John Arthur Ackroyd was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner.
Ackroyd was born on October 3, 1949, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His father worked as a truck driver and his mother was a homemaker.
Ackroyd has three brothers and one sister. He was a troubled child and was often in trouble with the law. In 1967, he was arrested for stealing a car and spent two years in juvenile detention.
After his release, Ackroyd married and had two children. However, his marriage quickly ended in divorce. In the early 1980s, Ackroyd began working as a long-haul truck driver.
It was during this time that he began committing crimes. His first known victim was Kaye Turner, who disappeared in 1985. Her body was found two years later in a shallow grave in Ohio.
Ackroyd was eventually arrested and charged with her murder. He was convicted and sentenced to five life terms in prison. However, authorities believe that Ackroyd may have been responsible for other murders, as he is known to have traveled extensively throughout the United States during his time as a truck driver.
Biography
John Ackroyd was an American serial killer and murderer. Sweet Home, Oregon, is a small logging town where he was born on October 3, 1949. In addition to working as office workers at the police department, his parents also worked as maintenance men. Besides his older sister, he also had a younger sister.
He was bullied during his school years due to his loner personality. A special education designation appears on his high school diploma. Even though he had been accused of being a felony burglar, he enlisted in the Army.
The mechanic was caught stealing equipment while he was working overseas as a mechanic. As a result of Kaye Turner’s abduction and murder, he was sentenced to five life sentences in prison in 1992.
Ackroyd had a history of violence before he killed Turner. In 1971, he attacked and raped a woman who was seven months pregnant. He served four years in prison for that crime. He was also arrested in 1979 for assault and in 1981 for rape. However, he was not convicted of either of those crimes.
Attacks And Murders
John Arthur Ackroyd was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner.
However, it is believed that Ackroyd may have been involved in the murder of several other women.
When Ackroyd raped Marlene Gabrielsen in 1977, police first became aware of him. The following year, Roger Dale Beck abducted Kaye Turner and murdered her. Kaye Turner’s murder was also tried in a separate trial Jefferson county sheriff’s office in which Beck was found guilty.
Rachanda Lea Pickle
John Arthur Ackroyd was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner.
The daughter of Linda Pickle, who had married Ackroyd in the mid-1980s, was Rachanda Pickle, the daughter of Ackroyd’s first wife. A state highway work crew lived at Santiam Junction, at the intersection of Oregon state penitentiary 22 and U.S.The area is remote and there were no children her age there. She was bused to school.
Ackroyd was physically and sexually abusive to her. One day Rachanda was left at home during the day. Ackroyd decided to take the day off and he returned home in the morning. She was never seen again.
Sheila Swanson And Melissa Sanders
The 1992 murders of Sheila Swanson and Melissa Sanders took place in Lincoln County, Oregon. In just a few weeks, Ackroyd aggravated the murder of Kaye Turner.
Ron Benson and Linda Snow, two investigators were preparing to present evidence against Ackroyd when he was sentenced to life in prison for Turner’s murder.
Ackroyd has also been investigated in connection with the murders of several other women, including Deborah Dyer, who disappeared in 1979; Kimberly Moreau, who disappeared in 1980; Pamela Powell, who disappeared in 1982; Tina Mincey, who disappeared in 1982; Kimberly Ann Floyd, who disappeared in 1985; and Tracy Ann Winston, who disappeared in 1987.
All of these women were last seen in areas where Ackroyd is known to have been at the time of their disappearances.
However, there have been other cases that Investigators believe may be connected to Ackroyd. During the 1970s, Marlene Gabrielsen, Kaye Turner, and then Ackroyd’s stepdaughter, Rachanda, followed by Matilda Bisson in 1988, and Melissa and Sheila in 1992 all share eerie similarities.
All the victims were female, with many of them being sexually assaulted before they were murdered. Not to mention that Ackroyd had some connection to each of the victims- whether it was through work or family.
Kaye Jean Gray Turner
John Arthur Ackroyd was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. In 1992, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner. Kaye Turner was abducted and killed in 1978 while on holiday with her husband at Camp Sherman, Oregon.
Ackroyd reported finding her remains in the woods in 1979 and claimed to be the last person to see her alive. However, over time he began to disclose new information about her kidnapping and murder.
Rachanda Pickle, Ackroyd’s step-daughter, went missing in 1990, and this led police to earnestly investigate him and collect new evidence.He died in prison in 2016
Custody And Death
Ackroyd was sentenced to five life terms in prison for the abduction and murder of Kaye Turner. He died in custody on December 30, 2016, at the age of 67.
Ackroyd’s death was initially believed to be natural causes. However, an autopsy later revealed that he had been strangled to death with a bedsheet. His cellmate, fellow prisoner Ronald Lee Stanford, was charged with his murder.
In May 2018, Ackroyd’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the prison, alleging that staff members had failed to properly monitor Stanford and had placed the two men in a cell together despite knowing that they did not get along. The lawsuit is still pending as of June 2018.
Learn More:
- Best Books on Serial Killers
- 4 Types Of Serial Killers: All You Need To Know
- Serial Killers Childhood: Does Childhood Trauma Create Serial Killers?
