the Circleville letter writer
Since 1976, the small town of Circleville, Ohio has been plagued by a mystery that has yet to be solved – a series of anonymous letters sent to Circleville residents claiming to know their deepest, darkest secrets and threatening to expose them to the town. These letters sent shockwaves through the town and ignited a series of events that would result in accusations of murder, adultery, and other bizarre happenings.
The Bus Driver & the Superintendent
On March 3, 1977, a letter arrived at Westfall High School addressed to school superintendent Gordon Massie. The letter was hand written in a distinctive block letter style and accused Massie of having an affair with a married school bus driver in Circleville. The writer told Massie to confess his affairs to the school board. The very next day, the writer sent a letter to the Westfall School Board telling them about Massie’s affair with one of the drivers. These letters, as well as all of the Circleville letters, were postmarked Columbus, Ohio, which is about 25 miles north of Circleville.
The main target of the writer’s harassment would turn out to be one of these bus drivers, Mary Gillispie. Near the start of the letter writer’s campaign of harassment, Mary Gillispie found a handwritten letter in her mailbox accusing her of having an affair with Gordon Massie. In this first letter, the writer claimed they had been “observing [Mary] and her children” and stated that “everyone concerned had been notified and everything will be over soon.” At this point, Mary shared the letter with her husband, Ron Gillispie, but denied she was having an affair with Gordon Massie.
A short time later in March 1977, Ron received another letter–this one telling him that he needed to admit that his wife was having an affair with Massie. The letter told him to inform the Westfall school board of the affair and said that, if he did not, he would be killed. Once again, the Gillispies kept this letter quiet. Two weeks later, another letter was sent to the Gillispies; once again, the writer addressed Ron, telling him: “you have had 2 weeks and done nothing. Make [Mary] admit the truth and inform the school board.” At this point, both Mary and Ron had received letters threatening them and their children if Mary didn’t admit to the affair with Gordon Massie. In addition to the letters, there were also phone calls to the Gillispie home and offensive signs posted along Mary’s bus route; many of these signs made offensive/explicit references to the Gillispie’s young daughter.
From the beginning, Mary suspected the letters were being sent by David Longberry, a fellow bus driver who had expressed romantic interest in her and whom she had rejected. Determined to get to the bottom of who was writing the letters, Mary and Ron reached out to Ron’s sister, Karen Freshour, and her husband, Paul. Paul’s sister was also told about the letters, but at this time, no one else knew about them. Since Mary believed David Longberry was the writer, the five of them (the Gillispies, the Freshour, and Paul’s sister) decided to write their own letter to David, telling him they knew he was the writer. The letters stopped for a few weeks, so they thought they had identified the writer and put a stop to the letters. But a few weeks later, the letters resumed and a tragedy occured.
An Accident–or Murder?
On August 19, 1977, Ron received a phone call at home that enraged him. He told his daughter that the call was from the letter writer, and he got his gun, ran to his truck, and drove off into the night. What was said on the phone will never be known as only Ron knew who was on the other end we also don’t know what happened to Ron after he left or where he went.
From here the mystery takes a sinister turn Ron Gillispie’s truck was found at 10:35pm that night crashed into a tree with Ron’s body inside; he had died of major internal injuries. How this crash was caused remains a mystery and has never been explained.
Many Circleville residents believed that Ron’s death was not an accident–it was murder. After all, the letter writer had threatened Ron’s life if he didn’t expose his wife’s affair. In particular, Ron’s brother-in-law, Paul Freshour, believed that Ron had been murdered after uncovering the identity of the letter writer.
There were essentially two pieces of evidence that supported the murder theory:
Ron was not a heavy drinker, but his blood alcohol level was 1.5x the acceptable amount.however his family told police he hadn’t drunk any alcohol that day so when he had a drink and where remains unknown.
Ron’s gun was found under his body, and it appeared that one round had been fired sometime between when he left his house and his body was found. What he shot at or when the gun was fired has never been ascertained. This only depend the mystery.
The sheriff at the time, Dwight Radcliff, originally suspected foul play was involved in Ron’s death and there was even a person of interest in the case who was interviewed and given a polygraph test (which they passed; the person of interest has never publicly been identified). But after the coroner, Dr. Ray Caroll, examined the body, and found the high blood alcohol level, Sheriff Radcliff changed his mind and believed Ron’s death was an accident caused by drunk driving.
This did not sit well with Ron’s family and friends. They pointed out that he was not a big drinker and had not consumed alcohol on the day of his death. This turn of events also displeased the Circleville Writer, who sent a letter after Ron’s death accusing Sheriff Dwight Radcliff of covering up the crime.
After Ron’s death, the harassment continued, with letters being sent not just to Mary, but to citizens around town, to the newspaper, to local businesses, to schools–-basically to everyone in Circleville.
But apparently Sheriff Radcliff had motivation to cover up a possible murder as he was running for President of the National Sheriff’s Association, and a town plagued by not only an unhinged letter writer, but one who had turned to murder, wouldn’t be a good look for the President of this organization. The letter writer was also frustrated by the lack of investigation into the case and wrote letters claiming that Sheriff Radcliff was covering up the truth of Ron’s death. Letters also accused Dr. Caroll, the coroner, of sexual abuse of young children.
