True Crime On This Day October 17th

Last Updated on September 16, 2022 by Ben Oakley

October 17th

On October 17th, in true crime, cold case solved, a serial killer in Montreal, unidentified murderers, and a missing taxi driver.

1978

In Omaha, Nebraska, 61-year-old hospital employee Carroll Bonnet was brutally assaulted and stabbed to death in his home. The killer left a note that said; ‘I am leaving this crime with one clue. Find it yourself. Die, pig.’

The killer would only be identified in a cold case investigation in 2008. On October 17^th 2011, 33 years to the day since Bonnet’s body was discovered, murderer and criminal Jerry Watson was sentenced to life in prison.

1979

In Cartierville, Montreal, 62-year-old Suzanne-Marie Bernier was raped and stabbed to death by serial killer William Patrick Fyfe, AKA: The Killer Handyman.

Fyfe was known to have killed nine women but investigators have since suspected he may be responsible for at least 16 more murders. Fyfe would travel hundreds of kilometres in order to rape and kill.

He was caught on December 22^nd 1999 after a single fingerprint linked him to the crimes along with intense surveillance. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in a psychiatric hospital in Saskatchewan where he remains today.

1980

In Denver, Colorado, 32-year-old Terry Snyder was shot dead by an unidentified killer. Snyder was the store manager for Downing Appliances and moonlighted as a real estate agent.

He had gone to a vacant residence to show someone the property but failed to return home. His family called police and gave them the address of the property, where he was found face down on the floor.

There appeared to be no motive for the murder and an investigation turned up no leads. To this day, the circumstances surrounding Snyder’s murder and the identity of the killer remain a mystery.

1981

In Town Lake, Texas, on October 17th, 22-year-old Carolyn Kay Davis was gang-raped, shot and drowned to death by Charles Rector and several accomplices. They followed Davis home and attacked her before trashing the apartment to make it look like a robbery.

Rector was arrested the same night near the apartment complex where Davis lived, while wearing Davis’ jeans and carrying her jewellery. He was on parole for a previous murder at the time of the Davis attack.

Despite maintaining his innocence, Rector was sentenced to death. His accomplices received varying jail terms. In 1986, rector cut his wrist in an attempted suicide but was rescued.

He was known to have a long history of self-mutilation and mental disorders. He was executed by lethal injection on March 25^th 1999.

1982

In British Columbia, Canada, 25-year-old taxi driver Mark Bussiere vanished without a trace. He was last seen driving his taxi on Lougheed Highway in the area of Mission. A witness to the last sighting confirmed there was a passenger sitting next to him.

Despite his family using psychics and private investigators, no trace of Bussiere or his taxi have ever been found. The person sitting next to him in the cab is suspected to have been involved in his disappearance. The case remains unsolved.

1983

In San Antonio, Texas, a security guard on his regular patrol discovered the body of 48-year-old father of six Richard Edmonson lying in the middle of the road. He had been shot dead at a different location then dumped on John Peace Boulevard.

He was wearing a plaid shirt, blue jeans, and western style boots, and had been shot multiple times in the head. No suspect was ever caught and the murder remains unsolved.