Between 1984 and 1986, Faryion Wardrip preyed on vulnerable women in Wichita Falls and Fort Worth, Texas, ultimately leading to the murders of five women. He targeted his victims based on their vulnerability and sometimes lured them to secluded areas where he would then kill them. The killings shocked the community and sparked fear among residents as the murders remained unsolved for years.
It wasn’t until advancements in DNA technology in the late 1990s that Wardrip was finally linked to the crimes. In 1999, DNA evidence conclusively tied him to the murders, leading to his arrest and subsequent confession to the killings. Wardrip was sentenced to death for his crimes and has since been on death row awaiting execution.
Terry Sims
Terry sims (pictured) and her friend, Leza Boone finished working their shifts at
Bethania Hospital in Wichita Falls at approximately 11:15 p.m. on the night of
December 20, 1984. They planned to exchange Christmas gifts at the home of a
friend after work and Sims was to stay at Boone’s residence that night to help her
study for her final exam the following day. Boone was called to return
to the hospital to work the next shift, so she drove Sims to Boone’s residence after
the Christmas gift exchange. She dropped Sims off at approximately 12:30 a.m. on
December 21, 1984.
Boone finished her shift at the hospital at approximately 7:15 a.m. and returned to her residence. Sims did not answer the door, so Boone obtained a key from her landlord who lived two doors down. Boone opened the door and noticed that the Sims did not respond when Boone yelled her name, so Boone ran back to her landlord’s residence and told him that something was wrong.
The landlord then entered Boone’s residence and discovered Sims’ dead body.
Sims was found lying naked on her left side in a pool of blood on the bathroom
floor. Her hands were bound tightly behind her back with part of an extension cord
that was tied in four knots. Her body was covered in blood and there was blood
splattered on the bathroom walls and floor.
The living room and front bedroom were in disarray. There were blood stains on the bed sheets and the floor in the front bedroom. Sims’ bloodstained clothes were on the floor in the living room and the front bedroom.
Bethania Hospital where Leza Boone and Terry Sims worked
Location where Terry Sims was murdered
Grave of Terry Sims
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Toni Gibbs
On January 19, 1985, It has been almost a month since the murder of Terry Sims when Toni Gibbs (pictured) completed her 8-hour shift at Wichita General Hospital and entered her white 1984 Z 28 Camaro, which was parked in the hospital parking lot. She noticed a man she recognized as a new employee of the hospital walking around the hospital grounds and offered him a ride home. Once in the car, he demanded that Toni drive him out to U.S. 281. Toni reluctantly agreed, and shortly after passing over the county line, he attacked her.
Toni was dragged to an old bus, sexually assaulted, and stabbed. She was left for dead but managed to climb out of the bus and get a short distance away before she died. The killer left the scene of the crime in Toni’s vehicle and abandoned it a short distance from her work.
Hospital where Toni Gibbs worked and was abducted from.
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Toni Gibbs murder location
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Location where the vehicle of Toni Gibbs was discovered
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Discovery of Toni Gibbs
On February 15, 1985, at approximately 2:30 PM, Charlie Hayes, an employee of Texas Electric Company, discovered the naked body of Toni Gibbs lying in a field approximately 100 yards from the road.
Debra Taylor
On March 24, 1985, Debra Taylor (pictured), aged 25, and her 31-year-old husband Ken were at home having drinks with friends in Fort Worth, Texas when Debra suggested going out to continue partying, but Ken, feeling tired, declined along with the rest of Debra’s friends. Debra said she was going to bed, but she had other plans and around midnight, Debra quietly left the house and went to a nearby bar..
7125 Ruth Street is the location where Debra Taylor lived (July, 2024)
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Ellen Blau
Around 10:30 PM on September 20, 1985, Ellen Blau had just finished work at Subs ‘N Suds. She locked up the restaurant and headed next door to Pizza Inn, where she had a drink with her boyfriend and a co-worker. Ellen briefly left to take her boyfriend home after an argument between him and her co-worker started to get out of hand but she returned a short time later after dropping him off at Sheppard Air Force Base.
