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==Case== |
==Case== |
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| − | '''Details:''' Thirty-nine-year-old former Police Chief Greg Webb is wanted for the murder of thirty-four-year-old divorcee Anna Marie Anton. The two lived in Lyons, Nebraska, a quiet farming town of 1,200 people, located sixty miles from Omaha. Greg had lived |
+ | '''Details:''' Thirty-nine-year-old former Police Chief Greg Webb is wanted for the murder of thirty-four-year-old divorcee Anna Marie Anton. The two lived in Lyons, Nebraska, a quiet farming town of 1,200 people, located sixty miles from Omaha. Greg was originally from Sioux City, Iowa. He had lived in Lyons for over ten years and had been chief there since 1978. Sometimes, on his days off, he moonlighted as a police officer or deputy sheriff in a nearby town. He and his third wife, Karen, had divorced in 1985.<br /> |
| + | Anna was originally from Milford, Iowa. She and her husband, Tom, divorced in September 1986. One month later, in October, she and her three dogs moved to the small, isolated community of Lyons. She was a stranger to town. According to Mary Piper, Mayor of Lyons, there was no rational reason for Anna to move there. She says that people do not move there unless they have a job, or family, or they are returning there. Anna did not have any of those.<br /> |
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Ten years before she settled in Lyons, Anna had severely injured her leg in a car accident. As a result, she walked with a cane. Her neighbors were happy to lend her a helping hand. Her fellow parishioners at St. Joseph’s would take turns driving her to and from church. According to her neighbor, Shirley Edgecomb, she appeared to be a very religious person. She had very high morals and did not drink. She went to church daily if she was able to get a ride.<br /> |
Ten years before she settled in Lyons, Anna had severely injured her leg in a car accident. As a result, she walked with a cane. Her neighbors were happy to lend her a helping hand. Her fellow parishioners at St. Joseph’s would take turns driving her to and from church. According to her neighbor, Shirley Edgecomb, she appeared to be a very religious person. She had very high morals and did not drink. She went to church daily if she was able to get a ride.<br /> |
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| − | Shirley lived across the street from Anna and would often take her grocery shopping. They became friends and Anna began to confide in Shirley. She told Shirley that |
+ | Shirley lived across the street from Anna and would often take her grocery shopping. They became friends and Anna began to confide in Shirley. She told Shirley that Tom had been involved in some large drug ring, and that she had testified against him and other members of the ring. She said that she was afraid that he or the other ring members were going to harm her. She also said that she had moved to Lyons to get away from him.<br /> |
| − | One day, Anna gave Shirley an envelope and said, “If anything should happen to me, I want you to open this envelope and call the number that is in it.” She told her that she had chosen her apartment because Greg |
+ | One day, Anna gave Shirley an envelope and said, “If anything should happen to me, I want you to open this envelope and call the number that is in it.” She told her that she had chosen her apartment because Greg lived right above her (he also owned the building). She thought if Tom ever did find her, that he would be leery about bothering her because of the police car parked out front.<br /> |
On December 16, 1986, Shirley brought some groceries over to Anna’s apartment. She was surprised to find the back door locked. She knocked on Anna’s windows and called out her name. There was no response. That evening, she tried to deliver the groceries several times, but still there was no answer. Anna seemed to have disappeared as mysteriously as she arrived.<br /> |
On December 16, 1986, Shirley brought some groceries over to Anna’s apartment. She was surprised to find the back door locked. She knocked on Anna’s windows and called out her name. There was no response. That evening, she tried to deliver the groceries several times, but still there was no answer. Anna seemed to have disappeared as mysteriously as she arrived.<br /> |
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At Shirley’s insistence, Greg, who lived upstairs from Anna, agreed to help. He unlocked the door to her apartment. They went in, thinking that she had fallen somewhere and was unable to get help. However, there was no sign of her. He said it looked like she had not been there in several days. Shirley was concerned because they were supposed to meet, and it was not like Anna to not call.<br /> |
At Shirley’s insistence, Greg, who lived upstairs from Anna, agreed to help. He unlocked the door to her apartment. They went in, thinking that she had fallen somewhere and was unable to get help. However, there was no sign of her. He said it looked like she had not been there in several days. Shirley was concerned because they were supposed to meet, and it was not like Anna to not call.<br /> |
