# 1 Hour of Chilling Serial Killer Cases | True Crime | 171

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 28 Jan 2026, 1 h 03 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO1367854950.mp3

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## Transcript

[0:00] The Connecticut River Valley, stretching through the heart of
[0:02] New England, is known for its quiet majesty, it's covered
[0:07] bridges, and its profound rural peace.
[0:10] But for one terrifying decade, this pastoral backdrop was
[0:14] stalked by a predator whose signature was unfettered
[0:18] personal rage. This was the Connecticut River
[0:21] Valley Killer who claimed the lives of at least seven innocent
[0:25] young women between 1978 and 1988.
[0:31] The initial attack seemed unconnected, spread out across
[0:34] years in the sparsely populated region.
[0:38] This made it difficult for law enforcement across state lines
[0:41] to immediately realize they were facing a common perpetrator.
[0:45] The terror began in the autumn of 1978 with 27 year old
[0:50] Catherine Milliken. She was an avid photographer and
[0:55] was last seen near the Chandler Brook Wetland Preserve in New
[0:58] London, NH where she had gone to photograph birds.
[1:03] Her body was discovered bearing a brutal signature that would
[1:07] define the predators future crimes.
[1:10] She had been stabbed at least 29 times.
[1:13] This overwhelming degree of violence immediately suggested a
[1:17] deeply personal or rage driven motivation.
[1:21] This led to the authorities looking deeply into people she
[1:24] was close to, but one by one everyone was ruled out.
[1:31] Three years passed before the next confirmed victim.
[1:34] In July 19, 8137, year old Mary Elizabeth Critchley, a
[1:39] University of Vermont student, disappeared.
[1:43] She had been hitchhiking near Interstate 91 close to the
[1:46] Massachusetts Vermont border, travelling north toward
[1:50] Waterbury in Vermont. Her body was later recovered in
[1:54] what would later be seen as a growing pattern of violence
[1:59] targeting women alone near major transportation corridors in the
[2:04] remote area. However, at that time, no one
[2:08] had made the connection between the two attacks, which were
[2:12] separated by both time and geography.
[2:16] The first sign of significant acceleration in these attacks
[2:19] came in 1984. In May of that year, Bernice
[2:23] Courtemanche, a 17 year old high school student, vanished after
[2:28] being last seen by her boyfriend's mother in Claremont,
[2:31] NH. The killings intensified
[2:35] dramatically in the mid 80s, forcing investigators to
[2:38] confront the shocking truth a serial predator was operating
[2:43] with impunity in their rural communities.
[2:46] The definitive realization began with the discovery of clustered
[2:49] remains demonstrating a clear pattern in victim disposal.
[2:55] In 1985 and 1986, the skeletal remains of two different victims
[3:01] were recovered chillingly within only 1000 feet of each other in
[3:06] a wooded area near Kellyville, New Hampshire.
[3:09] Forensic examination confirmed both women had died from
[3:12] multiple stab wounds, definitively linking them to the
[3:15] violent modus operandi established in the earlier
[3:18] cases. The proximity of the dump sites
[3:22] strongly implied the predator had a fixed zone of operation
[3:26] and felt secure using these remote spots repeatedly.
[3:30] His boldness peaked during this period, signaling an escalation
[3:34] in his compulsion between the recovery of those two bodies.
[3:39] The pattern drastically changed when a 36 year old woman in
[3:42] Saxons River, Vermont was fatally stabbed inside her own
[3:46] home. This high risk aggression, A
[3:51] substantial leap from opportunistic roadside
[3:54] abduction, signified a major psychological shift for the
[3:58] perpetrator. Home invasions carry a much
[4:01] higher risk of forensic evidence being left behind and also
[4:05] entail a much greater risk to the predator.
[4:08] This suggests that his compulsion had overridden his
[4:11] fear of capture or his self preservation instincts, and he
[4:15] could no longer wait for an opportunistic encounter.
[4:18] Just ten days after this highly aggressive Vermont attack, the
[4:22] remains of yet another missing woman were found, again showing
[4:27] the clear evidence of stab wounds.
[4:30] The rapid succession and consistent method of death
[4:33] provided undeniable proof to investigators that they were
[4:37] dealing with a single active serial offender without a named
[4:42] perpetrator. Investigators notably had to
[4:45] rely on the expertise of criminal profilers to figure out
[4:49] what sort of deranged dude they were chasing.
[4:52] The resulting profile suggests a predator who was intensely angry
[4:57] and utilized control through physical domination, culminating
[5:01] in extreme violence. This anger and loss of control
[5:05] in his personal life seemed to be the engine of the entire
[5:09] spree, according to the profilers.
[5:12] Profiler suggests that this sick puppy enjoyed the quote UN quote
[5:15] emotional release from the extended act of stabbing.
[5:20] Further, his choice of a knife rather than a gun indicated that
[5:25] he truly wanted to revel in the up close and personal prolonged
[5:28] nature of the ACT. They even suggested that this
[5:32] was an alternative form of a quote UN quote release for this
[5:35] predator, if you catch my drift. The entire pattern of violence
[5:42] abruptly ceased in August 1988 after the attacker encountered
[5:46] 30 year old Jane Boroski. Boroski, who was seven months
[5:51] pregnant at the time, survived 27 stab wounds.
[5:55] Her escape was pivotal. The attack stopped, suggesting
[6:00] her survival terrified the perpetrator.
[6:03] For a killer who had operated with total anonymity for a
[6:06] decade, the existence of a living eyewitness capable of
[6:09] generating a clear composite sketch represented an
[6:13] existential threat. Crucially, Borowski's detailed
[6:18] memory enabled the creation of a composite sketch, giving law
[6:21] enforcement the first and only visual image of the man who
[6:25] tormented the region. Around 2006, a prominent theory
[6:31] emerged linking the attacks to Michael Nicolu, a man who had
[6:35] died in 2005 after slaying his wife and stepdaughter.
[6:39] This was largely based on his history of violence and his
[6:42] geographical premixity to the attacks.
[6:45] But there was immediately a problem with this hypothesis.
[6:49] Jane Borowski, the sole survivor, has publicly stated in
[6:53] interviews that after reviewing the evidence and considering the
[6:57] terrifying details of her encounter, she doesn't believe
[7:00] it was him. Her denial, based on the
[7:03] intimate knowledge of the attacker's appearance and
[7:06] demeanor during the life and death struggle, effectively
[7:10] halts the closure offered by this theory.
[7:14] At present, the cases of all the women remain unsolved, with some
[7:18] believing that the earlier attacks in the home invasion may
[7:21] not be part of the same cluster of slayings.
[7:30] In 1988, an unidentified serial perpetrator is believed to have
[7:35] slain at least nine women and caused the disappearances of two
[7:39] others in Massachusetts. This individual has become known
[7:43] to law enforcement and the general public as the New
[7:46] Bedford Highway Killer. The victims were primarily
[7:50] companionship workers struggling with addiction and were
[7:53] discovered along and around major highways, notably
[7:57] Interstate 195 and Route 140. Robin Rhodes, 29, is believed to
[8:04] have gone missing sometime in March or April 1988.
