The Casanova Killer – Life of Serial Killer John Paul Knowles –11.Another Double Execution

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Another Double Execution
By now law enforcement officials all over the state were on the alert for Barbara Tucker's stolen Volkswagen. On November 16, a 35-year-old Florida Highway Patrol trooper named Charles Eugene Campbell noticed a car of the right make and color traveling on US 19 near the North Florida city of Perry.

Turning on his siren, he overtook the vehicle and stopped the driver for questioning. Knowles, who had been en route to Georgia, drew his gun before Campbell could even reach for his. After ordering the trooper to cuff himself and get in the back of the patrol car, Knowles abandoned the Volkswagen and drove off in Campbell's vehicle.

A passing motorist witnessed the kidnapping and hurried to the nearest phone to call the police, but by the time they arrived, Knowles and his victim were long gone.

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Knowles knew that he needed to abandon Campbell's black and yellow patrol car at the first available opportunity. It was too conspicuous, and by now law enforcement everywhere would be on the alert for it. Using the siren, he tricked James Meyer, a businessman from Delaware, into pulling over near a wooded area southwest of Perry. After herding Campbell and Meyer into the back seat of the latter's blue Ford Gran Torino and making sure both were secured, he resumed his trip.

Later that day, he pulled into a gas station in Lakeland, Georgia, to buy a package of cigarettes. The proprietor briefly wondered why a uniformed policeman was in the back seat of the car, but when Campbell gave no indication that something was wrong, the man promptly forgot the matter. Later, when details of the kidnapping were televised, he notified the authorities and gave them a description of Knowles' new vehicle.

The following day, November 17, two Georgia sheriff's deputies spotted the blue Ford traveling along Highway 42. Roadblocks went up everywhere, but Knowles evaded them until 1:10 that afternoon, when he encountered a police blockade near Stockbridge, Georgia. Instead of surrendering, he stepped on the gas and crashed through it. The impact sent the car careening into a tree. Bloody and battered but still mobile, Knowles jumped out and ran into the Henry County woods, firing a snub-nosed revolver to keep the police at bay.

Meyer's vehicle after Knowles crashed through the roadblock.

Inside the smashed-up car, Georgia police officers found Campbell's hat and empty gun belt. There was no blood on the back seat to suggest that the hostages had met with foul play there, so hope persisted that they might be found alive.

Orders went out to take Knowles alive, so that the fate of the missing men could be determined. For several hours, the police searched the woods of Henry County using tracking dogs and helicopters. Finally Knowles emerged from a clearing at the woodland's edge and was spotted by David Clark, a local resident and Vietnam War veteran.

David Clark (Author's Collection)

Seeing the bleeding, exhausted man step into view, Clark grabbed his hunting shotgun and approached. Knowles, who had run out of ammunition and wrapped a scarf around his injured head to staunch the bleeding, simply gazed at him and said, "Please help me."

The bespectacled young man escorted him to a neighbor's house where the police were called. When squad cars showed up and officers took Knowles into custody, Clark admonished them gently.

"Don't hurt him."

Because their prisoner was already hurt – his head was bloody and a gunshot wound to his leg left him limping – the police took him to the office of Dr. Joseph A. Blissit for a quick examination. When the doctor assured them that the injuries were minor, Knowles was delivered to the Henry County Jail.

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Word of the capture traveled fast. When Knowles spotted the crowd of reporters around the jail, he laughed in delight. Those present later likened his face to that of a grinning, satisfied jackal. He loved the way they closed in on him like he was a celebrity, shouting questions and taking his picture. He had never felt so important in his life.

Determined to prolong the experience and hold the upper hand, Knowles refused to tell his captors whether the hostages were dead or alive. He did toy with them, saying that "one word would reveal where the men were," but kept the word to himself.

"The guy's not having anything to say. He holds all the cards in that respect," one official told the press. "His attorney is supposed to be driving up from Miami now."

A widespread search was conducted, with off-duty officers, game and fish rangers, and citizen volunteers joining in. Night temperatures were frigid, and if Meyer and Campbell were not found soon, they risked death by exposure. The authorities even arranged to have Sandy Fawkes come in, hoping that she could get some information out of their prisoner, but that plan was abandoned when they learned that she had offered an exclusive to the Atlanta Constitution.

The fate of the two missing men remained a mystery until November 21, when deer hunters in Pulaski County made a gruesome discovery inside a pine thicket. Meyer and Campbell had been handcuffed to a tree and shot in the head execution-style. Their bodies were cold, indicating that they had been dead for days.

When informed that the search was over, Knowles beamed. Then he told his keepers what the magic word had been: Pabst. There was a Pabst brewery near where the men were found. Pleased with himself, he laughed again.