Crime Junkie - SERIAL KILLER: The Honolulu Strangler

Episode Date: July 3, 2023

When young women start disappearing from the streets of Honolulu only to soon be found brutally murdered, investigators at first dismiss any connection between the cases. But as the disappearances continue and the similarities pile up, they’re forced to confront a brutal truth...there’s a serial killer in paradise.If you haven’t gotten a chance to listen to either of the cases that we mentioned in this episode, you can check them out below:SERIAL KILLER: The Green River KillerMURDERED: Lisa Au Did you know you can listen to this episode ad-free? Join the Fan Club! Visit https://crimejunkieapp.com/library/ to view the current membership options and policies.Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/serial-killer-honolulu-strangler/

Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers, and I'm Britt. And the story I have for you today is about a reign of terror that plagued one of the most idyllic places in the world. A time when young women began disappearing one by one only to be found brutalized and tossed away by someone who couldn't see their humanity because he had lost his own. This is the story of the Honolulu Police Department receives a report from local parents who say that their daughter is missing. Her name is Regina Sakamoto. She's 17, and her frantic parents explain that the last time they saw her was around

8 that morning when she left for school. But she hadn't come home, and now they're convinced something is wrong. Now as far as I can tell, it seems like police do take the report, although I'm not sure how much they're able to actually do that night. Okay, but at least they take it instead of telling her parents to wait. Yeah, but any plan they may have had to hit the ground running the next morning gets derailed, or at least redirected because they get another call. This time it's from a local fisherman who is found a body of a young woman floating

in nearby Keihei Lagoon. As soon as they arrive at the lagoon it is clear that whoever she is she didn't end up in the water by accident. She's naked from the waist down, with clear ligature marks around her neck. Her hands are bound behind her back, and there's an electrical cord tied around one of her ankles. And that cord has then been secured to the rocks along the shore. Like, her body is basically tethered to the land. That seems super intentional,

like her body was supposed to be discovered. I think so, right. So they know it's Regina right away? Well not immediately, because I'm not even sure that they got enough info that night before to know what Regina even looks like, but this girl, I mean she's young and it doesn't look like she's been in the water a long time. Plus, what I gathered from the research, there aren't any other young women who are missing from the area at this time.

So things are matching up enough that it's obviously the first thing that they're gonna check. So police notify Regina's family of the discovery and once she's taken off site, her mom is asked to come in and view the body. And as soon as her mom sees her, she is certain that is her daughter.

Once the identification is made, an autopsy confirms what investigators suspected from the start, that she died from ligature strangulation, and she was sexually assaulted. When investigators interview Regina's friends and family, they're able to piece together a pretty clear timeline of the morning that she was last seen. She left her home to head to school around the usual time, but then her boyfriend got a call from her saying that she'd be late because she missed her bus. And the Honolulu Star Bulletin reports that investigators are able to confirm that she

did make that call from a payphone near her bus stop. But, she never showed up to school at all. And I'm not sure if her friends were freed out of her boyfriend's thought it was odd that she never showed up, but it doesn't seem like anyone was notified of her absence. So it wasn't until she just didn't come home that night that her parents became concerned. Oh, so they didn't even know that she missed school until after her body had been found? Yeah, so this would have been totally out of the norm for her. Like, this girl didn't skip school.

So, I mean, had someone alerted her family early on, you know, like a school is supposed to? Like, I hope they're supposed to. Then, yeah, they would have had a head start in knowing that something was up and that they should have been looking for her earlier. But for whatever reason, no one seemed to sound the alarm bells. And even now, no one can come up with a reason why anyone would want to harm this sweet, shy

teenager. I mean, as they start looking into her life, there didn't seem to be anyone with reason to want her dead, and certainly no one who would be capable of killing her in such a horrific way. So this left investigators with one conclusion, the same conclusion that crime scene texts at the scene were coming to as well. This was probably done by a stranger, and it might not even have been the first time. Because you see as they're processing the scene, investigators started feeling a little

bit of deja vu. Because this isn't the first young female who's been murdered on the island of a Wahoo recently. This isn't even the first young female who's been found in Teahee Lagoon recently. About seven months ago, Honolulu PD had received a call similar to the one they got that morning. This one from a guy on his way to work because he had stumbled on a woman's body at the water's edge.

