Murder: True Crime Stories - UNSOLVED: Burger Chef Murders 1

Episode Date: November 5, 2024

In November 1978, four young employees were finishing a late shift at the Burger Chef fast food restaurant in Speedway, Indiana. Later that night, they disappeared… and were later found dead on the outskirts of town. The police had no idea who murdered them — or why. Murder: True Crime Stories is a Crime House Original. For more, follow us on Tiktok and Instagram @crimehouse To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Crime House. For so many young people, a job flipping burgers is a rite of passage. Their first paychecks, their first co-workers, their first adult responsibilities. When everything about working is brand new, even scrubbing grease off a stove can be kind of fun, at least if you're doing it alongside your friends. That's how four young employees felt during their closing shift at the Burger Chef fast food restaurant in Speedway, Indiana on November 17th, 1978. At 11 p.m. that night, they were laughing and chatting as they locked the doors and started to clean the kitchen. But by midnight, when another co-worker stopped by to check on them,

the entire closing crew had vanished without a trace. None of them would ever be seen alive again, and their killers would never be brought to justice. And their killers would never be brought to justice. People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. But you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon, and we don't always get to know the real ending.

I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder True Crime Stories, a Crime House original. Every Tuesday, I'll explore the story of a notorious murder or murders. I'll be bringing awareness to stories that need to be heard, with a focus on those who are impacted. At Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making this possible. Please support us by rating, reviewing, and following Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. And to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad-free, and instead of having to wait for each episode of a two-part series, you'll get access to both at once, plus exciting bonus content.

This is the first of two episodes on the Burger Chef murders, a horrific, unsolved, quadruple homicide that's baffled investigators for nearly 50 years. Today, I'll walk you through the night four promising young people were kidnapped and killed. Next week in part two, I'll take you through the investigation and the many obstacles detectives faced, including a number of critical errors that were committed during the investigation. Finally, I'll reveal who some detectives believe committed this terrible crime and why we may never know the truth. All that and more, coming up.

Hey everyone, it's Carter. I have a favor to ask you. If you are enjoying Murder True Crime Stories, I would be honored if you took a moment to rate and review us on Apple and Spotify. Your valuable feedback helps us improve and expand our reach so other true crime fans can find us too. Your support means everything. On November 17th, 1978, business was good at Indiana's favorite fast food joint, Burger Chef. joint, Burger Chef. With a Thanksgiving holiday coming up in Speedway, Indiana, it was the perfect time for folks to fill up on Big Chef and Super Chef burgers. Orders quickly flew from kitchen

to counter, thanks in no small part to 20-year-old assistant manager Jane Freight, who always made sure every customer left happy. Jane was born on May 2nd, 1958, to George and Carolyn Freight of Terre Haute, Indiana. Around 1970, Jane's family moved to the Indianapolis area where she would eventually attend Avon High School. From an early age, Jane showed herself to be ambitious and hardworking. And when she was 17, she started working for Burger Chef. At that time, it was one of the largest hamburger chains in Indiana. Unlike most kids working in fast food, Shane saw her job as more than a chance to earn some spending money.

It was a career. She knew that Burger Chef liked to promote from within, so she made herself indispensable, hoping to work her way up to a high-paying corporate job. Speedway Burger Chef location at 5725 Crawfordsville Road. Just three months later, in August, she was promoted to assistant manager. Wanting to make the most of the opportunity, she worked 52-hour weeks and took on any extra responsibility she could. Despite the long hours, Jane always had a smile on her face. Her sunny disposition was so well-known, her customers nicknamed her Sweet Jane. It's not easy to find an employee as dedicated as Jane, especially in fast food. Corporate even decided to put her in charge of a location of her own starting the next year.

