Anthony Allen Shore

Anthony Allen Shore
TDCJ Inmate Photo
Born (1962-06-25)June 25, 1962
Rapid City, South Dakota, U.S.
Died January 18, 2018(2018-01-18) (aged 55)
Huntsville Unit, Huntsville, Texas, U.S.
Cause of death Lethal injection
Other names The Tourniquet Killer
The Strangler
Criminal penalty Death (November 15, 2004)
Conviction(s) Child molestation,
Drug possession,
Kidnapping,
Murder,
Sexual assault
Details
Victims 4+
Span of crimes
 September 26, 1986–July 6, 1995
Country United States
State(s) Texas
Date apprehended
 October 24, 2003

Anthony Allen Shore (June 25, 1962 – January 18, 2018) was an American serial killer and child molester who was responsible for the slayings of one woman and three girls. He operated from 1986 to 2000, and was known as the "Tourniquet Killer" because of his use of a ligature with either a toothbrush or bamboo stick to tighten or loosen the ligature. The instrument was similar to a twitch, a tool used by farmers to control horses.[1] Shore was sentenced to death in 2004, and executed by lethal injection on January 18, 2018.

He married Gina Lynn Worley in 1983; they had two daughters.[2] They later divorced and Shore was given custody of his two young girls. He married Amy Lynch in 1997, and divorced after Lynch accused him of abuse.[3]

Murders and assaults

Laurie Lee Tremblay

Shore's first known victim was 14-year-old Laurie Tremblay, who was killed on September 26, 1986. Tremblay was walking to school when she was attacked. After attempting to sexually assault her, Shore strangled Tremblay.[4] Her body was dumped behind a Mexican restaurant in Houston.[5]

Maria del Carmen Estrada

Maria del Carmen Estrada, 21, was killed on April 16, 1992. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled.[4] Estrada was a Mexican immigrant, working as a nanny. Estrada's body was found in the back of a Dairy Queen that same day.

Selma Janske

On October 19, 1993, Shore entered the home of 14-year-old Selma Janske, then bound and sexually assaulted her; however, he did not kill her, and instead fled the scene on foot.[6]

Diana Rebollar

Diana Rebollar, 9, was killed on August 8, 1994. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled.[4] She lived in the Heights area of Houston, at the front of a small duplex. The day of her death, she was seen at a local grocery store. Employees saw her leave the store safely, but she never returned home. She was found the next day on a loading dock behind a building.[4] One lead for police was given by a neighbor who described a van that frequented the area. She was connected to the Maria del Carmen Estrada case by the killer's MO: a rope with a bamboo stick attached was found around her neck.[4]

Dana Sanchez

Dana Sanchez, 16, was killed on July 6, 1995. Shore offered her a ride in his van. He made advances to her, which she resisted; she was then strangled. Seven days later, an anonymous telephone call to a local news station, actually made by Shore, directed police to her body in a Harris County field.[4]

Investigation

In 1998, Shore was convicted of molesting his two daughters, Tiffany and Amber, and as a result he was required to provide police with a DNA sample.[3] In 2000, detectives pulled Maria del Carmen Estrada's case from the cold files, tested DNA evidence from underneath Estrada's fingernails, and received a full genetic profile.[7] The results were not immediately matched to Shore because of problems at the lab.[3] As a result of an audit, the lab was closed in 2002; certain samples, however, including those taken from Estrada's nails, were sent to another laboratory for retesting.[3] The results were not matched until 2003, which led to Shore's arrest for Estrada's murder.[3]

Eleven hours into his interrogation, Shore confessed to the murders of Maria del Carmen Estrada, Diana Rebollar, and Dana Sanchez. He also confessed to the 1987 murder of fourteen-year-old Laurie Tremblay and the 1994 rape of a fourteen-year-old girl. Detectives had no way of linking this killing to the other three murders because Tremblay was strangled with a ligature. When asked why he switched to a tourniquet, Shore replied, "because I hurt my finger while murdering Tremblay."[1]

Trial and conviction

Despite Shore's confession to the murders of four people and the rape of another, prosecutor Kelly Siegler decided to charge Shore for only Estrada's murder, because it contained the most forensic evidence. His trial began in late October 2004. The jury found Shore guilty of capital murder. During the sentencing phase, Shore's only surviving victim testified. After less than an hour of deliberations, the jury recommended that Shore be put to death, which Shore himself had asked for. He was sentenced to death on November 15, 2004.

Execution

Shore was executed by lethal injection on January 18, 2018, at 6:28 pm (CST),[8] the first person executed in the United States in 2018.[9] He was 55 years old.[10] Before the execution he confessed that "I made my peace" and his last words were "Ooh-ee, I can feel that!".[11][12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Mitchell, Corey (2007). Strangler. Pinnacle. ISBN 978-0786018505.
  2. ↑ Stoll, Brittany; Stanley, Jennifer. "Anthony Allen Shore" (PDF). Murderpedia. Radford University. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Fenske, Sarah (29 July 2004). "The Killer Next Door". Houston Press.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas (12 December 2007). "ANTHONY ALLEN SHORE, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS (NO. AP-75,049)". LexisNexis. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  5. ↑ Hanks, Gerald (8 July 2017). "After killing a number of victims, including two teenagers and a 9-year-old, the Houston-area "Tourniquet Killer" is set to die in three months". Rare. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "The Skeptical Juror: Who Killed Melissa Trotter: Selma Janske". 1 January 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Convicting a serial killer". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  8. ↑ McCloskey, Jimmy (18 January 2018). "Serial killer to become first person to get lethal injection in 2018". Metro. Associated Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  9. ↑ Gill, Lauren (18 January 2018). "Who is Anthony Shore? 'Tourniquet Killer' of Texas Scheduled To Be First Prisioner Executed In 2018". News Week. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  10. ↑ AP (18 January 2018). "Texas "Tourniquet Killer" put to death in first execution of 2018". CBS News. Huntsville: CBS. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Cooke, Phoebe (19 January 2018). "'OOH-EE, I CAN FEEL THAT!' Bizarre final words of America's 'Tourniquet Killer' Anthony Shore as he appears to take pleasure in being executed by lethal injection". The Sun. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  12. ↑ Quinn, Kevin (18 January 2018). "Before execution, 'Tourniquet Killer' says "I made my peace"". Abc13.com. ABC Inc. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.