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In Anna’s bedroom, they found an outfit of clothes laid out on the bed, from shirt and jeans all the way down to underwear. Strangely, her shoes, which she always wore, were also left behind. Shirley notes that, especially in the winter, if you take your purse, coat, and cane, it seems only reasonable that you would take your shoes as well. In another room, they found her address book. Shirley planned to call the people in it, but Greg told her that he would do it, since it was “his job.” A few hours later, Greg called Shirley. He said that he had called the numbers in the book, but Anna was not in any of those places.<br /> |
In Anna’s bedroom, they found an outfit of clothes laid out on the bed, from shirt and jeans all the way down to underwear. Strangely, her shoes, which she always wore, were also left behind. Shirley notes that, especially in the winter, if you take your purse, coat, and cane, it seems only reasonable that you would take your shoes as well. In another room, they found her address book. Shirley planned to call the people in it, but Greg told her that he would do it, since it was “his job.” A few hours later, Greg called Shirley. He said that he had called the numbers in the book, but Anna was not in any of those places.<br /> |
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| − | On December 27, eleven days after Anna disappeared, her body was found in a remote field |
+ | On December 27, eleven days after Anna disappeared, her nude and frozen body was found in a remote field three miles north of Walthill by a farmer hauling hay. She had two .38-caliber bullet wounds in her torso. Greg helped identify her. Since the crime scene was outside Lyons’ jurisdiction, state criminal investigator Gerald “Gerry” Krieger of the Nebraska State Patrol was called in on the case. He says that as he observed the crime scene, it was apparent to him that she had not been killed there. It appeared that the body had been moved there from another location.<br /> |
| − | Investigator Krieger believes that whoever killed Anna had left her there and had been careful in not leaving any evidence behind |
+ | Investigator Krieger believes that whoever killed Anna had left her there and had been careful in not leaving any evidence behind. It appeared as though her body had been cleaned. It also appeared that she had been there for quite some time. Surprisingly, the autopsy revealed that her blood alcohol level was 0.22, extremely high for a woman who purportedly did not drink.<br /> |
| − | After Anna’s body was found, Investigator Krieger visited Shirley. He wanted to know everything he could about Anna. Shirley gave him the envelope that Anna had previously given her. He asked her why Anna would have given her the envelope. She told him that Anna was afraid of her ex-husband. She believed that |
+ | After Anna’s body was found, Investigator Krieger visited Shirley. He wanted to know everything he could about Anna. Shirley gave him the envelope that Anna had previously given her. He asked her why Anna would have given her the envelope. She told him that Anna was afraid of her ex-husband, Tom. She believed that he had killed Anna. She told Investigator Krieger about how Tom was reportedly involved in narcotics and was a heavy drug dealer, and that Anna was very fearful for her life.<br /> |
| − | Within a short period of time, Investigator Krieger was able to determine that |
+ | Within a short period of time, Investigator Krieger was able to determine that Tom had an alibi and was not involved in any drug activity. Investigator Krieger could not understand why she would fabricate this information about him. The police officers working on the case agreed to meet in Lyons at the Highway Café to compare notes. Greg was among them. Knowing that Anna lived in the same building as Greg, Investigator Krieger quizzed him about her.<br /> |
Investigator Krieger asked Greg how long he knew Anna. He said he had known her for about two-and-a-half months. Investigator Krieger asked him where he met her, and he said Arnolds Park, Iowa. Then, Investigator Krieger asked him, “Were you and she ever intimately involved?” He said, “No,” took a sip of his coffee, and continued looking at him. Investigator Krieger repeated the question. This time, he said, “Yes, on the night she moved in.” At that point, the other officers asked him to leave.<br /> |
Investigator Krieger asked Greg how long he knew Anna. He said he had known her for about two-and-a-half months. Investigator Krieger asked him where he met her, and he said Arnolds Park, Iowa. Then, Investigator Krieger asked him, “Were you and she ever intimately involved?” He said, “No,” took a sip of his coffee, and continued looking at him. Investigator Krieger repeated the question. This time, he said, “Yes, on the night she moved in.” At that point, the other officers asked him to leave.<br /> |
