At first, the kids thought that the woman in the grass was a store mannequin. But the more they looked, the more they realized that it wasn’t fake. It was a real body.
By the time the investigators with the Dallas Police Department had arrived in the remote neighborhood of Oak Cliff, someone had covered the almost-nude body with a bedsheet to preserve what dignity she might have had left.
Detectives John Westphalen and Stan McNear of the Dallas Police Department were placed in charge of the case. When they arrived, they carefully removed the sheet to take a closer look.
The woman had been severely beaten, her face and chest a mass of bruised flesh. When the killer was finished, they had shot her through the head.
The woman was naked except for a bra and t-shirt, both of which had been pushed up to expose her breasts.
As the detectives examined the body, one of the officers approached them. He said that he recognized her. He explained that her name was Mary Lou Pratt, a local prostitute who was known to work around the Star Motel, a seedy motel in that section of Dallas.
Westphalen and McNary knew that several prostitutes worked out of the Star Motel and the area surrounding it. Prostitution was often a high-risk profession. Many of the people who went to receive the women’s services there, often referred to as tricks, had a history of violent crimes. As a result, many of the women had been beaten and abused by some of their clients.
The detectives theorized that Mary Lou had the misfortune of getting picked up by an extra-violent trick. They had murdered her, dumped her body, and ran.
While there were plenty of witnesses who had seen the body, no one had seen the killer dump the body. Anyone could have murdered Mary Lou and then disappeared into the city’s massive population.
As they watched her body being loaded into an ambulance for transport to the medical examiner’s office, Westphalen and McNear hoped that an autopsy would reveal more.
At the medical examiner’s officer, Dr. Elizabeth Peacock began the initial phases of examining Mary Lou’s body, with the two detectives observing.
Peacock was meticulous, noting the tattoo on Mary’s chest, and the needle tracks on her arms.
As she went to open the victim’s eyelids, the doctor let out a sudden gasp. Mary had no eyes.
The killer had cut out Mary Lou Pratt’s eyes and, presumably, taken them when they left.
The eyelids had been completely untouched during the process. The killer had very carefully inserted what must have been a very sharp, thin knife into the eye sockets, and then, very gently, moved it around, severing the muscles and the optic nerve that anchored Mary’s eyes into place.
Peacock told Westphalen and McNary that whoever had done this had to have been trained specifically to remove eyes. This wasn’t a procedure that was normally taught in medical school or anywhere else that she could think of. Judging from Mary Lou’s body, the killer must have had a great deal of experience in doing it.
The detectives looked at each other. They realized that this was something more than a violent trick getting angry and going too far. This was a deliberate act by someone who had picked up Mary Lou for the purpose of killing her and removing her eyes.
An investigation into Mary Lou’s background showed that she had been 33-years old. She was a known drug addict who spent most of the money that she made as a prostitute on her drug habit.
She had quietly worked near the Star Motel, usually wearing tight t-shirts and blue jeans. Instead of soliciting her tricks, she stood quietly in her area and let them come to her. She had been very well-liked by nearly everyone that she knew.
The one thing that stood out about the crime was the careful and deliberate removal of Mary Lou Pratt’s eyes.
With that being their only lead, Westphalen went to the one place he knew that might know of someone who was known for that kind of mutilation: the Violent Criminals Apprehension Program at the FBI, or ViCAP for short.
ViCAP was founded by the FBI in the mid-1980’s as a database that kept track of violent crimes. Evidence and particular aspects of these crimes can help link them together, even if they occur several miles or even years apart.
Unfortunately, ViCAP didn’t have anyone on record who removed their victims’ eyes with near-surgical precision. However, they did have some insights into the killer to share with Westphalen.
In their opinion, Mary’s killer had gotten erotic pleasure from the violence of the crime. They had taken her eyes as a souvenir that allowed them to relive the feelings they had experienced while committing the crime.
However, it was only a matter of time before reliving the crime wouldn’t be enough for the killer, and they would have to commit another murder to regain the same pleasure they had felt during the first crime.
