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Guy Muldavin was the husband of Ruth Marie Terry- better known as the "Lady of the Dunes." The body of Terry was found in the dunes of Provincetown, Massachusetts, way back in 1974.
Muldavin had been linked to other disappearances throughout his life and, though a person of interest, was never charged with the murder of Terry in his lifetime. Muldavin died in 2002 in Salinas, California, and Ruth Marie Terry's case went cold until forensic technology identified him as the killer in 2023. This closed a case that had haunted investigators and her family for years.
Ruth Marie Terry's case was touched upon in the Investigation Discovery documentary series Born Evil: The Serial Killer and The Savior, which focuses on serial killer Hadden Clark, who wrongly confessed to her murder.
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Why was Guy Muldavin arrested?
The murder of Ruth Marie Terry was the culmination of a long history of troubles for Guy Muldavin. In 1960, his second wife, Manzanita Ryan, and her daughter mysteriously disappeared in Seattle.
Human remains exhumed from the septic tank of Muldavin's home led police to suspect foul play, but the remains were too decomposed to be identified as Ryan and her daughter. Muldavin was arrested but was never charged with their murder due to lack of evidence.
He was later convicted of financial fraud after swindling $10,000 from the family of another wife and briefly spent time in jail. Though suspicions continued to surround him, particularly regarding the disappearances of women close to him, Muldavin managed to evade punishment for Terry's murder for the rest of his life.
Did Guy Muldavin confess to Ruth Marie Terry's murder?
Guy Muldavin never admitted to the murder of Ruth Marie Terry. Just days after Terry's disappearance, Muldavin tried to call Terry's family to report her missing but claimed he had no idea where she might be.
The two had been traveling companions when Terry vanished; however, when police were unable to collect enough evidence to link him to her brutal murder officially, the case went cold for nearly five decades.
In 1974, Terry's body was discovered in the Race Point Dunes by a girl who was walking her dog. She had been subjected to a blunt force injury of the head, which nearly decapitated her. Both hands and several teeth were missing, presumably removed to prevent identification.
At the time, while Muldavin was her husband, no concrete evidence had linked him with the crime. It was only in 2023, after investigators had used forensic genetic genealogy provided by the FBI, that they positively linked Muldavin to Terry's murder.
By this time, Muldavin had been dead for 20 years and was thus beyond any possibility of being brought to book. He died in 2002, at age 78 years, in Salinas, California.
Did Hadden Clark kill Ruth Marie Terry?
The documentary Born Evil: The Serial Killer and The Savior featured the serial killer Hadden Clark. He, at one time, claimed responsibility for Ruth Marie Terry's murder. Clark suffered a terrible case of schizophrenia and admitted to many murders, to which he was not guilty, including Terry's. Originally, his rap sheet made him seem believable, but investigators ruled him out as Terry's killer.
Clark's confession was only one of many fabricated leads that plagued law enforcement for years. It was the advent of modern forensic techniques that finally identified Guy Muldavin as the real killer. The fact that Muldavin lived in proximity to Terry, in addition to an accumulation of evidence regarding his violent behavior and past suspicious activities, further secured his involvement in her death.
Guy Muldavin had kept his involvement in the killing of Ruth Marie Terry a secret for nearly 50 years. With a dark past and being suspected of other disappearances, Muldavin had been the suspect in the brutal killing of Terry. However, he managed to live his life without being brought to justice for the crime.
It wasn't until 2023, through modern forensic capability, that this truth was finally revealed. Guy Muldavin had already died, never held accountable for his actions. The "Lady of the Dunes" case is solved, but still with a lingering injustice in store for a woman who would never see her killer brought to trial.
Born Evil: The Serial Killer and The Savior on Investigation Discovery premiered on September 2, 2024.
