Evelyn and Dennis Coby:1964, Cincinnati
The day before Thanksgiving in 1964, Evelyn (29) and Dennis Coby (33) were murdered in their car in their own garage.
A tricycle was in the front seat. Was this a new tricycle? Perhaps it was a gift for their son for Christmas that was coming up in a month? Maybe they had gone to pick it up and the two were going to hide it before their son got home from school.
Both had their hands up and were shot with a .38 caliber. Both were in the back seat. Mr. Coby’s body was seated and Mrs. Coby’s body had fallen on the floorboard of the back seat.
It’s interesting that they were in the back seat. Were they ordered into the back seat? Were they voluntarily in the back seat when the killer surprised them?
This makes me think of the Mary Caldwell and Edward Mitchell murder in Toledo. Edward was shot multiple times about 300 feet outside the car and dragged back to the car and placed in the backseat on purpose. The killer then set the car on fire. Mary had multiple skull fractures but it was not mentioned that they were from gunshots or bludgeoning. It’s that purposeful placing of Edward Mitchell into the back seat that sticks out.
I wonder if this killer had a hatred of couples or sex or was a religious fanatic and wanted to shame this couple. I wonder if this is the same killer who could have lived in both areas. Perhaps after the Toledo double murder he went to Cincinnati. Both murders happened in November. Could the killer have suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder? That does not usually make a person homicidal but if that person already had other serious issues and Fall was when he felt worse perhaps it was a contributing factor.
Mr. Coby worked as an orderly at the Veterans Administration Psychiatric Ward. Could a former patient, or a current patient at the time, perhaps have been upset with him? Mr. Coby’s home was not far from the V.A. Hospital.
Who lived in the area? This was a daytime murder. Their garage is one of those underground kind built into the hillside of the front yard. That might have minimized the noise of the gunshots and screams.
Did any neighbors notice anyone unusual hanging around?
One suspect to take a look at would be Eugene William Gall Jr. He had returned home to Ohio after being discharged from the Army. He had been arrested while in the service that year for “peeping”. He may have had business at the VA hospital. He would commit a string of armed robberies, abductions and rapes in 1970. He was supposed to serve 10-30 years but was released April 12th, 1977. He began abducting, raping and murdering and is serving life in Ohio now for two brutal murders.
His criminal record had already begun that summer in 1964 while in the Army. His Dad was a former Colonel and a current mail carrier in 1964. He had disappointed his Dad in a big way. He would have been angry at the world and potentially lashing out.
Maybe he overheard Mr. Coby talking about picking up the tricycle later. Maybe the thought of that happy home life on the night before Thanksgiving really got under his skin. Just a thought…
Watch and share this case on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/yPSgVrQIu6w?si=DtBIrsihID11QSEP
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