[8:08] She was eventually discovered on March 28th, 1989 along
[8:12] Massachusetts Route 140 southbound in Freetown by a
[8:16] search dog. Unlike most of the other women,
[8:19] she was not known to be involved in illicit activities, though
[8:23] she was known to associate with people who were.
[8:26] Rochelle Doparalla, 28, disappeared sometime during late
[8:30] April 1988. On December 10th, 1988.
[8:35] Her body was discovered by people riding ATVs in a gravel
[8:39] pit along Reed Rd. about two miles from Interstate 195 in May
[8:45] 1988. 25 year old Deborah Lynn McConnell of Newport was last
[8:50] seen by her father following her mother's funeral.
[8:54] She is considered to be the third victim.
[8:57] A cadaver dog found her body on December 1st, 1988 off
[9:02] Massachusetts Route 140 northbound in Freetown.
[9:06] On May 27th, 1988, 29 year old Deborah Medeiros of Fall River
[9:13] was reported missing after a fight with her boyfriend in New
[9:16] Bedford. Although Deborah's boyfriend was
[9:19] initially a person of interest, he was ruled out as a suspect.
[9:24] 19 year old Christina Montero was last seen sometime in May
[9:27] 1988. She's not been heard from since,
[9:31] though according to authorities, she's presumed deceased.
[9:35] It's unclear why authorities believe this, however, given
[9:38] that this is an active, ongoing investigation, evidence is
[9:42] released on a need to know basis.
[9:45] Marilyn Cardoza Roberts, 34, was last seen sometime in June 1988
[9:51] and was reported missing in December 1988.
[9:55] She lived near Christina Montero and like Montero, remains
[9:59] missing to this day. Also like Montero, she's
[10:04] presumed deceased, with no indication given as to why this
[10:07] is the case. 36 year old Nancy Lee Paiva of New Bedford was
[10:12] last seen walking home from Whispers Pub on July 7th, 1988
[10:17] following an argument with her boyfriend in the early hours.
[10:21] Her body was found on July 30th, 1988 beside Interstate 195 in
[10:27] Dartmouth, lying on her back with her feet pointed toward the
[10:31] highway. Authorities noted that the
[10:34] staging of her body was similar to how Deborah Medeiros was
[10:38] discovered, suggesting the same perpetrator.
[10:42] Naturally, her boyfriend was initially considered a suspect,
[10:45] but was eventually cleared of all suspicion.
[10:49] On July 11th, 1988, Thirty five year old Deborah Greenlaw
[10:53] D'mello was last seen in New Bedford.
[10:57] Her body was discovered on November 8th, 1988 off the
[11:01] eastbound Reed Rd. ramp of Interstate 195 by a highway
[11:05] crew. Her clothing was scattered among
[11:08] tree branches and she was found in possession of some of Nancy
[11:12] Paiva's belongings. 26 year old Mary Rose Santos from New
[11:17] Bedford was dropped off near the downtown bus station on July
[11:22] 16th, 1988 by her husband. She was last seen dancing at the
[11:29] Old Quarter Deck Lounge about 5 hours later.
[11:32] Her body was eventually discovered on March 31st, 1989
[11:37] along Massachusetts Route 88 in Westport by two boys.
[11:42] Sandra Botello, 24, reportedly left her apartment at 11:00 PM
[11:48] on August 11th, 1988 and never returned.
[11:53] She was the final victim to be discovered found on April 24th,
[11:57] 1989 in the woods along Interstate 195 in Marion.
[12:03] On September 4th, 198825 year old Dawn Mendez was last seen
[12:09] leaving her apartment in New Bedford to attend a family
[12:12] christening. Her mostly skeletal remains were
[12:15] discovered on November 29th, 1988 on the westbound Reed Rd.
[12:21] ramp off Interstate 195 by a sniffer dog.
[12:27] The investigation into these slayings was extensive,
[12:30] involving local and state law enforcement agencies.
[12:34] Several suspects were considered, including local
[12:37] attorney Kenneth Ponte, who had represented some of the victims
[12:41] in legal matters. Ponte was indicted for the
[12:44] slaying of 1 victim, 28 year old Rochelle Doperala, but the
[12:50] charges were later dropped due to insufficient evidence.
[12:54] Another potential suspect, Anthony de Grazia, was arrested
[12:58] for a variety of essay activities in the area while he
[13:02] was out on bail. The authorities stated that he
[13:05] was the prime suspect in the New Bedford slayings.
[13:09] As a result of this, he was either slain, potentially by a
[13:13] loved one of one of the women, or taken out by his own hand.
[13:19] Notably, the authorities later retracted the statement that he
[13:22] was the quote UN quote prime suspect in this case.
[13:26] Perhaps the most intriguing theory revolves around a
[13:28] European serial perpetrator known as the Lisbon Ripper.
[13:32] Between 1992 and 1993, three women in Lisbon were found
[13:38] slain, their bodies bearing signs of vicious attacks.
[13:43] Speculation about a possible connection emerged.
[13:46] Because both cases involve victims of Portuguese ancestry.
[13:50] Some theorists proposed that the Lisbon Ripper and the New
[13:53] Bedford Highway Killer could be the same individual, supported
[13:57] by the timeline and the supposedly eerily similar victim
[14:01] profiles. On a cold December afternoon in
[14:05] 1985, shoppers at a Kmart in Spanaway, WA found a distressed
[14:11] 2 year old girl wandering alone in the parking lot.
[14:14] She was shivering in only a T-shirt and diaper, and her
[14:17] parents were nowhere insight. When police gently asked the
[14:22] toddler where her mother was, the only clue she gave was a
[14:25] haunting reply that her mommy was quote in the trees.
[14:30] The crimes of 1985, later dubbed the Tube Sock Killings, remain a
[14:35] chilling mystery to this day. The mystery began months earlier
[14:41] in the summer of 1985 with a weekend camping trip that ended
[14:45] in tragedy. On August 10th, 1980, five 42
[14:50] year old Ruth Cooper and her boyfriend, 27 year old Stephen
[14:54] Harkins, left Tacoma for a quiet camping getaway.
[14:59] They went to Tule Lake in the foothills near Mineral, WA
[15:02] expecting a routine weekend trip.
[15:05] When they failed to return to work the following Monday, their
[15:09] families grew concerned and reported them missing.
[15:13] Four days later, on August 14th, hikers in a remote wooded area
[15:18] came upon a disturbing scene. Stephen Harkins was found shot
[15:23] to death, still zipped in his sleeping bag as if ambushed
[15:27] while he slept nearby. The couple's dog was also found
[15:31] shot. There was no sign of Ruth,
[15:34] leading searchers to conclude she had also fallen victim to
[15:38] whoever committed these sick acts.
[15:41] Two months passed with no answers.
[15:44] Then on October 26th, 1985, a human skull was discovered about
[15:50] a mile and 1/2 from the campsite.