Though she didn't know it yet, she was slated to be a store manager before she turned 21. And Jane wasn't the only ambitious employee at the Speedway Burger Chef. 17-year-old Ruth Ellen Shelton was intelligent and driven. But unlike Jane, she didn't see herself staying at Burger Chef long-term. Ruth loaded her high school schedule with honors classes in math and science. After graduating, she hoped to study computer science at a prestigious university. And she wasn't short on extracurriculars either. On weekends, Ruth sang in her church's choir and enjoyed studying the Bible. With so much on her plate, Ruth wasn't able to keep up with the

long hours she was expected to put in at Burger Chef. She'd resigned a few weeks earlier, though she agreed to stay on through the busy holiday season. As Ruth was moving on from her job at Burger Chef, 16-year-old Daniel Davis was just getting started, and he was just as ambitious as his co-workers. Daniel hoped to join the U.S. Air Force after graduating high school, just like his older brother had done. To prepare, he joined the Civil Air Patrol, the Air Force's volunteer program for young civilians. While he endured the long wait to enlist, Daniel fed his passion by photographing airplanes. He even learned to develop the photos himself and talked his parents into helping him set up a home darkroom. When he wasn't on air patrol, taking photos,

or working his 20-30 hours per week at Burger Chef, Daniel was an honor roll student at Decatur Central High School. With his work ethic and academic ability, everyone who knew Daniel felt he would be a great asset to the Air Force when the time came. The fourth and final employee working that night was 16-year-old Mark Flemons, born on December 31st, 1961. Most teenagers would have found it frustrating to have their birthday on New Year's Eve, but it didn't matter much to Mark. As devout Jehovah Witnesses, his family didn't celebrate birthdays or holidays in general. The Flemons were one of very few black families in Speedway at the time. Mr. and Mrs. Flemons were one of very few black families in Speedway at the time. Mr. and Mrs. Flemons knew their children stood out in the community, both for their race and their unusual faith.

Because of that, they felt it was their duty to raise model citizens. Mark and his six older siblings spent most of their time at home studying religious materials. And when Mark wanted to get an after-school job, his father told him he'd need to bring his grades up first. So Mark did just that. In August 1978, his dad finally gave him permission to work as a short-order cook at Burger Chef. It was a huge deal for Mark. He wanted to prove to his parents and his co-workers that they could rely on him. So when 17-year-old Ginger Haggard asked if anyone could cover her shift on Friday night while she went on a date, Mark offered to help. At the last minute though, he changed his mind and asked the store manager if he could back out of the shift.

But it was too late to find someone else, and Mark agreed to stay. So on the night of November 17th, 1978, Mark was at Burger Chef with Jane, Ruth, and Daniel. Daniel's shift ended a little earlier than the others, but another employee called in saying his van had broken down, so Daniel got his parents' permission to stay late and help close. Sadly, it was the last shift they would ever work. Hey there, Carter Roy here. If you're enjoying the chilling tales of murder true crime stories, then you'll love the Crime House original Mind of a Serial Killer. What sets Mind of a Serial Killer apart is its focus on the twisted psychology of the world's most notorious serial killers.

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Besides the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, the Burger Chef in Speedway, Indiana had another reason to schedule four people for the late shift that Friday night. On November 17th, 1978, CBS was broadcasting the Star Wars holiday special nationwide. As part of a licensing deal, Burger Chef was offering the Star Wars fun meal. The special aired from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. That left just one hour for Star Wars fans excited by the special to get their fun meals before Burger Chef closed at 11. After that, the four young employees on the closing shift

planned to spend the next hour or so cleaning the kitchen and getting the restaurant ready to reopen the next morning. As I mentioned, 16-year-old Daniel Davis wasn't supposed to be one of those four. According to FBI files, another employee was originally scheduled to close, but this person had a history of performance issues and his termination had already been finalized. Investigators redacted the employee's name and age before his files were released, so all we know about him is that he was a white male, and he hadn't been notified yet that he was fired. Friday night was set to be his last shift.

But he never showed up. That's why at 9.45 p.m, Daniel called home and asked for permission to work until midnight. His team needed the help and Daniel wanted the extra hours so he could earn money to buy Christmas presents. Daniel's parents said he could stay and that they'd wait up to make sure he got home safely. Daniel told them not to worry about waiting up for him. Fifteen minutes later, at 10 p.m., Jane's boyfriend stopped by to check on her. Per the FBI's files, her boyfriend was extremely protective and liked to stop by every once in a while to make sure she was okay. So that night, he pulled his car around to the drive-thru window and Jane told him that everything was fine.

