Every Town - The UNSOLVED Serial Killings In The Lewis Clark Valley

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

There’s a very strange and interesting series of murder cases from the pacific northwest that have for the most part, flown under the radar and yet they stand as one of the more mysterious cases out there to this day. 👀 Watch This Episode On Youtube: https://youtu.be/hqYsn4zTDuc 👁 Check out our movie AN ANGRY BOY for FREE! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvtlOlODQ8g&t=5238s https://tubitv.com/movies/100029672/an-angry-boy International & Other Ways To Watch: https://www.anangryboy.com/ 💀 MERCH: https://scary-mysteries.teemill.com/ 💀 Free 7 Day Trail on Exclusive Episodes, Podcasts & Perks! https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries   🎧 Our Other Podcast Scary Mysteries: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZooEZMoZ421WdsOVJhVkT 👁 X: https://x.com/ScaryMysteries1 👁 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.fitzg 👁 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfitzgerald 👁 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficial Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Everytown has a dark side. And there's a very strange and interesting series of murder cases from the Pacific Northwest that have, for the most part, flown under the radar bit. It just never quite made it in to the cultural zeitguise for one reason or another. And chances are you yourself have never heard of the Lewis Clark Valley serial killings, and yet they stand as one of the more mysterious cases out there to this day. Because on the one hand, you have five-plus victims in a concentrated area, with many law enforcement agents saying they know exactly who their man is.

There are just so many pieces of circumstantial evidence that points to this one guy that it can't be a coincidence. Still, though, they can't prove it 100%, so he remains free. On the other side of the coin, there are some experts who claim that because the victims in these cases vary too much in age, gender, and most importantly, in the specific ways they were killed, it's unlikely to the work of one single person. As to who has it correct, well, that's what we'll be digging into today.

Hey, guys, it's Andrew, and thanks for tuning into this episode of Everytown. In this episode, we're looking into the Lewis Clark Valley murders, cluster of unsolved killings and disappearances that took place between 1979 and 1982. Each victim has a unique story to tell. So let's head over to northern Idaho now. and see if we can't hunt down whoever was responsible for these heinous crimes. It's common knowledge at this point that serial killers tend to follow patterns. They like to target people with similar characteristics

and commit their crimes in a familiar way because, after all, that very specific act for them is what drives them to become a killer in the first place. But what if there were a serial murderer out there so cunning and aware of this fact that they deliberately chose different ammo, in order to throw the authorities off. And in fact, that may be that ability to slip through the cracks is their ultimate goal

and what gets them off the most. In this world, it's certainly possible. That's exactly what many think is happening with the Lewis Clark Valley serial murders. If you're not familiar, the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, it's a beautiful region that sits right on the border of Idaho and Washington,

the Snake River, slither its way through the landscape, as the natural border. But for the most part, it's a very charming and safe place to live, which is why in the spring of 1979, when the young girl just up and vanished one evening, it was all that much harder for the residents there to comprehend how it happened. On top of that, this was only the start of a series of several shocking moments,

because over the next three years, four others were turned up dead or disappeared in a series of grisly unsolved crimes. The town of Acidon that sits in the heart of the Lewis Clark Valley, likes to put on a fun county fair every single year. On April 28th of 1979, that party was in full swing in the downtown area. Popcorn, Cotton Candy, and plenty of rides. It attracted kids from all over the area, one of which was 12-year-old Chrissy Wine.

She had spent a good portion of her morning there and later, liked on over to a friend's house to hang out for a bit. It had been a long day out in the sun, and by the afternoon, Chrissy called her mother complaining of feeling ill from the heat and possible dehydration. She had suffered from heat stroke in the past, so her mom knew the protocol, instructed her daughter to sit down and take it easy, put a cold washcloth on her forehead for a bit, and drink a glass of water. And when she was feeling better, she could then ride on home, which was no more than a five-minute bike right away. but Chrissy never came home. At first, her mom figured that once she was feeling better,

she must have just headed back to the fair. It was one of the things she looked forward to the most, so that made sense. Eventually, though, after the sun had set, and she still hadn't returned home, nor to her friends, the reality that she was missing began to sink in. The townsfolk joined forces and canvass the area. The front of the fair got overshadowed pretty quickly,

quickly by the reality that one of their own was gone. Try as they might, nobody ever did find Chrissy. Nearly, all they managed to ever come across were pieces of paper scattered around an old abandoned farm on the outskirts of town. Those papers were Chrissy's schoolwork, presumably thrown out of her backpack that she was carrying that day. Acetin as a whole was never the same after that. The unresolved mystery left a scar that would forever be marked on everybody

