THE SMILEY FACE KILLER

Article BY MARTIN SHELL

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Does Dolly Parton sleep on her back? Was Rodney Dangerfield devoid of respect from others? I’ve thought something very sinister and fishy had been happening in Boston since early 2012 when spirited 21-YO Boston College student Franco Garcia went missing after a night of drinking and fun on a chilly February 21st evening. He had been carousing with a group of friends at “Maryann’s”, a bar within the orbicular heart of Boston’s Cleveland Circle. It had been years since I had actively dived into the so-called “conspiracy theory” known as “The Smiley Face Killers” and although I never believed it had been 100% debunked, my interest had gradually waned because believers started to be seen as complete nutters and I had resented that. When I heard the news of Franco’s vanishing, instant “total recall” of what I had researched in years past returned and I promptly climbed back up on the diving board. At the time my interest diminished, I didn’t know what I know now or what I would learn in 2012 and beyond. I would learn so much more and what I found out was nothing like I had expected. It seemed so simple and uncomplicated at the time. The sinister and stealthy wolf was so much bigger and more complex than I had ever fathomed. It was humbling and remains so.

I picked up my research again, which I had long ago cast aside and went full in. I was like a dog chasing its tail…or one chasing a car. My dog and car simile is very important because it illustrates not only do we not know what we are getting into when we decide to dig deep into a very dark matter but the consequences and fall out are always more precarious than we gullibly assume in the beginning stages. I still had my research though which was half the battle and thrice as useful. I began to see in my inert years what I had missed…and it was right in my own backyard…Boston, Massachusetts.

Since 2007 in Boston at least 10 young, college-aged males fit the “Smiley Face Killer” victim profile of men vanishing after a night of bar-hopping or drinking on campus only to end up dead in a body of water. Mostly the infamously dirty water of the “Charles River” or “Boston Harbor” but other “Bean Town” watercourses would also clench the coda of the grim but tangible “SFK” profile.

So, does Boston have a “Smiley Face Killer” serial killer in its midst? I’ll list the young men who fit the profile and let the reader decide. If you believe so then you’ll also have to ruminate why Boston Law Enforcement fails to warn the public and if it is even proper for them to do so. You can’t protect yourself and those you love if you’re not even aware there is a problem. Most should be aware by now but still are not.

I am going to start with a fella who admittingly may or may not fit the “SFK” profile. I happen to think he does so I am listing him.

• Daniel S. Mun (Asian) (20) MIT Student 12/5/2003. Body found 2/28/2004*Charles River. Drinking & rollerblading before a snow storm hit Boston. Chi Phi Fraternity. Suicide? To me it doesn’t seem congruent.

• Dustin Willis (26) (Navy Man) “The Black Rose” Bar 3/16/2007 (Faneuil Hall). St. Patrick’s Day Weekend. Body found 3/21/2007*Boston Harbor. He was from the state of NC and was docked in Boston.

• William Hurley (26) Boston Garden Bruins game 10/8/2009. Body found 10/14/2009*Charles River. He left the game early & vanished from 99 Nashua Street. William was also from the state of NC and was in the Navy and was docked in Boston in 2007 with Dustin Willis.

• Eugene Losik (26) UMass Grad. “Sissy K’s Bar” 2/10/2010 (Faneuil Hall). Body found 11/8/2010 *Boston Harbor. Was staying at The Marriott Long Wharf and was back and forth that night before he vanished for good.

• Justin Leo Marshall (30) Out with friends in Charlestown, MA on 6/6/2010. Fell into Boston Harbor from “Pier 6”. Body found 6/7/2010.

• David Mark (24) Albany, NY native who drove to Newton, MA to visit his sister 3/2/2011. Went to “Boston Beer Works” in Kenmore Square near Fenway Park. Body found 3/8/2011*Chelsea River. What happened to David?

• Franco Garcia (21) Boston College Student “Maryann’s Bar” 2/21/2012 (Cleveland Circle). Body found 4/11/2012*Chestnut Hill Reservoir.

• Jonathan Dailey (23) BAC Grad. Left his home in Allston, MA on 10/2/2012. Body found 10/9/2012*Charles River. Jonathan’s death is very mysterious, creepy and scary because he was found chained to a cinder block. Classified as a suicide. Absurd! What happened to Jon? He was also from NC.

• Eric Munsell (24) Boston University Grad. “Market Lounge” 2/8/2014. Body found 4/24/2014*Boston Harbor. Eric was kicked out of the bar (it was his 24th birthday) even though he was not too inebriated and it was very cold.

