TERYL STEELE ORCUTT

TERYL STEELE ORCUTT

From News4jax :

MIDDLEBURG, Fla. - For nearly 24 years, a Clay County family has fought for justice in the murder Teryl Orcutt.

The woman driving home to Middleburg from her boyfriend's house in Jacksonville when she disappeared. Her red Thunderbird was found by Clay County deputies along County Road 218 in the early hours of Sunday, Jan. 21, 1990. Her purse was still in the car and the keys were still in the ignition.

Orcutt's body was found seven days later in a wooded area 4 miles from where her car was found.

The 26-year-old worked as a bank manager and had no arrest record.

"Never been in trouble a day in her life. As far as I know, had no enemies," says the victim's sister, Cheryl Orcutt. She tearfully told me, "It's almost 24 years and I still cry over it."

Orcutt had been stabbed several times and was found wearing only underpants, socks and shoes -- details that come to us from Detective Katie Padgett, the lead detective investigating the cold case for the Clay County Sheriff's Office.

"One thing about the car that stood out to us was that it was parked so close to the roadway," says Padgett. "It was running when it was found. Her purse being in the passenger seat, just another thing that's not normal."

Investigators noted one other thing that struck them as out of the ordinary.

"The car was parked very close to the edge of the road leading some to assume that a law enforcement officer had pulled her over," says Padgett.

That rumor was fueled even further by something a witness told deputies she heard the night Orcutt disappeared. Padgett says the witness, who lived very close to where the car was found, reported to them that she was awakened by a woman screaming, "I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything."

"It's caused some people familiar with the case to believe that there was a law enforcement officer involved," Padgett said.

For the first time, the Clay County Sheriff's Office released pictures of Orcutt's car to Channel 4. Padgett showed me a picture that shows the red Thunderbird's left front and back tires on the edge of the road. These two pieces of evidence, at the time, created a persistent rumor during the initial investigation that a cop must have killed the woman.

Even now, when the Cold Case Unit calls witnesses interviewed in 1990 about the case, investigators say there is an impression that the murder was committed by a cop.

"Back in the 1990s, the community perception was that it was law-enforcement related, based on how the vehicle was found on the side of the road," Capt. Ronnie Gann said. "No one would stop and leave the engine running unless they were stopped by a law enforcement officer. There's been hundreds of people who have been interviewed over the last 23 years, and just recently -- last week -- I interviewed someone who lives now in another county and she said,'Isn't that the young woman that they thought was killed by a cop?'"

Gann says every deputy working the night Orcutt disappeared was accounted for; their whereabouts were verified.

"In my heart I don't believe it was a cop and I don't want to believe it was any of the guys that were working that night," says Gann. "I know every one of them personally, some have retired from here. They're good men. They were great cops. I don't think they had murder in them, I can tell you that." i

He says no one ever reported seeing flashing lights or hearing a siren the night Orcutt was kidnapped. That's why Capt. Gann says he thinks the killer was impersonating a law enforcement officer.

"Back during that period (1990), it was very easy to get your hands on a blue light, and it was pretty simple to get your hands on a badge," says Gann.

He also says he thinks Orcutt's killer was not alone.

"I believe that it was more than one person, based on it would be very difficult to pull that person over, get them into a vehicle, and leave with them by yourself. With them putting up a fight, I believe it was more than one person," says Gann.

Orcutt's body was found off South Lee Drive near Black Creek on January 28 by Sandy Trueblood's sons.

"The children came back to us on our three wheeler saying there was a dead body that was no more than 500-600 feet from our home," recounts Trueblood, who says she will never forget that day and the fear she and her family felt for months after the discovery. "They thought someone was going to come back for them. I was afraid too. I wouldn't even check my mail at night, at our house, only in the daytime. At that time, I kept a loaded gun under my bed and they (her sons) were both afraid,"

Trueblood says her son, "took a hammer, I believe it was, and hid it in the woods before he caught his bus because he was afraid too."

"I loved her, I didn't get to tell her that," says Cheryl Orcutt about her sister. She says she promised their mother on her death bed that she would never stop pushing for justice in her baby sister's murder.

I asked her if there is anything she would say to her sister's killer.

