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In 1970 the per capita crime rate in Texas was staggering. The figure for murder and non-negligent manslaughter

stood at 11.6 per 100,000 residents, leading the nation by a statistical landslide, besides Illinois, perhaps,

which fell in at 9.6, the closest another state came to Texas.

Dallas ranked as the second highest metropolitan area for murder per capita in the entire

United States at 18.4 murders and non-negligent manslaughter

per 100,000 residents, even surpassing the significantly larger city of Houston.

Both the Dallas County Sheriff's Office and the Dallas City police

had an incredibly complex problem on their hands. The departments were overworked and similarities in many of the slangs taking place, had detectives, perhaps in vain, attempting to make connections.

Some were solved, some were almost solved, and many went cold almost as soon as they happened,

remaining unresolved to this day.

There was one certainty though.

Dallas was a prime stomping ground for predators, and the city of hate was living up to its name. You're going to On the morning of Tuesday, January 6th, 1970, 19 year old Jeanette Starnes was falling in and out of sleep as her common-law

husband, Robert Edwin Smith, was getting ready for work. It was a bitterly cold morning, colder than the usual Texas winter day at least, and

Jeanette turned down Robert's offer to accompany him to work, opting to curl up under the warm covers as he left at 1045.

Jeanette wanted to get up and clean the house, though, and a call from her mother at 11 made that goal easily attainable.

Robert was due back at the couple's apartment on Cloverleaf Lane in Irving at around 2.30 or 3 p.m. but he was running late and arrived back home at

410. When he entered, signs that a struggle had taken place were immediately apparent. However, there were no signs of forced entry.

Panic and dread filled Robert, and his worst fears were realized as he entered their bedroom.

Jeanette laid on the floor beside the bed, her arms and legs sprawled.

She was unclothed from her waist up, and a 10-inch butcher knife protruded from her chest.

Upon autopsy, the Dallas County Medical Examiner estimated that Jeunette had been killed four hours prior to

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