Like Regina, this woman had been strangled with a ligature, her hands were bound behind her back, and within a day they were able to ID that woman as 25 year old Vicki Perty. And was Vicki tethered to a rock too? She wasn't, but she also wasn't completely submerged in the water either. Like the caller said, she was more like on the shoreline of the lagoon. According to reporting in the Honolulu advertiser, it looked like her body had been basically like pushed down the embankment and just kind of left there. So I think the point is like she was still

visible the same way that Regina was. Now even though there are all these similarities, there were some little differences. Like Vicki was older, she was married to an army pilot and she wasn't walking to a bus stop when she went missing. But she did just vanish almost as quickly as Regina did. According to her husband, Gary, she had been out with friends the night of May 29, like she had so many times before, and she was even supposed to be home early that night, but she didn't show up at all.

So at first, her husband tried paging her, over and over and over again, all night long, and he was getting no response. So by the next morning, he reported her missing and hit the streets looking for her. Now, unfortunately, it wasn't Vicki that he found that morning. Instead, he found her car in a hotel parking lot, and it seemed to have been abandoned there with a mysterious new dent on it. Was Vicki staying at the hotel or had she stayed there?

No, so obviously there's no sign of her there where the car is found, and they even checked dent on it. Was Vicki staying at the hotel or had she stayed there? No, so obviously there's no sign of her there where the car is found, and they even checked with the motel. There was no record of her staying there or even spending time there. So I think she maybe dropped her car there, like used the parking lot, because police were able to track down a cab driver who said that he had dropped her off at her car in that parking lot at around midnight. Now about the same time Gary was finding her dented car, police were getting that report of a woman's body in K.A. He lagoon. And it was Vicki. So at this point we know that Vicki was strangled

like Regina. They were both found around this lagoon and their hands were bound. That's a lot of similarities, but was Ficky sexually assaulted too? Yeah, the MES expects that she was as well. But even when you say like they're they're bound up, it's even more specific than that, because one of the details they end up uncovering, which I think becomes critical in solidifying a connection, is that investigators learn that the way their hands were bound and what they were bound with is exactly the same. Which I'm guessing was unique enough to know. Right, so they're actually both bound with paracord, which is pretty much what it sounds like. This super durable kind of cord that's used

in parachutes. And that's actually notable as well because the Honolulu airport is really close nearby. But the problem is like, what to make of that? If anything, investigators aren't sure. It's just something that they have that hopefully will make more sense later. And as far as like exactly how they were tied up or bound, I'm not gonna get too far into that because I think it's gonna get confusing. But according to an episode of the show Breaking Homicide on Discovery Plus,

it's a very distinct method. So I think that that's the part that you need to know. And it's worth noting that at the time of Vicki's murder and even after they find Regina, mention of the paracord was never made public. And I think they're doing what we see all the time, like holding back details, so that way they can like, you know, if someone confesses, they've got this little bit of information or they can slowly release information like as they go.

And by the time they have the second one, they're definitely not going to say anything now, because I think they're being extra cautious not to try and inspire any copycats. Because they have to be thinking they have a serial killer on their hands. because they have to be thinking they have a serial killer on their hands. Well, here's the thing like not exactly. Apparently, there are actually disagreements about this within the Honolulu PD at the time. So, as of right now, like at the time, the company line is, no, the cases are probably not connected, because again, there are a couple little differences and there was nothing connecting the two victims in life. But that's not to say that they're like ignoring the similarities. But they're leaning towards the case is not being connected, just I think there's

any weird messed up coincidence, I guess. I'm sorry, what does them not know each other have anything to do with anything? To me, that's like all the more reason that this could be the work of a serial killer. Well, either way, their mindset is actually about to change real fast. Because on February 1st, investigators are called to the scene of a third woman's body found near Kei Heligun. Yet again, there's no question this woman was murdered. This time, the body is found wrapped in a tarp, but investigators immediately noticed some telltale signs.

