In the fall of 2023 I submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for a copy of any documents that the Bureau had on John Arthur Ackroyd. The crimes associated with him seemed to be handled at the local level, with assistance from the Oregon State Police, rather than with FBI assistance. I thought that the FBI might have been involved to some degree with Rachanda Pickle’s case, and that a FOIA request was worth the effort to see what was on hand. It took about 6 months or so for the documents to arrive on CD-ROM, about 13 pages in total. As I had thought, these cases were locally led without significant assistance from the FBI.
I have photographed and posted the pages below, with additional info in the captions.
4/11/1986- OSP submits Kaye Jean Turner’s case to the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP) run by the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. This is an airtel to the Portland FBI Field Office informing them that a VICAP report has been filed within their region.Further information in the 4/11/1986 airtel from Behavioral Analysis to Portland2/6/2012- A document from the reinvigoration era of the Ackroyd associated investigations as Ackroyd approached parole eligibility for his murder of Kaye Turner. This page documents a change in assignment for the FBI crime analyst assigned to Rachanda Pickle’s case.Airtel from SAC Portland to Behavioral Analysis regarding the Rachanda Pickle investigation, including information regarding Kaye Jean Turner and Elizabeth Ann Mussler. Dated 5/29/1991, this is approximately 11 months after Rachanda vanished from Santiam Junction. This is also the earliest document that associates Elizabeth Mussler’s 1977 homicide with John Ackroyd.Page 2 of the 5/29/1991 airtelPage 3 of the 5/29/1991 airtelAddendum to the 5/29/1991 airtel. Interesting to note that this document was produced after ODOT transferred Ackroyd from Santiam Junction to the Corvallis shops. Also of note is the 4th paragraph, which links Ackroyd to “three other homicides in the area, involving runaways.” Karen and Rodney are two of that number. Elizabeth Mussler, since she was an adult reported missing could be the third, as could the Swamp Mountain or Snow Creek Does. It is interesting to me that Ackroyd was linked to these late 70’s cases as early as 1991. Acknowledgement from the VICAP program to Linn County Sheriff’s Office that Elizabeth Ann Mussler’s case has been submitted to the VICAP system.Page 2 of the VICAP acknowledgement to LCSO re: MusslerCourtesy copy of the Mussler VICAP acknowledgement to the Portland FBI Office10/21/1991 A memo regarding VICAP profiling of the Rachanda Pickle, Kaye Jean Turner and Elizabeth Mussler cases. An interrogation approach has been developed to elicit a confession from Ackroyd.12/31/1991- Report from the Special Agent assigned to Ackroyd’s interrogation to the SAC in Portland. The conclusion of the Special Agent’s 12/31/1991 report, indicating that the interrogation approach was no longer feasible and that the FBI’s should close their part of the investigation.Oregonian Article, 6/14/1992 about the arrest of John Arthur Ackroyd and Roger Dale Beck in the murder of Kaye Jean Turner. Included in the FBI file
The interesting take aways from reading the file are 1) the Turner Case and Ackroyd were entered into VICAP in 1986; 2) John Ackroyd was a suspect in the homicides of Elizabeth Ann Mussler, Karen Jean Lee, Rodney Grissom and perhaps one additional case as early as 1991; 3) there was a missed opportunity for a BAU-informed interrogation of Ackroyd in the Turner / Mussler / Pickle cases.
The Search for Karen Jean Lee and Rodney L. Grissom 
Amazing! Thank you for sharing. I am floored at the incompetence of most who handled this case in its infancy.
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