Murl Daniels and John West One could easily get away with calling Murl Daniels and John Coulter West as "The Henry Lee Lucas and Otis Toole of Ohio." In a way they were much like Lucas and Toole, two partners in crime who decided to go on a pointless rampage of murder and mayhem. The hunt for Daniels and West in 1948 was described by one newspaper as the "largest manhunt in the history of Ohio. Daniels and West met while serving time together at the Mansfield Reformatory. Daniels who in for a robbery conviction, West for auto theft. While inside the big house, the two men formed a pact between them to kill all of the prison guards who had mistreated them during their prison terms. However, once they were released they temporarily forgot about their agreement and instead decided to rob convient stores and restaurants. Their robbery quickly came to a hault once the pair murdered a tavern owner during a job and remembered their pact. Daniels, a vicious psychopath, led his until then harmless partner West on the most appalling and senseless murder spree in the state of Ohio. The pair made their way back to Mansfield in an attempt to search for a prison guard named Harris. Their search was unsuccessful. They decided to make things easier by getting Harris' address from his superior, John Elmer Niebel. They entered Niebel's home late one night and awoke him, his wife, and their daughter. They decided to hold the family hostage until after they had disposed of Harris (which they never did). Armed with handguns, they took the family out to an open cornfield on the outskirts of Mansfield and ordered the three of them to take off their clothes. They then planned to tie them up with rope and keep them their until they located Harris. However, their was one small problem with their plan. No rope. Realizing their mistake, Daniels and West shot and killed the family and fled to Cleveland. From this point on they were wanted men, since the police had been able to secure an identity of the murderers of the Niebel family. They kept on the move constantly throughtout the state. They murdered a farmer for his car. When they had decided that they had traveled too much in one vehicle, the pair murdered a truckdriver for his truck and continued on the move. However, their time of alluding the law was running short. Daniels and West were almost out of the state, when they were stopped by a police roadblock. Out of sheer panic (and stupidity) West began firing at the police. He wounded one officer before turning his gun on himself. Daniels surrendered without much of a fight and placed under arrest for the Niebel killings. He was tried and convicted shortly thereafter and died in the electric chair on January 3, 1949 at age 24.
Ähnlich dem Killer-Duo Henry Lee LUCAS & Otis TOOLE mordeten auch Murl DANIELS und John Coulter WEST wahllos und ohne nachvollziehbare Motive.
Eine Zeitung sprach über die Jagd nach DANIELS & WEST 1948, als “die größte Menschenjagd in der Geschichte Ohios”. DANIELS & WEST hatten einander kennengelernt, als beide eine Haftstrafe im Mansfield Reformatory verbüßten, DANIELS wegen Raubes, WEST wegen Autodiebstahls. Die beiden schlossen einen Pakt, nach der Haft jeden Wärter umzubringen, die sie schlecht behandelt hatten.
Wieder in Freiheit war der Pakt schnell wieder vergessen, es erschien lukrativer, kleine Kaufläden und Restaurants zu überfallen. Als dabei ein Restaurantbesitzer sterben mußte, wurde die Lage brenzlig und die beiden erinnerten sich wieder an ihren Pakt.
DANIELS, ein grundlegend bösartiger Psychopath, führte nun seinen bisher eher harmlosen Partner WEST an, eine der kaltblütigsten Mordserien Ohios auszuführen.
Das Duo kehrte nach Mansfield zurück, um einen Gefängnisaufseher namens HARRIS zu suchen. Sie hatten kein Glück. So kamen sie auf die Idee, dessen Vorgesetzten, John Elmer NIEBEL aufzusuchen, um von diesem die Adresse zu erhalten. Spätnachts drangen sie in dessen Haus ein und weckten ihn, seine Frau und seine Tochter. Sie wollten die Familie so lange als Geisel behalten, bis sie sich HARRIS entledigt hatten (was nie passierte). Mit Gewehren bewaffnet, brachten sie die Familie zu einem Maisfeld am Rande von Mansfield und befahlen den drei NIEBELS, sich zu entkleiden. DANIELS & WEST hatten geplant, ihre Opfer zu fesseln und so lange hier zu behalten, bis sie HARRIS gefunden hatten. Das Problem dabei - kein Seil. Daraufhin erschoß man die Familie NIEBEL kaltblütig. Auf ihrer Flucht Richtung Cleveland - die beiden waren nunmehr “Most wanted” - erschoß man auch einen Farmer, weil die beiden seinen Wagen brauchten. Als sie fanden, daß sie nun lange genug mit einem Auto unterwegs gewesen wären, mußte ein Fernfahrer dran glauben, die beiden reisten mit dessen Truck weiter. |
