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1992 Christmas killings were for ‘fun’

Dayton detective: Keene bragged about his crimes

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By Tom Beyerlein, Staff Writer Updated 3:09 PM Monday, July 20, 2009

It isn’t uncommon for Dayton homicide detectives to be called out on holidays. But there was something about the crime scene on Christmas Eve 1992 that “was just not right,” retired detective Doyle Burke said.

An 18-year-old woman had been shot five times while talking on an outdoor pay phone. The only things stolen were her jacket and her gym shoes.

Police didn’t know it at the time, but Danita Gullette was the second victim of the gang called the Downtown Posse — the first lay dead in his home, his murder not yet discovered. By the end of Dec. 26, 1992, six people would be either dead or dying in a series of mostly random killings by a group of young people.

“They actually enjoyed it,” Burke said of the so-called Christmas killers: Marvallous Keene, DeMarcus Smith, Laura Taylor and Heather Matthews. “They truly exemplified the spree killer. It was just fun — it was their 15 minutes of fame.”

The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 6, set a July 21 execution date for Keene, now 35 and the only one of the killers eligible for the death penalty.

Burke, now chief investigator for the Warren County coroner’s office, said the murders were puzzling because there seemed to be no motive and nothing to connect the victims to each other or to a suspect.

But it was obvious as the killings unfolded that they were the work of the same killer or killers: each scene was littered with aluminum casings from .25-caliber Blazer bullets, which usually are used for target practice.

“To keep finding that ammunition at crime scenes, it was clear it was the same gang,” Burke said.

Police cracked the case after a tipster identified DeMarcus Smith, and police learned the killers were driving a black Dodge Shadow. Officers stopped the car, and found Keene’s .25-caliber handgun under the driver’s seat. Keene was wearing Danita Gullette’s jacket and another victim’s necklace, and carried yet another victim’s pocket knife.

“He admitted it. He bragged about it,” Burke said.

Burke said “you hate to rank tragedies,” but the Christmas killings were especially haunting. “They could care less about their victims’ lives ... or their own lives. Life had no value to them.”

He said he doesn’t think the death penalty is a deterrent to crime, but it’s appropriate in Keene’s case.

“I don’t think the execution of Marvallous Keene will prevent the rising up of the next Marvallous Keene,” Burke said. “But it’s a punishment. There have to be consequences for those actions.”

Contact this reporter at  (937) 225-2264 or tbeyerlein @DaytonDailyNews.com.

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