At this point, they start to confront a reality that I think they've just been avoiding. There might be a serial killer in Paradise. So investigators form an official task force by February 5th, and the same day, they tentatively identify the most recent victim as 21-year-old Denise Hughes. They learn that Denise is married to a sailor stationed at Pearl Harbor named Charles. And she's been missing since January 30th. Now the night before she had met up with her husband for dinner on his ship and then headed home at around 10 pm. Her husband tells investigators that he called Denise on their home phone. I don't know like an hour after she left just to make sure that she got there because they're not like oblivious to this scary sh** that's been happening on Oahu. And she did, she got home safely. But the next

day, Charles gets a call from Denise's boss asking why she's not at work. So just like the other two victims, it was like, I mean, poof, she just vanished into thin air. And then she shows up later in the same lagoon, found in a very similar way. And what kind of transportation did she normally take? What do you mean? I mean, like, to get to work. I'm honestly not even sure if it really matters, but like,

we know Regina went missing waiting for a bus. Ficky had her own car that got that mystery dent. I'm just wondering if maybe there's more of a pattern of a Denise. Oh, gotcha gotcha. Okay, so yeah, even though all three aren't exactly the same, I think you're right. I mean, there's enough of a commonality that makes you wonder

if this guy's targeting women, waiting alone for some sort of rise out here saying, yeah. Okay, so yeah, I'm not 100% sure how Denise got home from dinner that night, but what I do know, to your point, is that a bus is how she would have gotten to work the next morning. Okay, so we know that Regina and Denise both used a bus, but that doesn't really fit with Vicki, she had a car.

Yes, but I mean, the thing is, we know she didn't drive it, right? Like it's still in the same parking lot she left it in with a dent. Now as far as I can tell it's still operable, but maybe someone like use the dent to talk to her or like- Or like, conversation, something like- Yeah, maybe convince her that like, oh you shouldn't be driving that or maybe, you know, if she's parking somewhere and like taking a cab to the go-to-where

where she was going through friends, maybe, you know, did she drink and she didn't want to drive? And I don't know, I wouldn't get too stuck on the buses. I just think that, like, it's this idea of, like, they're kind of in these, like, areas where they might be alone, they might be needing to be transported from one place to another. I think is, like like the biggest connection.

And actually, taking all of this into consideration, according to reporting in the Honolulu star Bulletin by Catherine Enemoto, Honolulu police major Chester Hughes issues a public warning at this point, advising local women to be super cautious and definitely not to accept rides from strangers. But just two months later on April 2nd, it happens again. The Hana Lulu PD gets another report of a woman's body being found. This time, it's 25-year-old Louise Medeiros. In K. Heelagoon? Well, no, so this body actually isn't found in K.A. Heelagoon.

But she is found near water, just like the others. She's actually found near the Waikali stream, which runs under a freeway overpass. And as far as investigators can tell, it looks like her body was dumped actually from the overpass, like plummeting the 95 feet to the area below. Okay, so not the same location, but still in the water. And if they're connecting her case, then I'm guessing she has the other telltale signs of this killer.

You bet she is partially nude, her hands are bound behind her back, and of course, they're bound with paracord. And even though Louise's body is found kind of away from the others, like Vicki Regina and Denise obviously they're all found in the same lagoon, but I mean, that's a big lagoon. They're still within like a couple of miles of each other, but Louise is found about 12 miles away. And even though Louise is found away, like you're saying like they're connected by water, I actually think they're connected by water, I actually think they're connected by more than that.

So you've got Vicky Regina and Denise, they're all found at the same lagoon within a couple of miles of each other. You've got Louise, who's found at this other body of water 12 miles away, but it's not just the idea of the water, because whether it's the dump site or the victims themselves, all of these cases almost seem to revolve right around the Honolulu airport. I mean, Kei-Hiligun is like right there. And investigators figure out that Louise hasn't been seen since March 26th when she had

taken a night time flight back to Oahu after a family visit. And what is so wild is like, again, this wasn't a secret on the island and like knowing what had been going on in Honolulu, her sister's actually begged her to just stay one more night. Like, come on, take a flight home tomorrow because they didn't want her sitting out waiting

for a ride in the dark. Because by the way, she's three months pregnant. So all the more reason they don't want her like getting in super late, having to catch a ride from the dark because by the way she's three months pregnant so all the more reason they don't want her like getting in super late having to catch a ride from the airport to her apartment when she landed but Louise was super anxious she wanted to get home to her other kids so she went ahead and left that night when you say she was gonna catch a ride are we talking a bus like Regina or she taking take a cab having a friend pick her up, it was a bus. And she even told her sisters that was her plan.

