Going West: True Crime - I-70 Killer // 223

Episode Date: August 3, 2022

In the spring of 1992, a string of murders began off the I-70 freeway in the Midwest. The killer claimed at least six victims, all of whom were store clerks, but to this day, no one has ever been caught, despite numerous eyewitness accounts. This is the story of the I-70 Killer. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. St Louis Post-Dispatch: https://www.newspapers.com/image/141418456 2. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18229019/patricia-lynn-magers 3. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156301477/robin-sara-fuldauer 4. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33269239/patricia-ann-smith 5. Dark Minds: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B075MPLZ8K/ref=atv_yv_hom_7_c_unkc_1_1 6. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150439470/michael-milo-mccown 7. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84177301/nancy-christine-kitzmiller 8. The Indianapolis Star: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40200725/obituary-for-robin-sara-fuldauer-aged/ 9. The Kansas City Star: https://www.newspapers.com/image/682087754/?terms=patricia%20magers&match=1 10. Kake: https://www.kake.com/story/46501715/30-years-later-husband-of-one-of-the-i70-killers-victims-hopes-case-gets-solved 11. KSDK: https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/investigations/victim-family-find-i-70-serial-killer-case-acts-st-charles/63-d7eb3653-20ea-493a-9291-46cbbae685dc 12. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32558927/sarah-lynn-blessing 13. The Kansas City Star: https://www.newspapers.com/image/682087754/?terms=patricia%20magers&match=1 14. St. Louis Dispatch: https://www.newspapers.com/image/141418483 15. St. Louis Today: ttps://www.stltoday.com/other-victims-who-may-be-linked/article_91fd62c8-9455-11e1-96ae-0019bb30f31a.html 16. KMOV: https://www.kmov.com/2022/01/20/unsolved-2001-homicide-leads-investigators-working-i-70-serial-killer-case-missouri-man/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on to crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to going west. Thank you everybody for tuning in today. How you doing Heath? I'm doing well. Might as well ask ya. It's really hot outside, but I'm doing great. It's extremely hot outside. Um, thank you guys for tuning in. And thank you so much to Casey for recommending this case that we have for you today. I feel like I wouldn't be surprised if other people recommended this one. Yeah, I'm sure that a few other people have as well. Yeah, we haven't done a, like done a highway killer in kind of a minute.

Yeah. I think the last one we did was maybe a year ago. Yeah. What was that, the eye 20 killer? Uh-huh. The in organ. Yeah, yeah. That case is crazy, but this one, yeah.

This one is insane too. So thank you so much to Casey for recommending it. Thank you all for tuning in. And let's talk about it. All right, guys, this is episode 223 of Going West. So let's talk about it. All right guys, this is episode 223 of Going West, so let's get into it. In the spring of 1992, a string of murders began off the I-70 freeway in the Midwest. The killer claimed at least six victims, all of whom were store clerks, but to this day, no one has ever been caught, despite numerous eyewitness accounts. This is the story of the I-70 Killer. Interstate 70 is a major east-west highway, the fifth largest in the nation, and it spans

from Co-Fort, Utah to Baltimore, Maryland, a length of over 2,000 miles. The murders that we're talking about today begin in Indianapolis, Indiana in April of 1992, so this is where it all started as far as investigators know. The first victim was 26-year-old Robin Fuldauer. Robin's Sarah Fuldauer was born on December 16, 1965 to parents Elliott and Carol, and she had two older sisters named Lynn and Susan. Robin's family was very active in their local synagogue, the Indianapolis Hebrew congregation,

which is the oldest synagogue in Indianapolis. Known for her intelligence and work ethic, Robin graduated from Lawrence Central High School in Northeast Indianapolis, second in her class, and then went on to attend Indian University, which we have talked about many times on this show. We have. After working her way up to the manager position at Pick Way, where she stayed for three years, she moved back home to North Indianapolis, and was hired to manage a Payless shoe source at 7-325 Pendleton Pike.

