer, and self-described serial/contract killer. Convicted for three murders committed between March and April 1984 in California and Nevada, he later confessed to three additional murders in three other states. Sentenced to death for a Nevada killing, he withdrew his appeals and was subsequently executed in 1989.

William Scott Smith is an American serial killer and kidnapper who has been convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering at least four women in Salem, Oregon from 1981 to 1984. For his known crimes, Smith was sentenced to four life terms, and remains a suspect in several other murders.

Stanley Marvin Bernson is an American kidnapper, murderer and self-confessed serial killer. Convicted for two known murders in Oregon and Washington in 1978 and 1979, respectively, Bernson was later investigated for around 28 additional murders around the Northwest, some of which he claimed to have committed in the company of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. No further victims have been linked to Bernson since his incarceration, and he continues to serve his life term at the Washington State Penitentiary.

Thomas Eugene Creech is an American serial killer who was convicted of two murders committed in 1974 and sentenced to death in Idaho. The sentence was reduced two years later on appeal to life imprisonment. He was sent back to Idaho's death row for a 1981 murder committed while imprisoned. Creech personally confessed to a total of 42 murders in various states, some of which allegedly involved the Hells Angels and the Church of Satan. Most of his additional confessions are uncorroborated, but police believe strong evidence links Creech to seven additional murder victims. In January 2024, an investigation by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department concluded that Creech murdered Daniel A. Walker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phillip Coleman (spree killer)</span> Executed American spree killer and suspected serial killer

Phillip J. Coleman Jr. was an American spree killer and self-confessed serial killer who was convicted of a double murder in Lothrop, Montana committed on July 24, 1943, together with accomplice Louis Brown. On the day of his execution, he published a written confession admitting to 23 total murders across the United States and Canada, providing details for eight of them, including one for which he had been suspected previously but never charged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony LaRette</span> Executed American serial killer

Anthony Joe LaRette Jr. was an American serial killer and rapist. Convicted of one murder in St. Charles, Missouri in 1980, he later confessed to thirty-one murders in eleven states dating back to the late 1960s, fifteen of which were closed based on information provided by him. Sentenced to death for his sole conviction, LaRette was executed in 1995.

Bruce Alan Davis was an American serial killer who was convicted of killing three people in Illinois and the District of Columbia from 1971 to 1982, but confessed to thirty additional murders committed across the country. A majority of these confessed crimes were never confirmed, and Davis later hung himself while serving his life term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauricio Silva (serial killer)</span> American serial killer on death row

Mauricio Rodriguez Silva, known as The Monster, is an American serial killer who killed three people, including his half-sister, during a May 1984 crime spree that spread across California, shortly after being paroled from serving a manslaughter conviction. He was convicted of the latter crimes and sentenced to death and is currently awaiting execution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leroy McGahuey</span> American murderer and suspected serial killer

Leroy Sanford McGahuey was an American murderer and suspected serial killer who was convicted and later executed for a double murder committed in Oregon in 1961, and was considered a prime suspect in a 1957 murder in Washington State. He was the final convict to be executed in Oregon prior to Furman v. Georgia, as well as the last to be executed in the state's gas chamber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Paul Cutlip</span> American serial killer

Jeffrey Paul Cutlip is an American serial killer and rapist who murdered two women and a teenage girl in the Portland metropolitan area of Oregon between 1975 and 1993. He confessed to the murders in 2012, and was sentenced to life imprisonment the following year.

Warren Leslie Forrest is an American convicted double murderer and suspected serial killer. Sentenced to two life terms for the murders of a young woman, Krysta Blake and teenage girl Martha Morrison in Clark County, Washington, in 1974, he is considered the prime suspect in at least five similar murders and disappearances dating back to 1971. Forrest has been incarcerated on a single murder count since 1974, and was convicted on another count on February 4, 2023, after DNA linked him to the murder of Martha Morrison. The jury took just an hour and a half to convict Forrest of 17-year-old Martha's murder.

References

  1. 1 2 "Man waives his right to jury trial". The World. February 18, 1981 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "Local police want Oregon suspects". The Columbian . August 27, 1980 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Three charged with kidnap after teen girl's body found". Statesman Journal . August 22, 1980 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Three held". The World . August 22, 1980 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Murder charges are denied on coast". Statesman Journal. September 11, 1980 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Lincoln County murder trials continued". Statesman Journal. October 11, 1980 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Terry Monahan (January 22, 1981). "Smith found guilty in teen's murder". Statesman Journal– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Guilty plea refused in death trial". Statesman Journal. May 12, 1981 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Judge in Jackson murder trial lifts 'gag' order on confessions". Statesman Journal. May 21, 1981 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Jackson pleads guilty to murder". The Columbian. July 2, 1982 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 "Escaped murderer nabbed in Oregon". Longview News-Journal . August 5, 1982 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Killer arraigned on escape". Longview News-Journal. August 13, 1982 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Cynthia Tank (29 September 1982). "Murder trial pits Jackson against Smith". The Columbian. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Cynthia Tank (29 September 1982). "Murder trial pits Jackson against Smith". The Columbian. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Life in prison for Smith". The Columbian. October 7, 1982 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Murderer's conviction upheld". Corvallis Gazette-Times . December 16, 1982 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Killer sentenced again". The Spokesman-Review . December 29, 1982 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Jackson gets new sentence". Statesman Journal. February 9, 1983 – via Newspapers.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.