"Only thing I want to know from that person is why? I don't want to know what you did, how you did it, or anything. I want to know why her?" Cheryl Orcutt responded, sobbing. "Detective Padgett says they investigated Teryl's friends, co-workers, boyfriend, family and none of them are considered suspects in the case."

"Teryl had no dealings with law enforcement whatsoever. She had a very upstanding job. She lived with her mother and they took good care of each other," says Padgett.

She says she worries that whomever killed Teryl has committed murder before or could do it again.

Capt. Gann asks for specific information from the public. If you or someone you know was driving in Clay, Duval, St. Johns or Putnam counties between December 1989 and January 1990 and someone tried to pull you over, please call the detective and report this information. If you were working in law enforcement at the time and remember investigating a complaint of someone trying to pull over another driver, Clay county detectives would like to hear from you as well.

*****

I was asked to do this chart for a private party but during the process began to believe that some good might come from posting it. After getting permission from the client, I went ahead and retooled the report to be suitable on the blog. I am really hoping that this sparks interest in this case and maybe even gets somebody started on it again. This lovely lady who was truly an innocent deserves more than she got. The client is one of the special people who have been patient, waiting for this to post.

This is the first chart I drew, for the time and place where she was last seen:

This is the chart for the time she was last seen. Right away, there are a large number of planets in the first house, which creates a sort of spotlight on the subject and this while Mars is in the twelfth right behind the Ascendant. Mars rules the fourth house, showing this to be someone from the local neighborhood and the position tells us he or she was following or stalking Teryl. Mercury rules the seventh and shows us the person she is "next to meet" and since Mercury is in the first, this was almost immediate. Right after she left her boyfriends home. Mercury conjoined Neptune shows this to be someone in disguise. The first house ruler is Jupiter and this is in the seventh house so she was aware of this person almost immediately. She saw him or her come up behind her. Jupiter in Cancer retrograde disposed of by the Moon in the twelfth means she thought she knew this person or had, at least, seen this person before. Moon conjoined Pluto describes power and violence so this may have been an authority figure or someone Teryl feared. This placement also shows that this person is dangerous and possibly violent. Mars in Sagittarius means this person has a gun, as Sagittarius rules ammunition. He or she was prepared to kill this girl if need be.

Uranus also conjoined Mercury tells us that this person was unpredictable, eccentric, complicated and rebellious. This person does not follow the rules nor does he or she do what is expected. I have not decided the sex of the perpretator yet although Mars tends to describe males.

The cluster of planets in Capricorn in the first house alongside Neptune indicates that this person presented the appearance of authority. Capricorn rules government, government employees, persons with authority. Neptune is a disguise, an illusion. So this person presented themselves as authority and most likely law enforcement. With Mercury and Neptune sextile Pluto, this person did this in order to committ violent acts. I do not believe this was the first attempt and there may be other murders and rapes that had been previously committed. With the seventh house ruler disposed of by Saturn, there is a good probability that the attacker had spent time in prison. This person may be in prison now or may have since died, maybe while incarcerated. Venus is conjoined Saturn and it rules the tenth house (the house of authority) while retrograde, which will mean that the attacker got a really long sentence and may already be in prison for life or, as I already said, died while in there.

Moon with Pluto shows an act of violence. Mars behind the Ascendant means violence towards the subject, Teryl. The opposition of Mercury, the seventh house ruler, in opposition to Jupiter, the first house ruler, shows the confrontation and eventual violence between them. She resisted but he overcame her. His ruler, Mercury, is also conjoined to Uranus and Neptune, as I already mentioned, and this combination makes him unpredictable, sneaky, erratic, untrustworthy and a liar. He was not a real cop, there is no way. And it seems by the post from the newspaper above that they were considering this a possibility and were actively to find someone posing as a cop.

