Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Brutal serial rapist STUNS COPS, confesses to UNSOLVED MURDERS...Serial killer or grab for fame?

Episode Date: February 20, 2020

Between 1991 and 2001, Mark Douglas Burns was a long haul trucker, and he has now been linked to the unsolved rapes of at least 11 women and girls across the country. Last year, law enforcement matched DNA evidence from those cases to a genealogy DNA database. Burns is currently facing 17 charges in Utah, which range from aggravated sexual assault to aggravated burglary to kidnapping. Now from his jail cell, Burns has confessed to at least three murders.Joining Nancy Grace today to discuss: Ashley Willcott - Judge and trial attorney, Anchor on Court TV, www.ashleywillcott.com  John Wagner - Warner Robins Ga Chief of Police Dr. Michelle Dupre - South Carolina Medical Examiner & Author of “Homicide Investigation Field Guide Dr Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Beverly Hills, www.drbethanymarshall.com Levi Page - Investigative reporter, Crime Online Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. A guy now known based on DNA of raped 11 victims, binding them and raping them over and over and over now is confessing to not one, two, but three murders. Is it real? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. He turned my apple to lay on the floor and he tied my eyes. And he told me to undress. That's when I knew he was going to rape me.

And during this, your mom was assaulted too? Yes. Everything that I do, I want to try to save her, but it was impossible. Sometimes he touched my leg, and I feel so worried, scared, because I was thinking that he's going to rape me. I heard the door open, and that's when I knew my brother was coming. How awful. Hearing our friends at Cole Justice Sex Crimes. crimes. A long haul driver suspected as a serial rapist now confesses he's not a serial rapist. He is a serial killer. Take a listen to our friends at Fox 13, Adam Herberts. Police have been looking for a man that they call the Clearfield Rapist, the man that they say assaulted AT FOX 13'S ADAM HERBERTS. POLICE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A MAN THEY CALL THE CLEARFIELD RAPIST. THE MAN THEY SAY

ASSAULTED ABOUT 10 VICTIMS RANGING IN THE AGE FROM 11 YEARS OLD TO 52 YEARS OLD. TODAY POLICE SAY THEY HAVE THEIR GUY. A MAN NEIGHBORS DESCRIBE AS A MODEL CITIZEN. HIS NAME SITS ON THE MAILBOX IN PLAIN SIGHT RIGHT IN FRONT

OF HIS RUN OF THE MILL HOUSE IN SUBURBAN OGDEN. WHEN I SAW MARK BEING TAKEN TO THE CITY, I SAID, I'M NOT GOING TO LET HIM GO. His name sits on the mailbox in plain sight right in front of his run-of-the-mill house in suburban Ogden. When I saw Mark being taken out in handcuffs, I said, that can't be. Mark Burns, a 69-year-old man accused of terrible attacks on at least 10 victims. At this point in time, we're not sure how many victims. If additional victims do come forward with this case, that wouldn't surprise us. For years, police have been looking for a suspect called the Clearfield Rapist, someone who terrified women in the area between 1991 to 2001. I would

have been starting law school in Alabama back in 1991. First time I became aware of his name was this year. The details of each case are gruesome. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. This is a long-haul truck driver, not a serial rapist, but a serial killer as well. Joining me, an all-star panel, Ashley Wilcott, judge, trial lawyer, anchor, Court TV at AshleyWilcott.com. John Wagner, chief of police of Warner Robins, Georgia. Dr. Michelle Dupree, South Carolina, Medical Examiner, Author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide. Dr. Bethany Marshall, Psychoanalyst,

joining us out of L.A. at DrBethanyMarshall.com. A genetic genealogist, the so-called gene hunter, Cheryl LaPointe. But right now to Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Levi Page, who is this guy, a long-haul truck driver who we know has murdered 11 women, now claiming he's a serial killer as well? Yes, Nancy, it's Mark Burns, a 69-year-old long-haul truck driver. And, Nancy, he was arrested for a series of rapes that happened during a 10-year time span in Wyoming and Utah from 1991 to 2001. And the age range of his victims, Nancy, this is scary, The youngest, 11 years old. The oldest, 52 years old.

