The Burger Chef Murders: November 17, 1978

Burger Chef murders, a 25-year-old mystery

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Burger Chef murders, a 25-year-old mystery

Who did it? Who robbed the Burger Chef restaurant? Who murdered four employees?

"That ended up, as of today, the only unsolved major case in my career." Ken York, former detective with the Indiana State Police, is one of the original investigators on the Burger Chef murder case.

He's retired now, a private investigator.

The case may be unsolved, but York thinks he knows who did it. "Unless someone proves differently or someone confesses between now and then, I'll go to my death bed believing I know who killed those kids."

It happened in November 1978 at the Speedway Burger Chef. A Friday night. Four employees on duty disappear; 16-year-old Daniel Davis, 16-year-old Mark Flemmonds, 20-year-old Jayne Friedt and 17-year-old Ruth Shelton.

"I worked on it from the very first day before the bodies were even found." Reporter Paul Bird, who covered the story for the Indianapolis News, said the crime shook the town of Speedway. "It left an entire community in panic. Everybody could relate to their children being abducted from a Burger Chef."

The Sheltons' daughter was one of the victims. They remember getting the phone call 25 years ago. Rachel Shelton recalls, "John woke me up telling me that they thought our daughter had been kidnapped."

John Shelton says, "I thought we'd never see her again alive."

Rachel reads from her diary the emotions she felt that night. "I was on the verge of falling apart."

The family clung together, hoping and praying. "The main thing I remember asking him was, 'Lord, put your arms around Ruth Ellen and let her know that you are there with her," says Rachel.

Initially, police in Speedway didn't have much to go on. Since there was $500 taken from the cash register some investigators thought the employees may have taken the money and went out for the night.

The Burger Chef Murders Mystery

Who did it? Who robbed the Burger Chef restaurant? Who murdered four employees?

www.crimewatchers.net

 

[Imamazed]

Next In Line: The Burger Chef Murders - Indianapolis Monthly

In November 1978, Speedway police responded to an apparent kidnapping at a Burger Chef. It marked the beginning of a 40-year multiple-murder investigation.

www.indianapolismonthly.com

Next In Line: The Burger Chef Murders

An empty safe. A missing car. Four dead. After 40 years, the unsolved Burger Chef Murders that rocked Indianapolis during one of its most tempestuous years still puzzle investigators—mostly because some believe They cracked the case decades ago.

2-2-4-2

They are four digits that Mel Willsey can instantly recall. The sequence is of no practical use to him like, say, an ATM PIN or a coworker’s phone extension within the Marion County Sheriff’s Department. And yet they are somehow more significant—if only because they torment him.
2-2-4-2

The numbers live somewhere in the back of the detective’s mind, among the scraps of memory from more than five decades of investigating criminal cases. Whether triggered by a new assignment, an article in the news or on TV, a passing utterance, or just the quiet reflection that can settle over the clean desk of a 72-year-old career cop approaching retirement, they seem to frequently find their way to the surface of Willsey’s consciousness. The numerals especially haunt him each November, as the wind begins to bite and the last brown leaves fall. That’s when Indy natives of a certain age remember November 17, 1978, and four fast-food workers who were kidnapped, murdered, and left cold in the remote woods of Johnson County that night. Willsey’s phone comes alive with reporters and filmmakers and general citizens wanting to commemorate the crime now widely known as the Burger Chef Murders; and his voicemail box was particularly full this year, on what will be the grisly crime’s 40th anniversary.

 

[Imamazed]

There's still a detective assigned to 'Burger Chef murders' — 39 years later

'Nobody was really that afraid after the bombings, but after the murders, there was a lot of fear, things got really scary.'

www.indystar.com

There's still a detective assigned to 'Burger Chef murders' — 39 years later

Even if you did not know that the two life-size human heads fashioned from clay were likenesses of cold-blooded murderers, you could suspect as much.

They exude violence. They stare straight ahead wide-eyed. They purse their lips.

They are the property of Indiana State Police Post 52 on East 21st Street: They are artist's renderings of two men seen outside a west-side fast-food restaurant the night of Nov. 17, 1978.

