Casefile True Crime - Case 190: The Butcher Baker (Part 2)

Episode Date: October 2, 2021

[Part 2 of 2] In June 1983, Cindy Paulson ran out onto a highway in Anchorage, barefoot and handcuffed. She was the prized prey of a prolific serial killer who was plaguing the region and had escaped his plans to hunt her down in the Alaskan wilderness – something he had done with many other women... --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Erin Munro and Milly Raso Creative direction – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-190-the-butcher-baker-part-2

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Cindy Paulson stood alone on the corner of East 4th Avenue and Denali Street in downtown Anchorage. 18-year-old Cindy was a sex worker who frequented the city's infamous Tenderloin district. With its array of bars and clubs, the area was typically a hotbed of potential clients. But so far, the night of Sunday June 12 1983 had been a quiet one. Then, shortly before midnight, a green Buick sentry pulled up to the curb where Cindy stood. The male driver peered up at her from behind a pair of thick rimmed eyeglasses. He propositioned Cindy and the pair began negotiating. After they'd settled on a price, Cindy climbed into the car's passenger seat.

The man drove her to a secluded parking lot and turned off the engine. Within seconds, he'd produced a wood-handled 357 Magnum revolver. Aiming at Cindy with one hand, he grabbed a pair of handcuffs from under his seat with the other. A smile crept across his pockmarked face as he restrained Cindy's wrists. We're going to my house, he told her. He drove east along the Glen Highway where the city's lights and noise were soon replaced by the dark stillness of suburbia. Turning down a cul-de-sac named Old Harbour Avenue, they passed several ranch-like family homes before pulling into a driveway that led to a single story blue-gray weatherboard house.

A pair of antlers hung above the door of a two-car garage. To its right was the main living area, with several windows overlooking the front lawn. No one stirred within. The remainder of the spacious property was equally silent and still, shadowed by tall aspen and birch trees. Dragging Cindy inside the house, the man took her down some stairs into a wood-paneled basement. What first caught her attention were all the taxidermied animals and hunting trophies that filled the room. Rainbirds, mountain goats, dull sheep and caribou had been stuffed and mounted throughout.

Walrus tusks and moose antlers decorated the walls. Beaver and wolf hides were scattered about. On the floor was a baskin rug. In a moment of crystal-clear clarity, Cindy realised that she was trapped in the lair of a man who liked killing. Retrieving a chain, the man wrapped it around Cindy's neck four times before locking it against a wooden support beam. Then he raped her, before settling down for a nap on a nearby sofa. Pointing his revolver at Cindy, he warned her not to wake him or quote, You'll make me mad, and you don't want to see me mad.

While her captor slept, Cindy's mind raced. Her eyes darted around the basement, taking in every detail. There was a pool table and foosball table, a television, a clock, a computer, a rack of women's clothing and all of those dead animals. Cindy knew with absolute certainty that they hadn't been her captor's only victims. She thought about grabbing one of the pool cues and hitting him over the head. But what if he died? She'd be trapped down there, still chained to the beam with no way of calling for help. Or worse, she might not hit him hard enough and he would kill her then and there.

Instead, Cindy waited in silence until the man stirred awake. He unchained her, but kept the handcuffs secured around her wrists. Under the static, lifeless stairs of the animals perched around them, he bragged of his world record hunting success and showed off one of his trophies. Then he raped Cindy again on the bare skin rug. Afterwards, his conversation took an even more sinister turn. The man explained how he had brought seven other women to his house, all of whom he kept captive for a week. In an attempt to appeal to his humanity, Cindy tearfully begged to be released so she could see her mother again.

Everything's gonna be okay, he reassured her. I'm not going to hurt you. He said that he'd only brought Cindy to his home because he wanted to get his money's worth. But now he liked her so much that he wanted to take her to a remote cabin he owned where they could, quote, make love one more time before he let her go. He owned a plane that he kept at Merrill Field Airport so they could fly out from there. Cindy nodded along, pretending to be fine with his plan. Yet, she knew the only way she was going to survive was if she found a way to escape.

The sun hadn't yet risen when Cindy was led from the weatherboard house and back into the Buick. She was forced to lie down along the back seat where she was covered with an army blanket. As her captor drove, Cindy remembered that Merrill Field was right by the motel where she was staying with her boyfriend. If she managed to get away somehow, she wouldn't have to run far for help. They arrived at the airport shortly before 5am. Private bush planes lined the acres of quiet, dark field. Cindy's captor pulled up near a blue and white two-seater Super Cub. He got out and began loading the aircraft with things from the trunk of his car.

