Missing Heads & Water Beds

Michelle Tate was sixteen years old in December 1992, a high school junior living in Wellington, Kansas. She had moved there from Hutchinson about a year earlier, after her parents divorced, with her mother, two brothers and a sister. She wanted out of Wellington: she talked about college and about becoming a model, and she liked to drink and party with her friends. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now He had been married once, to a woman called Marla, divorced in 1985, and had no children. According to Marla, he had threatened her before the divorce, promising to kill her and cut off her head and fingers so nobody could identify the body. A young woman he knew also told police that on December 4, 1992, he turned up at her house at two in the morning and offered her money to masturbate him. She refused and he left; an hour later he came back, apologised, offered the same money for her simply to undress, and when she refused again he pushed her against the wall and fondled her until she kicked him twice in the shin and he ran off.

details of the account remain covered until revealed They found him at the house of his friend Chuck Flynn, thirty-six, watching television. They asked whether he would buy them alcohol later; he said he would. That evening, at about eight, they saw him walking along the street, picked him up and asked again. He went into a liquor store and bought two bottles of Everclear, then told them he would not be home that night but that they could have the run of his house. The girls went there and played a drinking game with Everclear mixed with Pepsi. Within an hour most of the Everclear was gone and Michelle was badly drunk and being sick. A teenage friend called Buck Rowan, who was around their age, was driving them about. The plan was for Buck to leave Melinda and the other girl at the Coastal Mart, take Michelle to the Scotsman's restaurant for coffee to sober her up, and meet the others back at the Coastal Mart at midnight. Buck drove past the Scotsman's because a sheriff's car was parked outside. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He and his brother carried her inside, laid her on the couch, took off her shoes and put a blanket over her. It was about two in the morning.

this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed At half past three they went back and the house was empty, with nobody on the couch. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed He told Melinda that a man had brought Michelle to the house, that he had told her she had to find somewhere else to stay, that he went to the bathroom and when he came out she was going out of the door. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now They looked in his pickup but saw no blood and no sign of Michelle.

details of the account remain covered until revealed He and Roe then went to a laundromat and washed a jacket. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now That same Sunday three coyote hunters, Daryl Oostman, Dave Kelly and Thane Juncker, saw a blue and white or blue and silver pickup backing out of an abandoned farmstead. details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now In the same interview he changed his story repeatedly: first he had slept all night, then he had gone to the Town and Country for coffee, then he had gone out to find a carving knife to cut deer ribs, then he had driven around near Oxford. He finally said he had lied because he was nervous about having bought alcohol for minors. Chuck Flynn also told police three different stories. details of the account remain covered until revealed

Police then searched the abandoned farmstead. In a cistern they found a headless body floating in the water. It was Michelle, almost naked, her jeans pulled down to her ankles, a red shirt looped over one wrist and a white bra looped over both. They drained the cistern and found her head at the bottom. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Dr William Eckert performed the autopsy and found that she had been shot in the head with a .22, bitten, slashed and stabbed repeatedly, and decapitated. The fatal wound was a .22 gunshot from the back to the left side of the head. There was circulation at the time of the shooting, ten minutes of bleeding would have been enough to kill her, and there were signs she still had circulation when she was decapitated. She had three deep stab wounds to the right side of the neck, no defensive injuries and no powder burns. this part of the story is covered for now A tar-like stain on the back seat of his pickup contained human blood, and sections of the seat had been cut out. In his house police found a new jar of Vaseline with .22 cartridges pushed into it.

Chuck Flynn then gave what he called the real story. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Flynn went outside. this part of the story is covered for now Flynn helped. They drove out into the country between Wellington and South Haven. details of the account remain covered until revealed He took the rifle, Michelle began to come round, and he told her to be quiet or he would shoot her. Flynn walked away and heard her scream and then a gunshot. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now The next morning he borrowed a petrol can, saying he wanted to burn insulation off copper wire. The following Wednesday he told Flynn that Michelle was missing and that they needed to get their story straight, that he had not killed her, and that Flynn should say they were together until two in the morning.

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed It deliberated about two hours on the Wednesday evening and two hours the next morning before imposing the hard forty. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now