Other residents were scared since the letter writer seemed completely unhinged and knew details of their lives that a stranger should have no way of knowing. Meanwhile, Paul Freshour continued to insist that Ron had been murdered and even filed a report requesting that the FBI investigate Ron’s death.
And though Mary had always denied having an affair with Gordon Massie while her husband was alive, after his death, she and Massie did begin a romantic relationship. At this point, the threats against her became more vicious, including explicit threats against Mary’s daughter.
A Break in the Case
On February 7, 1983, Mary was driving her school bus near Five Points Pike, when she saw a sign posted along a nearby fence. The sign was handwritten and included an obscene message about Mary’s 12 year-old daughter. Mary pulled over and attempted to remove the sign, but when she pulled on it, she saw that it was attached to a box with some twine. Mary decided to take the box home, and when she opened it she found a gun inside. Mary brought the box to the sheriff’s office, who determined the box was a booby trap that had been designed to fire the gun when the sign was pulled down. For some reason, the booby trap did not trigger when Mary removed the sign.
This booby trap became the first real break in the case, An amateurish attempt was made to rub off the serial number on the gun. When lab tests were able to raise the number, it was determined that the gun had belonged to Paul Freshour, who had recently separated from Ron's sister. Paul admitted the gun was his, but claimed it had gone missing weeks before, and denied setting the trap; he had also not reported the gun missing prior to this, so there was no evidence to support his claim.
The sheriff’s office then told Paul to copy one of the Circleville letters and try to emulate the handwriting of the letter–a practice that is very much not proper procedure when comparing handwriting. Usually, the suspect is asked to write a sample in his own handwriting, not to attempt to copy the handwriting. In addition to the handwriting sample, Paul Freshour failed a polygraph test and his ex-wife, Karen, told police he was behind the letters to Mary. Karen was the first to link Paul to the letters.
But, as with everything with this case, there’s more to the story. Karen and Paul had recently gone through an acrimonious divorce after Karen cheated on Paul. Paul was awarded custody of their three children and Karen ended up living in a trailer in Mary Gillispie’s backyard, so Karen certainly seems to have a motive for framing Paul. She also would have had access to his gun. And despite telling police that she had access to the letters, including letters Paul had written and not mailed, she could not produce any of these, telling police that she had disposed of them. There is some cause for speculation that Karen may have been involved in setting up Paul Freshour as she had a motive due to the messy divorce and her losing everything and certainly her behaviour which I will go into later was cause for concern and I think personally she warranted a good look at.
As for additional evidence connecting Paul to the booby trap, there was none. Paul had an alibi for the day the booby trap was set; he was at home because there was work being done on his house. Paul also fully cooperated with law enforcement and was only connected to the letters based on an accusation from his ex-wife after a very contentious divorce.
Using Karen’s testimony, the copied letters, the failed polygraph, and the fact that the gun in the box was registered to Paul Freshour, he was charged with attempted murder of Mary Gillispie. Paul was never charged with sending any of the letters, but they were used as evidence against him in his trial. There was also no physical evidence connecting Paul to either the letters or the booby trap. But he was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 7-25 years in prison.
Case Closed?
At this point, it seemed as though the mystery of the Circleville Writer had been solved. The only problem with this theory? The letters continued even after Paul Freshour was imprisoned. Even Paul himself received a letter, this one stating “Now when are you going to believe you aren’t going to get out of there? I told you two years ago. When we set ‘em up, they stay set up. Don’t you listen at all?”
Now, clearly, it is possible for people in prison to write and send letters, so the prison took numerous measures to ensure that Paul could not write these letters while in prison. These measures included putting Paul in solitary confinement, where he had no access to pen, paper, or the mail. And yet, letters continued to be sent during this time. Repeated sweeps of Paul Freshour’s cell showed no evidence that he wrote any of these letters in prison, he was regularly strip searched, and all of his incoming and outgoing mail was examined. Eventually, the prison warden wrote a letter to Paul’s ex-wife Karen telling her that it was impossible that Paul was writing these letters from his cell.
Additionally, Paul Freshour was imprisoned in Lima, Ohio, but all the letters (dating back from the first letters sent in 1976) were postmarked in Columbus, Ohio, so it is not clear how letters sent from a prison in Lima to Circleville would be postmarked Columbus.
In 1993, the television show Unsolved Mysteries was set to air a segment on the Circleville Letter Writer. Prior to the filming of this episode, the producers of the show received a postcard that said: "Forget Circleville, Ohio. ... If you come to Ohio, you el sickos will pay. The Circleville writer." The producers were undeterred and the segment was filmed and broadcast, including an interview with Paul Freshour, who had just been released on parole. This postcard was one of the final communications sent from the Circleville Letter Writer. No letters were sent after 1994.
The Writer Unmasked?
In August 2021, the CBS show 48 Hours aired an episode that they claimed definitively identified the Circleville Letter Writer through forensic document examination. CBS hired a document examiner, Beverley East, who compared the Circleville Letters to Paul Freshour’s known handwriting. She found numerous links between the letter writer’s handwriting and Paul’s handwriting, especially in the formation of his numbers. East said there were patterns in the anonymous letters that did not match Paul’s handwriting, but found more than 100 “quirks” of Paul’s writing that did match.
