Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill or its characters or anything else specific to that lovely series of games.
Author's Note: I decided to try something a bit different. I thought it would be interesting to read articles in a newspaper pertaining to game events. So then I decided to write some. I hope there are no inaccuracies.
First Article: Silent Hill 4, post "Escape" ending.
Collected Articles (1)
From the South Ashfield Post website
SOUTH ASHFIELD, SILENT HILL MURDER/ATTACK SPREE
by Naomi Keller
(South Ashfield Post Staff)
SOUTH ASHFIELD
Four murders and two physical assaults have the Ashfield Police Department deep in investigation.
The first victim was Cynthia Velasquez, a 29-year-old Hispanic woman and North Ashfield resident. South Ashfield subway workers returning from lunch found Velasquez's body in an information booth at the cross-section of the King Street and Lynch Street lines. She had been stabbed multiple times.
"It was awful," said one horrified worker, who asked to remain anonymous. "There was blood everywhere. We don't even know how anyone got in there. We locked up before we left."
In South Ashfield Heights, which is located at the same corner as the entrance to the aforementioned subway station, the body of Richard Braintree, 48, was discovered around 6 pm. Braintree had been electrocuted by an unknown cause. He was discovered after neighboring tenants informed the Superintendent of strange cries from his apartment.
A few hours later, around 8:30 pm, a tenant reported screams from the Heights residence of Eileen Galvin, 24. Upon opening the door, the superintendent found her on the floor of her apartment. She had been beaten to unconsciousness. Officers still at the Heights after responding to the death of Braintree offered assistance and called for an ambulance. Galvin was rushed to St. Jerome's hospital and admitted into the Intensive Care Unit. Her condition was last reported as critical. Due to the high profile of the attack, the hospital director will update the press on her condition later today.
The superintendent of South Ashfield Heights, Frank Sunderland, was heard telling police, "I don't understand. Both apartments were locked from the inside. Why would they let someone they didn't know inside?"
No tenants or officers had seen anyone suspicious enter the building.
Police believe that due to the proximity of the subway station where Velasquez was found to South Ashfield Heights, the three assaults were all by the same assailant. There is also a telltale clue that has investigators scratching their heads.
The three victims all had numbers carved into their bodies. Velasquez was marked with 16121 on her chest, Braintree with 19121 on his forehead, and Galvin with 20121 across her back. Such markings match the m.o. of deceased serial murderer Walter Sullivan, who was convicted of the slaying of two children, Miriam and Billy Locane, ten years ago in Silent Hill. Before Sullivan was tried for the murders of his eight other victims, he committed suicide in his jail cell.
Officials say that the party responsible is likely a copycat, though they are not sure if it is the same individual who murdered Peter Walls, Sharon Black, and Toby Archbolt. These three persons also had their lives taken away and numbers inscribed into their bodies years after Sullivan's death. Walls was found in South Ashfield, Black in the woods by Silent Hill, and Archbolt in Mexico.
Wall's murder took place 6 years ago, while Black's and Archbolt's murders were committed months apart about 2 years ago. Besides the numbers, the homicides were also characterized by their pristine crime scenes, a quality also associated with the most recent attacks.
"Spotless," confided one officer. "Forensics couldn't find a thing. Like it was a ghost or something."
Even more baffling is that the attacks from yesterday may be connected to two other murders on the same daytwo states away. The body of Jasper Gein, 30, was found in the remains of the abandoned Wish House in the woods near Silent Hill. Wish House had been burned down to its foundation, and Gein's charred body was found among the rubble. The numbers 17121 were reportedly cut into his chest.
Searches of the surrounding area led to an exploration of the tower said to be formerly used by Wish House attendants. Inside, officers found the body of Andrew DeSalvo, 47, with the numbers 18121 in his stomach. DeSalvo had been drowned.
Investigators say it is impossible for the same person to have committed these killings, as they had to have taken place yesterday afternoon, and the killer could not have made it to Silent Hill and back in the time between Velasquez's and Braintree's deaths and Galvin's beating.
"Our precinct is giving and receiving full cooperation with out-of-state police to explore all links between Gein and DeSalvo and the other victims," said Police Chief Kinderman when asked if perhaps two killers were working together.
Wish House came under scrutiny two years ago when an article by South Ashfield Post'sown Joseph Schreiber accused the orphanage of being a cover for a brainwashing program for a Silent Hill cult, known as the Order. The tower where DeSalvo was discovered was suggested to be a prison for misbehaving children. Some time after the article's publication, journalist Schreiber vanished, but investigation could not tie the Order to his disappearance.
Past murder victim Archbolt was a powerful figure in South Ashfield's City Council and rebuked Schreiber's accusations. His death revealed many indiscretions involving drug-dealing and the ill-famed Wish House, and led to speculation that the murder was politically motivated. This idea was fueled after Schreiber, who had pledged to uncover the entire truth about the underworld of Silent Hill, went missing. It was suggested that the Order had enacted revenge for the death of their most powerful supporter and the police inquiry that shut down their orphanage. Investigation, however, led to no answers.
Further associating Wish House with the murders was the death of Black who, according to friends, was trying to get in contact with her family who had joined the cult. She was found drowned on the shore of Toluca Lake at the edge of the forest neighboring Silent Hill.
Officials refuse to say if they believe the alleged cult had any involvement in yesterday's attacks.
A potential source of information on yesterday's events is yet another resident of South Ashfield Heights. Henry Townshend, 28, was seen limping away from the Heights early this morning. Townshend collapsed a block away from the apartment complex, and concerned citizens called 911. He was transported to St. Jerome's, where he was treated for a twisted ankle, broken arm, several wounds, and exhaustion. His condition has been reported as stable.
Police decline to comment on whether or not they believe Townshend is connected to the other assaults. They do acknowledge that he does not bear any markings similar to those carved into the four other victims.
A tenant who lives in the same wing as Townshend and Galvin, who are neighbors, said that on the day of the attacks he heard strange noises coming from Townshend's apartment. In fact, it was revealed that one of the victims, Braintree, had called the superintendent to look into the sounds, but Sunderland says he was unable to access the apartment.
When asked about this, officers assured that they are looking into all details of this strange string of events.
I always wonder if, in the endings where Henry escapes, it's possible that he could at all be implicated in any of the attacks. I also think it would've been neat to see a peephole scene where the police try to get in and question him about Eileen's beating.
