The Phantom

Short Biography

The Phantom Killer is an unidentified serial killer thought to be responsible for a series of slayings between February 22 and May 3, 1946. which became known as the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, which inspired the 1976 movie The Town That Dreaded Sundown. The murders occurred in and around the city of Texarkana, which sits astride the border between Texas and Arkansas. As such, there is both a city of Texarkana, TX and a city of Texarkana, AR. Most of the murders occurred in rural areas near both sides of the Texarkana area and also in rural areas of Bowie County, TX and Miller County, AR. He is Texarkana's only known serial killer and is credited with a number of attacks. The attacks took place at approximately three-week intervals. The Phantom Killer was also known as The Texarkana Phantom or simply The Phantom, The Phantom Slayer and The Moonlight Murderer because he often killed late at night. Despite the name and rumors, he did not attack when the moon was full. The Phantom Killer was never identified by law enforcement and was consequently never apprehended, similar to the more well known serial killers Jack the Ripper, who operated in the Whitechapel area of London, England between the late 1880s and early 1890s and the Zodiac Killer in who operated in the Northern California area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, both of whom also were never apprehended for their deeds. The "Phantom Killer" title was not associated with the killer until the April 16, 1946, issue of the now defunct Texarkana Daily News, an evening companion to the Texarkana Gazette morning paper. He was described by two of the surviving victims as a six-foot-tall man wearing a white mask over his head with holes cut out for his eyes and mouth, although neither could agree as to whether the assailant was a light-skinned black man or a dark-tanned white man.