Watching from the Buick as he walked back and forth, Cindy suddenly noticed that he'd left the driver's side door ajar. Overcome with nervous energy, she delicately removed her high-heeled shoes, put them aside, and waited. Once the man was over by his plane, Cindy clambered into the front seat and leapt out the open door. Racing barefoot over the gravel runway, Cindy heard the man shout behind her, Stop you bitch or I'll kill you. It took a moment for truck driver Robert Young to register the strange sight before him. A young woman had bolted onto East Fifth Avenue, waving her handcuffed hands in the air and screaming for help. As she sprinted towards Robert's truck, he leaned over to open the passenger side door.

Launching herself inside, the woman yelled, He's going to kill me, get me out of here. According to the book Fair Game, Robert scanned the airfield where the woman had come from but couldn't see who she was referring to. His distressed passenger begged him to hurry, so Robert drove onwards. She asked to be taken to a nearby motel and Robert obliged, pulling over at the mash-in, a low-budget motel 450 feet from Merrill Field. The woman rushed inside. Bewildered, Robert continued driving to work. As soon as he got there, he called the Anchorage Police Department. Ten-year police veteran Greg Baker was halfway through his shift when he got the call to attend the mash-in. By the time he arrived, the handcuffed woman had left in a taxi.

She was traced to another motel down the road named The Big Timber. When Officer Baker got there, a front desk clerk directed him to Room 110. He knocked on the door and a young woman answered. She was barefoot and her wrists were red and raw from the handcuffs still clasped around them. Her name was Cindy Paulson. After hearing of her ordeal, Officer Baker escorted Cindy to hospital to undergo an examination. As they drove by Merrill Field, she insisted on showing him her assailant's aircraft. She singled out a blue and white Super Cub, which bore a registration number on its tail, written as small as regulations allowed.

Upon cross-checking the plane's registration, police discovered it belonged to a man who lived at the Old Harbor Avenue address where Cindy said she had been held captive. Police rushed to the blue-gray weatherboard house only to discover that no one was home. They stood guard over the property and waited. Shortly before 7am, a green Buick sentry pulled into the driveway. Officers descended on the vehicle and its driver, 44-year-old Robert Hanson. Originally from Iowa, Hanson had moved to Alaska with his wife in 1963. The couple settled in Anchorage where they had two children. Hanson had followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a baker and owned the business Hanson's Bakery a few blocks from downtown.

Anchorage police were very familiar with Robert Hanson, known locally as Bob. His bakery wasn't far from the station, so they visited often for coffee and donuts. Hanson was, by all accounts, a stable and religious family man. During his youth, he had been enlisted in the US military and he'd since become an active member of the community. Hanson was unarmed when police surrounded his vehicle. Calmly, he asked them, What can I do for you officers? Cindy Paulson had accurately detailed his appearance and even knew of his stutter.

A bright green baseball cap and green coat were spotted in his car, matching what Cindy said he was wearing when he picked her up. Her descriptions of his house, inside and out, were also spot on. Hanson signed a waiver allowing police to search his car, home and aircraft. There was nothing of evidentiary value in his buick. Cindy's shoes, which she had left behind as evidence of her presence, were not in the vehicle. There was nothing to prove she'd been held captive in Hanson's house, either. The basement full of hunting paraphernalia was just as Cindy described, but there was no wooden beam like the one she'd said she was chained to overnight, nor was there even a chain.

Also missing were a yellow towel and washcloth Cindy claimed to have used. A search of Hanson's Super Cub was equally anticlimactic. Hanson was an award-winning trophy hunter who owned an array of pistols, rifles and shotguns, but none matched the wood-handled revolver used against Cindy. Hanson agreed to be interviewed and was polite and cooperative throughout. He denied abducting or raping Cindy Paulson and had an alibi to prove it. Half an hour before Cindy was abducted, Hanson went to the home of a friend named John Henning. He remained there all night, staying up with John until 5.30am drinking beer and planning a fishing trip.

Afterwards, they headed to Merrill Field to install a seat in Hanson's Super Cub. John Henning confirmed Hanson's assertions. A physical examination of Cindy Paulson revealed evidence of vaginal penetration along with the presence of semen. But the examining doctor told investigators that Cindy only had abrasions around her wrists, not her neck, where she said a chain had been looped. Despite this, Cindy maintained her version of events. With Hanson's whereabouts fully accounted for, investigators presumed that Cindy was lying in some capacity. It was clear from her accurate description of both Robert Hanson and his property that Cindy knew him in some way,

likely through her sex work. But whatever had happened to her the previous night, it couldn't have been at his hands. She likely did meet with a client, though the ordeal she described didn't add up. While Hanson was cagey about any history he might have had with Cindy Paulson, she was adamant that they had met once before. Cindy mentioned that Hanson had propositioned her previously from his Buick. As detailed in the book Fair Game, he had introduced himself using a different name. The two arranged to meet the night before her abduction, but he was a no-show.