• Josue Quispe-Almendro (18) Last seen in Somerville, MA on 10/17/2015, dropping his brother off at a mall. Body found 11/12/2015*Saquish Beach in Plymouth, MA. What happened to Josue?

• Dennis Michael Njoroge (21) Northeastern University Student (Kenyan National). 11/30/2015 was the last day anyone saw Dennis in the Boston area. Body found 12/31/2015*Charles River. What happened to Dennis?

• Zachary Marr (22) Mt. Wachusett Community College Student. “Bell In Hand Tavern” 2/13/2016 Zach was celebrating his 22nd birthday with friends and family. Body found 3/15/2016*Charles River. Zach stepped outside of the bar and texted they would not let him back in even though it was very cold. Law Enforcement claim they have CCTV of him jumping into the river without a coat under the Zakim Bridge yet they have never released the video. It needs to be seen to be believed especially with all the missing men before him. Zach, like Eric Munsell also died on his birthday celebrating his birthday. Things that make you go hmmmm.

• Michael Kelleher (23) Boston Garden Celtics game. Left game early on 3/29/2017. When I finished this article, Michael still hadn’t been found and was still missing but look at how much his case is reminiscent of William Hurley’s vanishing from the same venue 8 years back. Michael Kelleher was found today 4/16/2017, on EASTER Sunday in the Charles River. I also predicted there would be a “SFK”-like victim for the month of March in 2017 and I will explain why later…

(I wanted to include the strange case of D’Anthony W. Green (23) a black, Suffolk University student who was found dead in water on 7/30/2012 but there was not much information on when he vanished and what body of water he was found in. The fact he was found in the summer months doesn’t nullify him from the list even if most “SFK” victims are lost and found during the cold months of the school year, which itself is another reason to doubt these tragic deaths are due to Darwinian misadventure. Drunken young men are probably more apt to fall in rivers and lakes via their own power in warm weather than in the frostiness of winter.)

That is the list of young men I personally believe fit the “SFK” victim profile and readers can decide for themselves if they smell a rat or not. You’ve got to smell something rotten and rancid or you’re just a stomp-down fool easily assuaged by Law Enforcement (LE) who wants everyone to believe these are all just silly, careless, college kids who died inanely by misadventure. Come on! How many times are you going to swat the stench aside? Men matter, too! Why are not homeless hobos jamming up Boston’s waterways with their dead, drunken cadavers? Those poor, no-hopers are in more abundance in every way to naturally die by busting out drunk in the drink yet it is quite rare you hear about a sad demise of a drunken bum that way. This is a studied and targeted demographic and it’s right in front of you if you want to see it.

My list consists only of the potential Boston victims. This very strange and ignored phenomenon has been going on across the country for years now. It gets complicated because not all cases are linked together but the killer(s) who are killing are doing it for almost the same reasons…like a cancerous, copycat replication gone mad on steroids. Something similar is happening in Pennsylvania now. So far in 2017 two men have vanished and have ended up dead in the water. I hope someone is noticing the PA activity…

• Dakota Leo James (23) Duquesne Grad. Last seen 1/25/2017 in Katz Plaza in Downtown Pittsburg, PA. Body found 3/6/2017*Ohio River.

• Brad S. Verret (26) Albright College Grad. Last seen 2/7/2017 leaving “Trooper Thorn’s Irish Pub” without his car in Reading, PA. Body found 3/20/2017*Schuylkill River.

To bolster my belief and to get more people to wake the hell up, I’d like to discuss what I know about the Boston cases since I have kept an eagle eye on them since early 2012. The founder of the “SFK” theory is retired NYC Detective Kevin Gannon who I also mentioned in my “The Stayner Family Tragedies” article in Issue #24 of “Serial Killer Magazine”. In short, people may feel his initial theory is not only cockamamie but has also been debunked. Both of those misnomers are FALSE. In total, Gannon was more right than wrong and will one day be vindicated but he has been on top of the Boston “Smiley Face Killings” even before 2012, although like Rodney Dangerfield he is given scant respect. I mentioned I predicted a March 2017 victim and that is because in early 2016 he discussed his findings with noted crime author Michele McPhee on her Boston radio show and he illustrated how there is a distinctive micro-pattern for EVEN YEAR February’s and ODD YEARS in March and December. I knew about the February killings because they have been more consistent since 2010 and the December and March’s hit or miss in the odd years. I made note in February 2016 to watch for March 2017 and on March 29th, 2017 Michael Kelleher from Southboro, MA vanished after leaving a Boston Celtics game and was found dead in the Charles River on 4/16/2017 on EASTER Sunday. Detective Gannon was correctamundo yet again but the only sounds ever heard from the “doubting Thomas” side are of disbelief and cricket noises!

