George Murphy Jr. and William H. Nagel: More Danny Rouse Victims?

   

George Murphy Jr.

   Danny Rouse killed Nellie Mikesell in September of 1974.  He quietly approached her home while she sat in a rocking chair near a window and shot her in the head.  He then broke into the rural Winamac, Indiana farmhouse to see what he had done up close. Nellie’s murder would not be solved for more than three decades. 

   In 1975 he shot Lela Hildebrandt as she drove home from Winamac one evening in October.  She was shot in the left side of the head and her car then veered into the trees on the side of the road. Initially everyone thought this was just a fatal car accident.  Thankfully someone took a closer look at her head injuries. Her murder would also go unsolved for decades. 

   In late October of 1979, Danny Rouse was living in Wichita, Kansas when he attacked a woman in her home with a knife. Kathryn Crowley survived multiple stab wounds. Danny slashed the throat of her 5 year old son before he fled. Tragically, Jason Learst bled to death in his bed. 

  Rouse was captured fleeing the state via a Trailways bus.  He was tried, convicted and sentenced.  All his appeals were denied over the years. Inexplicably, Kansas decided to parole him in March of 2006 after only 26 years.  His brother in Monterey, Indiana offered to house him. 

  On Halloween night in 2006, Rouse would strangle and stab a 16 year old coworker. Stephanie Wagner had stopped to help him with some car trouble on their way home after a shift at the restaurant where both were employed. This time he faced the death penalty. He confessed to the murders of Nellie Mikesell and Lela Hildebrandt. He provided details that only the killer would know. He now serves a life sentence in an Indiana prison. 

   One thing we know about serial killers is that they don’t sit still. Once they start killing they don’t stop until they are caught.

   There were several unsolved Indiana murders near Danny Rouse in the 1970’s. Some have extremely similar details. 

   On June 30th, 1974 George Murphy Jr., 31, was killed almost exactly where Lela Hildebrandt was killed. He had left a bar that evening at King Lake after a family argument. Mr. Murphy lived in Kokomo Indiana but was visiting his mother at her vacation trailer at King Lake. King lake is just off Highway 17 and a ten minute drive from Monterey. It was said in the paper that he “ ran from the bar”.  I found a yearbook photo of a George Murphy from Swayzee, Indiana. This George Murphy Jr. was a cross country runner.  Did the murdered Mr. Murphy take off for a run that night to get some exercise and frustration out? What were the nature of his fatal head injuries? Lela Hildebrandt’s 1975 head injuries were first attributed to her car accident.  Could George Murphy Jr. have been shot in the head by the serial killer who lived minutes away as he ran down that road? I was unable to find a death certificate, obituary or any other newspaper articles about Mr. Murphy’s death. I cannot find him on findagrave.com either. 

   On June 6th, 1975 Brenda Ginter was stabbed and strangled with an electrical cord in her North Judson, Indiana apartment. Brenda worked at the time at Arrowhead Engineering in Knox, Indiana. Did Danny Rouse work there too?  Arrowhead closed down in 1977. Rouse was working at Cessna later in 1979 in Wichita, Kansas as a drill press operator. Brenda was strangled and stabbed just as Rouse’s last victim, Stepanie Wagner was in 2006. 

         Brenda Ginter circa 1969.

  There’s also another unsolved shooting eerily similar to Lela Hildebrandt’s of a motorist, William H. Nagel, near Wolcott, Indiana in March of 1977. Nagel was a 50 year old successful business owner. Nagel was shot late at night with a shotgun at close range through the driver’s side window while driving. Wolcott is only a 51 minute drive from Winamac. It could be just a copycat killing but it could be the very same perpetrator who was bored one night and went for a drive. If you grew up in rural Indiana like I did; you’ll know that driving around the backroads was and still is a fairly common pastime.  When I was a teenager and young adult I would go for drives with friends or just by myself. It’s entirely possible that Danny was out driving around just looking for a random victim. On the other hand; perhaps Nagel was killed by someone who would inherit or by a business associate who might benefit in some way. 

   If Danny Rouse worked at Arrowhead Engineering in Knox, Indiana in the 1970’s and he remained employed with them until the plant shut down in July of 1977; then he is still in Indiana.  We know he was in Wichita, Kansas in October of 1979 and employed as a drill press operator at the Cessna factory.  Did he do similar work at Arrowhead? 

   From what we know about the murders Rouse is convicted of; he seems to have murdered whenever and wherever the desire and opportunity presented itself. 

   Of course, there were many violent killers active in Indiana in the 1970’s. But the proximity of these victims and their manner of death does call Rouse immediately to mind. 

    These other cold cases definitely need to be considered.  Junior Murphy, Brenda Ginter, and William Nagel had long lived ahead of them still.  They deserve Justice. 

   Rest in peace Junior, Brenda and William.