Peggy Ellen Pumpian was a 23-year-old woman whose life was violently cut short on August 24, 1976, after she stopped to ask for directions in Maryland. A beloved daughter of a retired Pikesville clothier, Peggy was simply trying to find her way to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge when she encountered a man who offered to help. That man was Charles William Davis, a serial killer responsible for a string of brutal attacks against women in the Baltimore area.
On that summer day, Peggy was driving
along Interstate 95 when she approached Davis for assistance. After a brief conversation, he began following her car and persuaded her to pull over, claiming he could show her a better route. Trusting him, Peggy allowed Davis into her vehicle. He spent a few moments sketching a map with a pencil before his true intentions were revealed. He pulled out a revolver, robbed her, and then sexually assaulted her at gunpoint.
Peggy fought back against her attacker, hitting him in the face in a desperate attempt to escape. A fierce struggle ensued, during which Davis shot her five times in the chest, ending her life. After committing the murder, Davis meticulously wiped his fingerprints from her car to erase any evidence of his presence. To create an alibi for himself, he then traveled to New York. Peggy's body was discovered about eight hours later inside her car, which was parked along I-95 south of Baltimore.
The investigation into Peggy’s murder soon connected her case to another killing. Ballistics tests on the bullets recovered from her body revealed that the same.38-caliber revolver had been used in the murder of 24-year-old Kathleen Diane Cook on New Year's Eve 1975. This crucial link told investigators they were hunting for a single individual responsible for at least two deaths. The man they were looking for, Charles William Davis, was the son of a Baltimore police lieutenant and used his knowledge of law enforcement methods to evade capture for years.
The break in the case came a year later. On July 20, 1977, Maryland State Troopers stopped Davis for a motor vehicle violation involving stolen license plates. A search of his car uncovered a stolen CB radio, which was traced back to another victim of a robbery and sexual assault who later identified Davis as her attacker. By this time, Davis had fled to Reno, Nevada, where he was working as an ambulance dispatch-helper. An arrest warrant was issued, and he was apprehended in Reno on September 1, 1977.
During his extradition back to Maryland, Davis began to confess. He told the escorting officers he wanted to admit to Peggy Pumpian's murder. Once back in Baltimore, he gave a full, videotaped confession to the murders of both Peggy Pumpian and Kathleen Cook. Davis was a serial predator who killed at least four women between 1974 and 1977, using methods that included strangulation, stabbing, and shooting. His other known murder victims were Lydia Victoria Norman and Roseann "Ann" Sturtz.
Charles William Davis was ultimately convicted on three counts of first-degree murder and use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence. In April 1978, he was found guilty of Kathleen Cook's murder and sentenced to life in prison. A year later, in April 1979, he received a second consecutive life term for the murder of Peggy Ellen Pumpian. He would later receive a third life sentence for the murder of Lydia Norman. His total sentence amounted to three life sentences plus 45 years, ensuring he would remain imprisoned for the rest of his life at the Jessup Correctional Institution in Maryland.