However, not all of the experts agree that Paul Freshour is responsible for writing the letters. Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole does not believe there is enough evidence to state that Paul was the letter writer. In particular, O’Toole points to the letters that were sent while Paul was in prison. Since it was physically impossible for Paul to write and send these letters, it seems clear that there had to be another person involved. It should be noted that there were not just a couple of letters sent during the 10 years of Paul’s incarceration, but that there were literally hundreds of letters sent to people all over central Ohio. O’Toole also believes the letters were written by a female writer and that the letter writer was not well educated. Paul Freshour had three college degrees, including a Master’s degree.
So, despite the claims of 48 Hours, it is clear that they did not, in fact, definitively identify the letter writer. The question of who wrote the letters, who set the booby trap for Mary Gillispie, and whether Ron Gillispie died as a result of an accident or foul play has yet to be answered even 45 years later.
Some Additional Information
Paul Freshour was released on parole in 1994 after spending 10 years in prison. He maintained his innocence until his death in 2012 at the age of 70. After his release, he maintained a website dedicated to professing his innocence.
Dr. Ray Caroll, the county coroner who claimed that Ron Gillispie died with a BAC of 1.5x the legal limit, and who was accused by the Circleville Writer of child molestation, was charged with 12 counts of gross immorality, sex crimes, corruption of a minor, pornography, obscenity, and indecent exposure in December 1993.
David Longberry, the school bus driver Mary Gillispie originally suspected of writing the letters back in 1977, raped an 11 year-old girl in 1999. He went on the run shortly after and is still currently a fugitive. Although on one website online it was claimed that he allegedly committed suicide although there is no way to verify this claim.
The letter writer also made accusations against Roger Kline, the prosecutor who helped to convict Paul Freshour, but those are a bit harder to confirm. Specifically, he was accused of having an affair with a schoolteacher and then having her murdered when he found out she was pregnant. But, despite some random couple in Ohio “confirming” this story to a TV news station, there is literally no evidence of this. Kline became an appellate court judge before retiring in 2013. To this day her murder remains unsolved.
While Paul was serving his time in prison, a fellow school bus driver of Mary’s came forward and said they had seen a large man with sandy-hair in a yellow El Camino standing at the site of the booby trapped sign on February 7, 1983, about 20 minutes before Mary found the sign. When the bus driver passed by, the man turned away from her so she could not see his face. Paul Freshour has dark hair and is not a large man, so he was clearly not the man that was seen by the bus driver. Karen, Paul’s ex-wife, was, however, dating a man who was large and sandy-haired. Her brother also drove an El Camino. Police chose not to follow up on this tip. To my knowledge this has never been investigated which I find very strange.
Another odd element of this case is the glaring absence of Gordon Massie from all of the reporting of the events. The most vitriolic letters were sent to or about Massie; the sign that was booby-trapped included a message that Mary’s 12 year-old daughter was involved in a sexual relationship with Massie. Massie was also the target of the early letters and, despite Mary Gillispie’s denial of an affair with Massie, the two did have a romantic relationship after Ron’s death. And yet, there is very little information about Massie available, despite the huge amounts of information for many of the other people involved in the case. Massie was a well-respected member of the Circleville community and was married with a son. He died in 1996.
What I’m interested in is how did the letter writer find out this supposed information because I highly doubt that these people would shout from the hill tops about their involvement in such disgusting crimes.
In a confusing letter mailed to Grove City Police Chief James R. McKean on March 16, 1992, a second anonymous writer, printing in small rather than capital letters, identified the letter writer as a teacher named Mary.
The writer added that the same man who killed Ronald Gillespie in 1977 also killed Pickaway County school teacher Vicki Koch in 1980. Koch's murder remains unsolved.
The writer went on to explain the complicated process "Mary" supposedly uses to print her letters, and claimed that "there was many booby traps at the schools that can't be known or public. A Circleville teacher was killed for knowing too
much. . . . Please don't let them use or trick you. Confirm the booby traps at the schools. Write a letter and I will give you more."
(Unfortunately, the writer didn't say where a letter should be sent)
McKean said his department could find no evidence to back a claim made in a third unsigned letter received by a Grove City police sergeant. The letter said signs had been placed on the walls of area restaurants warning that a waitress would be killed as a means of gaining attention' In addition the letter. which was in the original block-printing style claimed teacher koch was killed at the request of a pickaway county offical by who she was pregnant the letter also said that appeals court judge William harsh of Portsmouth was involved in a graveyard scandal "that will cause all Harshas early graves."
No letters have been sent since 1994 and a number of the people involved in the case have since died. And yet no one has ever come forward with any information about the Circleville Letter Writer, so it seems that this is one mystery that may never be solved.
Paul freshour in his letter to the FBI outlined several interesting faces about the case.
FACTS THAT CAN BE CONFIRMED
l. I believe that the obscene, threatening and dangerous letters were concealed
because they would interfere with Sheriff Radcliff becoming the National
Sheriff s Association's President. See the date of the letters and the date of his involvement with the National Sheriff s Association. The crime rate in Pickaway County at that time would have eliminated him from this appointment.