So he's raped children. And some of the stories that have been released about what this man has done is horrifying. In the year 2000, a woman called law enforcement. She said that she was asleep and she was awakened by a stranger that had a knife to her throat and he was threatening to kill her. He blindfolded her, tied her up and raped her. And then in 2001, another woman said that she and her 19-year-old daughter were raped during a home invasion, that he came into their home and he even made the male members of the family watch. And that's what's so scary, Nancy, is the woman, the victim, she says that she told him, hey, there are men in this home trying to scare him off. And all that did was sort of embolden

him. He went to their bedrooms, got them, tied them up and forced them to watch the rape of this woman and her 19 year old daughter. And then this woman's son, who was a young adult, he was working. He came home from work, interrupted the rape. And the guy met him at the door with a gun and then forced him to watch as well. And all of the victims say that this man smelled of alcohol. They even gave a sketch to police. But years went by, Nancy, decades. And he evaded law enforcement until DNA, familial DNA, eventually caught him. Take a listen to this.

When I opened the door, I saw this figure that I didn't recognize. He was molesting my mom, touching her, and my sister giving him a... At that moment, I had a gun in my face. The gun was in my forehead, and he told me to close my eyes. Did you see his face? I saw him literally. There was second. This is straight out of a horror movie.

He tied me up with a tie. Did he blindfold you too? Yeah, that was the first thing he did. He seemed really calm. He knew I was coming. That's probably why he was not there. He got his clothes on. He handed my clothes to me.

And then he gave me a kiss and went off. Whoa, he kisses her and leaves like they had a date? You're hearing our friends at Cole Justice Sex Crimes. What about it, Dr. Bethany Marshall? Well, there are certain types of rapists who imagine that the rape is consensual. They imagine that the victim wants it. But I don't think he falls into this category. I think he would be more what we call a sadistic rapist and an anger rapist. They're two different

typologies, but one, the sadistic rapist gets pleasure out of seeing the look of fear on the victim's face, and the anger rapist is taking out anger against all women. But Nancy, you know who this reminds me of is the BTK killer. Remember, he targeted entire families. It wasn't just the one intended victim. And he took pleasure in seeing an entire family suffer. And I think this guy is also an exhibitionist. He wants people to see him engage in the act of rape.

And he also likes the idea that he has power over all the men in the household. So I think the goodbye kiss is almost like he had his version of a date, like the most thrilling, satisfying encounter he could have, according to his sick, twisted personality. Joining me, Ashley Wilcott, judge, trial lawyer, anchor Court TV at Ashley Wilcott dot com. What do you make of his M.O., Ashley? How would you describe it? First of all, let me just say, blech. The thought that he thought it was his date, and I believe, Dr. Marshall, I have so much respect for, and I believe that's probably true, but I just almost can't stomach it. All right, his M.O. Here's the thing we know about serial,

any type of criminal, whether it's rape, aggravated assault, murders, they tend to have an MO, thankfully, because Nancy, as you well know, that's how they're often identified, how they're caught, and how you can prove that they've committed all of these different crimes often. So the MO is consistent, and that is typical when it is one person doing the same thing over and over. And so all of those characteristics that Dr. Marshall just described and said he was doing this and the way he was doing it caused him to have similar modus operandi such as victims being bound repeated sexual assaults over an extended period

of time the smell of an alcoholic beverage victims living in apartment communities suspects utilize the suspect utilizing sliding glass doors the use of a firearm or a knife and other personal characteristics and crime scene evidence that we will not be releasing at this time. It's believed that the suspect has committed additional crimes in the western United States and we'll talk about that here in just a moment. The Clearfield Police Department and detectives from these other agencies continue to follow upon additional leads. We also were informed of a genetic genealogist by the name of Dr. Barbara Ray Venter.

And we made contact with Dr. Ray Venter and spoke with her about potentially using familia DNA or DNA to create family trees in relationship to the suspect. You are hearing our friends at Clearfield PD. That's a press conference on Mark Byrne. That was Chief Kelly Bennett speaking. Now a serial rapist, a known serial rapist, claims, hey, I'm not just a serial rapist. I'm a serial killer too.