Now, this store was located directly off the exit ramp to Highway 465, which connected with I-70, just 3 miles south. So it's not like directly off I-70, it's just a few miles off it. But pretty close. Yeah, it's like right there. Robin was described by friends and family as kind, warm, and caring. A neighbor at the apartment complex she settled in near payless, remembered her as having a heart of gold, and another said she always had a smile on her face. And a big dream of hers included getting married and starting a family, so that was

something that she was really looking forward to as she got older. Around 3pm on Wednesday, April 8th, 1992, an employee of the Speedway gas station next door to pay less shoes popped in and found the store empty, and the cash register was open. Assuming that there had been a robbery, she left and dialed 911 without noticing Robin's lifeless body in the back of the store. Robin wasn't even supposed to be working that day, but a coworker had called out so she stepped in. then it probably would have been the other person. Right, which is just a sad. Exactly, so either way terrible, but I'm sure her family really holds on to that. Yeah, absolutely.

So, it had been a quiet day with no customer since lunchtime. But around 1.30 pm, a man had entered the store, walked her to the back room, and shot her in the back of the head execution style with a 22 caliber gun and then left her face down on the floor. He took a mirror 90 dollars out of the cash register and then fled. Jeff Mayrose, the manager of the paint store directly across the street from the pay less shoe store, said that he noticed a strange man lurking in the area around 1pm, so 30 minutes before the man entered the store and 2 hours before Robin's body was found.

He assumed that the man was a hitchhiker and described him wearing dirty clothes that it looked like he had slept in, including a green coat and a duffel bag about 3 feet long. After circling the building several times on foot, he sat on the concrete curb outside of a burger restaurant next door for over 30 minutes, rummaging through his bag before starting across the street to the shoe store. Jeff also described him as talking and giggling to himself, which makes this thing so much more eerie, just the fact that he's like laughing and giggling right before he goes into a store to murder someone.

And the fact that Jeff noticed this and took all this information down mentally to relay later to police after a murder had occurred. Yeah. So the next time that he saw him, he was apparently trying to hitch a ride near the highway, and seemed in no apparent hurry, and at least four other people had called in similar tips of a suspicious man in the area at the time of 26-year-old Robin Fouldauer's murder. Robin's rabbi, who had known her since she attended nursery school at the congregation, said, quote, here was a person who was just beginning to blossom.

It's just a terrible thing. Three days later, tragedy struck again, and the I-70 killer claimed his second and third victims. Both, by the way, are named Patricia, so don't get confused. We have 32-year-old Patricia Majors and 23-year-old Patricia Smith. Now, this time, the murders took place in Wichita, Kansas, almost 10 whole hours by car, and 700 miles,

or over 1,100 kilometers away from Indianapolis. Now, Patricia Lynn Steud, a.k.a. Patricia majors, who went by Trish, but we're going to call her Patricia, was born on June 18th, 1959, to Alfred and Dorothy Stood, and she was raised in Wichita, Kansas with her brother Bob. At 20 years old, she married Mark Majors, hence becoming Patricia Majors, and just over a year before her death, in February of 1991, she bought a bridal gown and tuxedo shop, which totally fulfilled her lifelong dream. She called it Le Brie de la Gondse and Sir Knight Tuxedo, situated in a chain of shops on Kellogg Street in Wichita.

Her husband Mark said about her quote, She never worried about the money. She wanted to make people happy. She just loved helping people. She got a lot of self satisfaction out of that. Patricia Anne Trendol was born on September 15, 1968, to Robert and Evelyn Trendol, alongside her brother William, also in Wichita, Kansas. At 18, Patricia started dating Norman Smith, and she would later become Patricia Smith. While attending Wichita State University in pursuit of a nursing degree,

Patricia started working with Patricia Majors at her shop as a bridal consultant, which was a position that she absolutely loved, but ultimately she wanted to work with kids. Her mom Evelyn said of her quote, she wanted to work with babies. She loved babies in little animals. And she enormed, by the way, married just nine months before her death. And I just, that just makes me feel so sad for her husband, obviously for her and her family as well, but they had just gotten married nine months before. Like I can't even imagine losing your new bride that quickly. I know. And she loved her job, but she was working

on what she wanted to do for a living as well, so just so sad So on Saturday April 11th 1992 the shop had been buzzing all day Proms and summer weddings were right around the corner The ladies were looking forward to closing up when 6 p.m. rolled around But they told a customer who had called on the phone that they would stay open a few minutes late so that he could pick up a cummerbund, also known as a waste sash.

