A KILLER IN MANITOWOC (PART 5)

Five days after the Fredonia killings the state of Wisconsin was still buzzing about it. The police still had no leads. 50 miles to the north, the city of Manitowoc sat on the shores of Lake Michigan. Although relatively close in proximity, the events in Fredonia really didn't have much of an impact on this city of 34,000.

It was a warm summer evening. A teenage couple, Eric Malley and Rachel Hynek were driving around town. Rachel was driving since Eric hadn't gotten his license yet. They were heading north on S. 21st Street and had just passed Holy Family Hospital when Rachel abruptly took a left turn onto Clay Pit Road. With a lecherous tone in his voice, Eric asked, "Where are you going?" Rachel just gave him a mischievous smile and kept driving.



Clay Pit Road was a dead end road smack dab in the middle of town. It ran by the mysterious Chiefs club then hugged the Manitowoc River crossing over then under some railroad tracks before coming to an end. The end of the road had a reputation of being a local makeout spot. Clearly Rachel had that very thought on her mind. Eric certainly didn't care.



There wasn't much light beyond the car's headlights once they'd passed the Chiefs club. The road got a little bumpy once the paved portion ended and the road turned to gravel.

A quarter-mile down the road, Rachel suddenly brought the car to a halt. Unfortunately for them, due to some recent heavy rains in town, the river had risen to a level which had caused some flooding on portions of the road. So the city officials had put up a temporary barricade barring vehicles from going the distance.



"Looks like the road's blocked," said Eric.

"Not to worry," Rachel replied.

And with that remark she reached around into the back seat and pulled a blanket from the floor.

"My little sister gets cold sometimes. So my parents keep this old blanket in here for her. Now let's go! I'm horny!"

Before Rachel had the entire blanket in her arms, Eric had exited the car and was working his away around the front of the car. Once Rachel was out, the two of them ducked down, passed through the barricade and began walking down the gravel road.

After a few minutes of walking, Rachel spotted a small clearing in the darkness on the left.







She threw the blanket down, spreading it out somewhat evenly over the lumpy ground. She then stood in the middle of the blanket and aggressively pulled Eric towards her until they were body to body. Eric looked down and said, "I think it's a little wet here."

"So am I," she seductively replied. She then planted her lips on his while at the same time moving her right hand over his crotch. Their breathing immediately got heavier when they became startled by the snap of a breaking twig.

"What the fuck was that?" Eric yelled.

"I don't know." said Rachel, suddenly sounding a bit worried herself. "Maybe we should just go back to the car."

As they gathered the blanket up, Eric's body suddenly stiffened. He then made a gurgling sound and started to convulse. Rachel took a step back then caught a side glimpse off Eric silouhetted in the moonlight. Protruding from Eric's chest was a massive fist. Frozen by fear, Rachel watched as the hand unclenched itself and some of Eric's entrails dropped to the ground.

An equally massive left hand then appeared from behind her boyfriend, grabbed Eric's left shoulder and pushed it away, unwedging the killer's right hand. As Eric's corpse crumpled to the ground, the killer grabbed the blanket from his hand. He then took three steps towards Rachel, who by this time had backed up into a tree. Unable to move or even scream, Rachel found herself face-to-stomach with Buster Koons.

Knowing his prey was petrified to the point of immobility, Koons slowly wrapped the blanket around her neck, winding it around several times. Koons rolled the final end of it around his own wrist. Then with minimal effort he swung his arm, lifting Rachel off the ground, and swinging her violently onto the gravel. Rachel landed with a thud and screamed in pain. But her scream was cut short as she was yanked into the air again, this time being swung back against the very tree she had been leaning again moments earlier. The tree was instantly covered with blood as Rachel's body split open. With one final pull of the blanket, Rachel's head popped off into the air, landing in a small pool of water.

Koons ventured backwards, stepping on Eric's lifeless body before spinning around and walking up a gravel and bush-covered embankment to a set of railroad tracks running east and west.