Why? Why would you blurt that out? We were talking about a unique MO, typically attacking at apartment complexes through sliding glass doors as entry, using a weapon, be it a knife or a gun, repeated sex attacksandi, method of operation, to connect multiple rapes together. I recall one case I had, the red rapist would always wear red clothing and would leave his victim a red rose after the rape. Always attacked in the summertime. Always came in through an open window and attacked in a specific region of town. Very often making his victims then read the Bible after the attack.

But now we have genealogy. Joining me right now, a renowned genetic genealogist, the gene hunter, Cheryl LaPointe. How does it work, Cheryl? Nancy, when we have DNA that we can put in these databases to find shared ancestors, as a genealogist, we can build family trees and we can work with law enforcement to find leads to help them find an area or a person who possibly could be a suspect. It works exactly the same way we do when we search for adoptive biological families. And this process is proving to be very successful in solving criminal cases and putting these perpetrators behind bars. Sometimes the particular defendant may not have his or her DNA in CODIS.

That is the National DNA Databank. You can get DNA for a lot of different reasons. Like if you're a civil servant, if you work with the government, a lot of times DNA or fingerprints are put into a data bank. But luckily we have what is called familial DNA. Listen. For the past two years, we've been in contact with Dr. Ray Venter. We followed up on multiple leads and exhausted those leads as much as possible and continued to work with her in order to build family trees that would link this individual to other family members that were in the DNA and the genealogical databases. Most recently, working with Dr. Ray Venter, we were notified of a potential close family member. Subsequently, as mentioned in the

information of the warrant, we located an individual that was potentially the half-brother of our suspect. We interviewed that individual and obtained a DNA swap from that individual and confirmed that, in fact, he was the half-brother of our suspect. Through additional investigation and that interview, we were able to identify Mark Douglas Burns from Ogden, Utah. So, in a nutshell, Cheryl, a point, the gene hunter? How does familial DNA work? Familial DNA is searching. The DNA that is found at a crime scene is run through the offender data bank. And what they're looking for, since they don't have an exact match, they're looking for a genetically similar match that may be a sibling, a child, or a parent

that would lead them to the perpetrator. You know, we are getting this through familial DNA. How many women have been raped by this one person? A long-haul truck driver charged with raping at least 11 women. How many more are there? But he's not happy with that. He wants to brag and claim that he's actually a serial killer. Is that true? To Chief John Wagner, joining me,

Chief of Police, Warner Robins, Georgia, why is it that perps behind bars have to brag? Well, now he's caught. Let's go ahead and get our fame and publicity out there while we can. He had been performing the perfect crime for years. He had gotten better at it. And now that he's caught, let's go ahead and make a name for myself

because I'm never going to get out. You know, I don't understand that the desire to brag. It's amazing to me. They can brag all they want, but what they're saying has to jive with, has to match up to forensic evidence in an actual homicide. But now take a listen to our friends at KTSU Fox 13, Adam Herbert. Census incarceration sources across the United States tell Fox 13 they've linked more cases to Mark Burns and not just rape cases. They say he has now confessed to at least three murders. One of those cases was the 2001 killing

of a 28-year-old woman named Sue Ellen Gunderson Higgins in Evanston, Wyoming. Her husband was arrested in New Mexico, but charges were eventually dropped the case. The judge was charged with a crime of assault and murder. The defendant was named Sue Ellen Gunderson Higgins in Evanston, Wyoming. Her husband was arrested in New Mexico, but charges were eventually

dropped as they realized he was wrongfully accused. He's going to look into hiring private counsel. Burns defense attorney has not responded to Fox 13's request for comment. She was supposed to show up to a hearing on Monday to defend burns, but. Asked to reschedule due to a medical emergency. To be honest, I think we're still trying to process the whole thing.