2. No one has ever been indicted or charged with the obscene, threatening and dangerous letters, which often contained arsenic poison. I believe every letter constituted an attempted murder charge, yet no charge or indictments were ever made. They have had 26 years to solve this crime. Hopefully, you can get the letter crime solved.
3. The Department of Corrections confirmed for the l0 and a half years I was in prison under strict investigations that I was completely cleared of the obscene and threatening letters. See Department of Corrections for the State of Ohio.
4. Sheriff Radcliff lied in the media and claimed he caught many people smuggling letters for me. Please confirm this. This was a lie.
5. Confirm the obscene, threatening and dangerous letters claimed a prosecutor had a school teacher pregnant and murdered, because it would destroy his law enforcement career that he worked hard to achieve. He completed law school and then went on as an attorney, a prosecutor, judge, and now an Appeals Court Judge? This murder has never been solved. I'm sure it will never be if the obscene, threatening and dangerous letters are true because Judge Kline had too much power and protection from our legal system here in Ohio.
6. All forensic evidence was denied being given to me and this should be confirmed and questioned. Why?
9. Confirm Sheriff Radcliff kept the school superintendent's divorce out of the media because it might have affected him because of the rumors of his affair with a school employee which had been reported in the obscene and threatening letters: Through investigation the sheriff was going to claim this was done in order to catch the letter writer, who was going to call and question why Massie's divorce was never in the media? The Sheriff always covered his tracks.
The obscene and threatening letters contained some interesting facts which just how one person was able to collect and find out all this information remains disputed and the more than one writer theory comes into play.
The letters claimed Dr. Caroll, the Pickaway County coroner molested many children, and like the Gordon Massie and Mary Gillispie affair as reported, were untrue and a lie per Sheriff Radcliffs investigation. It was true. He missed this molestation also, yet many came forth later and admitted Dr. Caroll molested them. The Prosecutor claimed the statute of limitations applied, and he was never charged. He moved to Florida. In fact, a local Columbus, Ohio TV station visited him and did in fact confirm this. Dr. Caroll didn't do a day, and the letters were true. Had Sheriff Radcliff done his job, the molested children could have sued and got big money because many children suffered because of this and deserved to be granted money. I'm sure Dr. Caroll had a bunch of money, because the corrupt always do. How did Sheriff Radcliffs investigation miss this? It is because the coroner covered up things for Sheriff Radcliff and Kline.
Letters claimed baby bones from a dead baby's grave would be dug up and mailed at random if outside investigations did not get involved in Judge Roger Kline's murder of a pregnant school teacher. While the Pickaway County Sheriff visited the parents of the dead baby and plead for them not to tell anyone about this, they talked to a local Columbus, Ohio TV station who confirmed this as true.
Letters to Ronald Gillispie were sent saying "That if he didn't inform the Westfall School Board about his wife's affair with Gordon Massie," that he would be killed. That they knew his truck and where he lived and yes, Ronald was killed a short time later.
On the night of Ron's murder, he received a telephone call,,argued with someone, ran upstairs, got his gun, kissed his little girl goodbye and was dead a short time later. I'm positive his grown daughter will remember this. Should she not, I'm sure others do.
While the Sheriff’s investigation showed Ron was drunk and hit a tree, anyone who knew Ron knew this was untrue. The truck was totaled, taken to a Certified filling station in Mt. Sterling, Ohio and immediately disposed of at a junk yard. Unsolved Mysteries asked Sheriff Radcliff about the bullet missing, however, he would not respond or comment about it. Ron had fired his sun.
4. Letters claimed Roger Kline, now Appellate Court Judge, had a school
teacher pregnant and murdered, because he knew it would destroy his career. He did do very well, confirming how Judge Kline handled my trial, denied me discovery of the letters for trial preparation, yet referred to the letters throuehout the trial.
He for some reason controlled the obscene and threatening letters. In fact, Sheriff Radcliff kept contacting the prisons and even visiting them, because there were many, many letters still circulating after my incarceration, and Sheriff Radcliff constantly claimed it was me from prison.
Paul freshour also talked bout his ex wife who sounded like a real handful. He stated that.
Since 1976, the small town of Circleville, Ohio has been plagued by a mystery that has yet to be solved – a series of anonymous letters sent to Circleville residents claiming to know their deepest, darkest secrets and threatening to expose them to the town. These letters sent shockwaves through the town and ignited a series of events that would result in accusations of murder, adultery, and other bizarre happenings.
The Bus Driver & the Superintendent
On March 3, 1977, a letter arrived at Westfall High School addressed to school superintendent Gordon Massie. The letter was hand written in a distinctive block letter style and accused Massie of having an affair with a married school bus driver in Circleville. The writer told Massie to confess his affairs to the school board. The very next day, the writer sent a letter to the Westfall School Board telling them about Massie’s affair with one of the drivers. These letters, as well as all of the Circleville letters, were postmarked Columbus, Ohio, which is about 25 miles north of Circleville.
The main target of the writer’s harassment would turn out to be one of these bus drivers, Mary Gillispie. Near the start of the letter writer’s campaign of harassment, Mary Gillispie found a handwritten letter in her mailbox accusing her of having an affair with Gordon Massie. In this first letter, the writer claimed they had been “observing [Mary] and her children” and stated that “everyone concerned had been notified and everything will be over soon.” At this point, Mary shared the letter with her husband, Ron Gillispie, but denied she was having an affair with Gordon Massie.