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Due to the fact that Greg had lied to Investigator Krieger, being a police chief involved in a murder investigation, and also thinking back to the crime scene, Investigator Krieger began to look at him as a suspect. On December 29, two days after Anna’s body was found, Investigator Krieger and lab technicians performed a test in her apartment to search for bloodstains. Throughout the test, Greg was upstairs in his apartment. There were times where they could hear somebody walking or moving upstairs. Investigator Krieger believes that Greg was listening to them as they conducted the test.<br /> |
Due to the fact that Greg had lied to Investigator Krieger, being a police chief involved in a murder investigation, and also thinking back to the crime scene, Investigator Krieger began to look at him as a suspect. On December 29, two days after Anna’s body was found, Investigator Krieger and lab technicians performed a test in her apartment to search for bloodstains. Throughout the test, Greg was upstairs in his apartment. There were times where they could hear somebody walking or moving upstairs. Investigator Krieger believes that Greg was listening to them as they conducted the test.<br /> |
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| − | Investigator Krieger and the technicians used a special chemical called luminol, which makes drops of blood hemoglobin glow in the dark, even if they had been washed away or are small and faded. They found traces of blood in the living room and dining room area of Anna’s apartment. The trail of blood just outside of her apartment door was quite heavy. The trail led up the stairs to Greg’s apartment. Investigator Krieger set out to obtain a search warrant for Greg’s apartment.<br /> |
+ | Investigator Krieger and the technicians used a special chemical called luminol, which makes drops of blood hemoglobin glow in the dark, even if they had been washed away or are small and faded. They found traces of blood in the living room and dining room area of Anna’s apartment. The trail of blood just outside of her apartment door was quite heavy. The trail led up the stairs to Greg’s apartment. The blood in her apartment and on the stairs matched her type. Investigator Krieger set out to obtain a search warrant for Greg’s apartment.<br /> |
| − | During the police investigation of Anna’s apartment, Greg left his apartment. The next day, he withdrew his life savings -- $3,000 -- and then disappeared. Five days later, armed with a warrant, Investigator Krieger and several officers searched Greg’s apartment. They found a mop that had traces of blood on it. The blood was later shown to be the same type as Anna’s. In the bedroom closet, they found a military style coat with several spots of blood. These stains also proved to be the same blood type as Anna’s.<br /> |
+ | During the police investigation of Anna’s apartment, Greg left his apartment. The next day, December 30, he withdrew his life savings -- $3,000 -- and then disappeared. He was last seen in Lyons directing traffic for a funeral. Five days later, armed with a warrant, Investigator Krieger and several officers searched Greg’s apartment. They found a mop that had traces of blood on it. The blood was later shown to be the same type as Anna’s. In the bedroom closet, they found a military style coat with several spots of blood. These stains also proved to be the same blood type as Anna’s.<br /> |
| − | Once Investigator Krieger started checking into Anna’s background, he learned that she had two separate lives: one in Lyons, where she was very religious; and another in Arnolds Park, where she was referred to as a “bar floozy.” She often flirted with men at bars there. While at a bar there one night, she was introduced to Greg. The two became friends. When she told him she was looking for a place to live, he suggested that she move into the unoccupied apartment in his building.<br /> |
+ | Once Investigator Krieger started checking into Anna’s background, he learned that she had two separate lives: one in Lyons, where she was very religious; and another in Arnolds Park, where she was referred to as a “bar floozy.” She often flirted with men at bars there. While at a bar there one night, she was introduced to Greg. The two became friends, comparing their Iowa backgrounds and respective divorces. They often went to bars and parks together in the Iowa Great Lakes area. When she told him she was looking for a place to live, he suggested that she move into the unoccupied apartment in his building.<br /> |
Investigator Krieger believes that Anna had moved to Lyons with the anticipation of starting a relationship with Greg, and possibly marrying him. She became infatuated with him. But she soon learned that he had another girlfriend. According to Shirley, Anna seemed to be preoccupied with the fact that Greg had another girlfriend, and that the two were sleeping together while unmarried.<br /> |
Investigator Krieger believes that Anna had moved to Lyons with the anticipation of starting a relationship with Greg, and possibly marrying him. She became infatuated with him. But she soon learned that he had another girlfriend. According to Shirley, Anna seemed to be preoccupied with the fact that Greg had another girlfriend, and that the two were sleeping together while unmarried.<br /> |
