CBS 48 Hours: Did Paul Freshour write the anonymous Circleville letters?

CBS 48 Hours delves deep into the mysterious Circleville Letters in its upcoming episode on Saturday. The episode will explore the content of the letters and the police investigation that led to the conviction of a man. The official synopsis of the episode on CBS News states:

''An anonymous letter writer threatens to expose a town’s rumored secrets. Is anyone safe? "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports.''

A man named Paul Freshour was believed to be the culprit behind the anonymous letters. However, many still think he's innocent. Without further ado, read further to find out more details about the case.

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CBS 48 Hours: Who was Paul Freshour?

Paul Freshour was the brother-in-law of a woman named Mary Gillespie. In early 1977, residents of Ohio's Circleville town started receiving anonymous letters threatening to expose their secrets. The most prominent target among them was Mary Gillespie.

Gillespie received letters that threatened to expose her alleged affair with a school superintendent named Gordon Massie. Her husband Ronald also got a letter in which the writer talks about Mary's alleged affair. In August 1977, Ronald was mysteriously killed in a car accident. That day, he'd left home after receiving a phone call believed to be from the anonymous writer.

Subsequent investigations ruled Ronald's death an accident, but many believed, including Paul Freshour, that he was murdered. In fact, Freshour actively pushed the authorities to delve deeper into the case, according to CBS News.

However, things took a shocking turn when Gillespie found a vulgar sign about her teenage daughter on a fence while she was driving to pick up her kids from school. She inspected the sign, which was attached to a box. She then took the box home and was shocked to discover a loaded gun inside. The whole sign and the box were apparently made to kill her.

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CBS 48 Hours: Was Paul Freshour innocent?

Police began looking into the incident and discovered that the gun belonged to Gillespie's brother-in-law, Freshour. As per CBS News, he claimed he was innocent and mentioned that his gun was stolen a few weeks back. However, the police were convinced that Freshour was the culprit after his estranged wife, Karen Sue, told them that she suspected he was the anonymous writer.

The trial began in late 1983, and Freshour was ultimately convicted of attempted murder. He was handed the maximum sentence of 7-25 years in jail. The letters, however, continued to arrive while Freshour was locked up without access to pens or paper.

In fact, one of them was sent to Freshour himself, who was released from jail in 1994. The letters stopped around the same time. Freshour maintained his innocence until his death in 2012 due to a heart attack.

As per CBS News, a former FBI profiler named Mary Ellen O'Toole investigated the letters received after Freshour went to jail. She believes the poison pen letters were written by a man with a ''serious personality disorder'' who ''enjoyed hurting others.'' She doesn't believe Freshour was the culprit.

As part of CBS' 48 Hours investigation, forensic document expert Beverly East analyzed and discovered that Paul's handwriting was similar to some of the anonymous Circleville letters. However, the big question as to whether Paul was the culprit continues to divide people to this day.

You can watch CBS 48 Hours - The Circleville Letters on Saturday, August 6, 2022, at 10:00 PM ET.