Does the ghost of
Thelma Taylor haunt Cathedral Park in Portland Oregon?
Thelma Taylor was only 15 years old when she was
abducted, raped, and murdered under the St. John’s Bridge. Her brutal demise shocked
the Portland, Oregon community and to this day her tale continues to be told.
At the time of Thelma’s murder the area under
the St. John’s Bridge, which is now a park today, was overgrown and covered
with brush. It wasn’t a place that people were likely to pass by often, and in
that respect, was the perfect place for her killer to hold her captive.
Thelma was held prisoner under the bridge for
almost a week, where she was continually beaten and raped, and eventually died.
It wasn’t until the 1970’s that Howard
Galbraith, the “honorary mayor” of St. John’s, began trying to clean up the
area under the bridge. It wasn’t until 1980
though the area under the St. John’s Bridge was opened as Cathedral Park, named
after the cathedral looking arches of the St. John’s Bridge that stands guard
above it.
According to local lore, every summer, during
the time when her murder took place so many years ago, screams and sounds of a
girl struggling for her life can be heard coming from Cathedral Park. Some even
say that police have been routinely called out to the park during the summer to
investigate the screams, but nothing has ever been found.
Perhaps it’s the horror of this crime that makes
Thelma’s spirit stay trapped, reliving her last days on this earth. Or perhaps
we are just too captivated by her grotesque tale, and as with all ghost stories
there is a sense of morbid fascination that comes with each re-telling.
The only happy ending that I’ve found, if it can
even be called a happy ending, is that her captor and killer, Leland Morris,
was caught nearly a week after her murder and confessed to the crime. He was
convicted and executed in the gas chamber at the Oregon State Prison in 1953.
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