Crank or Serial Killer? So far, Only Self-Admitted Suspect Knows for Sure
Convicted in the 1978 murder of a U.S. Marine, 72-year-old Edward Harold Bell is already serving a 70-year sentence.
But it appears that the admitted sex offender and self-described serial killer may also have murdered a number of adolescent girls in various parts of Texas years ago, the Houston Chronicle reports.
In a lengthy article today, the newspaper details Bell’s claimed deadly crime path through Texas. He has never been charged in the other cases, although investigators say they believe he could be a viable suspect. At least one former district attorney, in Galveston, says the evidence just wasn’t there to prove the case, and a tough decision had to be made.
Bell indicates that he would talk on the record but wants immunity, according to the Chronicle. And, of course, it could be just talk for the sake of getting attention.
Even though a conviction likely wouldn’t make much difference in Bell’s daily life, family members of his possible victims still yearn for justice.
“It makes it hard that we don’t know if this Bell guy is a nut or if he’s telling the truth,” Dotti Walker, the aunt of one murdered teen tells the Chronicle. “As bad and as mean as he is, he could be telling the truth because of his conscience … Not knowing is heartbreaking.”
