Johnny J. E. Meadows

Serial Killer

Johnny J. E. Meadows and the Odessa Lust Murders

Overview

Johnny J. E. Meadows was a Texas oil-field worker and convicted murderer associated with a frightening series of attacks on women in and around Odessa, Texas, between 1968 and 1971. The crimes became known as the Odessa Lust Murders because several victims were abducted, sexually assaulted or found partially unclothed, bound and strangled. Although Meadows confessed to multiple killings, he was convicted of only one murder, and serious questions remained about whether every homicide attributed to him was actually his work. The murders occurred during a period of rapid growth in West Texas, where oil production attracted temporary laborers, roughnecks and drifters from across the region. Meadows worked as a roughneck and lived in the Odessa area while women began disappearing or being found murdered under disturbing circumstances. Investigators eventually focused on him after his arrest in New Mexico, where he reportedly began boasting about murders committed in Texas.

Early Life and Background

Johnny Meadows was born on August 30, 1936, in Gladewater, Texas. Relatively little reliable information has been published about his childhood or family background. By the late 1960s, he had moved into the Odessa area and found employment in the oil fields. The demanding work required physical strength and frequently placed laborers in remote areas filled with abandoned roads, drilling sites and isolated tracts of land. Those surroundings later became important to the investigation. Several women connected to the Odessa-area murder series were found in pastures, vacant lots or isolated oil leases. Meadows' familiarity with the oil fields and the surrounding countryside would have given him knowledge of places where a body could remain concealed for weeks or months. ...

Confirmed Victims: (1)

Gloria Green Age: (26), Date of Death: 1971-06-17

Suspected Victims:

Linda Cougat Age: (24), Date of Death: 1968-10-19

Dorothy Smith , Date of Death: 1968-11-05

Eula Miller Age: (26), Date of Death: 1970-07-16

Nancy Miller Age: (27), Date of Death: 1970-09-16

Ruth Maynard Age: (24), Date of Death: 1971-01-09

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