Taking a Break!

I won't be posting any thing new until after the first of the year, so I would like to wish everyone a joyous holiday season.

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa!


I will be giving away Storm Rising - A Kelli Storm Novel and Storm Warning - A Kelli Storm Novel on Christmas Eve.* Be sure to mark your calendars to get your Free Kindle copies.

*Due to a glitch on Amazon, the 15th was not available. Since I had to change it, I thought it better to offer both Kelli Storm books free.

Serial Killer of the Week - Ted Bundy - Conclusion

In February of 1978, Bundy kidnapped 12 year old Kimberly Leach, who he brutally mutilated. A week after her disappearance, Police arrested Bundy in Pensacola, Florida while driving a stolen vehicle. They had witnesses at both the dorm and Kimberly's school identify Bundy. Additionally, they had evidence that linked Bundy to the three murders, including a mold of the bite marks found on one of the sorority victims.
 
Believing he could beat the guilty verdict, Bundy turned down a plea bargain, where he would plead guilty in the deaths of the two sorority women and Kimberly Leach, in exchange for three 25 year sentences.

On June 25th, 1979, Bundy was put on trial in the deaths of the sorority women. As the trial was televised, Bundy played up to the media, often acting as his own attorney. It did him little good, and he was found guilty on both murder charges and sentenced to death by electrocution.

Bundy went on trial for the death of Kimberly Leach on January 7th, 1980, this time allowing his attorney's to represent him. His attorney's mounted an insanity defense, the only defense possible with the evidence the State had stacked against him. Bundys' behavior was much different this time. During the trial, he was given to fits of anger, he slouched in his chair, and at times would glare at the jury. He was once again found guilty and received his third death sentence.

At his sentencing, Bundy called Carol Boone as a character witness and married her while she was on the witness stand. She was, at the time, convinced of his innocence. After the birth of their daughter, and sometime later, she divorced him, realizing that he was in fact guilty of the crimes he was accused of.

Bundy exhausted his appeals for a stay of execution in January 1989. Before he was put to death, he gave investigators detailed information on more than fifty women that he had murdered. He also confessed that at times he had kept several heads of his victims.

At approximately 7:13 a.m. on January 24, 1989, Theodore "Ted" Bundy was put to death while crowds gathered outside the prison walls cheering.

Serial Killer of the Week Part Two - Ted Bundy

  In January of 1975, while on vacation in Colorado with her fiance, Caryn Campbell disappeared. A month later, her naked body was discovered a short distance from a road. The autopsy revealed that she had received several blows to her skull. Over the next few months, five other women disappeared from the same area their skulls crushed, the possible weapon being a crowbar.

  Later that year, in August, Bundy aroused Police suspicion when he attempted to evade them during a routine traffic stop. When he was finally stopped, they discovered handcuffs, an ice pick, a crowbar, a pair of panty hose with eye holes cut out, and several other suspicious items. He was arrested on suspicion of burglary.

  After his arrest, Police compared the items found in his car to those that DeRonch had described seeing in her attackers car, the handcuffs being the same brand. Once she picked him out of a lineup, he was arrested for kidnapping. They were now certain that they had the person responsible for the Tri-State murder spree.

  In February of 1976, Bundy went on trial for the attempted kidnapping, and after waiving his rights to a jury trial, was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years. Meanwhile, Police continued to investigate the murders in Colorado, and in October, Bundy was charged with the murder of Caryn Campbell.

  After being extradited from Utah to Colorado for trial, Bundy decided to serve as his own attorney, which allowed him to appear in court with no restraints. It also allowed him the freedom to move between the court room and the law library unimpeded. This was what he had intended and in June of 1977, during a pre-trial hearing, Bundy escaped by jumping out of a window in the law library. He was captured a week later.

  In December of 1977, Bundy escaped again, this time making it to Tallahassee, Florida.There he rented an apartment under an assumed name near the Florida State University. He supported himself by using stolen credit cards.

  In January 1978, Bundy broke into the Chi Omega sorority house and bludgeoned and strangled two coeds. He raped one of them, brutally biting her on one buttock and nipple. He also beat two others over the head with a log. Investigators believe that the only reason these two survived was that another roommate returned unexpectedly. Nita Neary came home at approximately 3 a.m. and noticed that the front door to the house was slightly open. Hiding in a doorway, she saw a man wearing a blue cap come down the stairs holding a log and leave the house. She found her roommates upstairs, two dead and two brutally beaten. That same night, another woman was attacked and Police recovered a mask identical to one they would later recover from Bundy's car.


TO BE CONTINUED.......  The trial and execution of Ted Bundy

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.