Richard Laurence Marquette

Richard Marquette
Born	1934
Conviction(s)	Robbery, 1956, first degree murder, 1961, 1975
Penalty	life in prison
Status	incarcerated

The Oregon State Penitentiary has held Marquette for over 35 years. He is not eligible for parole.

Richard Laurence Marquette (also known as Dick Marquette; born December 12, 1934) is an American convicted murderer. Marquette was a serial killer who killed three women, drained their blood, mutilated and dismembered their bodies and scattered their remains. He was the first person ever to be added as an eleventh name on the FBI Ten Most Wanted List, in connection with the 1961 murder of Joan Caudle in Salem, Oregon.^[1] He has been incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary since June 1975.

Personal background

Richard Laurence (Lawrence) Marquette was born on December 12, 1934 in Portland, Oregon.^[2] He was first arrested in June 1956 on a charge of attempted rape, but his alleged victim dropped the charge.^[3] He was arrested for disorderly conduct a few months later. He attempted to rob a Portland service station in August 1957, and was sentenced to eighteen months in jail. He was released in twelve months for good behavior.^[3]

Murders

Joan Caudle

On June 8, 1961 Portland Police received a phone call from a woman whose dog had brought home a human foot in a paper bag. While detectives were at the woman's house investigating the dog returned again, this time with a hand. The area was then subject to a thorough search which uncovered several more body parts, all fresh and bled dry, with no attempt to bury them. After cross referencing with missing persons reports investigators determined the remains were that of Joan Caudle, recently reported missing by her husband. A witness was found who saw Caudle leaving a local bar with a man named Dick. Further investigation led detectives to the home of Dick Marquette. Marquette had fled the area, but further remains of Joan Caudle were found in his refrigerator, butchered and wrapped in the manner of any normal meat. An arrest warrant was issued and a manhunt began. Oregon Governor Mark Hatfield appealed to the FBI for help and the agency took the unusual step of expanding their most wanted list to eleven names, the first time it had ever done so.^[4] The tactic worked, Marquette was arrested in California the day after being added to the list.^[5] Marquette's defense for the grisly nature of his crime was that he was drunk when he strangled Caudle and when he regained his senses he realized he had no vehicle to transport the remains and he panicked. Marquette was found guilty of first degree murder but the jury recommended leniency. Marquette was sentenced to life in prison. After serving 11 years for the crime Marquette was released in January, 1973.^[1]

Betty Wilson

In April 1975 a fisherman discovered mutilated human remains floating in a shallow slough in Marion County, Oregon. Once again, the corpse had been bled dry, savagely mutilated, and dismembered before being dumped with only a minimal effort at concealment. Detectives determined the remains were those of Betty Wilson, who had recently fled an abusive relationship in Fayetteville, North Carolina and had been living with relatives in Salem. She had last been seen alive at a crowded nightclub. After determining that Wilson's husband had been in North Carolina at the time of the murder, detectives, some of whom had worked the Caudle case fourteen years earlier, began to suspect Marquette may have killed again. Detectives began a stakeout of his home and obtained a search warrant. They searched both inside and outside the mobile home where Marquette was living and uncovered several small but damning pieces of physical evidence that tied Marquette to the murder of Betty Wilson. Fifty-five hours after the first remains were found, Marquette was once again arrested for murder. Given the overwhelming physical evidence and the close similarity to the Caudle murder, Marquette pleaded guilty to the Wilson murder and in May 1975 was again sentenced to life in prison, this time without the possibility of parole.^[1] He has been incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary since June 1975.^[2]

Jane Doe

While confessing to the murder of Betty Wilson, Marquette also confessed to another murder in the same style in 1974. He picked up a woman at a bar, convinced her to come to his home, and proceeded to choke her to death and mutilate and dismember her corpse. Marquette led detectives to two shallow graves where he had disposed of the bulk of the remains, but the head was never located and there was no evidence that could aid investigators in determining who the victim was. Her identity remains unknown.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Rule, Ann. "Rehabilitation of a Monster". A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases. ISBN 0-671-79252-5. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Offender Search". Oregon Department of Corrections. http://docpub.state.or.us/OOS/searchCriteria.jsf. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Richard Lawrence Marquette". Serial Killer Central. May 5, 2006. http://www.skcentral.com/articles.php?article_id=523. Retrieved May 17, 2011. 
4. ^ "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" Program Frequently Asked Questions". Federal Bureau of Investigation. http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/ten-most-wanted-fugitives-faq/ten-most-wanted-fugitives-faq#12. Retrieved May 16, 2011. 
5. ^ "The First Top Tenners". Federal Bureau of Investigation Portland. http://portland.fbi.gov/toptenners.htm. Retrieved May 16, 2011. 

Persondata
Name	Marquette, Richard Laurence
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 12, 1934
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death