Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “South Side Strangler” Timothy Wilson Spencer Pt. 1

Episode Date: April 19, 2021

Growing up in Arlington, Virginia in the 1960s, Timothy Wilson Spencer displayed an alarming interest in torturing animals and burglarizing homes. With practiced cruelty and stealth, he eventually became known as “The Masked Rapist” for his attacks on women.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, assault, sexual assault, rape, and animal cruelty and death that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. On the night of September 18, 1987, 25-year-old Timothy Wilson Spencer sat calmly in a rocking chair, relishing the feel of the late summer breeze on his skin. However, Timothy wasn't relaxing on a front porch with a glass of iced tea. He was hiding behind an apartment building, rocking back and forth in a chair he'd stolen, waiting for a woman named Debbie to come home from work. There in the shadows, his face was covered in a mask and his hands were gloved.

In the unlikely event that someone saw him there, they wouldn't be able to identify him later. He smiled. He'd thought of everything. Timothy cocked his head as he heard the front door open and shut. His heartbeat started to race. Debbie was back. It was almost showtime. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson.

This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parkast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today we're taking a look at Timothy Wilson Spencer, the Virginian murderer, also known as the Southside Strangler. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Today, we'll discuss Timothy's disturbing childhood antics, which included burglary and animal cruelty. We'll also explore the year he's spent terrorizing the women of Arlington, Virginia, as the masked rapist. Next time, we'll examine Timothy's short but horrifying legacy as a series. serial killer. We'll also discover how he got caught and how his conviction became one of the most famous in all of serial killing history. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels. But you don't need to break any laws to find your perfect business partner because you have Shopify.

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and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L, every year after, the love hypothesis. Sterling Point and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. We often think of serial killers as instinct-driven monsters.

People who let their rage get the better of them over and over. But the truth is, some of them prepare for murder as thoroughly as a lawyer prepares for a trial, cultivate their cruelty the way an artist nurtures an idea. Through careful practice and research, these killers hone their craft with every crime they commit. They study forensics techniques and look into police tactics to ensure they stay one step ahead of investigators. These murderers refuse to get caught for something as silly as a preventable mistake.

But contrary to what they might think, these killers don't know everything. Behind the scenes, technology races along, making it easier for investigators to track them down. and if you're too busy killing people, important developments might slip by unnoticed. In all that planning and attention to detail, the one thing no one ever seems prepared for is hubris. Then again, every day someone's born who believes themselves special, the exception to every rule. Timothy Wilson Spencer came into the world in March of 1962 in Arlington, Virginia. He grew up in the Green Valley section of town, which was a very important. known as an historically black neighborhood.

His younger brother, Travis, was born about nine years after Timothy, and his father was absent throughout his childhood. So Timothy and Travis were raised by their mother, Thelma, with help from their grandmother as well. She loved both of her sons very much, and worked hard to keep them supported, comfortable, and cared for. Despite his mother's devotion, Timothy was a troubled child. He was obviously intelligent, but still received terrible grades in the

school. However, his poor academic performance wasn't the most distressing thing about him. For starters, he was often caught urinating and defecating in the schoolyard. He also experimented with petty theft and animal cruelty. Disturbing stories about young Timothy's behavior with pets were often passed around amongst Thelma's friends and extended family members. One such tale involved Timothy killing a parakeet that Thelma was babysitting for a friend. Another was about the time Timothy murdered to gerbil with pushpins. One day, Timothy surprised his little brother by allowing him to come hang around with him and his friends.

Their nine-year age difference meant that Travis didn't often get to spend time socializing with Timothy, so he was thrilled to tag along. As Travis remembers it, Timothy and his friends wandered around town, lazily looking for something to do. At some point during the afternoon, the boy stumbled upon a stray cat. Travis crouched down, hoping the furry little friend would come over to him. But before the cat moved, one of Timothy's friends scooped it up and tossed it in a pillowcase. Travis watched in horror as Timothy and his friends tied the pillowcase tight, tossed it on the ground, and started throwing rocks at it.