But when the customer arrived and entered the store, instead of the young women that he was looking for, he was greeted with a dishevelled man in the barrel of a gun. Holding the gun on the customer, the man, sorry, had a brief confrontation and somehow this customer convinced the man to let him go. Terrified and confused about what he had just witnessed, the man bolted from the shop and waited an hour before contacting police. The customer believed that he had arrived between 6.15 and 6.20 pm. When police arrived, they found a scene that would prove to be eerily similar to the one that had just occurred three days earlier in Indianapolis, but they wouldn't know that

yet. The two women were again found in the back room, faced down, and had been shot in the back of the head. A small amount of cash had been taken from the register just like before. Patricia Majors had been shot twice in the head and died instantly. When she hadn't come home on time, her husband Mark Majors in the middle of making dinner for the two of them, ran by the store to check on her, and found himself in the middle of a crime scene.

The Wichita deputy coroner who performed the autopsy, Dr. William Eckert, was a close family friend of hers, and had even given her away at her wedding. God, that must be tough. Yeah, and he said of her quote, she was bright, happily married, and she liked to laugh. Patricia Smith actually survived for about an hour after she had been shot, which is why it is so frustrating that this customer within an hour to call police. Like, I know that he didn't know about the two women being shot, but she's, you know.

Yeah, it's, yeah, I mean, it's really unfortunate. that he didn't know about the two women being shot but t s you know yeah it's yeah I mean it's really unfortunate and maybe he was trying to calm his nerves after what had just happened and really kind of wasn't thinking straight in the moment yeah or at least didn't think that anything serious had happened or he didn't have a phone near him and he was trying to get to a phone sure the hell knows so when patricious miss husband Norman had arrived at the shop, also worried, and checking

on his wife's whereabouts, he was instructed to go to the St. Joseph Medical Center where his wife had been taken, but unfortunately by the time he arrived, she was gone. Bob Trendle, Patricia Smith's dad, kept a scrapbook of articles, newspaper clippings, pictures, and pertinent information, just hoping that they would lead to answers. But sadly, he passed away in 2018, no closer to finding out what happened to his daughter. Mark Majors is also still eagerly awaiting answers in the death of his wife, and in an interview with him in May of this year, he said, quote, She was just one of those people that had the personality that people enjoyed to be around.

And I certainly did. And I felt very blessed that God chose me to spend 12 years with her. But one promising thing did come out of these two tragic deaths. We now have a witness. Based on the account of the customer and the bridal shop that evening, the killer appeared to be between his early 30s and early 40s and around 5'8 in slight and build between 140 and 150 pounds. He had sandy blonde hair with a reddish tint, around 1 or 2 inches long, and had stubble on his face. A police sketch was rendered and circulated based on this information, which we did post on our socials if you want to go look at that.

Police believed because he was moving so quickly that he was acting from his own car instead of hitchhiking, and that he picked his targets at random after doing some kind of reconnaissance to figure out where he wanted to strike and what time is the most ideal to do so. They believe that he traveled to Wichita with the sole purpose of killing someone. Trends were starting to emerge for his victims as well. All three of them were young, petite, and had shoulder-length brown hair. So it seems like his motive wasn't just the money,

especially since he murdered all of them, and then taking the small amount of cash was almost like a bonus. Yeah, it seemed like the murder was the real motive behind the crime. And then just like, oh, I'm just gonna, you know, there's a register here. I'm gonna take a little bit of cash. It's just crazy, like hop off the highway in the daytime.

