Chiropractor Slain at Office in Marion, Southern Illinoisan, Dec. 4, 1974
Dr. Donald R. Ripley, 38, Marion chiropractor, was found shot to death at his office about 9:30 a.m. today.
Williamson County Coroner James R. Wilson said Dr. Ripley was shot at least four times with a .45 caliber weapon.
“It’s murder,” Sheriff Russell Oxford said.
Wilson said he was shot twice in the back, once through the jaw and one in the left arm. A patient found Dr. Ripley’s body lying face down in a hallway leading from his office to a reception room. Slugs were found in a wall in the office.
A salesman, two women and one male patient were in the waiting room at the office, 1825 W. Main St., when the telephone began ringing for lengthy time.
Wilson said Bill Johnson, 912 N. Johnson St., Marion, a patient, apparently familiar with the office after previous visits to the chiropractor, opened the door to go answer the telephone. When he saw the body, he called police.
Dr. Ripley’s expensive wrist watch and a diamond ring were on his desk. Wilson said the shooting was apparently not a robbery attempt.
The weapon used in the shooting was not found in the office.
Dr. Ripley’s wife, Gloria, was not at the office although she operates The Break Away, an interior decorating business, in the same building and the couple usually come to work together. Dr. Ripley’s office opened at 8:30 A.M.
Authorities this morning were trying to locate her. The couple has three children.
Marion police, the sheriff’s office, Illinois Bureau of Investigation agents and pathologist Dr. A.N. Thompson were called.
Investigators immediately began a door to door check of the home in the residential area around Dr. Ripley’s office.
Deputy Harry Spiller said no one heard shots or saw anything unusual in the neighborhood this morning.
Dr. Ripley’s chiropractic office was in the basement and her decorating business on the first floor of a converted house.
Ron Suddath stores carpets for his business in the building. A group, including Suddath, have a band which practices at the building Tuesday nights. Don Ridgley, a band member, said no one noticed anything unusual last night.
Dr. Thompson estimated Dr. Ripley had been dead about three hours at about 10:30 a.m., Wilson said.
Oxford said a resident saw Dr. Ripley arrive at his office shortly after 7 a.m. in a camper truck he drives. Oxford said Dr. Ripley took one of his sons to school at 8:05 a.m.
Oxford said Mrs. Ripley had not been found at 12:30 and it is possible that she was kidnapped by the person who shot Dr. Ripley.
Suddath had not been found this morning by authorities.
The body was removed from the building about noon and taken to Herrin Hospital, where Dr. Thompson was to perform an autopsy.
The Ripleys live southeast of Marion on the Old Creal Springs Road…….by O.R. Wiley, of the Southern Illiniosan
Massive Search Launched for Chiropractor’s Killer, Southern Illinoisan, Dec. 5, 1974
A suspect is being sought today in the murder of Dr. Donald R Ripley. M, Marion Chiropractor.
State Police Detective Gary Ashman of Murphysboro, taking part in a massive investigation underway in Williamson County in the fatal shooting Wednesday, said a hitchhiker is being sought.
Ashman said the man was hitchhiking on West Main Street in the vicinity of Dr. Ripley’s office shortly after Dr. Ripley was shot about 8.30 a.m. Wednesday.
The man is described as a light complexioned black, 6 feet 1 to 6 feet 3 inches tall and well dressed in a brown hat and coat.
Williamson County Sheriff Russell Oxford asked for the help of any motorist who may have picked up a hitchhiker leaving Marion after 8:30 A.M., Wednesday. He asked any motorist giving a ride to a hitchhiker to call his office at 993-4878.
Williamson County, State’s Atty. Robert Howerton said a team of 20 investigators today was to check out a “lead list” of 73 items after having interviewed 24 relatives and friends Wednesday.
Dr. Ripley was killed in his office at 1825 W. Main St. Howerton aid a pathologist’s report determined that Dr. Ripley was shot seven times with a .45 caliber handgun. First reports Wednesday said there were four wounds.