The teens laughed gleefully as it yelled in pain. Travis tugged on Timothy's sleeve, indicating that he wanted to leave, now. But Timothy ignored. his little brother. He was having too much fun torturing the cat. So Travis slowly backed away and found his way home by himself. A few days later at school, Travis learned that after he'd fled, Timothy and the other boys had lit the pillowcase on fire. When Travis got home that day, he confronted Timothy, who denied setting the cat on fire. Still, Travis was deeply unsettled, so he tried not to think about it again. Travis's decision to keep silent is understandable.

The adults in his life had always behaved as though Timothy's cruelty toward animals was unfortunate, but not a problem. In fact, it was a huge issue and a potential predictor of Timothy's violent future. Vanessa is going to take over in the psychology here and throughout the rest of the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. The connection between early cruelty to animals and later aggressive crimes have been documented by psychologists for decades. In 2002, psychologists Mark Dads, Cynthia Turner, and John McAloon researched this link comprehensively

and came to some fascinating conclusions. Firstly, they confirmed what many other studies have already demonstrated, that animal cruelty exists within a broad spectrum of deviant and antisocial behavior. then they determine that the cause of this kind of aggression is, quote, clearly associated with the family context characterized by violence and abusive behavior to subordinates. However, they also noted that the biology of the child can't be discounted. Some children are born with abnormalities in their brain chemistry that may increase their propensity for aggression.

In these cases, the home environment can either hinder or exacerbate that tendency. Depending on the parents, these children can grow up to be loving, caring adults or cruel, violent ones. There were never any reports of abuse within Timothy Wilson Spencer's family. However, because Thelma Spencer was a single parent trying to support two children, she often worked at least 12 hours a day and sometimes left Timothy and Travis to fend for themselves. Even though it was born of necessity, Timothy seemingly grew up in a home environment where

he was somewhat neglected, which may have worsened his predisposition to anger and violence. With the benefit of hindsight, it's easy to see that Timothy's disturbing behavior was a troubling side of things to come. It's possible that professional intervention would have kept him from becoming more hostile in the future, but unfortunately, Timothy's aggression was already intensifying. One day, Travis and a friend were playing at the park when some older boys, friends of Timothy's started throwing rocks at them. One of them chucked a rock that hit him right below the eye. Travis escaped and ran home crying. When he arrived, Timothy took one look at his brother's bloody eye and demanded to know what had happened. When Travis told him, a dark shadow passed over

Timothy's face. He promised his little brother that he would handle the situation. The next day, Travis was waiting at the bus stop when Timothy's friend walked up to him sporting a huge black eye and apologized for throwing rocks. When Travis got home later that day, his older brother grinned and said, I told you I'd handle that for you. We don't know if this was the first time Timothy turned his aggression on other people, but he clearly got a thrill from causing pain and fear in others, though it wasn't his only outlet. He spent a good portion of his youth breaking into local homes to steal jewelry and other valuables that he could easily pawn later. He was generally able to get in and out of these places undetected,

and he started to feel pretty cocky about his abilities as a thief. Because of that, he decided to steal from the one place he really should have left alone, his own house. While Thelma, Travis, and Thelma's boyfriend were out getting something to eat one night, Timothy made a beeline for what Thelma called her money drawer. This was a secret spot where Thelma put away extra cash for her children's futures. At the time, her hard work had a amount of her. to a total of $1,500 in savings.