who lived there. And just seven short miles north of Assadon since the town of Lewiston, Idaho. And a little over two years after Chrissy vanished, in June of 1981, a 22-year-old University of Idaho student, Kristen David, headed out for a bike ride down Highway 95. She left Moscow, Idaho, where the school was located,

and was headed down to Lewiston to visit family, but she would never reach her destination. For about a week, it looked like another. unsolved disappearance, except in this case ended up getting some closure, though it wasn't the kind anyone wanted. Eight days after making that faithful ride, Kristen was discovered. Her dismembered remains were found by a man fishing along the Snake River. The pieces have been placed in multiple black garbage bags that have been tied closed. Inside, all the chopped up pieces have been individually wrapped up in newspaper one by one.

Kristen's clothing and bike were never found, however, several witnesses reported seeing the young woman on her ride that day. Pass her by, as who saw her being approached by a man driving a brown sedan on the highway. But he was never identified, and it led to a dead end. And Kristen's murder was particularly savage, and she had no known enemies, so this appeared to be a random encounter. It brought home the harsh reality that someone might be out there hunting human for prey. Brought back the memories of Chrissie's vanishing,

had people wondering if her fate might have been similar. That somewhere out in the woods, there might be another set of trash bags waiting to be opened up. I also had them thinking, well, who might be next? They got that answer a little over a year later. Right in the heart of downtown Lewiston sits the Lewiston Civic Center. It's a place for the performing art, so people go there to watch plays and other live events that come into town. And on September 12th of 1982, it was a spot where three people vanished in one single night. In 21-year-old Christina Nelson and her step-sister, 18-year-old Brandy Miller, headed out that Sunday from Christina's apartment to do some shopping.

Christina left a note at her place for her boyfriend, saying they'd be back soon. They planned to stop by the Civic Center, likely to pick up their checks, because they both worked as janitors there before heading home. On that same evening, 35-year-old Stephen Purcell, who was also a fellow janitor at the Civic Center, got dropped off by a friend there so he could use the washer and dryer to get some laundry done. On nights like this, when the place was empty, and needing to kill some time, as Stephen liked to practice, his clarinet on stage in front of the empty seats, he imagined filled with people. And so he did that. But all three of them, Christina, Brandy, and Stephen, never made it home that night. Once again, we were looking at some very mysterious disappearances.

Had they had some sort of plan to possibly all run away together, did they run into the wrong person, or perhaps one of them was the culprit in all this? There were a lot of angles to go in on, but no evidence was found in the Civic Center. It said anything bad had happened. Months later, the two girls' remains were going to be found on a remote hillside off Highway 3, about 40 miles from Lewiston. No, they hadn't been dismembered like Kristen or placed in trash bags. Both had most certainly been murdered.

Or the extent of decomposition was too extreme to figure out what their exact cause of death was. Without any bullets or marks to any bones that a knife or bullet could inflict, it is believed that they most likely were strangled. And as for Stephen's body, well, that was never found. So at first, it led authorities to think that he was probably the one who killed them, but over time, this theory shifted and for good reason. Stephen was a regular guy just living his life. No criminal record at all, and it just didn't make sense that he would be capable of such a thing.

His entire life was in that town. He left his paycheck behind at work. work and the clarinet he loved. He also never touched his bank account again after the night in question. If he had planned to kill the girls and run away somewhere to start a new life, well, you need a bit of cash for sure. What made a lot more sense was that Purcell too had fallen victim to the same killer of Christina and Brandy that night. He wasn't a target necessarily, but had likely been in the wrong place that night and witnessed the killer that evening before he himself was silenced. The killer likely dispatched of him early with no interest in him, and then

had his fun with the girls before taking them out as well. So three people, it appears, were killed by one person that night. And Kristen, who was riding her bike a year prior, was basically the same age as the two most recent girls. And Chrissy, the 12-year-old, well, it's a safe assumption that she was killed around the time of her disappearance. So could this all be the work or the same person? person. It certainly feels like it. For the authorities, if they were going to do it without evidence, we're going to need to try to find a common thread that connected the cases. It would take more than a decade, but eventually they got exactly that. Years past and the investigation and all these cases grew colder, but they were never put totally on ice. Behind the scenes, work was being done,

and finally in 1995, new attention was brought to the whole case when police announced they believe the murders of Kristen, Brandy, and Christina were in fact linked to a single suspect. And this suspect is still alive and out there, so legally we can't name who he is. So for the purpose of this story, we'll just call him Dave. Once you hear all the connections that Dave has to those three victims, as well as young Chrissy, the first girl in 1979,

he'll be hard-pressed not to think he had to be involved in some sort of way in all this. Born in 1945 in Chicago, Dave went on to spend some time in the Navy between 1965 and 68. During his final year, he was stationed in California, and once relieved of his duties, he stayed in the San Francisco Bay Area until 1974, before moving to Melba, Idaho, where he had purchased some land. And why did he decide to move? Well, it might have had something to do with a sketchy night a couple years prior that he was running away from. In 1972, Dave was caught trespassing at a San Jose California mortuary. As someone had seen him creeping around and called it in, that's when the police caught Dave by a window where he had removed the screen.