Go find some young woman who works at a store. Kill them. Take a little bit of cash and leave. Like, it's just so weird. Well, it seems like a non-weird way to murder somebody, but. But it does seem like this killer is pretty intelligent because he chose, they or he chose these spots

that like you said are directly off of the interstate. So it'd be easy to pop off, kill somebody, hop back on and get the hell out of town as quick as possible. Very true. So police initially began investigating this as an isolated incident, but when the call went out about what happened in the bridal shop that night,

and it reached the Robin Foldower investigation back in Indianapolis, police realized the magnitude of this case that they had on their hands. And again, the two cities are over a 10-hour drive from each other. So they just knew that this man could be anywhere. Yeah, I mean, like you said, all up and down I 70. And also this would not be the last time that this killer is going to strike.

Right. But again, it goes from Utah to Maryland. So and obviously highways connect to other highways. So he could could he was out of their fast. Yeah. All of the bullets were 22 caliber bullets with a reddish substance on them. So with this information and the fact that the crime scenes were identical, they knew they were dealing with a serial killer. With the help of a ballistics team, investigators were able to make some determinations about

the gun that was used. It was a scorpion intratech 22 caliber handgun. That strange substance that was found on the bullets was an industrial strength abrasive that was discovered to be a jeweler's rouge. So I don't know anything about guns, but I like I don't know if that's a normal thing to have on your gun or on your bullets. I don't think so. This feels really specific. And this is one of the details that will really help police while they're investigating. Well, yeah, I mean, to be able to say these are the same,

not only the same bullets from the same caliber gun, but they all have this weird substance on them. Yeah. And Jewelers Rouge is basically like a waxy red substance generally used to like shine metal. Right, and it was unknown why the murderer coded his bullets in the compound, but it became his calling card. Investigators initially questioned if robbery was the motive, but like I said, you know, given the small amount of money taken from both crime scenes, it appeared that it was more of an afterthought than a motive. Criminal profiler John Kelly, who assisted in the investigation, believes he was simply a thrill killer and called him evil personified. And something else I want to mention, I mean, he just seems so gutsy. Doesn't he?

Or just like straight up unhinged in the way that he is committing these crimes in daylight at shops where witnesses can easily spot him. Like, these are in shopping plazas. Yeah, and witnesses did spot him. Yeah, so, I mean, Robin was killed at 1.30 pm and Patricia and Patricia were killed around 6 pm and the sunset that night after 8 pm. So it's like I said, either gutsy or just straight up on a hinge.

Just doesn't give a fuck. So in trying to draw comparisons between the I-70 killer and other serial killers, the I-70 killer stood alone. Because serial killers don't typically use guns as their method. He was also on the move, appearing to be in and out quickly and smoothly, almost like a hitman. At this time in Wichita where Patricia Majors and Patricia Smith were murdered, police were also in the midst of investigating BTK, or bind Torture Kill, who terrorized the region from 1974 to 1991, although he wasn't apprehended until 2005.

And I know a lot of you guys already know who BTK is, so I'm not going to talk too much about him. Oh yeah, we'll just do a little comparison here. Yeah, so his other names include the Wichita Strangler and the Wichita Hangman, since he was very active in that area and he had at least 10 victims. Police considered whether Dennis Raider, the perpetrator of the BTK murders, was behind these as well, and the same team of investigators took on the i70 killers case. But once the bridal shop murders were connected to the murder of Robin Fuldauer, the case took on a new

shape. In the investigation veered away from the BTK killer completely. Right, because at this point, it was clear the killer was traveling to different areas, whereas BTK was known to specifically be in Wichita. But also, it's clear that the I-70 killers M.O. was murdered by gunshot, whereas BTK killed his victims like via suffocation, strangulation, which was his primary method, and stabbing. 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh

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1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh The The eye-70 killer claimed his next victim back in Indiana just like Robin. Michael or Mick McCowan was born on December 29, 1951 in Terahot, Indiana, to Sylvia and Philip McCowan, joining two sisters named Cindy and Teresa. Tara Hought is a little over an hour southwest of Indianapolis and is situated right along I-70. It seemed as if the killer took a jaunt down to Wichita, 600 miles, or almost a thousand kilometers away, and then doubled back on his route, which to me feels like a risky thing to do considering police and Indiana are looking for you too.

