Serial Killer of the Week Part One - Ted Bundy

 Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy

Ted Bundy, born Theodore Robert Cowell to Louise Cowell in November 1946, grew up believing that his grandparents were his parents, and that his mother was his sister. In 1951, he and his mother moved from his grandparents home in Burlington, Vermont to Tacoma, Washington where Louise married Johnnie Bundy, a military cook. 

It wasn't until his college years and a bad breakup that he discovered the truth about his grandparents and mother. Whether it was the this revelation or the breakup that caused his sudden change, only Bundy knows, but he changed after that, exhibiting a false bravado. He went back to Stamford, excelled in his major and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology.

Soon after college, Bundy became involved with Elizabeth Kendall*, a divorcee with a young daughter. She fell in love with Bundy, and despite the fact that she suspected he was seeing other women, she stayed with him. Bundy was not open to marriage, though he allowed the relationship to continue even after reuniting with his first love.

Bundy began his killing spree in 1974. Young women began disappearing from college campuses around Washington and Oregon. His first victim, 21 year old Lynda Ann Healy was a college radio announcer. In July 1974, Bundy approached two coeds and asked if they would help with his sailboat, however they refused. Later that day, two young women were seen leaving with him and were never seen alive again.

In the fall of the same year, Bundy moved to Utah and enrolled in the law school at the University of Utah. In November, Bundy, dressed as a police officer attacked Carol DaRonch at a Salt Lake City mall. She managed to escape and provided police with a description of her attacker, as well as the car he was driving. She was also able to provide them with a blood sample that had gotten on her jacket during the struggle. Within a few hours of the attack on DeRonch, 17 year old Debbie Kent disappeared.

While Bundy was on his killing spree in Utah, in the mountains of Washington State, hikers stumbled across a grisly burial ground of bones. These would later be identified as the bones from women missing from both Washington and Oregon. Working in conjunction, detectives from both States put together a profile, as well as a composite sketch of the man named "Ted", a man who would at times approach women appearing helpless by using crutches or wearing a fake cast. In addition to this, they also had a blood sample and the description of his vehicle.

After authorities in Washington and Oregon were informed about the murders in Utah, they put together a profile of Bundy's victims. They were all white, thin, single and wore their hair long, parted in the middle. They were also all abducted during the evening hours. The bodies found in Utah all exhibited blunt force trauma to the back of the head, and all had been raped and sodomized. It was at this point that authorities knew that they were dealing with a serial killer.

TO BE CONTINUED....

*The pseudonym she used when she wrote "The Phantom Prince: My Life With Ted Bundy"

Serial Killer of the Week - Continued - Angel Maturino Resendiz

Angel Maturino Resendiz, aka The Railroad Killer went on a two year killing spree before being captured. Here is the rest of the story.

December 17, 1998 - Victim number three, Dr. Claudia Benton, 39, of Baylor College was brutally raped, stabbed and beaten repeatedly when Resendiz broke into her home in Houston, Texas. Her home was near the rail lines that run through suburban West University Place. Police later discovered her missing Jeep Cherokee in San Antonio with Resendiz' fingerprints on the steering wheel. Three weeks later, a county judge signed a warrant for Resendiz' arrest on burglary charges, citing there was not enough evidence to prove murder.  

May 2, 1999 - Victims four and five, Reverend Norman J. "Skip" Sirnic, 46, and his wife Karen, 47 of Weimer, Texas were struck to death with a sledgehammer in the parsonage of the United Church of Christ. The church sat adjacent to the town's railroad. Their red Mazda was found in San Antonio three weeks later with forensic evidence that matched the killing of Dr. Benton in Houston.

June 4, 1999 - Victim number six, school teach Noemi Dominguez, 26, was bludgeoned to death in her apartment near the railroad tracks. Seven days later, Troopers found her 1993 Honda Civic abandoned near the international bridge at Del Rio, Texas.

June 4, 1999 - Victim number seven, Josephine Konvicka, 73, of Fayette County, Texas, was killed by a blow to the head with a sharp garden tool. She lived in a frame farmhouse not far from Weimer, where victims five and six were found, and near a rail yard. Her car had been tampered with, but the killer was unable to located the keys.

June 15, 1999 - Victims eight and nine, George Morber, Sr, 80, and his daughter, Carolyn Fredrick, 57, were found in their home in Gorham, Illinois. Morber had been shot in the head with a shotgun and Carolyn had been clubbed to death. Their house sat one hundred yards from a rail road track. The following day, a passerby spotted Fredericks' pickup truck in Cairo, Illinois, being driven by a man matching Resendiz' description.