Her boyfriend drove off, reassured that Jane was safe. That may have been because he saw that 16-year-old Mark Flemons was also working. Mark stood over six feet tall and studied karate. After a recent murder at a fast food restaurant in Oklahoma, Mark had told Jane that he'd protect her if anything bad ever happened at Burger Chef. Jane knew that burger joints open late were a popular target for robbers. She'd even rehearsed a plan with her parents in case her restaurant became a target. As she told them every time the subject came up, she wouldn't try to be a hero. She'd just give the robber whatever they wanted in order to protect herself and her team. It was a smart plan, but whoever entered the Burger Chef between its closing at 11 and midnight

wasn't your typical fast food robber. Meanwhile, a few blocks away, another Burger Chef employee had no idea his co-workers were in mortal danger. Around midnight, 17-year-old Brian Kring took his date and co-worker, 17-year-old Ginger Haggard, back to her parents' house. After dropping Ginger off, Brian drove to Burger Chef. Mark had covered Ginger's shift that night so she could keep her date. Brian planned to show his appreciation by helping Mark clean up after closing. Brian parked in the back lot near the rear entrance. He spotted Daniel's car, a 1973 Ford Pinto parked nearby He noticed all the lights were on inside the restaurant

He figured his friends were still cleaning and headed in to join them Almost immediately, Brian knew something was wrong The back door was usually bolted shut But tonight, it was ajar. And when he went inside, he saw the safe was open and the cash register drawers were pulled out with all the money missing. Ryan called his manager to ask what to do. The boss told him to call the police. That's when someone else showed up. The unidentified white male employee who had called out, claiming car trouble. He drove up in the van that had

supposedly broken down earlier that night. For convenience, I'll call this employee X. Brian found X's behavior strange. Why would someone who had just claimed he couldn't get to work show up at the restaurant uninvited after it had already closed? As soon as Brian mentioned he'd called the police, X took off. He was long gone by the time the cops showed up a few minutes later. The cops missed their chance to talk to X that night, but they did notice a few suspicious pieces of evidence when they arrived. Ruth's jacket was tossed on the floor like she dropped it and never picked it up. Jane's jacket was also found inside. Both of their purses were still in the restaurant. Everything seemed like it happened in a rush. About $100 in coins had

been left in the registers, as if the robbers left too quickly to bother carrying change. A few of the responding officers assumed that the employees had taken the money themselves and gone out together, although nobody could explain why four stellar employees would hatch such a half-hearted robbery plan, then take off without the girls' purses. So, operating on the assumption that something was wrong, the officers stayed up all night working the scene. One of those officers was Lieutenant William Crafton. He was a husky man with big sideburns and known as one of the department's top investigators. He worried that the local community would fall apart if something happened to these kids. He began marshalling his resources, preparing for a

full-scale search. But before they could tear the town apart looking for the missing Burger Chef crew, one more thing had to happen. Their parents had to be notified. Around 1 a.m., police placed four different calls to four shocked families who had no idea if their children were alive or dead. Then, at 4.30 a.m., the case took a dark turn. Jane's abandoned car was discovered a couple of blocks from the Speedway police station. There was no sign of Jane or her car keys. Police theorized the robbers had forced Jane to drive them somewhere, then abandoned her car and gotten into a different vehicle. to drive them somewhere, then abandoned her car and gotten into a different vehicle.

Around 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 18th, 1978, 11 hours after the victims were first discovered missing, the FBI was brought onto the case. But it was too late for them to find any new forensic evidence. When the Speedway police had arrived at the Burger Chef the night before, they didn't dust for fingerprints, call in crime scene investigation technicians, or even take photographs of the scene. Then, the next morning, the cops let employees clean the crime scene and open the restaurant. While police protocol has come a long way since then, even in 1978, this was not proper protocol. Later, the officers handling the case returned

to the restaurant and set the crime scene back up as best they could and took photos. They didn't immediately tell the lead investigators that the pictures they handed in were taken after the crime scene had been dismantled, cleaned, and restaged from memory. Officer Buddy Elwanger, who worked on the case, would later admit, quote, We screwed it up from the beginning. By the time the FBI arrived, the town was in an all-out panic. Search parties fanned out on foot, helicopters soared overhead. Everyone hoped they were still looking for kidnappers and living victims and not dead bodies. Those hopes were soon dashed.