He had on him a flashlight, camera, and a knife. So was he some sort of necrophiliac, perhaps? Well, probably not, because inside that building, which was basically abandoned after hours, were two teenage girls there that evening for an overnight shift. However, no big crime had occurred, and while he was charged with burglary, he pled that down and only got trespassing on his record. Or really, what were his true intentions.

So a bit of a red flag there, but now get this. Remember Chrissy, who was suffering from heat exhaustion at her friend's house when she called her mom for the last time. Well, just so happened that Dave, was dating Chrissy's friend's older sister who lived in that very home on the day the girl disappeared. And during all those search parties for Chrissy, Dave was there the whole time offering to lend a hand in any way he could. He was at the house, on the day it all happened,

and told Belize that he had seen Chrissy that afternoon, but had no idea what had happened to her after that. And with the next victim, Kristen, wouldn't you know that Dave regularly drove up and down that stretch of Highway 19, where she disappeared as he made deliveries for his job around the area she was last seen. And did he spot her and just happen to decide to pull over and offer a ride? Possibly. Many killers have done the same move in the past. But here's where it all gets really crazy.

In September of 82, when the three victims who worked at the Lewiston Civic Center went missing, guess who also worked at the center? none other than our man Dave. He spoke with police about them at the time, as all employees were questioned. And while he refused a polygraph, he did say that on the night in question, he saw Stephen at around 9 p.m. before he left to go grab some pizza. He also said that he returned to the Civic Center around 10 p.m., where he slept on a couch until around 4 a.m.

During that time, he didn't hear anything or see anything out of the ordinary. And yet, we know something very strange happened right there that very night. And Dave is right there at the time of this crime. He's right there on Highway 95 and was right at the house where Chrissy was last seen. If that's all a coincidence, then that's pretty damn strange. And Dave partaking in the searches and talking with the police, divulging all that information, if he were the one to do it, It seems like he enjoyed toying around.

And that's not an uncommon trait for serial killers to have. It's sociopathic behavior 101. On top of all this, if you're still not convinced, back in 1963 when Dave was just 18 years old and living in Chicago, the body of 8-year-old Diane Taylor was found in an alley, having been stabbed and strangled to death, with multiple cuts across her body, including a puncture to the heart. Her killer was never caught, but she was last seen alive attending her YMCA camp that summer.

One of her counselors? Well, I was Dave. Dave was one of 700 male subjects brought in for questioning when it all went down, but again, nothing ever came of it. Despite all the advances in DNA technology, little was ever collected from the crime scenes, and so investigators have never been able to definitively link Dave or anyone else. to the crimes. And so, all these cases currently remain unsolved. The two bodies of Chrissy and Stephen have never been found, so who knows if they might contain any answers if they were, but given how much time has passed, it's highly doubtful. Overall, this whole case surrounding Dave is truly

a unicorn in the law enforcement world. Rarely do you get so close to the perpetrator, essentially knowing they were involved in yet there's not a damn thing you can do about. it. Typically, these monsters either get caught or you have no idea who they are, but you don't often see the person right there in front of you while still having your hands tied. One of the most convincing questions as to how Dave was involved is to just ask yourself, how many times have you been questioned by police about a murder? The answer is probably none. Dave, he's been questioned about three different murders and two missing persons across three completely separate crimes. and so either he is coincidentally finding himself in the exact same place as a bunch of different killers

all around the country in Chicago, Washington and Idaho, at a home and his workplace, almost walking locked step with these unknown psychopaths, or Dave, much more simply, is a serial killer. So that's going to do it for this week's episode of Everytown. Hope you all enjoyed it. Remember, you can watch all these podcasts over on our YouTube. channel called Scary Mysteries, so go check that out. And for exclusive episodes and a library of strange cases to go through, go check us out on patreon.com slash scary mysteries. You can sign up and get a free seven-day trial. Remember to come back next week for another episode filled with

scary, strange and mysterious stories, because you never know. Maybe your town will be next.