Town note
Originally named Carson City; changed to Panhandle City and then Panhandle.
about 0:06:45Spoilers are covered until your reading preferences load.
FILE 470 / 24 February 2024 / 70 MIN / express
We are going all the way down to Texas this week, to the town of Panhandle, Texas; unsurprisingly it is in the Texas panhandle, about a half hour or a little more to Amarillo about 0:03:40
Originally named Carson City; changed to Panhandle City and then Panhandle.
about 0:06:45Got a post office in 1887.
about 0:07:22The town was laid out in 1888 because the railroad was coming through.
about 0:07:27It had a bank, a wagon yard, one store, a newspaper and three saloons.
about 0:07:33Originally named Carson City; changed to Panhandle City and then Panhandle.
about 0:06:45Got a post office in 1887.
about 0:07:22The town was laid out in 1888 because the railroad was coming through.
about 0:07:27It had a bank, a wagon yard, one store, a newspaper and three saloons.
about 0:07:33It became the county seat.
about 0:07:41In 1897 the Methodist Episcopal Church preacher George E. Morrison poisoned his wife Minnie with a strychnine-laced apple so he could marry his mistress from Topeka, Kansas.
about 0:07:48Morrison was sentenced to die and hanged in Wilbarger County, Texas; his last words were "Jesus, lover of my soul".
about 0:08:27"2,686"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:05:50
"$76,481"
Comparison: "above the national average". Direction: above.
As told in 2024 about 0:06:01
"$159,100"
No direction stated.
As told in 2024 about 0:06:22
2.7 / 5 · average of 3
“A wonderful country area with a lot of farms; very small so it is easy to find whatever is needed, and a simple, uncomplicated life.”about 0:08:55
“Honestly not for me: the adults say they are equal but judge people behind their backs, and the kids are bullies, druggies or abused; avoid this town.”about 0:09:29
“Worst town I have ever lived in; if you have writing or music talent, move on, because the bigots will falsely accuse you of taking pictures of their kids, and the town has gone downhill since Lyle Denny died.”about 0:10:32
Panhandle, Texas, is a small town in the Texas Panhandle, about half an hour from Amarillo, with a population of 2,686 and an economy built on farming and oil. By the time he was nineteen he was described as a handsome young man who inspired loyalty among his few friends, and he was a boy obsessed with death. He watched horror films, read books about Satan and the Necronomicon, made grotesque masks and a clay corpse to test special effects on, and liked to be called Damien. His heroes were Ted Bundy, Charles Manson and, above all, Jack the Ripper, because Jack the Ripper was never caught. A neighbour said he hated God and would not have him mentioned; his best friend, Craig Shackleford, three years younger, said Glenn was not normal but did not think he was a Satanist. He was well behaved in grade school, but in high school he showed signs of depression, drank more and sometimes cut his arms with a knife when he was angry.
In the spring of 1988, when he was seventeen, he climbed the town water tower, which had Panhandle written on it, and threatened to jump until the police talked him down. A few months later he drove over a cliff at Palo Duro Canyon, was treated for his injuries and was placed in psychiatric care at Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo. On July 12th, 1990, he signed Shackleford's yearbook with a cryptic message about a problem he could not talk about, which he said Shackleford would find out about sooner or later.
Garcia was unsure, telling Shackleford that Glenn did not even like him and probably just wanted to take him out and scare him, but he went. Some later said there was a pentagram drawn on the barn floor; others said there was not. He said afterwards that he had recited an incantation first, that it was a ceremony for a secret religious belief he would not discuss, and that he had needed a virgin. He left Garcia dead in the barn at about ten o'clock and drove away.
About half an hour later Shackleford and another friend, Ron, saw him leaving town; he said he had just got done taking care of some business and had more to take care of. At Lake McClellan, where a large birthday party was under way, he intended to rack up a body count, but he had taken about eight Vivarin on an empty stomach, was jittery and sick, could not catch anyone alone and left after half an hour or forty-five minutes. He then went to Groom to the house of Jimmy Britton, the stepfather of a girl he had gone out with, said a friend had had a wreck and asked to use the phone, then pulled a straight razor and slashed Britton's throat and arms.
Williams needed months in hospital, thirteen surgeries and carried 52 pieces of metal from the door in his body. He then parked at the police station, planning to shoot himself once everyone arrived, but he could not remember the incantation he needed to recite, so he sat there until police came out and invited him in.
On the morning of July 14th, 1995, he gave a 41-page statement to Texas Ranger Jim Mull, saying he had always wanted to kill, that he felt no remorse and that he wanted the death penalty. Friends handed over a hit list of intended victims and a videotape detailing his motives and plans.
July 13, 1995 / a barn near a deserted shack outside Panhandle, Texas
As told in the episode, on 24 February 2024.
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
business
about 0:15:29church
about 0:07:48landmark
about 0:24:57landmark
about 0:25:15hospital
about 0:25:24crime scene
about 0:29:42landmark
about 0:34:03home
about 0:35:50school
about 0:39:25home
about 0:39:16road
about 0:42:48police
about 0:44:07landmark
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