Mary Margaret Andrews:1962, Columbus, Ohio

     


  Mary Margaret Andrews was called Peggy by her family and friends. She was born on May 3rd, 1943 in Steubenville, Ohio to Mary Elizabeth and Alexander Acton Andrews. Her Dad worked just across the River in Weirton, West Virginia at Weirton Steel. In October of 1949, her younger brother, Patrick was born. 


  Peggy grew up in Wintersville, Ohio and went to high school there. After graduation in 1961, Peggy had thought about entering a convent but a priest had advised her to wait until she was absolutely sure she could commit to religious life. She was still considering entering a convent in 1962.


  She went off to college and to work in Columbus, Ohio in 1961. She had a day job in an accounting office and an apartment in the vicinity of the Ohio State University neighborhood. She attended evening classes at Columbus Business College. She wanted to work as an auditor eventually. 


  That year Elvis Presley had a hit song called “She’s Not You”. Little Eva was singing her hit song, “The Loco-Motion”, all over the radio. Trivia fans will remember that Carole King wrote that hit and that Little Eva had been her babysitter before recording that smash hit that many artists wild go on to cover. Booker T and the MG’s instrumental hit “Green Onions” was also a popular new song that fall. The Tornadoes also had a hit instrumental called “Telstar”. 


  On Thursday, September 20th, 1962 in Columbus, Ohio, Peggy was walking home from her night class. A young man who was also taking classes walked most of the way with her. But, his place was first on the route home and he went inside. The two had no reason to think that Peggy would have any trouble walking the last block to her apartment building. (None of the addresses are given in the newspaper articles.)


  As Peggy passed a parking garage; she was attacked. It seems that Peggy may have been dragged or she ran into the garage. Peggy was shot four times. Three shots hit her in the head. The killer cut off her pantyhose and her underwear. He then sexually assaulted Peggy. She was found face down in a pool of blood. 


  The young man that usually walked most of the way was questioned. He said that he felt terrible about not seeing her all the way to her door. Neither of them had sensed any danger that night. 


  Two nights later another young woman was shot at but she escaped. Newspaper reports said police had a description of the man but they did not report that description information. That might have been very helpful to the public. 


   As the investigation progressed and neighbors were questioned one woman said she saw a young man about a week before shooting at the streetlights with a rifle near the site of Peggy’s murder. Had her killer planned this attack? Had he targeted Peggy in advance? 


  To my thinking this is a crime that didn’t happen the way the perpetrator wanted it to. She seems to have tried to escape or fight and the killer then shot her four times with three shots striking her in the head. Did the shots strike her in the face? He still wanted sex, it seems, but didn’t want to look at her wounds and so he turned her over possibly. 


   The gun used was determined to be a .22 caliber.  Many young men in Ohio and the Midwest owned .22 rifles for hunting. 

  

  (On August 27th, 1962, a few weeks before, Marion Brubaker was attacked as she rode her bicycle home from a neighborhood library in Akron. She was strangled and raped. The killer had put her shorts over her face as her eyes were still open. Perhaps he didn’t want to look into her eyes.) 


  I think this killer is Gustave Sapharas. He lived in Akron and was definitely a serial killer. He wasn’t convicted of murder until 2018. He served time before that for attempted rape, rape and attempted murder. One of his later murders occurred in Columbus and another attempted murder also happened there.   


  Who was Gus Sapharas?

Gus Sapharas 1962


  Gus Sapharas graduated from East High School in Akron in June of 1962. He was working in his family’s restaurant at South Arlington and Waterloo streets then. (That’s extremely close to where Marion Brubaker was killed in August of 1962.)


  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 threatened her with a gun.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 October 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 in Columbus, Ohio. He nearly killed another woman there but she managed to escape and survive despite being critically wounded. The murder of the other 1991 Columbus victim, Bonita Parker, was connected to him in 2018 through DNA.  


  He served less than 8 years for the attempted murder of the other 1991 Columbus victim. He was freed in 2002. He was again on the loose in Ohio until 2018 when DNA connected him to Bonita Parker’s murder. 


  He can see some patterns here. We can see some cities he was visiting and the types of crimes he was committing in the crimes he was convicted of. 


   A .22 caliber pistol was found in a ditch or sewer as the investigation continued. No arrests were made. One article said that the FBI had connected the pistol to Peggy’s murder. But, was that article rooted in fact? 


  Gus Sapharas is currently serving out the rest of his life sentence in Ohio. But I think he killed many more victims than just the three women that he was convicted of killing. 


   Peggy was buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Steubenville, Ohio near her family home in Wintersville. Her parents are buried on either side of her now. Her mother passed away in 1997 and her father passed away in 2001. 


  In an article shortly after Peggy’s murder her mother said she hoped the killer would turn himself in. She said that even as Peggy died she was probably praying for the killer’s soul. 


   If you have a tip about the murder of Mary Margaret Andrews please submit it here: https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Law-Enforcement/Investigator/Cold-Case/Homicides/Andrews-1



   You can also call the Columbus, Ohio police department non-emergency number at (614) 645-4545. 


   Rest In Peace, Peggy.


   


   


 

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