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By SHELLEY DENEAU Daily Press StaffESCANABA — Mass murderer Henry Lee Lucas did not stab to death Jane Baribeau Snow of Escanaba five years ago, according to State Police Detective Lt. Don Chappell, Traverse City.Lucas, who is awaiting trial in Texas for a sex slaying, was recently interviewed about 30 unsolved Michigan homicides. Only eight from the Detroit area could be linked to the man who claims to have killed over 300 women, Chappell said.Prior to his interview the self-proclaimed killer told Michigan law enforcement officials he would cooperate in their efforts to solve the cases. The detectives showed Lucaspictures of the victims and asked specific questions about the cases that only the murderer would have known.Detective Sgt. William Bradway, one of the police officials to interview Lucas, thoroughly versed himself in the facts of the Snow murder. He visited the rest stop where the murder occurred and read the thick file that Chappell had prepared.Sgt. Bradwav had all the information so if Lucas was involved he coula have ascertained that,” Chappell said.Now that Lucas has been ruled out, detectives will be questioning Otis O’Toole, a man who reportedly traveled with Lucas on many murders. He is currently facing murder charges in Florida.Both men have relatives in Michigan and frequently visited the area. State police believed tne profile of the two —committing murders with no apparent motive — matched the evidence in the Snow murder.Few clues to the slaying are available but all indications the police have for them to believe the Snow murder was a motiveless or “serial” crime, Chappell said. There were no witnesses. No murder weapon was found. Robbery and rape were ruled out because the police found her fully clothed and her purse undisturbed.Like other Lucas murders the Snow homicide was brutal. Snow, who was 31, was stabbed to death May 15, 1979 at the 1-75 Loon Lake Rest Area near Gaylord while she and her two young sons were traveling from Grand Rapids to Escanaba where she had planned to work as a registered nurse.When the mother failed to return to the car after going intothe restroom alone, the boys, Eric, then 9, and his brother, Mark, 8, went in looking for her. After discovering her body they flagged a passing motorist and were taken to tne nearby state police post.The severity of the attack, which was documented by the autopsy, indicates the muurderer most likely was a physically strong adult based on the nature of the 26 stab wounds.Lucas and O’Toole were not the first suspects in the case. A nearby resident and a hitchhiker were apprehended as possible suspects but both were released because of insuffient evidence.Michigan authorities will be traveling to Florida in mid-August to interview O’Toole about his possible involvement in the case.
Newspaper Details
Escanaba Daily Press
Escanaba, Michigan, US
Tue, Jul 17, 1984
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WI, USA 26 Aug 2019
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