That only increased the pressure on investigators. Now they knew that it was only a matter of time before the killer struck again.
Unfortunately, without any viable leads the case went cold, and the detectives had no choice but to wait for another lead to come to light.
While detectives investigated the murder of Mary Lou Pratt, another prostitute named Veronica Rodriguez were telling John Matthews and Regina Smith how one of her tricks had attacked her a few nights before.
Matthews and Smith were patrol officers who had been assigned to patrol the area around the Star Motel. They had gotten to know several of the prostitutes who worked there as a result.
The partners had seen Rodriguez and had pulled their squad car over to talk to her, just to check in and see how she was doing. As they talked, Smith noticed that it looked like someone had cut her neck with a knife.
Rodriguez said that she had been picked up by a white client with graying hair. He had driven her to a nearby field, where he attacked her with a knife and raped her. Somehow, she managed to get out of his truck and get away.
Desperate for help, she ran toward one of the first houses that she saw. Thankfully, she knew the man who lived there, who brought her inside, safe from her attacker.
While the two officers were sympathetic, they were also leery of any story that Rodriguez told them. She had lied to them numerous times in the past, and they were cautious of how much they should believe anything that she told them.
A few days later, they saw Rodriguez sitting in a semi with a white male. Assuming that he was a client, Matthews and Smith stopped their car and approached the semi.
While Smith went to talk to the driver, Matthews went to the other side and took custody of Rodriguez. The man’s name was Axton Schindler, and he lived nearby. A background check revealed that he had a clean record, except for some traffic tickets that he hadn’t paid yet.
Rodriguez begged them not to arrest him, telling them that this was the man who had saved her from her attacker just a few nights before.
Looking at Schindler’s address, Matthews and Smith remembered what Rodriguez had told them about her attack.
She had said that the man had driven her to south Dallas, and she had gotten to Schindler’s house from there. The problem was that he only lived about five-minutes away from the Star Motel. Her story didn’t make any sense.
When they asked Schindler about Rodriguez’s claims, Schindler told them that he had never rescued her from anyone. He had known her for several years and was giving her a ride to the Star Motel.
Matthews and Smith arrested Rodriguez on prostitution charges, while Schindler was brought in to answer for his unpaid parking tickets.
They both assumed that Rodriguez had been telling another lie and pushed the incident to the back of their minds.
On February 10, 1991, another woman’s body was found just outside Dallas city limits.
She was identified as Susan Peterson, a 27-year-old prostitute. She had been shot three times – once in the chest and twice in the head.
Peterson was almost nude, with her shirt pulled up over her breasts. The autopsy revealed that her eyes had been removed with careful precision. Investigators found little evidence at the crime scene, and there were no witnesses who had seen the killer dump Peterson’s body.
Because the murder was outside of city limits, the crime fell under the jurisdiction of the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department.
While the pathologist discussed the results of the autopsy with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department detective, Larry Oliver, they mentioned that the Dallas Police Department had had an almost identical crime just a few weeks before.
Oliver, hoping to learn more, went to see John Westphalen. Comparing notes, the two men realized that there were several similarities between the two murders. Both Pratt and Peterson had been prostitutes who had worked around the Star Motel. Both had been found nearly nude, been killed the same way, and had had their eyes removed.
The two men had no doubt that they were dealing with the same killer. The FBI’s assessment of the murderer had been correct, and neither detective believed the killer was going to stop. Once again, it was only a matter of time.
The two departments decided to join forces and work together to solve the crime.
Homicide detectives decided to go public with details of the crime, including the fact that both women had worked the Star Motel, where the killer had most likely picked up both victims. They had no leads, no clue that would lead them to the killer. They hoped that someone would come forward with the one, vital clue that they needed.
Unfortunately, no viable leads were forthcoming.
Because both women had worked around the Star Motel, detectives believed that the killer was using that area as a hunting ground to find their victims.
The police increased patrols in the area and posted flyers around the motel asking prostitutes to stay off the streets.