40th anniversary of Burger Chef case brings fresh inquiry

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – The enduring mystery of the murders of four young Burger Chef employees, abducted from their Speedway fast food restaurant 40 years ago this weekend, has stretched all the wa…

fox59.com

40th anniversary of Burger Chef case brings fresh inquiry

SPEEDWAY, Ind. - The enduring mystery of the murders of four young Burger Chef employees, abducted from their Speedway fast food restaurant 40 years ago this weekend, has stretched all the way to Australia, where a film crew has planned a trip to Indianapolis to uncover clues to the unsolved killings.

“I guess it was just the fact that it was four young people their lives cut short in the prime of their lives and it just spoke to me just looking at those photos,” said producer Luke Rynderman. “And just the time period and the fact that there hadn’t been any inroads and there were suspects but nobody was brought to justice.”

Rynderman and his partner, Adam Kamien, attended a briefing by Indiana State Police detectives who announced new techniques in their probe of the quadruple murder.

Artificial Intelligence, “machine learning” and DNA testing will be employed to examine the thousands of pages of files and few scant pieces of evidence that still exist four decades after the heartbreaking crime.

In the past, investigators have theorized that it was late on a Friday night, November 17, 1978, when at least two men entered the back door of the Burger Chef at 5725 Crawfordsville Rd., took command of the four employees and later drove them away, only to slay their hostages in a wooded area off Stones Crossing Road and SR 37 in Johnson County.

Manager Jayne Friedt was stabbed to death, a broken four-and-a-half inch knife blade buried in her chest.

Daniel Davis and Ruth Shelton died side-by-side, both teenagers shot to death.

Some distance away, the body of Mark Flemmonds was discovered dead of asphyxiation near a tree.

In 1978, a crew of young men was robbing and shooting its way across Indianapolis.

Several Burger Chef restaurants were hit late at night, indicating the robbers may have had inside knowledge of the chain’s closing-time routines.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Podcast miniseries released on 42-year local unsolved murders case

Podcast miniseries released on 42-year local unsolved murders case My Icon Media

ss-times.com

Podcast miniseries released on 42-year local unsolved murders case​

A podcast investigating new details of the murders of four employees of a Speedway Burger Chef 42 years will be released on the anniversary of the day the young adults disappeared.


“We’re hoping to give listeners a bird’s eye view of the case and hope that they have a full understanding of the crime and its many theories,” Cane said. “We feel we’ll be providing our audience with new details they may not have heard before. We’re hoping to provide a real overview of the case that’s not just focusing on a single theory of the investigation.”

To listen to the podcast’s trailer, go to buzzsprout.com/1452037. The miniseries starts Tuesday, Nov. 17. For more information go to facebook.com/MSheetPodcast, twitter.com/MurderSheet or instagram.com/murdersheet.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

The podcast mentioned above has begun.

‘Murder Sheet’ podcast debuts with the 1970s Burger Chef homicide case

In this photo from the late 1970s, an Indianapolis Burger Chef restaurant is seen. A new podcast about restaurant homicides will look at a 1970s case involving the deaths of four employees of a Spe…

reflector.uindy.edu

The “Murder Sheet” podcast can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @MurderSheet and on Facebook at @MSheetPodcast. The podcast releases weekly on Tuesdays and can be found on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

 

[Kimster]

The podcast mentioned above has begun.

‘Murder Sheet’ podcast debuts with the 1970s Burger Chef homicide case

In this photo from the late 1970s, an Indianapolis Burger Chef restaurant is seen. A new podcast about restaurant homicides will look at a 1970s case involving the deaths of four employees of a Spe…

reflector.uindy.edu

The “Murder Sheet” podcast can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @MurderSheet and on Facebook at @MSheetPodcast. The podcast releases weekly on Tuesdays and can be found on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

@Imamazed, have you watched any of it?

 

[Imamazed]

@Imamazed, have you watched any of it?

No not yet but I intend to for sure!

