Just three days after Mary Lou Morris's death, however, the case took a strange twist. And the circumstances were as chilling as they were unbelievable. Not far from where Mary's body was found, another woman had been viciously murdered. She too was killed in her car and, incredibly, her name was also Mary Morris. Two women, both named Mary Morris, both found murdered in their cars in the Houston area just three days apart. On top of all that, the two Mary's also bore a certain resemblance. However, to find a possible link, detectives would first have to piece together the events surrounding the death of the second victim.

Mary McGinnis Morris was 39-years-old. And, like Mary Lou Morris, she too was a successful professional with a sunny disposition. Mary M. Morris was a nurse practitioner in charge of several clinics for a major industrial corporation. She was dedicated - and excelled at her job. Mary got along well with her staff - but according to friends, one new employee was a poor fit right from the start. And the relationship quickly went from bad to worse. Mary became increasingly nervous and distraught. Then, the conflict allegedly escalated - when the co-worker returned to the clinic after hours, irate over a problem with his paycheck. A few days later, Mary told friends she stopped by the office in the evening to pick up some papers and found things out of place on her desk, pictures turned to face the wrong direction. On her co-worker's desk she found a note, "death to her," which she assumed was written about her. She was so concerned that she asked her husband if he would provide her with a gun to carry with her for her own protection.

A few weekends later, on Sunday, Mary went to the clinic to catch up on work and also meet her friend Laurie, who needed allergy shots. She told Laurie that she was only going to stay a couple of hours and then go home. Later that afternoon, Laurie says she received an alarming phone call from Mary. When she was in the drugstore, Mary told her friend she ran into somebody that gave her the creeps. Mary said that she was going to go back to work, turn off her computer, sign out of the building and go home. Police aren't sure what happened next, but twelve minutes after saying goodbye to Laurie, Mary made a frantic call to 911 - according to police - as she was being attacked. The details of Mary's abduction are unclear, however, the medical examiner's report revealed that she was viciously beaten, then shot in the head.

The investigation first led police to Mary's co-worker at the clinic. Allegedly, he had left on bad terms - quitting his job after several failed attempts to discredit Mary. Detectives say that he remains a suspect. Investigators also had questions for Mike Morris, Mary's husband. Morris claimed he was at the movies with his daughter at the time of the murder. Police thought that Mike Morris intentionally slowed down the investigation - through his own actions and by refusing to allow his daughter to be questioned. Mike Morris says he was simply following the advice of some trusted friends. Detectives were also suspicious about Morris's refusal to take a polygraph test. According to Mike, he was on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication and he was unsure whether the polygraph could adequately compensate for his conditions. Further, according to friends, Mike and Mary Morris were having serious problems with their marriage. Detectives also discovered Mary's life insurance policy would pay out $700,000 in the event of her death - a policy in which Mike was the beneficiary.

Finally, what police consider the most curious of all the circumstances of Mary's death, was a call made to her cell phone about two hours after the desperate call to 911. The call was made by Mike Morris and it lasted for four minutes. According to the phone company, it was a completed call. Police say that if a person did not answer the phone, the service would default to voice mail. But Mike says that never happened. According to Mike, as long as the phone was ringing, he thought that there was a possibility that Mary would answer it so he just let it ring. But if the call went unanswered, detectives questioned why it showed up on Mary's cell phone bill? Investigators don't accept that Mike made this phone call and that the phone rang for four minutes. The question is, who answered the phone on the other end? And what did they talk about for four minutes? Was Mike Morris talking to his wife's killer? He adamantly denies any involvement in her death.

Perhaps the answer lies in the possible link between the deaths of Mary McGinnis Morris and Mary Lou Morris. One theory speculated that an inept contract killer had been hired to murder the second Mary Morris - and killed the first Mary Morris by mistake. That theory was fueled, in part, by a telephone call allegedly made to a Houston newspaper. Mary's friend, Laurie says that a call came in to the Houston Chronicle - between the time the first Mary Morris was killed and her friend was killed. According to Laurie the caller stated something to the effect that they got the wrong Mary Morris the first time. Despite speculation that the two murders may have been connected, detectives have their doubts.

If you have any information about the deaths of Mary Lou Morris, or Mary McGinnis Morrisplease contact the Harris County (Texas) Sheriff's Department, or call the Unsolved Mysteries hotline, 1-800-876-5353.