Regina Smith and John Matthews had known Susan. She had been a formidable woman and had a reputation for being fearless. She yelled at police when they approached her -including them- and threatened other prostitutes who tried to work her regular areas.
It didn’t make sense to them that Susan would have meekly gone with a stranger and allowed him to beat and shoot her. She didn’t tolerate any nonsense from any of her tricks. No, she would have fought back.
Smith and Matthews believed that she must have known her killer. That meant that he was probably a regular, someone who had spent enough time with Susan to make her comfortable and let her guard down.
Many of the prostitutes trusted Smith and Matthews and came to them with tricks they knew who liked bondage, beating them, or anything else that might be kinkier or out of the ordinary.
Smith told them to stop working for a while. She told them to stay safe and protect themselves while giving the police time to catch the killer. Some of them might have listened. Most did not.
Veronica Rodriguez was one that kept working. Additionally, she kept telling the story of being attacked and raped to nearly everyone who would listen. Unfortunately, as she was known to do, Rodriguez kept changing the detail.
Originally, she said that she had been assaulted by a white male. That had changed. Sometimes he was Hispanic, and then the next time he was black. Every time was a different variation. People just figured that it was a fantasy fueled by her drug addiction.
Officer Matthews had already heard her story more than once. At first, he had been like everyone else and thought she was making it up. But the more he heard it, the more something bothered him.
He had noticed that, although some of the details changed, the basic story was always the same. She always said that she had been taken to a remote field and a man had assaulted her. She had escaped from the car and gotten saved by a friend at a nearby house. Those basic details never, ever changed.
Matthews began to suspect that there was some truth to her story, and wondered if this might be the killer that everyone was looking for. He told detectives about his suspicions and told them Rodriguez’s story, but nothing ever came of it.
On March 17, 1991, 41-year-old prostitute Shirley Williams decided to go visit some friends at their house to talk and do drugs. Later, Shirley got up to leave, explaining that she had told her daughter that she would be home that night.
Putting on a yellow raincoat, Shirley stepped out the door and into the night. It was the last time that any of them would see her alive.
The next morning, her nude body was found near a school. She had been shot twice in the head and had been brutally beaten. Her eyes had also been removed.
Detectives were positive that their killer had struck again. However, this time he had left a clue behind.
In the process of removing her eyes, he had broken off the tip of an X-Acto knife in one of William’s eye sockets. X-Acto knives were very common, and detectives had already suspected this was the kind of tool the killer was using to remove the eyes, but at least it was something.
After the murder of Shirley Williams, the prostitutes finally listened to the police and stopped using the Star Motel. Some of them left Dallas completely, afraid they would be next. Others stayed, afraid but still needing to work.
One was a woman named Brenda White. She had been working the area for seventeen years, and she had had her share of violent clients over that time. She had even taken to carrying a can of mace with her, just in case.
One night, Matthews and Smith saw Brenda and stopped to talk to her. The prostitute told them that she had a close call a few nights prior with a white man who had picked her up.
He had wanted to take her to a spot that he knew, but Brenda had a strict policy to take any new clients to a motel of her choice. The trick had tried to persuade her, but when she refused, the man attacked her, screaming that he was going to kill her. Brenda had taken out her mace and sprayed him in the eyes and face before running out of the car.
Matthews and Smith shared a look. Brenda’s story sounded very close to the one Veronica Rodriguez had originally told them. This couldn’t be a coincidence. After some deliberation, they decided against going to detectives again right away and investigate it themselves.
The next day, the officers went to the Dallas County Constable’s Office and had them look up Axton Schindler’s address. The policeman assisting them said that it was 1035 Eldorado, but that the owner of the property was someone named Fred Albright.
This wasn’t what they had expected. They had expected to see Axton Schindler’s name, not this Albright.
They were told that Fred Albright also owned property in the neighborhood where Mary Pratt and Susan Peterson had been found. However, Fred Albright was listed as deceased.
The policeman that Matthews and Smith were talking to recognize the name Albright. He explained that a few months before, a woman had called the office saying that she was a friend of Mary Lou Pratt She had met and dated a man named Charles Albright, a friend of Pratt’s. They had only dated briefly, but it was long enough for this woman to share that Albright had several X-Acto knives and was obsessed with eyes.
