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NewsFor nearly two decades, an anonymous letter writer known as “the Circleville letters” terrorized the town of Circleville, Ohio, exposing alleged secrets about residents. The mystery has long intrigued TV shows like “48 Hours” with correspondent Erin Moriarty and others in the quest to finally unmask the writer.
These threatening, anonymous letters kept coming — hundreds of them targeting citizens, elected officials, and even accusing the school superintendent Gordon Massie of wrongdoing. By August 1977, bus driver Mary Gillispie’s husband Ron was dead under mysterious circumstances after receiving one of the letters.
For nearly two decades, the town of Circleville, Ohio was terrorized by an anonymous letter writer, who sent threatening letters exposing alleged secrets about neighbors and friends. The letters accused citizens of being involved in embezzlement, domestic violence, affairs, and even murder.
The letters initially focused on Gordon Massie, the married superintendent of Westfall School, accusing him of having an affair with a school bus driver named Mary Gillispie. Mary would find letters in her mailbox with distinct handwriting, warning her to end the alleged affair with Massie. One letter read, “Mrs. Gillispie, stay away from Massie. I’ve been observing your house and I know you have children.” It threatened, “It’s your daughter’s turn to pay for what you’ve done. I shall come out there and put a bullet in that little girl’s head.”
These letters were sent to newspapers, elected officials, and private citizens, all demanding that Massie be exposed and fired. Mary’s husband, Ron Gillispie, also started receiving letters accusing his wife of infidelity and urging him to “catch them together and kill them both.”
As the letters escalated in number and vitriol, Mary Gillispie and her family became the primary targets. The vicious tone seemed out of character for the Midwestern community of Circleville, where family, faith, and football were prioritized. The letters contained chilling details about the Gillispies’ personal lives, such as the type of car they drove and where their children attended school.
In August 1977, while Mary Gillispie was en route to Florida, her husband Ron received a mysterious phone call allegedly from the letter writer. Ron had told Mary that he knew the identity of the letter writer and intended to confront them during their trip. Tragically, Ron never made it to Florida; he crashed his pickup truck into a tree after the phone call. The coroner ruled Ron’s death an accident, but his brother-in-law, Paul Freshour, believed he had been murdered.
Suspicions surrounding Ron’s death were heightened by several factors. Although he was not considered a heavy drinker, his blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit. Furthermore, a .22 caliber revolver was found under his body, having been fired once, raising questions about whether he had been shooting at the letter writer, though the sheriff dismissed this possibility.
On February 7, 1983, Mary Gillispie was driving her empty school bus to pick up students when she noticed an obscene handmade sign about her 13-year-old daughter on a fence. As she attempted to remove the sign, she realized it was rigged with twine and a box. Bringing the box home, she opened it and was shocked to find a loaded gun inside, ready to fire.
When Mary reported the incident to the sheriff’s office, investigators quickly determined the device to be a failed booby trap. They traced the gun’s serial number, leading to an arrest that shocked the community.
When investigators interviewed Paul Freshour’s estranged wife, Karen Sue, she claimed he was the Circleville letter writer. Although Freshour insisted he had nothing to do with the letters or the booby trap, he was arrested and tried for attempted murder. At trial, the judge allowed in 39 of the letters as evidence. It was a break for the prosecution, who claimed the writing on the booby trap shared similarities to those letters.
Freshour was convicted of attempted murder based on two document examiners testifying that the handwriting found on the anonymous letters sent to Mary Gillispie could be Freshour’s handwriting. Despite having an alibi for much of the day the booby trap was placed, and a lack of physical evidence tying him directly to the device, Freshour received the maximum sentence of 7 to 25 years in prison.
Freshour’s conviction was expected to bring an end to the Circleville letter writer’s reign of terror. However, the letters did not stop, even after Freshour was placed in solitary confinement in prison. Hundreds of letters continued to be sent, with one even addressed to Freshour himself. The prison warden insisted it was impossible for Freshour to be writing and sending the letters from inside, as he was kept in isolation, strip-searched, and denied access to writing materials.
Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole, who analyzed the letters for a “48 Hours” investigation, raised doubts about whether Freshour was truly the Circleville letter writer. She pointed out that if a crime continues while someone is in custody for an extended period, it suggests someone else is committing the acts. After nearly 20 years, the letters abruptly stopped in 1994 when Freshour was released from prison, further adding to the mystery surrounding his involvement.
The mystery surrounding the Circleville letters and the anonymous author behind them has captivated public interest for decades. Despite the conviction of Paul Freshour, the letters continued to arrive even after his incarceration, casting doubt on whether he was truly the sole perpetrator. The abrupt cessation of the letters upon Freshour’s release only deepened the enigma, leaving many unanswered questions about the motives and identity of the Circleville letter writer.
While the case gained national attention through investigative shows like “48 Hours” with correspondent Erin Moriarty, the truth behind this bizarre and unsettling saga remains elusive. The Circleville letters stand as a chilling reminder of the power of anonymity and the profound impact that such acts can have on a close-knit community. As the years pass, the chances of unraveling this mystery diminish, leaving the Circleville letters as an enduring puzzle that may never be fully solved.
