Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Boogeyman in the Blue Bandana” Timothy Krajcir Pt. 2

Episode Date: April 14, 2022

Every time Timothy Krajcir felt the urge to kill, he would find a target and then fasten a blue bandana over his face. He committed these crimes over and over and never felt any remorse. Not for his victims. Not for their families. Not even for the man who went to jail for one of his crimes. 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, sexual assault, and child abuse. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. On a muggy summer day in Missouri, 49-year-old Robillian Carter was hard at work in her garden. Her breath was heavy as she bent over the seemingly endless patches of weeds, yanking them from the ground. At a certain point, her hands seemed to move on their own, as a dead. deep sense of exhaustion permeated her body. As much as she loved working outside, Rebellion could feel herself slowing down.

Her daughters wouldn't be home for a couple of hours. She had plenty of time for a nap. So Rebellion put down her trowel, straightened up and headed into the bedroom. She lay down on her bed and was fast asleep within minutes. In fact, she slept so soundly that she didn't hear the floorboards creaking in her hallway, or the footsteps approaching her bed. She only realized that someone was in the room with her when they were inches away, breathing beside her ear.

Confused, Rebellion blinked open her drowsy eyes and saw a blue bandana. When she zoomed out to get a full picture, she saw a man holding the garden rake she left outside. His face completely hidden. Rebellion tried to scream for help, but no sound came out. She willed herself to get up, to run, anything. But she couldn't. She felt paralyzed.

Maybe she was still asleep. But then the man spoke, and she knew this faceless intruder wasn't a nightmare. His eyes locked on hers, he said, you'll do. Hi, I'm Greg Paulson. This is serial killers, a Spotify original from Parcast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today we're continuing our discussion of Timothy Kreacher, aka the Boogie Man in the Blue Bandana. 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. Last time, we spoke about how Krecher's childhood obsession with his mother snowballed into voyeurism and violence as an adult. We also explained how he went from killing to cover his tracks to killing for his own twisted enjoyment. Today, we'll chronicle Krecher's brutal murder spree into the early 1980s and how an innocent man went to prison for his crimes. Finally, we'll see how Krecher's reckless abandon led to his undoing. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter.

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All over smooth, all day comfort, vanity fair lingerie. Find yours at Target today. In the spring of 1978, 33-year-old Timothy Kreacher was stewing over his latest kill. The investigation into Sheila Cole's murder had gone cold, but Krecher knew he'd been reckless. He could see that now. He never should have brought her back to his trailer. He had to change tactics if he wanted to avoid. another close call, so he thought back to what he'd learned in his criminal justice class

at Southern Illinois University. He knew how difficult it was to prosecute interstate crimes, so he reasoned that as long as he killed outside of Illinois, he'd be fine. With that in mind, he got into his car on May 12th and headed east, away from his Carbondale home. He had a vague plan to drive across the state into Kentucky, but as he passed through the city of Marion, something stopped him. As he waited in traffic, he noticed a woman sitting in the car across from him.

51-year-old Virginia Lee Witt was on her way home from the store, her trunk full of groceries. It's likely that Kreacher felt conflicted. He knew he needed to be more careful in his attacks, but as he looked at Virginia, it was like he couldn't control himself. She had to be his next victim. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or a psychiatrist, but we have done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. Many serial killers seek out a particular victim type,

while others kill more opportunistically. Besides the fact Kreutcher's victims were all female, there was no particular pattern to his crimes. It seemed that for him, who the victim was was less important than the vibe they gave off. According to a 2019 study from Canada's Western University, potential attackers often choose victims based on certain vulnerability cues, like the way a person walks. Unsurprisingly, people are more likely to display these cues

in an environment where they feel safe, such as in their home. It's impossible to know exactly why Kreutcher honed in on Virginia that day, but she was in her car and her guard was down. That might have been all he needed. Whatever his reasons, he abandoned his plans of going to Kentucky as soon as he saw Virginia. As the traffic cleared out, he tailed her. Before long, she pulled up to a secluded house on the outskirts of town, nestled beside a stretch of lakes and wildlife trails. While Virginia began unloading her groceries, Kreacher parked across the street.