[15:53] Dental records confirmed it belonged to Ruth Cooper, and two
[15:57] days later her skeletal remains were found about 50 feet from
[16:01] that spot. In a grim detail that became
[16:04] central to the case's infamy, a white tube sock was tied around
[16:08] Ruth's neck. The autopsy determined she had
[16:11] most likely been cut down by a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
[16:15] This baffling clue, The tube sock, offered no immediate
[16:19] explanation, but it set the Cooper Harkins case apart
[16:23] instantly. 2 months later, on December 12th, 1985, another
[16:30] couple ventured into the woods near Tacoma.
[16:33] That morning, 36 year old Mike Reamer, his 21 year old
[16:37] girlfriend Diana Robertson, and their two year old daughter
[16:41] Crystal drove out to chop down a Christmas tree.
[16:45] Later that day, little Crystal was found wandering alone
[16:48] outside of Kmart in Spanaway. She was placed in temporary care
[16:52] until her grandmother recognized her after seeing a news report a
[16:55] few days later. Once reunited with family,
[17:00] Crystal repeated her ominous line about her mother being in
[17:03] the trees, but being only two years old, she couldn't say
[17:07] anything more. Authorities launched a massive
[17:10] search of the woods where Mike and Diana had gone, but no trace
[17:14] of the couple or their red pickup truck was found.
[17:18] For over 2 months, Crystal's parents fate remained an
[17:22] unsolved mystery. Then on February 18th, 1986, a
[17:28] motorist on a remote logging road near Mineral spotted Mike's
[17:32] abandoned pickup truck partly buried in snow.
[17:35] Nearby, lying in the woods was the body of Diana Robertson.
[17:40] The autopsy showed that she had been stabbed, and around her
[17:43] neck there was yet another tube sock, just like with Ruth Cooper
[17:48] Inside the truck, police found blood on the seat and a Manila
[17:52] envelope on the dashboard with a handwritten message reading I
[17:56] Love You Diana. But Mike Reamer had vanished,
[18:00] and even after the snow melted, no sign of him could be found.
[18:06] With the discovery of Diana's body, detectives realized the
[18:10] earlier campsite killings were likely connected.
[18:13] In both cases, a female victim was found with a white tube sock
[18:17] tied around her neck in the same unusual way.
[18:21] Investigators believe the predator brought these socks to
[18:24] the scenes since they didn't belong to the victims.
[18:28] The crimes took place in remote forest locations and targeted
[18:32] outdoorsy couples, suggesting a single perpetrator with a
[18:36] frightening modus operandi. However, linking the cases by
[18:41] this clue did not reveal the serial killer's identity.
[18:46] The isolated wilderness crime scenes yielded few other clues,
[18:51] and in 1985, forensic tools like DNA profiling weren't yet
[18:56] available to assist. Police initially pursued 2
[19:02] theories. Either an unknown serial killer
[19:05] was stalking young couples in the Washington woods, or Mike
[19:08] Reamer himself was behind the attacks.
[19:11] Under the latter theory, they believed that the first set of
[19:14] slayings may have been a smokescreen or a dry run for the
[19:18] attack on his girlfriend. With Mike missing, he naturally
[19:22] became the prime suspect, and disturbingly, he had a history
[19:26] of violence towards Diana. The cryptic note in the truck
[19:30] also raised suspicion as a possible farewell message if
[19:34] Mike had killed her and fled, though it could have been left
[19:37] by someone else to mislead investigators.
[19:40] They also found it suspicious that the sick puppy who
[19:43] committed these terrible acts spared Crystal.
[19:47] Police felt they had enough evidence against Mike, but since
[19:50] he was missing, they could not determine if he was even alive
[19:54] to face charges. Police and volunteers combed the
[19:59] woods and rivers for any sign of Mike for weeks, but no trace of
[20:03] him turned up. With no body and no new leads,
[20:07] the investigation eventually stalled.
[20:11] In the end, no other suspect emerged and the predator
[20:14] remained at large. Mike's family vigorously denied
[20:18] that he could have been involved, stating that he wasn't
[20:22] a violent guy. Despite all the evidence to the
[20:25] contrary, years passed and the tube sock killings case stayed
[20:31] unsolved. In 1989, it was featured on
[20:35] Unsolved Mysteries, bringing national attention, but no
[20:39] breakthroughs followed. A major development finally came
[20:42] in 2011, when a hiker stumbled upon a partial human skull about
[20:48] a mile from where Diana's body had been found.
[20:52] Dental records identified it as Mike Reamers.
[20:55] This grim discovery confirmed Mike had died in the woods as
[20:58] well, but it didn't reveal whether he was a victim or the
[21:02] culprit. His partial skull showed no
[21:05] bullet wound, and authorities couldn't determine how he died
[21:08] or when. Unfortunately, this did little
[21:12] to prove whether he was the perpetrator or yet another
[21:15] victim of an unknown serial offender.
[21:18] Cold case detectives later revisited the case with modern
[21:21] forensics attempting to see if Mike was responsible.
[21:25] Unfortunately, these results were never released to the
[21:28] public and the case remains officially open.
[21:31] To me. These two factors suggest that
[21:33] Mike likely wasn't responsible, though the genetic evidence
[21:37] could have been too degraded to take a meaningful sample at the
[21:40] time. Unfortunately, as of now, it
[21:44] appears that the sick predator responsible for these four acts
[21:48] may still walk amongst us. In the spring of 1997, police in
[21:56] Mons, Belgium made a nightmarish discovery.
[21:59] A cluster of garbage bags filled with severed human limbs dumped
[22:03] along a quiet Rd. This gruesome find was only the
[22:07] beginning. Over the next few weeks, more
[22:11] bags of body parts appeared around the city, deliberately
[22:14] placed where they would be easily found.
[22:18] It quickly became clear that a serial predator was at work, one
[22:22] whom the press would soon nickname the Butcher of Mons.
[22:28] Between early 1996 and the summer of 1997, five women
[22:33] vanished in and around Mons without anyone connecting their
[22:36] cases. Their disappearances only made
[22:40] sense after the killer began revealing his disturbing
[22:42] handiwork in March 1997. On March 22nd of that year, 9
[22:49] trash bags stuffed with dismembered human remains were
[22:52] discovered beneath A secluded St.
[22:55] Shockingly, the bags contained body parts from three different
[22:59] victims, A deliberate mixing that made identification
[23:03] difficult. The very next day, a tenth bag
[23:07] turned up on the same St. in an area that had already been
[23:11] searched, almost as if the killer was watching and taunting
[23:15] the investigators. In the following weeks, more
[23:19] grotesque packages appeared at various dump sites around Mons,
[23:24] including along local rivers and quiet back roads.
[23:27] In total, around a dozen garbage bags containing the remains of
[23:31] all 5 missing women were ultimately recovered across the
[23:35] area. Each location seemed chosen for
[23:40] effect. Many sites had ominous or
[23:42] symbolic names. For example, one bag was left on
[23:46] Shaman de Longitude or the Path of Worry.