So we've got another woman who is waiting for a bus. And I know she was waiting for a bus because investigators are able to track down witnesses who say that they saw her at a bus stop near the airport that night. I get that it's a central, interesting location, but I don't know how significant the airport connection is if it's even a connection at all. Like maybe this guy is just going anywhere people need rides. Yeah, I mean, who knows how much is around there. I actually lean kind of like you. I think whoever this guy is is finding women who are in a vulnerable position and somehow getting them to like get in the car with him for whatever reason. you. I think whoever this guy is is finding women who are in a vulnerable position and

somehow getting them to like get in the car with him for whatever reason. Which makes me think they gotta be looking for like not the creep right? Like someone who seems quote unquote normal or looks safe. A person who's not gonna raise any red flags to a woman alone trying to find transportation. We yeah and take note crime junkies. I think this is a lesson you all know. We, I think, learned it from Bundy, but looks can be very deceiving. Though that being said, they're not necessarily sure

if that's the case yet. Like, because these women might not be going with him willingly, right? We don't have a ton of witnesses who see them getting into cars. We even, so far, no witnesses who see them getting into a car. So he could be using force. Maybe he pulls a gun on them and nobody sees that. But you are keying on to something important

because it's around this time that people in the community start wondering if the killer in Honolulu could actually be the Green River killer who just found maybe new hunting grounds. Let's talk about a blaster that passed. We covered the Green River Killer in what, like, 2018? Yeah, that was like one of the early on episodes. I think it was like May of 2018. So, what's the connection there? Because he exclusively targeted sex workers, right?

Which isn't the case here. Yes, okay, so you're right. And what the connection is isn't super clear. I think it just goes back to the transportation of it all. Like somehow, this guy is getting women to go with him. Yes, in Seattle, they were all sex workers. So that's why they were getting in his car. But here, it seems like the killer is finding opportunities

when rides are needed. And it feels loose, don't get me wrong, but I'm bringing it up because former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole explained in an episode of Breaking Homicide that it's also notable that bodies of water are involved in both sets of casings. Oh. Again, that could just be a coincidence. I mean, water destroys evidence, right?

You don't have to be an expert in forensics to know that. Oh, well, and who's to say that the Honolulu Purp isn't just a copycat of the Green River Killer? Like, again, just going off-memory here, but I don't think Paracord was used in the Green River Killer case. No, no, it wasn't. But, you know, new place, slightly new MO,

yet we know killers evolve, I don't know. I think the most compelling thing in bringing all this up or maybe wipe up right about the time is the timing of it all. Like, I mean, you know, the Green River Killer case is huge national news at the time. Even if you lived on an island, you knew about the Green River Killer. So when those killings basically just stop in 1984, and then all of a sudden, women in your area start dying in 1985, see you get it.

But huge disclaimer here, the Honolulu PD aren't saying anything about a connection. So this is just a theory that you, me and the public, is coming up with. Kinda, but it's a little more legit than that. Like, the commander of the Green River Task Force in Seattle says that he received multiple calls from members of the Honolulu Task Force, but he's not very open about whether those calls are then trying to figure out if the green river killer is their guy or if they're just maybe seeking guidance from a task

force that's worked a similar case very recently. But either way, the Honolulu task force, what's weird to me is they won't even confirm that these calls happen. Which seems silly. Yeah, if you're like, hey, we've never dealt with this. They are actively dealing with it. We're like comparing notes. Seems like something you could say.

We're working with guys who have done this before too. Seems like something that's okay to disclose, but whatever. Yeah. And I think what feels like contradictions, even though it lets not necessarily the right word, I just can't think of the right word, but maybe the disconnect is that they're just trying to play this down, right? Like, so if it's not, we're just comparing notes. It's like, hey, I just can't think of the right word, but like, maybe the disconnect is that they're just trying to play this down, right?

