48:Phyllis Marion:The Mad Dog Arcade

     When you picture fun teen hangouts in the 1970’s you might picture a roller skating rink or an arcade. The Mad Dog arcade was a popular place for teens in Lawrence, Indiana. If you are picturing video games like Asteroids, Frogger and Pac-Man, you should probably roll that back and picture a lot of pinball machines instead. In addition to pinball machines, they had nine pool tables, lots of flashing lights, a snack bar, and a quadraphonic jukebox. Kids would eagerly take their quarters down there on Friday and Saturday nights and meet up with their friends. If you weren’t yet 21 and able to go to bars and dance clubs; an arcade was a good alternative. 

     

    Phyllis Marion was 18. She had graduated from Warren Central High and was working as a waitress. She and her friends liked to meet up at the Mad Dog Arcade at 4500 N. Shadeland Avenue in Lawrence, Indiana to hang out and have a little fun in the evening. She was well liked, quiet, and friendly. 

   It was early May in Indiana. The Indy 500 would take place at the end of the month. All the fun of summer was still to come. It was the Bicentennial Year, the 200th birthday of the United States. Patriotic merchandise was already in the stores and the Fourth of July was going to be an even bigger deal than usual that year.

   On the evening of Monday, May 11th, 1976, Phyllis was at the Mad Dog socializing with friends.

   On Tuesday May 12th, she was found stabbed and strangled, with someone else’s blue and white tee shirt, face down in the water of an old quarry that is within walking distance of the arcade. She was bruised and had suffered cuts to her face as well. 

   Police found evidence of a struggle in the woods leading to the quarry. Phyllis Marion had fought for her life. 

   Police asked patrons of the arcade to come forward with their recollections of the night before. 35 people stopped by the station to give their stories. Police then sought out the boy that witnesses said was wearing a blue and white tee shirt. 

   Robert Ray Ikerd, 17, was not at home when police arrived. His parents later drove him to the station to turn himself in.  He confessed to strangling and stabbing Phyllis that night and was convicted of manslaughter. He was tried as an adult. His sentence was to be between 2 and 21 years with his pre-sentencing jail time of 202 days counted as time served. I have not been able to determine his release date or any other arrests after 1976. Considering that he was convicted of manslaughter in the 1970’s; he likely did not serve the maximum sentence.  He likely only served a few years. 

      The Mad Dog Arcade is long gone now. Other businesses occupy that area. The quarry is still there. Looking at the area on Google Earth; I nearly missed it. The water was very green and looked at first like a grassy field. 

   Phyllis Ann Marion’s life as an adult was just beginning. She had so much to look forward to. But it was all taken away in a brutal attack one night in May. 

   Her friends gathered at the Mad Dog Arcade the night before her funeral.  A jar was set up for donations of money to go toward flowers. People cared about Phyllis. A newspaper article describing the night described it as appropriately somber. Most of the young people left early in order to get up the next morning to attend the funeral of their friend. She was loved. 

   

    Rest In Peace, Phyllis Ann Marion