Martin Dean Priest

Serial Killer

Martin Dean Priest: Convicted Murderer and Suspected Serial Killer

Overview

Martin Dean Priest is an American murderer whose criminal history stretches across Missouri and Kansas during the 1980s. He was convicted of killing William H. Mayhugh in Wichita, Kansas, and decades later was convicted of murdering Missouri teenager Tammy Sue Rothganger. Priest was also prosecuted, but ultimately acquitted, in the deaths of Tonya Lea Lewis, Katrina Cheely and Frieda Bayliff. The cases associated with Priest involved teenage girls, acquaintances and people connected to women with whom he had relationships. Several victims disappeared after accepting rides from him or after being seen in his company. Priest repeatedly gave investigators conflicting explanations, attempted to influence witnesses and, according to testimony, used threats and manipulation to conceal what had happened. Because Priest was acquitted in three of the cases, he cannot legally be described as having been convicted of those killings. However, investigators continued to regard him as a suspect, and the similarities between the disappearances, his access to the victims and later witness statements caused authorities to investigate him as a possible serial killer.

Victims and Suspected Victims

• Tonya Lea Lewis approximately June 13, 1980 Vernon County, Missouri: Tonya was a 12-year-old student from Nevada, Missouri. She disappeared after spending time with Priest, who had been working with a painting crew at her family's residence. Her body was found on June 15, 1980, floating in a farm pond approximately 11 miles south of Nevada. Investigators believed she had died about two days earlier. Her death was attributed to drowning, although there were no obvious external wounds. Priest was convicted of her murder in 1981, but the conviction was later overturned. At a retrial in 1983, he was acquitted because prosecutors could not conclusively prove that Tonya's drowning was a homicide rather than an accident.
• Tammy Sue Rothganger May 16, 1984 Eldon, Missouri: Tammy was 15 years old when she disappeared while going to school. Witnesses saw her enter a blue Plymouth occupied by Priest and his 13-year-old nephew, David Nicholas. More than 30 years later, Nicholas testified that Priest drove Tammy to a remote area, struck her with a wrench, raped her and strangled her. Nicholas said Priest concealed the body and later moved it to another location. Tammy's remains have never been recovered. Priest was convicted of her murder in 2016 and received another life sentence.
• Katrina Cheely believed killed on or shortly after November 16, 1984 Wichita, Kansas: Katrina was a teenage student who disappeared after Priest offered to drive her to school. She never attended classes that day. Her partially decomposed body was discovered in a drainage culvert on February 28, 1985. She had been left without clothing, and investigators determined that she had died from asphyxiation, although accounts of the medical findings have varied. Priest's former wife later said he gave her a bracelet belonging to Katrina and claimed that he had attempted to molest Katrina before strangling her with her pantyhose. Priest was tried for the killing in 1987 but was acquitted.
• William H. Mayhugh approximately December 25, 1984 Wichita, Kansas: Mayhugh was 25 years old and lived with Frieda Bayliff. He was last known to be alive around Christmas. His body was discovered on December 27, 1984, in a ditch near the Arkansas River and a Wichita flood-control channel. He had been shot once in the head. Priest knew Mayhugh and Bayliff through a Wichita bar frequented by the couple. Priest was convicted of Mayhugh's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in Kansas.
• Frieda Bayliff approximately December 25, 1984 Wichita, Kansas: Bayliff, 33, was found dead on December 28, 1984, inside the residence she shared with William Mayhugh. She had been strangled. The couple had last been seen by relatives around Christmas, and investigators believed their deaths were connected. Priest was charged with Bayliff's murder but was acquitted, even though he was convicted in the related killing of Mayhugh.

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Confirmed Victims: (2)

Tonya Lewis Age: (12), Date of Death: 1980-06-13

Suspected Victims:

Katrina Cheely Age: (15), Date of Death: 1984-11-16

Frieda Bayliff Age: (33), Date of Death: 1985-12-25

Tammy Rothganger Age: (14), Date of Death: 1984-05-16

BREAKING: Martin Priest Found Guilty Of Murdering Lake-Area Teen