The Writer Who Terrorized a Town: The Mystery of the Circleville Letters
Imagine opening your mailbox to find a letter. No return address. No stamp. Just a handwritten note that lists your darkest secrets and threatens your life.
Now imagine this happening to hundreds of people in your town, for nearly 20 years. This isn't a movie script. This is the true nightmare of Circleville, Ohio. In 1976, an anonymous writer started a campaign of terror that destroyed lives, baffled police, and remains unsolved to this day.
Target #1: The School Bus Driver
It started with Mary Gillespie. Mary was a seemingly normal school bus driver with a husband and kids. But the letter writer knew something else.
The letters, written in disguised block handwriting, accused Mary of having an affair with the school superintendent. The tone was hateful and threatening.
Mary tried to hide the letters. But then, her husband, Ron Gillespie, started getting them too. The writer gave Ron an ultimatum: Stop your wife's affair, or die. The writer seemed to be watching their every move.
The Mysterious Death of Ron
On August 17, 1977, the threats turned real. Ron received a phone call that enraged him. He grabbed his gun, told his daughter he was going to confront the letter writer, and drove off in his pickup truck.
He never returned. Ron's truck was found crashed into a tree. While the police ruled it an accident, there were strange details:
- Why had Ron's gun been fired once?
- Who did he shoot at?
- Why did friends say Ron wasn't drunk, despite police reports?
The police closed the case, calling it a drunk driving accident. But the letters didn't stop. In fact, they got worse.
The Booby Trap Setup
Years later, Mary was driving her bus when she saw signs along the road attacking her daughter. Furious, she stopped to tear them down.
Behind one of the signs, she discovered a box. Inside was a loaded pistol rigged to a string. It was a booby trap designed to shoot anyone who pulled the sign.
The gun was traced to Paul Freshour, Mary's brother-in-law. Paul insisted the gun had been stolen. Despite passing a polygraph test, and handwriting experts claiming he didn't write the letters, Paul was convicted of attempted murder.
The Letters from Prison
The town thought the nightmare was over. Paul Freshour was sent to prison. He was placed in solitary confinement, where his mail and actions were strictly monitored.
It was physically impossible for him to write and mail letters without the guards knowing. Yet, the letters continued.
- Hundreds of Circleville residents received new threats.
- The letters contained details about local politics and police corruption.
- Even the Prison Warden received a letter threatening him.
This led to a terrifying conclusion: The real writer was still out there. Paul died in 2012, maintaining his innocence. The identity of the Circleville Writer remains a mystery.