[23:50] Others were placed near the River Haine, French for Hatred.
[23:54] It was as if the killer was playing a twisted game, placing
[23:58] body parts in places that literally signified fear and
[24:02] dread. Investigators also noted that
[24:05] the perp often left the bags in plain sight and seemed to
[24:09] delight in dumping more bags right after the police searched
[24:12] the area. This suggested that he viewed
[24:15] himself as playing a high stakes cat and mouse game with the
[24:18] authorities. It also suggested that he was
[24:22] near the scene watching the cops work, and may even have had the
[24:25] bags on his person. At the time, all 5 known victims
[24:30] were local women from the Mons area, and each had struggled
[24:34] with personal difficulties while frequenting the city's train
[24:37] station district. The first was Carmelina Russo,
[24:41] 42, who disappeared on January 4th, 1996.
[24:47] A few weeks later, her severed pelvis was found floating in the
[24:51] Shelt River over the French border, a discovery not
[24:54] initially linked to a broader pattern.
[24:58] In July 1996, Martine Bone, a 43 year old escort from France,
[25:04] went missing. That same month, her torso was
[25:07] pulled out of the Hain River near Mons.
[25:10] The Grizzly series truly came to light after Jacqueline Leclerc,
[25:14] 33, vanished just before Christmas 1996.
[25:19] She was a mother of four who had fallen on very hard times.
[25:23] On March 22nd, 1997, a police officer found trash bags
[25:28] containing Jacqueline's arms and legs.
[25:31] Soon after, more remains surfaced that were later
[25:35] identified as Natalie Godart, only 21, who had disappeared in
[25:40] early 1997. The final known victim was
[25:43] Begonia Valencia, 37, who went missing in mid 1997.
[25:50] Her skull was eventually discovered in a village on the
[25:52] outskirts of Mons. Belgian authorities launched a
[25:57] special task force in 1997 to hunt the butcher.
[26:02] Due to an odd bureaucratic decision, and despite the
[26:05] arguably transnational nature of the attacks, the government
[26:09] refused to make the case a national priority.
[26:12] This meant that the special task force was chronically
[26:15] underfunded and at times only had a handful of officers
[26:19] working part time on the case. They were denied all assistance
[26:23] from federal authorities and investigators and despite
[26:26] working around the clock, couldn't meaningfully process
[26:30] the thousands of tips they received.
[26:32] Ironically, the local police had to seek help from the FB is
[26:36] profilers since their own national police force wouldn't
[26:40] provide one. These American investigators
[26:43] were more than happy to fill the gaps where Belgian national
[26:46] officials had failed. The profile that emerged was of
[26:50] a calculating offender who could charm vulnerable women, likely
[26:54] had a job with flexible hours and a private space to carry out
[26:58] the crimes. He may have been known as a well
[27:02] paying, well groomed, respectful customer amongst these women.
[27:06] Notably, the humiliation associated with having local
[27:10] police going to America to beg for help when the national
[27:14] police force wouldn't lift a finger led to significant
[27:18] outrage. Personally, I have to question
[27:22] whether the national police would have deemed this a local
[27:24] matter if the predator hadn't been targeting women on the
[27:27] outskirts of society. This national outrage wood
[27:31] forest the Belgian government to reverse course and rightly treat
[27:35] the case as an issue of national interest with all the resources
[27:39] that entailed. Regardless of the profile, and
[27:42] despite exhaustive legwork, the investigation hit one dead end
[27:47] after another. Over the years, multiple
[27:51] suspects were interrogated, but none could be conclusively tied
[27:55] to the slayings. One local man in Mons raised
[27:59] suspicions when police learned he had allegedly bragged about
[28:02] eliminating local escorts. A search of his home revealed an
[28:06] unnaturally pristine cellar and disturbingly digital photos of
[28:12] one of the dump site locations on his computer.
[28:15] Yet even this eerie evidence wasn't enough for an arrest, and
[28:19] no solid forensic evidence tied him to the crimes.
[28:23] Investigators remain divided on whether this was a mentally
[28:27] unwell person who wanted to insert himself into the
[28:30] investigation or whether he was the one actually responsible.
[28:36] For reasons you're about to see, though, despite how guilty this
[28:39] guy looks, there's one very significant reason to believe he
[28:43] was just a sicko who wanted the attention.
[28:47] The most infamous suspect was an international 1 Esmile Tulia, a
[28:52] Montenegrin man with a history of violence.
[28:55] In 2007, acting on a tip, authorities arrested Tulia in
[29:00] Montenegro on suspicion that he might be the butcher.
[29:05] Disturbingly, he had butchered his wife in New York City in
[29:08] 1990 and was on the run for that crime.
[29:11] During his period on the run, he had lived in Mons at some point
[29:15] in the 90s, though given his fugitive status, pinning down
[29:19] his exact location was difficult given the lack of any solid
[29:24] evidence. Montenegro refused to extradite
[29:26] him, though he would spend the rest of the short remainder of
[29:29] his life in prison for slaying his wife.
[29:32] Tulia died in a Montenegrin prison in 2012, maintaining that
[29:37] he had never done anything to the women in Belgium.
[29:41] Disturbingly, he is also suspected of slaying two women
[29:44] in Albania, suggesting a much wider pattern of predatory
[29:48] offenses. Decades later, the Butcher of
[29:52] Mons case remains one of Belgium's most chilling unsolved
[29:56] mysteries. The passage of time hasn't
[29:59] erased the community's memory of these crimes, and families of
[30:03] the victims still hope for answers.
[30:06] In 2022, Belgian officials affirmed that the investigation
[30:10] remains active, albeit with only a small team on the file.
[30:15] Disturbingly, Belgian law imposes a 30 year statute of
[30:18] limitations even on crimes as severe as this, which I find to
[30:23] be highly questionable for violent offenses.
[30:26] If the butcher isn't charged by 2027, the window is expected to
[30:30] permanently shut on the ability to bring this predator to
[30:33] justice, assuming he didn't die in a Balkan jail in 2012.
[30:42] Hey everyone, just a reminder that there's also a YouTube
[30:44] membership and a Patreon and you can support my work for as
[30:48] little as a buck a month. Also, don't forget to click the
[30:51] share button and send this video to your friends and family that
[30:54] are interested in true crime topics.
[31:01] Florida has long served as a grim setting for some of
[31:03] America's most depraved criminals, but few figures
[31:07] embodied such a profound betrayal of public trust as
[31:10] Gerard Schaefer. Known chillingly as the Killer
[31:14] Cop, Schaefer weaponized the authority granted to him by the
[31:18] state. He wore a badge and a crisp
[31:20] uniform, exploiting the very trust he was sworn to uphold to
[31:24] lure, abduct and eliminate young women in the swamps and
[31:28] backwoods of the Sunshine State. But for all the terror he
[31:32] inflicted, the true extent of his rampage remains an unsolved
[31:36] mystery, even decades later. Shaffer's turbulent childhood
[31:43] and subsequent failure and conventional life appeared to
[31:45] have been foundational to his later pathology.