Only four people knew about the money drawer, Thelma, her boyfriend, and her two sons. So when three of those four returned from dinner to find the drawer empty, there was only one possible culprit. Shortly after his family arrived home, Timothy sauntered through the front door, seemingly carefree. His mother confronted him about stealing her money,

but he unequivocally denied it. He pointed out that a window in the back of the house was shattered and suggested that someone else had broken in and robbed them. Thelma didn't believe him for a second. No one did. They all figured Timothy had smashed the window himself to make it seem like a robbery. So Thelma offered her son the evening to come clean, but he continued to proclaim his innocence. Travis watched on as his older brother disrespected their mother. It was clear to him that Timothy had zero empathy for Thelma. He didn't care that she'd worked incredibly hard to save a

up that money or that she'd been doing it for them in the first place. He was cold. He was mean and had no respect for authority. Belma had no choice. She called the police and had her own son arrested for robbery. He spent eight months in juvenile detention and when he was released, his family expected Timothy to be reformed. They hoped that he'd learned his lesson and used the time to reflect on the poor choices he'd made. Instead, Timothy immediately got back into burglarizing. He robbed countless Arlington homes and was sent back to juvenile correctional centers multiple times. And he seemed more hostile each time he got out of lockup. Eventually, Travis was terrified of his older brother. He had good reason to be. Timothy's aggression

increased with each passing year. And before long, he found that stealing wasn't giving him the thrill it used to. As he entered his 20s, he felt the urge to do something different, something physical. He needed to hurt somebody, and he wanted to do it soon. Coming up, Timothy begins attacking young women. The internet. What would we do without it? So much information, so little time. And yet, with all the answers available online, there still lie scores of deep, dark, spooky secrets. Mysteries yet to be solved. Until now, this isn't clickbait. This is our exclusive new podcast, internet urban legends. I'm Lowy, your evidence expert. And I'm Eleanor, the self-proclaimed skeptic. Together were the gruesome-to-sum, sleuths in search

of the weirdest stories on the web. Every Tuesday, we investigate the internet's creepiest conundrums, covering each conspiracy theory and combing through every clue to separate hoax from haunt. Whether it's the video, sure, to make you lose your appetite, blank room soup, or every kid's worst nightmare, the terrifying truth behind Disney's death. Or every parent's worst nightmare, social media's Momo Challenge. Each episode of Internet Urban Legends is chock full of disturbing details which are either truly demented or ripe for debunking. And no matter our conclusion, we're sure to be left scared half to death.

So won't you join us? Follow our new Spotify original from Parcast, Internet Urban Legends. Listen free and exclusively on Spotify. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseptitide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity, or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 or 15 milligram injections. Zepbound contains terseptide and should not be used with other terseptide containing products

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That summer, he decided to attack a woman for what's thought to be the first time. In the early hours of June 27th, Timothy stood in a grocery store parking lot, clutching what appeared to be a white t-shirt. From the shadows, he watched a... 23-year-old woman make a call at a payphone. We don't know this woman's name, so we'll call her Gabby. When Gabby finished her call, Timothy pulled the t-shirt over his head, peering out of the holes he had crudely cut out for his eyes. He watched Gabby walk across the parking lot to her car. Then he followed her. Just as Gabby got to the driver's side door, Timothy lunged out of

the darkness. He pulled a long knife out of his pocket and ordered her to get into her car. Gabby did as commanded. Once inside, he told her to drive and threatened to stab her if she tried any funny business. After about 15 minutes, Timothy told her to park in a cul-de-sac that backed up to a forest. Holding the knife to her ribs,

Timothy forced Gabby into the woods, where he shoved her onto the cold wet ground and raped her twice. After he was done, he told her to stay put while he went to get something from her car. Instead, he ran off, leaving her naked on the forest floor. When she made it home, Gabby reported her attack,

but because she hadn't seen Timothy's face, there wasn't much for the police to go on. As the days crept by with no sign of police closing in, Timothy relaxed. Then he started planning his next attack. Two weeks later, in early July, Timothy broke into the apartment of another 23-year-old woman. Once again, he shrouded his face in a makeshift mask

and threatened a woman with a long, serrated knife. This time, he grabbed her purse and robbed her before he raped her. Two more women had close calls with a masked rapist that month. He confronted them outside their cars and attempted to abduct them the same way he had Gabby. Fortunately, both of these women got away, but his next target wasn't so lucky. On August 6, 1983, Timothy ventured into the neighboring city of Alexandria

and forced a 22-year-old woman into her car at Knife Point. Again, we don't know this woman's name, so we'll call her Celeste. Timothy made Celeste drive to a wooded area where he dragged her out of the car and into the forest. Once they were completely out of sight, he covered her eyes with duct tape, then raped her for over two hours. Afterward, he changed up his usual M.O. He bound Celeste's hands behind her back, then forced her into the trunk of her own car and shut the door.