When they looked up Albright, an old mug shot showed an older white male with graying hair.
Matthews and Smith couldn’t hardly believe what they were seeing. His features fit almost exactly with the description that Brenda White and Veronica Rodriguez had given of their attacker.
His address was listed as 1035 Eldorado.
Excitedly, Smith and Matthews went to talk to the homicide detectives handling the case.
They were taken to John Westphalen, who carefully listened to their story. He was very interested in this Charles Albright, but they needed to do this right. He assembled six photos – including Albright – and told Matthews and Smith to take them and show them to Brenda White. If she could identify Albright, then they would know they were really on to something.
White picked his photo almost right away. The officers then found Veronica Rodriguez and asked her if she could identify her attacker.
When she got to Albright, the officers could tell that she recognized him, but she got a terrified look on her face and refused to say if it was him or not.
Smith and Matthews returned to Westphalen and told him the bad news. They knew that White’s identification would only get them a misdemeanor assault charge. But if they could get Rodriguez to say that Albright was the one that had tried to kill her, they could arrest him and search his house for evidence linking him to the murders.
Westphalen told the two officers to go and bring Rodriguez to the station. When they did, the detective met with her. It was obvious that she was terrified of her attacker, but Westphalen was able to persuade her to look at the photos and see if the man who attacked her was one of them.
After a few moments, she chose the picture of Charles Albright.
On March 22, 1991, police arrested him at his home at 1035 Eldorado.
Detectives interrogated him about the murders, but Albright insisted that he had never heard the names of the victims.
Meanwhile, Dallas investigators and members of the FBI searched his house multiple times. They found true crime books, a copy of Gray’s Anatomy, a popular anatomical text, and several X-Acto knives. They even found a hidden compartment full of guns. However, none of these linked Albright to any of the crimes.
Worse yet, Rodriguez had started to deny that she had ever known Albright. She said that Westphalen had forced her to identify him. Albright’s wife, Dixie, said that he hadn’t deviated from his schedule. Axton Schindler said that he had never saved Rodriguez from any attacker, let alone Charles Albright.
The initially promising lead was failing fast. However, there was some hope left.
Hairs that had been found on the victims were similar to samples taken from Charles Albright. Other hairs that had been found on a blanket in Albright’s vehicle were also like ones found on the first two victims, while ones found in Albright’s house matched hairs found on Shirley Williams.
Matthews and Smith talked to a prostitute named Tina Connolly who told them that Albright was one of her regular customers. She said that he was strictly a daytime client, except for one time – the night that Shirley Williams had been murdered.
Tina said that Albright used to take her to a field for sex. When they asked if she could take them there, she gladly obliged. While searching the field, Matthews and Smith found a yellow raincoat like the one that Williams had been wearing on the night of her death. It had bloodstains on it.
Nearby was a blanket and some condoms. Forensic analysts were able to match hairs on the blanket to samples taken from Albright and hairs that had been found on the victims.
His defensive attorney argued that the police only had circumstantial evidence. Their case was weak. They were desperate to find the killer that was terrorizing Dallas, and they had chosen his client to hang an arrest on.
Investigators had to concede the lawyer had a point.
Albright was a former high school teacher who had a masters degree and spoke multiple languages. He could recite poetry, was an accomplished painter, and had been married to his wife, Dixie, for several years. He was well-spoken and charming, a true gentleman. This is the last person who anyone would think would be murdering prostitutes.
Apart from investigating Albright, the police didn’t have much to go on. Some of them even wondered if the man was innocent.
But there was something about him, something that fit the crime. But none of that mattered. They could suspect anything that they wanted, but they knew if they couldn’t prove it, then none of it mattered. If they were going to confirm their suspicions, their gut instincts, they would have to dig deeper into Albright’s past.
Charles Albright had been born in 1933 and had been given up by his birth mother. He was later adopted by Fred and Delle Albright.
