The Murder of Shauna Howe

Halloween is a fabulous, spooky time of year that many children look forward to. However, the events of Halloween 1992 would change the very fabric of Oil City, Pennsylvania, for nearly two decades.

Shauna Howe was born on July 11th, 1981. She lived with her family in Oil City, Pennsylvania. She was a bright and bubbly girl, who enjoyed spending time with her family, and her Girl Scout troupe.

On October 27th, 1992, Shauna excitedly got dressed for school, planning a Halloween costume for later that day. She chatted happily to her mother, Lucy, about meeting up with her Girl Scout troupe, and attending a Halloween party with all of her friends.

Later that night, Lucy received a call from her long-time partner, Shauna’s step-father, John. John informed Lucy that Shauna hadn’t arrived home yet, and he was concerned about her. Lucy then called her ex-husband, asking him if Shauna was with him, as she sometimes stopped to visit him after school.

Lucy’s concern grew exponentially when her ex-husband told her he hadn’t seen Shauna at all that day. After her shift, Lucy raced home and began frantically searching for her daughter.

She called a friend of Shauna’s, who told her that she’d seen Shauna at the Halloween party, and they’d had a good time. The friend then said that at around 8:00 PM, the girls left the party together, but parted ways when they had to split up to walk the rest of their own ways home.

At around this time, Dan Paton was walking down the street when he noticed a young girl being tailed by a tall, scruffy looking man smoking a cigarette. He then saw the man scoop the girl up, and run around the corner. Dan then heard a scream, and saw a small, red, boxy sedan speed around the corner. He noticed that the car had Pennsylvania plates, but not what the plate said.

Shortly after that, Dan raced to a house and asked to use the phone. He frantically called police, and told them what he’d seen. At first, investigators believed it may have been a prank, but agreed to look into it just in case.

Around 10:00 PM, Lucy reported her daughter missing. When investigators received this report, they put two and two together – Dan Paton had witnessed the abduction of Shauna Howe.

Police, friends, and family all started a frantic search for Shauna. They refused to believe the worst unless proven otherwise – they were determined to bring Shauna home safe and sound.

The city as a whole decided to effectively cancel Halloween that year. There would be no more parties, and children would not be allowed to trick or treak after dark. The trusting community all began suspecting each other, and locking their doors and windows when they hadn’t before. The city itself was changed. Shauna’s disappearance left a mark on the very core of Oil City, and changed their traditions for the following 15 years.

Two days after Shauna’s abduction, a piece of her Halloween costume was found by investigators near an abandoned railroad bed near the rural community of Rockland.

One day later, the body of Shauna How was found about 200 yards from where the piece of her costume had been located. It appeared as though Shauna had been thrown from the railroad bridge above. The shorts and socks she was wearing when she was found appeared to not belong to her, and her T-shirt was inside out. Her feet had been submerged in the stream of the creek.

It was determined that Shauna had been alive when she was thrown off the bridge. The cause of her death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head and chest, caused by the fall. The medical examiner was also able to life a DNA sample from Shauna’s body, from semen that had been left behind.

Knowing that the entire community was watching them, investigators began rounding up any individual who fit the description given to them by Dan Paton.

Among those brought in was a man named Eldred “Ted” Walker. He fit the description, was a smoker, and was known around town for being extremely creepy. He worked at a local pizza shop, and often asked young girls for hugs. Shauna and her friends had spoken about how much this bothered them before. Her friends and family remembered her stating that they’d usually try to avoid the shop when he was working.

As he was being questioned, Walker denied knowing anything about Shauna’s murder. He volunteered his DNA, which ended up not being a match.

As this line of inquiry was fizzling out, investigators turned to their next best lead – Dan Paton. He was thoroughly interrogated, and held for countless hours going through his story over and over again. At no point did Dan change his story – he knew what he saw, and he was able to tell investigators over and over again exactly what he saw. In the end, he was released as a suspect when the DNA sample he volunteered came back as not a match to the sample from Shauna’s body.

Many other individuals were investigated, their DNA samples submitted for comparison purpose. All of them were cleared in short order.

For years, the community felt like investigators weren’t doing enough to find Shauna’s killer, or killers. Her family were left with a multitude of questions, and very few answers. The case soon went cold, and changed hands multiple times. For nearly ten years, the abduction and murder of Shauna Howe went unanswered. Until things suddenly picked up in rapid succession.

Detective Rich Graham had been assigned the Shauna Howe cold case, and decided to look into the matter. As he was investigating another case, he paid a visito to a man named Timothy O’Brien, who was incarcerated for an unrelated matter.