Like, so if it's not, we're just comparing notes. It's like, hey, we don't know, we're willing to try anything, but like, we don't want to get you guys in the public talking. And maybe that was the best thing to do, because even though it appears like they explored this, just to be sure, it seems like investigators on both task force are on the same page that Seattle's killings

and Honolulu's killings aren't connected. So I get what they were doing, like why get the public all worked up, you know. Now Green River Killer Connection or not, like clockwork, just a little under a month after Louise's body is found, another woman vanishes. This time, it's 36 year old Linda Pesci, and as you can imagine, everyone is on high alert at this point. So even though they haven't located her or her remains, when they find her Toyota abandoned on Nimitz Highway the night of April 30, they see nothing but giant red flags. You know, it seems like whoever is killing these women is escalating.

I wasn't keeping super close track of all the dates, but you said there was seven months between the first two victims, and now we only have one. Yeah, and now we have four victims in three and a half months. So you're right, like it's getting quicker and quicker in between. Now even though police are suspecting a connection right away, Walinda is still missing.

There was some messiness at the start of the search for her. You see, Linda's roommate reported her missing the same night that her car was found. And it took about a day for investigators to realize that there was a connection between this missing woman and a car that was found. So after initially impounding the car, they have to actually bring it back the next day to the spot where it had been abandoned. And they do this just so they can stop passing drivers and we're talking like hundreds

of them and ask anyone if they had seen the car or the driver or anything the night Linda went missing. That's creative, I guess. And that's actually some pretty decent due diligence. It's truly, I mean, I actually really like this tactic. And I think it just shows you how desperate they are to catch this guy and fast. And their efforts pay off.

According to reporting by Will Hoover in the Honolulu advertiser, multiple witnesses confirmed that, yeah, they saw Linda's car on the side of Nimitz Highway that night with its flashers on. So her car breaks down and now all of a sudden she needs a ride. Yep, probably. The one small issue I couldn't actually find anything in the research about what was wrong with her car when they actually examined it.

Like was it actually broken down? Was it operable? But I know she had car trouble before. So I'm assuming it's some kind of mechanical issue. But yeah, her car's broken down. Maybe she's looking for a ride, or again, maybe she's just vulnerable. But Brit, are you ready for our second crossover moment today?

Obviously. What do you remember about Lisa Owl? Oh, um, she went missing from Honolulu in... I want to say that early 80s, right? Mm-hmm. And her car was found abandoned or something. Yeah, so it's 1982, and yes, cars abandoned on the side of found abandoned or something. Yeah, so it was 1982 and yes, cars abandoned on the side of the road or whatever.

Okay, so I want to say she left her boyfriend's house, maybe her boyfriend's sister's place, and then just poof, disappeared on a drive home. And when her roommate called a boyfriend, was like, hey, at least he never made it back, he took what would have been her drive home and found her car. And then her body was found. I want to say fully nude and tossed down and a binkman on the side of the mountain road.

True crime, Dunky. That was a great memory. Isn't it? I always tell people, I feel like I have the details of these cases locked in my brain forever. They live in me but the thing from that case do you remember what the prevailing theory was like her case is still unsolved But where we kind of ended at the end of that episode was that oh oh so didn't they kind of land on the theory that Maybe she was pulled over and then abducted either by a cop or someone in personity cop, some sort of

authority figure that Lisa would have trusted. And Ashley, now I see where you're going with this because weren't they having issues with people in personity cops and making traffic stops? Like this is a consistent thing at the time. Yes, they were having a huge issue with that. Because if you remember, in Lisa's case, witnesses even say that they had seen her during what looked like a traffic stop. And multiple suspects were considered, an actual cop who'd been convicted on sexual assault charges against a teenager

was looked into, there's a couple of guys who were out there, we know, in personating cops. And then of course, we know they looked into Lisa's boyfriend. But again, in her case, there were no arrests. So are you saying investigators think that Lisa might have been one of the guys earlier victims or just that this was like a known problem by 82, which means by the time these women are murdered, this whole traffic stop was like in full swing.