I mean, this location is around an hour from where Robin was killed, but still. Also, this kind of gives us a clue because if the killer was going back to Indiana, maybe that is possibly where they are from. Right, who knows. Now, 40-year-old Michael, or Mick, was a free spirit who had toured the country with several rock and roll bands in the 80s, singing and playing bass guitar, and even managed a nightclub

in Louisville for a year. His mother said that his first love was music, and although he never married, he enjoyed a very active social life. About six years prior to his death, Michael moved back to his hometown to put down roots and took up working at his family business, which was Sylvia's ceramics, run by his parents and named after his mother. Michael was now managing the store so that his parents could transition into retirement and was close to paying off the house that he purchased

when he moved back to Tara Hought. God I hope it's pronounced Tara Hought. Yeah me too. I think that's what I found online. So his father said quote Michael loved music and was concerned about ecology. He was not a violent person or someone who would be mixed up with violence. On Monday, April 27, 1992, Michael stopped by his parents' house around noon and then headed to the store where he worked the afternoon by himself. Around 4.30pm, a female customer walked in to find Michael in the same position as the other victims.

Shot execution style in the back of the head. There was still money left in the cash register and $15 cash in Michael's pocket, but his wallet was missing. Police believed that he had been dead for about an hour and a half and he never even saw the killer's face And that he was leaning over a shelf Surprised from behind and killed instantly so he was killed around 3 30 p.m. Again in the daytime Yes, wow that was that was weird. We just said that at the same time So although the method was the same as the other victims, the killer chose an unusual

target in Michael, as the rest of his victims were women fitting the same description. But police believe that he may have mistook Michael for a woman from behind, because his ears were pierced and he wore his hair in a ponytail. The assistant police chief in Tara Hought lamented after Michael's death saying quote, we don't even know what the hell we're looking for And again, he could be anywhere what a terrifying quote to like we don't even know what the hell we're looking for And there's this is maniac on the loose murdering people in different cities and states Yeah, and now they're trying to connect all these cases that are in different states Yeah, and even with the very basic

Description that they had they didn't have a vehicle and they knew this guy was constantly on the move and many steps ahead of them by the time they would even get to the crime scene. And many steps ahead of them he was because he turned up next in a new place, Missouri. Nancy Christine Kitts Miller was born on September 25, 1967 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to Carol and Donard Kitsmiller. Donald. Donald Kitsmiller, my apologies. She lived there until she was about 10 years old before she and her parents and younger sister Laura relocated to St. Peter's Missouri, about 30 miles outside of St. Louis. Nancy was crazy about horses and frequently attended rodeos and horse shows, and as a senior in high school, she took up soccer and made the varsity team. She also

loved country music, western wear, and line dancing, and her mother, Carol, lovingly remembers her obsession with cowboy boots, saying quote, she was always trying to get my dad's boots away from him. She was the only one in the family with the same size as my dad. She tried to get his belt away from him too. She wore jeans and boots and western shirts and silver jewelry almost all the time. So she was definitely a cowgirl. She was a cowgirl. After graduating from Fort Zumault North High School, she fulfilled her dream of moving back to Oklahoma

by enrolling in Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, where she continued to play soccer. There, she majored in geography and dreamed of becoming a cartographer, which is someone who draws and creates maps. And her parents said that among all of her hobbies and talents, Nancy had a fascination with maps. After graduating from college, she moved back to the St. Louis area and settled in St. Charles, a northwestern suburb situated on the Missouri River. She was in the process of applying for jobs and had been in talks with the Defense Mapping

Agency in St. Louis, now known as the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. Her father, Donald, believed that she was just days away from getting her dream job working there. In the meantime, she was working at Boot Village, of course. Of course. You know, combining two of her passions, Western clothes and country music. Boot Village was a Western wear clothing store in Cowboy Boot in Poryam, where 24-year-old Nancy worked as a manager.