With his gaze trained on her, he launched into his now familiar routine. He pulled on a thick pair of gloves and fastened a blue bandana over his face. As Virginia walked to the front door, her arms full of bags, Krecher slipped a knife into his pocket and waited. As soon as she opened the door, he sprang into action. He hopped out of his car and rushed across the street, giving Virginia just enough time to head inside. Krecher tried the doorknob and felt it give.

He smiled to himself. He didn't even. have to break in. He slipped inside and walked towards the kitchen where Virginia was putting away her purchases. She looked up when she heard footsteps, expecting to see her husband home early. Instead, she was bewildered to see a stranger standing before her, but her confusion quickly turned into terror. Kreacher pointed his knife at Virginia and told her to do exactly as he said.

Then he forced her into the bedroom, where he sexually assaulted her. Afterwards, he strangled Virginia until she stopped moving and her breathing came to a halt. Then he stabbed her repeatedly. Kreacher's decision to stab Virginia is telling. As a trained EMT, he was certainly aware that she was already dead. The only plausible reason that he would have kept attacking her was that he liked it, plain and simple. Once he fulfilled whatever twisted urge had led him to overkill, Criter left Virginia's body on the bed and slipped outside.

He'd claimed his fourth victim and hadn't even left the state to do so. He was probably elated as he drove back to Carbondale. But unbeknownst to Criter, someone had seen him leaving the Witts house. When Virginia's husband, Roger, found her lifeless body a few hours later and called the cops, one of his neighbors rushed over. They explained that they'd seen a man leaving the Wits earlier, and he could well be Virginia's killer. The neighbor provided police with a description of Kreacher.

He was between 30 and 40 years old, heavy set with dark hair. They even described his car, a silver Chevy. These details were helpful, but investigators still needed more information if they were going to make an arrest. Unfortunately, though, Krecher hadn't left any physical evidence at the scene. The neighbor couldn't recall his license plate either. So once again, Krecher evaded justice. Buoyed by the knowledge that he'd outsmarted the cops, he went right back to his usual routine without skipping a beat.

And he had a pretty full schedule. During the week, he was saving lives as an EMT, and on the weekends he usually hung out with his co-workers. On the surface, he seemed like a caring person with a healthy social life. But behind closed doors, Kreacher was a deadly predator. That fall, he continued sexually abusing his young neighbor, Angel Ambrose. The 12-year-old was terrified of Krecher, who threatened her into silence. This despicable strategy worked for a while, but the following February, the truth finally came out. It's not clear how Angel's parents found out that Krecher was abusing her, but as soon as they

realized what was going on, they called the police. The details of what happened next are also sketchy, but we know that Kreacher was arrested and charged with child molestation. He was sent to jail to await trial, and in a just world, that's where he should have stayed. But remember, Krecher had built an incredibly convincing double life for himself. When his colleagues at the ambulance service heard what happened, they were shocked. To them, Krecher was generous and hardworking, a good person through and through. So when he fed them another cover story, they were all ears. He claimed that Angel's mother had come on to him. When he rebuffed her, she flew into a rage and accused him of assaulting her daughter to get revenge on him.

It seemed this story was good enough for Kreacher's coworkers. Not only did they believe him, but they were outraged on his behalf. They wanted to get their dear friend out of this mess and pulled together their money to bail him out of jail. So after just two days, Krecher was free. He'd still have to go to trial for assaulting Angel, but with his co-workers by his side, he probably felt he could get out of any bind. In the meantime, he was free to go back to his favorite hobby. Murder.

In a moment, Kreacher kicks his rampage into high gear. Hi, listeners, I'm Tom Morton, host of Parkast's landmark show, Real Pirates, where we set sail alongside history's most notorious villains. Dive into their world during the Golden Age of Piracy in an immersive audio experience. Listen as experts reveal the reality of life under the Black Flag. There is no evidence that I have ever seen of any pirate burying their treasure. Catch our previous episodes on Major Steve Bonnet, Charles Vane and Blackbeard. Blackbeard himself as a pirate was a larger-than-life figure.

