True Crime On This Day February 22nd

February 22nd

On February 22nd in true crime, Hollywood murder of Dick Kallman, murder spree, police killer, murder in Florida, Arizona, and Ohio.

1978

In Dade County, Florida, Roy Allen Stewart raped and murdered 77-year-old Sunday School teacher Margaret Haizlip in her own home.

Haizlip had invited Stewart into her home for a sandwich as Stewart lived nearby. Stewart then took a gold watch from one of her cabinets and an argument ensued.

The argument led to Stewart beating and raping Haizlip before strangling her to death with an electrical cord. He was arrested shortly after, sentenced to death and executed in the electric chair in April 1994.

1979

In South Carolina, Ronald Raymond Woomer and Gene Skaar travelled from West Virginia to South Carolina for the sole purpose of committing robbery and murder.

They first robbed the home of John Turner and shot him in the head at point-blank range. A few hours later they robbed another home and killed three more people including a young child by shooting them in the head.

They also robbed a grocery store, kidnapped two women and raped them before shooting them. One of the women survived the attack despite losing her lower jaw in the shotgun blast.

She went on to testify against Woomer. Skarr killed himself to avoid arrest and Woomer was later arrested at a Myrtle Beach Hotel. Woomer was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

He was executed in the electric chair in South Carolina on April 27^th 1990.

1980

In New York, American actor and Dick Kallman and his partner Stephen Szladek were murdered during a home invasion at their Hollywood apartment.

Three intruders had broken into the home with the intention of robbing them of their collection of art, antiques, and jewellery.

They were later caught and convicted of murder. Kallman was known for playing the title role in the TV sitcom, Hank.

1981

In Dallas, Texas, Stephen Ray Nethery met a woman in a Dallas bar and drank a large amount of alcohol with her. Shortly before midnight, he convinced her to leave with him to go to a secluded spot and smoke marijuana.

They drove to an area known for high crime rates and ended up having sex in the car. Shortly after, a police car on patrol pulled up next to them, inside were Officer’s Phillip Brown and John McCarthy.

After seeing them both naked in the car, Brown told them they could be arrested and ordered them to leave the area.

When Brown turned his back to return to the patrol car, Nethery grabbed his gun and fired in the officer’s direction. The bullet hit McCarthy in the back of the head.

Brown chased after Nethery and captured him entering a nearby lake. McCarthy died of his injury shortly after. Nethery was later sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on May 27^th 1994.

1982

In Franklin County, Ohio, police responded to a reported shooting at an apartment. Inside, they found the bodies of 18-year-old Catherine Wanner and Roy H. Sage.

Wanner died from gunshot wounds to her left temple and chest. Sage survived but suffered only superficial head and stomach gunshot wounds.

Sage was arrested for Wanner’s murder but claimed that he and Wanner were lovers and had agreed to a suicide pact. He claimed that he shot himself first and then Wanner would have shot herself afterwards.

Despite his claims, Sage was initially convicted of murder but it was reversed in an appeal that became a landmark case.

The Ohio Supreme Court acquitted Sage and explained that neither suicide, nor aiding and abetting suicide, is a crime in Ohio. Thus, they reasoned that the existence of a suicide pact acted as a complete defence to any crime of homicide under Ohio law.

Despite the ruling, Sage was retried and found guilty of Wanner’s murder.

1983

In Phoenix, Arizona, police entered a trailer belonging to Honduran national Jose Roberto Villafuerte and found the body of his girlfriend, 47-year-old Amelia Schoville inside.

She was found wearing her underwear with her hands tied behind her back. Her head was wrapped in a bloodstained bedsheet and she had died from suffocation.

Shortly before entering the trailer, police had arrested Villafuerte while driving Schoville’s car, after reports of a domestic disturbance. Villafuerte claimed he had an argument with Schoville and only loosely bound her to stop her calling the police.

An autopsy showed that Schoville had taken at least 12 hours to die, having slowly choked on her gag. Despite a later claim she was raped and killed by two of his friends, Villafuerte was sentenced to death. He was executed by lethal injection in Arizona on April 22^nd 1998.

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