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

‎Serial Killers on Apple Podcasts

‎True Crime · 2021

podcasts.apple.com

 

[Mel70]

This Case really is baffling. Why kill 4 people?. And nothing since it happened in 1978?!!! I didn't even know the evil of the world yet then. Their poor families waiting for justice.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Burger Chef witness: ‘It could have easily been me’

INDIANAPOLIS — It was on a Friday night in November 43 years ago that Brian Kring was on a date with a fellow employee from the Burger Chef on Crawfordsville Road in Speedway. “On taking her …

fox59.com

Burger Chef witness: ‘It could have easily been me’​

It was on a Friday night in November 43 years ago that Brian Kring was on a date with a fellow employee from the Burger Chef on Crawfordsville Road in Speedway.

“On taking her home, which was a little bit before twelve, we passed by the Burger Chef and she says that she remembered that she didn’t see Jayne’s vehicle there, the Vega,” said Brian Kring. “One of the employees called in and said that their van broke down, I vividly remember that, and I guess because of that, I told them that I would come back by and help them close.”

Kring was 17-years-old and a student at Ben Davis High School who had a job flipping burgers at the fast-food restaurant.

Jayne Friedt was his manager. Ruth Ellen Shelton, Daniel Davis and Mark Flemmonds were his coworkers.

They all should have been on the job when Kring returned shortly after midnight to help them close.

“I drove around to the back of the building, I guess to go around to the other side to park, and when I pulled around to the back, I the first thing I noticed was the back door was cracked open and I decided to go in the back door.

“I walked in there and I didn’t see anybody, and pretty sure I checked the whole store, walk-in freezer and whatever, and nobody’s there,” Kring recalled. “When I was walking around, I did walk into the manager’s office and I noticed that the safe is sitting wide open, cash drawers are laid out, and after that is when I called somebody and they told me to call the police.”

While Speedway Police were on the way, Kring said he was joined by another employee, stopping by after he took the night off work because he said his van wasn’t running.

“Danny Davis wasn’t supposed to be closing that night so he asked his mother if he could stay and close because of the employee that had the van that broke down, he was supposed to come in and close,” said Kring. “Shortly after I go there that employee showed up at the Burger Chef.

“As soon as he found out that I called the police, he took off.”

At first, officers speculated that the employees cleaned out the cash registers and took off, a theory that was horribly disproven when the four bodies were discovered in a wooded area in Johnson County two days later.

 

[Sunburst]

2 2 4 2.
Last 4 digits of a phone number? Address? Apartment number? Beginning or end of a license plate? In Indiana at that time, each county had a number. The numbers were assigned in alphabetical order according to county name. The number was the first digit or two of the license plate. Allen County ( Ft. Wayne area) was 2. Number 22 would have been a different county. There were little cards that listed each number and county. I think the BMV had them as a free giveaway. You could tell by looking at the first 2 numbers of the plate where the person lived, or at least where the car was registered. I stil have one of those cards. Indiana used that system for decades,I don't believe they still do.
IIRC , Marion County (Indianapolis)was 49.

 

[RoundPeg]

2 2 4 2.
Last 4 digits of a phone number? Address? Apartment number? Beginning or end of a license plate? In Indiana at that time, each county had a number. The numbers were assigned in alphabetical order according to county name. The number was the first digit or two of the license plate. Allen County ( Ft. Wayne area) was 2. Number 22 would have been a different county. There were little cards that listed each number and county. I think the BMV had them as a free giveaway. You could tell by looking at the first 2 numbers of the plate where the person lived, or at least where the car was registered. I stil have one of those cards. Indiana used that system for decades,I don't believe they still do.
IIRC , Marion County (Indianapolis)was 49.

I can't remember exactly when I got my current car, but no more county numbered plates on it. Kind of a drag when you lose one of your road trip games.

 

[Imamazed]

Speedway Burger Chef murders spotlighted in new documentary

The murder of 4 people who worked at Burger Chef in Speedway in 1978 shook the community. "Murders at the Burger Joint" will tell their story.

www.indystar.com

 

[Imamazed]

Podcasters unearth original FBI file on Burger Chef killings

INDIANAPOLIS — The abductions and murders of four young employees of a Burger Chef in Speedway on November 17, 1978, have remained some of Marion County’s most enduring crime mysteries. In 2019, Ke…

fox59.com

 

[GrandmaBear]

Podcasters unearth original FBI file on Burger Chef killings

INDIANAPOLIS — The abductions and murders of four young employees of a Burger Chef in Speedway on November 17, 1978, have remained some of Marion County’s most enduring crime mysteries. In 2019, Ke…

fox59.com

Interesting.