He would put candles into his hair to frighten his victims. And still to come are the stories of Anne Bonnie, Captain Kidd and Henry Morgan. Join us for new episodes every Monday as we follow the rise and fall of the most legendary outlaws ever to sail the seven seas. Real Pirates is a Spotify original from Parkast. Follow and listen to Real Pirates for free on Spotify. Transport your senses with Sol Dianato's limited edition perfume mist collection. At Sephora, sprit on lush notes of rainforest orchid and crisp sea breeze with heaferees. fresco paraizzo. Embrace a floral and fruity scent inspired by Rio's nude beach with

cheeky bikini or capture sun-kissed bliss with limonada gelada, where zesty Brazilian lemonade accord meets coconut milk and golden brown sugar. Don't miss Sol de Janeiro's limited edition perfume mist collection only at Sephora. Now back to the story. In early 1979, 34-year-old Timothy Crichter escaped jail time thanks to the goodwill of his co-workers. They'd clubbed together to bail him out in sense that he'd been wrongfully accused of molesting his neighbor. Except that he hadn't been wrongfully accused. In fact, now that he was free, not only could Criter continue assaulting women and girls, he could keep killing them. And he wasn't going to waste any time. On the night of March 22nd, Crichter set off for a drive. He was determined to

finally make it to Kentucky. This time he chose a different route, winding southeast through Illinois towards the border. After about 70 miles, he crossed the state line. Impatient to get off the freeway, he took the first exit and found himself in the city of Paduca. There, he drove slowly, cruising for victims, until his eyes fell on 29-year-old Joyce Tharp in her ground floor apartment. By now it was almost midnight, and Joyce looked like she was about. about to go to bed. And from what Kreutcher could see, she was home alone. Perfect. He waited until she drew the curtains and turned out the lights. Then, after a couple of hours, when he was certain that she was asleep, he made his move. As usual, he put on his gloves and

his bandana, then picked up his knife. Ready to go, he got out of his car and made his way to the back of the apartment. He smashed in her window and stepped inside. looking around for the bedroom. When he found it, he woke up Joyce at knife point and told her that he wouldn't hurt her if she cooperated. However, rather than continue the attack at Joyce's apartment, he forced her outside and into his car. Then he drove all the way back to his place in Carbondale,

where he sexually assaulted her and strangled her to death. Once Joyce was dead, Krecher waited until the sunset later that day. Then he put her body into his trunk, and drove all the way back to Paducah and left her in a church parking lot. Kreacher's decisions here are baffling. He'd made such a point of covering his tracks, going all the way to another state to find his next victim. Why drive Joyce back to his home?

It's also unclear where exactly he lived at this stage. It's likely that he'd moved out of the trailer behind the Ambrose family after he made bail. But even if he did live in total isolation, bringing Joyce home was a risky move. Still, it looked like he was right to be cocky. Police found Joyce's body, but didn't link it to Krecher. So with another success under his belt, he was in high spirits.

But his good mood was somewhat dampened by an upcoming road trip to Pennsylvania. That April, he set off to visit his mother and stepfather in Allentown. We don't know much about what kind of relationship Krecher had with his mother as an adult, but you'll recall that during his early adolescence, he developed a sexual fixation on her. Later on, that obsession curdled into rage, directed at both his mother and his stepfather. So it's likely there was some tension around this family visit, and Kreacher knew only one surefire way to blow off steam. The timeline gets a little fuzzy here, but at some point during his visit to his mom's place, Krecher drove to nearby Mullenburg Township.

There he cruised the streets and peered inside windows. Eventually, someone caught his eye. He spotted 51-year-old Myrtle wrap inside her modest brick home. Myrtle was a widow and lived alone. Krecher had no way of knowing either of these things, and yet when he looked at her, it seemed he could tell how vulnerable she was. He wanted to strike right away,

but for whatever reason, he decided to wait. Perhaps he needed to plan an ambush. In any case, he didn't bite his time for two. long. He returned the following afternoon and saw the house was empty. Seizing the opportunity, he broke in through a window. Once inside, he cut the phone lines to make sure Myrtle couldn't call for help. And then, he waited. But there was an unexpected complication. When Myrtle returned, she wasn't alone. She was with someone. From the information we have, it's not clear exactly who this person was. Based on what we know about Kreacher's M.O., though, it's like

that Myrtle was with a man. Krecher probably didn't want to run the risk of confronting someone who might be a match for him, so he quietly slipped out through the same window and drove back to his mother and stepfather's house, where he stayed for the next few days. There aren't many details about how the visit went, but it's safe to assume that it stirred up some complicated feelings, so by the time he left, Krecher was craving an outlet for his emotions. He decided it was time to try Myrtle's house again.