This prompted police to wonder whether Cindy harboured resentment towards Hanson for standing her up and costing her income. Was she implicating him in a crime for revenge? Spectacle investigators believed that this was a classic case of a sex worker getting into a disagreement with a client over money. What police described as, quote, a trick gone awry. Cindy was asked to sit a polygraph test. She skipped town with her boyfriend the very next day, never taking the test or informing police of her decision. She confirmed to their suspicions that her version of events were heavily fabricated. By late June, the case was officially closed.

A note on its file stipulated that no further action was required. Despite this, Greg Baker of Anchorage PD's sexual assault unit never wavered in his belief that Cindy Paulson had been telling the truth about Robert Hanson. Having heard her story firsthand and witnessed her obvious distress, his instincts told him she was genuine. While his colleagues were quick to dismiss Cindy's assertions based on a few uncertain details, there were overlooked or disregarded clues that hinted at Hanson's guilt. At the time of the attack, Hanson's wife and children were vacationing overseas, which gave him full reign of the house. His alibi had come from one of his longtime hunting and fishing friends, not exactly an unbiased and trustworthy third party. And while most people who faced such serious accusations were outraged or indignant, Hanson softly and confidently rebutted the crimes leveled against him.

Then there was a statement given by a Merrill Field security guard on duty the morning Cindy said she was taken there. He had seen a green Buick sentry arriving at around 5am and watched it move to a corner of the airfield. This correlated with Cindy's story. Shortly thereafter, a man wearing a green coat and bright green baseball cap ran out from behind a blue and white Super Cub plane. Upon noticing the security guard observing him, the man slowed to a walk, returned to the Buick, got in and sped off along East 5th Avenue. Sensing Robert Hanson was his guy, Officer Baker trawled through police records to see what he could uncover. To his surprise, Hanson's file was extensive. He'd spent short stints in prison throughout his life for a range of offences. In 1960, Hanson, who was then around 20 years old, received his first conviction. He pleaded guilty to arson after setting fire to a bus garage belonging to his former high school. Due to Hanson's stutter and severe acne, his high school experience had been marred with bullying, taunts and rejection.

This had fueled his desire to seek revenge against the institution. I guess I burned down the bus barn because I hated the school with the divine passion. I would do whatever I could think of to get back at that monster school that did Bob Hanson a personal wrong. Hanson was sentenced to three years at a state reformatory where he was diagnosed with an infantile and antisocial personality. This was deemed to be the result of a strict upbringing and low self-esteem, inflamed by the torment of his peers. While incarcerated, he spoke of having vengeful and destructive fantasies, some of which featured girls who'd rejected his advances or made fun of him. Quote, It's hard to explain what it's like to always be wanting to see others go out on dates. I was just seeing everybody else get theirs. Hanson soon realized that speaking honestly about his mental demons only hindered his parole efforts, so he started to play the system by portraying himself as rehabilitated and harmless. Although he was unable to fully suppress his infantile personality, Hanson could hide his antisocial attitudes.

Doing so, coupled with his record of good conduct, led to his parole in 1963. Yet, Robert Hanson never managed to stay out of trouble for long. After stealing a chainsaw from a shop, he was diagnosed with bipolar-effective disorder. The courts ruled he needed an ongoing routine of medication and therapy to overcome his behavioral problems, but Hanson received neither. It was a series of crimes Hanson committed in late 1971 that really drew Officer Greg Baker's attention. The first was the attempted abduction of a woman from her Anchorage apartment. Hanson had made eye contact with her at a set of traffic lights and followed her home to ask her out. She rejected him, and a week later, he confronted her at gunpoint with the intention of taking her elsewhere.

His plan was interrupted by the police, and Hanson was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. He was released on bail, during which time he successfully abducted a second woman from outside an Anchorage coffee shop. She was driven outside the city by the gun wielding Hanson, who kept her bound as he repeatedly assaulted and raped her. At one point, he spoke of taking her to a remote cabin, though he was unable to reach it due to snow on the road. The charges against him in relation to this case were ultimately dropped, but the similarities between this incident and what later happened to Cindy Paulson were cleared. There were many other instances in which Hanson had threatened or harmed women, though nothing came of these reports. Most of his misbehaviour centred around the Tenderloin district and involved dancers or sex workers. Some of his survivors opted not to go to police in fear of retribution from Hanson. Others were brushed aside by a system mired in victim blaming and discrimination.