Resendiz confessed to seven additional murders, which he stated were committed in Mexico. He was arrested by Texas Ranger, Drew Carter, when he agreed to meet Carter and his sister at the bridge connecting El Paso, Texas with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He was subsequently charged and convicted for the murder of Claudia Benton and sentenced to death.

Resendiz was executed in the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas on June 27, 2006, by lethal injection.

In his final statement, Resendiz said "I want to ask if it is in your heart to forgive me. You don't have to. I know I allowed the Devil to rule my life. I just ask you to forgive me and ask the Lord to forgive me for allowing the devil to deceive me. I thank God for having patience in me. I don't deserve to cause you pain. You do not deserve this. I deserve what I am getting." Resendiz was pronounced dead at 8:05 p.m. CDT.

Serial Killer of the Week - Angel Maturino Resendiz

Angel Maturino Resendiz - The Railroad Killer

For almost two years, a killer literally rode the rails across the U.S., killing as he went and vanishing into the countryside afterward. His M.O. was consistent, always striking near rail lines that he illegally rode. Always staying one step ahead of the law.

Angel Resendiz, a 39 year old illegal immigrant, was finally apprehended in July of 1999 after eluding law enforcement for two years, and slipping through a two-month FBI net. After committing nine alleged murders, it was a determined Texas Ranger who finally captured him.

Known as "The Railroad Killer", Angel Resendiz was defined by the police, media and psychiatrist as hostile, angry, confused, and a man with a grudge. While most of his crimes were committed in central Texas, it is believed that he killed as far north as Kentucky and Illinois.

Resendiz did not fit the usual serial killer profile, such as the Boston Strangler or David Berkowitz, as he mainly killed for what he needed, such as drugs or money. He also raped, but this seemed to be secondary to the murder. 

August 29, 1997 - His first victim, Christopher Maier, was only 21 years old and a student at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Maier and his girlfriend were walking along the tracks near the college when they were attacked. Maier was bludgeoned to death and the girlfriend was raped and beaten near death. Somehow she managed to survive.

October 4, 1998 - Victim number two, 87 year old Leafie Mason was hammered to death by a tire iron in her home in Hughes Spring, Texas.Her front door was only fifty yards from the Kansas City - Southern Rail Lines tracks.

TO BE CONTINUED

What makes a Serial Killer a Serial Killer?

Getting Into the Mind of a Serial Killer

In my newest project, the Cal Jessup series, my protagonist, Cal Jessup is called back to the San Antonio Police Department to aid in finding a serial killer he was tracking when he retired five years before. In researching this plot line, I found out some interesting things about serial killers.

Serial Killer – A person who kills three or more times over a period of time, with a cooling off period in between murders. Prototypical serial killer: Caucasian male, 25 to 45 years of age. Above average intelligence. Strong personal and social skills. Usually employed in a menial position, often below their abilities.

What is a Signature?

For one thing, not all serial killers leave a signature, as Hollywood would have us believe. So what is a signature? In the case of a serial killer, it is something that makes their crime unique, adds a personal touch. But as I mentioned, it is very rare for a serial killer to do this. So, how do the Police or FBI know that a serial killer is at work? On rare occasions, a fetish may be mistaken for a signature. Say the killer has a foot fetish for example. He, and the majority of serial killers are male*, may take the time to put polish on his victims toenails.

In the movies, or on television, the signature is always clear. The killer will usually pose his victims, or leave a distinctive mark. If only it were that clear in real crimes. No, unfortunately, leaving a signature is not so much a norm as it is a rarity, created to help us make some sense out of the senseless killing.

Modus Operandi (Mode of Operation)

As a rule, serial killers stalk their victims in three ways. These ways are: Nomadic, Territorial, and Stationary. On rare occasions, a killer will change his or her technique to avoid capture. However, these deviations never last long.

Nomadic – The Traveler. These types of killers never stay in the same place for very long, preferring to move from one city to the next, and killing as they go.

Territorial – The Stalker. These are the most common type of serial killer. They prefer to stake out an area and stay close to their victims. A good example would be David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, who preferred to stalk a particular neighborhood. Another example, though this killer ranged out further, would be Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. Ridgway took his victims along the roads and highways between Seattle and Tacoma.