try Myrtle's house again. He drove back to Mullenburg Township for a third time, but now he had a new plan. He knocked on Myrtle's door and introduced himself as a police officer. He said he was there to investigate last week's break-in. It's unclear how Kreutcher knew that Myrtle had called the police about the intrusion. It's possible he figured she was bound to report the incident and wouldn't be surprised to find an officer at her door. And given how much he'd learned about the criminal justice system over the last year, he probably knew exactly what to say to put her at ease. He presented an earnest, trustworthy facade, just like the one that had fooled his colleagues. Myrtle had no reason to doubt him, so she let him in. But as soon as he closed the door behind him,

Kreacher dropped the mask. He advanced on Myrtle, who barely had time to react to his sudden reversal. He took advantage of her confusion and pushed her into the bedroom. Then he, he He sexually assaulted her and strangled her to death. After making sure she was dead, Krecher slipped out of the house through the front door and started the long drive back to Illinois. We don't know what the investigation into Myrtle's murder was like, but we know Kreutcher was never a suspect. He'd gotten away Scott Free once again,

and it seemed his success only made him more confident. Maybe that was why he decided to take a trip down memory lane shortly after returning home. Kreacher threw caution to the wind and headed back to Cape Girardo, Missouri, where he'd committed his first murder three years earlier. There, he set his sights on a young woman who lived with her mother and older sister. We don't know her name, so we'll call her Nora. After spotting Nora in town, Krecher decided to follow her home.

Even though he was being more reckless, he still liked to plan out his attacks in advance. So he took note of Nora's address and headed back to. to Illinois to prepare. On July 14th, he was ready. He returned to Cape Girardeau and made a bee line for Nora's house. After he parked his car and made his usual preparations, he broke in through a window. Once inside, he cut the phone cords and looked around for his target. It turned out Nora wasn't home, but her mother, 49-year-old Rebellion Carter, was.

Rebellion was taking a nap after a tiring afternoon of gardening. She woke up to a man standing over her, holding a garden rake, his face hidden behind a blue bandana. When Rebellion peered up at him in confusion, Krecher leaned in closer. He stared at her intensely, then said, you'll do. Absolutely terrified. Robelian tried to run for the door. But before she could make it out, Krecher grabbed her and slammed her down to the floor. Then he sexually assaulted her. Afterward, he told her to stay put and left the room.

It's possible he was looking for Nora, but it didn't matter. Rebellion wasn't going to wait around to find out. The moment he left, she locked the door behind him. She frantically climbed out of a window and ran to a nearby relative's house. From there, she called the police. By the time they arrived, though, Krecher was long gone and home free. Although his plans were thwarted, Kreacher vowed to return. turn once the dust had settled. But before he got the chance, justice finally intervened,

at least for one of his many victims. Three months after attacking rebellion, Krecher was put on trial for molesting Angel. During the hearing, the judge deemed him, quote, a sexually dangerous person and sent him to prison. At last, someone saw Krecher for what he was. Krecher had never felt any remorse for his crimes, but he understood that it was something he should feel, and he knew how to fake it when it served him. So that's exactly what he did during his sentence, and it worked. In January of 1981, after just 15 months of incarceration, psychiatrists at the prison recommended Krecher be released. In the evaluation, a doctor noted that Krecher was, quote, not an intimidating man.

We don't know what evidence the psychiatrist based this on or why it seemed to prove he should be let out. But in any case, it goes to show just how well Krecher could manipulate those around him. And so, despite being categorized as sexually dangerous by judge less than two years prior, Krecher was released. He laid low for the rest of the year. He had a parole officer to satisfy and knew he was being watched. But by the fall, he couldn't contain himself. anymore. On September 7th, he set out on another hunt. This time he headed north from Carbondale to Mount Vernon, Illinois. As he was prowling the streets, Kreacher spotted 72-year-old Ida White

through the window of her basement apartment. She was on the phone and had her back turn to him. By this point, Krecher didn't care about crafting a master plan. He'd been in prison for over a year and wanted to kill now. So he secured his his bandana around his face and snuck around to the back of the house. There, he climbed in through an open window. He followed Ida's voice as he crept through the apartment. He wasn't sure how much longer she'd be on the phone, but he figured she'd go into the bathroom at some point. So he slipped into the restroom and hid inside the shower stall. He gripped a knife tightly in his fist as he waited for the older woman to enter. And before long, she showed up.

