Editing Circleville, Ohio (section)

=== Circleville letters mystery ===

Starting in 1977,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hewitt|first=Les|date=2016-10-05|title=Circleville Letters Mystery Still Unsolved|url=https://www.historicmysteries.com/circleville-letters-mystery/|access-date=2020-08-25|website=Historic Mysteries|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Mysterious Circleville Letter Writer|url=https://unsolved.com/gallery/poison-pen-murder/|access-date=2020-08-25|website=Unsolved Mysteries|language=en-US}}</ref> residents began receiving mysterious letters from an unknown source identified only as "Writer". The letters contained threats of violence and supposed blackmail, often as means of coercing the receiver to comply with the Writer's will (e.g., voting for the Writer's preferred candidate in the county election). On January 27, 1983, the Writer hung up a sign visible from the bus route of Circleville School, containing obscenities regarding the 13-year-old daughter of bus driver Mary Gillispie. Upon observation of the sign, Gillispie discovered a booby-trapped box containing a loaded gun, which was rigged to fire upon attempted removal of the sign. Gillispie and her husband Ronald had previously received letters from the Writer accusing her of engaging in an extramarital affair with school superintendent Gordon Massie. Ronald had been killed under mysterious circumstances 6 years prior, in August 1977.

While the Gillispies' brother-in-law Paul Freshour was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the boobytrap incident in 1984, letters continued to circulate during his imprisonment. It was only after Freshour's release in 1994 that the Writer ceased threatening the residents of Circleville.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Circleville letters: You've got hate mail |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/circleville-letters-mail-gallery/ |date=2022-12-23 |access-date=2023-04-29 |publisher=CBS NEWS}}</ref>

As of August 2024, the identity of the Writer remains unknown.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Updates about the Circleville Mystery Writer |url=https://www.sciotopost.com/updates-about-the-circleville-mystery-writer/ |last=Schlichter |first=Brandon |date=2023-03-23 |access-date=2023-04-29 |work=The Scioto Post}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2024}}