After a few minutes, Celeste smelled smoke. She started kicking and screaming, desperate to escape. Miraculously, the trunk popped open, and she climbed out onto the street. When she peered into the backseat of the car, she saw that Timothy had lit it on fire. It was a lucky escape. not that Timothy spared a second thought for the victims he left in his wake. Over the course of the next several months, Timothy attacked numerous women.

Some of them got away from the masked rapist, but most weren't so lucky. He continued approaching women at their cars or breaking into their homes, always seeming to add a new element or improvement to his crime. His face, of course, was always covered. His hands were too, as he knew that his fingerprints would betray him to the crime. Just like he had with Celeste, Timothy used duct tape to restrain or disorient many of his victims. He bound their hands and sometimes their legs and usually robbed them too. It seemed like Timothy was on a quest to continually improve his MO,

and his terrified younger brother was the perfect guinea pig for any test runs. Timothy liked to wait until Travis, around 12 years old at the time, was certain he was home alone, then pop out of his home alone, then pop out of his own. of a closet or bathroom to scare him. It started out as harmless pranks and Travis could laugh off the frights, but eventually he was too scared to enter his own home. Hiding out of sight, Timothy listened as his brother wandered around, checking behind every door and inside every room. He would leave Travis B for hours until he relaxed, and then Timothy would strike. On one occasion, Timothy popped out of the bathroom wearing a stocking over his head. He dragged

Travis onto the bed and used the stocking mask to tie his hands together. Then he gagged his little brother with a sock and locked him in a closet. It took the poor boy four hours to get free. When he escaped, Travis screamed at his big brother, telling him that he could have been killed. But Timothy just said he was being a crybaby, that he was just playing around. But even at his young age, Travis knew that Timothy's behavior was anything but playful. anxiously, he started clocking his brother's movements and noticed that Timothy sometimes stayed out all night, then came home and hid out in the bathroom for hours. One night, Travis peeked in and was confused to see Timothy hunched over the sink,

scrubbing his shoes until they were pristine. The next few times Travis spied on Timothy, he was doing the same exact thing. Eventually, Travis gathered up the courage to ask his brother why he always cleaned shoes after he went out at night. Timothy brushed off the question, explaining that he was just trying to stay fresh to make sure that no one judged him by his dirty shoes. He lied. Really, Timothy was more than likely getting rid of potential evidence that could link him to his crimes, and it's a chilling indicator of his psyche. During the 1970s, the behavioral science unit of the FBI did extensive research on serial killers,

found that they could be categorized into two groups, organized and disorganized. Based on his preparation for each crime, as well as his cleanup afterward, Timothy seems to fall firmly within the classification of an organized offender. According to Robert Ressler, one of the FBI profilers, organized criminals put in a fair amount of time and effort into their attacks. The organized killer does everything possible to ensure he won't be caught. In Timothy, Timothy's case, he made sure to conceal his face and fingerprints during the crime and always cleaned up afterwards. That way, he left no evidence behind. Some of the methods Timothy used to select his victims also helped to identify him as an organized killer.

Wrestler asserts that most organized offenders choose to attack strangers, often after watching them for a while, to ensure that they won't pose any risk to the killer. Timothy usually abducted women from deserted parking lots or hid in their homes to trap them when they were alone. Ressler also points out that organized criminals are extremely adaptable. They update and improve upon their crimes, learning as they go, doing everything they can to satisfy themselves while staying under the radar. This combination of preparation and malleability allows organized offenders to easily move from one form of crime to another, usually increasing the level of violence as they do so. Timothy fit this disturbing pattern almost to a T.