[31:49] Born in Wisconsin in 1946, he spent his youth frequently
[31:53] relocating. He described his early life as
[31:56] troubled, attributed in part to his father's alcoholism and
[32:01] everything that came with that. Despite being an outwardly
[32:05] promising student and an avid outdoorsman, even aspiring to be
[32:09] a forest Ranger, Schaefer harbored increasingly dark,
[32:13] private obsessions. By his mid teens, he developed
[32:17] intense deviant thoughts focused towards women.
[32:21] Before pivoting to law enforcement, Schaefer attempted
[32:24] a career in education, likely in hopes of access to potential
[32:28] victims. He enrolled in college and
[32:31] achieved average grades while aiming for a teaching degree.
[32:35] However, this career path dissolved quickly.
[32:39] Schaefer was fired from 2 separate student teaching
[32:41] internships in 1969 and 1970. Superiors noted his arrogance,
[32:47] poor subject knowledge, and his persistent efforts to impose his
[32:51] weird moral and political opinions on his students.
[32:56] The eventual decision to join the Martin County Sheriff's
[32:59] Department in 1972 was highly calculated.
[33:03] Schaefer successfully obtained the position despite forging a
[33:07] letter of recommendation, which is disturbing in and of itself.
[33:11] The analysis of his life suggests this move wasn't a
[33:14] genuine career aspiration, but rather a mechanism to gain the
[33:18] authority over others he desired so much.
[33:21] The badge provided immediate absolute power and a perfect
[33:24] disguise for luring victims, particularly hitch hikers or
[33:28] women in vulnerable circumstances.
[33:32] Schaeffer's criminal career was brought to an abrupt halt
[33:35] following the astonishing escape of two young women In 1972.
[33:40] While serving as a deputy, Schaefer abducted 2 girls.
[33:44] Both were subjected to horror, yet they miraculously managed to
[33:48] escape separately. One girl was found staggering
[33:52] through the woods, and approximately 45 minutes later,
[33:56] officers found the other distressed near a riverbank, her
[34:00] clothing shredded. Their harrowing survival proved
[34:04] to be the pivotal moment in Schaefer's downfall.
[34:07] The surviving victims became crucial witnesses in Schaefer's
[34:11] subsequent trial in 1973 for the slaying of two teenage girls.
[34:17] Although Schaefer pleaded not guilty, maintaining a cold and
[34:21] aloof demeanor throughout the proceedings, the state presented
[34:24] A compelling case. The abductees not only testified
[34:28] about their abduction, but critically re enacted on video
[34:32] the precise methods Schaefer used to bind them.
[34:36] This unusual signature technique provided a concrete link between
[34:39] the two survivors and the 2 girls whose lives he had cut
[34:43] tragically short. Schaefer was convicted and
[34:46] sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment.
[34:50] Unfortunately, the evidence gathered suggested there had
[34:53] been many more victims. The physical evidence recovered
[34:57] from his property strongly suggests a much larger scale of
[35:00] depravity, cementing his status as a prolific predator linked to
[35:05] as many as 30 killings. During the search of his
[35:09] residence, investigators found more than just circumstantial
[35:12] evidence. They uncovered the trophies of a
[35:15] classic serial killer. The investigation yielded a
[35:19] trove of disturbing personal effects belonging to missing
[35:23] women, which served as relics of his sick acts.
[35:28] These items included a gold Locket inscribed with the name
[35:31] Lee, which belonged to Lee Hainlein Bonnades, a former
[35:35] neighbor who had been missing since September 1969.
[35:40] Also recovered were a driver's license belonging to Barbara Ann
[35:43] Wilcox and a passport belonging to Colette Marie Goodenough,
[35:48] both of whom vanished in January 1973.
[35:54] The presence of these belongings confirms that Schaefer actively
[35:57] collected mementos to psychologically relive his
[36:00] disturbing acts. Most damningly, authorities
[36:04] recovered teeth and sections of bone on his property that were
[36:08] later identified as belonging to at least 8 distinct victims.
[36:13] This discovery of physical human remains, combined with the
[36:17] multiple pieces of identification, linked him to
[36:20] these missing women. This provided overwhelming
[36:24] forensic support for the theory that Schaefer was an active and
[36:27] highly successful serial predator.
[36:30] By May 1973, investigators had assembled sufficient physical
[36:35] and circumstantial data to connect Schaefer to
[36:38] approximately 28 individuals. The span of his suspected crime
[36:43] stretched from October 1966 to January 1973.
[36:50] The most terrifying evidence recovered wasn't forensic in the
[36:52] traditional sense, but literary. Police uncovered over 300 pages
[36:58] of gruesome writings penned by Schaefer.
[37:01] Written from the perspective of a killer known as the Ghoul, the
[37:05] stories contained meticulous details of kidnapping and
[37:08] execution. These writings, which
[37:11] prosecutors strongly suggested were thinly veiled accounts of
[37:14] his actual crimes, offered profound insight into Schaefer's
[37:19] psychological structure. He was categorized as a textbook
[37:23] case of the classic serial killer whose personality was
[37:27] driven by hatred and violence. Serving two life terms, Schaefer
[37:33] was incarcerated at Florida State Prison, where he remained
[37:37] obsessed with control. Even behind bars.
[37:41] He exerted power through manipulative lawsuits and by
[37:44] continuing to author, quote UN quote fictional works.
[37:48] A particularly telling indicator of his grandiose narcissism was
[37:53] his perceived rivalry with fellow inmate, the notorious
[37:56] serial killer Ted Bundy. Schaeffer reveled in his own
[38:00] brutality, reportedly taunting Bundy as an inferior predator
[38:05] who couldn't compete with him. At the same time, the
[38:08] authorities had been working hard behind the scenes to bring
[38:12] further charges against him for all his crimes.
[38:15] But it turned out that this wouldn't be necessary, and a
[38:18] brutal form of prison justice would ultimately be the end of
[38:21] this prolific predator. Also, there's a certain cope
[38:27] involved in Schaefer claiming to be the superior predator to
[38:30] Bundy, since Schaefer clearly wanted some of the recognition
[38:34] Bundy had and has. After all, Schaefer, despite the
[38:39] breadth of his sick axe, is virtually completely unknown.
[38:45] Schaefer's reign of terror definitively ended on December
[38:48] 3rd, 1995 inside Florida State Prison.
[38:52] Now, normally I don't go into gruesome details, but I'll make
[38:56] a little exception here for this sick puppy.
[38:59] Schaefer was found dead in his cell at age 49, having been
[39:02] stabbed over 40 times in the face, head, neck and body, with
[39:07] his throat also slashed. Officially, a fellow inmate,
[39:12] Vincent Faustino Rivera, killed Schaefer during an argument,
[39:16] purportedly over a cup of hot water.
[39:19] However, a broader understanding of his prison history suggests
[39:22] this may have been an act of retribution.
[39:26] Schaefer was suspected of being a prison informant, and in the
[39:29] year leading up to his death, he had already been targeted by
[39:33] inmates who repeatedly hurled literal crap at him.