It was located in the Boge Hill shopping plaza just off of I-70 in St. Charles, Missouri, so on May 3, 1992, it was a slow Sunday afternoon at the store. Nancy wasn't even supposed to be working that day, but like Robin had been and was covering a shift for a coworker. And so eerie that this happened twice and then Patricia and Patricia decided to stay open a little later than usual for that customer, like just none of them should have been at work. Yeah.

So she opened up the shop at noon, so daytime again, and just two and a half hours later, two customers entered to find Nancy dead in the back room, a bullet in the back of her head and money missing from the cash register. To this day, Donald and Carol continued to look for answers in the loss of their beloved daughter. Carol said said quote, we talked to our minister and there's just no answer. No answers at all. Everybody just loved her. One of her friends said that when you met Nancy, you had no choice. You either became her friend in five minutes or else. Nancy was buried

in a western shirt and cowboy boots. So this happened almost a three hour drive from where Michael was killed in Indiana and six days later. And again, in a shopping plaza in daylight where other people are around. It's just baffling. Yeah, like you said, very bold. Four days later, so four days after Nancy was killed on the

evening of May 7th,, the I-70 killer claimed his next victim. Sarah Lynn Hart was born on March 3, 1955, to Wilma and Earl Hart with siblings Stanley and Shelley in Topeka, Kansas. She and her husband, Sunny Blessing, coolest name ever, had been married for close to eight years at the time of her death. 37-year-old Sarah was described as a health nut with a huge heart and a love of all things nature and wellness. She was trained in reflexology or the application of pressure to certain points in the

foot to help alleviate pain and stress. She and Sunny lived in Raytown, Missouri, about a three-hour drive directly west on I-70 from St. Charles, Missouri, where Nancy had been killed days earlier. With a few other health-conscious women in the area, Sarah co-owned a store in the Woodson Valley Shopping Center called the store of many colors. The store offered vitamins, herbs, Native American goods, jewelry, rocks, and books and magazines, on topics such as yoga and wellness. Sarah also offered nutrition counseling, which is very interesting,

and she and her husband Sunny spoke on the phone that day at 2.12pm, again May 7th, while Sarah was tending the shop. And Sunny remembers everything being perfectly normal. But around 6.30 that evening, just under two hours before sunset, the owner of the video shop next door, Tim Hickman, was also tending to his shop, fixing a television, when he saw a suspicious man walk in front of his store window. Tim said that the man stood out because he was clad in a heavy wool, herringbone jacket and the heat of late spring in Missouri, so obviously this didn't look right, it was

a heavy jacket. They looked at each other for a moment, and then the man walked on. Moments later, Tim heard a gunshot in the store of many colors, and raced outside to see the man that he had just locked eyes with, running the other way. He looked cool and calm like he didn't have a care, Tim said. Tim saw Sarah's feet sticking out from the back room of the store and called 911. Consistent with all five of their victims, Sarah was found face down, shot in the back of the head, and there was a small amount of money missing from the cash register.

A friend said this about Sarah, quote, Sarah was named properly. She was a blessing. Now that she's gone, there's going to be a big hole in a lot of lives. Tim Hickman has said that he still feels an enormous amount of guilt for not confronting this suspicious man before he killed Sarah. But now, news of the I-70 killer was hardly local. Wanted posters with the eyewitness sketches from the customer who had entered the bridal shop and caught him in the act had circulated nationwide.

But investigators in each of the five cities in which the murders had occurred were just baffled. And just as quickly as the murders had begun, they stopped. Sarah Blessing was the I-70 killer's last confirmed victim. However, it's speculated that he's connected to two more murders, and one attempted murder in Texas the following year. And you can only wonder why he would stop. Like why commit all these senseless murders in a short span of time, by the way, and then

just end it? Like, we know other people had seen him, but Tim looked him straight in the eye. So I'm thinking, was he worried about getting caught? Or did he just change his MO or did he quit killing people? Like, because you don't just, if you're a murderer like that, you don't just stop. I'm interested to know the statistic behind how many serial killers actually take breaks or actually stop killing people at a certain point. You know, that's a very interesting thought.

