Case of Fabens woman's body found in car trunk baffled everyone: Trish Long
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Continuing with the 1973 series on mysterious desert deaths are two Nov. 1, 1973, articles by Nancy Hamilton:
Fabens matron beaten before being killed
Late in the afternoon on Sept. 7, 1966, sheriff’s officers and police were called to the parking lot at El Paso International Airport. There they saw the murder victim stuffed into the trunk of a 1966 gold colored Cadillac sedan.
The body was that of a prominent Fabens matron, Mrs. Ruth Gatis Holland, 63.
She had been bound and gagged and was attired in red slacks and a colorful print blouse. Mrs. Holland had been beaten, evidently with a fist, about the eyes and mouth. The body was wrapped in a blanket.
Mrs. Holland had been reported missing earlier in the day. Her maid came to work, found the house disturbed with dresser and desk drawer pulled and contents spilled about, and her employer was not there. Mrs. Holland’s Cadillac was not there, and a strange car stood in the driveway.
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Strange car in driveway
Neighbors told investigators they had seen the strange car in the driveway the afternoon before. Mrs. Holland’s car, however, did not show up on the airport parking lot until sometime between 10 a.m. Wednesday and 3:15 p.m. when it was found there.
The murderer was believed to have taken jewelry and cash from the house. His description came from the salesman for an auto dealer who had allowed a man to take a trial run in a new car the afternoon before the body was found.
The man was described as almost 6 feet tall, neatly dressed, with dark curly hair, a heavy beard growth that looks dark even when closely shaved.
He indicated he was employed at White Sands Missile Range, but the salesman’s check there the next day, when the car was returned, indicated he had been given false information.
Dozens of leads, but no one turned up
Although officers checked out dozens of leads in the case, no one was ever turned up to prosecute. They had the same frustration with another of the murders that happened that week, the death of a young Army wife.
Mrs. James Stephens was found strangled in her home, 2514 Federal Avenue, when her husband returned from night duty. No motive was found for the death of the 18-year-old expectant mother.
2 couples disappear; forged checks turn up in El Paso, other towns
Two Illinois couples, traveling by car to California, stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They looked at souvenirs, bought some postcards, which they mailed to relatives, and ate lunch.
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Heberer of Du Quoin were traveling in the car of their friends, Mr. and Mrs. George M. Lorius of East St. Louis. They had left St. Louis on May 19.
They drove from Albuquerque to Quemado and stopped for gas.
The filling station operator remembered them when state police questioned him five weeks later.
Dallas police had found a car abandoned on a downtown street on May 28. Worried relatives of the two couples confirmed that it was the car they had been traveling in.
Simultaneously, a series of traveler's checks was turning up, signed in green ink and cashed at various points between El Paso and Dallas. The signature was a forgery of George Lorius' ‒ although at times the writer had signed “Guy Lorius” with a fountain pen stolen from the man.
Lorius' car overturned
With the cooperation of police along the trail evidently followed by the driver of the Lorius car, a description of a suspect was developed. He was described as a dark young man, about 22, with sharp features, his black hair combed down slick. On his forearm ‒ probably the right arm ‒ was a tattoo of six roses clustered around a cross with the words “love” and “Mother” spelled out.
On May 23, police learned, a nervous, thin-faced driver had overturned the Lorius car on U.S. 83 seven miles south of Socorro, New Mexico. Passersby helped him right the car. They noticed the tattoo.
An El Paso hotel register indicated a man of the description had signed in as “James Sullevan” and had an unusual amount of luggage. He cashed the first four traveler's checks here, then headed east through Texas. Others were cashed in more than a dozen towns.
The only one to question him about the traveler's checks was a filling station operator at Treat, so the young man paid in cash from a large roll of bills.
The driver was not heard from again.
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Burned luggage, clothing found
Nearly a month later, on June 29, two cowboys discovered the remains of burned luggage and clothing in the desert near Albuquerque. The items were identified as belonging to the missing couples. A card had the name Heberer on it.
Law officers were convinced the couples had met with foul play. But their bodies were never discovered. It was speculated that they might have been buried somewhere in the sand between Albuquerque and Gallup.
The disappearance so incensed Gov. Clyde Tingley of New Mexico that he personally led a posse of 200 men in a search for the bodies or other clues in the case. The search was fruitless.
One longtime student of the case, a former FBI agent, speculated in 1950 that the bodies could have been hidden in the gully-ridden area near Quemado. Investigators figured that the tattooed man might have had an accomplice who split the loot, then burned his share in the desert near Albuquerque.
Trish Long may be reached at tlong@elpasotimes.com or 915-546-6179.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Case of Fabens woman's body in car trunk baffled everyone: Trish Long
