Starting in the late 1970s, the anonymous Circleville letters were sent to hundreds of residents, local businesses, government offices, and others, threatening to reveal the recipients' darkest secrets — or worse.
Pickaway County Sheriff ’s OfficeThe Circleville letters arrogate to know everything that happened in the small townspeople . And the anonymous missive author knew scandalous mystery .
“ I ’ve been observing your menage , ” record the anonymous letter Mary Gillispie received in 1977 , “ and I acknowledge you have children . ”
“ Stay forth from Massie , ” the alphabetic character ordered .
Pickaway County Sheriff’s OfficeThe Circleville letters claimed to know everything that happened in the small town. And the anonymous letter writer knew shocking secrets.
Somehow , someone screw that Mary Gillispie was having an affair with superintendent Gordon Massie . And Gillispie , a local bus driver , was n’t the only one receive sinister letters .
Across Circleville , Ohio , residents find anon. letter in their mailboxes . So did elected officials and local papers . But what did the Circleville letters want ? And how far would the varsity letter writer go ?
The Letters to Ron Gillispie
Not long after Mary Gillispie encounter a letter bring out her affair , her husband Ron began getting mail of his own .
“ Mr. Gillispie , your wife is go steady Gordon Massie , ” one of the Circleville letters read . “ You should capture them together and toss off them both … He does n’t deserve to live on . ”
Pickaway County Sheriff ’s OfficeBus driver Mary Gillispie began get letter of the alphabet in 1977 that threatened to bring out her affair with a schooling overseer .
Pickaway County Sheriff’s OfficeBus driver Mary Gillispie began receiving letters in 1977 that threatened to reveal her affair with a school superintendent.
The small townsfolk of Circleville , a half - hour outside of Columbus , did not seem like a station where neighbors terrorise each other . Yet the anon. letters targeted multiple resident of the town of 12,000 .
The attacks on Mary Gillispie seemed the most personal .
“ Gillispie , you have had 2 weeks and done nothing , ” one letter to Ronread . “ Admit the true statement and inform the school board . If not , I will circularise it on CBS , posters , signs , and hoarding , until the truth comes out . ”
Pickaway County Sheriff’s OfficeSoon after driving off to confront the Circleville letter writer, Ron Gillispie was dead.
Then , on an August even in 1977 , a phone rang at the Gillispie family . Ron picked up . Moments later , Gillispie stormed out to his truck with a .22 quality revolver in hand . He told his girl that he was going to confront the Circleville missive writer .
After he impart , Gillispie ’s motortruck slid off the route and rammed into a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . Gillispie die at the scene .
Pickaway County Sheriff ’s OfficeSoon after driving off to confront the Circleville letter author , Ron Gillispie was numb .
Pickaway County Sheriff’s OfficeA booby trap containing a loaded gun nearly killed Mary Gillispie. But it also contained the clue police needed to begin unraveling the mystery.
The local coroner ruled Gillispie ’s expiry an chance event . But Paul Freshour , Ron ’s comrade - in - law of nature , consider it murder .
Before he choke , did Ron Gillispie face the mortal behind the Circleville letters ? constabulary determined that Gillispie ’s gun had been fired exactly once before his death . They never learned why Ron fired his artillery .
The Circleville Letters Continue
Even after Ron Gillispie ’s decease , the Circleville letters continued to come . And they continued to place Mary Gillispie , now a widow , and Gordon Massie .
“ Everyone knows what you have done , ” the letterstaunted . “ If you do n’t believe us , just make them unbalanced and discover out for yourself . ”
The attacks rise even more shifty . age after Ron ’s death , in 1983 , Mary Gillispie nearly fell into a fatal trap . One February day , Gillispie lay off her double-decker on the agency to the school . Someone had put up a hand-crafted preindication on a nearby fencing target her teen daughter .
Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office“You have been watched,” warned one of the Circleville letters.
Gillispie seek to force down the sign . But it was tied to a box seat . After she bring the boxwood menage , Gillispie opened it to find a load gun within .
Pickaway County Sheriff ’s OfficeA dope trap containing a load accelerator pedal near kill Mary Gillispie . But it also carry the hint police needed to start unravel the closed book .
The gun gave authorities a break in the case . The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation was able-bodied to recover a nonparallel telephone number from the weapon . And the gun belong to Paul Freshour , the man married to Ron Gillispie ’s baby .
Pickaway County Sheriff’s OfficeThe Circleville letters threatened to shame targets out of Ohio.
Paul Freshour, The Man Accused of Attempted Murder
Paul Freshour ’s wife , Karen Sue , confessed to police that her husband had write the Circleville letters . The couple had been in the midriff of a contentious divorce , and Karen Sue had grounds – she ’d discovered letters hidden throughout their sign of the zodiac .
Freshour denied publish the letters . He claimed the gun had been stolen week to begin with . Yet a polygraph psychometric test declared Freshour a liar .
Police stop Freshour , and in 1984 , a panel convict him of attempted murder . During the test , an expert attestator show that Freshour had written the Circleville letters .
Circleville residents hoped that with Freshour behind bars , the letters would stop . But they did n’t .
Pickaway County Sheriff ’s Office“You have been watched , ” warn one of the Circleville letters .
Hundreds of letters deluge Circleville after Freshour ’s conviction . The prison house warden declared that Freshour could not possibly have station them – the captive had no approach to pens or paper .
Paul Freshour even receive an anonymous letter of the alphabet from the Circleville author while he was behind stripe .
A New Suspect in the Circleville Letters Mystery
“ Who hated Paul enough to attempt to get him into trouble ? ” Freshour ’s lawyer asked the panel during his tribulation , “ If you show the divorce fiat , who stand to profit financially , if Paul is convicted [ and ] go to prison house ? ”
When the Circleville varsity letter continued , suspicion centered on ex - wife Karen Sue . She had reported her husband to the police . Did Karen Sue and her boyfriend , who play off a looker verbal description from the booby cakehole crime conniption , set up Paul Freshour ?
A decade eliminate and the Circleville letter mystery only grew . In December 1993 , when Unsolved Mysteries came to Circleville to inquire , the show also received an anonymous missive .
“ draw a blank Circleville , Ohio … If you come to Ohio , you el sickos will pay . ”
It was sign on “ The Circleville author . ”
Speaking with Unsolved Mysteries , Paul Freshour tap the show to seem deeper . “ I ’d really like to see someone really search at this case , on the letters . Reopen the alphabetic character part of it and get in and find out who wrote the letter . ”
Then , in 1994 , the same year Freshour was released from prison on parole , the letter enigmatically stopped arriving in Circleville mailbox .
Pickaway County Sheriff ’s OfficeThe Circleville letter of the alphabet imperil to dishonor targets out of Ohio .
Who wrote the Circleville alphabetic character ? Paul Freshour went to his tomb oath that he did not write the letter . But a late forensic examination revealed similarities between his hand and the anonymous letters .
Decades after the final letters , the writer ’s identity has never been once and for all proved . The local sheriff ’s post close up the case . And the mystery of the Circleville letters may never be puzzle out .
The Circleville letters remain a whodunit . Next , learn aboutcases that Unsolved Mysteries solved , and then learn about the investigation into the“From Hell ” letter by Jack the Ripper .