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| − | Anna told Shirley that on several occasions, she was lying in bed when she heard Greg and his girlfriend “making love”. She was so bothered by it that she would turn her stereo up to drown out the sounds. According to Shirley, |
+ | Anna told Shirley that on several occasions, she was lying in bed when she heard Greg and his girlfriend “making love”. She was so bothered by it that she would turn her stereo up to drown out the sounds. According to Shirley, Anna felt that it was a sin to the point that she would get holy water and sprinkle it up and down the steps and on the doorknobs to "convince him of his sins."<br /> |
Investigator Krieger has learned that on the night of Anna’s death, Greg was intoxicated. He believes that the two got into a fight that night after she found out about his other girlfriend and confronted him about it. Investigator Krieger learned that early the next morning, Greg was seen carrying something from his apartment out to the trunk of his car. It was later discovered that what he had been carrying was Anna’s body.<br /> |
Investigator Krieger has learned that on the night of Anna’s death, Greg was intoxicated. He believes that the two got into a fight that night after she found out about his other girlfriend and confronted him about it. Investigator Krieger learned that early the next morning, Greg was seen carrying something from his apartment out to the trunk of his car. It was later discovered that what he had been carrying was Anna’s body.<br /> |
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Police believe Greg removed all of Anna’s clothes and carefully washed her body before she was carried from the apartment. It is possible that her body was left in that particular farmer’s field because Greg knew the land was part of an Indian reservation, which would cause jurisdiction problems for the authorities. Investigator Krieger believes that Greg thought he had committed the “perfect crime” in the way he had disposed of the body and because he knew about Anna’s ex-husband.<br /> |
Police believe Greg removed all of Anna’s clothes and carefully washed her body before she was carried from the apartment. It is possible that her body was left in that particular farmer’s field because Greg knew the land was part of an Indian reservation, which would cause jurisdiction problems for the authorities. Investigator Krieger believes that Greg thought he had committed the “perfect crime” in the way he had disposed of the body and because he knew about Anna’s ex-husband.<br /> |
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| − | On January 6, 1987, a warrant was issued for Greg’s arrest. He was charged with first-degree murder. He claimed he was a mercenary and a member of a radical right-wing organization called “The Committee of Ten Million”. Authorities feel he may be hiding out in some isolated, rural area.<br /> |
+ | On January 6, 1987, a warrant was issued for Greg’s arrest. He was charged with first-degree murder. He was also fired for "deriliction of duty." The next day, January 7, his car was found in a car lot in Fremont, Nebraska, thirty-five miles south of Lyons. Many residents of Lyons were surprised that he would be accused of such a crime. He was known as hard-working. He claimed he was a mercenary and a member of a radical right-wing organization called “The Committee of Ten Million”. Authorities feel he may be hiding out in some isolated, rural area.<br /> |
'''Extra Notes:''' |
'''Extra Notes:''' |
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| − | * This case first aired on the October 18, 1989 episode. |
+ | * This case first aired on the October 18, 1989 episode; it was updated on the April 28, 1993 episode. |
* It was one of the rare segments where a photograph of the victim was not shown (the one above is from a newspaper article). |
* It was one of the rare segments where a photograph of the victim was not shown (the one above is from a newspaper article). |
||
* It was also a rare one in that none of Anna's friends or relatives (outside of Lyons) were interviewed. |
* It was also a rare one in that none of Anna's friends or relatives (outside of Lyons) were interviewed. |
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| + | * Some sources state that Anna moved to Lyons in August 1986, and that she was shot three times. |
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[[File:GregWebb.png|thumb|right|200px|Greg after his arrest]] |
[[File:GregWebb.png|thumb|right|200px|Greg after his arrest]] |
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'''Results:''' Captured. When this story was re-aired on ''Lifetime'' in February 1993, John Brereton, an alert viewer in Orlando, Florida, recognized Greg as a man he knew as “Gregory James ‘Jim’ Webber”, a construction worker. John says that when Greg’s picture was shown, he immediately recognized the similarities between the picture and Jim. Based on that and the similar name, John was certain that “Jim” and Greg were the same person.<br /> |
