In Elkhart, Indiana, on the 30th of May, 1964, a 33-year-old gas station attendant named Charles Snyder was found dead, the victim of a single. 22 caliber gunshot wound to the head. The scene at the gas station suggested a robbery had taken place, with approximately $100 missing from the cash register. This tragic event would soon be linked to a string of violent crimes that had instilled fear in the region.
Investigators began to piece together a puzzle that connected Snyder's murder
with other recent and brutal slayings. The day Snyder was killed, a 34-year-old school teacher from Kalamazoo, Michigan, Gary Smock, was discovered murdered in his own vehicle, also shot in the head with a. 22 caliber firearm after being tied up. The similarities in the method of killing led police to suspect a single individual was responsible for both deaths. The investigation would later expand to include the murder of Vernon LeBenne, a 23-year-old Air Force serviceman who was shot and robbed at the Battle Creek gas station where he worked part-time on April 6, 1964. LeBenne was found in a coma and succumbed to his injuries twelve hours later without regaining consciousness. The consistent use of a. 22 caliber weapon and robbery as a motive pointed towards a serial killer.
The break in the case came five days after the murders of Snyder and Smock. On June 4, 1964, a man named Larry Ranes contacted the police, expressing that he was feeling suicidal. When officers located him, he was taken to the police station for questioning. During the interrogation, Ranes confessed to the murders of not only Charles Snyder and Gary Smock but also Vernon LeBenne. He chillingly recounted driving to Elkhart, where he robbed the gas station and killed Snyder. Ranes also admitted to killing Smock, stating he had become agitated by the noise Smock was making while confined in the trunk of his car. In a disturbing detail, Ranes revealed that he had been waved through a police roadblock with Smock's body still in the trunk, his calm demeanor arousing no suspicion.
In September of 1964, Larry Ranes was formally charged with the murder of Gary Smock. His defense team argued that he was temporarily insane at the time of the killings, claiming he was projecting rage against his abusive, alcoholic father onto his victims. However, the jury rejected this defense. Larry Ranes was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison for his deadly crime spree that cut short the lives of three innocent men.