He had a strict upbringing, but was also well-educated by his school teacher mother.
Charles took an interest in taxidermy at a young age, and Delle helped him to learn. He displayed an artistic talent, and the animals he put on display were extremely lifelike, with only one exception. Delle, an extremely frugal woman, made Charles sew buttons onto the eyes of his creations instead of the standard glass ones. She felt the glass eyes were far too expensive.
Charles was an excellent student and was very well-liked, but he was far from perfect.
When he was 13, he was arrested for assault and had gotten caught committing minor thefts. Regardless, Charles was able to graduate high school when he was only 15 years old.
When he was sixteen, he was caught with cash he had stolen from a cash register and spent a year in jail.
When he was released, Albright gained admission to Arkansas State Teacher’s College. He did excellent in classes that he enjoyed, but not so well in those he didn’t. Charles was dating a girl who worked for the college, so he persuaded her to steal the keys to the administration office for him.
When his grades weren’t what he wanted them to be, Albright would clandestinely change them to something more suitable.
He also gained an unsavory reputation for being a liar. Charles liked to brag about how many women he had slept with, and regularly lied to make himself sound more fantastic than he was.
Right before he was set to graduate, Charles was caught with stolen goods. Although he avoided jail time, he was expelled from the school.
Albright remained unfazed. He gathered the materials and information that he needed, then forged documents and diplomas showing that he had graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree, then had gone on to get a master’s degree.
He married his college girlfriend, and the two of them had a daughter together. His now wife found employment as a teacher, and she took care of her young family with it.
While his wife worked steadily, Albright moved from job to job, never staying employed at one place for too long. Regardless, his keen intelligence showed through again. Albright was able to master several disciplines in that short amount of time, including carpentry and hair styling.
When things began to get tight for him and his family, he would forge checks. Although he was caught, Albright never received any worse punishment than probation. Nothing was ever put on his official record.
Eventually, he and his wife separated. The marriage was officially ended in 1974.
In 1981, Albright sexually molested a nine-year old girl. Although he pled guilty, he was given probation and allowed to walk free. He later said that he had only pled guilty because it was too much work maintaining his innocence.
After his father, Fred, died, Charles inherited a large sum of money. Although he had been seeing prostitutes since he was a teenager, he began to see them more frequently and became one of their regulars.
In 1985, he began seeing his second wife, Dixie. He was content to allow her to work to pay all the bills and household expenses while he stayed at home. The most he did was take a paper delivery route.
Detectives suspected he did this so that he could continue his regular routine of visiting the local prostitutes. He kept seeing them throughout his second marriage. He even helped to take care of some of them, buying them things and helping to pay their bills.
When investigators asked the prostitutes about Albright, they said that while he was mostly a perfect gentleman, he did like to get rough sometimes. He had even tied up two of them in a motel room while he whipped them and shouted obscenities at them.
Ultimately, the circumstantial evidence proved to be enough, but only for one of the murdered women. Charles Albright was found guilty of the murder of Shirley Williams. He was sentenced to between five years to life.
Albright maintained his innocence for the rest of his life. He always showed interest in news stories where violence had been done to the victim’s eyes. However, he spent a great deal of time drawing pictures of eyes and then hanging them on his cell walls.
He died in prison on August 22, 2020.
Sources
Associated Press. Man charged with attempting to kill prostitute. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3/24/1991
Associated Press. Suspect in prostitutes’ deaths faces capital murder charges. The Monitor, 3/27/1991
Associated Press. Man sentenced to life in slaying of prostitute. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12/18/1991
Turner, Joe. Charles Albright: The Serial Killer Who Collected His Victim’s Eyes. 11/04/2022. Serial Killer Shop.com
Kotiya, Shruti. What happened to the Eyeball Killer Charles Albright? 8/1/2022, Sportskeeda.com
Ramsland, Katherine and Malatesta, Gina. The Texas Eyeball Killer. http://www.crimelibrary.org.
The Texas Eyeball Killer: Perfect Gentleman or Psychotic Murderer? The Maverick Files, 02/07/2021