'''Results:''' Captured. When this story was re-aired on ''Lifetime'' in February 1993, John Brereton, an alert viewer in Orlando, Florida, recognized Greg as a man he knew as “Gregory James ‘Jim’ Webber”, a construction worker. John says that when Greg’s picture was shown, he immediately recognized the similarities between the picture and Jim. Based on that and the similar name, John was certain that “Jim” and Greg were the same person.<br /> |
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* [https://newspaperarchive.com/salina-journal-jan-07-1987-p-5/ Police chief charged with murder] - January 7, 1987 |
* [https://newspaperarchive.com/salina-journal-jan-07-1987-p-5/ Police chief charged with murder] - January 7, 1987 |
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* [https://newspaperarchive.com/lawrence-journal-world-jan-07-1987-p-19/ Nebraska police chief charged in murder] - January 7, 1987 |
* [https://newspaperarchive.com/lawrence-journal-world-jan-07-1987-p-19/ Nebraska police chief charged in murder] - January 7, 1987 |
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| − | * [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28308650/anna_marie_antongregg_webb/ Murder charge puts man on other side of the law] - January 11, 1987 |
+ | * [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28308650/anna_marie_antongregg_webb/ Murder charge puts man on other side of the law (Page 1)]<br>[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/129431738/ (Page 2)] - January 11, 1987 |
* [https://newspaperarchive.com/ottumwa-courier-jan-17-1987-p-7/ Authorities "closer" to finding missing Lyons police chief] - January 17, 1987 |
* [https://newspaperarchive.com/ottumwa-courier-jan-17-1987-p-7/ Authorities "closer" to finding missing Lyons police chief] - January 17, 1987 |
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* [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-01-19-8701050497-story.html Nebraska Police Chief Hunted in Killing] - January 19, 1987 |
* [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-01-19-8701050497-story.html Nebraska Police Chief Hunted in Killing] - January 19, 1987 |
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Revision as of 19:29, 12 May 2022
Greg Webb
Real Name: Gregory Jon Webb
Aliases: Greg
Wanted For: Murder
Missing Since: December 30, 1986
Anna Anton
Case
Details: Thirty-nine-year-old former Police Chief Greg Webb is wanted for the murder of thirty-four-year-old divorcee Anna Marie Anton. The two lived in Lyons, Nebraska, a quiet farming town of 1,200 people, located sixty miles from Omaha. Greg was originally from Sioux City, Iowa. He had lived in Lyons for over ten years and had been chief there since 1978. Sometimes, on his days off, he moonlighted as a police officer or deputy sheriff in a nearby town. He and his third wife, Karen, had divorced in 1985.
Anna was originally from Milford, Iowa. She and her husband, Tom, divorced in September 1986. One month later, in October, she and her three dogs moved to the small, isolated community of Lyons. She was a stranger to town. According to Mary Piper, Mayor of Lyons, there was no rational reason for Anna to move there. She says that people do not move there unless they have a job, or family, or they are returning there. Anna did not have any of those.
Ten years before she settled in Lyons, Anna had severely injured her leg in a car accident. As a result, she walked with a cane. Her neighbors were happy to lend her a helping hand. Her fellow parishioners at St. Joseph’s would take turns driving her to and from church. According to her neighbor, Shirley Edgecomb, she appeared to be a very religious person. She had very high morals and did not drink. She went to church daily if she was able to get a ride.
Shirley lived across the street from Anna and would often take her grocery shopping. They became friends and Anna began to confide in Shirley. She told Shirley that Tom had been involved in some large drug ring, and that she had testified against him and other members of the ring. She said that she was afraid that he or the other ring members were going to harm her. She also said that she had moved to Lyons to get away from him.
One day, Anna gave Shirley an envelope and said, “If anything should happen to me, I want you to open this envelope and call the number that is in it.” She told her that she had chosen her apartment because Greg lived right above her (he also owned the building). She thought if Tom ever did find her, that he would be leery about bothering her because of the police car parked out front.
On December 16, 1986, Shirley brought some groceries over to Anna’s apartment. She was surprised to find the back door locked. She knocked on Anna’s windows and called out her name. There was no response. That evening, she tried to deliver the groceries several times, but still there was no answer. Anna seemed to have disappeared as mysteriously as she arrived.
At Shirley’s insistence, Greg, who lived upstairs from Anna, agreed to help. He unlocked the door to her apartment. They went in, thinking that she had fallen somewhere and was unable to get help. However, there was no sign of her. He said it looked like she had not been there in several days. Shirley was concerned because they were supposed to meet, and it was not like Anna to not call.
