The brutal and seemingly random killing of Cheryl Ann Callaway in 1974 has been called “the most vicious murder in Arlington’s history.”
And 50 years later, the North Texas case remains unsolved.
Callaway was only 18 years old when she was stabbed 46 times by a man with an ice pick outside an Arlington mall, in view of several witnesses who watched in horror. The killer has never been identified, and the case has largely grown cold.
On the evening of Jan. 30, 1974, Callaway stopped by Forum 303 mall after work at a nearby Dairy Queen to buy her fiance a birthday present. The mall, which later became Festival Marketplace before it was demolished in 2007, was at Pioneer Parkway and Texas 360.
Callaway returned to her car in the well-lighted parking lot around 8 p.m. Police were called to the scene less than 10 minutes later. When they arrived, they found Callaway had been stabbed dozens times with an ice pick.
Witnesses told police that Callaway’s attacker was a man dressed in dark clothes. They estimated he was in his mid-20s and said he drove away in a white car with a black top.