100 Murder Cases

The Peculiar Death of Charles C. Morgan

On March 22, 1977, escrow agent Charles Morgan went missing after leaving his home in Phoenix, Arizona. Three days later, he finally returned home around 2 am. His wife, Ruth, reported that he had a plastic handcuff around one ankle and handcuffs around his hands. He pointed to his throat, indicating that he couldn't speak so his wife handed him a pen and paper and he wrote that there was a hallucinogenic drug in his throat that could destroy his nervous system. Ruth wanted to get in contact with the police or physician but Charles told her not to and said it would put their family in danger.

As Ruth nursed him back to health, he disclosed that he had been working as a secret agent for the past two to three years for the US Treasury Department. He then claimed his abductors took his treasury ID and provided no more details. Two months after his initial disappearance, he was reported to be missing again. After nine days, Ruth received a phone call from an unidentified woman that said "Chuck is alright. Ecclesiastes 12, 1 through 8" and then hung up.

Two days after the strange phone call, on June 18, his body was discovered lying 40 miles west of Tucson near his car. Charles had been shot in the back of the head by his own gun. He was found wearing a bulletproof vest, a belt buckle that had a hidden knife, and a holster. A pair of sunglasses was found at the scene that was not his. Investigators searched his car and found several weapons and a cache of ammunition. The car had also been altered so that it could be unlocked from the fender. On the rear seat of the car, Morgan's tooth was discovered, wrapped up in a white handkerchief. Bizarrely, there was also a $2 bill with several Spanish surnames and a map of the border area pinned to Morgan's underwear. The map led to Robles Junction and Felicity, the area between Tucson and Mexico. Those towns had a reputation for smuggling at the time. Above the surnames "Ecclesiastes 12" was written and an arrow was drawn to the bill's serial number pointing to the numbers 1 and 8. Some of the other writings on the bill had alleged Masonic references and Charles also had a piece of paper with directions in his handwriting that led to the site where he was found.

Medical examiners claimed that Charles Morgan was only dead for 12 hours when he was found. Strangely, there were no fingerprints found on the scene, not even on the gun. On Morgan's hands, they found gunpowder and residue. For this reason, the Sherrif's department labeled the death a suicide that seemed to be the end of the Charles C. Morgan case.

Ruth Morgan staunchly rejected this theory and holds the belief that he was murdered. "I don't know if this will ever be solved," she said. "I'd like to know why. I don't think we'll ever find out who killed him."