Yeah, so more of the latter, because this goes back to what you were getting at earlier. None of the victims appear to have been like snatched off the street against their will. Or at least, again, we don't have anyone saying that that's what happened. So maybe we're dealing with an impersonator. But if we're gonna compare it to Lisa's case, I don't want to say that they're connected because there is one big difference. Lisa's purse with her wallet and all of that stuff were found in her car. Linda's wasn't. So Major Hughes says it's more likely Linda's car had an

issue and she had grabbed her keys and her purse and started walking, maybe heading to either a nearby gas station or a bus stop. Again, we have a bus stop. And they think that they're looking for a guy who's just charming enough to convince these women that he's not a threat, he'll get them to their destinations safely. And although they don't know it yet, Linda's case is about to give them not one, not two, but three massive breaks

that will all point them in the exact same direction. Now the first break they get is from their roadblocks on Nimitz Highway. According to the book Honolulu homicide, multiple witnesses state that they saw what's described as a quote, light-colored cargo van that was parked near Linda's car. The van might or might not have had lettering on the rear window, which to me is kind of here and or there right now. So what investigators do is they eventually put out a sketch,

not of a suspect, but of the suspect's van. Though that's not to say that they don't have a general description of the suspect. They just don't put anything out. What they know, though, based on witness reports, actually goes to bolster the profile they receive from the FBI's behavioral science unit. Specifically, they're looking for a white guy, late 30s to early 40s, possibly no criminal record, might be having relationship issues and is familiar with the area like he probably lives or works nearby.

Now big break number 2 comes to them via a psychic. Maybe. Okay, I'm listening. So on May 2, investigators get a tip from this guy named Howard Gay, saying that he had discovered bones on sand island, which is this mostly uninhabited island near K.A. Lagoon. Why was this guy traipsing around an uninhabited island in the first place?

Well, he says he had been told by a psychic that Linda's body was there. So here's where I'd like to point out the fine line between crime junkie and potential suspect. Like, sir, why are you contacting a psychic about a missing woman you have no connection to? Yeah, it is a very, very fine line. But, investigators are desperate. They're like, great, we'll take our leads however we can get them. So they send a team out to look, and Howard leads them straight to a pile of bones, which to everyone's disappointment turns out to be pig bones. But investigators aren't about to look this gift horse in the mouth.

So they take their time, and they decide to just look around Sand Island to see if they can find anything else. And good old Howard even hangs around and helps, but they don't find anything useful and just kind of chalk it all up to a loss. Until they get a call the very next day from someone out on, none other than sand island, and this call leads them directly to Linda's body, just about somewhere between 75 and maybe 150 yards away from where the pig bones had been. Now when they find her, she is naked, and her arms are bound behind her back with none other than paracord. Now oddly enough, investigators realize... Howard? The guy who directed them to the pig bones,

he had like diligently avoided this specific location the day before when he's like, you know, trying to help them. And once they find Linda's body, they realized he almost like purposefully avoided the spot where her body was found. Wow, how weird. Mm-hmm.

Calling it now, something is up with Howard. Listen, you're not wrong. Stay with me here. Because during this time period, investigators are searching basically any location they can't as associated with Linda, including her office. Now, Linda's in sales, and just the past January,

she had started targeting the area around the airport. And it's in Linda's office that investigators get their last big break. According to Honolulu Homicide, they find a notepad Linda had used for work. And on this notepad, they find a name and a number. And Brit, what name do you suppose is on the notepad? Shot in the dark? Howard gay. Howard? B****gay. What name do you suppose is on the notepad shot in the dark Howard gay Howard Gay so it seems that in the very recent past Linda had tried to sell Howard a pager

Which you know he might have needed for like his personal life or work His work at a company that was located right near the airport called flying Tiger cargo that was located right near the airport called Flying Tiger Cargo Company, who gave him access to a company vehicle, more specifically a white cargo van. That, up until recently, had his company's insignia on the rear window. Shut the front door. Yeah, I'm not going to lie, this timeline is a little unclear to me, but investigators basically go on to like put Howard under surveillance. And what I do know is that by the time the van sketch is released on May 5th, investigators have already watched Howard scrape the freaking insignia off the bat of his on the nose exactly what you're looking for white cargo van.

I mean, this is the guy, right? This has to be the guy. Investigators sure think so. And there's more that makes him look like an even better suspect. The medical examiner had been able to obtain semen samples from some of the victims. And what immediately stood out was how few sperm there were in these samples.

Like in some samples, we're talking just a few. And in at least one sample, there was none. So right away, they're thinking that this semen came from a guy who either has reproductive issues or who's had a recent vasectomy. And your dude Howard had had a vasectomy. Now, I'm not sure when this tidbit came to investigator's attention, because actually didn't find it in any of the source material, it was just in that breaking homicide episode that aired in 2018.

