Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - Working Late Pt. 2: Truck Drivers

Episode Date: September 9, 2021

You pass them every day in the car, truck drivers hauling things from one end of the country to the other. But do you ever think about how that transient lifestyle makes truckers the perfect serial killers? Well, if you haven't yet, you will now. Welcome to episode two of our Working Late series on the most popular jobs for serial killers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this episode, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, suicide, sexual assault of minors and children, sexual assault, torture, and rape that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. It's a cold winter night in Indianapolis. Most people are inside, bundled up, and staying warm with their loved ones. But not you. You're outside.

huddled against the biting wind whistling through a crowded truck stop. You wish you were in bed somewhere, but the night is young and there's money to be made. Unfortunately, your outfit isn't helping with the cold, but you won't catch the eyes of any Johns if you don't show off the merchandise, so you walk through the rows of darkened trucks, stopping periodically to tap on a window with a quarter. You know from experience that this is the best way to get the attention of the drivers inside. The noise will echo through their quiet cab, but won't attract any unwanted attention.

After a few seconds, the door opens, and you meet the eye of the man inside. He's older than you, and his shirt stretches tightly across his gut, but that doesn't matter. This is business. Doing your best not to shiver, you take a step back and let him see all of you. He's leering, clearly enticed, so you ask the question, want some come, company? The trucker nods, lets the door swing open all the way and beckons you up. You climb in, thankful that for at least a few minutes you'll be out of the cold. You pull the door closed behind you. It's dim in the cab, but you can see his eyes up close, and there's something there, a frightening

gleam. Those eyes are the last thing you see before he grabs you by the throat and pulls you into his sleeper cabin. Hi, I'm Greg Paulson. Welcome to the second episode of Working Late, our six-part special on some of the most popular jobs held by serial killers. 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. Typically, we dive into the minds and madness of a single killer and track their progression from childhood into violent adulthood. But this series,

is a little different. We're diving deep into the psychology behind six vocations that serial killers are drawn to and looking at chilling examples of the psychology in action. Today, we're hitting the road for a closer look at truck drivers. We'll examine what makes it a perfect career choice for serial murderers, how they choose their victims, and look into two very different stories of killers who spent their lives on the road. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Whether you're hiring for a role or searching for a killer, the hunt can be exhausting. When detectives looked and searched to find any kind of evidence to find the person they were looking for, like Jack the Ripper, the Golden State

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Monsters Among Us is a weekly podcast featuring true stories of the paranormal. One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession. Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves. Something very snake-like lifted its head out of the water. Hosted by me, your guide, Derek Hayes. Somehow I lost eight whole hours. Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. the careers and industries we're covering in this special series, there's one that seems to raise a red

flag brighter and larger than the rest, truck drivers. In 2016, the FBI even wrote, If there is such a thing as an ideal profession for a serial killer, it may well be as a long-haul truck driver. So what is it about this job that seems to draw so many killers? Well, if you take a close look, it's easy to see just how ideal those working conditions are for killers. Once we dive in, you'll see it's a perfect storm that almost invites murderers to dance in the rain. Of course, like most bad behavior, the misdeeds of so many serial killers occur when no one's looking. When there are a few jobs with less supervision than long-haul trucking, sure you have places to be and deadlines to meet, but what you do along the way is up to you.

The possibilities are seemingly endless and aren't limited to just the physical places a driver can go. Long stretches of time alone. alone on the road allow ample space to indulge in daydreams and fantasies. And whether they're building up to their first murder or counting down to the next, that solitude can be a dangerous thing. Before we continue with the psychology for this episode, please keep in mind that neither Vanessa or myself are licensed psychologists or psychiatrists, but we've done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. All that time on the road would certainly appeal to people with a penchant for dark thoughts.