[39:37] They also set part of his cell on fire, and some have
[39:40] speculated that prison guards weren't too inclined to put
[39:43] themselves at risk to intervene in his defense.
[39:46] Interestingly, the families of some of his victims came out in
[39:50] favor of this act, viewing the prisoners as having done what
[39:54] the state that empowered him never did.
[39:59] In my view, the lack of further convictions in the Schaefer saga
[40:03] says less about the strength of the evidence and far more about
[40:07] the uncomfortable position the state found itself in once the
[40:11] full scope of his crimes began to surface.
[40:14] Every additional charge risked reopening and embarrassing
[40:18] truth. Florida had handed a badge, a
[40:21] gun and institutional legitimacy to a man who never should have
[40:26] made it past the first interview.
[40:28] His forged recommendation letter wasn't subtle, his behavioral
[40:32] red flags weren't hidden, and his short, chaotic history and
[40:36] teaching already showed a pattern of inappropriate
[40:39] conduct. Yet he was hired anyway, granted
[40:43] authority immediately, and allowed unlimited access to
[40:46] vulnerable people. Pursuing dozens of additional
[40:50] cases would have required putting that failure front and
[40:52] center. Each new indictment would have
[40:55] invited another round of scrutiny about how a man with
[40:57] such glaring psychological and professional defects was ever
[41:02] empowered as a deputy. And after his 1973 convictions
[41:07] locked him away for life, I personally suspect that the
[41:10] incentive to keep digging evaporated.
[41:14] With Schaefer dead in 1995, the system quietly closed the door.
[41:20] It was easier to let the unanswered cases remain in the
[41:23] shadows than to acknowledge how deeply he'd exploited the
[41:26] uniform the state gave him. Imagine a killer so notorious,
[41:31] so feared, that the state, upon his death, decided not just to
[41:36] bury him, but to disassemble him.
[41:40] Maddie Hapoya, Finland's most infamous serial predator of the
[41:44] 19th century, was confirmed to have killed only three people
[41:48] during his decades long rampage. Yet reasonable historical
[41:52] estimates suggest his true victim count could soar as high
[41:56] as 30. In 1895, after a life marked
[41:59] with brutal violence, he claimed his final victim inside a prison
[42:03] cell in Turku, Finland. But the story doesn't end there.
[42:08] In a chilling demonstration of state power attempting to
[42:10] finally contain his defiance, his remains became institutional
[42:14] property. His physical relics, including
[42:18] patches of his skin, were collected for the Prison
[42:21] Administration Museum, turning the notorious villain into an
[42:24] enduring, macabre cultural artifact.
[42:28] This unusual act solidified his status.
[42:32] Papoya was never just a criminal, he was a symbol whose
[42:35] myth had to be literally contained and displayed.
[42:39] Also, I know I have more than a few Finnish viewers so I
[42:42] apologize for my pronunciations, but your language is literally
[42:46] impossible for me to pronounce. Madi Hapoya was born in 1845 in
[42:54] Isoquiro, located in the tumultuous region of Southern
[42:57] Ostrobothnia, and grew up in the nearby area of Listaro.
[43:02] He was the son of a farmer. His early life unfolded within a
[43:06] unique and violent social environment known as the Puko
[43:10] Yunkarit, or knife fighters. This phenomenon, which peaked
[43:15] between the 1820s and 1880s, was characterized by widespread
[43:20] brawling, theft, and antagonism toward authority.
[43:25] Criminologists have long understood that this violence
[43:29] stemmed from deep seated social frustration.
[43:32] Economic conditions in Ostrobothnia meant that land
[43:36] could not be endlessly distributed, creating a large
[43:39] population of younger, landless men who couldn't inherit their
[43:44] own farms. This frustration was often
[43:48] expressed through aggression, particularly at large alcohol
[43:52] fueled social gatherings like weddings.
[43:55] Hapoya quickly embraced the subculture, beginning his
[43:59] criminal trajectory as a brawler and notorious horse thief.
[44:05] Records show he non fatally wounded at least six men in
[44:08] knife fights. For Hapoya, violent acts weren't
[44:12] just opportunistic crimes, they were markers of identity and
[44:17] power in the community of knife fighters.
[44:21] The ultimate status symbol was to kill or wound another
[44:25] respected fighter. He openly sought recognition
[44:28] within this anti establishment framework, reportedly declaring
[44:32] himself the king of all these gangs.
[44:36] His first known homicide occurred on December 6th, 1867
[44:41] when he fatally stabbed his drinking partner, Farmer Hakee
[44:44] Impenin during a drunken altercation.
[44:48] For this slaying, Apoya received a 12 year sentence to hard labor
[44:52] at the Turku Penitentiary. The sentence began a cycle of
[44:56] imprisonment and defiance that define the rest of his life.
[45:01] From eighteen O 9 to 1917, Finland was controlled by the
[45:05] Russian Empire in a semi autonomous personal union known
[45:09] as the Grand Dutchie of Finland. The Grand Duke of Finland was
[45:13] the Russian Czar, but the day-to-day governing of the
[45:17] country was largely left to the populace of Sweden rather than
[45:21] being dictated from Russia. The repressive penal environment
[45:25] of 19th century Finland was inherited from the Russian
[45:29] authoritarian model. This was characterized by
[45:33] prisoners having virtually no rights and being worked to death
[45:37] in prison. This system would prove
[45:39] insufficient to contain Hepoya. Following his initial
[45:43] conviction, his defiance of authority only intensified over
[45:48] the subsequent decade. Apoya became notorious for
[45:52] repeatedly escaping the Turku prison.
[45:54] He broke out four times and spent significant periods at
[45:58] large on each occasion. These continuous escapes were a
[46:01] direct, dramatic challenge to the rigid state structure.
[46:06] Weirdly, considering the crimes he committed, he became
[46:09] something of a folk hero in his own lifetime, with his
[46:12] opposition to authority seen as an expression of Finnish
[46:15] nationalism. Of course, his actions, while
[46:20] free, clearly showed that he was no freedom fighter standing up
[46:23] against the Russian behemoth. His exploits were heavily
[46:27] reported and sensationalized by the contemporary press.
[46:31] In August 1876, a Finnish farmer caught him robbing his lands,
[46:35] and Hepoya beat him up and then shot him in the face.
[46:39] Later in January 1879, Apoya stabbed a farmer who attempted
[46:44] to place him under something like a citizen's arrest.
[46:49] His growing notoriety served as a psychological shield.
[46:53] The continuous cycle of escaping, committing new
[46:56] offenses, and evading capture generated widespread fear.
[47:01] The perception that Hapoya was unstoppable was so strong that
[47:04] even local populations often didn't dare report his
[47:08] wrongdoings to the authorities. People were afraid that if they
[47:12] turned him in that he'd simply escape and exact his revenge.
[47:17] Media coverage didn't help, as they portrayed Maddie Hapoya as
[47:21] something akin to a force of nature who couldn't be stopped.