But I know that when the host of that show reached out to his ex-wife, she confirms that Howard did have a vasectomy. And also something weird, she kind of bizarrely says that she doesn't think Howard's the guy, but by the way we had a strange relationship. So I don't know, maybe take that with a grain of salt. Okay, what kind of strange? According to what she said, I guess he and his ex-wife lived in California with their two sons until like 1980 when he was transferred to Hawaii. And to be clear, like she is his ex-wife lived in California with their two sons until like 1980 when he was transferred to Hawaii And to be clear like she is his ex-wife now, but at the time they're still married

But like Howard moves to Hawaii But his wife and kids stay behind a California And this one time probably thinking he was lonely She decided to like take the boys to Hawaii to surprise him which I think would be a great surprise for most husbands and dads who are away from their family. But when they showed up, Howard was pissed. Like, what? Yeah, he made them stay in a hotel and wouldn't even show them the house that he lived in.

And he's forced them to go back to California like two days later. Cool, cool, cool. And when was that? That, I actually don't know. That's a great question. All the source material says is that he was transferred to Hawaii in 1980.

So it could have been anytime after that. Regardless, that sounds super sketch. I think so too. And according to Honolulu Hamasai, both his ex-wife and some ex-girlfriends describe him to investigators as like a smooth talker who, by the way, likes to have sex with women whose hands are bound behind their back. Yeah, and Britt, investigators even find out from the current girlfriend that Howard often stormed out when they fought,

and some of those fights coincided with the killings. Oh my god. And there's the fact that an eyewitness actually I did him in a lineup as the guy she saw with Linda the night that Linda went missing. But she says that she was so scared that she didn't even come forward for like two whole months. Okay, I think it's time for an arrest now. And they actually do arrest him at that point. The problem is, when they take their case to prosecutors and ask them to seek an indictment,

prosecutors decline the case. What? What about that old saying, you can get a grand jury to indict a hand sandwich? This guy is at least a hand sandwich. Yeah, this guy's like a full Christmas dinner, I think. But apparently prosecutors feel like, while they probably could get an indictment, they don't have enough to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

And that's a legit reason to decline a case, right? Like, I mean, that's the burden of proof. You want them to want that. And if the case is weak, they take it to a jury, how is acquitted? That's game over. He's free and clear if he's the one that actually did it because of double jeopardy.

They can never go back for it. But actually, don't they theoretically have like five separate cases here? You make a good point. So yes, so investigators even try and bring this up too. Yeah, they have five separate chances. Yeah, like let's try with one. And then we can like, again, no, we can never try them for that one again,

but we've got these other shots. And specifically, they're like, everyone is agreeing. Like Linda's case is the strongest, so why not go with the strongest case, even if it's a total Hail Mary, which based on the evidence, I'm not sure that I would call it a Hail Mary, and we can get this guy off the streets. But for some reason, the prosecutors are like, really hung up on wanting to charge all of the cases at the same time. So hung up on this that they, what, just let him go?

Well, convince enough that they, yeah, potentially we'll let him walk the streets again. But while they have him at least now, they bring him into the criminal investigation division at the Honolulu PD to be questioned. And he's held for about 10 hours. And during these 10 hours, I mean, investigators only become more convinced of his guilt. Major Louis Suza, one of the lead investigators on the task force, watches as Howard is interrogated, and obviously they're watching through like meered glass. And they say that his body language almost screams guilt, like zero eye contact,

arms crossed over his chest, like super defensive, and surprisingly how it agrees to take a polygraph, which he does not pass. Hmm, does not pass. That's not super clear. Is that doesn't pass as in fails or doesn't pass as in its inconclusive? I mean, does it pass like, doesn't matter? Like, we know they're kind of... Right. But to answer your question, there are discrepancies in the source material.

So breaking homicide says the results are inconclusive, while Honolulu homicide says that he straight up fails. So, again, it's a polygraph at the end of the day taking a grain of salt. And at the very least, he didn't pass with flying colors. Right. Now where things don't quite go as planned is investigators get Howard's consent to search his house, his van, his workplace, all the things. But the thing is, they don't find anything.