In Anna’s bedroom, they found an outfit of clothes laid out on the bed, from shirt and jeans all the way down to underwear. Strangely, her shoes, which she always wore, were also left behind. Shirley notes that, especially in the winter, if you take your purse, coat, and cane, it seems only reasonable that you would take your shoes as well. In another room, they found her address book. Shirley planned to call the people in it, but Greg told her that he would do it, since it was “his job.” A few hours later, Greg called Shirley. He said that he had called the numbers in the book, but Anna was not in any of those places.
On December 27, eleven days after Anna disappeared, her nude and frozen body was found in a remote field three miles north of Walthill by a farmer hauling hay. She had two .38-caliber bullet wounds in her torso. Greg helped identify her. Since the crime scene was outside Lyons’ jurisdiction, state criminal investigator Gerald “Gerry” Krieger of the Nebraska State Patrol was called in on the case. He says that as he observed the crime scene, it was apparent to him that she had not been killed there. It appeared that the body had been moved there from another location.
Investigator Krieger believes that whoever killed Anna had left her there and had been careful in not leaving any evidence behind. It appeared as though her body had been cleaned. It also appeared that she had been there for quite some time. Surprisingly, the autopsy revealed that her blood alcohol level was 0.22, extremely high for a woman who purportedly did not drink.
After Anna’s body was found, Investigator Krieger visited Shirley. He wanted to know everything he could about Anna. Shirley gave him the envelope that Anna had previously given her. He asked her why Anna would have given her the envelope. She told him that Anna was afraid of her ex-husband, Tom. She believed that he had killed Anna. She told Investigator Krieger about how Tom was reportedly involved in narcotics and was a heavy drug dealer, and that Anna was very fearful for her life.
Within a short period of time, Investigator Krieger was able to determine that Tom had an alibi and was not involved in any drug activity. Investigator Krieger could not understand why she would fabricate this information about him. The police officers working on the case agreed to meet in Lyons at the Highway Café to compare notes. Greg was among them. Knowing that Anna lived in the same building as Greg, Investigator Krieger quizzed him about her.
Investigator Krieger asked Greg how long he knew Anna. He said he had known her for about two-and-a-half months. Investigator Krieger asked him where he met her, and he said Arnolds Park, Iowa. Then, Investigator Krieger asked him, “Were you and she ever intimately involved?” He said, “No,” took a sip of his coffee, and continued looking at him. Investigator Krieger repeated the question. This time, he said, “Yes, on the night she moved in.” At that point, the other officers asked him to leave.
Due to the fact that Greg had lied to Investigator Krieger, being a police chief involved in a murder investigation, and also thinking back to the crime scene, Investigator Krieger began to look at him as a suspect. On December 29, two days after Anna’s body was found, Investigator Krieger and lab technicians performed a test in her apartment to search for bloodstains. Throughout the test, Greg was upstairs in his apartment. There were times where they could hear somebody walking or moving upstairs. Investigator Krieger believes that Greg was listening to them as they conducted the test.
Investigator Krieger and the technicians used a special chemical called luminol, which makes drops of blood hemoglobin glow in the dark, even if they had been washed away or are small and faded. They found traces of blood in the living room and dining room area of Anna’s apartment. The trail of blood just outside of her apartment door was quite heavy. The trail led up the stairs to Greg’s apartment. The blood in her apartment and on the stairs matched her type. Investigator Krieger set out to obtain a search warrant for Greg’s apartment.
During the police investigation of Anna’s apartment, Greg left his apartment. The next day, December 30, he withdrew his life savings -- $3,000 -- and then disappeared. He was last seen in Lyons directing traffic for a funeral. Five days later, armed with a warrant, Investigator Krieger and several officers searched Greg’s apartment. They found a mop that had traces of blood on it. The blood was later shown to be the same type as Anna’s. In the bedroom closet, they found a military style coat with several spots of blood. These stains also proved to be the same blood type as Anna’s.
Once Investigator Krieger started checking into Anna’s background, he learned that she had two separate lives: one in Lyons, where she was very religious; and another in Arnolds Park, where she was referred to as a “bar floozy.” She often flirted with men at bars there. While at a bar there one night, she was introduced to Greg. The two became friends, comparing their Iowa backgrounds and respective divorces. They often went to bars and parks together in the Iowa Great Lakes area. When she told him she was looking for a place to live, he suggested that she move into the unoccupied apartment in his building.
