Amarillo’s Oldest Cold Cases Are Linked By One Chilling Common Factor

Every city has its cold cases, Amarillo is no exception.

In December 2022, Amarillo Police Department announced the assembly of a Cold Case investigation unit within the existing homicide unit. At the time, Amarillo had 49 unsolved murders and nine missing persons. The unit has had several breakthroughs and brought several cases to a close, at long last.

And most importantly, people have been talking about these cold cases. And when people talk about things, they begin to take notice of the little things. Like one chilling thing that four cold cases from the 1990s have in common: a devastating fire intentionally set to destroy the scene of the crime.

Aurora Diane White

On the evening of March 1, 1990, the Amarillo Fire Department was called to a 1417 S. Jackson street where a duplex was engulfed in flames. After the blaze was under control, firefighters discovered the body of 26-year-old Aurora Diane White in a bedroom.

The fire was initially thought to be accidental, and attributed White's death to the blaze. However, an autopsy showed that the woman had been stabbed to death before being burned. Investigators determined that White's death was a homicide and the fire had been set to cover up the crime.

Lt. Gary Trupe told Amarillo-Globe News in 2011 that "The killer poured accelerant in the area where White burned and died,"

Carolyn Karp

In the early morning hours of July 11, 1992, first responders arrived at the Sneak Joint Lounge at 10321 E. Amarillo Blvd. A trailer adjacent to the establishment was fully engulfed in flames.

After firefighters extinguished the blaze, officers located the body of Carlyn Karp inside. An autopsy showed that the 56-year-old woman's death was caused by a gunshot wound and the fire had been set to cover up the crime.

There was precious little evidence recovered from the scene.

“The fire was so substantial that it pretty much ruined anything that might have been of evidentiary value inside the mobile home," Special Crimes Unit Lt. Erick Bohannan told KAMR news in 2016.

Ronald Morton

A few short months after the murder of Carolyn Karp, Amarillo police were called out to another fire that had revealed a grisly scene once the flames subsided.

The body of Ronald Morton was found in his apartment at 2400 S. Polk on November 6, 1992. A news article by Amarillo Globe News published on August 10, 1995 stated that Morton had multiple injuries, including "nine stab wounds to his face, five to his upper torso, two to his neck and eight to his hands."

The weapon was located at the scene and investigators concluded that the fire was set to cover evidence of the crime.

Morton's case has taken several unusual twists and turns through the years, but ultimately remains unsolved.

The Elements

Only the investigators assigned to the cold case unit have access to the full extent of information amassed. But yet, to have three cold cases where a fire was intentionally set to cover up an act of homicide is enough to make one pause.

And to have three of these fiery crimes committed in the span of two short years is surprising enough. Additionally, none of the other 40-odd cold cases on the list, save for two deaths in 2007, involve a fire intentionally set to cover up a crime.

The deaths in 2007 were directly caused by smoke inhalation from a fire at The Meridian Apartments on SW 6th. Authorities say that the suspect is thought to be a serial arsonist and the two individuals were unintentional victims.

Grain of Truth or Coincidence?

Is there a connection? Or is the fiery link purely speculation? We may never know.

But there is power in words. And words can unlock memories, give courage, and bring what what is done in the dark into light.

We're hardly special in our list of unsolved murders and bulletin boards of missing faces. Yet we are. In the days of the wide open windswept prairies and pioneers, we had to rely on each other in order to survive. That quality is still there.

Our missing faces and our dead depend on us to keep their names alive until they can be found or justice served. Remember them. Talk about them. No one deserves to be forgotten.