Between the years of 1962-1964 Southern West Virginia was haunted by the presence of a so called “Mad Man.” During this time seven (7) men seemingly up and vanished, but hysteria wouldn’t set in until December of 1962 when the first of several dismembered remains were discovered. But is this the story of West Virginia’s most infamous serial killer? Or is the phenomena of the Mad Butcher simply the result of years of speculation and folklore?
Esker Ernest Gwinn- Disappeared June 3, 1962
Ernest Gwinn was born June 29, 1887 in Summers, West Virginia. He married Mary Josephine Nichols on July 1, 1912 when he was 25 years old. The pair shared two children: Burnis and Nicholas Gwinn. At the time of his disappearance, Ernest was a widower, and was living in a room at the Virginian Hotel on Main Street in Oak Hill. He had retired from his work as a brakemen for the railway and lived a simple life. It is important to note that Ernest Gwinn was a man of small stature and stood only 5’9” (this will come into play later) and weighed around 170 lbs. On the evening of July 3, 1962, Ernest cashed his pension check (promptly paying his rent for the month), and went to the Four Minute Lunch (where he often took his meals). Ernest conversed with many of the patrons, drank several beers and left the establishment for the evening. It is not known the exact time of departure, but according to witnesses, Ernest was seen greeting several acquaintances on his way home. When he failed to show up at the diner the next day, the proprietor (who also happened to be Ernest’s landlord) scheduled a worker to go up to his apartment and complete some painting and repairs that were needed. The landlord expressed that they believed Ernest had gone out of town for the holiday to visit his son(s) and thought it would be a nice surprise when he returned. But Ernest Gwinn never returned home. On July 6, 1962 his sons were made aware of their father’s absence and not having had contact with him either, they contacted the State Police to report him missing.
Several witness statements have claimed that after leaving the Four Minute Lunch, Ernest Gwinn patronized the Veterans Foreign Affairs Club. Here, he was seen in the company of three (3) men. Though upon further investigation, it was disputed by the proprietor of the club that Ernest Gwinn had not been at his establishment the evening of July 3rd.
Police worked the case according to the times and it was believed that Gwinn was simply the victim of a robbery gone wrong. There would be no sign of Ernest Gwinn or clues as to his fate until after the beginning of the butcher murders.
In May of 1963, a skull with a bullet hole was located by railroad workers that is believed to be Ernest Gwinn. Though it is difficult to determine age based on the lack of remains, the time of death was approximated to have been 10 months prior, around the time Gwinn disappeared. Similar to the skull, Gwinn had had many teeth extracted prior to his disappearance but it was not able to be officially confirmed because Gwinn’s dentist had destroyed the records before an identification could be made.
Samuel “Sammy” Smith- Disappeared October 20, 1962
Sammy Smith was a migrant farm worker from Scarbro, West Virginia. He had recently returned to the Mountain State at the conclusion of the season and took up a position as a dishwasher at the Four Minute Lunch in Oak Hill. Sammy was 33 years old at the time of his disappearance with black hair and hazel eyes. He was estimated to have been around 5’8”. On the evening of his disappearance, Sammy completed his shift at the Four Minute Lunch around 12am (midnight). It is presumed that he hitched a ride to the Top Hat Drive in (formerly across from the WOAY TV Station), because he was witnessed shortly after his shift getting a cup of coffee from the establishment.
The last sighting of Sammy came from a fellow customer at the drive in around 12:20am, who claimed too have seen him walking towards his home in Scarbro after leaving the drive in. After several days of Sammy not returning home from work, his mother reported him missing to the State Police Detachment in Oak Hill. To this day, the remains of Sammy Smith have never been found and he is still considered a missing person.
Michael Rogers- Murdered December 19, 1962
It wasn’t until the murder of Mike Rogers in December of 1962, that the notion of the Mad Butcher came to light. Mike Rogers was a 19 year old, mentally handicapped ward of the state. He lived on Salem Road with his foster parents, the Dilleys, who had cared from him since the age of 3. Mike was a gentle giant, who despite his large size (5’10” and 215lbs) , was remembered as docile and agreeable.