Gloria Ripley, wife of the chiropractor, was found about midday Wednesday in Carbondale. Authorities had feared she might have been kidnapped by Dr. Ripley’s assailant. Mrs. Ripley said she had gone shopping in Carbondale. The couple’s three sons were all in school at the time of the shooting Wednesday.
Ron Suddath, who operates a carpet business and stores carpeting in the Ripley building, was found laying carpet in Carterville Wednesday. It was also feared he might have been kidnapped.
Authorities ruled out robbery because Dr. Ripley’s wristwatch and diamond ring were on his desk and his wallet containing more than $100 was in a desk drawer.
Taking part in the investigation are Marion police, Williamson County Sheriff’s office and state police detectives. James Wentworth of the state crime laboratory at DeSoto Wednesday searched for clues in the basement offices of Dr. Ripley, and today searched the upper portion of the building.
Despite the investigation, “we really don’t have anything yet,” Howerton said.
Funeral services for Dr. Ripley of Rt. 5, Marion, will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Mitchell Hughes Funeral Home in Marion.
The Rev. Bruce Patton will officiate. Burial will be in Ava Cemetery. Friends may call after 5 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.
He was born Jan. 28, 1936, in Murphysboro to Murray and Ora Johnson Ripley.
Dr. Ripley married Gloria Harry, Sept. 25, 1958, in St. Clair County.
Dr. Ripley was a chiropractor in Marion and a graduate of the Missouri Chiropractic College in St. Louis.
He was a member of the Illinois Chiropractic Society, the American Chiropractic Society and was past president of the Southern Illinois Chiropractic Society.
Dr. Ripley was a member of the First Christian Church, the Kiwanis Club and the Elks Lodge 800 of Marion.
He is survived by his wife, his father of Murphysboro; three sons, Randy, Ronald and Andrew, at home; and two brothers, Dr. William L. Ripley of Marion and Charles Edward Ripley of Murphysboro…..by O.R. Wiley of the Southern Illinoisan
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In the December 6, 1974, issue of the Southern and the Daily Republican a composite sketch was created and released to the public under the headline “Authorities Try to Find Hitchhiker.” The sketch was based on descriptions given by workers present in the area following the time of the murder.
Strong Lead Reported in Marion Murder Case, Southern Illinoisan, Dec. 8, 1974
A massive investigation into the murder of Dr. Donald R. Ripley, 38, a Marion chiropractor, stretched to Evansville, Ind. Saturday.
State’s Attorney Robert Howerton of Williamson County dispatched an investigator to that city early Saturday morning when a “strong lead” was reported.
Howerton declined to further comment until the investigator returned.
That leas was among several being checked out this weekend by area law enforcement agents.
Agents were checking into reports that Dr. Ripley had notified law enforcement agents of two men being in the vicinity of his rural home a few weeks before the murder.
They were to question an acquaintance of Dr. Ripley about seeing the men in the area of Dr. Ripley’s home in mid-November and about Dr. Ripley telling him of seeing two men around his cars near his house early in the morning hours on one occasion.
Agents have been looking for a young black man sighted hitchhiking near Ripley’s office about 8:30 a.m. shortly after the time of his death.
The young man is believed to be Terry LaFoe, 22, of Carbondale, formerly of Champaign.
The hitchhiker, considered a material witness in the murder at this point, is described as a light complexioned black, 6 feet 1 to 6 feet 3 inches tall, slender and well dressed with a brown cap and coat.
The massive investigation began at 9:20 a.m. Wednesday with the discovery of Dr. Ripley’s death. He apparently had been shot about seven times with a .45 caliber weapon.
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An article appearing in the Southern on December 10, 1974 indicated that the trip to Evansville by investigators had resulted in the confiscation of a .45 caliber hand gun which had been used in a shootout with an Evansville policeman. The article indicated that the gun ballistics were being processed and that it would take a few days. In the same article, investigators had made a trip to Chicago in order to talk to friends of LaFoe in order to locate him, to no avail.
