| Frith: Case History |
| Childhood: |
| Thurman Kingsbury Frith was born in an Atlanta Georgia Hospital on June 5th 1955, a full month early. This lead to a lifetime of smaller than average stature. He was the youngest and only son in a family of four children. Despite special attention paid to him by his parents, young Thurman became envious of his older and larger sisters. |
| In school, Frith showed strong potential. A mathematical prodigy with a knack for music, Frith stayed at top the top of his classes. This is despite frequent moves by his family due to his alcoholism suffering father's inability to hold a job. |
| Adolescence: |
| His high school years lead to many successes and many failures. Schoolwork was always a strength and opened many doors for Thurman Frith. However, most of these extracurricular adventures were left incomplete. Frith unexpectedly left the forensics team after only one meeting. The same rang true with the Drama club and the fencing team. |
| Frith's personal life was marked by excessive and unhealthy relationships. He had few friends. Frith dated frequently, often with girls several years his junior, but these affairs rarely lasted past the 2nd date. |
| The University of Chicago: |
| Frith entered the University of Chicago in the fall of 1973 with the planned concentration of mathematics. He worked a series of part time jobs, often 3 at a time in order to pay for his tuition. Despite this added stress, TKF made grades that were well above average. Acquaintences at Burton-Judson, his dormitory, describe Frith as rarely at home, rarely sleeping, and never interested in the lives of those around him. His Mathews house roommate recalls, "Frith barely said 2 words to me in his life. He was never around. I thought that made him a good person with whom to live." |
| The Crime: |
| Police were busy preparing for a visit from Norway's King Olav, in the fall of 1975. Helping to provide security to the event, Officer Todd McCurty found something else entirely: a broken butcher knife. The subsequent investigation of which lead to the discovery of two important pieces of evidence. The first was a set of ingerprints which belonged to Thurman Kingsbury Frith discovered on the discarded knife. The second was the severed hand of missing person Jeannie Marie Alongi, found only thirty feet from the knife. |
| The blood type on the knife matched that of the hand. Frith became linked to the murder of Alongi, despite the lack of a complete corpse. Then came another startling revelation: A second blood type was found on the knife, different from that of both Frith and Alongi. The origin of this blood was not discovered until the following spring, when the body of Sally Jean Holden was uncovered. A smell emanating from the attic of Mathews house lead to a pile of refuse. The dismembered corpse of the young Holden was found, arms and legs neatly stacked among discarded and broken furniture. Medical examiners were able to determine that she was alive during the majority of the gruesome process. |
| Frith plead not guilty on all charges and was convicted of both the murders of Alongi and Holden in 1978. He was given two consecutive life sentences. Thurman Kingsbury Frith served in Joliet State Penitentiary until his death in February of 1999. The 43 year old Frith died of unknown causes and was buried outside of Atlanta. |
| Last Updated July 9th 1999 |