Around 5:00pm on December 19th, Mike told his foster mother that he was going to go to Salem Market to pick up some cigarettes. He noted that if the Market was closed he would walk on to Oak Hill for the cigarettes and return home after. According to witness accounts, Mike was witnessed on Main Street in Oak Hill around 6:00pm in the passenger side of a station wagon with Ohio tags. Mike often hitchhiked, so this was not an uncommon sight. However, the last confirmed sighting of Mike occurred around 6:30pm. According to a friend, Mike approached his vehicle and asked for a ride home. He appeared to be in a hurry to get home and perhaps frightened. He told Mike, he would return for him in about 30 minutes and agreed to give him a ride if he still needed one but Mike would be gone when he returned.
The Dilley’s reported Mike missing to the State Police but his whereabouts would remain a mystery until December 27, 1962 (8 days after his disappearance). It would be on this date, that a young boy would stumble upon the dismembered remains of Mike Rogers while looking for pop bottle caps on Gauley Mountain. An autopsy revealed the remains to have been “chopped and chewed.” The body was dismembered into 13 pieces, with the head to have been found inside a plastic bag. A military duffle bag was also found on the scene containing the left section of Mike’s torso and rump. Several organs were also present in the duffle bag. The cause of death was determined to have been a gun shot wound to the head, which according to the bullet’s trajectory, was shot from behind in an execution style while the victim was kneeling. The dismemberment was all completed post mortem.
Lou Louis Bennett- Disappeared July 27, 1963
Lou Louis Bennett was a 42 year old coal mining operator and WW2 Veteran from Oak Hill, West Virginia. On the evening of July 27, 1963, Lou left his residence on foot to visit some friends around 5:00pm. He ended up at the Four Minute Lunch in Oak Hill where, according to an unnamed female witness, he drank beer and chatted at the counter. Details of the conversation were dark, ominous and perhaps foreshadowing of the events to come. Lou had recently been diagnosed with a fatal ailment (regarding the kidneys but it is not confirmed what) and since then had been plagued with depression. He was said to have stated that he planned to simply, “disappear” where, “no one would see him again.”
Lou purchased a six pack of beer to go and left the Four Minute Lunch presumably heading home. He was witnessed by a local resident to have been walking down the railroad tracks, beer under his arm, en route towards his home, but Lou never arrived home. Lou’s wife reported him missing to the West Virginia State Police the next morning as it was extremely uncommon for him to not return home.
His whereabouts were unknown until May 19, 1965 when a group of children playing near some remote railroad tracks near Minden, WV stumbled upon a human skull. More remains were located down the ravine as well as articles of clothing including a unique belt with the letter “B” inscribed. Relatives of Bennett confirmed the articles belonged to Lou and it was ultimately confirmed that the remains were his.
There is much speculation with regards to the fate of Lou Bennett. Many believe that he committed suicide, choosing to end it all en lieu of his grim diagnosis. His family, on the other hand does not believe that to be the case. Was Lou Louis Bennett the next victim in a grisly series of murders?
Shirley Gene Arthur- Disappeared or Murdered?— November 22, 1963
The next disappearance occurred almost four months to the day in November of 1963. Shirley Gene Arthur of Mt. Hope, WV had recently gone AWOL from his duties in the Navy, returning home to West Virginia to sort through some personal issues. Shirley was a talented gospel singer and had aspirations of making it big in the musical arena. On the evening of his disappearance, he traveled to Pineville, WV to visit his girlfriend and practice for an upcoming Gospel Concert that he was set to perform in. There are two accounts with regards to the departure of Shirley Arthur. One states that he left to hitchhike back home around 11pm, the other states that he left closer to 1am. Whatever the case, the last confirmed sighting of Shirley Arthur was at 2:00am in the small community of Sophia, WV. Before his departure, his girlfriend gave him a yellow apple as a snack for the trek home.