When we reached out to the Davis County District Attorney, he said he could not release any additional information about this case. So far, Mark Douglas Burns has not been charged with murder or any additional rape charges since his arrest. Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. What can you tell me about the murder of Sue Ellen Gunderson Higgins? She was 28 years old. She was a mother of one. And in 2001, she was gunned down in the driveway of her family's home in Evanston, Wyoming. And police initially arrested her husband, her widower, and then he

was released when they didn't have enough evidence to move forward with charges. And if Burns actually killed this woman, can you imagine the pain that that man went through being falsely accused and arrested for killing his wife when he didn't do it? That makes it even more disgusting, Nancy. Well, wait a minute, wait a minute. I mean, I feel bad about the husband that was falsely charged. Those charges have been dropped. But what about Sue Ellen Gunnarsson-Higgins? What about her?

Just 28 years old, married mom of one in her own family's driveway there in Evanston, Wyoming, gunned down. What leads us to believe that this guy, Mark Burns, could have killed her? Apparently, Nancy, he has confessed to it behind bars, and that's not it. According to Fox 13 in Salt Lake City, Utah, they're reporting that he's confessed to two other murder cases as well. We're not getting the specifics on those cases, but if it's true,

that could make him a serial killer, Nancy. What about it to Ashley Wilcott? Do you buy the confession? I mean, it's not part of a rape. She was gunned down in the driveway. You know, I really don't, and I can't give you a good clear reason other than my instinct. I just think that I agree that he is looking for attention, that he's trying to make a bigger splash. It's not his M.O., so I'm hesitant to buy it. What about it to Dr. Bethany Marshall? What do you think? I agree. I don't think this was his victim. This is not his M.O.

He loves to rape and kill in front of entire families after drinking heavily. He has a certain pattern. This is simply not his pattern. Now, we know what is a pattern. He has a certain pattern. This is simply not his pattern. Now, we know what is a pattern. He loves to brag. He loves to insert himself into the notoriety of other cases. And he has nothing but his memories to fall back on at this point, Nancy. So we know that these serial killers who can no longer kill, they can't actually perform the actual crime. They start to relive again and again.

They brag, they talk about it, it becomes a part of almost like a masturbatory life as well. So it becomes very enlivened in their memory, and I would chalk it up to that. Okay, to Levi Page, is there anything actually connecting him to any of the murders that we know of? Nothing other than a confession, Nancy. Nothing other than a confession, Nancy. Nothing other than a confession. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I don't want to say that my daughter was in my home. I was 19 years old. I was already sleeping, and I heard my mom's voice saying,

you know, Rosana, wake up. There is someone in the house who's assaulting us. He said, turn around, don't look at me. So I just looked down and they went to my brother's room, but in my brother's room there was my uncle sleeping. And when I opened my eyes, I see the gun in my head. He told us to go inside my parents' room and I saw my dad tied up. You are hearing our friends at Cold Justice Sex Crimes. A guy now known based on DNA to have raped 11 victims, binding them and raping them over and over and over.

Now is confessing to not one, two, but three murders. Is it real? We don't know the specifics of those confessions. They don't sound like his M.O., but criminals can switch M.O.s. Very often, criminals are ruled out because the M.O. changes. That is not necessarily true. But to Dr. Michelle Dupree, South Carolina medical examiner, author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide,

if what he is saying matches up to forensic evidence from the body, maybe he is telling the truth. What kind of evidence would you look at on these three murder victims' bodies to determine if his story is accurate? Well, Nancy, we would look for a lot of things. Look for the totality of circumstances of the crime scene. What was he able to tell us about the general appearance? We would certainly look for evidence on the victim hair fibers dna even fingerprints can be found on victims on skin we would look for anything like that we would make sure that what he said actually is what we saw in relation to the crime scene and to the evidence that we would take from the body and not only that actually wilcott for instance if said, I shot her in the driveway of her home,

she fell, then I walked up and I shot her three more times, point blank in the head. Okay, what if he said that? And if those facts were not known, had not been publicized, that would generally corroborate his story, forensically. That's right. And that's what I didn't mean to interrupt you, but that's exactly what I was going to say, Nancy, is when you have those kinds of details. And that's why police often don't give all of the details for investigations, because you don't want everybody to have access to it. So that if and when someone does confess, you can compare the details they give to the actual forensics from the crime scene. The details make the difference for a confession. An evil serial rapist now confessing to not one but three murders. To Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, is there anything in this

