In February 1975, Austin was rocked with a savage and senseless crime that disturbed even the most experienced homicide detectives when 21-year-old Phyllis Butto was stabbed to death in her home. The murder baffled police. The following June, when a markedly similar crime took place, Austin Homicide Investigators scrambled to find clues. 25-year-old Martha Read was also riddled with stab wounds. Though a couple promising leads came their way, the cops couldn’t find anything that made sense or stuck. Law enforcement in Texas’s Capital City, anyway, was facing a new challenge that worsened as Austin grew: something they called “faceless crime.”

If you have any information about the 1975 murders of Phyllis Butto or Martha Read, please call the Austin Police homicide tip line at (512) 477-3588, the Homicide Unit at (512) 974-5210, or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at (512) 472-8477

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The Austin American-Statesman, The Tyler Morning Telegraph, and The Wichita Falls Times-Record were used as sources for this episode.

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