Marion Brubaker:1962, Akron, Ohio

   


  Marion Brubaker was born on the 4th of June, 1950 to Ruth and Rev. Clair Daniel Brubaker. 


  On Monday August 27th, 1962 Marion had been to the library. She had books in her bicycle basket. She was riding through the park back to her house. 


  But, someone attacked Marion. This perpetrator sexually assaulted, beat and strangled her. She was only 12. 


  She was found mostly nude. A 15 year old boy had found the body and ran home and told his family. They called the police. The boy led police to the body. When police arrived, Marion was still warm but had no pulse. 


  She was found in a park-like area near the corner of Killian and South Main Streets. 


  The perpetrator who had attacked her had dragged her body further into the woods. Her eyes were still open. He had placed her shorts over her face. Perhaps he wanted to avoid seeing her eyes. Police reported they were open and still very lifelike. 


  I look at maps all the time in my research. I look at serial killers and where they lived and worked. The spot that Marion Brubaker was murdered is awfully close to the restaurant that Gus Sapharas’ family owned at S. Arlington and Waterloo. Anyone who knows anything about family owned and operated restaurants knows that the whole family is there almost all the time. You’re at your restaurant more than you’re at home. For that matter, the family’s home was also not far from the scene of this crime.


  Gus Sapharas had graduated from East High School in June of 1962. He was working in his family’s restaurant then. In 1965, he entered the Army and by November he was at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. In May of 1969 he was back in Akron and viciously beat his date when she refused to have sex with him. He faced charges for that crime. I don’t know if he served any jail time. He was definitely free in April 1970 because we know he abducted and murdered Karen Bentz. In 1975 he similarly murdered Loretta Davis. Those two murders were not solved until 2019. He went to jail in 1977 for a vicious 1976 rape. Ohio freed him in 1990. In 1991 he killed Bonita Parker. Her murder was connected to him in 2018 through DNA.  He nearly killed another woman in 1991 and served a little less than 8 years. 


  He’s currently serving out the rest of his life sentence in Ohio. 


  I think Marion Brubaker was probably his first victim. I think he saw an opportunity and impulsively struck. 


  Marion’s loss can’t really be measured. What would she have done? Who would she have befriended? What mark might she have left on the world? 


  Marion is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Akron. 


  Rest in peace Marion. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Laurie Jo Lopez and Gerald E. Bunche III: 1975, Gary

Image
    On the evening of April 6th, 1975, two teenagers went on a date. The eighteen year olds were Laurie and Gerald. They borrowed Laurie’s Mom’s car.  It should have been a fun night out. But, the two teens never made it home.    Laurie Jo Lopez graduated from Kankakee Valley High. She lived southeast of Gary, Indiana at 10 Windsor Drive, outside of Demotte, Indiana.    Gerald Ellsworth Bunche III was born on January 3rd 1957. He went to Lew Wallace High in Gary and lived at 1145 Whitcomb Street. He was the son of Erdell and Gerald Bunche Jr.  He was an active highschool kid. He played basketball and was pretty good.    Laurie Lopez was the daughter of Frank Lopez. Her mother’s name is not known to me. (Her mother is not listed on her death certificate and I was unable to find any information about Laurie’s Mom or possible siblings.) Laurie’s stepfather was Sgt. James E. Rodriguez.    I usually am ab...
Read more

Donna Marie Lanier: 1984: North Liberty, Indiana

Image
   Donna Marie Husband was born on March 11th, 1956 in South Bend, Indiana. She was the daughter of Eloise and Joseph Husband. She grew up in South Bend and married a man named Lanier. (I was unable to find his full name.)    She was 28 in 1984.  Her life had been a difficult one. Her mother had been killed in the years before.  The man suspected of that crime was later murdered as well. Donna and her children lost everything but their lives in a fire in 1979. Still, she kept going.     Donna had four children. Three were still living at home in 1984. It is not easy to make a living as a single mother.  If your kids get sick you have to be home with them. They never get sick all at the same time. Children have school breaks and snow days but most jobs do not. It’s impossible to find a workplace that will be flexible like that. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. If you have ever been poor then you know.  ...
Read more

Jayne Friedt, Daniel Davis, Mark Flemmonds and Ruth Ann Shelton:1978, Speedway, Indiana

Image
        Police were called to the restaurant by the morning shift. Earlier, when the employees had arrived they were shocked that the restaurant was unlocked and empty. Two female employees had left their purses and coats behind. Closing duties had not been finished. All the money was gone from the safe. All the cash in the registers had been taken except the coins. An empty roll of tape was sitting on the safe. None of the young employees who closed on November 17th, 1978 could be reached.   The local police concluded that the staff had just taken the money and skipped out. They weren’t worried about it. They took no photos. They did not dust for fingerprints. The police said that the crew probably bought booze with the money and went out and partied. They instructed the opening staff to just clean up and they’d talk to those thieving kids later. The opening staff protested that something was very wrong. The local police dismissed their concerns. The staff...
Read more