Shortly after midnight, when Pizza Inn had closed, Ellen and her coworkers from Subs N’ Suds continued their conversation for about 20 minutes in the parking lot. Eventually, Ellen said goodbye to her coworkers, got into her car, and drove off.
Pizza Inn and Subs ‘N Suds
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Ellen Blau residence in July, 2024
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A short time later, Ellen stopped at the Country Store on Burkburnett Road (Pictured Below), where she was approached by a man she recognized due to him living in the same apartment complex on Bell Street as she did. While Ellen was searching for her keys, the man got into the passenger side of her car and told her that he needed to talk to her. After a brief conversation he demanded that she drive. Ellen was instructed to head down East Road to a secluded field in rural Wichita County.
Old Country Store. Building was razed in 2023
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Location where the body of Ellen Blau was discovered.
Then
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Tina Kimbrew
At around 11 am on May 6, 1986, Tina Kimbrew (pictured) chased after her black poodle as he ran out the door of her apartment located at 3706 Seymore Road. Kimbrew caught the dog and returned to her apartment. However, a short time later, there was a knock at the door. Standing at the door was a man whom she had met previously at a local country and western club where he worked as a bouncer.
Tina invited the man in, but as soon as the door closed, he attacked her. Tina struggled for some time before finally being overpowered and ultimately being strangled to death. The attacker immediately fled the apartment. Tina’s body was discovered later that day by her grandmother and cousin who had stopped by and let themselves into the apartment with a spare key.
Apartment of Tina Kimbrew
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A killer cracks
On May 9, 1986, only three days after Tina Kimbrew was killed, Faryion Wardrip, phoned the police from Galveston, Texas, expressing intentions of taking his own life. However, when authorities arrived, Wardrip confessed to Kimbrew’s murder. He was subsequently taken into custody, tried, and given a 35-year prison sentence.
Final arrest, trial, and conviction
In December of 1997, after serving just 11 years of his term, Wardrip was granted parole and relocated to Olney, Texas. In Olney, Wardrip immersed himself in the community’s church activities and eventually found love again, remarrying. Despite admitting to being in prison for manslaughter, he lied about the circumstances, but the community regarded Wardrip in a positive light, viewing him as a reformed individual with good intentions. Wardrip managed to find a job at a local screen door factory and worked there until his final arrest.
Hamilton Street Church of Christ.
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Olney Door & Screen where War
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In 1999, Wichita Falls detective John Little began a cold case investigation into the unsolved murders of Terry Sims, Toni Gibbs, and Ellen Blau. DNA recovered from the scenes where Sims and Gibbs were found was later matched, indicating that both victims had been killed by the same person. Detective Little’s investigation uncovered a previously unknown link between Wardrip and Blau. One of his colleagues revealed that while Wardrip was on trial for Tina Kimbrew’s murder, he admitted knowing Blau.
This lead had not been investigated when it first emerged. Wardrip himself mentioned that the agency would have been able to find a suspect much sooner if they had “paid a little bit more attention.” Detective Little found additional evidence connecting Wardrip to the three unsolved murders: Blau had lived just one block away from Sims, and Wardrip had worked as an orderly at the same hospital where Gibbs had been employed as a nurse.
At that time, the police did not have a DNA sample from Wardrip, so Detective Little used a simple trick to obtain one. After being released from prison for Tina Kimbrew’s murder, Wardrip started working at Olney Door & Screen in Olney, Texas During Wardrip’s coffee break, Little approached him and asked for a paper cup he had been drinking from so that Little could spit out the tobacco he had been chewing. An analysis of Wardrip’s DNA obtained from the coffee cup matched the suspect’s DNA in the cases of Terry Sims and Toni Gibbs. Wardrip was arrested and confessed to the murders of Sims, Gibbs, Blau, and an additional murder in Fort Worth of Debra Taylor.