A short time later in March 1977, Ron received another letter–this one telling him that he needed to admit that his wife was having an affair with Massie. The letter told him to inform the Westfall school board of the affair and said that, if he did not, he would be killed. Once again, the Gillispies kept this letter quiet. Two weeks later, another letter was sent to the Gillispies; once again, the writer addressed Ron, telling him: “you have had 2 weeks and done nothing. Make [Mary] admit the truth and inform the school board.” At this point, both Mary and Ron had received letters threatening them and their children if Mary didn’t admit to the affair with Gordon Massie. In addition to the letters, there were also phone calls to the Gillispie home and offensive signs posted along Mary’s bus route; many of these signs made offensive/explicit references to the Gillispie’s young daughter.
From the beginning, Mary suspected the letters were being sent by David Longberry, a fellow bus driver who had expressed romantic interest in her and whom she had rejected. Determined to get to the bottom of who was writing the letters, Mary and Ron reached out to Ron’s sister, Karen Freshour, and her husband, Paul. Paul’s sister was also told about the letters, but at this time, no one else knew about them. Since Mary believed David Longberry was the writer, the five of them (the Gillispies, the Freshour, and Paul’s sister) decided to write their own letter to David, telling him they knew he was the writer. The letters stopped for a few weeks, so they thought they had identified the writer and put a stop to the letters. But a few weeks later, the letters resumed and a tragedy occured.
An Accident–or Murder?
On August 19, 1977, Ron received a phone call at home that enraged him. He told his daughter that the call was from the letter writer, and he got his gun, ran to his truck, and drove off into the night. What was said on the phone will never be known as only Ron knew who was on the other end we also don’t know what happened to Ron after he left or where he went.
From here the mystery takes a sinister turn Ron Gillispie’s truck was found at 10:35pm that night crashed into a tree with Ron’s body inside; he had died of major internal injuries. How this crash was caused remains a mystery and has never been explained.
Many Circleville residents believed that Ron’s death was not an accident–it was murder. After all, the letter writer had threatened Ron’s life if he didn’t expose his wife’s affair. In particular, Ron’s brother-in-law, Paul Freshour, believed that Ron had been murdered after uncovering the identity of the letter writer.
There were essentially two pieces of evidence that supported the murder theory:
Ron was not a heavy drinker, but his blood alcohol level was 1.5x the acceptable amount.however his family told police he hadn’t drunk any alcohol that day so when he had a drink and where remains unknown.
Ron’s gun was found under his body, and it appeared that one round had been fired sometime between when he left his house and his body was found. What he shot at or when the gun was fired has never been ascertained. This only depend the mystery.
The sheriff at the time, Dwight Radcliff, originally suspected foul play was involved in Ron’s death and there was even a person of interest in the case who was interviewed and given a polygraph test (which they passed; the person of interest has never publicly been identified). But after the coroner, Dr. Ray Caroll, examined the body, and found the high blood alcohol level, Sheriff Radcliff changed his mind and believed Ron’s death was an accident caused by drunk driving.
This did not sit well with Ron’s family and friends. They pointed out that he was not a big drinker and had not consumed alcohol on the day of his death. This turn of events also displeased the Circleville Writer, who sent a letter after Ron’s death accusing Sheriff Dwight Radcliff of covering up the crime.
After Ron’s death, the harassment continued, with letters being sent not just to Mary, but to citizens around town, to the newspaper, to local businesses, to schools–-basically to everyone in Circleville.
But apparently Sheriff Radcliff had motivation to cover up a possible murder as he was running for President of the National Sheriff’s Association, and a town plagued by not only an unhinged letter writer, but one who had turned to murder, wouldn’t be a good look for the President of this organization. The letter writer was also frustrated by the lack of investigation into the case and wrote letters claiming that Sheriff Radcliff was covering up the truth of Ron’s death. Letters also accused Dr. Caroll, the coroner, of sexual abuse of young children.
Other residents were scared since the letter writer seemed completely unhinged and knew details of their lives that a stranger should have no way of knowing. Meanwhile, Paul Freshour continued to insist that Ron had been murdered and even filed a report requesting that the FBI investigate Ron’s death.
And though Mary had always denied having an affair with Gordon Massie while her husband was alive, after his death, she and Massie did begin a romantic relationship. At this point, the threats against her became more vicious, including explicit threats against Mary’s daughter.
A Break in the Case
On February 7, 1983, Mary was driving her school bus near Five Points Pike, when she saw a sign posted along a nearby fence. The sign was handwritten and included an obscene message about Mary’s 12 year-old daughter. Mary pulled over and attempted to remove the sign, but when she pulled on it, she saw that it was attached to a box with some twine. Mary decided to take the box home, and when she opened it she found a gun inside. Mary brought the box to the sheriff’s office, who determined the box was a booby trap that had been designed to fire the gun when the sign was pulled down. For some reason, the booby trap did not trigger when Mary removed the sign.