When Shirley didn’t arrive home, his family wasn’t immediately alarmed. It was not out of Shirley’s nature to take off and return at random. However, another gruesome discovery, this time in Pineville, WV, caused his family to take pause and reconsider their greatest fear.
In the woods, down near Indian Creek, the torso of a caucasian male was discovered by several youth collecting firewood. Nearby, wrapped in a canvas tarpaulin were the dismembered lower extremities of the body. Notably absent was the head, arms, hands and feet of the body. The similarities between the Rogers case and the unknown torso were too close to ignore. The Mad Butcher had struck again. An autopsy revealed multiple stab wounds to the chest, any of which would have been fatal, that had been made with a blunt instrument such as an ice pick. The body also showed signs of being held in cold storage and was notably still thawing at the time of its discovery. The lungs of the victim appeared clean, revealing that our victim was not a coal miner nor a smoker. The contents of the stomach showed 2 cups of partially digested food including the remains of a yellow apple.
Based on the age, size and stomach contents, authorities have theorized the body to be that of Shirley Gene Arthur. There is one detail that would appear to prove otherwise: Shirley Gene Arthur was a known heavy smoker and the lungs of the victim were clean. To this day, the torso has never been properly identified and is buried in a Wyoming County cemetery bearing the inscription Mr. X.
Sgt. James Lee Haynes- December 7, 1963
On the same day that the torso was discovered along Indian Creek, yet another person mysteriously disappeared. Sgt. James Lee Haynes, had hitchhiked down from Baltimore, MD to visit family in Maben, WV after returning home from a tour abroad. He planned on catching a ride back home to MD with a family member, but he never arrived. The family quickly notified the authorities of Haynes’ disappearance and requested an alert be sent out via television and radio. Immediately, a woman from Powellton, responded to State Police to identify Haynes as the passenger she gave a ride to from Baltimore. According to her account, she dropped him off at the intersection of Rt. 21 and WV 61 in Oak Hill before proceeding home.
There was another account that was presented to authorities but the information has been unable to be corroborated. In this story, Haynes was drinking at a local VFW Hall when he got into an altercation with 3 men. According to the witness, they took it outside where the men proceeded to hit Haynes with their car before burying him in a large hollow. A search was conducted where several pieces of evidence were collected, including a wallet, dog tags and bloody rags but family has confirmed the items did not belong to Haynes.
The Army officially declared James Lee Haynes dead in May of 1965 and he was memorialized on May 31st, 1965. His remains have never been located.
Bob “Mack” Agee - Disappeared February 1962
The disappearance of Bob Agee, though now thought to be the initial victim of the Mad
Butcher, was not brought to the attention of authorities until July 1964. Confusion about whether or not Bob had returned to Chicago being the crux of the problem.
Bob Agee was a native of Kingston, WV who had been living and going to school in Chicago at the time of his disappearance. In February 1962, he made a trip back to the Mountain State to visit his ailing mother who was living in a nursing home. After his visit, he failed to return to the family home where he was staying. Relatives assumed Bob had simply hitchhiked back to Chicago. Friends in Chicago, assumed he stayed home and didn’t plan on resuming his studies. The reality of the situation hit family after several years when they finally contacted the State Police to report Bob missing. There is not a lot to be known about Bob’s disappearance which may have to do with the fact that it was several years before an investigation into his disappearance could be conducted.
To add another layer of confusion, in 1965 it was reported by a relative of a co-worker that Bob Agee was alive and well in Chicago. Multiple news reports ran on the story, which ultimately proved to be false.
So, which theory do you believe? Check out the Cold Case Crew’s upcoming episode(s) on The Mad Butcher of West Virginia to learn more about the victims, the circumstances of their disappearances, the potential suspects and MORE.
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Below, we have included a chart detailing the similarities between the multiple victims for your reference.
References:
Newspapers:
The Beckley Post Herald
The Raleigh Register
The Fayette Tribune
Books:
“West Virginia Unsolved Murders” by George and Melody Bragg. West Virginia's Mad Butcher. Pages 1-50. 1992.