But Major Sousa feels as though investigators have him just on the cusp of a confession when they're forced to end the interrogation. A forced to end. Why'd they have to stop? Did he lawyer up or something? Kind of. And this is actually a big source of frustration

for Major Sousa even decades later when they're talking about it. Basically, what happens is they give Howard a break after like seven or eight hours of questioning, mostly because Major Susa is concerned a confession could be perceived as coerced if they don't. So they take Howard back to this like cell block to rest for a little bit. Which, again, kudos to investigators and making sure they're doing things right. There are plenty of investigators who would just take the confession anyway they could get it, a little bit. Which, again, kudos to investigators and making sure they're doing things right. There are plenty of investigators who would just take the confession anyway they could get

it, you know what I mean? Totally. So anyways, while he's back there resting, this call comes in from an attorney who asks to talk to Howard. And the younger recruits supervising him let him take the call to the ever-lasting chagrin of Major Susa, because while they for sure would have had to let Howard consult with an attorney if he requested one, he hadn't requested one. The attorney for the other way around.

Yeah, the attorney requested to speak with him at apparently his girlfriend's request. And she instructs him not to answer any more questions, which is when this like, chasm develops between investigators and prosecutors. Because at this point, they've got to either put up or shut up. Now that Howard's no longer answering questions, he's either got to be charged, or he's got to be released, and prosecutors won't charge him, not with what they have. And so, I mean, in an instant, just like that, the investigation starts to fall apart.

Within a few months, the task force is cut in half. A month after that, it is disbanded altogether. Now, that being said, investigators aren't just ready to let Howard loose in the community, so they keep him under surveillance for a while. According to Honolulu Hamaside, quote, members of the task force took on a new chore, tailing him, tracking his movements,

the police were close to him around the clock at his home in business. Wherever he went, HPD officers went. When he went on trips to the mainland, so did police. When he left the state, HPD notified the police in the city to which he moved.

End quote. So he leaves Hawaii just pieces out permanently? He does. And as far as anyone can tell, there are no suspected victims in any of the other cities that he moves to. And there were a few other cities he moved to, like dude gets around. He makes his way up the East Coast, visits Europe, lands somewhere in the Midwest by 2002. And Major Sousa says that they keep an eye on him the whole way through, because to be

clear, everyone involved in this case wholeheartedly believes that he was their guy. Like even the prosecutors who wouldn't bring charges. There were theories about why he stopped. If he stopped. If he was the killer in the first place. One theory goes like this, in June of 1986, a pretty soon after the last murder in Oahu, his son pulled over on the side of the road to help

a stranded motorist whose car was stalled. And while he was trying to help this motorist in oncoming vehicle struck and killed him, that's so eerie. This guy who is thought to be a suspect in cases where women in need of assistance or transportation are taken advantage of in murder women and need of assistance or transportation are taken advantage of and murdered, loses his son who's helping someone in need of transportation. Yeah. Does Howard take that as like a sign from the universe or something?

Maybe. Yeah, I mean, like, you could say a couple things, right? Like he gets lost in his own grief, does it make him realize what he's done to other people? I highly doubt that. If again, if it was him, what I know is that apparently in response to losing his son, Howard finds God, says he becomes this born again Christian,

and so maybe it's his faith that does it? If that's, if, you know, if there's so many ifs. Now Howard has since passed away, but he does have a surviving son out there. So in my mind, this case could still be solved, and I don't know why it's not being looked at again. And in my mind, I mean, it's not even just these handful of cases.

There's potential that investigators could connect additional cold cases to him in the process, or rule him out. There's potential that investigators could connect additional cold cases to him in the process or rule him out. For the life of me, I don't know why further DNA testing hasn't been pursued. We know we have this semen. Yes, he is deceased if you don't want to exhume him like what his son give a sample like We we don't have to be ending this episode wondering. And I would assume the families would want to know one's and for all because if not him, then who? Then who? So for now, the prevailing theory is that it was him. And maybe that's why maybe there's

so certain that they don't feel the need to. I... I never tend to agree with so certain you don't feel the need to back that up. If I always wonder why. Yeah. If it was him, maybe, just maybe this spiritual awakening proved strong enough to Kwell his desire to kill again. Or, again, if it was him, maybe he just never got caught again. You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, crimejunkiepodcast.com. And you can follow us on Instagram at crimejunkiepodcast. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Crime Junkie is an audio check production.

So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?