On December 11, 1974, an article in the Southern titled “Nationwide Search Begins for Suspect.” The article indicated that the composite photo of Terry LaFoe had been distributed nationwide in an attempt to locate the person of interest. The following day another article indicated that the ballistic tests on the Evansville weapon proved it was not involved, however another .45 caliber weapon had been used in a crime on the interstate in northern Illinois and would also be ballistic tested.
A Southern article on December 13th indicated that Terry LaFoe’s white van had been found in a Carbondale service station. It had been left there 10 months previous and a search revealed no clues. An article on the following day titled “Two More Suspects Sought in Slaying” indicated that there were know two more individuals wanted for questioning but no names were mentioned or why they were sought.
An article published on the 20th indicated that the men were sought due to being look-alikes of LaFoe. One un-named man, previously suspected, was released from suspicion.
A January 23, 1975 article in the Southern titled “Coroner’s Jury says Doctor’s Death Murder” merely comes to the foregone conclusion that Ripley was murdered, it re-hashed all of the known facts and noted that Marion Detective Mike Wiseman was still working with five investigators in the unsolved case.
On June 4, 1975, an article titled “Murder Case Still Pending” revealed that no motive was ever established in the murder and that the case was still open and that authorities were still looking for suspect LaFoe who might have gone to Jamaica.
New Leads Found In Marion Killing, Southern Illinoisan, March 25, 1976
A search for the killer of Dr. Donald R. Ripley of Marion intensified Wednesday with Williamson County authorities continuing a 15 month investigation with trips to two states.
Detective Unit Director Michael Wiseman said the authorities were following up on “the best leads we’ve had since the day it happened.”
Dr. Ripley, 38, a chiropractor, was shot seven times with a .45 caliber weapon in his office at 1825 W. Main St. on Dec. 4, 1974. A patient in the waiting room opened the hallway door and found the body when the patient started to answer a ringing telephone.
Wiseman said Detective Jerald Kobler and Larry Cook of the Illinois Bureau of Investigation Wednesday flew to Florida in search of Terry LaFoe, 23, formerly of Carbondale.
LaFoe is described as a “material witness” by Wiseman.
Wiseman, Richard Evans of the IBI and Capt. Carl Kirk of the Southern Illinois University – Carbondale security police Wednesday spent the day in St. Louis pursuing other facets of the investigation.
Kirk said he was involved in the investigation “because we work cooperative efforts.” He said he assists in many investigations in Williamson and Jackson counties because of his “training and expertise” at the other’s requests.
Wiseman said he could not comment further on the investigation at this time.
LaFoe served a sentence for burglary and theft from Champaign County and had lived at the Southern Illinois Work Release Center in Carbondale for part of his sentence.
Detectives tracked him to Miami, Fla., where he worked as a shoe salesman. He left the job shortly before the Ripley murder.
Witnesses said they saw a tall well-dressed black man come out of the door of the Ripley office at 8:30 a.m., the estimated time of the death. From a composite drawing of the man from their description, the man was identified as LaFoe.
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An article dated September 10, 1976 titled “New Subpoena to be issued for witness in Ripley Case” went on to explain that a subpoena had been issued to a St. Louis man to bring him before a grand jury investigating the death of Ripley. David Autenreith, 30, a former Marion policeman and then a massage parlor operator, had failed to appear before the jury as scheduled on August 27th, 1976. Howerton described him as a material witness but declined to be more specific on why he wanted to question Autenreith. The ex-Marion policeman didn’t show up this time either as was reported in an article on the 29th of August.
The last article found, indicated that authorities were considering pursuing a contempt citation against Autenreith, but I found nothing further on this.
The case of Dr. Ripley’s murder remains open to this day as a cold case. The investigation into his death was running concurrently with the adulterated drug case at the Marion Memorial Hospital and was preceded by the murder of Frances Buckner in June of 1974.
(Extracted from articles in the Southern Illinoisan and Daily Republican from December 1974 through August 1976; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 12/16/2013)