Criminologists Dr. Adam Lines and Professor David Wilson explored this idea in their 2015 paper Driven to Kill, British serial killers and their professions. Lines and Wilson pointed out that for some killers, their trucks and cars can be safe havens for their darkest desires. They point out that the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, was, quote, overwhelmed by a feeling of freedom and power whenever he was in. his truck, Lines and Wilson likened the experience to driving under the influence. Of course, not every driver indulges in such perverse fantasy, but working as a truck driver

certainly offers more opportunity to do so unnoticed. And it's not the only perk the job offers to serial killers, because being on the move makes it almost impossible for authorities to pin you down. This is true for many transient killers, not just truckers. Angel Matarino Rescendez managed to evade investigators for years by stowing away on cargo trains that took him across North America. He killed at least 15 people in the 1980s and 90s before his crimes were finally linked. According to former FBI agent Mike Harrigan, victims of violent crimes whose bodies are found along highways present a unique challenge. It's often likely that neither the victim nor the perpetrator is from the jurisdiction in which the body is found. This creates three difficulties.

Firstly, identifying the victim, second, creating a list of suspects, and finally, spotting connections to crimes in other cities, states, or even countries. European authorities saw this firsthand in the case of Fulker Eckert, a German truck driver who killed women in France, Spain, and East Germany in the early 2000s. He was also suspected of killing more women in the Czech Republic and Italy. In the end, Eckert was only caught because surveillance footage placed him at the scene of his final murder. When authorities tracked him down, they had no idea he was a serial killer until he willingly confessed to murdering six women across Europe.

Up to that point, his murders were seemingly random, isolated attacks on sex workers, briefly investigated by disconnected police forces before going cold. Because no one could spot Eckert's pattern, he was able to kill again and again. and when he was in custody, disputes between Europe's police forces continued, each wanting to take charge of the case. Even when murders occur in the same country, the divide between investigatory bodies can make actually solving the case a nightmare. In this particular instance, authorities in Spain and Germany argued over who would get to interrogate and punish the killer. But it seems that eagerness to take charge isn't the norm. According to the encyclopedia of violent crimes, members of law enforcement,

sometimes unable to see beyond the invisible boundaries of their jurisdiction. Whether because of red tape or apathy, police wind up missing links between murders. This linkage blindness is a particular benefit to murderous truck drivers who constantly traverse state and jurisdiction lines. Unfortunately, the systemic issues in law enforcement agencies aren't only to do with invisible lines of authority. Sometimes the problems begin with the individual investigators themselves. In the mid-2000s, the FBI published a guide for law enforcement officers investigating serial murder.

One of the points they make clear is that individuals should, quote, leave their egos at the door. The guide also points out that anyone who cannot cooperate with their colleagues should not be assigned to any investigative teams. This suggests that a lack of teamwork across and between departments might be to blame when serial killer haunts drag on. The document goes on to advise that a serial killer task force should be led by a single lead investigator, along with a trusted co-investigator. It's important, the authors suggest, that these leads handle all crime scene-related activities, because that way they'll be more likely to spot common threads between individual cases. But if no one knows there's a serial killer in the first place, no one will know to start a task force at all. And without a task force, what hope is there of stopping the killer? The difficulties don't stop there because truck drivers who moonlight as serial killers

typically select victims who draw less attention, not just from authorities, but from the general public as well. Drifters, runaways, sex workers, all seem to be common choices for victims of truck driving serial killers. A study by criminology professor Kennequinette found that between 1970 and 2009, 32% of serial murder victims were female sex workers in cases where the killer targeted only women. But what makes people who fall into these broad categories such tempting targets? Speaking to A&E, social psychologist Eric Hickey points out that sex workers, whose actions are criminalized, are less likely

to report victimization of themselves and their colleagues to police. The most likely reason for this is a fear of the authorities, though it might also be that sex workers believe police cannot or will not protect them. So what's the point? Whether that belief is valid is a discussion for another time, but it's one that many serial killers seek to exploit. At his sentencing, Gary Ridgway, aka the Green River Killer, said, I picked sex workers because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew that they would not be reported missing. I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught. Ridgeway's explanation shows a clear understanding of how the criminal justice system and society treats sex workers.