[47:27] Hapoya's consistent failure to conform resulted in his eventual
[47:31] exile to Siberia for forced labor in the Imperial Russian
[47:35] version of a gulag. This period in the late 1880s
[47:39] marks the most obscure, yet likely the most prolific phase
[47:42] of his killing career, a phase that stretched his violence
[47:46] across the Russian imperial frontier.
[47:50] During his time in the Russian penal colonies, Hapoya is linked
[47:54] to a chilling cluster of killings.
[47:56] These victims include an unidentified man in 1886, a
[48:01] Finnish convict known as Yaako in 1888, and two men killed in
[48:05] the Siberian city of Tomsk in 1889.
[48:10] Speaking of 1889, that was a really prolific year for Hepoya.
[48:15] In that year, he was seen hanging out with a Baltic German
[48:18] convict named Gustav Sep. After going for a walk with
[48:22] Hepoya, Sep was never seen again.
[48:26] However, since Sepoya never claimed to have killed him, some
[48:29] speculate that he helped Sepp escape the prison in Finland.
[48:35] He generally was only violent to other knife fighters or to
[48:38] people he was trying to rob. Some have noted that the
[48:41] killings in Siberia appear to be more predatory, targeting other
[48:46] convicts and opportunistic victims in remote locations.
[48:51] These attacks in Siberia appear to have been done purely for the
[48:54] thrill of violence rather than for any other reason.
[48:58] This transition indicates a move toward calculated serial
[49:01] violence, exploiting the complete chaos and systemic lack
[49:05] of oversight inherent in the distant Russian penal colonies.
[49:11] Because of the vastness of the empire and extremely poor
[49:14] documentation, finding out the true number of victims during
[49:18] this time is considered an impossible task for historians.
[49:24] Papoya eventually found his way back to Finland, but his violent
[49:28] habits hadn't diminished. In October 1890, he committed
[49:33] what became arguably his most infamous documented crime, the
[49:38] strangulation of Maria Giamina Salo.
[49:42] This is his first known slaying of a woman, which many believe
[49:45] indicates that he had been committing these acts before and
[49:49] simply had never been caught. The Salo slaying immediately
[49:53] dominated the national press, and he was held in captivity
[49:57] pending trial. Driven by a hunger for
[50:01] sensational content and capitalizing on global anxieties
[50:04] about urban crime, journalists quickly equated Hepoya to Jack
[50:09] the Ripper. Apoya's final acts of violence
[50:12] occurred within the walls of the state institutions he had spent
[50:15] his life fighting. On October 10th, 1894, his
[50:21] criminal span concluded with a fatal attack on prison guard Uho
[50:24] Rosted, whom Apoya stabbed to death in 1895.
[50:31] Just as he was about to be sentenced to life imprisonment
[50:34] with no possibility of parole, he decided to end it all.
[50:38] Some have interpreted this as a last defiant snub to the
[50:42] authority of the court. Maddie Hapoya was ultimately
[50:46] found guilty of only three slayings spanning the years from
[50:50] 1867 to 1894. However, the shadow cast by his
[50:55] exploit suggests that the official tally represents only a
[50:58] fraction of his true toll. A figure often repeated in
[51:03] folklore and historical accounts.
[51:04] Claims that Hapoya confessed to 18 killings.
[51:08] Critically, there are no documented details concerning
[51:12] this supposed confession, leading experts to regard the
[51:15] figure as unreliable. But here's the thing.
[51:20] Based upon a review of the limited records we have from his
[51:23] time in Siberia, many historians think that this number, made-up
[51:28] to sound high, is actually too low.
[51:32] Despite the lack of firm evidence for the confession, the
[51:35] most credible historical estimates place his overall
[51:39] victim count much higher than the confirmed three.
[51:43] Many believe that he may have killed between 20 to 30 people
[51:46] over the course of his life. This broad estimate acknowledges
[51:50] the likelihood that unreported attacks, especially from his
[51:54] Siberian period, is extremely high.
[51:59] Anyway, to the surprise of no one, I'm not fluent in Finnish
[52:02] and I had to rely on translation software when looking at sources
[52:06] since there isn't much out there in English.
[52:09] It seems to me that Hapoya, despite his disturbing crimes,
[52:13] has a folkloric status, kind of like someone like Billy the Kid
[52:18] for us. If you're Finnish, it would be
[52:20] great if you could confirm or deny this since the language
[52:24] barrier and limited English sources made it difficult for me
[52:27] to figure this out. Between October 1978 and January
[52:34] 1979, the Los Angeles neighborhood of Skid Row became
[52:38] the stage for a brutal reign of terror.
[52:41] An assailant, later dubbed the Skid Row Stabber, systematically
[52:46] targeted and slaughtered up to 12 people using a knife.
[52:50] For decades, the case was considered closed following the
[52:53] 1984 conviction of Bobby Jo Maxwell, who received a life
[52:58] sentence without parole. Yet this legal resolution was in
[53:03] fact, a profound miscarriage of justice due to systemic
[53:08] constitutional violations. Maxwell's conviction was
[53:11] overturned in 2010 by a federal appeals court.
[53:16] In 2018, the Los Angeles County Prosecutor's Office formally
[53:20] dropped all charges. This startling turn confirmed a
[53:24] disturbing truth. The Skid Row stabber, the
[53:28] individual who terrified the downtown core, had successfully
[53:32] evaded justice. The killer selection criteria
[53:37] were narrowly focused, praying exclusively on homeless men
[53:41] whose bodies were found dumped in alleyways close to one
[53:44] another in the Skid Row area. The spree, spanning
[53:48] approximately 3 months, exhibited an alarming intensity
[53:52] and frequency. It began on October 23rd, 1978
[53:58] with the death of Jesse Martinez and concluded with the death of
[54:02] Luis Alvarez on January 21st, 1979.
[54:08] By the time his reign of terror appeared to have come to an end,
[54:12] the stabber had claimed either 11 or 12 lives.
[54:16] The geographical proximity of the crime sites, alleyways and
[54:19] Skid Row, and even near Los Angeles City Hall is highly
[54:23] significant. This clustering suggests the
[54:27] offender had an intimate knowledge of the area's routines
[54:30] and landscape, establishing A defined comfort zone for his
[54:34] attacks. The common scenario involved
[54:38] targeting sleeping homeless people, suggesting A
[54:41] premeditated strategy focused on selecting the most defenseless
[54:44] victims. The attacker likely knowingly
[54:47] took advantage of the fact that his targets lived on the
[54:50] outskirts of life and that the first stabbings would likely
[54:54] just be written off by police. Crucially, the initial
[54:59] investigation yielded a very distinct behavioral profile that
[55:02] was later completely discarded in the rush to prosecute Maxwell
[55:07] during the investigation of the killing of David Jones on
[55:10] November 9th, 1978. Witnesses, friends of the victim
[55:15] reported interacting with the killer for several minutes prior
[55:18] to the attack. They described the assailant as
[55:21] a 30 year old Afro Latino man who spoke with a thick Puerto
[55:26] Rican accent and identified himself simply as Luther.
