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City Death Tied To Slaying SpreeBy MIKE PHILIPPS News Staff WriterMen County Coroner Dr. William Noble this morning confirmed the body found in a wooded area east of Lima Thanksgiving Day was that of William V. Bates of 224 Valley Way. Bates had been missing since Sept. 3.The badly-decomposed body was discovered by a hunter in a wooded area east of the Napoleon Road intersection of Rt. 81 at approximately noon, according to sheriffs reports.Bates, an Ohio Power Co. customer accounts supervisor, disappeared after leaving home for his office on Sept 3. His auto was found abandoned early this month in Florida and was connected by authorities to John Paul Knowles, who is being held by Georgia authorities in connection with 12 slayings throughout the South.Allen County sheriff’s deputies said late this morning they were going to file charges against Knowles in connection with Bates’ death.Allen County sheriff’s deputies and Dr. Noble identified the body through dental records.“We were lucky to have secured dental x-rays of Bates and compared them with the fillings found in the body,” Noble told The News at the, Lima Memorial Hospital morgue this morning.The cause of death apparently was strangulation, Noble said, and x-rays of the body showed no bullets or broken bones.The male victim apparentlyhad been bound and gagged with electrical tape before his death, reports said. The body was not clothed when found.Dr. Noble said it was impossible to place the date of death exactly, but said he assumed it was shortly after Bates’ disappearance due to the deteriorated condition of the body.Bates left his home at about 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, and told his wife Dorothy he was going to his office.Bates never returned home and was not seen at his office that evening, according to Ohio Power spokesmen.Authorities received no dues to his disappearance until Nov. 15 when they were notified his auto had been found in Florida.That auto was reportedly abandoned by 28-year-oldKnowles of Orlando, Fla. Knowles is now under indictment for the murders of two Jacksonville, Florida, area women and also has been charged with the deaths of a 45-year-old Milledgeville, Ga., businessman and his 15-year-old daughter, Amanda Bess.Local authorities discovered a car belonging to one of the Florida women, 65-year-old Mrs. Alice Curtis, in Lima on October 4.Knowles also is being questioned in connection with the deaths of at least eight other persons including a Florida state trooper and a Delaware businessman, reportedly seen with him the day before he was captured following an intensive manhunt Nov. 17.Several of the deaths now under investigation are similar to Bates’ death, Georgia investigators indicated today.In those cases the victims were found stripped and at leastthree of them were strangled.Authorities in Florida have connected Knowles to Bates auto through fingerprints and witnesses who claim they saw him driving Bates’ late model■A*.car.The car was found in West Palm Beach, Fla, and credit cards and other identification belonging to Bates were inside, authorities say.R e c e i p t s for Bates credit cards have turned up in 25 states from coast-to-coast, authorities reported, and a man call-(See DEATH, Page 5)
Newspaper Details
The Lima News
Lima, Ohio, US
Fri, Nov 29, 1974
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Ekelly H.
CA 29 Dec 2019
Other Publications Near Lima, Ohio
The Lima News
Lima Daily News
Lima Daily Times
Lima Daily Democratic Times
Lima Allen County Democrat