I'd like to know that as well. Now, let's talk about the other murders that he could possibly be connected to, and I personally feel like he is. So on September 25th, 1993, just over a year after Sarah Blessing was killed. 51-year-old Mary Ann Glasscock went to work at Emporium Antiques in Fort Worth, Texas. Later that day, a friend stopping by the shop discovered her body. Just like the 1992 murders, Mary's body was found in the store of a strip mall just off in interstate but this time I-35. A small amount of money was missing from the cash register and she

was shot once in the back of the head. On November 1st, 1993, just over a month later, 22-year-old Amy Vess was killed in the store and which she worked, Dancer's Closet, which was a dance apparel store. Amy was able to call 911 after being shot, but did not ultimately survive. Dancer's Closet was a small store just off of I-30, so again a different interstate, but only 20 minutes away from Fort Worth where Mary was killed over a month earlier. Amy was shot in the head, and again, a small amount of money had been taken from the cash register. So this is so strange, and you may be right, maybe this killer is thinking they're catching

up to me, I'm committing too many murders on the same interstate. Let me change it up and go do I 35 and I 30 and that makes so much sense to just, you know, it's the same M. O makes sense to say I'm going to do this in a different area because, you know, it's less

heat on my back. And still it's still off of an interstate so you can still quickly and easily get away. And these stores in little strip malls and shopping plazas and quick kill take a little bit of cash, like it's exactly the same. Yep, all seems the same. So on January 15th, 1994, a woman named Vicki Webb was working at Alternatives Gift Shop in Houston, Texas.

Almost four hours away from the area in which Mary and Amy had been killed, and this time close to Interstate 45. 35-year-old Vicki was alone in the gift shop when a man came in, making small talk and asking about the neighborhood and foot traffic in the store. While pointing out a frame, he said that he wanted to buy, he came up behind her and shot her in the neck. She played dead hoping that he would leave and she could just call for help. He grabbed about $75 in cash from the cash register

and then returned to Vicki. He turned her over on her back and dragged her to a different part of the store before pulling her pants down around her ankles, although he did not sexually assault her, which is so strange I don't know why you would do that. He then attempted to shoot her again, this time in the forehead, but the gun misfires. This is some like serious divine intervention for her. Oh yeah. So obviously the killer was thrown off by this and he fled the scene. But a couple came into the gift shop

and found her just as the pain was setting in. Vicki said later that if childbirth was a four out of 10 on the pain scale, then this was a 10. Although she survived, doctors originally thought that she'd be paralyzed from the neck down, but due to a genetic abnormality and above average size spinal column, she survived and made a full recovery.

And the bullet is still lodged in her spine to this day. Police brought her the composite sketch from the I-70 murders, and Vicki said without a doubt that it was him. Although the gun used in the latter three shootings was found to be different, both were determined to be 22 caliber guns. So same type of gun. I feel like the fact that she made that connection that he looked like the composite and she saw this guy and is the only person who survived and attacked by him.

I just think it's him. Yeah, and also, you know, when you go through a tragic event like that where you get, you know, something life-threatening happens, it's hard to forget a face. Yeah, I, I don't know, the chances are high for me. Now, one more murder has potentially been linked to the I-70 killer, although it took place

in 2001, so even if the cases in Texas are connected, it leaves a gap of seven years. Yeah, so if this is true, why would he leave a gap of seven years? Yeah, where have you been? Yeah, where have you been and what have you been doing? I mean, we're happy you're not murdering, but probably. It leaves as far as we know happy you're not murdering, but I mean, probably, but maybe. At least as far as we know that you're not, you know. So on November 30th, 2001,

liquor store employee, Billy Brosman, was working alone at Bowers' seventh and 70 liquor store back in Terrahode, Indiana, where Michael was murdered nine years earlier. Security camera footage revealed a man entering the store, taking money out of the cash register, and then leading Billy at gunpoint to the back of the store before killing him with a single shot in the back of the head. This murder, like the eight others, is still unsolved.