Even though his IQ was only in the low 80s, he knew just who to target. And Ridgeway, who was a truck painter, by the way, exploited that blind spot, killing at least 48 women during the 1980s and 90s. And while not every killer is as prolific as Ridgeway, many murderous truck drivers certainly have the opportunity to be. Even today, in the age of online personal ads and hookup websites, sex workers still frequent truck stops, knowing that they'll find lonely men in search of company. In a dark, sprawling truck stop, it's unlikely anyone will see which trucks sex workers are invited into. Additionally, a truck driver who kills has endless choices for places to dispose of his victim's body. Not only is the truck a useful getaway car, for some killers it's also a built-in tool of the trade.

Keith Jesperson, for example, strung at least one of his victims underneath his truck to drag her body along the road so that her face was unrecognizable. There are a multitude of ways killers can cover their tracks, but when you're a truck driver, there's not always a need. Jesperson himself got sick of waiting for people to notice his string of murders and sent letters to the media to point them out, which contributed to his eventual capture. But not every killer trucker is quite so self-futable. defeating. In fact, some of them are only caught thanks to a lucky chance. Coming up, the terrifying story of the truck stop killer. The most urgent mysteries in the world are missing persons cases. The stakes are too high not to pursue every plausible possibility. And some implausible ones too. I'm Sarah Turney,

host of the new podcast Disappearances. In 2020, after spending years searching for the truth. I use social media to help bring justice to my sister Alyssa's nearly two decades long disappearance. Now, every Thursday on Spotify, I'm exploring the many reasons people disappear and the impact their absences

can have on those left behind. From child abductions and mystifying murders to those who took drastic measures to start over, each episode of disappearances journeys through a different high-profile missing person's case, ripped from the headlines and ripe for explanation, because no one just vanishes into thin air. The answers are out there waiting to be found.

Follow the Spotify original from Parkast Disappearances. Hear a new episode every Thursday, free and only on Spotify. Now back to the story. In decades past, being a truck driver was perhaps viewed, as an excellent career choice. The industry was regulated thanks to the work of infamous union boss Jimmy Hoffa, so by the late 1970s, drivers could expect to earn the equivalent of around $100,000 a year. But then the federal government deregulated the industry, which signaled the beginning of the end for such high wages. Nowadays, a long-haul trucker will typically earn less than $60,000

a year in the U.S., and they'll work longer hours than truckers would have in the past. That said, it's certainly not a dying industry. With the popularity of online shopping, the need for truckers has never been greater. Someone has to ferry our packages across the continent. But the job doesn't look the same as it once did. The American highways are more family-friendly than they were in the past, when the interstate system was in its infancy. Today, more inviting amenities and truck stops stand in contrast to the somewhat bleak freeways of the past.

That gray scale world is where our first story takes place, the highways of the 1970s and 80s, where a trucker named Robert Ben Rhodes moonlighted as a sadistic killer. But before we get there, let's backtrack a little to see if we can figure out what drew this murderer to life on the road. As far as we can tell, Rhodes had a relatively uneventful childhood. Born in November of 1945, he grew up in Iowa with his mother and father. Some accounts mentioned that Rhodes may have had some social issues as he grew up, but whatever they were didn't stop him being an active kid. He played football, sang in the choir, and was in his school's French club.

In other words, there weren't any of the typical red flags we might see in a future serial killer. But that changed in Rhodes' teenage years. At 16, he was arrested for tampering with a vehicle. Then at 17, he was arrested again for fighting in public. All in all, neither incident were clear indications. of what was to come. But after he graduated high school in 1964, things started going off the rails. Opting not to go to college, Rhodes joined the Marine Corps, which should have set him up on a stable career path. His father had served in World War II, and it's possible he wanted to carry on

the tradition of service. Unfortunately, that same year, his family was rocked by scandal. Rhodes' father, Ben, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. When a second young girl came forward with a similar story, Ben took his own life. It's not clear if this event was the trigger, but it coincided with the beginning of a turbulent time in Rhodes' life. After just a few years in the Marines, he was dishonorably discharged for taking part in a robbery. With his short career already over, he attempted to make a fresh start at college, but it didn't take. He also applied to join a law enforcement agency but was rejected, possibly because of his dishonorable discharge.

