The Gone Coal Podcasts may contain violent or graphic subject matter.

Listener discretion is advised.

Lubbock, Texas, also known as Hub City, has always been a place riddled with violent crime.

In the 1970s, a string of seemingly unsolvable murders rocked Hub City and Lubbock County.

Though the immediate years preceding and following 1975 were no exception, that year in particular

saw an almost 37% increase in only the first three months.

Crime in the Hub City was up in a major way, and although officials sought to downplay the role homicide played in the figures

around mid-year, it was prevalent, and indeed not down as they claimed.

In a story titled Crime Rate Skyrockets in Lubbock,

the city's newspaper reported in fact that from January 1975 to the article's publication on July 23rd, the Hub City saw 21 murders

compared to 23 in total for the year of 1974.

A month after the article ran, a gruesome and unspeakable slang that baffled Lubbock police

investigators, the perpetrator it seemed, was that baffled Lubbock police investigators.

The perpetrator, it seemed, was a phantom.

In contrast, a murder that occurred in the county a few months prior to the story's publication seemed cut and dry.

But even with a clear suspect in mind, Lubbock County Sheriff's deputies were unable

to bring up charges.

Though it was obvious these two cases, one unable to bring up charges.

Though it was obvious these two cases weren't connected,

similarity shared between the victims,

two young women, were difficult for authorities to ignore. on two. On Tuesday, April 29th, 1975, two laborers of Mitchell Farm, about six miles south of Wolfarth, Texas, in Lubbock County, smelled a peculiar foul odor.

The smell was strong and distinct, something that was unfamiliar to them.

...