Saturday dragged on without any sightings Then on Sunday afternoon, November 19th Some hikers made a horrific discovery in the woods About a half hour's drive south from the restaurant They saw Ruth's and Daniel's bodies lying near a trail And called the police When detectives arrived They soon located Jane and Mark's bodies too.

The investigators were able to determine that 17-year-old Ruth and 16-year-old Daniel were shot with a.38 caliber handgun. Their bodies were found close together, and the bullets that killed them came from the same gun. About 30 or 40 yards away, 20-year-old Jane had been stabbed to death with a hunting knife so violently that the four-and-a-half-inch blade broke off and was left in her body. The knife's handle was never found. Mark came the closest to escaping. He was the tallest of the group. Stride length alone would have made him the fastest runner. But about 150 feet from Jane's body, he died of asphyxiation.

Yet there was no sign he was strangled, although there was evidence he'd been severely beaten. evidence he'd been severely beaten. The police theorized that Mark managed to get free and ran into the dark woods where he collided with a tree. Then they thought he fell backwards, likely unconscious, and choked to death on his own blood from the injuries he sustained from the collision. Mark's body became another piece of perplexing evidence in a case that seemed to make no sense. Why would a small-time crook murder four people? How did the robber or robbers force four strong, smart young people to leave the restaurant with them, seemingly without a struggle? And where was the killer now? When the four missing Burger Chef employees were found murdered on November 18th, 1978, police had very little evidence to go on.

Still, detectives had a sinking suspicion that this wasn't the killer's first high-profile crime. Because even before these four horrific murders, 1978 was by far the scariest year anyone in Speedway, Indiana could remember. It started about four months earlier, on July 29th, with the killing of 65-year-old Julia Cyphers. She was a grandmother, a Girl Scout troop leader, and a loyal wife. Not exactly the type of person to have violent enemies. And yet, someone had killed her in cold blood. A man Julia didn't know had visited a garage sale she held some weeks earlier. Then he made an appointment to return and look at some unsold items. He missed that appointment, but showed up unexpectedly at her door on a different day. Julia agreed to go into the garage with him and show him the items. As soon as they were alone, the stranger shot Julia dead, jumped into his vehicle, and fled the scene.

Speedway police suspected the murder was a professional job. The killer planned his crime for weeks, yet didn't steal anything. He openly showed his face to the victim and her husband then he executed the crime quickly and efficiently followed by an equally quick and efficient escape. Impossible as it might seem there may have been a hitman in Speedway and for some reason he'd killed Julia Cyphers. But before the cops could get their hands around one unprecedented case, another one arose.

On September 1st, 1978, bombs exploded at three different locations in town. One of them went off across the street from the Speedway Burger Chef, not long after Jane Freight transferred to that location. Nobody was hurt, and two of the three bombs were deposited in trash containers, so police hoped they were just dealing with a prankster. That's until the fourth bomb went off the very next day, followed by the fifth and the sixth. On September 3rd, the seventh bomb exploded outside a local bowling alley. Then on September 5th, the bomber blew up a police cruiser. The final bomb, detonated on September 6th, 1978, was the only one to hurt a human being. It was concealed in a gym bag in the parking lot of Speedway High School, where Mark Fleming studied and played in the band.

As a football game was letting out, 39-year-old Carl DeLong, a Vietnam veteran with a son on the football team, spotted the gym bag. He thought one of the players must have forgotten it. The bomb inside was on a timer. It went off as Carl was bending over to pick the bag up. He lost his right leg in the explosion. As the tragedies compounded, police didn't know if they were looking for one person or two. It was possible that the hitman and the terrorist were the same person, but detectives couldn't be sure. While police were busy searching for answers, the people of Speedway were grappling with a harsh reality.