guy Mark Burns' history to indicate he could also be a killer? What do we know about his criminal past? Nancy, he was a previous resident of the state of North Carolina. And in 1975, he was convicted of rape. And then in 1989, after he was released, he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of voyeurism, where apparently he was a peeping Tom. Okay, wait a minute. Run that by me again. Okay, so the previous resident of the state of North Carolina, and in 1975, he was convicted of raping a woman. He was released in 1989 and was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of voyeurism.

Apparently, that stemmed from when he was a peeping Tom. I've got bad stories about peeping Toms. I know it sounds somewhat harmless compared to other crimes, but in every peeping Tom case I've ever handled, those guys go on to do much more violent crimes. You know, I'm curious to John Wagner, chief of police, Warner Robins, Georgia. Chief Wagner, do you believe this guy could be responsible for three murders or is he just enjoying the notoriety? And how can you tell? Definitely odd that he's speaking about murder. You know, the rape M.O. certainly fits him. And even from the peep and tom, I mean, he's built up to his perfect crimes

and has perfected it. To go out and shoot somebody, now you've put yourself out in the public. There's so much of a chance to get caught. That just doesn't really fit his MO. But the police don't put out all the information when we speak to the media. There's things that we keep back that only the criminal would know. And if he didn't know these things when they went ahead and interviewed him with the departments that had these murder cases, you know, perhaps there was some information that only he knew. But just his speaking back and forth and saying that he did this,

you know, I'm not really buying it. So why do they do it, Dr. Bethany Marshall? Why brag behind bars? Well, let me talk about the peeping Tom, if you don't mind. There are five perversions in the DSM. Voyeurism, peeping Tom, exhibitionism, doing something in front of other people, like raping in front of other people. Fraudism, which is rubbing up against an unsuspecting person in public, sadism, and pedophilia. So usually when somebody has one perversion, they have multiple

perversions. And I would say back to the bragging thing, that could be a part of the exhibitionism, just like he rapes in front of other people. Now he's bragging to anyone and everyone who can hear, look, this is what I did. This is how I did it. Trying to paint a picture in their mind, because as I said before, and I was not just a throwaway line, that this is a part of his masturbatory fantasy, meaning that this is what he does to gain arousal. It's not just a brag. It's not just to like get these board behind bars. But this is one of his perversions is to show off the crime in front of other people. Also, he peeped through people's windows because he was preparing to strike, you know, so he has to see what the house looks like

and, you know, where points of entry are and all of that. To Levi Page, how strong is the DNA evidence against Burns and the rape cases? Nancy, it's very strong. I mean, there's no way out of a DNA match. And, you know, to Cheryl's point, the gene hunter, genetic genealogist, Cheryl, I have had cases where DNA likelihood is one in a trillion. Likelihood that this is not the perp. One in a trillion.

How does that happen, Shira? Nancy, when this DNA evidence is found, they look for the difference from one person to another and it can come down to very specific specific DNA and if these cases prove that this DNA links these 11 cases they have the right man they like detective said, they would not have made an arrest if they weren't certain that they had the right man. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Troy Rawlings is with the Davis County District Attorney's Office. The prosecutor believes his team has a strong enough case to make these charges stick. And time will tell if our office can meet our burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of each offense. Linked to cases in Wyoming, Ogden, Layton and Clearfield, Burns has been on law enforcement

radar for years. They always had DNA evidence from the crime scenes but never named to match it to until recently as a result of technological advances. You can't match up a DNA profile from a crime scene to a person if you don't have that person's profile in any database at all and so for years matter of fact we didn't even know Mark Burns's name in our office until 2019. In a press release, Clearfield Police called the sexual assaults incomprehensible, brutal, and methodical attacks on females, going on to say Burns forced the victim's family members to watch the violent and repeated attacks. And Clearfield PD believes there are more victims in their city. If somebody does come forward and they make credible allegations,

