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Circleville Letters
For 18 years, someone sent threatening letters to residents of a small Ohio town, exposing affairs and secrets. A man went to prison for it but the letters continued from prison—in a different handwriting. Someone else knew everything. They were never caught.
1976 - 1994
Ohio, USA
30+ witnesses
The Circleville Letters terrorized a community for nearly two decades.
The Beginning
1976:
- Letters started arriving
- Circleville, Ohio
- Exposed affairs
- Revealed secrets
- Anonymous sender
The Content
What they said:
- Detailed knowledge
- Affairs exposed
- Threats made
- Demands issued
- Local secrets revealed
The Escalation
Getting worse:
- More threatening
- Signs on roads
- Booby-trapped signs
- Attempted murder
- Pure terror
The Arrest
Paul Freshour:
- Accused and convicted
- Letters continued
- From prison
- Different handwriting
- Wrong man?
The Mystery
Why unsolved:
- Wrong person convicted?
- Multiple writers?
- Perfect knowledge
- 18 years duration
- Never definitively solved
The Aftermath
Legacy:
- Freshour died
- Letters stopped
- Questions remain
- Small town trauma
- Modern mystery