1980 Cheese House killings
The 1980 Cheese House killings were an unsolved series of killings that occurred in Cheese House restaurants, a local chain in Castlelow, Southmarch in Urcea. The killings were national news during the early 1980s and became prominent once again in the late 2010s due to a restaurant appearing as the social media avatar for Lucás Atri. The killings resulted in a dramatic decrease in business and closure of the chain by 1982.
Background
Cheese House was a small local chain of restaurants in the city of Castlelow, with five locations existing around the city by the late 1970s. The stores, all shaped like a cheese wheel with a slice cut out. The restaurants served a number of cheese-related items including mozzarella sticks and a type of fondue-to-go patented at the chain. Although not especially prominent, the chain was growing with projections to open up to ten locations by 1985.
Overview of killings
First killing
On the morning of 17 February 1980, an employee opening for normal business hours found a young woman seated in one of the booths at the restaurant. The woman, deceased, was found with a large knife stuck directly through her throat with a note attached, reading "This is what happens" in typed print. The woman was determined to be Bridget Eules, a 24-year old who was the wife of Myhal Eules, a prominent local businessman. The killing was not received with much public interest.
Second killing
During the lunch time rush at the Cheese House on 90 Francis Boulevard on 24 February 1980, businessman Darrado Gils stood up to use the bathroom and was later found with his throat cut at a urinal. Witnesses indicated that they had not seen any individual enter or exit the bathroom during the time in which Gils entered it. A note was left with the body but was illegible as it had landed in the urinal.
3 March 1980 bombing
On 3 March 1980, a Cheese House location serving normal business hours was bombed during the lunch rush, killing twenty four people and immediately raising the killings to national prominence. Despite not being the usual modus operandi of the first two deaths - being imprecise and killing bystanders - local police and later the ADIIS believed the bombings were perpetrated by the same individual as many of the patrons killed were the same type of prominent local businessmen in Castlelow and their families.
Fourth killings
The fourth and final killings occurred on 10 March 1980. Two well-known real estate attorneys, John Alberio and Aedan Dionn, were eating a late dinner at a Cheese House location, and were killed with a single shot from a military issue .50 caliber anti-material rifle fired from across the street. The shot not only killed the two men and shattered the window through which it entered but also caused significant destruction of objects behind it (including the soda fountain) while creating significant carnage within the restaurant.
Copycat incidents
Police and investigators believe the Cheese House killer was responsible only for the four incidents listed in this article, though many other incidents related to violence and fast food occurred in the wake of the national media sensation spawned by the case. Most prominent among these was an incident that happened on 12 March 1980. A man named Craig Catric spent 11 March and the morning of 12 March in a NoWaiter in the Ardot borough of Urceopolis leaving cryptic, handwritten flyers on all the tables saying "You get what you pay for". Catric, who apparently managed to remain unnoticed by the employees of the NoWaiter, left on the 11th and returned on the 12th to do the same thing. At around noon on the 12th, the Deputy Minister of Commerce entered the NoWaiter. Catric approached the Deputy Minister with a knife drawn and attempted to stab him, but was shot and killed by an off duty member of the Life Guard who happened to be dining in the restaurant at the time. Police soon after confirmed that Catric was not responsible for the Cheese House killings and was accounted for in the Archduchy of Urceopolis during the killings in Southmarch.
Investigation
Local police in Castlelow began investigating after the first disappearance of Bridget Eules on the night of 16 February and continued investigating through the 3 March bombing. Multiple potential perpetrators were apprehended and interviewed between 16 February and 4 March, several of whom were known to have contented with local business interests before but none of whom were a close fit for the crime.
ADIIS takeover
Following the 3 March bombing, the Agency for Domestic Intelligence and Investigatory Services took over investigation from the local police on 4 March. Hundreds of potential perpetrators were interviewed as well as every Cheese House employee, and while the ADIIS managed to determine some degree of culpability and potential cooperation in the crimes from several employees, nothing conclusive was ever determined. It was believed that employees had to be involved in the crime in some way in order to give after-hours access to the restaurant, allow for the bomb to be planted, and to facilitate the egress of the preparator from the bathroom on the 24 February killing. Many disgruntled former employees who may retain keys were also interviewed. On 29 March 1980, the ADIIS received an unmarked typed letter stained in blood reading "I've done what I've needed to do". No communication from the killer came after that point, and the letter had no additional evidence to provide. The killings ceased after this time. During the spring and summer of 1980, the ADIIS began operating on a working theory that a member of the Catholic clergy may have been responsible for the crimes, as investigators noticed many were able to come and go as they pleased in Urcean society without notice. The theory suggested the killer may have blackmailed Cheese House employees using recordings of their confessions. All priests in the province of Southmarch were interviewed but no perfect suspect arose. After following other leads, the case officially went cold in March 1981.
2017 renewal of interest
Though dormant for decades, the killings came to the forefront of Urcean popular culture briefly during the summer of 2017. Popular social media user Lucás Atri rose to prominence around that time, and his Thinkpages avatar was a photo of a Cheese House taken shortly after the chain closed. Although the photo had been his profile picture since 2012, Atri's new prominence led to many social media users looking into the case themselves, becoming a popular sensation. Slogans like "Who Cheesed Them?" became popular memes on social media and appeared on t-shirts, posters, and other marketable items. The ADIIS reported receiving more than a hundred thousand calls on the case between June and August 2017, with many false leads or tips involved although a majority of the calls were individuals looking for more information. Atri was interviewed by the ADIIS but was found to not be associated with the crimes in any way, with police reports indicating he "just found the idea of a Cheese House funny". A movie about the killings and investigations were made but were subject to multiple rounds of revisions by the office of the Censor due to gratuitous and ahistorical gore scenes. The series was finally launched in late August 2017.
Restaurant closures
Public fear about attending restaurants - despite many of the killings seeming to be connected or planned - dramatically reduced the business done by Cheese House restaurants. A number of them attempted to rebrand as the Curd Shop with only limited success, and all locations were unprofitable by 1981. The chain closed in 1982 and most of its locations were demolished with their land being sold to NoWaiter for expansion in the city. One Cheese House location, the location on 1485 Bosco Turnpike, remained in dilapidated state until 2019. Despite numerous attempts by the Castlelow police to inform the public that no murders had taken place there and it was the only "clean" Cheese House, the structure was broken into multiple times during the summer of 2017 as a result of renewal of interest in the murders.