 

[Imamazed]

Interesting.

I thought so too!!!

 

[GrandmaBear]

I thought so too!!!

Yeah and some either think a lot of the Murder Sheet couple or they don't but they do go after records on cases AND bring a lot to light.

As far as what's in the records, I think some of it is familiar to a point, we heard it or hints of it before but some is a bit more specific and new.

Another case too where the crime scene was messed up and probably a lot lost or that can't be used because of it.

 

[Imamazed]

1978 Burger Chef murders haunt retired detective: 'This is the type of case that I will take to my grave'

Four-and-a-half decades later, the Burger Chef murders remain one of Indiana's most notorious and confounding unsolved crimes.

www.wrtv.com

 

[GrandmaBear]

Been quite some time since I looked back at this one. This is Indiana and one Murder Sheet is known for covering before Delphi.

But I'd known of it, read of before I ever saw their coverage.

Half kidding but was it Os??

Sorry.

I can't recall what I thought back when but reading this now, why is the off duty employee stopping by...? At that hour? Maybe I cleared that back when but not enough here and memory fails to know whether I did.

And that's right, recalling now some of it, LE totally screwed up and messed up a crime scene due to thinking four kids were all thieves that would steal and go party.

Some witness somehow found ran into someone in the alley, why was she there? And we have sketches. Maybe I am overtired and maybe because it is IN, and talk of drugs and more, but I can't help but think of the messed up search and crime scene in Delphi. FOUR kids here and he all are going to steal and go party? Girls leaving purses behind. SMDH.

Tired and haven't looked back, don't recall my conclusion from back when but I would say with how far tech and forensics have advanced, it is time to take another look at it and test some sh*t.

Even if it is messed up compromised sh*t it may bring some answers but no arrest.

I find the ally witness and sketches doubtful, however this is a really old case, the 70s! and I can't recall what my opinion was after hearing of it trhough the years, seeing it on Mruder Sheet, etc. but in JUST readiimg this article after so long, I wonder about the off duty employee. Aside from that I wonder about LE assumptions. Really? Four kids are going to lose their jobs, screw up school and their lives as an assumption to NOT process or protect the scene?? I mean TWO were one thing in Delphi thinking they were being teens and took off, etc. FOUR? With a business door unlocked and more??

Of course it was back when so maybe they as cops just wouldn't think that way. Times were better... I would not necessarily think that in the 70s....

Anyhow it is time to put it all on the table, get a task force, etc. and employ all the new tech and advances.

FOUR, yes FOUR kids murdered. And they can't find the killer/s. 40 years plus later. A crime scene. FOUR bodies. Some by gunshot, other/s by stabbing, etc.

 

[Sunburst]

This case has haunted me for years- I was a teen in Indiana when these murders happened. We were all scared, especially my high school friends who worked in fast-food restaurants. I can think of 4 possible scenarios:

1) Perp(s) were current/former employees of Burger Chef that the assistant manager knew, possibly from another store and she had fired at least one of them. I really think there were at least two perps: Three victims shot and one victim brutally stabbed. Would a single killer suddenly switch weapons in the middle of killing 4 people? Maybe if a gun ran out of ammo and a knife was a backup is the only thing I can think of.

2) An angry ex-BF of the assistant manager and the other 3 were witnesses who had to be eliminated. Friedt was the only one who was stabbed, that sounds personal against her. How angry is someone that part of the knife breaks off in the victim as they are being stabbed??

3) The attack was random and a robbery gone bad. Indianapolis area in the late 1970s was considered very safe, with a pretty low crime rate, unlike now.

4) New GF of one of Friedt's ex BFs. He wasn't over Friedt, mentioned her frequently in complimentary ways to the new GF, who was insanely jealous and decided to eliminate any possibility that Friedt and the exBF would get back together.