Here are the consistent February EVEN YEARS victims so the reader can see for themselves…

2010-Eugene Losik (26) 2/10/2010-Found 11/8/2010 in Boston Harbor.

2012-Franco Garcia (21) 2/21/2012-Found 4/11/2012 in Chestnut Hill Reservoir.

2014-Eric Munsell (24) 2/8/2014-Found 4/24/2014 in Boston Harbor (Long Wharf). It was his birthday when he vanished.

2016-Zachary Marr (22) 2/13/2016-Found 3/15/2016 in the Charles River. It was his birthday when he vanished. He was found on The Ides of March.

Here are the inconsistent March ODD YEARS victims. I am including a gent who was a Boston University teacher not on my list but makes other people’s “SFK” victim’s list. I’ll let the reader decide…

2003-John Daverio (49) 3/16/2003-Found 4/14/2003 in the Charles River.

2007-Dustin Willis (26) 3/16/2007-Found 3/21/2007 in Boston Harbor (Long Wharf).

2011-David Mark (24) 3/2/2011-Found 3/8/2011 in the Chelsea River. Mark’s car was found in Newton, MA.

2017-Michael Kelleher (23) 3/29/2017-Found 4/16/2017 (Easter Sunday) in the Charles River.

October is less defined and whether it is a micro-pattern of odd year victims can be debated. October odd year’s victims include William Hurley (24) 10/8/2009 (10/14/2009)-Charles River and Josue Quispe-Almendro (18) 10/17/2015 (11/12/2015)-Saquish Beach (Plymouth, MA). Josue’s car was found in Quincy, MA. There is also an even year victim in October…Jonathan Dailey (23) 10/2/2012 (10/9/2012)-Charles River (these can also be seen as two year jumps as well). I believe the fact that there are micro-patterns in the Boston cases only solidifies the supposition for those like myself that believe something horrible and wicked is happening here and LE, who really doesn’t have to work hard to keep the narrative in extremis, continues to keep the oblivious public languid. One person’s high interest in a very dark fascination is other person’s reason to lazily label one a conspiracy nut or a whack job, but facts are stubborn things and at the end of the day there is more proof that something vicious and malicious is happening to Boston’s bright, young men than not.

Going back to Detective Kevin Gannon…he published a textbook in 2014 regarding his “SFK” research with a St. Cloud, MN Professor named D. Lee Gilbertson and it is very comprehensive and hits on many of the flagship cases that first received national attention back in 2008 when people were still willing to open-mindedly follow the rancid rat stink of a Serial Killer trail. “Case Studies
In Drowning Forensics”. The book is a college TEXT BOOK so it’s wildly expensive. It’s not a money grab like many people knee-jerkingly and erroneously believe and that is more the fault of “Big Academia Book Selling/Pimping” than the very tired, untrue and annoying bromide whinge of, “Oh, you just wanna sell books”. Puh-leeze! That tired, old retort shows the spew-er doesn’t understand the business side of the publishing industry (it is no longer the big money making juggernaut it used to be 30 years ago and most certainly not for writers!) or how thankless and expensive it is for one to research such true crime dead ends. It’s a text book so that’s why it costs as much as a car note…take your complaint up with “Big Education”. The book is worth reading and vital for understanding much of the intense detective work that has been part of dissecting this long-ignored phenomenon and the cases mentioned are all in the clusters that initially got everyone’s attention.

Regarding the “Smiley Face Killings”, there is indeed a “victim zero” and Detective Gannon happened to be the working detective on the case. Victim Zero was New Yorker Patrick McNeil a 21-YO Fordham University student who vanished on 2/16/1997 after drinking with friends at “The Dapper Dog” Bar in New York City. Patrick’s body was found on 4/7/1997 in the East River. He had been abducted, held captive and burned. His murder illustrates how a more malicious tact and motive was behind the killer(s) intent and he was indeed the first of a New York cluster of killings that purposely played fast and loose with the profile and signatures. Not just men were killed and that was by design and I plan to write about those cases in length one day (some female victims were purposely killed in some of the clusters of “SFK” victims but were not designated as such due to their gender but they should have been included because the same killer(s) targeted them with intent and to purposely mess with the profile). A stealth serial killer who wants to trick everyone against him will change-up his playbook with small tweaks to put a wrench in the profiler’s and forensic scientist’s game. Sometimes they even brag about it. I will be writing about that more in the future so stay tuned.