Something we have to think about as well is how good of a shot this guy is. Well, I mean, if you're shooting somebody from six inches to a foot away. Oh, that's true, that's true. Probably, probably doesn't really matter, you know? You're right, sorry. So on his original route, the killer spanned almost 1700 miles

in four states in a month month long crime spree. If the Texas murders were perpetrated by the same man, it's possible that he was scared that Vicki survived the attempt, that he wasn't as skilled as he thought he was, and stopped his murders after that. Investigators believe that he probably did keep offending, but that he scaled back to petty criminal activity. They believe the killer had some sort of traumatic background that led him to start committing these heinous crimes in the first place.

It's possible that as a man of slightly smaller stature, he was bullied and potentially rejected by women, I bet he was, a little piece of shit, and this was his way of exacting revenge. It's also possible that he was military or ex-military and suffering from severe PTSD and that's obviously not an excuse to murder people but would kind of provide context for a motive here. But databases of the incarcerated were searched and police also wondered if due to declining mental health he had taken his own life. Although searches were conducted and wanted posters were distributed from coast to coast, no one has ever been named an official suspect in this case.

On the Unsolved Mysteries webpage about this case, multiple people have come forward and said they believe it's a member of their own family. So it's always a possibility that he'll be found, but with 30 years between us and the first murder, many of the victims' families have lost hope. If you have any information on the I-70 killer, please contact the local police station in Indianapolis, Wichita, Tara Hoat, St. Charles and Raytown. The St. Charles police force recently opened an online portal specifically for tips about this case, so you can also go there to submit one. There is still a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. And many loved ones out there waiting for answers.

Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Friday, we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. What a crazy story. I know. Like, devastating. I honestly can't believe that it's just, it's so strange to me that somebody can kill for a span of time because think about it. It didn't, it wasn't like, you know, decades and decades worth. It was like a few years and then he just stopped.

Right, and even the first, the first collection was over a matter of days. And the fact that there has never been anybody listed as an official suspect is absolutely mind-blowing to me. Yeah, and I can't imagine that there has not been DNA or fingerprints lifted from any of these crimes. You would imagine. You know what I'm saying, but the fact that, you know,

it's been linked to nobody in the database is just mind-blowing. Especially like I've said a million times, the fact that, you know, it's been linked to nobody in the database is just mind blowing. Especially like I've said a million times, the fact that these happen in broad daylight when they were witnesses, like this guy is incredibly lucky. Like, what are the chances that you can get away with this for this long after killing that many people and being seen by numerous witnesses? Yeah, I just hope he's incredibly dead at this point. Oh my god. To be honest, I mean, I just, you know, he's, he's scum,, I just hope he's incredibly dead at this point. Oh my god. To be honest, I mean, I just, you know, he's, he's scum, so I just... He is, yes.

And if you guys want to see photos from this episode and every other episode that we cover, head on over to our Instagram, which is at Going West Podcast, Twitter at Going West Pod, and Facebook, where we have a regular Facebook Facebook page and then a really fun little discussion group called Going West Discussion Group. Should I plug it? Plug it? Yeah, should I plug it? I just did.

The dark parts? Oh my god, that was so big. The Riddler, bro. The Riddler. Do it. So we also have our sister show is coming back. The dark parts. It's about unsolved mysteries and spooky stories

and urban legends, so if you're into that kind of stuff, go over and take a look at what we have already, we've got 17 episodes for you guys to binge. Yeah, we're on every podcast platform, and we are so excited to get that show back because it's so fun, it's, we joke a lot, it's just very lighthearted, it is spooky, but it's not scary, I don't know, it is scary. I say a lot. It's just very lighthearted. It is spooky, but it's not it's not scary

I don't know it is I say a lot of dumb shit. Yeah, I mean, it's just it's just funny It's fun. So go subscribe and get ready for new episodes All right guys, so for everybody out there in the world don't be a stranger 1 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 個 Thank you. you