The next chart for the time of death:

This chart is for 2 hours after she left her boyfriends place. It shows the first house ruler, Saturn, just behind the Ascendant, entering the twelfth house of endings. This placement shows Teryls' death. Saturn is the marker for the dead body, it's placement in the twelfth house of endings and simultaneously ruling the first house (Teryl's marker) indicates she has passed. This shows that she only lived for a couple of hours after she was abducted. Moon with Pluto in the tenth house was the force behind the public reaction to this crime. Everyone would know that Teryl had died violently and that the killer had not been caught. Saturn sextile to the tenth house ruler (Pluto) indicates that her body would be recovered. Although not immediately and after some time, but it would be found. The Moon rules the seventh house so it's placement with Pluto shows us that this person (as shown by the seventh house) is the perpetrator of the violence. The Moon is disposed of by Mars and Pluto so this person is a very violent criminal who is no stranger to murder. This supports the placements in the last chart that Teryl was not his first victim and most likely not the last. Mars in the eleventh suggests sexual assault but there are no supporting aspects so I cannot say that this happened.

Venus conjunct Saturn with Venus ruling the fourth house, the body would be left close to where she was abducted and eventually found.

This was, no doubt, a fake cop that pulled her over and killed her. He is a serial killer and he's done this before and since. In the first chart, for when she was abducted, his marker was conjoined Neptune and Saturn in the first house. At this point, he was "all business", letting her know that he had authority and actually being a bully of sorts. She was intimidated. I am not sure she ever knew the truth, that this was a ruse. If he was convincing enough, she may have believed him to be a real cop right until the end. This sort of intimidation takes a lot of the strength out of the victim's resistance because they are afraid to hurt a cop. They are afraid they will be blamed and jailed. So they don't resist like they would if they thought this was just a civilian stranger. But the charts clearly show this was an illusion, a ruse. He was not a real cop.

There was a general belief among law enforcement, late in this investigation, that a real cop had abducted and killed Teryl. How close they came!

Continuing with the aspects, I see Pluto and the Moon in the tenth house with the Moon void of course. This means the Moon is changing signs and will be moving into Libra shortly. This position always signals change, imminent change, and because it is also the ruler of the seventh house, it seems to herald a change in our killer. So he goes from being a "cop" to being himself? Is this the change it is describing? Pluto in the tenth, as noted, describes violence but it can also describe authority. Disposed of by Mars in the eleventh, it appears she may have been brutalized during a sexual act. But the eleventh house is not sexual on it's own but describes breakups and troubles in relationships more frequently and as such does not indicate specifically that she was raped. Sagittarius traditionally rules arrows and so, in relation, also knives. She was stabbed to death according to the cops.. So we know that she was stabbed but there is no information regarding sexual assault. Moon in Scorpio with Mars in Sagittarius in the event chart also describes a hunter. He spent a lot of time looking for victims.

This is Teryl's Solar Birth Chart:

This is one of the rare cases I get where they had the birth data for the victim. I am pleased to present it here, in light of the murder case, and analyze it for important details. So, in comparison of the abduction and death charts with her birth chart there are several interesting connections. For instance, her Moon is in Capricorn and the cluster of planets in the first house of the event chart are in Capricorn. This puts her front and center. She would have stood out to him as she drove by. Her north node (in the birth chart) is exactly trine to the Moon in the event chart. Again, this marks her as a probable choice. When he first saw her, she struck a chord. She fulfilled some emotional need (the Moon) and sexual desire (Scorpio and Cancer). The trine is a positive but facilitating aspect and made it easier for him to contact her and gain control over her. Moon in Scorpio can be very intense. Her natal Venus in Capricorn conjoined Mercury, Neptune and Saturn in the event chart was another red flag. There is no way he would have let her go. The attraction was too intense. I am not saying this was destiny... I would have to see many other indicators to say that... but she was just too good for him to pass up.

The Moon and Venus in Capricorn made Teryl an ambitious. hard working, conventional and conservative personality. She respected authority and would not have resisted until it became obvious she was in danger. Even then, her resistance would have been weak, for reasons already mentioned. Her Mars in Leo made her energetic and atheletic, concerned about her appearance, always wanting to make a good impression. This Mars placement also made her attractive and irresistable to some. The north node in the event chart directly opposes Mars in Leo and this is the strongest placement indicating destiny. He picked her because she was attractive and his "type". But she was strong and willful and should have been able to break away. Mars in Leo made her competitive and gave her physical strength so she might have been able to overcome him if she had tried. But her Capricorn planets made her respectful and conventional, unable to believe some police officer would hurt her. It wasn't until it was too late that her natural will and strength kicked in. I wiould suggest that she scarred him in some manner. Leo rules the heart so perhaps this scar is in the chest area.

