A. J. Carr, until Frieda told Child Protective Services that Carr was physically abusing her. When a polygraph exam confirmed Frieda’s story, Health Rehabilitation Services had stepped in to take custody of the children. All grim news by most standards, but in the world of Ottis Toole and Henry Lee Lucas, it was just the ordinary stuff of life.
Ottis was happy to know that Lucas had not forsaken him, of course. Things had not worked out so well between him and Rita, and before long he and Lucas had moved into another of Betty Goodyear’s rooming houses. He and Lucas worked together for Reaves Roofing for one day right before Christmas, and then Ottis managed to get Goodyear to hire Lucas as a fellow maintenance worker. Indeed, five months after they’d split up and Toole had gone to South Florida on his little fling, things seemed to be working out for the two of them.
There was a troubling incident at one of Goodyear’s properties right after the New Year, however. At about ten o’clock on the night of January 4, 1982, a fire broke out in one of the bedrooms of a house she owned at 117 East Second Street, near downtown Jacksonville. When firefighters responded, they found sixty-five-year-old George Sonnenberg unconscious in the room next to the vacant quarters where the fire had broken out, second- and third-degree burns covering most of his body. Another tenant had suffered burns to his hands while trying to escape through a blazing door, and a third had broken his leg jumping from an upstairs window. Sonnenberg lingered in the hospital for a week before dying on January 11. Fire marshals ruled it an accident.
About the same time, James Redwine, Betty Goodyear’s son, overheard Ottis Toole and Henry Lee Lucas cooking up a plan that seemed sure to land them in serious trouble. They’d discovered the whereabouts of “Becky” Powell, now living with foster parents in Auburndale, a small town about halfway between Tampa and Orlando, two or three hours from where they sat. “Me and Henry Lee’ll go on down to Auburndale,” Ottis explained to Redwine, “and we’ll bring Becky on back.”
But what if the foster parents she was living with objected? Redwine wondered.
Toole smiled at Henry Lee before he answered. “What do you think, you dumbass? Anyone tries to stop us, we’ll just kill ’em.”
Redwine tried to talk the pair out of the plan, but they were resolute. As Toole explained to Redwine, he and Henry Lee had pulled off far more difficult things in the past. A few days later, as they were about to get in Ottis’s car and head out for Auburndale, the front door of their rooming house on East Seventh Street flew open, and Redwine heard a female voice shouting, “Uncle Ottis! Henry Lee!”
It was fourteen-year-old Frieda “Becky” Powell with her arms outstretched, overjoyed to see Uncle Ottis and Henry Lee again.
To Redwine it seemed a miracle, but authorities in Auburndale were well aware of Frieda’s history with Ottis Toole and Henry Lee Lucas, and it was not long before investigators were nosing around Betty Goodyear’s office, wondering if anyone had seen a young woman matching Frieda’s description.
If Toole wasn’t sure what to do next, Frieda and Henry Lee had no difficulty making their decision. According to Redwine the pair had been gone from Jacksonville for two days before Toole realized that they had skipped out on him once again.
Toole, whose only real loves in life were his mother, his niece, and Henry Lee, took it hard. He paced his room for days, muttering to himself, and then, after buying a white-on-white two-door Cadillac from Spencer’s Motors in Jacksonville, he disappeared.
Toole spent some time out west, made a few brief acquaintances in Louisiana, then finally turned up again in Jacksonville, where he was arrested on September 22, 1982, for driving without a valid driver’s license. On November 1, he was arrested again by sheriff’s deputies on the same charge,
Ottis was happy to know that Lucas had not forsaken him, of course. Things had not worked out so well between him and Rita, and before long he and Lucas had moved into another of Betty Goodyear’s rooming houses. He and Lucas worked together for Reaves Roofing for one day right before Christmas, and then Ottis managed to get Goodyear to hire Lucas as a fellow maintenance worker. Indeed, five months after they’d split up and Toole had gone to South Florida on his little fling, things seemed to be working out for the two of them.
There was a troubling incident at one of Goodyear’s properties right after the New Year, however. At about ten o’clock on the night of January 4, 1982, a fire broke out in one of the bedrooms of a house she owned at 117 East Second Street, near downtown Jacksonville. When firefighters responded, they found sixty-five-year-old George Sonnenberg unconscious in the room next to the vacant quarters where the fire had broken out, second- and third-degree burns covering most of his body. Another tenant had suffered burns to his hands while trying to escape through a blazing door, and a third had broken his leg jumping from an upstairs window. Sonnenberg lingered in the hospital for a week before dying on January 11. Fire marshals ruled it an accident.
About the same time, James Redwine, Betty Goodyear’s son, overheard Ottis Toole and Henry Lee Lucas cooking up a plan that seemed sure to land them in serious trouble. They’d discovered the whereabouts of “Becky” Powell, now living with foster parents in Auburndale, a small town about halfway between Tampa and Orlando, two or three hours from where they sat. “Me and Henry Lee’ll go on down to Auburndale,” Ottis explained to Redwine, “and we’ll bring Becky on back.”
But what if the foster parents she was living with objected? Redwine wondered.
Toole smiled at Henry Lee before he answered. “What do you think, you dumbass? Anyone tries to stop us, we’ll just kill ’em.”
Redwine tried to talk the pair out of the plan, but they were resolute. As Toole explained to Redwine, he and Henry Lee had pulled off far more difficult things in the past. A few days later, as they were about to get in Ottis’s car and head out for Auburndale, the front door of their rooming house on East Seventh Street flew open, and Redwine heard a female voice shouting, “Uncle Ottis! Henry Lee!”
It was fourteen-year-old Frieda “Becky” Powell with her arms outstretched, overjoyed to see Uncle Ottis and Henry Lee again.
To Redwine it seemed a miracle, but authorities in Auburndale were well aware of Frieda’s history with Ottis Toole and Henry Lee Lucas, and it was not long before investigators were nosing around Betty Goodyear’s office, wondering if anyone had seen a young woman matching Frieda’s description.
If Toole wasn’t sure what to do next, Frieda and Henry Lee had no difficulty making their decision. According to Redwine the pair had been gone from Jacksonville for two days before Toole realized that they had skipped out on him once again.
Toole, whose only real loves in life were his mother, his niece, and Henry Lee, took it hard. He paced his room for days, muttering to himself, and then, after buying a white-on-white two-door Cadillac from Spencer’s Motors in Jacksonville, he disappeared.
Toole spent some time out west, made a few brief acquaintances in Louisiana, then finally turned up again in Jacksonville, where he was arrested on September 22, 1982, for driving without a valid driver’s license. On November 1, he was arrested again by sheriff’s deputies on the same charge,
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