One night, police were called to the Great Alaskan Bush Company, one of Hanson's many regular horns. Upon arrival, officers found Hanson and a dancer, Judy Russell, arguing out the front. According to reports, Judy had jumped off stage mid-performance and began clawing and kicking at Hanson. She told attending officers that Hanson had recently abducted her at gunpoint. At that time, Judy worked at a club called Embers, and Hanson had propositioned her for sex in exchange for money. What followed was a harrowing ordeal, during which Hanson bound Judy in his camper pickup and attempted to drive her out of the city. Judy was able to escape, but at the time, she couldn't recall any key identifying details about her abductor. Following this frightening ordeal, Judy left Embers and started dancing at the Great Alaskan Bush Company.

When Robert Hanson happened to show up there, she immediately recognized his pockmarked, bespectacled face and launched herself at him in anger. Hanson didn't deny knowing Judy, but disputed her version of events. He agreed that he had offered her money in exchange for sex acts, but denied abducting her. Quote, She got mad when I wouldn't play ball when she tried to jack up the price. Hanson had made a similar excuse when a dancer from the Kit Kat Club accused him of abducting and raping her at gunpoint. It was clear that he held dancers and sex workers in poor regard. He once quipped to police, quote, You can't rape a prostitute, can you? Despite multiple women having made near identical allegations against Hanson over a 12-year period, they were ignored.

Police trusted Hanson, who had molded himself into an upstanding citizen, albeit with a penchant for visiting strip clubs and hiring sex workers. Hanson didn't deny he was unfaithful to his wife, but he didn't want his family to find out. The police obliged by not pursuing the incident with Judy Russell any further. By the time Robert Hanson was on Officer Greg Baker's radar, he was a master manipulator who knew how to influence police. He made note of what led to his incarceration in the past and now fully understood the importance of a good reputation, the appearance of mental stability, procuring alibis, and targeting victims who were unreliable in the eyes of authority. He fostered a successful business and home life, presenting himself as a well-respected, community-focused everyman, the last person anyone would suspect of doing harm. But as far as Officer Baker was concerned, Hanson wasn't just a serial sex offender.

During the Cindy Paulson investigation, Hanson's Buick had been searched. 223 ammunition was located under the driver's seat and rolled up elastic bandages were spotted on the dashboard. Baker was aware of the murder of Sherry Morrow, whose bullet-riddled remains were found the previous year, partially buried in a sandbar spanning the Canick River. Sherry had been blindfolded with an elastic bandage, then shot with a 223-caliber bullet, as was Paula Goulding, who was also found in a shallow grave by the Canick River. Given Hanson's keen interest in hunting and his award-winning skill, Baker was certain he was the serial killer who had been killing women in the wilderness surrounding Anchorage. It appeared as though Hanson was carrying out his own fantasy version of the most dangerous game. The phrase came from a short story by Richard Connell, in which a big game hunter grows bored with the pastime and decides to hunt humans instead. The fictional character would release his captives into the wilderness, pursue them, then gun them down.

Robert Hanson's criminal history showed an escalation in violence, and Officer Baker saw how this trajectory could result in murder. He put together a report on everything he had discovered about Robert Hanson and delivered it to the Alaska State Troopers headquarters, where it wound up in the hands of Sergeant Glenn Flovey. The Sergeant was able to track down Cindy Paulson for an interview. She told him she was certain that Robert Hanson had been her abductor, and was certain she would have been murdered had she not escaped at Merrill Field Airport. Sergeant Flovey, like Greg Baker before him, firmly believed Cindy, and the suspect profile of the serial killer prowling Anchorage that had been provided by the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit matched Hanson to a T. On October 27, 1983, two plainclothes police sergeants arrived at a squat single-story building on the corner of East 9th Avenue and Ingra Street in Anchorage. Merrill Field was just a few minutes drive east, while the Tenderloin District was a short distance west. It was approaching 8.30 am when the officers approached a shop front with a sign above it that read, Hanson's Bakery. Nearby, a man in a white Baker's uniform and apron was collecting something from a car.

The officers approached him and asked, Robert Hanson, Hanson turned to face them. They asked if he would be willing to talk with them about some cases under investigation. Sure, Hanson replied. As detailed in the book Butcher Baker, Glenn Flovey had gone to a lot of effort to set up the interview room just so. Crime scene photos and pictures of the victims were arranged on a desk alongside stacks of manila folders. Some of the files were labelled with names of Hanson's hunting associates.