it can be investigated, vetted, and we can make a determination on, of course we're interested in that and law enforcement is always interested in that. Confesses to murder? That's right. A suspect in Clearfield serial rape cold cases now confessing to not one, but multiple murders. Numerous murders. This guy had the moniker Clearfield Rapist, although he raped in multiple jurisdictions. Rock Springs, Wyoming. Riverdale City, Utah. Ogden, Utah. Clearfield, Utah, Laramie, Wyoming, Layton, Utah, and more, sometimes forcing family members of the victims to watch the rapes. But since he's behind bars thanks to DNA, we now know he is not only linked to more cases, but is confessing to at least three murders and an unknown amount of additional rapes.

Curious, we know that he will come in armed with a knife or a gun. Can bullets in these murders be connected to one gun, and is it the same gun? We know Burns was a long-distance trucker. Do you suspect, out to Dr. Bethany Marshall, that there will be more rape victims and possibly murders across the country connected to him? Not only do I think there will be more rape victims and possibly murder victims, and possibly murders across the country connected to him? Not only do I think there will be more rape victims and possibly murder victims, but sometimes people choose a profession that allows them to act out their compulsion.

So if he has a compulsion to rape and kill, wouldn't it be a perfect profession to be a long-haul truck driver? There's a lot of anonymity going by different routes. Part of the compulsion to kill is taking a great deal of time to select appropriate victims. So he has all that time to think, to look, and to select a certain victim type or a victim neighborhood. He probably drives through neighborhoods where he can see what kind of construction there is, if there's sliding glass doors, what kind of, you know, economic level families are in, if they're protected, if they're vulnerable. So I think his profession goes

hand in hand with a lot of victims. Back to you, Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. What can he expect if he goes to trial i mean granted he'll be convicted i believe knock on wood with dna but what about the sentences for all these rapes well nancy is charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault six counts of aggravated kidnapping two counts of aggravated burglary and one count of aggravated robbery. And in the state of Utah, Nancy, when it comes to sexual assault, and if the perpetrator has a previous sexual offense on their record, they can be sentenced to life in prison without parole. And remember, he was convicted of rape in North Carolina. So that applies to Mark Burns in these cases in Utah. So he's looking at

life without the possibility of parole. I'm very curious as to whether he actually committed the murders he is now confessing to. One name that has come up is 28 year old sue ellen gunderson higgins evanston wyoming it's definitely the right jurisdiction because he has committed rapes in that area including rock springs river uh laramie many in utah as well. That would work. The MO is a little different, though, gunning her down in the driveway. Hmm. Very, very curious. I'm really interested in the whole MO change. Chief of Police, Warner Robins, Georgia, John Wagner.

Chief Wagner, often we discount criminals because it's a different M.O., but criminals have been known to change M.O. You're correct. They can change M.O. as they progress more in their career criminality. But in this case, you know, it does deviate from what he has done, you know, with the numerous rapes. But in this case, it could have been that now he's been caught or this woman recognizes him. Maybe at some point in time they had recognized each other. Does she now see his tag number?

Does she know what truck he's driving? It's been known that he brings a gun to the rapes. So, you know, he had every means to kill this woman. So it's not outside of what could have been done, but it's certainly outside of his MO of committing rapes. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Just because he's changing MO does not mean it precludes him from being the perp. Take a listen to our friend Adam Herbert's Fox 13.

To be honest, I think we're still trying to process the whole thing. We couldn't have asked for a better neighbor. Mark Burns is a truck driver who moved to Utah after getting out of prison. He was convicted of sexual assault in North Carolina in 1974. Has he been a model citizen since? Who knows?

His next-door neighbors didn't know. They loved him. They even had a key to his house to help with chores when he was out of town. They described the inside as spotless. We like to think that maybe he wasn't living a double life. We like to think that. But whether that's true or not, we don't know. Right now, Burns is facing 17 charges and could face a maximum sentence of 15 years to life. We wait as justice unfolds.

Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.