Stationary – The Homebody. These are the rarest of all serial killers, claiming most of their victims in one area. They are divided between those that kill at home and those who kill at work. One famous, or infamous Black Widow, was Judy Buenoano. Buenoano killed her first husband by poisoning him with arsenic, and paralyzed her 19 year old son with the same poison and pushed him out of a canoe. All of this was in order to collect $240,000.00 in insurance money.

John Wayne Gacy, who would dress up as a clown, brought strangers back to his home and killed them, burying them in the crawl space under his house. Gacy murdered at least 33 teenage boys, and was sentenced to death for twelve of the murders.

Stationary killers may be forced to move from time to time for reasons unrelated to their crimes, but will normally maintain their hunting pattern.

*Females make up less than 20% of all serial killers. However, their killing sprees tend to go longer than male serial killers. Between eight and eleven years compared to two for male serial killers.

Pictures from my trip to San Antonio

I just got back from San Antonio. I went down yesterday morning to meet a new friend and technical adviser, Donna Willborn.  Donna is a retired San Antonio Police Detective Investigator. We spent most of the day driving around San Antonio to places most tourist never visit. The main reason for the trip was to get an insight on the city, but mainly to gain insight on how a San Antonio Police Detective thinks and hear some of her stories. The pictures below are of some of the places we went, and my main intent was to find areas where the antagonist in my next series could go to find his victims and a place to dump them. The protagonist, Cal Jessup, is a retired SAPD Detective turned small town Sheriff. He get's called back after five years when a serial killer he had been tracking starts killing again.

This is an underpass area next to the San Antonio River, the north end, and according to Donna, is a known hangout for prostitutes and homeless people. I thought it would make a good place to dump a body, if the killer were in a hurry that is and had no other options.

This is directly across from the above area and I could just imagine the killer hiding here late at night, waiting for his next victim.

This is an area along the South Reach of the San Antonio River. Note there are jogging trails, which would make it easy access for the killer. The grass is extremely high here and could easily hide a body. I thought about the river, however, at this point it is only a couple of feet deep. Also, the city has piled up rocks in several places to slow the flow of the river. You could dump a body here, but it would most likely get hung up on the rocks, even if you weighted it and dumped it up river.

Now this area, which is further south from the above area, would be perfect for the killer to dump the body. The river is at least fifteen feet deep here.

Okay, granted this is a little macabre, but that's how we crime writers think. Comments welcome. Cheers!

Thriller Thursday - Excerpt from Storm Warning - A Kelli Storm Novel

Tuesday October 27^th 10:16 A.M. East Elmhurst

Rikers Island - Men’s Detention Facility

  Kelli opened the file, took out the crime scene photos and spread them out on the table. “I know you had something to do with this,” she said and pointed at a close up of Roberto Guevara’s throat.

  Angelo sat with his arms crossed, a look of contempt on his face. He glanced down at the photo and smirked. “You got nothin’ on me, bitch.”

  “I’ve got someone who will testify that you gave the order to kill Raul Flores. That’s enough to get you the needle.”

  Angelo leaned back and sneered at her. “Ain’t no death penalty in New York, bitch. They cut that shit out a long time ago.”

  It was Kelli’s turn to smile. She stood and walked around the table, keeping her eyes on Angelo. She walked up next to him, leaned against the table and looked into his eyes. “That’s where you’re wrong, shit head. You ever heard of aggravating factors, Angelo?”

  Angelo leaned back, tilted his head and looked up at Kelli. “What the fuck is that?”

  Kelli straightened up, crossed her arms and smiled. “That means I’ll be sitting on the other side of the glass when they stick that needle in your arm.” She backed away from the table, walked around to the other side and sat down.

  Angelo watched her, a defiant look on his face. “You’re talkin’ shit. You ain’t got no fuckin’ witness, and you got no proof,” he said as he leaned back and crossed his arms.

  Kelli stood, collected the photos and placed them back in the folder. “This was your one chance to make a deal. I thought you were smarter than that, Angelo. I guess I was wrong.” She picked the file up, turned and walked to the door.

  “You’re full of shit, you fuckin’ puta,” Angelo screamed as he jumped up.

  Kelli turned around and grinned. “We’ll see who’s full of shit, Angelo,” she said as the guard opened the door. “You might want to call that high priced lawyer and let him explain it to you.”

  “I don’t need no fuckin’ lawyer ‘cause you ain’t got nothin’,” he yelled after her.

  Kelli kept walking and smiled to herself. Yeah, just keep telling yourself that, asshole.

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