A large map of the Canick River Valley was pinned to a wall. Two X marks had been drawn inside a large circle. Scrawled in all capital letters next to this were the words, Hanson identified in this area. After being escorted into the room, Hanson was left there alone for a little while so he could take it all in. Soon, Glenn Flovey strode into the room and began his interrogation. Although Hanson admitted to having a criminal record, he insisted that was all in the past. Questioning dragged on for hours covering every aspect of Hanson's history,

from his initial charges of arson and theft to the allegations of abduction and rape. Interviewing officers stopped short of mentioning the murders for now. They discussed Hanson's first known offence against a woman, the botched abduction of an anchorage teenager from her apartment in 1971. When apprehended for this crime, Hanson claimed he had blacked out and therefore had no recollection of the event. As he sat before Sergeant Flovey in an interrogation room adorned with the faces of missing or murdered women, Hanson admitted that he had never really suffered any memory blackout in his life. According to the book Fair Game, this admission likely stemmed from Hanson knowing he wouldn't face any consequences

for revealing the truth more than a decade later. But it did expose him as a liar. Soon, the line of questioning turned to Sherry Morrow. When shown a photograph of the murdered 23-year-old, Hanson asked, Who's that? He refused to admit any knowledge of her murder or Paula Gouldings. He did say that he occasionally visited the areas where their bodies were found before adding, I didn't shoot anybody. I would not hurt anybody.

Meanwhile, police swarmed Robert Hanson's home and workplace to execute a search warrant. Word of their presence quickly spread to the disbelief of his family and friends. They had yet to learn why authorities had honed in on the seemingly stable and neighbourly Hanson and couldn't comprehend the idea that he might be in trouble with the law. The police activity soon peaked the interest of Joan, the wife of Hanson's close friend, John Henning. She wondered whether their efforts related to something her husband had told her several months earlier. Shortly after a panicked Cindy Paulson had run handcuffed and barefoot from Merrill Field Airport, Robert Hanson made a phone call.

It was around 5.30am when John Henning picked up the receiver to hear Hanson, his longtime friend, on the other line. Hanson asked if they could meet at his bakery right away. John was confused but agreed. When John arrived, Hanson told him how his wife and children were overseas and in an effort to overcome loneliness, he had picked up a sex worker. He took her back to his house where they had sex before she raised the price of her services. Hanson wouldn't pay and now she was seeking revenge by falsely accusing him of rape.

Hanson started as he spoke. He was clearly very anxious. Fearing he might be arrested, he told John he didn't want his family to find out and be hurt by his adultery. He asked if John would give him an alibi for 11.30pm until 5.30am. The timeframe in which Cindy Paulson was abducted held captive and taken to the airfield. John believed Hanson and like many others, he dismissed the incident as a trick gone awry. To help his friend, John confirmed his alibi when police came knocking. As John was a well-respected local businessman, his statement was given considerable credibility. John had told his wife about the favour he'd done for his friend.

As described in the book Butcher Baker, when John heard that Hanson's properties were being searched, she got in her car and cruised past Hanson's residence. Upon seeing the heavy police presence and speaking with officers at the scene, she realised it was time for her husband to come clean. John Henning contacted investigators and admitted that he'd provided a false alibi for Hanson on the night of Cindy Paulson's abduction and rape. Henning thought he'd been looking out for Hanson and his family by covering for him. He had no idea how serious the incident had actually been.

Despite now having no alibi for the night Cindy Paulson was attacked, Robert Hanson still denied being involved. It didn't matter. Police had enough evidence now to charge him with Cindy's abduction and rape. He was remanded on a $500,000 bond. Hanson's Old Harbor Avenue property was teeming with state troopers, searching for any evidence to link him to other crimes. The houses' communal rooms were neat and organised.

In the living area, knickknacks were arranged in tidy rows on shelves and had couches framed a small coffee table. Family photos lined the hallway, as did a portrait of Jesus Christ. Searching some cupboards, officers found elastic bandages and a bag full of cash. Shotguns and rifles were recovered from a closet in the living room and a hidden cabinet. Given that Hanson had been previously convicted of a felony, he was forbidden by law to possess any firearms. He would be charged accordingly.

There was also a strange kit that contained tools for creating disguises, including a fake mustache, nail polish and skin adhesive. A number of stolen goods were discovered, indicating Hanson's kleptomania had never gone away. The troopers made their way downstairs to the basement, where Cindy Paulson said she'd been held captive. They made their way around the room, carefully pressing against the wood-panelled walls. One portion suddenly gave way.

