Shauna Howe

Shauna Howe
Born 1981
United States
Died 1992 (1993) (aged 11)
Rockland Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States
Cause of death Blunt force trauma
Known for Child homicide victim

Shauna Howe (1981–October 1992) was an American 11-year-old girl from Oil City, Pennsylvania, who was murdered in October 1992. Howe's kidnapping and murder by being thrown from a bridge became a cause célèbre in Pennsylvania, receiving widespread media attention for over a decade. In September 2006, Eldred Walker, James O'Brien, and Timothy O'Brien were convicted for participation in Howe's murder.

Background

Shauna Howe was walking home from a Girl Scouts Halloween party in Oil City, Pennsylvania, when she was abducted at the corner of W 1st Street and Reed Street, two blocks from home.[1] Two days later, a member of Howe's family found a piece of her gymnast costume near an abandoned railroad bed in a rural, wooded area in the nearby township of Rockland. Despite a search of the area the day before, Howe's body was found about 200 yards from where the clothing was found the next morning. Howe's abductors had thrown her from a railroad trestle bridge into a dry, rocky creek bed near Coulter's Hole in Rockland, and she had died of blunt force trauma to the head and chest caused by the fall.

Investigation

The mystery of Howe's disappearance and murder continued for nearly ten years until the investigation had a major break. In 2002, a DNA sample taken from Oil City resident James O'Brien, who was serving a prison sentence for attempting to kidnap an Oil City woman in 1995, matched a sample of DNA found on Howe's body in tests run by the FBI lab in Washington, D.C. The revelation intensified the investigation, with increased presence in the area by the FBI and the Pennsylvania State Police, with the latter searching the home of Eldred "Ted" Walker, who said he may have opened his home to some "really bad" people once who may have done "a disgusting thing."[1]

In September 2006, Walker pleaded guilty to kidnapping and third degree murder and agreed to testify against O'Brien and his brother, Timothy O'Brien. In October that same year the brothers were found guilty of kidnapping, conspiracy and second and third-degree murder, but were acquitted on charges of first degree murder and rape.

Legacy

Following Howe's murder, the Oil City Council voted to prohibit night-time trick-or-treating. The ban remained in place for 15 years, before being lifted in time for Halloween 2008.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Thompson, Lisa (2002-03-16). "DNA link ignites Howe case". The Derrick. Venango Newspapers, Inc. Archived from the original on 2006-11-01. Retrieved 2006-10-28.
  2. ↑ Plushnick-Masti, Ramit (2008-10-30). "Real Halloween Back for Long Traumatized Pennsylvania Town". Associated Press. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
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