Cold Case Files - REOPENED: A Map To Murder

Episode Date: February 13, 2024

In November of 2016, Tiffany Taylor is held captive and brutally assaulted in Essex County, New Jersey after agreeing to give a ride to a man in exchange for some much-needed cash. What she doesn't realize however, is that her passenger is a serial killer--who's killed twice before, and is out for blood. Tiffany recalls in her own words how she used her quick wit and drive to survive to manipulate her would-be killer into unwittingly granting her a chance to escape his deadly clutches.Progressive: Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. 

This episode contains descriptions of violent crimes and sexual assaults. Please listen with caution. Over the past few years, it seems like there's been increased interest in cases of true crime. If you're listening right now, I would guess that you've noticed. I mean, I can't be the only one who's driven around the block a couple of times, so I didn't have to pause an episode before it was over. And everyone has that one friend who agreed to erase their browser history if they're ever missing or incapacitated.

But what is it about these horrific tales that's compelling us to listen? Personally, I listen to and talk about cases of true crime because I want to help people. It's why I became a social worker and a therapist. Sometimes, though, the person who needs the most help is the one that's being overlooked. When we talk about violent offenders, we frequently attach dehumanizing labels,

like monster or villain. We feel the need to make a clear distinction that we are not like them. The killer in today's episode had extremely cruel behavior. The first time I heard him speak, I felt physically sick. This is first kill, number one. First kill was nice. I reminded myself, though, like I had many times before, that I have a choice.

I could distance myself, walk away, and hide behind labels. Or I could try and learn about his behavior and use that to help other people. If I walked away, who would that really benefit? Plus, who would stick around for 27 minutes of silence? This is Maury Troy Travis. Why don't you just get your ass down like I said? From A&E, this is Cold Case Files. If this were a more typical case, I'd be telling you the background of a victim right now, and then we'd discuss the impact that that crime had on everyone associated with the case. Maury Travis chose his victims based on the lack of that information.

This is first kill, number one. First kill was 19 years old. Name? This is from a video Travis made of himself after he executed his first victim. He insinuates that his address book might not be up to date. Maury Travis was ultimately charged for the rape and murder of 12 women,

the number of people required for a jury. I'm going to share the information that I have about the victims with you, but there's not very much. The first two women were investigated by Illinois State Police. As far as the clues, there were not a lot. That was Special Agent Jimmy Walker. The next victim to be connected was found in St. Charles County, Missouri. Detective Jana Walters investigated.

There was nothing to identify. There was no clothing, no ID, no purse. Investigators had no suspects after three women were raped, tortured, and murdered. It appeared unlikely that these assaults would stop without some kind of intervention. And they didn't. An additional victim was discovered in St. Louis County. The victim had no immediate family, nobody that would report her missing in a day or so. Her case was investigated by Detective Sergeant Tim Sachs, who would ultimately take the lead. He worked with Captain Harry Hager, who was present when the additional victims were connected.

Captain Hager comments on the status of those investigations. We don't have anybody we can go to to say, when's the last time you saw them? Who are their friends? Where do they hang out? What do they do every day? You know, we had to start from scratch on all of them. They had nothing. Twelve victims were violently raped, humiliated, tortured, and murdered, and the system responsible for serving and protecting them didn't even know they existed. Think about it. For some of these women, being raped and murdered was the only evidence that they had ever been alive. Despite any differences we might have in beliefs, as a human race, I think we can all agree. A person's only defining characteristic should not be their connection to a serial killer.

People deserve the right to exist, to have an identity. Maury Troy Travis contributed the DNA that linked the victims. Honestly, I wanted to sit this one out. I felt so repulsed by this case that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to disconnect the behaviors from the person. Finding a trigger for a behavior or a correlation between two behaviors is not a justification for murder. That information is, however, useful in treating people who have had similar reactions. Travis and I both grew up in small towns near the Mississippi River. His birthday is the 25th. Mine's the 24th. His nickname as a child was Toby. Little Toby Travis was born on October 25, 1965, in St. Louis, Missouri.

He lived in the Carr Square Public Housing Project, which was part of the Pruitt-Ego Housing Complex. I hadn't heard of it either, but it turns out that that particular housing development was demolished in the mid-70s because of safety concerns. Some of those safety concerns turned out to be sex crimes, property crimes, murder, and drug crimes among residents. I need to pause for a second and make a distinction that I think is important. If you google public housing but accidentally enter public house, you'll learn that a public house is the term for an establishment that serves alcohol in the UK. The term is frequently shortened to the word pub, or what most Americans would call a bar.