Behind it was a small, secret room. In its centre was the wooden beam Cindy had described being chained to. After hours of meticulous searching, there was only one area left unexamined, the attic. One trooper offered to climb up into the small, cramped space. Crawling across the beams, he found a stack of animal hides. Continuing onwards, he felt with his hands for anything that might be hidden there. As he pressed into some insulation in one corner, it suddenly collapsed. Beneath it lay several firearms, including a .223 calibre Ruger Mini-14 rifle.

There was also a little plastic bag that contained a number of women's rings, watches and necklaces. One had an arrowhead pendant. There was another item found in Hansen's house that was particularly noteworthy. While examining the bedroom he shared with his wife, troopers uncovered a piece of paper stashed behind the bedhead. It was an aeronautical chart, a type of map designed to assist pilots in the navigation of aircraft. The map depicted a huge, sprawling overview of Anchorage and its outskirts. There was the Kinnick River valley to the north of the city, the Kenai Peninsula that jutted out below, and the Port City of Seward further south. The map had been marked with many little black asterisks.

Most of them were dotted along the Kinnick River, though there were many others drawn further out. As Glen Flothey studied the map, it suddenly dawned on him. Hansen had scrawled an asterisk on the exact locations where a Clutner Annie, Joanna Messina, Sherry Morrow and Paula Goulding were found. In total, his map featured 21 such markings. Although Hansen was still only charged with abducting and raping Cindy Paulson, the case was already starting to look like the biggest Alaska had ever seen. Investigators had more evidence of the enormity of his crimes, including Hansen's Ruger rifle, which was confirmed to have fired the bullets that killed Sherry Morrow and Paula Goulding. Furthermore, the friends and families of women missing from Anchorage's Tenderloin district had been shown the items of jewelry hidden in Hansen's attic, many of which were recognized as having belonged to their loved ones.

The arrowhead pendant was the spitting image of a necklace that Sherry Morrow was known to wear every single day. Business cards that featured the names of some of the missing women were also discovered in Hansen's garage. Prior to Hansen's arrest, a renowned criminal profiler had stated that the person responsible for the murders would be collecting keepsakes from each of his victims, like a trophy hunter hoarding parts of the animal they had killed as a representation of their success and to relive the hunt from memory. With the evidence against Hansen adding up, it was believed he could be compelled to confess. After some negotiating, a deal was struck with his attorney. If Hansen pleaded guilty to the murders of a Clutner Annie, Joanna Messina, Sherry Morrow and Paula Goulding, then his wife and children would be spared the humiliation and pain of a highly publicized trial.

The case would be wrapped up quickly so as to receive little attention from the media and Hansen could serve out his sentence in a federal penitentiary. On February 22, 1984, Hansen's attorney escorted him to a meeting with the prosecution team so he could provide a full confession. Hansen couldn't provide a Clutner Annie's true identity, but he said she was his first murder victim. He'd picked her up from downtown Anchorage and stabbed her to death north of the city. Joanna Messina from Seward was his second. Hansen killed her upon realizing she was a sex worker who had no genuine interest in him. Posing as a high-paying photographer, Hansen lured Sherry Morrow, the first woman he took out to his Canick River Valley hunting grounds. Upon reaching the sandbar that spanned the river, Hansen brought his car to a stop and pulled Sherry out. She wasn't cooperating, so Hansen retrieved his rifle and sat under a tree waiting for her to settle.

According to Hansen, Sherry stood over him, kicking and screaming, which prompted him to point the rifle up and shoot her. This claim contradicted evidence from the crime scene which showed Sherry was blindfolded and had been shot three times in the back. After burying Sherry in the silt and sand, Hansen left with her arrowhead necklace as a keepsake. Paula Goulding suffered a similar fate in the valley. Then there was survivor Cindy Paulson, who Hansen finally admitted to abducting and raping. He also admitted to the murder of Andrea Altieri, a dancer who had vanished after meeting a man who was going to take her on a shopping spree. Andrea wore a custom-made necklace that featured a pendant in the shape of a fish, given to her by a friend. It was found among the jewelry stored in Hansen's attic.

Hansen said he abducted Andrea just two weeks after he killed Sherry Morrow. He had driven Andrea, blindfolded and handcuffed, to the Kinnick Valley area and pulled up to an isolated spot near a railroad bridge. Hansen had brought another woman there a week prior and raped her, but ultimately let her go. Andrea endured a similar experience, though hers ended fatally. Hansen claimed Andrea had reached for his pistol, causing them to scuffle. Hansen pried it from her grasp, and as the fight continued, Andrea put her fingers behind Hansen's glasses and pressed them into his eye sockets. In response, Hansen shot her dad. He filled a duffel bag with gravel and tied it around Andrea's neck, before pushing her body off the railroad bridge into the Kinnick River below.