This booby trap became the first real break in the case, An amateurish attempt was made to rub off the serial number on the gun. When lab tests were able to raise the number, it was determined that the gun had belonged to Paul Freshour, who had recently separated from Ron's sister. Paul admitted the gun was his, but claimed it had gone missing weeks before, and denied setting the trap; he had also not reported the gun missing prior to this, so there was no evidence to support his claim.
The sheriff’s office then told Paul to copy one of the Circleville letters and try to emulate the handwriting of the letter–a practice that is very much not proper procedure when comparing handwriting. Usually, the suspect is asked to write a sample in his own handwriting, not to attempt to copy the handwriting. In addition to the handwriting sample, Paul Freshour failed a polygraph test and his ex-wife, Karen, told police he was behind the letters to Mary. Karen was the first to link Paul to the letters.
But, as with everything with this case, there’s more to the story. Karen and Paul had recently gone through an acrimonious divorce after Karen cheated on Paul. Paul was awarded custody of their three children and Karen ended up living in a trailer in Mary Gillispie’s backyard, so Karen certainly seems to have a motive for framing Paul. She also would have had access to his gun. And despite telling police that she had access to the letters, including letters Paul had written and not mailed, she could not produce any of these, telling police that she had disposed of them. There is some cause for speculation that Karen may have been involved in setting up Paul Freshour as she had a motive due to the messy divorce and her losing everything and certainly her behaviour which I will go into later was cause for concern and I think personally she warranted a good look at.
As for additional evidence connecting Paul to the booby trap, there was none. Paul had an alibi for the day the booby trap was set; he was at home because there was work being done on his house. Paul also fully cooperated with law enforcement and was only connected to the letters based on an accusation from his ex-wife after a very contentious divorce.
Using Karen’s testimony, the copied letters, the failed polygraph, and the fact that the gun in the box was registered to Paul Freshour, he was charged with attempted murder of Mary Gillispie. Paul was never charged with sending any of the letters, but they were used as evidence against him in his trial. There was also no physical evidence connecting Paul to either the letters or the booby trap. But he was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 7-25 years in prison.
Case Closed?
At this point, it seemed as though the mystery of the Circleville Writer had been solved. The only problem with this theory? The letters continued even after Paul Freshour was imprisoned. Even Paul himself received a letter, this one stating “Now when are you going to believe you aren’t going to get out of there? I told you two years ago. When we set ‘em up, they stay set up. Don’t you listen at all?”
Now, clearly, it is possible for people in prison to write and send letters, so the prison took numerous measures to ensure that Paul could not write these letters while in prison. These measures included putting Paul in solitary confinement, where he had no access to pen, paper, or the mail. And yet, letters continued to be sent during this time. Repeated sweeps of Paul Freshour’s cell showed no evidence that he wrote any of these letters in prison, he was regularly strip searched, and all of his incoming and outgoing mail was examined. Eventually, the prison warden wrote a letter to Paul’s ex-wife Karen telling her that it was impossible that Paul was writing these letters from his cell.
Additionally, Paul Freshour was imprisoned in Lima, Ohio, but all the letters (dating back from the first letters sent in 1976) were postmarked in Columbus, Ohio, so it is not clear how letters sent from a prison in Lima to Circleville would be postmarked Columbus.
In 1993, the television show Unsolved Mysteries was set to air a segment on the Circleville Letter Writer. Prior to the filming of this episode, the producers of the show received a postcard that said: "Forget Circleville, Ohio. ... If you come to Ohio, you el sickos will pay. The Circleville writer." The producers were undeterred and the segment was filmed and broadcast, including an interview with Paul Freshour, who had just been released on parole. This postcard was one of the final communications sent from the Circleville Letter Writer. No letters were sent after 1994.
The Writer Unmasked?
In August 2021, the CBS show 48 Hours aired an episode that they claimed definitively identified the Circleville Letter Writer through forensic document examination. CBS hired a document examiner, Beverley East, who compared the Circleville Letters to Paul Freshour’s known handwriting. She found numerous links between the letter writer’s handwriting and Paul’s handwriting, especially in the formation of his numbers. East said there were patterns in the anonymous letters that did not match Paul’s handwriting, but found more than 100 “quirks” of Paul’s writing that did match.
However, not all of the experts agree that Paul Freshour is responsible for writing the letters. Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole does not believe there is enough evidence to state that Paul was the letter writer. In particular, O’Toole points to the letters that were sent while Paul was in prison. Since it was physically impossible for Paul to write and send these letters, it seems clear that there had to be another person involved. It should be noted that there were not just a couple of letters sent during the 10 years of Paul’s incarceration, but that there were literally hundreds of letters sent to people all over central Ohio. O’Toole also believes the letters were written by a female writer and that the letter writer was not well educated. Paul Freshour had three college degrees, including a Master’s degree.
So, despite the claims of 48 Hours, it is clear that they did not, in fact, definitively identify the letter writer. The question of who wrote the letters, who set the booby trap for Mary Gillispie, and whether Ron Gillispie died as a result of an accident or foul play has yet to be answered even 45 years later.
Some Additional Information
Paul Freshour was released on parole in 1994 after spending 10 years in prison. He maintained his innocence until his death in 2012 at the age of 70. After his release, he maintained a website dedicated to professing his innocence.