If you Google public housing, you'll learn that in America, public housing means rental properties owned by the government. The rent is subsidized with the intention of providing safe housing options to those who meet the eligibility requirements. The Pruitt-Eagle public housing complexes where Toby lived until he was 10 had regular heat and electrical malfunctions. The toilets didn't work properly, and at one point, a plumbing burst spewed raw sewage into the hallways. Harvard professor Lee Rainwater conducted a study of the property and labeled the safety concerns as incomparable to any others. There are no records of anyone remembering Toby from those early days.

During that time, he went to the St. Louis public schools. In 1975, Toby and his mom Sandra and father and father, Michael, moved to Ferguson, Missouri. He was 10. In 1975, the school districts in Ferguson were ordered to merge to achieve desegregation. A councilman from the White School District suggested building a 10-foot wall between the two districts. He claimed it would help curb vandalism and burglaries. A neighbor said that Toby was quiet and kept to himself. She was also quoted as having said, I don't believe he could hurt a fly. Another neighbor said that he mowed her lawn without being asked as a courtesy.

There were other neighbors that didn't remember him at all. In 1978, when Toby was 12, his parents divorced and Toby resided with his mother. Toby's mother remarried briefly and then divorced again in 1993. This man would have been the father figure to Toby during his adolescent and teen years. There's absolutely no information available about their relationship. A high school teacher, Mrs. Hannon, said that Toby was quiet and withdrawn. She even made note that sometimes the quiet ones will speak up. But Toby never did.

Toby graduated in 1985, at the time when the graduation rate for his school was around 78%. Travis worked as a dental assistant with the Army Reserves for a couple of years after graduation. He also worked for a trucking company and volunteered in a nursing home. In 1987, when he was 22, he enrolled in college. While enrolled at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Toby, who now went by Maury, became addicted to cocaine. Cocaine is a stimulant and increases alertness, energy, feelings of competence and sexuality, and euphoria for about 15-30 minutes. When the high wears off, a person tends to feel as if their normal levels of alertness, energy, competence, and sexuality are even lower than they had been previously. This feeling is often compared to falling in love and it ending in heartbreak.

But I guess there are a million ending in heartbreak, but I guess there are a million fish in the sea, right? Maury Travis became addicted to cocaine, and to pay for his habit, he robbed several stores with a toy gun. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Shortly after his incarceration, he wrote a three-page letter to the judge that sentenced him. It says that

Travis continually thinks about ending his own life, but a cellmate looks after him. He begs for another chance at society and cites some terrible acts happening at the prison. He ends the letter by saying, You, sir, are my last hope. Maury Travis was paroled after five years. He returns to prison in 1998 for a year on a parole violation. He's once again started using drugs. He works as a waiter when he's released. This is when the first victims start to surface.

He then returns to prison for another year on a second parole violation in 2002. I don't know why Mory Troy Travis murdered his victims. When I look back over his life though, I can see a constant theme being thrown at him from society. You're nobody. Live in fear. You don't matter. You're dangerous. And those are just the big picture systemic interactions. I don't know what his personal interactions were like. I know that cocaine use deteriorates the parts of the brain responsible for making good choices. I believe that when he was high, that was the best Maury Troy Travis felt in his entire life.

I wonder if a person who's led to believe they don't matter their entire life wants to feel power and in control. Might they look for someone that they believe matters even less than they do? Might their behavior not be motivated by the victims at all, but by their own need to feel important? I absolutely love to travel, especially when you plot me in the middle of a new city and I have to figure out a completely unfamiliar environment. Speaking the language absolutely helps. If you

want to take your travel experiences to the next level, think about trying Rosetta Stone. It's the most trusted language learning program available on desktop or as an app. People have been using Rosetta Stone for 30 years with millions of users and 25 languages offered. Lifetime membership has access to all 25 languages for any trips you might want to take. That's lifetime access to all 25 language courses Rosetta Stone offers for 50% off. It's an absolute steal. So don't put off learning that language.

There's no better time than right now to get started. For a very limited time, Cold Case Files listeners can get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. Visit rosettastone.com slash coldcase. That's 50% off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your life. Redeem your 50% off at rosettastone.com slash coldcase today. Cold Case Files is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance. It's easy, and you could save money

by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now.

Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. In 2001, a total of six victims would be found. On April 1st, Alyssa Greenwade, a 34-year-old woman, was found murdered in Washington Park. On May 15th, Teresa Wilson, 36, was found near West Alton. On May 23rd, Betty James, 46, was found on Kennedy Avenue in St. Louis.

On June 29th, Veronica Thomas, age 36, was found less than a mile from where Teresa Wilson had been discovered in West Alton. On August 25th, Yvonne Cruz, age 50, was found in East St. Louis. On October 8th, Brenda Beasley, age 33, is found in East St. Louis. On January 30th, 2002, an unidentified Black woman's body was found on Interstate 54 in St. Clair County. On March 11th, 2002, an unidentified Black woman's body was found on Interstate 70 in Madison County. On March 28 of that same year, an unidentified black woman's body was found just off of Illinois Route 3 in Monroe County. All of the women who could be identified happened to be sex workers, with very few links to society. And the fact that the rest would remain unidentified

proves how off the grid they must have been. A year after the cases of the first victims had gone cold, a reporter named Bill Smith from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch decides to write an article. This is Bill Smith. These women, I felt, had stories and had lives, and there was a need, I felt, and some of the people at our paper felt also,

to put faces and a humanity to these women. Five days later, he received a letter at the paper. This is Bill Smith again. The words, Dear Bill, nice sob story on Teresa Wilson. As I was reading it, I realized that this was a person who was claiming to be the killer of these women. The letter says that if Bill writes another article, a good one, about another victim, he'll share the location of the other victims. Attached to the letter was a map printed from Expedia.com

with an X drawn on it in pen. On May 25th, a skeleton of a black woman was found where the X was written on the map. She was also unidentified. This is Detective Jana Walters from St. Charles County. The majority of the skeleton remains were found back in a very wooded area and the skull was found in an open field where it was very noticeable if somebody were just walking by but again it's a desolate area and not too many passerbys. The killer has proven that he authored the letter with the map leading to the victim.

He doesn't know, though, that he also created a separate map that would lead investigators right to him. The map was turned over to the Cybercrimes Unit, who contacted Expedia.com. They requested a log of the IP addresses who had accessed maps from those specific coordinates. An IP address is the address of your device when it accesses the Internet.

In this case, it was traced to a company called UUNet. This is investigator Mark McCamish. That evening, we contacted UUNet and advised them that we were looking at a specific address, the date, time, and time zone on this IP address, and asked them if they would have those records available, and they indicated that they would. UUNet indicated that the IP address was that of Maury Travis. He used their dial-up internet services from an address in Ferguson.

And the funny thing was, he was actually locked up from November till February. That was Detective Sergeant Tim Sachs from St. Louis Metro Police. He and FBI Special Agent Bob Morton go pay a visit to Maury Troy Travis. This is Morton and Sachs talking about their experience. When he answered the door, he was visibly upset. He said, well, why are you here? When he answered the door, he was visibly upset. He said, well, why are you here? And I said, well, the person that sent that letter

sent it from your computer. He wanted to control everything. He wanted to control where we sat. He tried to steer the conversation several times. We would tell him, we're not going to talk about that. We're here to talk and discuss about your computer. And he began cussing. The Internet. Damn computer. Well, we knew right away he was the letter writer.

A forensic team arrives to process Maury Travis' home for evidence, and they discover the basement. When you get down to the basement, you're in the basement, it's finished as any other den would be in any other house. There's several rooms off of the hallway, and at the end of the hallway is where his computer was ultimately discovered, and there's a bed in there. Upstairs, investigators really start to push Travis.

This is Detective Sergeant Sachs again. You pull open a briefcase, and it falls open, and there's three different huge folders with his name on it, and there's pictures in there. What are those? Take out a handful of pictures and show them. Do you know any of these girls? Oh, no, I've never seen them before in my life.

About 10 minutes into our conversation, we're speaking about different things and he asked the question can I see the pictures of those dead girls again? Maury we didn't tell you these girls were murdered we asked if you'd ever known any of them. He gets real silent drops his head. Maybe Travis felt guilty or maybe he had a plan or maybe he just wanted it all to end. This is Special Agent Morton again. He said, I'll give you what you want.

So we confirmed the fact that we were still talking about the same thing. He was going to take us to another victim, and he said yes. And he said, drive to East St. Louis. Coming up on the bridge, you could see the bridge across the Mississippi River, and he saw the bridge and said, I've changed my mind, take me to jail. Maybe at this point, Maury Travis didn't know what he wanted. This is Detective Sergeant Sachs again. I said, I'm sorry? He said, no, take me to jail. Lock me up.