After raping countless women throughout the latter half of 1983, he realized it wasn't giving him the same thrill that it used to. He wanted more violence. So in early 1984, he set his sights on a young lawyer named Carolyn Hamm and started plotting his next attack. 32-year-old Carolyn spent the evening of January 23rd, 1984 at the Capitol Hill Squash Club in Washington, D.C. After sweating it out on the court, she drove a little more than five miles to her home in Arlington, Virginia. As she drove, Carolyn made plans in her head for the rest of her week.

She had plenty of work to get done before she left for a vacation in Peru that weekend. It's likely she had several things on her mind when she walked through her front door that night. With no warning, Timothy appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her. She tried to run back outside, but Timothy dragged her into the house, leaving the front door ajar just a crack. Even though she was quite fit, Carolyn was no match for the 21-year-old. Timothy easily got her from the front hall into the garage, where he forced her to disrobe. Once Carolyn was naked, Timothy bound her hands with a cord from her own window blinds.

Then he raped her. Usually, Timothy left soon after he raped his victims, sometimes pausing to pocket some valuables, but this time he wanted to add a new twist. That night, he tied a rope around Carolyn's throat and strangled her to death. Timothy examined the crime scene before leaving, making sure there were no mistakes. He hadn't left any fingerprints, blood, or hair at the scene, so we felt certain he was safe. He didn't worry about the semen he'd left behind. By this time, DNA testing had been utilized only a handful of times in criminal cases. So, understandably, Timothy didn't know about it.

He believed that his semen would tell the cops that the killer was a man, but he guessed they'd figure that out anyway. He looked around the house one more time, satisfied with his cleanup. Then he escaped out of an open window and faded into the night. A couple of days later, Carolyn's secretary was worried about her boss. Carolyn hadn't shown up to work in two days, which was out of character. So the secretary called Carolyn's best friend Darla and asked if she would check on Carolyn to make sure everything was all right.

When Darla arrived at Carolyn's house, she noticed that her friend's car was parked in the driveway. She hoped that meant Carolyn was inside packing for her trip. But when Darla noticed that the front door was open, she knew something was wrong. It was chilling to notice that snow had blown into the front hallway, suggesting the door had been open for days. After asking for a neighbor's help investigating, Darla walked around the house, calling out to Carolyn, growing increasingly concerned. Finally, she entered the garage with Carolyn's neighbor by her side and led out a scream. There was Carolyn's nude body, faced down on the cold cement floor.

Darla called the police, and detectives arrived on the scene as quickly as possible. When they examined the garage, the rest of the house, and Carolyn herself, they were dismayed to discover that there were almost no clues to work with. Timothy's organization had paid off. Without any evidence to analyze from the crime scene, detectives turned to Carolyn's family and friends to see if they knew anyone who might have wanted to hurt her. And as it turned out, one of her neighbors had someone very specific in mind. Coming up, Timothy waits anxiously.

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21-year-old Timothy Wilson Spencer waited to see if he'd get caught for his heinous crime. He had raped women before, but this was his first murder, and he couldn't be positive that he'd get away with this the way he had with his other crimes. Meanwhile, Detective Joe Horgas and the rest of the Arlington County Homicide Squad, grumbled to find a suspect for the heinous homicide. They felt sure they'd caught a break when the sister of the neighbor who helped discover Carolyn's body revealed that there was someone who might have had a motive, a man who had allegedly made Carolyn uncomfortable several times before. She was referring to Carolyn's former neighbor, 37-year-old David Vasquez.

Carolyn had reportedly complained several times about David peeping in on her while she was sunbathing in her backyard, and other neighbors confirmed that the man, was more than a little off. The same witness even said that they might have seen David outside Carolyn's house on the night of January 23rd. At last, Detective Horgis had a suspect, though he wasn't sure how reliable the tip was. David Vasquez had moved away from Arlington seven months earlier and was living 26 miles away in Manassas, Virginia. David also couldn't drive a car. He's been described as borderline mentally impaired and reportedly operated at a level of a 10-year-old in certain situations. So, in order to get from Manassas to Arlington, David would have had to take either several forms of public transportation or find someone else to drive him.