When she opened the door, Krecher jumped out and attacked her. Ida screamed as they struggled, and in response, he stabbed her repeatedly. Ida's neighbor, Barney Bates, was outside in his front yard when he heard the commotion. He ran to the door and knocked, but no one answered. So he took matters into his own hands and kicked the door down. Following the noise, Barney made for the bathroom and ran inside, pulling Kreacher away from Ida. The two struggled for a second, and then Kreacher bolted. He ran back to the window he'd entered by and jumped out onto the street.

Barney called the police who rushed to the scene. When they arrived, Ida and Barney gave the officers a detailed description of the attacker. However, they described him as a black man, and Timothy Kreacher was white. This mistake in his description was probably related to larger changes in Mount Vernon at this time. When Barney gave his statement, he also mentioned that more black people were moving to previously all-white neighborhoods, which made some white residents uneasy. He also claimed that Ida herself was afraid of black people. Presumably, Ida didn't deliberately lie to the police about the race of her attacker. She genuinely recalled him as being a black man.

Stereotypes and biases affect the way a person's brain processes and stores information. And research shows that this is especially the same. true in situations where a person's memory is already hazy. For instance, after a traumatic assault. Justin D. Levinson, a law professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, wrote about this in a 2017 paper. He noted that when people try to recall a hazy memory, they tend to lean on familiarity and expectations to fill in the gaps. So if a person had a preconceived notion about people of a particular race, they're more likely to recall a memory that reinforce. forces that assumption.

So when Ida and Barney described the white intruder as a black man, it was likely a reflection of their pre-existing prejudices that black people were more prone to violence. In this case, their bias had a tragic outcome. The Mount Vernon police believed they were looking for a black man. And it didn't take them long to find one. Up next, an innocent man is railroaded by a broken system. Are you looking for support?

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Watch only on Prime. Now, back to the story. In the fall of 1981, 36-year-old Timothy Kreacher narrowly escaped capture after attacking 72-year-old Ida White. Luckily for Ida, her neighbor Barney heard her screaming and ran to rescue. But even though Barney and Ida had given the cops a description of Kreacher, the killer still wasn't any closer to being behind bars. That's because they'd incorrectly described the attacker as black.

And it didn't take long. for the police to find a black man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The night of Ida's attack, 46-year-old Grover Thompson was sleeping in the lobby of the Mount Vernon Post Office, waiting to catch a bus from the depot next door. Aside from his race, Thompson didn't match Barney and Ida's description at all. He was taller, had a beard, and was wearing different clothing. Nevertheless, the police searched his belongings. After digging around, they found a pocket knife with a single drop of what appeared to be blood on the blade. Even though Thompson didn't have any blood on his clothing,

the cops arrested him all the same. When investigators brought Barney into the station, he identified Thompson as Ida's attacker. This ID was the only evidence the authorities had against him. What's more, Thompson even had a partial alibi from a solid source. A police officer had seen him near the post office less than half an hour before Ida was attacked. Domingly, Thompson had a disability that should have ruled him out once and for all. Years earlier, a car accident had left him with one leg shorter than the other, causing a severe limp. It would have been almost impossible for him to break in through Ida's window as the attacker had done. Despite overwhelming evidence that they had the wrong man, prosecutors forged ahead with charging Thompson.

At his trial that December, both Ida and Barney testified against him, swearing he was the man who attacked them, He was found guilty and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Grover Thompson's horrifying story isn't unique and speaks to much larger problems in the American judicial system. The Innocence Project, a non-profit organization working towards criminal justice reform, reported that an innocent black person is seven times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than an innocent white person. Conversely, Kreacher was white and was given the benefit

the doubt time and time again. His colleagues accepted his cover stories without question. His psychiatrists dismissed him as harmless, and Timothy took advantage of their implicit trust. To add insult to injury, as Thompson began his 40-year sentence for a crime he didn't commit, Krecher was getting ready to celebrate a milestone. That winter of 1981, he graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in administration of justice. This is bitterly ironic given the miscarriage of justice that had just taken place. It's not clear whether Krecher was still working as an EMT at this point, or even whether he was still living in Carbondale.

