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Michael Wayne
JACKSON
Classification:
Homicide
Characteristics: Former mental patient
- Three-state crime spree
Number of victims: 3
Date of murders:
September
1986
Date of birth: 1945
Victims profile: Thomas E. Gahl(his
probation officer)
/ A grocer / A motorist
Method of murder:
Shooting
Location: Indiana/Missouri/Kentucky, USA
Status: Committed suicide by shooting himself after he was cornered by the
police in an abandoned barn on October 2,
1986
Trapped in barn, man in crime spree
kills himself
The New York Times
October 4, 1986
Michael Wayne Jackson, the
suspect in a three-state crime spree that set
off a widespread manhunt, killed himself late
Thursday night after he was cornered by the
police in an abandoned barn.
''We can finally unload our
shotguns,'' Nelson Paul, a 28-year-old resident,
said as he stood outside a police command center
early today. ''It's like having a load of bricks
lifted from your shoulders.''
Mr. Jackson, a 41-year-old
former mental patient, shot himself in the head
with the same shotgun he used throughout the
rampage that began Sept. 22 and left three
people dead, said Hal Helterhoff, head of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's office in
nearby St. Louis.
Mr. Jackson, still bearded
and still clad in the same clothes he was
wearing when he was last seen, was positively
identified through fingerprints, the official
said. Police Did Not Shoot Suspect
Mr. Jackson's body was taken
to St. Louis County Hospital for an autopsy,
said Sgt. Walter Ryan of the Missouri Highway
Patrol. Sergeant Ryan said a preliminary
investigation indicated that Mr. Jackson had not
suffered an earlier gunshot wound, as the police
had believed.
During the
manhunt the police thought that Mr. Jackson had
been wounded in a gun battle with two Wright
City police officers Sept. 22 that left one
officer wounded. But Sergeant Ryan said today
that this was not the case.
The barn was less than a
quarter of a mile from where Mr. Jackson was
last seen after the shootout. Sergeant Ryan said
Mr. Jackson apparently had not been too long in
the barn, which was checked several times.
The crime spree terrorized
Wright City, a town of 1,200 people in eastern
Missouri near St. Louis, and residents armed
themselves and locked their doors for the first
time in years.
A Sense of Relief
On Thursday night, hundreds
of people had gathered along the service road of
Interstate 70, hoping for the end of the 11-day
hunt.
Relief swept through the town
today as word spread that Mr. Jackson, who had
vowed not to be taken alive, was found dead.
''We're euphoric,'' said
Sheila Cone, superintendent of the Wright City
School District. ''It's like being released from
a trap. There's an overwhelming sense of relief.''
Renda Bloebaum, a waitress at
the 50's Cafe, said: ''It's been terrible around
here, but now it's great. Everyone is just real
happy that we can get back to living normal,
that we won't have to deal with road blocks and
all that, knowing that there's a maniac running
around.''
Mr. Jackson was wanted for
three slayings and a series of thefts and
abductions across Indiana, Illinois and
Missouri. He was accused of killing his
probation officer, a grocer in Indianapolis and
a motorist in Missouri. He was also accused of
abducting five people and commandeering several
vehicles.
Mr. Jackson, who had painted
his face silver and black, had not been seen
since he fled on foot into the woods west of
Wright City after crashing a stolen Cadillac
into a fence along Interstate 70 on Sept. 22.
Notified About Hitchhiker
The police focused on the
barn about 6:20 P.M. Thursday after officers
received a report that a man matching Mr.
Jackson's description was seen hitchhiking about
20 miles away earlier that day.
Four officers entered the
barn about 6:30 P.M., said Mr. Helterhoff of the
F.B.I. One of the officers hit the ground when
he heard a muffled shotgun blast, and the others
fled, he said. Two shots were fired by the
police at the barn so the remaining officer
could escape.
Unaware that Mr. Jackson had
committed suicide, the police used a bullhorn to
try to coax him out. The police brought in two
helicopters with searchlights and threw eight
tear gas canisters inside as they plotted how
they would enter the barn. They discovered the
body in the loft.
U.S. Probation
Office
Southern District of Indiana
About Thomas E. Gahl
The United States Probation Office for the Southern
District of Indiana has been dedicated to the memory of U.S. Probation
Officer Thomas E. Gahl, who was the first U.S. Probation Officer killed
in the line of duty by a parolee. Tom was killed on September 22, 1986,
by Michael Wayne Jackson, who had a life-long history of mental illness
and random acts of violence. Being pursued after a lengthy crime spree,
which included two other murders and several kidnappings, Jackson ended
his own life.
Tom took the oath of office as a U.S. Probation
Officer on March 14, 1975, after working in the Indiana State
Penitentiary, Michigan City, and the U.S. Penitentiary, Terre Haute,
Indiana. He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps as a 1st
Lieutenant. He obtained a bachelor's degree from Augustana College,
Rock Island, Illinois, and a master's degree from Indiana State
University, Terre Haute, Indiana. During his 11 years as a U.S.
Probation Officer, Tom was known as a fair, well-mannered professional
who treated everyone equally. He also enjoyed socializing with his
colleagues at baseball games over a beer.
Above all, Tom was a dedicated father and husband who
enjoyed a full and contented family life with his wife, Nancy, and sons,
Christopher and Nicholas. By dedicating the U.S. Probation Office for
the Southern District of Indiana to Thomas E. Gahl, we desire to
perpetuate his memory -- his many significant contributions to the work
of this office, his genial personality and exemplary character -- and to
express again, in a more permanent way, our deep and lasting affection
for him.
SEX:
M RACE: W TYPE: N MOTIVE: PC-nonspecific
MO:
Shot his probation officer and two other men.
DISPOSITION:
Suicide by gunshot to avoid arrest, Oct. 2, 1986.
Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial
Killers
