Charles William Ennis-1967

When looking for topics to research, you inevitably come across crime cases that are intriguing, but probably don’t have enough material available to justify inclusion in a book. Such is the story of Charles William Ennis. On March 2, 1967 a man fishing in Hooes Run near Occoquan in Prince William County snagged a severed human hand with his fishing line. Police were called and soon deduced that a band saw was used to cut up the body. They eventually tallied 61 separate pieces of the body. His identity was unknown until Ennis’s daughter recognized a description of him published in a March 22 newspaper article and fingerprints confirmed the match. He was separated from his wife and even his family hadn’t been sure of what he had been up to lately. Police didn’t find out much about his shadowy life either, other than the facts that he was a heavy drinker and apparently hung out with a rough element that liked gambling, although his only criminal history seemed to be in passing bad checks. The investigation didn’t go very far, but over the next several years there were rumors that Ennis was connected with an extensive “Beltway Burglary Gang” that was also involved in gambling. The ring was broken up through numerous convictions in 1968. Presumably his ring associates were responsible for his death, and in 1976 there were evidently enough leads that Ennis’s death was examined by a Federal grand jury. However, no movement seems to have followed the grand jury hearings, and as far as I am aware the case remains unsolved.