Looking at his interest in both the military and law enforcement, it seems likely that Rhodes craved the power and authority these jobs offered. But after both these failed career attempts, he was left directionless. He spent the next few years working in stores and restaurants. He also married and divorced twice and moved back in with his mother. By 1973, he'd begun work. as a truck driver. It's possible that Rhodes was drawn to a life on the road because of the independence it offered

him. If he craved control in his professional life, then the unsupervised nature of driving a truck certainly offered that. At this point, we have to speculate about events a little, as Rhodes didn't kill his first confirmed victims until 1990. That said, authorities suspect he was actively hunting on the highways for at least 15 years. The specifics of this period of his life are murky. What we do know is that at some point he moved to Houston, Texas, and that he met his third wife, Deborah, sometime in the early 80s. Apparently, he kept his occupation a secret, telling her he was an airline pilot. She didn't learn the truth for months. What wasn't so secret was Rhodes' interest in bondage and sadomasochism. He was definitely sex

positive and was active in Houston's Swinger community. According to Deborah, Rhodes organized orgies and arrange for men to visit the house to act as her sex slave. Now you probably understand why we guessed earlier that Rhodes was drawn to positions of power. And he wasn't shy about his interests. His call sign on the truck's CB radio was Wips and Chains. If investigators' theories are to be believed, that desire for control manifested in horrific ways from early on in Rhodes' driving career. It's possible that as early as 1975, he was picking up sex workers and hitching

Hitchhikers. According to one source, Rhodes kept a sign on the dash of his truck that read, cash, grass, or asses. No one rides for free. And he meant it. Some like Pamela Milliken paid willingly. Rhodes picked Pamela up when she was around 18 and hitchhiking across Canada. He snapped a Polaroid over as soon as she climbed into his truck. He told her that he documented everyone he picked up in case he ever had to report them to the police. That's when he pointed at the sign on his dashboard. Pamela didn't have any money and didn't smoke marijuana, so before he dropped her off in Winnipeg, they had sex. Pamela was one of the lucky few to escape Rhodes' truck unscathed. He was known to carry a briefcase containing whips, handcuffs, leashes,

sex toys, clamps, and fish hooks. According to Rhodes himself, he used this briefcase when he abducted, raped, and killed women on the road, and he did it for years. years. He traveled across North America through over 20 states, leaving little behind except a trail of dead bodies. But when a trail is so spread out and no one knows to follow it, how could it ever lead investigators to a killer? Thankfully, by the end of the 80s, roads movements become easier for us to trace. In January of 1990, the 44-year-old picked up newlyweds Patricia Candace Walsh and Douglas Ziskowski. The couple were hitchhiking from Seattle to Georgia and had made it to Texas when they met Rhodes. They never made it to their destination. Rhodes killed Douglas almost immediately

and dumped his body before he'd even left the state. He had other plans for Patricia, though. He held her prisoner for at least a week, during which he repeatedly raped and tortured her. Her body was found in Utah a few months later, though it wasn't identified for years. Meanwhile, Rhodes carried on driving as usual, as if there were nothing and nobody that could ever stop him. And what happened next seemed to prove that notion. Not long after he dumped Patricia's body in Utah, Rhodes abducted another young woman. The 18-year-old, who will call Fiona, had been living on the streets since she was about 12. In other words, she was a prime target for someone like Rhodes. Rhodes picked Fiona up at a truck stop in Houston and quickly shanker