What am I taking you to jail for? You know, just lock me up. And he started getting real loud then. Lock me up. What am I taking you to jail for? You know, just lock me up. And he started getting real loud then. Lock me up. The detectives took him to the station and try and question him, but he doesn't admit to anything. He does, however, accept a can of Diet Coke, where he once again leaves behind his DNA. The Coke can is compared to a toothbrush that they found at his home. This is DNA analyst Mary Beth Carr. When I sat down and I compared it against the profiles, I was, you know, I was shocked, but I was, I wasn't shocked,

but I was just relieved that it was going to be over. The investigators find some additional evidence linking Travis at the scene. This is Detective Sergeant Sachs again. The tire tread on one of his vehicles physically matched the tire mark that was on the leg of Betty James. They additionally found some videotapes in the basement. This is Captain Hager. The tape was titled Wedding Tape,

and the first part of that tape started off as a wedding ceremony. And then suddenly we came across a site in a basement where he had a woman handcuffed. And on that tape there, he eventually kills her. I'm going to play some audio from one of the tapes. But please, if you are at all triggered by anything in this episode, skip ahead a minute or so. I can't hear you. Say it clear. You are the master that pleases me to serve you. You are the master that pleases me to serve you.

You stop, boss. You are the master that pleases me to serve you. What the f*** did you stop for? You want me to please you? I'm sorry. Now you sit your ass down like I said. You sorry? Yes. You sorry about what? Everything.

Jumping in the car with a f***ing you don't know? Yes. You sorry? Yes. You want to say something to your kids? Mom, I'm sorry. On June 10, 2002, Maury Troy Travis was arraigned

on 12 counts of murder and then taken back to his cell. He wrote a note to his mother. He then ripped up the sheets from his bed and braided them, creating a rope. He bound his own hands before hanging himself to death. He was 36. This is Detective Sachs.

I was devastated. It was terrible. It was the worst thing that could have happened in the investigation, was for him to kill himself. We had a great case. That wouldn't have been a problem, taking this to trial and getting a conviction. But all the information that we could have gleaned from him, not only about his crimes, but looking into the mind what makes people do things like this. We had a million questions, a million and one questions, and he took every answer with him. No one received justice in this case.

Not one person. I have to wonder, though, that before this case became this case, if any of the parties involved had ever received justice, from little Toby to the unidentified Black women. When a person's city, state, school, government, and country make them feel like they don't want them, when they're given the impression that they don't matter and the people who look like them don't matter and should be feared, when it's possible for a woman to be so lost and alone that no one knows who she is or even that she's missing,

I have to wonder if we're trying to address a lack of social justice with a system of retribution. Cold Case Files, the podcast, is hosted by Brooke Giddings, produced by Scott Brody, McKamey Lynn, and Steve Delamater. Our executive producer is Ted Butler. Music by Blake Maples. We're distributed by Podcast One. The Cold Case Files TV series was produced by Curtis Productions and hosted by Bill Curtis. Check out more Cold Case Files at AETV.com and by downloading the A&E app.

For more cases like this, visit A&E's Real Crime blog at aetv.com slash real crime. Dive into crime on Pluto TV. Unravel the mysteries on shows like CSI and Criminal Minds, or follow the clues in Blue Bloods and NCIS. With thousands of free crime movies and TV shows, Pluto TV is the true home of crime. Download the Pluto TV app and start streaming now on live channels and on demand. You better run for your life. Pluto TV. Stream now. Pay never. Sometime in the early 80s, REO Speedwagon's airplane made an unannounced

middle-of-the-night landing. This is my friend Kyle McLaughlin, the star of Twin Peaks. And he's telling me about how he discovered a real-life Twin Peaks in rural North Carolina, not far from where he filmed Blue Velvet. What was on the plane was copious amounts of drugs coming in from South America. Supposedly, Pablo Escobar went looking for other spots,

quiet, out-of-the-way places to bring in his cocaine. My name is Joshua Davis, and I'm an investigative reporter. Kyle and I talk all the time about the strange things we come across, but nothing was quite as strange as what we found in Varnumtown, North Carolina. There's crooked cops, brother against brother. Everyone's got a story to tell, But nothing was quite as strange as what we found in Varnumtown, North Carolina.

There's crooked cops, brother against brother. Everyone's got a story to tell, but does the truth even exist? Welcome to Varnumtown. Varnumtown is available wherever you listen to podcasts.