Town note
The town has two mottos, the City of Seven Wonders and Dark Sky City.
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FILE 406 / 15 July 2023 / 68 MIN / express
We're going to Flagstaff, Arizona. about 0:03:20
The town has two mottos, the City of Seven Wonders and Dark Sky City.
about 0:05:11The area was settled long ago because of fertile land created by volcanic ash eruptions in the 11th century.
about 0:05:37It became its present-day city in about 1876.
about 0:05:48In 1894 it was recommended to Percival Lowell as the site of the Lowell Observatory, which was built on Mars Hill.
about 0:05:53The town has two mottos, the City of Seven Wonders and Dark Sky City.
about 0:05:11The area was settled long ago because of fertile land created by volcanic ash eruptions in the 11th century.
about 0:05:37It became its present-day city in about 1876.
about 0:05:48In 1894 it was recommended to Percival Lowell as the site of the Lowell Observatory, which was built on Mars Hill.
about 0:05:53Flagstaff became a town that year, 1894, and grew rapidly with the railroad.
about 0:06:05Local businessmen lobbied for Route 66 to pass through the city, and it did, which helped it grow.
about 0:06:18In 1930 Pluto was discovered from Flagstaff at the observatory.
about 0:06:23The observatories chose the moon landing sites for the Apollo moon missions.
about 0:06:31In the 1970s and 1980s downtown declined, but it was revitalised in the 1990s.
about 0:06:53In 2001 it was recognised as the world's first international dark sky city by the International Dark Sky Association.
about 0:07:00"76,028"
No direction stated.
As told in 2023 about 0:04:09
"30,000"
Comparison: "students at Northern Arizona University". No direction stated.
As told in 2023 about 0:04:15
"about 35,000"
Comparison: "in the 1980s". No direction stated.
As told in 2023 about 0:04:18
"$51,758"
Comparison: "a little lower than the national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2023 about 0:04:29
"$565,400"
Comparison: "almost double the national average". Direction: above.
As told in 2023 about 0:04:39
3.0 / 5 · average of 5
“The nature is beautiful and everyone is friendly; the reviewer would not change a thing.”about 0:07:44
“A Phoenix transplant loves the move and the fresh pine air, though downtown and the college can be busy.”about 0:07:53
“Fun and great at times but it also sucks; the seasons are beautiful, but snow and icy roads can shut the town down at 7,000 feet.”about 0:08:21
“High alcoholism, high child abuse, cliques that hide things, high cost of living and bad streets; only one star because there is no zero.”about 0:09:00
“If you are not wealthy, do not bother coming here; the last line is a sad comment on what Flagstaff has turned into, where you cannot even have a nice trailer park.”about 0:09:28
Rita was from Greensburg and had been living with her mother in New Stanton, working at an Eat'n Park off the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The couple knew nobody in Flagstaff. They took a two-bedroom apartment at Northeast Street with a young woman who was a co-worker, and all three worked at the Jack in the Box at East Santa Fe Avenue. Rita asked what would happen if she died. They went to bed at about 5.30am after apparently making up.
He and Rita got up at about 1.30pm and resumed the argument. Rita told him she loved him and would leave him so that he could prove he could live alone. The fight lasted thirty to forty-five minutes. Each time she reached the front door he pulled her back and beat her. At least you'd be dead.' He found a necktie, wrapped it round her neck and strangled her three times, twice thinking she was dead before she breathed again. The third strangulation killed her.
About fifteen minutes later he had sex with her corpse. Half an hour after that he checked her pupils, dressed, walked to a nearby bowling alley and telephoned the police, claiming he had seen a man assaulting a woman. Flagstaff police found Rita dead in the bedroom. The autopsy recorded a myriad of contusions, abrasions and lesions, bite marks on her right hand, arm and breast, a swollen face and signs of manual and ligature strangulation. The cause of death was strangulation.
He said he could not break the mental hold his mother had on him, that he wanted permanent security and that he had killed Rita to continue the relationship. The killing caused an outcry because two other young women had recently been murdered in Flagstaff, Aina Langstaff on 7 November 1987 and Sarah Saganisto on 13 June 1987, both with bite marks.
An Arizona judge found him competent to represent himself and he waived further review.
November 11, 1987 / their apartment at Northeast Street, Flagstaff, Arizona
As told in the episode, on 15 July 2023.
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
business
about 0:12:16road
about 0:12:22road
about 0:03:25school
about 0:04:15landmark
about 0:05:20landmark
about 0:05:53road
about 0:06:18crime scene
about 0:18:11business
about 0:18:22business
about 0:29:48police
about 0:30:35other
about 1:04:37other
about 1:04:47