The mystery of the Circleville letters: skeletons in the closet of respectable residents of a small town (10 photos)

This story, which happened in the pre-Internet era, once again proved that the greatest value is information. With its help you can exalt and destroy.





In the small town of Circleville, Ohio, a series of events occurred that attracted the attention of both residents and curious onlookers from outside. It all started in 1976, when mysterious letters without identification marks began to arrive in the mailboxes of townspeople.



These letters containing personal information and accusations caused a wave of concern in the community. A particularly intriguing phenomenon of the Circleville letters was the precision of the details contained in these anonymous notes, which suggested that the author was someone intimately familiar with the personal lives of most of the town's residents.

Mysteries of Circleville





Circleville

A key figure in the story was local resident Mary Gillispie. The woman worked as a school bus driver and was not a public figure such as a politician or model.

The letters accused her of having an extramarital affair with school principal Gordon Massey, which she categorically denied. Her husband, Ron Gillispie, also received letters. At first the couple ignored them. But the situation escalated: the anonymous person started making threats and said that he would make the information public - he would post advertisements throughout the city and order advertising on the radio.



Mary Gillispie

As a result, the blackmail ended in tragedy: in the summer of 1977, Ron received an anonymous call. After which he left the house, grabbing a pistol. The man was found dead: he crashed into a tree after losing control. Experts established that shortly before his death a shot was fired from his pistol.



Ron's car

The police got involved in the case. Because, despite the death of one of the main characters, the letters continued to arrive. And their content became more and more threatening.

An anonymous person promised to ruin the brakes on the car to the director. And then the mysterious sender went so crazy that he began to threaten Mary and Ron’s teenage daughter with violence. Other residents of the city also received letters. Moreover, with absolutely shocking information: the sender accused the local doctor of sexual harassment of patients, and the sheriff of corruption.



Circleville Letters

Exhausted, Mary confessed to the affair. But this did not help: a cunning assassination attempt was organized on the woman. At the bus, someone left a sign addressed to her with another portion of nasty things, attached to a box. Something told the woman not to touch the “gift.” Inside was a cleverly mounted pistol that would fire if you tried to open it.



Trap for Mary

The police were able to identify the owner of the pistol. It turned out to be... the husband of Ron's sister - Paul Freshour. During the preliminary investigation, dozens of pieces of evidence were found proving his involvement. Including a handwriting match. A trial took place, and Paul went to jail for 25 years.

He sat, and the letters continued to arrive, revealing more and more dirty secrets...



One of the letters

There were those in the city who did not believe that Paul was guilty. Some considered the author of the letters to be Karen, his wife, who retained all the property after her ex-husband was sentenced. Others were sure that the sender was David Longberry, a colleague of Mary’s, who had an uneasy attitude towards the woman and was angry at her refusal.



Paul Freshour

The letters continued to arrive until Paul was released from prison in 1994. After this, the sending stopped abruptly.

And the case, which was never brought to a conclusion, remained in the history of crimes as clear evidence of the strong impact that anonymous threats can have on society. And what deep scars blackmail can leave in the mind. Scars that will never heal completely.