Post by Scumhunter on Mar 18, 2015 0:03:16 GMT -5
December 2014 marked the 40-year anniversary of one of Sioux City, Iowa's most infamous unsolved homicides.
During a snow morning on December 3rd, 1974, on a snowy morning in Sioux City Harriet Isom and her next-door neighbor drove across town to her son's home at 1117 Morningside Drive. There was reason to worry because neither Harriet's son, 27-year old Billy Isom, or his roommate, 26-year old Jesse Hanni showed up for their jobs where they worked as boilermakers.
When Harriet entered the house, she would first find Billy's girlfriend Freta, who was 24-years old and pregnant, lying face down on the floor. She had been shot once in the back.
Then she found Jesse Hanni fully clothed propped up against a door in the hall. He'd been shot once through the back and once behind the left ear.
And then she sadly found Billy lying face down on the floor killed in the most brutal fashion of them all- shot twice in the head and three times in the back.
Since then there have been few leads but ominous foreshadowing.
Jesse Hanni had reportedly told his brother prior to his death that someone was after him. According to his brother Ray it was a drug-dealer Jesse had crossed in a deal that he was afraid of.
The landlord of the house Billy, Jesse, and Freta rented also found it unusual that he didn't receive his rent check on December 2nd when there were usually no issues with payments.
Authorities believed from the beginning that the killings were drug-related, and that all three victims knew the perpetrator. Jesse himself kept a .357 caliber revolver, suggesting that him and his roommates had anticipated problems.
Because the gun was found parked outside the house in Jesse's Chevrolet, and .380 bullets were also found likely fired from a semi-automatic weapon, police also believe there may have been two killers.
Shortly afterwards, authorities interviewed a couple who worked at the same construction job as the victims and quit just hours before their bodies were found. However, police soon cleared them of any wrong-doing. Another suspect was subjected to a lie-detector test, but it didn't lead to an arrest.
Since then the leads have dried up- but the surviving family members and investigators on the case still hold onto the hope that one day justice can still be served.
Thoughts? I realize Billy, Freta, and Jesse were likely engaging in activities they shouldn't have been getting involved with but one thing that should be remembered was this was in the 1970's. Although I wasn't around back then for it and it's not like we don't have drug problems today- descriptions of the entire decade give off the impression that half of everybody under 30 was on psychedelic drugs and just about everybody under 30 at the very least tried marijuana (I realize I'm exaggerating somewhat but it seems drug use was rampant at the very least). So Billy, Jesse, and Freta were really no different than a lot of young people back then. They didn't deserve to lose their lives for what they did. It seems Jesse at the very least knew who could possibly have done this, and I wish he had gone into more detail with his brother. It seems what will solve this case is someone remembering something, anything, but authorities have already conducted hundreds of interviews. To re-interview 40 years later would be a long shot and I don't think hypnosis would be as effective compared to if these murders were only 10 years ago. But sometimes if you give enough that to a particular day in your life, something may strike you that you never thought of before. So if anyone knows anything, please tell authorities. Justice delayed is not justice denied.
Admin Note #1: According to iowacoldcases.org, If you have any information about this unsolved triple homicide, please contact the Sioux City Police Department at 712-279-6390.
Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/jesse-hanni-freta-bostic-and-billy-isom/
siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/years-after-morningside-triple-slaying-police-still-have-questions/article_8aff389b-d281-5bff-81f6-c291504f4ae5.html