Dr. Ray Caroll, the county coroner who claimed that Ron Gillispie died with a BAC of 1.5x the legal limit, and who was accused by the Circleville Writer of child molestation, was charged with 12 counts of gross immorality, sex crimes, corruption of a minor, pornography, obscenity, and indecent exposure in December 1993.
David Longberry, the school bus driver Mary Gillispie originally suspected of writing the letters back in 1977, raped an 11 year-old girl in 1999. He went on the run shortly after and is still currently a fugitive. Although on one website online it was claimed that he allegedly committed suicide although there is no way to verify this claim.
The letter writer also made accusations against Roger Kline, the prosecutor who helped to convict Paul Freshour, but those are a bit harder to confirm. Specifically, he was accused of having an affair with a schoolteacher and then having her murdered when he found out she was pregnant. But, despite some random couple in Ohio “confirming” this story to a TV news station, there is literally no evidence of this. Kline became an appellate court judge before retiring in 2013. To this day her murder remains unsolved.
While Paul was serving his time in prison, a fellow school bus driver of Mary’s came forward and said they had seen a large man with sandy-hair in a yellow El Camino standing at the site of the booby trapped sign on February 7, 1983, about 20 minutes before Mary found the sign. When the bus driver passed by, the man turned away from her so she could not see his face. Paul Freshour has dark hair and is not a large man, so he was clearly not the man that was seen by the bus driver. Karen, Paul’s ex-wife, was, however, dating a man who was large and sandy-haired. Her brother also drove an El Camino. Police chose not to follow up on this tip. To my knowledge this has never been investigated which I find very strange.
Another odd element of this case is the glaring absence of Gordon Massie from all of the reporting of the events. The most vitriolic letters were sent to or about Massie; the sign that was booby-trapped included a message that Mary’s 12 year-old daughter was involved in a sexual relationship with Massie. Massie was also the target of the early letters and, despite Mary Gillispie’s denial of an affair with Massie, the two did have a romantic relationship after Ron’s death. And yet, there is very little information about Massie available, despite the huge amounts of information for many of the other people involved in the case. Massie was a well-respected member of the Circleville community and was married with a son. He died in 1996.
What I’m interested in is how did the letter writer find out this supposed information because I highly doubt that these people would shout from the hill tops about their involvement in such disgusting crimes.
In a confusing letter mailed to Grove City Police Chief James R. McKean on March 16, 1992, a second anonymous writer, printing in small rather than capital letters, identified the letter writer as a teacher named Mary.
The writer added that the same man who killed Ronald Gillespie in 1977 also killed Pickaway County school teacher Vicki Koch in 1980. Koch's murder remains unsolved.
The writer went on to explain the complicated process "Mary" supposedly uses to print her letters, and claimed that "there was many booby traps at the schools that can't be known or public. A Circleville teacher was killed for knowing too
much. . . . Please don't let them use or trick you. Confirm the booby traps at the schools. Write a letter and I will give you more."
(Unfortunately, the writer didn't say where a letter should be sent)
McKean said his department could find no evidence to back a claim made in a third unsigned letter received by a Grove City police sergeant. The letter said signs had been placed on the walls of area restaurants warning that a waitress would be killed as a means of gaining attention' In addition the letter. which was in the original block-printing style claimed teacher koch was killed at the request of a pickaway county offical by who she was pregnant the letter also said that appeals court judge William harsh of Portsmouth was involved in a graveyard scandal "that will cause all Harshas early graves."
No letters have been sent since 1994 and a number of the people involved in the case have since died. And yet no one has ever come forward with any information about the Circleville Letter Writer, so it seems that this is one mystery that may never be solved.
Paul freshour in his letter to the FBI outlined several interesting faces about the case.
FACTS THAT CAN BE CONFIRMED
l. I believe that the obscene, threatening and dangerous letters were concealed
because they would interfere with Sheriff Radcliff becoming the National
Sheriff s Association's President. See the date of the letters and the date of his involvement with the National Sheriff s Association. The crime rate in Pickaway County at that time would have eliminated him from this appointment.
2. No one has ever been indicted or charged with the obscene, threatening and dangerous letters, which often contained arsenic poison. I believe every letter constituted an attempted murder charge, yet no charge or indictments were ever made. They have had 26 years to solve this crime. Hopefully, you can get the letter crime solved.
3. The Department of Corrections confirmed for the l0 and a half years I was in prison under strict investigations that I was completely cleared of the obscene and threatening letters. See Department of Corrections for the State of Ohio.
4. Sheriff Radcliff lied in the media and claimed he caught many people smuggling letters for me. Please confirm this. This was a lie.
5. Confirm the obscene, threatening and dangerous letters claimed a prosecutor had a school teacher pregnant and murdered, because it would destroy his law enforcement career that he worked hard to achieve. He completed law school and then went on as an attorney, a prosecutor, judge, and now an Appeals Court Judge? This murder has never been solved. I'm sure it will never be if the obscene, threatening and dangerous letters are true because Judge Kline had too much power and protection from our legal system here in Ohio.
6. All forensic evidence was denied being given to me and this should be confirmed and questioned. Why?
9. Confirm Sheriff Radcliff kept the school superintendent's divorce out of the media because it might have affected him because of the rumors of his affair with a school employee which had been reported in the obscene and threatening letters: Through investigation the sheriff was going to claim this was done in order to catch the letter writer, who was going to call and question why Massie's divorce was never in the media? The Sheriff always covered his tracks.