[55:32] This identity was corroborated months later.
[55:35] In January 1979, an absolutely chilling inscription was
[55:39] discovered in a Los Angeles bus terminal washroom.
[55:43] It read My name is Luther, I kill Winos, I put them out of
[55:48] their misery. And I have to mention here that
[55:51] the Luther identity wasn't released or leaked to the
[55:54] public, making this much more likely to have been written by
[55:58] the predator himself. This self authored statement
[56:03] provided a clear indicator of the killer's psychological
[56:06] framework. The perpetrator viewed the
[56:09] killings as a mission. He saw himself as engaging in a
[56:13] form of moral purging of Alcoholics.
[56:17] Based on this evidence, the Skid Row stabber appears to fit the
[56:20] profile of a mission oriented serial killer.
[56:24] The ability to engage in conversation with witnesses
[56:27] before the attack suggests a level of social competence
[56:31] indicating the killer was not entirely disorganized or
[56:34] socially inept. Despite the evidence, Bobby Jo
[56:39] Maxwell, a laborer who had moved to Los Angeles from Tennessee in
[56:43] 1977, became the primary suspect.
[56:47] His connection to the crimes was highly circumstantial, resting
[56:51] primarily on a single palm print found near the body of victim
[56:55] Frank Garcia, which was traced to Maxwell.
[56:59] Further suspicion arose from the observation that the spree
[57:02] temporarily halted while Maxwell was incarcerated for several
[57:06] weeks in December 1978. Interestingly, this arrest was
[57:11] for disturbing the peace and menacing people with a knife, so
[57:15] he was clearly no Angel to build a prosecutable case.
[57:21] Investigators searched Maxwell's apartment, seizing his Diaries
[57:25] and letters, which they then used to declare that Maxwell was
[57:29] a Satanist. This sensational narrative,
[57:33] unsupported by direct forensic evidence, served to provide a
[57:36] compelling, albeit fictional, explanation for the random
[57:40] brutality. This narrative that he was a
[57:43] crazed Satanist influenced the jury to believe that he was
[57:47] capable of the crimes. However, this alone wouldn't
[57:51] have been enough. The 1984 conviction for two of
[57:56] the Skid Row stabbings rested almost entirely on the testimony
[58:00] of Sydney Storch, a 37 year old career felon.
[58:04] This jailhouse snitch served as Maxwell's cellmate for three
[58:07] weeks. And yes, if you're a long time
[58:11] viewer, you probably know I'm about to dunk on this guy's
[58:14] credibility. Storch claimed Maxwell confessed
[58:18] to the killings, even providing details about forgetting to wear
[58:21] gloves, an attempt to explain the palm print evidence.
[58:26] Storch, however, was a documented habitual liar with an
[58:31] extensive criminal history known for gross deception, including
[58:35] impersonating intelligence officials.
[58:38] Storch's involvement was later exposed as part of a
[58:41] wide-ranging jailhouse informant scandal that rocked the Los
[58:45] Angeles County justice system. He was a serial snitch known to
[58:49] familiarize himself with case details through media reports
[58:53] and then fabricate confessions. Why Storch did this was unknown
[58:58] for years, though he claimed everything he said was true and
[59:03] claimed that his rabbi informed him of the moral consequences of
[59:06] not telling the truth. But this wasn't true, and it
[59:12] appeared that no such conversation with any such rabbi
[59:16] ever occurred, and he simply wanted to provide a religious
[59:19] shield to his true actions. In essence, he hoped that when
[59:24] people heard that his decision to become a snitch resulted from
[59:28] a religiously motivated change of heart, people wouldn't
[59:32] question it further. In truth, it was later revealed,
[59:36] Storch had secured a hidden deal with prosecutors for an early
[59:39] release from prison. This was contingent on his
[59:42] testimony being accepted and the prosecution getting wins on the
[59:47] cases that he gave quote UN quote evidence on.
[59:52] Furthermore, prosecutors had raised concerns about Storch's
[59:56] reliability before the trial, but these doubts were never
[1:00:00] revealed to Maxwell's defense counsel.
[1:00:03] They had evidence to suggest that Storch was making it all
[1:00:06] up, but simply never disclosed this to defense counsel in
[1:00:10] violation of Maxwell's rights after decades of appeals.
[1:00:16] The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Maxwell's conviction
[1:00:20] in 2010. The ruling explicitly stated
[1:00:24] that the case against Maxwell was based on lies from a
[1:00:27] notorious jailhouse snitch and emphasized the fundamental lack
[1:00:32] of physical evidence. In the meantime, this allegedly
[1:00:36] very helpful snitch had died while still in prison, never
[1:00:41] getting that sweet release he was hoping for.
[1:00:45] Facing an unwinnable case with their key witness both dead and
[1:00:48] discredited, the Los Angeles County Prosecutor's Office
[1:00:52] formally dropped all charges in 2018.
[1:00:58] However, the legal system's ultimate finding of innocence
[1:01:01] came too late. Bobby Jo Maxwell spent over 30
[1:01:06] years incarcerated for crimes he almost certainly didn't commit.
[1:01:10] In late 2017, while still awaiting retrial, he suffered a
[1:01:15] severe heart attack that left him comatose.
[1:01:18] Though he was formally exonerated in August 2018, he
[1:01:22] remained unconscious, never regaining the ability to
[1:01:26] recognize or benefit from his freedom until his death in April
[1:01:30] 2019. The case of the Skid Row stabber
[1:01:35] is a profound and lasting indictment of the justice system
[1:01:38] systemic failure. By knowingly leveraging
[1:01:42] fabricated evidence against an innocent man, the state secured
[1:01:46] public closure in 1984. The only problem is that this
[1:01:51] conviction came at the obvious cost of the truth, and the real
[1:01:54] serial predator, the man known as Luther, has never been
[1:01:58] caught. There's a very real possibility
[1:02:03] that Luther didn't simply stop in January 1979.
[1:02:07] Mission oriented predators almost never age out abruptly,
[1:02:11] and nothing in his demonstrated psychology suggests he would
[1:02:14] have felt his quote UN quote work was done.
[1:02:18] If anything, the sudden end to the Skid Row cluster may
[1:02:21] indicate he thought the heat in the kitchen was getting a bit
[1:02:24] too hot. Increased patrols, media
[1:02:27] attention, or a near encounter with witnesses could have pushed
[1:02:31] him to shift neighborhoods, cities, or even states.
[1:02:36] In fact, given that there's strong evidence to suggest that
[1:02:39] he was Puerto Rican, he may have moved to the territory.
[1:02:43] There's always the possibility as well that he fled to Latin
[1:02:46] America and may have resumed his crime spree there.
[1:02:51] Perhaps the most disturbing possibility is that Luther may
[1:02:54] have learned his lesson about committing crimes so frequently.
[1:02:58] If he was a transient himself, he may have realized that he
[1:03:02] could take his show on the road, perhaps committing a single
[1:03:05] crime in a city before moving along.

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