Bristol County Femicides : Debra Ann Coelho
On the afternoon of Feb. 5, 1977, Debra Ann Coelho, 15, left her New Bedford home to go bowling at what is now the Wonder Bowl on Hathaway Road. This will be where she was last seen alive- although it is uncertain when she left the bowling alley. When Debra did not return home around supper time, her parents reported her missing to NB police.
There is some lack of clarity about how the police may have handled her case or if they performed any sort of investigation. This was back when police claimed a 24 hour waiting period before someone could be reported missing. There is the inference that Debra’s father may have reported her as a runaway to try and bypass the 24 hour rule.
3 days later an anonymous male caller to the Coelho home gave detailed instructions on how to find Debra- a location in Dartmouth. The family and the Dartmouth Police both searched here, finding nothing.
On October 19, 1978, over a year after she went missing, a child found Debra’s skull and brought it home. A police search will reveal Debra’s remains in the location as described by the anonymous caller. The caller remains unidentified and a person of interest in Debra’s murder. Her cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and jaw, a homicide.
There are 2 known suspects in the murder of Debra Coelho, both with records and convictions for rape, assault, and violence against women.
Francis M. Souza lived in a trailer not far from where Debra’s body was found. In the summer after her disappearance, he was convicted of kidnapping, assault, and rape. He received a sentence of 15-18 years, was sent to Bridgewater on the rape charge to determine if he was “sexually dangerous” (and thus could spend his time “incarcerated” at Bridgewater the psychiatric hospital and not in Walpole the prison) and found not to be so. He served out his sentence and was released. He does not appear on any sex offender registry and would now no longer be on parole.
Around the time of Debra’s disappearance and murder, John Costa, Jr. had lived in both New Bedford and Dartmouth. He had record of arrests for rape, assault and kidnapping of young women. He was convicted in the spring of 1977 of the brutal beating of a 13 year old girl in which he broke her jaw. This was an attempted rape- but eventually pled down to assault. He is sentenced to 1 year.
On January 6, 1979, Marilyn Butcher of Abilene, Kansas left her job at a Salina, Kansas mall presumably headed home. About an hour later, her car is parked at a rest stop on I-70 in Solomon where John Costa, Jr., formerly of New Bedford, is also parked in a truck registered out of Fall River MA . Witnesses, other truckers using the rest stop’s facilities, id Costa, having exchanged brief pleasantries with him outside of their vehicles.
Other truckers arrive at the rest stop an hour later. They notice both Costa’s truck and Butcher’s car. At one point it appears someone is exiting the cab of Costa’s rig , which starts to move. They watch, screaming in horror, as it becomes apparent that a human being has fallen from the cab and is under the tires of the truck. Costa runs over this human - over their head and down the entire length of their body- then leaves the rest stop. The witnesses contact Costa via CB, thinking that his co-driver has fallen from his truck and been accidentally, unknowingly run over. Costa insists his partner is asleep in the cab, shrugging them off. They contact the police and troopers were able to identify and stop Costa, believing that he was involved in a hit and run accident. But it is soon discovered that the person he ran over has their hands tied behind their back. This person is Marilyn Butcher and she was alive when the truck was driven over her. This is a homicide. It is believed Marilyn had pulled into the rest stop, followed by Costa who tried to abducted her, and that she fell from the cab of his truck while struggling , trying to get away from him.
In August of 1979, John Costa Jr. was sentenced to Life with the chance of parole for the kidnapping, attempted rape and 1st degree murder of Marilyn Butcher. He was released on parole in 2014.
His parole has ended and he is a free man. He does not appear on any sex offender registry.
Costa drove an 18 wheel tractor trailer over an 18 year old young woman who he tried to rape.
Although Debra’s body was not found until over a year after she disappeared, a significant amount of evidence was left with her - she was dressed in the clothes she was last seen wearing, her possessions were with her, and rope, clothesline, was found near her body, considered to be evidence in her murder.
RETEST THIS EVIDENCE. Biological samples should be taken from both of these men. There is certainly cause to do this. That is, if you still have the evidence.
If you have any information about the 1977 murder of Debra Coelho please contact the MA State Police at: (855) MA-SOLVE (855-627-6583) or mspunresolved@pol.state.ma.us
Or by texting the word Bristol to CRIMES (274637) then text your tip. You may remain anonymous.
[originally posted on FB]