HUNT FOR THE PHANTOM KILLER

Who was the masked man who held the region of Texarkana in a grip of fear?

- Callum McKelvie

A cold moon rose over Texarkana on the night of 22 February 1946. At 11.45pm, 25-year-old Jim Hollis and his 19-year-old girlfriend Mary Jeanne Larey parked their car on a secluded road – locally known as ‘lovers’ lane’. After a moment, they embraced each other, safe in the knowledge that they were alone at last. Suddenly, they were blinded by the flash of a torch. Looking up, Hollis realised in terror that he was staring down the barrel of a gun. There was no way they could have known the horror they were about to endure.

Forced to exit the car, the mysterious gunman demanded Hollis remove his britches, threatening to kill him if he disobeyed. Larey then heard an almighty crack and Hollis slumped as the figure struck him hard with the butt of the pistol. Larey tried to escape but was quickly caught. The figure then proceeded to brutally sexually assault her.

Once discovered, Hollis and Larey were immediately taken to hospital. Of their attacker, they stated little could be seen, but both claimed he was at least six feet tall and wore a sack over his head, hiding his true identity. Through two tiny holes his eyes had stared menacingly out at his victims. Jim Hollis and Mary Jeanne Larey survived that night, but few others would. The Phantom had come to Texarkana… and the nightmare was only just beginning.

For the next four months, the twin cities of Texarkana found themselves shaken to their very core by a series of horrific homicides. With an agriculture-based economy, it was a rural and quiet area with a population of roughly 40,000. It remains a unique community, straddling the state line, so that one Texarkana is located on the Texas side and the other on the Arkansas side.