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Old 03-19-2009, 02:17 PM
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Nix54 will become famous soon enoughNix54 will become famous soon enough
Now here is something true and gory that really happened in SA....

Butchering at the Gunter Hotel
The following is a true, unsolved crime that occurred in San Antonio at the Gunter Hotel in 1965. Fascinating, mysterious and gruesome are the details of this story, so be prepared.





On February 6, 1965, a blonde man in his late 30’s checked into room 636 at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio. During the next 3 days, he was seen going in and out of his room several times accompanied by a tall blonde woman.

The following Monday, February 8, the afternoon maid on duty, Maria Luisa Guerra prepared to check the room. Thinking the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door was an oversight, she opened the door with her passkey. She proceeded to step inside when she saw a man standing beside the blood soaked bed. As she let out a scream, the man placed his index finger against his lips as if cautioning her to be quiet. Then he quickly gathered up a blood soaked bundle and ran out the door.

The police arrived on the scene within the next 10 minutes. Searching the room they found the small footprints of the apparent victim, several cigar butts, one with the imprint of lipstick, and a suitcase containing a man’s shirt, some cheese and several empty wine bottles. Officers also found blonde hairs in the room, as well as nylon hose and women’s undergarments.

The officers questioned the maid, Mrs. Guerra, who described details of the bloody bundle that the man carted off. Officers said that the body of a small boned woman, dissected and blood-drained could fit the dimension of the bundle that Mrs. Guerra described.

The room was a bloody mess. The mattress and floor were covered with blood and the bathroom was literally coated in blood and small pieces of flesh from ceiling to floor. While no body was found, it was theorized that the body had been butchered in the bathroom, run through a meat grinder and disposed of down the commode.

Within days, the police tracked down the suspect just a few blocks away at the St. Anthony hotel. As police entered the suspect’s room, a shot rang out from inside as the man took his own life. During the subsequent investigation, it was discovered that the suspected murderer, Walter Emerick, attempted to check into room 636 at the St. Anthony the day of the incident at the Gunter and had purchased a very large meat grinder the previous week at a downtown department store.

To this day, the case is still open. No body has ever been discovered and no female matching the description given to police has ever been reported missing. But since this bloody incident more than 35 years ago, members of the staff and hotel guests have reported strange happenings from time to time.

Ghostly images of a woman with her arms outstretched have appeared to maids. Sounds of hammering and grinding have been reported coming from room 636 although it was unoccupied. The image of a woman, unknown to the staff, mysteriously appeared in Christmas pictures.

The Gunter Hotel, a hotel rich in history, elegant and magnificent in it’s design and haunted by the memory of a butchering in room 636.




Please note that at the time this crime occurred, there was a tremendous amount of construction going on in San Antonio. Green dye was found on Emerick's shoes, the type of dye used to color cement. It is theorized that he may have disposed of the body and/or body parts in still-wet cement at one of the downtown projects under construction.

This case still remains open. Ironically, without any substantial physical evidence of a murder, the only charge that would have been brought against Mr. Emerick would have been malicious mischief over $50 (the hotel spent over one-hundred dollars to clean up the mess he left in the room).

Is there a ghost? You spend the night in room 636 and tell me.


theFolklorist.com-Butchering at the Gunter Hotel
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Old 03-19-2009, 02:19 PM
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Nix54 will become famous soon enoughNix54 will become famous soon enough
Room 636 at the Gunter would be a great place stay on Halloween night!
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Old 03-19-2009, 02:25 PM
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I saw the story in a book about SA hunted past, but you walk into the Gunter and it is very scary looking inside.
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Old 03-19-2009, 02:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nix54 View Post
Now here is something true and gory that really happened in SA....

Butchering at the Gunter Hotel
The following is a true, unsolved crime that occurred in San Antonio at the Gunter Hotel in 1965. Fascinating, mysterious and gruesome are the details of this story, so be prepared.

.........

theFolklorist.com-Butchering at the Gunter Hotel
Is this the same story that Docia Williams wrote about in her first SA ghost story book?