After Hansen concluded his detailed confession, District Attorney Victor Krum stood. In a no-nonsense tone, Krum informed Hansen that they knew he hadn't been completely honest with them. Hansen's aviation map indicated he had killed many more women. The forests were covered with winter snow, but as soon as spring arrived and the ice thawed, state troopers would be taking sniffer dogs out to every area marked on the map until they found the rest of Hansen's victims. DA Krum Snapped If you think this is the end, we're gonna prosecute you on every one of these cases. There's gonna be a trial for everything. The ordinarily meek and mild-mannered Hansen turned bright red. He looked furious. In a low voice, Hansen muttered, quote, Dirty fucking whores.

Finally, the prosecutors were getting a real look at the men who had attacked and murdered so many women. Another deal was hastily arranged. If Hansen provided further confessions and assisted state troopers in locating his remaining victims, then he would only be charged with the four murders he'd already admitted to. He Agreed Hansen claimed to have killed 17 women, not the 21 investigators suspected due to his map. His victims were always vulnerable women from the Tenderloin District, whose disappearances would be easily overlooked or disregarded by authorities. This systemic prejudice had ensured that Hansen maintained his killing streak without fear of apprehension. Hansen liked to big note himself to the women he abducted, sometimes telling them he was a doctor or a lawyer.

He lured them with large amounts of money, knowing it would be difficult for them to refuse. Hansen tried to convince those questioning him that he wasn't the misogynist they thought he was, explaining that he only targeted women who he felt were inferior to him. Quote I'm not saying that I hate all women. I don't. Quite to the contrary. I guess in my own mind what I'm classifying is a good woman, not a prostitute. I'd do everything in my power, any way, shape or form, to do anything for her, and to see that no harm ever came to her. But I guess prostitutes are women I'm putting down as lower than myself. He assured his interrogators that he hadn't killed every woman he abducted. As long as they went along with what he wanted, he felt fine about letting them live.

When they put up a fight or tried to flee, he felt the need to kill, explaining, I guess I wanted to control things. Even though Hansen couldn't remember many of his murder victims' names, the sites where they were buried were still fresh on his mind. He was flown to the areas he'd marked on his map, and according to the book Fair Game, Hansen became noticeably thrilled and exhilarated traversing his former hunting grounds. He triumphantly pointed out where he had left each victim and, quote, A couple of times he became so excited he dropped to his knees to dig in the snow with his hands, looking wide-eyed and with a smile on his flushed, pockmarked face. Those accompanying Hansen were disturbed and angered by his behavior. Promising themselves this would be the last time the killer would ever step foot in the Alaskan wilderness that he so clearly adored. They marked each and every gravesite, then waited patiently for spring so that they could start digging.

Tuesday, April 24, 1984 marked the first day of the search for Robert Hansen's remaining victims. With shovels in hand, groups of Alaska state troopers gathered around the spots marked on Hansen's map or pointed out by him directly and began digging. On that day, two bodies were found. 22-year-old Sue Luna was uncovered by a creek on the Kinnick River. 28-year-old Malay Larson was in a parking area downriver, a short distance from the old Kinnick Bridge. Over the next couple of days, a further two victims were recovered. The first was an unknown woman found by Horseshoe Lake, further inland and to the northwest of Kinnick River. Aged between 17 and 21 years old, she had been shot and stabbed.

She was white with brown hair and dressed in jeans, a sweater, a coat, scarf and tennis shoes. Hansen couldn't recall her name and despite efforts, investigators were unable to formally identify her. Like a clutner Annie, they named this victim after the area where she was found, Horseshoe Harriet. The second body was that of 24-year-old Angela Fadden. Scavenging animals had reduced her remains to just a jawbone. Three days later, 20-year-old Tammy Peterson was found on an island in the middle of the Kinnick River. 41-year-old Lisa Fertrell was next on May 9, located south of the old Kinnick Bridge. Just over one week later, 22-year-old Teresa Watson was found at Scenic Lake, 30 miles southwest of Anchorage. Bloodhounds were taken to the remaining gravesites pinpointed by Robert Hansen, but had no luck finding anything.

