Richard Lee Tingle

Background

Richard Lee Tingle was born out of wedlock in December 1940. He was raised by a mother who beat him regularly, interspersing punishment with frequent reminders that her son was "born in sin." He enlisted in the air force to escape from home.

He experienced his first run-in with police in June 1959 while stationed in Alaska. He went AWOL with a friend, and was arrested on a charge of burglary in Anchorage, after which he pleaded guilty to four break-ins.

Tingle was transferred several times during his two-year federal sentence. He was released from Chilicothe, Ohio, in February 1961. Six months later, he was busted in Portsmouth, Ohio, on thirteen counts of breaking and entering. He was packed off to state prison for a term of one to fifteen years. He was paroled in August 1964. More burglaries sent him back to prison as a parole violator, and he was finally released in February 1968.

The offence

On September 16, early-morning joggers found four bodies laid out side-by-side in Cleveland's Rockefeller Park. The victims were slain by multiple gunshots from two different weapons. The victims included tavern proprietor Joseph Zoldman, two of his part-time bartenders, and a young female prostitute.

Authorities surmised that the four had been taken hostage in a tavern robbery, conveyed to the park at gunpoint, and murdered there to eliminate troublesome witnesses.

On October 20, a lone gunman entered a dairy bar in Columbus, Ohio, near closing time. He scooped $562 out of the register and ordered manager Phyllis Crowe and two teenage employees—Susan Pack and Jimmy Stevens—into the back room. He bound their hands. He was about to leave when he paused in the doorway, his face contorted by sudden rage, and snarled, "What the hell, I ain't got nothing to lose. I'm gonna kill you all."

He ripped the door of a safe from its mountings, advanced on Pack and Stevens, and pounded their skulls in a frenzy. He then turned on Phyllis Crowe, twisted a coathanger around her neck, and choked her into unconsciousness, leaving her for dead. When Crowe woke and struggled free a half-hour later, she found that both her employees had also been shot in the back of their heads.

Investigation

Ballistics tests matched the bullets to one of the guns used in Cleveland on October 20. Mrs. Crow identified a mug shot of Richard Tingler as her assailant.

Tingle was indicted on six counts of murder. He was added to the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list on November 8, 1968.

Arrest and custody

By that time, Tingle used the name of "Don Williams." He secured employment on a farm owned by Alvin Hoffman near Dill City, Oklahoma. Hoffman thought it strange that his employee packed a pistol everywhere he went, but "Williams" was a decent worker.

On March 30, 1969, Tingler's photograph was broadcast following an episode of "The FBI" television series. Viewing the program, "Don Williams" realized his time was running short.

He became increasingly nervous on the job. One morning he failed to report for work.

On April 27, 49-year-old Brooks Hutchenson checked into a motel at Gilman, Illinois, accompanied by a new acquaintance, "D.L. Williams." Next morning, the maid found Hutchenson dead in his room. Hutchenson had been shot four times at close range. His cash and late-model Ford LTD were missing.

On April 29, "Don Williams" returned to the Hoffman farm, driving Hutchenson's car. He left again the next morning, but returned—minus the car—on May 2. His erratic behavior drew attention from neighbors.

By mid-May, the Washita County sheriff's office was receiving complaints about "Williams" and his indiscriminate gunfire. A neighbor's dog had been killed without provocation. The farm hand was also fond of shooting glass insulators on high-tension poles lining the highway. Deputies investigating the complaints were warned by locals that the gunman bore a strong resemblance to a wanted fugitive.

On May 19, a team of federal agents joined sheriff's deputies on a second visit to the farm. They found Tingler working in a field. They relieved him of an automatic pistol and took him into custody without resistance.

Trial

Tingle was tried on six counts of murder in Ohio. He was convicted and sentenced to die.

Sentencing

He was sentenced to death.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Outcome

Tingle was condemned in 1969. His sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972.

Other details

Michael Newton—An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers—Hunting Humans.

Tingle was described as having SIX victims.

The motive was given as CE-felony.

The modus operandi was given as “Executed victims of both sexes during robberies.”

The venue was given as Cleveland/Columbus, Ohio.