Paul Freshour is mainly known as the culprit behind the anonymous Circleville letters. Mary Gillispie received the first mysterious letter, which accused her of having an affair with the school superintendent. Gillispie was married to Ronald Gillispie, a school bus driver and Freshour's brother-in-law, as he was married to Ronald's sister.
Ronald had also received a letter from the anonymous writer about his wife's alleged affair. He was killed in a mysterious car accident in 1977; it is believed that he left his house after he had received a call believed to be the anonymous writer.
Although the investigation determined that his death resulted from an accident, many people, including Freshour, believed that he had been killed; Paul had pleaded with the authorities to investigate further.
He was found guilty of attempted murder after being accused of being an anonymous writer.
Paul Freshour's Wife, Karen Sue Freshour
Freshour was married to Karen Sue, Ronald Gillispie's sister.
In 1983, when the investigators went to Karen to talk about Freshour's case, they were in the middle of a divorce; during her talk to the investigators, she revealed that her husband was the anonymous writer. She further explained that she found some letters in the kitchen of their house.
During Freshour's time in jail, he had received a letter about setting him up for all the incidents. It is believed that his wife Karen Sue had set him up and pinned him as the culprit.
Many have speculated that Freshour was an innocent man caught up in his wife's hatred toward him for her benefit.
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Paul Freshour's Attempted Murder Case
Mary Gillispie discovered an offensive message about her teenage daughter on a fence after his passing; the sign was affixed to the box.
There was a loaded gun inside the package that belonged to Gillispie. The serial number of the firearm was linked to Freshour during the investigation. He claimed to be innocent and that his gun had been stolen a few weeks before the incident.
In late 1983 the trial began, which convicted Freshour of attempted murder and was sentenced to 7-25 years of imprisonment. His wife told the authorities that she suspected him of the anonymous writer.
However, the people at Circleville received the letters while he was in jail without access to pens and papers. The forensic experts believed that the handwriting of Paul and the anonymous writer had similarities. Freshour himself received a letter while he was in jail.
On June 28, 2012, he died of a heart attack, always proclaiming that he was innocent.
There are speculations that his wife was involved in the case of the mysterious letters.
How Would Paul Freshour's Wife Benefit From His Imprisonment?
During his closing argument, Freshour's lawyers raised the possibility that Karen hated Paul enough to get him in trouble. According to the divorce decree, Karen would profit if Freshour went to prison.
During the divorce, she lost all the property and custody of their daughters and was living in a trailer, where Mary Gillispie owned the property; if Freshour were out of the picture, she would get everything back.
If we look from the beginning, it was Karen who accused Freshour of the letters. Their two daughters were with Freshour during the child custody dispute, while his son was in the middle because he was close to his mother. Karen shared the same love for his father.
As his son Mark was close to Karen, it is speculated that his son had stolen Paul's gun. Mark never went to prison to meet his father; all the drama, the letters, and the divorce had destroyed him. On September 11, 2002, he shot himself near the Scioto river. Later, Karen revealed that his son suffered from depression.
There are speculations that Karen had set up Paul for the attempted murder with the help of her boyfriend, as someone had spotted Karen's boyfriend in the area before Mary Gillispie found the box.