It was believed that if there were indeed bodies there at one point, they might have since been scavenged by animals or swept away by heavy rains in the sand and silt. In August the following year of 1985, an amateur pilot testing out his aircraft's new tires came into land along the sandbar spanning the Kinnick River. The area was no longer Robert Hansen's hunting ground, but his presence still remained. While there, the pilot discovered human remains. Two handmade rings found on the body led to an identification. It was missing Anchorage woman, 20-year-old DeLynn Frey. She would be known as Hansen's final victim, killed in April 1983, shortly after Paula Goulding. In the wake of Robert Hansen's crimes being publicly revealed, the media dubbed him the Butcher Baker, referencing his years of working as an unremarkable baker while secretly slaughtering women the entire time. The courtroom was packed when Hansen was sentenced for his crimes on Monday, February 27, 1984.

Friends and families of the victims made up a large proportion of the spectators. Survivor Cindy Paulson was also there. At no time did Hansen show any remorse for his actions. Assistant District Attorney Frank Rothschild described Hansen as an extreme aberration of a human being, then added, While he doesn't admit it, it's obvious from reading through and looking at where things started and where the women ended up, he hunted them down. He let them run a little bit, and then he enjoyed a little hunt, just like with his big game animals. He toyed with them, he wanted to scare them. He got a charge out of all of this. Rothschild was certain that Hansen was beyond rehabilitation, and requested he be given a life sentence and three separate 99-year terms for the four murders he was charged with. For the rape and abduction of Cindy Paulson, he asked for another 129 years. The presiding judge obliged, sentencing Robert Hansen to 461 years in prison, the maximum possible sentence available in Alaska for his crimes.

He noted that even though Hansen's history was well known to authorities, he had been able to kill indiscriminately for years by targeting vulnerable victims. Quote, The court system has failed. If ever there was a case in which a man or defendant needed to be surveilled for the rest of his life, it is this gentleman here, and it's been known for many years. Here, we've turned a person loose several times, knowing he had the propensity for what he did. There's absolutely no excuse for it. I hope when we leave this courtroom today that I have to the best of my ability provided this man shall never walk the streets of America or any other place as a free man. Including a Clutner Annie, Joanna Messina, Sherry Morrow and Paula Goulding, a total of 11 of Robert Hansen's known murder victims have so far been recovered.

According to Hansen's confession, that still leaves six unaccounted for. While Hansen acknowledged that he had killed 23-year-old Andrea Altieri and 24-year-old Roxanne Eastland, they are two of the six victims that were never recovered. To this day, all their cases remain open. Investigators are certain that Hansen is responsible for more murders than he admitted to, given there were four markings on his map that he never addressed. One aligned with the location where 18-year-old Celia Beth Vanz Anton was found on Christmas Day 1971. She had disappeared days earlier after walking to a downtown store to buy a soda. Beth was stripped, bound, gagged and raped before being left in the McHugh Creek Recreation Area, where she froze to death. The crime has never been solved.

To many, Robert Hansen seems a likely suspect, especially as Beth's ordeal came mere days after Hansen attacked two other women, both of whom survived. Two marks made on the map along Resurrection Bay in the port city of Seward are also unaccounted for. It is believed one represents missing 17-year-old Megan Emmerich. Megan was a student at the Seward Skill Center and was last cited leaving the dormitory laundry room on Saturday July 7, 1973. She hasn't been seen or heard of since. Hansen admitted to being in Seward on the day Megan vanished, but denied crossing paths with her. He also said he was in Seward on Saturday July 5, 1975, when 22-year-old Mary Thill vanished from the city. Although Hansen also denied having any involvement in Mary's disappearance, it has speculated the second Seward-based asterisk hints at her burial location.

Both Megan Emmerich and Mary Thill's cases remain unsolved. Robert Hansen was incarcerated at a number of different penitentiaries before serving the majority of his sentence at a correctional center in Seward. In 2014, he was transferred back to Anchorage to be admitted to Alaska Regional Hospital as he was battling chronic illness. He died on August 21 of that year at the age of 75. By the time of his death, Hansen had admitted to carrying out 30 rapes and 17 murders over a 12-year span, though these numbers remained disputed. Upon learning of Hansen's death, Glenn Flothey told the Anchorage Daily News, On this day, we should only remember his many victims and all of their families, and my heart goes out to all of them. As far as Hansen is concerned, this world is better without him.

In a 2019 interview for A&E's real crime blog, former Assistant District Attorney Frank Rothschild said that though some wished Hansen could have been given the death penalty, spending his final 30 years in prison had been a fitting end to his life. Here's a guy whose passion in life is going out into the wilderness and hunting the great Alaska wild. Instead of being able to do that, he was put in a cell with no view of anything, forget the mountains, with rancid air and horrific people around him. That, to me, is supreme punishment.