Episode 21: The Prospect Killer
Image Credit: Colton Sturgeon
When black women’s bodies started being found murdered in Kansas City, Missouri near Prospect Avenue, the police knew this case was different. This was the work of a serial killer. As homicide detectives hunted this serial killer, cameras from the show The First 48 followed them. The cameras were there as they found their killer, Terry Anthony Blair, a man on parole for the murder of his wife.
Who is Terry Blair? Why did he kill? We explore this and dig into his family tree and learn more about his immediate family who has a propensity to kill as well as his enslaved ancestors who would likely be shocked by his murderous deeds.
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The Prospect Killer: Terry Blair
Terry Anthony Blair
Terry Blair in 1976
Source: Central High School Yearbook, Kansas City, Missouri
Walter Blair, Jr, Terry’s older brother
Obituary of Walter Lewis Blair, Jr.
Source: The Kansas City Star, 25 Jul 1993
Source: The Wichita Eagle Beacon, 18 Oct 1980
Obituary of Sh-Na White, sister of Diamond, Noila IV, and William, daughter of Warnetta Blair and Noila, Jr.
Source: The Kansas City Times, 24 Dec 1987
Terry’s nephew, Diamond Blair
Source: Missouri Department of Corrections
Terry’s half brother, Clifford Miller
Source: Missouri Department of Corrections
Terry’s nephew, William C. Blair
Source: Missouri Department of Corrections
Noila White, Jr. (or III), 1942-2001
Noila went to prison for the murder of James Bell. Noila would later be murdered himself.
Terry’s nephew, Noila White, IV who murdered his father (above)
Source: Missouri Department of Corrections
Death certificate of the elusive, Anna Payne Payne Jackson Morton, great-grandmother of Terry Blair on his maternal line.
Mossie Blair’s World War I draft registration card. Mossie was Terry’s great-grandfather.
Timeline of Terry Blair’s family. As we discuss on this episode, Terry was not the only killer. Just, perhaps, the worst.
Additional Information
DISCLOSURE: Murderous Roots is listener-supported. Some of the links below include Amazon affiliate links that may bring us a small commission to help support the podcast, at no additional cost to you.
Bound in Wedlock: Slave and Free Marriage in the Nineteenth Century by Tera W. Hunter
The First 48: A Serial Killer Calls
sources
Family’s history awash in blood by Lynn Franey and Kevin Hoffman, The Kansas City Star, 26 Sep 2004
History of African-American Cemeteries
Black deaths matter: The centuries-old struggle to memorialize slaves and victims of racism
Wikipedia
We use a multitude of resources when researching a family tree up to an including census records from 1800-1940, marriage records in various states, draft registration cards, and more. If you would like more specific details on where information was obtained, please email us and we’ll respond in a timely manner.