Now that he'd finished his college course, there was nothing tying him to the city. But we do know that he had unfinished business in Missouri. Three years earlier, he'd broken into a house in Cape Girardo to attack a young woman named Nora, but she wasn't home. So Krecher sexually assaulted her mother, Rebellion Carter, instead. It seemed this wasn't enough, though. He couldn't get Nora out of his head. He'd fantasized about her ever since she'd slipped away from his grasp.

And finally, that winter, he was ready to finish what he'd started. So on December 28th, Krecher drove south to Cape Girardo and found his way back to the Carter house. To his bitter disappointment, Nora wasn't home. again. Krecher was crestfallen. He couldn't believe his luck. But as he crept through the house, his mood lifted. Someone else was home. Nora's older sister, Marcia. And there were kids. Lots of them. He looked on as Marcia bent over to change one of the little ones. It's not clear if this was

her baby or not, but Kreacher didn't care. As the 23-year-old reached for a fresh diaper, she sensed another presence in the room. She turned to see, Kreacher, his face covered by a bandana, pointing a gun at her. As she stared at him in disbelief, he rushed forward and tried to force her onto the floor. Marcia fought back hard. She grabbed a phone and tried to hit him over the head with it. At that moment, her five-year-old nephew appeared in the doorway, curious about the commotion. Krecher pointed the gun at him and told Marcia to make him leave.

Her voice shaking, Marcia told her nephew to go back into the living room. As the boy retreated, she knew she had to cooperate with this intruder. There were six children with her in the house that night, and she had to protect them. So she stopped fighting. Krecher sexually assaulted Marcia at gunpoint. But afterwards, he let her live. It's unclear why he did this. Maybe the presence of children made him think twice about killing Marsha.

But then again, given the way he abused Angel, it's hard to think Kreacher had any qualms about traumatizing children. Whatever the reason, he left the Carter House and drove away. We don't have much information about what happened after Marsha was attacked, whether she called the police or what the investigation looked like. But it doesn't appear that the authorities linked her and her mother. attacks. In fact, it wasn't until years later that the two women realized they'd been attacked by the same man. It's possible Marcia didn't want to discuss the incident with her

mom because she feared she'd re-traumatize her. For his part, Criter didn't seem concerned about a possible investigation. He waited less than a month before striking again. On January 27, 1982, he returned to Cape Girardo. By this point, it was clear that he'd give given up on approaching his attack strategically. The nostalgic thrill of returning to the place where he'd first killed seemed to overpower every other impulse. So he drove around the familiar city and headed to the south side. There he broke into a house and attacked 57-year-old Margie Call.

He bound and gagged her, then sexually assaulted her. Afterwards he strangled her to death and left her on the kitchen floor. A neighbor found her body later that day and called the police. Ever since they'd linked Cracher's first three murders, the authorities in Cape Girardeau suspected they had a serial killer on their hands. It's not clear whether they immediately connected Margie's death to those earlier crimes, but residents certainly did. After Margie's murder, gun sales spiked in the area,

and newspapers warned readers about the boogeyman in the blue bandana. Knowing that the city was on high alert, Krecher steered clear for several months. But it seemed he couldn't stop killing altogether. That April, he went hunting for victims closer to home than ever before. In fact, 23-year-old Debra Shepard was a senior at Southern Illinois University, Krecher's alma mater. We don't know if the two knew each other, but based on what we know about Krecher's MO, it's likely he'd been stalking her for some time.

On April 8th, he was ready to strike. Kreacher broke into Deborah's apartment where he sexually assaulted her, then strangled her to death. His work complete, he headed out. A few hours later, Deborah's friend discovered her body and contacted the police. When the cops arrived, they combed the scene and collected several items that they sent to a lab for processing. It seemed that this time, Kreacher hadn't been quite so careful. His DNA was on a shirt they found. Unfortunately, though, technology at the time was so limited

that the lab couldn't determine much from that sample. So Deborah's case went frustratingly cold. Meanwhile, Kreacher was biting his time. After two months, though, he couldn't seem to stay away from his favorite location. On June 21st, he returned to Cape Girardo and broke into the home of 65-year-old Mildred Wallace. He attacked Mildred in her bedroom,

sexually assaulted her and then shot her in the head. Shortly after this, Krecher did something that indicates he may have been looking over his shoulder. He applied to have his parole transferred to his home state of Pennsylvania. Maybe he was worried that the Cape Girardeau authorities were closing in on him. The request was approved, and Krecher moved east at the end of 1982. However, his violent impulses came with him. That December and January, he robbed and sexually assaulted three women all in the Allentown area. As far as we know, he didn't kill anyone during this period.