It wasn't safe in their city. A local businessman, Brett Kimberlin, was identified as a person of interest in the killing of grandmother Julia Cyphers. He had a grudge against Julia, who suspected he had an inappropriate relationship with one of her grandchildren. She would have recognized him though, so he wasn't the gunman, but he might have hired someone to kill her. Brett Kimberlin soon became a suspect in the bombings, too. At least one person told detectives that he had bought bomb parts from them. Traces of explosives were found in Kimberlin's car, along with the same kind of timers used in the bombs. Police were confident Kimberlin was guilty, although it wasn't enough evidence to arrest him. But the longer they looked into him, the more potential

crimes came to light. They came to believe that he was selling marijuana out of his natural food store and that he had connections to drug cartels. Based on all this, when Jane, Ruth, Daniel, and Mark were found murdered, some detectives immediately thought of Brett Kimberlin. He was the closest thing Speedway had to a mob boss. Even if he didn't pull the trigger himself, he could have hired someone to do it, like they believed he had with Julius Cyphers. But why would Kimberlin want to kill four young Burger Chef employees? He didn't need the $500 or so missing from the cash registers. Detectives wondered if the murders were a last-minute change of plans.

Maybe it was meant to be just a robbery, but something went wrong. But nailing down forensic evidence proved difficult, especially because after the bodies were found, the investigators once again inadvertently contaminated the crime scene. As officers arrived, they drove through areas that should have been preserved. They may have even moved at least one of the bodies. even moved at least one of the bodies. So, as Sunday the 19th drew to a close, the police had four bodies, almost no physical evidence, and no strong leads, although they did have some theories. They believed Brett Kimberlin was capable of murder, but they weren't sure if he was unhinged enough to kill four people while already under investigation for murder and terrorism. They wondered if the young man who called out of work Friday night was involved.

Why did he show up at the Burger Chef just after midnight? Was he returning to the scene of the crime? Through the FBI, yet another possibility surfaced. Three inmates had escaped from an Ohio prison on the day of the robbery and murders. They'd taken hostages before. It was possible they made it all the way to Indiana, kidnapped the Burger Chef crew, then killed them when they tried to escape. escape. But there was a final theory that made the most sense to some of the detectives working the case. There had been a string of fast food robberies in the Indianapolis area, including one at another Burger Chef franchise. Those robbers had never hurt anyone before, but they might if they were facing arrest. Maybe one or more of the kids on the closing shift recognized someone among the robbers, and all four employees were killed as a result. Like all the other theories, it certainly seemed

viable, but there was no proof. If the cops wanted to pin charges on any of their suspects, they'd need hard evidence, or at least a confession. Eventually, they would get a confession, but instead of solving their case, it was about to derail it, and an already mind-boggling investigation was about to get that much more difficult to solve. to get that much more difficult to solve. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder True Crime Stories. Come back next week for part two of our series on the Burger Chef murders. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original.

Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media at Crime House on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. And to enhance your listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode of Murder True Crime Stories ad-free, along with early access to each thrilling two-part series and exciting bonus content. We'll be back next Tuesday. Murder True Crime Stories, a Crime House original,

is executive produced by Max Cutler. This episode of Murder True Crime Stories was produced and directed by Ron Shapiro. Sound designed by Kerry Murphy, written by Yelena War, edited by Alex Benidon, fact-checked by Claire Cronin, and included production assistance from Sarah Carroll. Murder True Crime Stories is hosted by Carter Roy. You may know a serial killer's crimes. Now, uncover the psychology behind them. Mind of a Serial

Killer is a Crime House original. New episodes drop every Monday. Just search Mind of a Serial Killer and follow wherever you listen to podcasts. If you're fascinated by the darker sides of humanity, join us every week on our podcast, Serial Killers, where we go deep into notorious true crime cases with significant research and careful analysis. We examine the psyche of a killer, their motives and targets, and law enforcement's pursuit to stop their spree.

Follow Serial Killers wherever you get your podcasts and get new episodes every Monday.