The obscene and threatening letters contained some interesting facts which just how one person was able to collect and find out all this information remains disputed and the more than one writer theory comes into play.
The letters claimed Dr. Caroll, the Pickaway County coroner molested many children, and like the Gordon Massie and Mary Gillispie affair as reported, were untrue and a lie per Sheriff Radcliffs investigation. It was true. He missed this molestation also, yet many came forth later and admitted Dr. Caroll molested them. The Prosecutor claimed the statute of limitations applied, and he was never charged. He moved to Florida. In fact, a local Columbus, Ohio TV station visited him and did in fact confirm this. Dr. Caroll didn't do a day, and the letters were true. Had Sheriff Radcliff done his job, the molested children could have sued and got big money because many children suffered because of this and deserved to be granted money. I'm sure Dr. Caroll had a bunch of money, because the corrupt always do. How did Sheriff Radcliffs investigation miss this? It is because the coroner covered up things for Sheriff Radcliff and Kline.
Letters claimed baby bones from a dead baby's grave would be dug up and mailed at random if outside investigations did not get involved in Judge Roger Kline's murder of a pregnant school teacher. While the Pickaway County Sheriff visited the parents of the dead baby and plead for them not to tell anyone about this, they talked to a local Columbus, Ohio TV station who confirmed this as true.
Letters to Ronald Gillispie were sent saying "That if he didn't inform the Westfall School Board about his wife's affair with Gordon Massie," that he would be killed. That they knew his truck and where he lived and yes, Ronald was killed a short time later.
On the night of Ron's murder, he received a telephone call,,argued with someone, ran upstairs, got his gun, kissed his little girl goodbye and was dead a short time later. I'm positive his grown daughter will remember this. Should she not, I'm sure others do.
While the Sheriff’s investigation showed Ron was drunk and hit a tree, anyone who knew Ron knew this was untrue. The truck was totaled, taken to a Certified filling station in Mt. Sterling, Ohio and immediately disposed of at a junk yard. Unsolved Mysteries asked Sheriff Radcliff about the bullet missing, however, he would not respond or comment about it. Ron had fired his sun.
4. Letters claimed Roger Kline, now Appellate Court Judge, had a school
teacher pregnant and murdered, because he knew it would destroy his career. He did do very well, confirming how Judge Kline handled my trial, denied me discovery of the letters for trial preparation, yet referred to the letters throuehout the trial.
He for some reason controlled the obscene and threatening letters. In fact, Sheriff Radcliff kept contacting the prisons and even visiting them, because there were many, many letters still circulating after my incarceration, and Sheriff Radcliff constantly claimed it was me from prison.
Paul freshour also talked bout his ex wife who sounded like a real handful. He stated that.
His ex-wife assisted Sheriff Radcliff in obtaining evidence against him.
His ex-wife for some reason was the one who contacted and threatened Unsolved Mysteries and even one of Unsolved Mysteries segment researchers who was pregnant causing her problems due to his ex-wife's threats.
His ex-wife assisted Sheriff Radcliff while we were in the process of divorce. Confirms the evidence she took to Sheriff Radcliff was completely cleared.
Final Thoughts
While Paul Freshour was convicted of setting the booby trap intended to kill Mary Gillispie in part based on the anonymous letters, neither he, nor anyone else, has ever been charged with writing the Circleville letters. Additionally, Paul Freshour’s conviction was based solely on circumstantial evidence. And, while Paul’s conviction relied on the idea that he was the letter writer (and that the letter writer and the person who set the booby trap were one and the same), it is impossible that he is responsible the hundreds of letters that were sent while he was in prison. One theory of the letters is that there were multiple letter writers, not just one. This would explain how the letter writer knew secrets about such a large group of people (literally hundreds of people in Central Ohio received these letters) as well as how the letters continued after Paul Freshour was put in prison. While it's unlikely that there would be numerous letter writers who all managed to keep this huge secret for over 40 years, it's not possible to rule it out.
Sources:
https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Circleville_Writer
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/rrh499/who_was_the_circleville_letter_writer/
His ex-wife assisted Sheriff Radcliff while we were in the process of divorce. Confirms the evidence she took to Sheriff Radcliff was completely cleared.
Final Thoughts
While Paul Freshour was convicted of setting the booby trap intended to kill Mary Gillispie in part based on the anonymous letters, neither he, nor anyone else, has ever been charged with writing the Circleville letters. Additionally, Paul Freshour’s conviction was based solely on circumstantial evidence. And, while Paul’s conviction relied on the idea that he was the letter writer (and that the letter writer and the person who set the booby trap were one and the same), it is impossible that he is responsible the hundreds of letters that were sent while he was in prison. One theory of the letters is that there were multiple letter writers, not just one. This would explain how the letter writer knew secrets about such a large group of people (literally hundreds of people in Central Ohio received these letters) as well as how the letters continued after Paul Freshour was put in prison. While it's unlikely that there would be numerous letter writers who all managed to keep this huge secret for over 40 years, it's not possible to rule it out.
Sources:
https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Circleville_Writer
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/rrh499/who_was_the_circleville_letter_writer/
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