The Murders Of Barbara And Patricia Grimes

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Numerous murders have taken place throughout history and sadly, plenty of these murders go unsolved. One of these unsolved murders is the murders of Barbara and Patricia Grimes in 1957. There have been plenty of suspects, but nobody was ever convicted of the murders of the sisters. However, after reviewing possible suspects for the murders of the Grimes sisters, the true identity of the killer has been revealed as Max Fleig. Barbara and Patricia Grimes’ lives were tragically cut short when they were mysteriously murdered. On the night of December 28, 1956, Barbara and Patricia Grimes left their home to see the newly released Elvis Presley movie, “Love Me Tender” (Johnson). Tamara Shaffer explains when their mother Loretta Grimes knew something …show more content…

The first suspect is Edward “Bennie” Bedwell. Bedwell was a local dishwasher who was questioned at a local motel for three days (Sigona). What supported Bedwell as a suspect is that he actually confessed to the murder (Sigona). There were multiple problems with Bedwell’s confession, however. The first problem with his confession is, “Bedwell couldn’t read or write, so it would be nearly impossible for him to understand what he was confessing to” (Sigona). The second problem with his confession is “After a time, everyone realized Bedwell’s story didn’t add up. There were inconsistencies, including the fact that Bedwell said he was with the girls for a month before they died” (Sigona). Finally, the main problem with his confession is that the girls were dead within four hours of leaving home (Sigona). The other suspect in the case of the murder of Barbara and Patricia Grimes is Max Fleig. Max Fleig was a young man in his teens when the Grimes sisters were murdered (MacGowan). Max offered to take a lie detector test, which he failed (MacGowan). The reason Fleig was released even after failing the test is “The police began to focus on him as a prime suspect until they were told that it was illegal to polygraph someone underage. The police released him, many of the authorities thinking he was their man” (MacGowan). Another example that supports Fleig as a suspect is that he was imprisoned later in his life …show more content…

However, Fleig was not going to see a movie, he was looking to do something horrible and he did not care who the victim was. Once the film ended, Fleig sat in his car and scoped out who would be his easiest targets and he spotted Barbara and Patricia Grimes walking home by themselves. Fleig started his car and followed the girls until he saw the perfect opportunity to commit his crime. Now Max Fleig was a smart man, he did not want to kill the girls on the street and leave a noticeable cause of death. For this reason, he grabbed his gun and got out of the car and pointed it at the girls. He was not going to shoot them, he just did not want them to move. With a gun pointed at them, Barbara and Patricia Grimes listened to Fleig when he told them to get into his vehicle. Fleig did not beat them or anything he was actually fairly nice to them other than the fact he kidnapped them. Fleig knew what he was about to do and he was smart. He knew that there are poisons that are untraceable and the slightest chance of them being traced is gone if the bodies are hidden long enough. So Fleig took some arsenic, mixed it with sugar, and put it in the girls coffee when he offered them some. This is what killed Barbara and Patricia Grimes. They suffered from being poisoned for roughly 24 hours. Max Fleig knew of

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