It is possible there are more victims that fit the profile in Boston but sometimes when a body is found, further information is not proffered. Age and gender are important variables in Boston so to fit on the list we need that information. The Muddy River in Boston is a place where many dead bodies are found but once the news is out that one has been found, there usually is no follow-up. In 2014 there were three bodies found…

3/20/2014
6/21/2014 (male)
11/4/2014.

All have a potential to fit the profile but no other information has been extended. A body was found in The Muddy River on 9/4/2016 and just a week ago on 4/9/2017. How many of the five found dead in The Muddy River fit into the profile? If that was known my thesis would have that much more standing and urgency. There are also other bodies found in the Charles River that may also fit the profile. Some were found…

(Also in May or June 2016)

7/2/2016
2/4/2016
10/12/2015 (male)
4/26/2013
3/27/2013

Fort Point Channel has a few that may also fit the profile. The dates bodies were found were…

7/20/2016
3/19/2016
5/24/2011

With the disappearance of Michael Kelleher on March 29th, 2017, a founder (“Adam G.”) of a Boston blog “Universal Hub” has smugly jeered the theory of a Boston Serial Killer by listing the dates bodies were found in Boston waterways but given not much notice and that is where I found my “possibles” mentioned above. His own case for debunking the theory can actually and may bolster the cause IF any of those bodies found fit the profile. Rodney Dangerfield knew how it felt when it came to the lack of respect given…or having to endure the blather of arrogant know-it-alls who really haven’t thought matters out or have yet to see the research in total. It’s easier to be smug and flake off something without a complete fact check than to take the time to see if the facts line up. Smug bloviation is done in seconds flat and is surely not for the intellectually curious yet many are appeased and lulled back to sleep by these bloviating bozos. Sweet dreams, sad fools! Someone must care about the victims. The “lovers, muggers and thieves” mentioned in the hit song “Dirty Water” by 60’s garage band “The Standells’” (about the banks of the River Charles) are more likely to care and help than local law enforcement and the politically powerful in Boston. Thank goodness they happen to be “cool people”! Any type is needed to care at this point, cool or not!

There is another demographic of young men who also may be found dead in the water but it’s a whole different situation and killer and no one is foolishly conflating them with the “SFK” profiles. I have listed 4 victims below all killed in Boston within a calendar year. These are obviously troubled youth immigrants (illegal or legal) from South and Central America. The Mara Salvatrucha Gang (MS-13) may be the force behind most of them. The only things they have in common with the “SFK” profiles are that their grisly deaths are also swept under the rug and LE are never frank with the general-public why these gangs are allowed to even flourish in America. My point is to show a distinction between different types of sadistic evils happening under everyone’s noses by different types of killers.

Cristopher Perez de la Cruz (16) Shot to death 1/10/2016 in East Boston.

Carlos Villatoro-Nunez (16) Reported missing 11/13/2016. Body found 12/9/2016*Belle Isle Marsh (East Boston). Stabbed to death.

Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino (16) Reported missing 11/18/2016 (Lawrence, MA). Body found 12/1/2016*Merrimack River. He was decapitated with his forearms chopped off. (His killer was teen psychopath Mathew Borges (15) of Lawrence, MA with no ties to MS-13 known but he sure sported some cRaZy looking hair, though!)

Luis Fernando Orellana-Ruano (18) Missing 12/24/2016. Body found 12/24/2016*On steps of Satori Memorial Stadium (East Boston). Stabbed to death.

Something sinister is going on in Boston, Massachusetts and on a macro level, anyone in charge or in the know does NOT want the word getting out or people to panic. People shouldn’t panic but the general-public has the right to know if certain types of citizens are being targeted for death. The victims killed didn’t hurt anyone, they were just young and living life and indulging in alcoholic drinks as many young men do as a rite of passage. If Law Enforcement doesn’t want to come clean with facts, people should think about what is happening and prepare and protect themselves and their loved ones. Don’t wait for others to give you the go ahead to believe something that is more than obvious is in fact going on. If you have a young, college-aged male in your family you should at least warn them of the dangers of bar-hopping and carousing at night. Tell them to be mindful of their surroundings, tell them to stay near and watch out for their friends and each other, tell them to make sure to never leave their drinks unattended (where, just like women, their drinks can be spiked with strong, knock-out drugs like GHB (Gamma Hydroxybutyric Acid) and these drugs go undetected in an autopsy unless specifically requested to be detected) and most importantly, don’t go off alone or let a friend go off alone. Even after the evil deed is done LE doesn’t level with the family of the unfortunate victim. There is no justice for a truly unsuspecting victim and then their families are seen as pests when it comes time to find the killer LE can never seem to find and has always denied to have ever existed anyway.