Neither of these scenarios seemed likely to Detective Horges, who felt that arranging plans like that would have left an obvious trail that would be discoverable as evidence. And yet David Vasquez was brought into the Arlington Police. Department for questioning anyway. It was the first in a series of critical mistakes made by investigators. When he got into the interview room, the detectives didn't read David's rights and instead launched immediately into their interrogation. In the hours-long interview, detectives yelled at David, twisted his words and lied to him repeatedly. They told him that they had found his fingerprints at the scene. They revealed aspects of the murder, specifics only the culprit would know and got David to parrot those details back to them. They emphasized the fact

that David didn't have an alibi and said that a neighbor had seen him outside Carolyn's house that night. It took three separate interview sessions, but eventually David told investigators that he might have had a nightmare that resembled the crime. Overwhelmed, confused, and upset, David finally confessed to a murder he didn't commit. Eventually, his lawyer's negotiated a plea bargain, and he was sentenced to 35 years behind bars. Meanwhile, Timothy remained off the police radar in connection to the ham murder. He'd spent the last year raping women without getting caught, and now he knew he could kill them, too. He felt invincible, but he also knew he needed to be careful.

The police were on high alert, and he couldn't risk getting locked up for the rest of his life. However, he didn't want to give up the thrill he felt when committed. crimes. So, shortly after killing Carolyn Hamm, the masked rapist broke into the home of another woman and attempted to rape her before being forced to flee. Whether it was because he got cocky or because he was rusty, 21-year-old Timothy wasn't as careful when he committed a number of other crimes in the days after killing Carolyn. Details about the incidents that got him caught are scarce, but we know he was apprehended and arrested on January 29, 1984, and ultimately spent more than three years in prison for burglary. In June of 1987, 25-year-old Timothy applied for parole. However, due to his

previous record with the law, it was decided that he posed an unacceptable parole risk. Despite the fact that he had only recently been denied parole, Timothy was somehow approved for a hospitality house pre-release program in September of 1987. It seems officials thought that Timothy would be fine in a halfway house, where authorities would be far less capable of supervising his movements. So Timothy moved into a halfway house in Richmond, where he used his free time to stalk potential victims. He liked spending time at the nearby Cloverleaf Mall, where he could roam around alone and overlooked. After a few trips, he took notice of a woman who worked occasionally night shifts at the mall's bookstore.

35-year-old Debbie Davis. Timothy started stalking Debbie, learning her routine, and he liked what he saw. In addition to making some extra cash at the bookstore, Debbie worked full-time as an accounts manager for Style Weekly magazine. When Debbie wasn't at work,

she was usually home alone in her first floor apartment, watching movies or reading mystery novels. During the five or so days, Timothy watched her. She didn't socialize much. This was likely because she was about to undergo surgery to have her gallbladder removed. Most nights he likely saw her curled up on the couch, taking pain killers for her abdominal pain. Eventually, Timothy felt confident enough to strike.

On September 18, 1987, Timothy stole a rocking chair from a neighbor's porch and carried it over to Debbie's apartment. He placed it underneath the kitchen window, which faced away from the street. Then he sat down and waited for her to get home from work. Shrouted in shadow, Timothy listened as Debbie entered her house and began to put her around, engaging in her usual routine. Once he was positive she was alone, he stood up, poised for the perfect time to climb through the kitchen window. Eventually a knock came at Debbie's front door and she rushed to see who it was.