Investigator Krieger believes that Anna had moved to Lyons with the anticipation of starting a relationship with Greg, and possibly marrying him. She became infatuated with him. But she soon learned that he had another girlfriend. According to Shirley, Anna seemed to be preoccupied with the fact that Greg had another girlfriend, and that the two were sleeping together while unmarried.
Anna told Shirley that on several occasions, she was lying in bed when she heard Greg and his girlfriend “making love”. She was so bothered by it that she would turn her stereo up to drown out the sounds. According to Shirley, Anna felt that it was a sin to the point that she would get holy water and sprinkle it up and down the steps and on the doorknobs to "convince him of his sins."
Investigator Krieger has learned that on the night of Anna’s death, Greg was intoxicated. He believes that the two got into a fight that night after she found out about his other girlfriend and confronted him about it. Investigator Krieger learned that early the next morning, Greg was seen carrying something from his apartment out to the trunk of his car. It was later discovered that what he had been carrying was Anna’s body.
Police believe Greg removed all of Anna’s clothes and carefully washed her body before she was carried from the apartment. It is possible that her body was left in that particular farmer’s field because Greg knew the land was part of an Indian reservation, which would cause jurisdiction problems for the authorities. Investigator Krieger believes that Greg thought he had committed the “perfect crime” in the way he had disposed of the body and because he knew about Anna’s ex-husband.
On January 6, 1987, a warrant was issued for Greg’s arrest. He was charged with first-degree murder. He was also fired for "deriliction of duty." The next day, January 7, his car was found in a car lot in Fremont, Nebraska, thirty-five miles south of Lyons. Many residents of Lyons were surprised that he would be accused of such a crime. He was known as hard-working. He claimed he was a mercenary and a member of a radical right-wing organization called “The Committee of Ten Million”. Authorities feel he may be hiding out in some isolated, rural area.
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired on the October 18, 1989 episode; it was updated on the April 28, 1993 episode.
- It was one of the rare segments where a photograph of the victim was not shown (the one above is from a newspaper article).
- It was also a rare one in that none of Anna's friends or relatives (outside of Lyons) were interviewed.
- Some sources state that Anna moved to Lyons in August 1986, and that she was shot three times.
Greg after his arrest
Results: Captured. When this story was re-aired on Lifetime in February 1993, John Brereton, an alert viewer in Orlando, Florida, recognized Greg as a man he knew as “Gregory James ‘Jim’ Webber”, a construction worker. John says that when Greg’s picture was shown, he immediately recognized the similarities between the picture and Jim. Based on that and the similar name, John was certain that “Jim” and Greg were the same person.
Florida police had faxed photographs of the driver’s license issued to “Jim” to Investigator Krieger. Once he saw the photographs, he knew that the man was actually Greg. On February 23, Greg was arrested without resistance at an offsite construction site in Holly Hill, Florida. On February 27, he was returned to Nebraska to stand trial on a charge of first-degree murder in Anna’s case.
Greg later pleaded no contest to manslaughter and guilty to tampering with evidence. In 1994, he received a seven-to-eighteen year prison sentence. He was released on parole on August 22, 2002 after serving eight years. His and Anna's former apartment building was demolished in 2008.
Sadly, Anna's mother, Geraldine, passed away in 1991 without ever seeing Greg apprehended. Investigator Krieger died in 2017.
Links:
- Greg Webb on Wikipedia
- Thurston County officials say woman murdered - December 31, 1986
- Police chief charged with murder - January 7, 1987
- Nebraska police chief charged in murder - January 7, 1987
- Murder charge puts man on other side of the law (Page 1)
(Page 2) - January 11, 1987 - Authorities "closer" to finding missing Lyons police chief - January 17, 1987
- Nebraska Police Chief Hunted in Killing - January 19, 1987
- Fugitive police chief found - February 24, 1993
- Missing suspect tripped by TV - February 25, 1993
- Town Knew Little About Police Chief Charged in Killing - February 26, 1993
- Policeman arrested in murder - February 27, 1993
- Town knew little about police chief: arrested this week for 1986 slaying - February 27, 1993
- Fugitive police chief a mystery man - February 27, 1993
- Ex-police chief stands trial - April 9, 1993
- Ex-police Chief Convicted of Killing His Neighbor - March 4, 1994
- A Stranger in Lyons - April 13, 2016
- Greg Webb on Nebraska Inmate Search
- Anna Anton on Find a Grave