With Mercury and Saturn in Aquarius, Teryl was intelligent and disciplined. She was also altruistic and charitable, feeling sympathy for those less fortunate. She would have been a great asset to humanity. Her Sun in Pisces made her creative and gentle. This gentleness probably contributed to her demise. She just wasn't willing to fight off a cop. She just could not believe a police officer would do these things. Teryl also had strong religious beliefs. Jupiter trine Neptune brings the spirit to a higher octave and brings the soul closer to God. She had an innnate love of things religious and respected those directives. Another reason she went along with this man beyond what was acceptable before she actually fought back.

At the time of her death, the seventh house ruler was the Moon in Scorpio. This describes the person who was with her when she died. This man is vengeful, aggressive, angry, resentful, overly sexual and demanding. He is suspicious and distrustful and full of anger. Mostly this might be because he was likely molested as a child. He has experienced sexual humiliation and is expressing anger, taking it out on innocent women. The Moon is conjoined Pluto in Scorpio and both planets are disposed of by Mars. He is a very violent, angry person. Violent to the extent of committing murder, living to do this and cannot stop.

He finds sexual gratification in killing. It is likely that he pulled her pants down to look and maybe touch but he cannot get an erection so he kills her. He was molested, most likely, by another male and has trouble with women because of it. The constant replay in someone's mind of molestation and degradation can make for a crippled emotional life. Scorpio never forgets, hold grudges, lives in misery. He is expressing this misery by killing. This is no excuse, of course, for what he did to Teryl but it helps to understand.

He is most likely dark haired with deep, dark eyes. He may have a scary or intense countenance. He probably never smiles. He spends endless time looking at pornography but it might be gay or child pornography which angers him while he can't resist it. This is because of his confusion as a result of the molestation he experienced. He cannot do it with women any longer so he assumes he is gay, which angers him even more.

In the abduction chart, Pluto is square the node, so he looks for women who fit a certain profile of his own, womenn who attract him superficially. But he cannot have sex with women due to his emotional problems so he gets angry once he has them in his possession. Stabbing is a substitute for penetration.

Moon in Scorpio is disposed of Mars in Sagittarius. This describes his motivations and intentions. Sagittarius is the sign of the hunter, the sportsman, the chaser. The thrill of the hunt has him enthralled and he spends endless hours planning his hunt and kill, as if it were a sport. He sees himself as a hunter, a sportsman, someone who can use weapons. Sagittarius, in forensics, often describes ammunition. It also describes military quarters. It is likely he lives a spartan, almost military style life and is disciplined in the planning of his hunt. He may have been in the military at one time and would have been in a position to work with guns and ammunition. He was trained somewhere, it seems, and the military fits his personality. Also, he may be able to use a bow and arrow. He may often hunt animals with a bow and arrow.

The markers indicate a dark man, with dark eyes and heavy eyebrows. There is a stiff persona, unable to loosen up, smile, have fun. He is way too serious almost all the time. He takes everything personally and his feelings are easily hurt. He never forgets a slight and not beyond revenge. He has a frightening stare. He typically glares, as if he were angry. And he may well be angry all the time. He sees himself as a "man's man", a tough guy, a hard ass. If he had military training he may still go through the motions, training exercises. He is firm in his beliefs and is not easy to reason with. Emotions often dictate everything he does, which leads him to behave rashly.

If anyone is serious about locating this man, check the prison system. He has no doubt been there before and may be there now. The position of Mars in the abduction chart indicates to me that he may have just been let out of jail or prison. Moon and Pluto in the eleventh can mean sexual frrustration. In the abduction chart, Mercury, which rules him at that point, is disposed of by Saturn, telling me that he has been in and out of prison. He is stuck in his ways and has been resistant to change. He has done this same thing before so police should be looking for killers who fake to be cops, whether it is in the same area or not. He has this routine down pat and is not about to change it. So the cops should start there.