It was Debbie's cousin's husband and their kids who had stopped by to say hello. Debbie wasn't feeling well that night, but wasn't sure if her gallbladder was causing her discomfort again or if she was sick, so she asked her family to stay on the front porch just in case she was contagious. Perhaps it was when Debbie stood at her front door chatting with her relatives that Timothy quietly climbed in through her back window. Then he rushed into her hall closet and quietly closed the door. He waited patiently as Debbie said goodbye to her cousin and as she spent over an hour, chatting with her parents on the phone. Finally, around 9.30, Debbie hung up and started to get ready for bed. As she crossed from the bedroom to the bathroom, Timothy sprung out of the closet and

grabbed her. He dragged Debbie back into her bedroom, forced her to undress, then shoved her face down onto the bed. He bound her arms with thick boot laces and wrapped a blue woolen sock around her neck. Then he took each end of the sock and tied them around a metal tube attachment he'd taken from a vacuum cleaner. Once the garot was set, he pleasureed himself and raped Debbie while steadily tightening it around her throat. He tortured Debbie in this manner for hours. He would bring her to the brink of death, then wake her up again, only to continue throttling her. This perverse behavior indicates that Timothy can be further specified as an organized sexual murderer. In 1999, forensic psychologist Jay Reel

Maloy expanded upon the FBI behavioral science units serial killer profiles. Using data from several external studies, as well as his own research, Dr. Maloy compiled a dossier describing the characteristics of organized and disorganized sexual murderers. Organized sexual killers, like Timothy, plan their attacks well in advance and target strangers. They often use restraints, and all of their aggression is performed, prior to death, and, crucially, organized sexual murderers usually leave a virtually spotless crime scene. Eventually, Timothy finished playing his game and strangled Debbie to death with the garot. Then he took a look around the apartment to ensure that he couldn't see any hairs

or blood anywhere. He was wearing gloves, so he knew he hadn't left fingerprints. There was a fair amount of semen around, but like always, he wasn't concerned about that. All he had to do now was leave. When writing about his classification of killers, Dr. Molloy points out that every sexual murderer falls somewhere on a spectrum from organized to disorganized. A criminal may represent most of the characteristics of a particular subset, but rarely will they take off every single box. In Timothy's case, his habit of leaving his victims at the crime scene falls closer to the disorganized end of the spectrum, usually organized sexual killers moved the body somewhere else, making it more difficult for the police to track down

the culprit. Perhaps Timothy would have done this had he owned a car, but he didn't, so he left Debbie where she was. However, he did steal Debbie's car on his way out. It's possible he planned to use it in future crimes, or perhaps he took it for the pure thrill. Whatever his plans were, they were seemingly foiled by his inability to drive the stick shift. As he desperately tried to shift gears, Timothy panicked about the noise he was making. He abandoned the car only a few blocks from Debbie's apartment, not even bothering to turn it off. He just hopped out and walked the three miles back to the halfway house. The next morning, someone reported the abandoned car to the police. The registration quickly led them to Debbie's apartment, where they found the brutal murder scene.

Once there, they combed the crime scene for three days, hoping to find a shred of evidence to lead them to the culprit. However, Timothy had left them little to work with. None of Debbie's friends or relatives knew who would want to hurt her, meaning police had no one to include on their suspect list. Frustrated, they were forced to brainstorm all possibilities. They wondered if perhaps the murderer had mistaken Debbie for someone else. They also considered the possibility that Debbie had a secret enemy she hadn't told anyone about. What they didn't consider was that they were dealing with a serial killer. Timothy was counting on this. He took a couple weeks to cool off after Debbie's murder to ensure that he flew under the radar.

He typically made his curfew at the halfway house and worked hard to stay out of trouble. Of course, Timothy wasn't done yet. He was just biding his time, spending nights and weekends watching a new woman. He was already getting ready for his next kill. Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. We'll be back soon with you. with Part 2 of Timothy Wilson Spencer. We'll detail his legacy as the fearsome Southside Strangler and why his conviction is one of the most famous in history. For more information on Timothy Wilson Spencer,

amongst the many sources we used, we found Southern Nightmare, The Hunt for the South Side Strangler by Richard Foster, extremely helpful to our research. You can find more episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast.

Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound designed by Russell Nash, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, and Bruce Kitovich. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Ellie Reed, with writing assistance by Joel Callan, fact-checking by Bennett Logan, and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood.

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Somehow I lost eight whole hours. Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow the award-winning podcast Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts. Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.