But if that was Krecher's attempt to exercise some restraint, it came much too late. And on January 27, 1983, his recklessness finally caught up to him. The Allentown Police received a complaint about a man acting suspiciously. It was Krecher. The details are limited, but whatever he was doing, it was alarming enough that officers arrested him. Once he was in custody, the police were somehow able to link him to the recent attacks in the area and charged him with three counts of sexual assault. Eight months later, Krecher was found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail.

Although the authorities still had no idea he was a serial killer, Krecher had finally pushed his judicial luck too far. After serving his sentence in Pennsylvania, he was transferred back to Illinois in 1988, where he was sent to prison for parole violations and for violating his prior conditional release. And because an Illinois judge had once deemed him a sexually dangerous person, Krecher could legally be incarcerated even without active criminal charges against him. So that's where he stayed, seemingly indefinitely. Still, as far as officials knew, Krecher's worst official,

was sexual assault, not murder. And at this stage, none of his killings were solved. But there was one man who was determined to close at least one of the cold cases. Carbondale Police Lieutenant Paul Eccles was a rookie cop when Deborah Shepard was murdered in 1982. The unsolved case had haunted him ever since, and he'd periodically gone back to it, hoping for new leads. In 2007, Eccles called for a new analysis of the DNA evidence, from Deborah's apartment. Technology had advanced leaps and bounds since she was murdered. It was a long shot, but he had to try.

By that time, Kreacher's DNA was part of the Illinois registry, and when the results came back from Deborah's shirt, it was a match. At long last, Krecher's luck had run out, thanks to one dogged officer. After slipping out of the authority's hands so many times, he was finally cornered. That August, Krecher was charged with Deborah's murder. Four months later, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

After that, it was like a dam had broken. The police in Cape Girardeau noticed similarities between Deborah's killing and several of their cold cases. When they analyzed DNA found at Mildred Wallace's murder scene, it too matched Kreacher. Kreacher initially denied any involvement in Mildred's murder or any of the Cape Girardeau cases, but when he realized he could face the death penalty, he started to talk. He ultimately pleaded guilty to all five killings in Cape Girardo and to his murders in Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Crichter also confessed to attacking Ida White in Mount Vernon, confirming that Grover Thompson was, in fact, innocent. In his confession, Kreacher said that he never felt any remorse, quote, as much as I would like to say that I have a lot of

feeling there. I don't have that part in me. As disturbing as this statement is, it probably won't come as much of a shock to true crime fans. Most of us are familiar with diagnoses like antisocial personality disorder, which are often used to partially explain how serial killers can murder without remorse. But Kreutcher seems to be suggesting something even deeper, that he was born different without the part that allows most people to feel guilt. Research does indicate that there are structural differences in the brains of people like Kreacher. In some cases, there's reduced density in the paralytic system,

which is associated with processing emotions. There may also be a decreased volume of gray matter in regions of the brain that deal with remorse and empathy. So, in all likelihood, Krecher never truly grasped the horror of what he'd done or what he'd put his victim's families through. And short of making him feel the weight of that, the best the justice system could do was put him away for good. In April of 2008, Kreutcher was given 13 life sentences. After being given chance after chance,

77-year-old Timothy Kreacher will never be free again. But while he's able to live out his days behind bars, the person who took the fall for his crimes will never have the chance at a fresh start. Grover Thompson died in an Illinois prison in 1996. After serving 15 years for a crime, he had nothing to do with. Thompson's nephew, S.T. Jameson, bought for years to officially clear his name, working in tandem with Lieutenant Eccles and the Illinois Innocence Project.

Finally, in January of 2019, he was posthumously pardoned. But this symbolic gesture, wasn't justice, no more than it was when Krecher was finally put behind bars. Nothing could undo what he did to his victims, of whom Grover Thompson was just one. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. We'll be back soon with another episode. For more information on Timothy Kreacher, amongst the many sources we used, we found the Southern Illinoisans coverage extremely helpful in our research. You can find all 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 design by Michael Motion, with production assistants by Ron Shapiro, Trent Williamson, Carly Madden, and Joshua Kern. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Emma Dibdin,

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