Near the end of their discussion, Detective Graham asked for a sample of Timothy’s DNA. This had become a habit with the Oil City police department – they would collect samples of DNA from any male they were investigating, just to see if they had any connection with the murder of Shauna Howe.

When asked, Timothy was incredibly startled. In the end, he did volunteer his DNA, but sputtered about needing to check in with his attorney.

When the results from the comparison came back, Timothy O’Brien’s DNA did not match the sample taken from Shauna’s body.

Some time later, Detective Graham was discussing the case with Ed Flick, a parole officer. Detective Graham mentioned Timothy’s behaviour during their conversation, and speculated about his odd reaction. Ed commented that he’d always suspected that Timothy and his brother, James, may be involved in the Shauna Howe case, but realized it would be impossible, as the brothers were both incarcerated at the time.

Still feeling like something wasn’t quite right, Detective Graham took another look at the case files. He’d inherited the case from a retired officer, and relied heavily on the notes already present. He hadn’t thought about fact checking the notes himself.

Following a hunch, Detective Graham began looking into whether the O’Brien brothers were incarcerated at the time of Shauna’s murder. As it turned out, the brothers had been arrested, but they’d made bail. The O’Briens were not in police custody at the time of Shauna’s abduction.

Just as things were heating up, Detective Graham was transferred to another unit. Before he turned over the Shauna Howe files, he put in one final request for one of his fellow officers to pay a visit to James O’Brien, who was incarcerated for an entirely different matter, and obtain a DNA sample.

The request was obliged.

On January 9th, 2002, a former cellmate of Timothy O’Brien’s informed police that he had knowledge of the Shauna Howe case. He told them that he and O’Brien had been playing cards when the prison had gone into lockdown. During the game, O’Brien confessed to his involvement in Shauna’s murder. He stated that he had forced her into the truck of a car, and then he’d thrown her off a bridge.

A month or so later, Detective Graham received a cal from the forensics lab that was conducting the tests on the DNA samples gathered in the Shauna Howe investigation. Despite not being the officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Graham had asked to be kept informed.

The phone call changed everything. The DNA sample taken from James O’Brien matched the sample they had on file. James O’Brien had been involved in Shauna’s murder.

In July of 2004, both Timothy and James O’Brien were arrested for the murder of Shauna Howe.

The investigation picked back up almost right where it had left off – with Ted Walker. He had been a known associate of the O’Briens, and was brought in once again for questioning. This time, he had an entirely different story to tell.

He told them that the O’Briens had spent time in his home, and that they had planned a “prank”. They wanted to show the Oil City police that they were inept at their jobs. Their plan was to kidnap a friend of Walker’s son, and keep him for an hour or two while the police ran around frantic. Then, they would release the boy and have a good laugh. However, that is not at all what happened.

While out looking for the boy, the trio had come across Shauna Howe on her walk home from the Halloween party. It’s unclear who made the decision to change the plan, but soon things were in motion.

Walker scooped up Shauna, handed her off to the O’Briens, who sped off in the red sedan. Walker himself then ran for his own vehicle, and drove to his home using a different route. He arrived before the O’Briens. He then watched as the brothers took Shauna upstairs. Then, the brothers left the house with Shauna. He never saw her again.

In September of 2006, Ted Walker took a plea bargain. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping, and third-degree murder. In exchange for a reduced sentence shortened sentence of 20 to 40 years, he testified in court against the O’Brien brothers.

He told his story to a shocked and horrified courtroom. He admitted to hearing her crying while in his home with the O’Briens. But he vehemently denied having anything to do with her death.

In October of 2006, Timothy and James O’Brien were found guilty of kidnapping, conspiracy, and second- and third-degree murder. They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

For years following the abduction and murder of Shauna Howe, Oil City, Pennsylvania did not celebrate Halloween. They prohibited night-time trick or treating, and frowned upon Halloween celebrations.

In 2008, a group of young people petitioned the town to lift the Halloween ban on their city. They won. 15 years after Shauna Howe’s horrific murder, the kids of Oil City could participate in her favourite holiday again.

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Sources:

Shauna Howe’s killers have 15-30 years added to life sentences – Lisa Thompson – GoErie.com
Shauna Howe Murder: Where Are Eldred “Ted” Walker, James O’Brien, and Timothy O’Brien Now?The Cinemaholic
Inhuman: A True Crime Podcast – Episode 80: The Abduction and Murder of Shauna Howe
Casefile True Crime podcast – Case 111: Shauna Howe
Murder of Shauna Howe Wikipedia page