I'm not sure where I read it (possibly Docia's follow up book).....but it is my understanding that the room no longer exists. It was reportedly remodeled and incorporated into a suite and the rest of the floor was renumbered. (Smart move on the part of the hotel to create confusion as to the exact location of this event.)

I'm sure there will be more to come on this story.....
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Old 03-19-2009, 02:40 PM
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Nix54 will become famous soon enoughNix54 will become famous soon enough
In the late 60's I used to go to Gunter hotel. The Gunter had a wall of wooden phone booths with sliding glass doors. Once inside the booth with the door closed, the light & fan would go on. Since I didn't have any privacy at home I would telephone my girlfriend from the Gunter. The phone call was only a dime, but there was a trick to getting a call for a nickel on those long black wall phones. You would insert the nickel and at the same time press fast on the silver coin return button. The bell would ring, setting off the dial tone and I would call away!
Back then the Gunter had a beautiful lobby. Leather sofas, a lot of dark carved wood & theatre like carpeting.

Last edited by Nix54; 03-19-2009 at 02:50 PM..
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Old 03-19-2009, 03:12 PM
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Nix54 will become famous soon enoughNix54 will become famous soon enough
Does anyone have any pictures of the Joy Theatre? It used to be downtown on Houston street west of Flores street. The facade had an old tin sign of a lady or majorette.
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Old 03-19-2009, 03:28 PM
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WillSat.....the Gunter has been completely remodeled. We were there recently after attending a show at the Majestic. It's very elegant and far from scary.
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Old 03-19-2009, 03:40 PM
One cannot know everything.
 
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wCat has a reputation beyond repute
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Follow up on the Gunter murder....

This is definitely a story that Docia Williams wrote about, but I confirmed some of the details from reports in the Express News from 1965. It's one of the goriest mysteries for certain. There are numerous follow up stories in the news as information unfolded.

Walter Emerick lived in SA at the home of his mother. He was unemployed and had served a prison sentence for check fraud. He was on probation and apparently had gone on a drinking binge according to the reports from his mother. After the murder, he escaped for a few days and was located at the St Anthony hotel. The police tried to apprehend him and he shot himself before they could get into his room to question him.

The investigation was very comprehensive....providing leads to his activity before and after the murder. They did discover that he purchased a meat grinder around that time as well.....along with a new suitcase from a Trunk and Gift shop on Alamo St. Schilo's also was mentioned as they reported him purchasing cheese from the deli several days prior to the murder. His parents were regulars at Schilos and he made the purchase with forged checks from his parents.

Originally they medical examiner did not think there was a murder as he could not conceive of a person actually using a meat grinder to dispose of a body....but then he was rationalizing from a sane mind. Reports did lead investigators to believe he possibly did go to such an extent but a body or body parts were not discovered. They even dredged the SA river ....but nothing was found.

Still an open case.....no missing person was ever matched to the "missing" body.
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Old 03-19-2009, 04:41 PM
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Thanks Budb. I had forgotten all about the guy who was gonna jump until you mentioned it. Just when I think this thread has run it's course something new comes up. I think it was during the summer because I wasn't in school either. I remember watching him on TV and asking my mom what he was doing up there. She said he is thinking of jumping off the building. I couldn't believe anybody would do that. I kept asking mom why?? She said she didn't know. I guess nobody did. I think it was live TV which was rare in the early sixties. The first live TV broadcast I remember was the guy shooting at students at UT Austin in 1966. Maybe this was an earlier one and I just didn't understand the technology envolved. The Fiesta parades were usually taped (or filmed?) and shown at a later time. I know this because I used to help set up the parade seating when I was with the Boy Scouts. I would get home after the parade and it would just be starting on TV --usually pretty late. I guess so it wouldn't interfere with network programming. Oh I am talking about the night parade--the really cool one.
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Old 03-19-2009, 04:44 PM
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I mean live on location broadcasts..sorry I just realized how stupid I sound
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