her to the sleeper compartment in the back of the cab. He held her captive for weeks, raping and torturing her just like he did to Patricia. However, something was different with Fiona. Perhaps Rhodes felt like he'd thoroughly broken her spirit and wanted to test the control he had over her. When he stopped for a drink at a Houston brewery, he apparently left her in the cab without shackling her. He simply said, sit there and be a good girl. Fiona did no such thing. She escaped from the tree. and ran to find help. She brought the police to Rhodes and told them everything he'd done to her. But while her courage helped her escape, Fiona's resolve crumbled when it came time to press

charges. She told police her story, but declined to take the matter any further. She concluded her statement of the authorities by saying, it's just going to be my word against his. Fiona seemed to recognize an insidious bias Rhodes had been exploiting for years. People like her weren't often believed by authorities. Her reasons for caution were understandable. A 2018 article appearing in Frontiers in Sociology looked at the attitudes of police officers towards sex workers. The study found that two-thirds of cops believe that street prostitution should be punished by incarceration. Conversely, less than 50% believe that soliciting those services should earn that punishment. In other words, it seemed that many in law enforcement are more likely to discredit

a sex worker and side with or empathize with a John. So Fiona felt like there was no point pressing charges against her attacker. And so, Rhodes was free to go. He wasted no time getting back to his horrific pastime. Just days later, he picked up another young couple, 14-year-old Regina K. Walters and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Ricky Lee Jones. It's not clear where the pair crossed paths with Rhodes, but both runaways were from past. Pasadena, Texas. Like the last couple he picked up, Rhodes swiftly dispatched Ricky and dumped his body in Mississippi. But he kept Regina as his prisoner for at least two more weeks, subjecting her to the same

horrific treatment he gave all his captives. He shaved her head, used fishing hooks to pierce her body, and took photographs for his collection. Before he killed her, Rhodes forced Regina to wear a black dress and high heels, then snapped Polaroids of her in an abandoned bar. in Illinois. Then he killed her with a garot and left her body there. Authorities estimate that Robert Rhodes murdered as many as 50 people during his career as a trucker, but Regina was just his fourth confirmed victim. And mercifully, she was one of his last. On April 1st, a highway patrol officer approached Rhodes's truck, which was parked on the side of Interstate 10 in Arizona. At first, the cop thought that maybe the truck had broken down,

but when he looked inside the cab, the truth was horrifyingly clear. He could see a young woman bound and chained to the ceiling of the sleeper compartment. She was gagged with a horse bridle, and her body was covered in bruises and cuts. Seeing the cop, the woman screamed for help, which sent roads scrambling to climb out of the compartment and into the driver's seat. He closed the curtain to hide his victim and explained to the officer that everything happening back there was consensual, whatever the traumatized woman might say. Luckily, the patrol officer wasn't that gullible and placed Rhodes under arrest. Both he and the terrified woman who will call Chantal were brought to the local station.

27-year-old Chantal explained that she'd accepted a ride from Rhodes and that he'd seemed nice at first, but when she drifted off to sleep, he dragged her into the sleeper compartment. As he tortured her, Rhodes had apparently boasted that he'd been raping and killing women for years. Meanwhile, Rhodes tried to play down the incident. He told investigators that Chantal was a lot lizard, which is crude slying for a sex worker who hangs out at truck stops. The sex was consensual, he insisted. And besides, he said, Shantal wasn't mentally stable.

The cops weren't buying it, and Rhodes was charged with aggravated assault, sexual assault, and unlawful imprisonment. Searching his truck, they found Rhodes' briefcase of tools and torture devices, which told them they were dealing with a serial rapist. Then, when searching as Houston apartment, they found evidence that suggested the truth might be even worse. Chief among the finds were stacks of photographs,

including shots of Patricia Walsh and Regina Walters. All the women had shorn hair, and most were bound or handcuffed. Unfortunately, though the images were distressing, they weren't enough to prove he was a murderer, at least not yet. It seemed like Rhodes might walk free once again. He served time for his crimes in Texas and was sent to take part in a work release program in September of 1990. But then, a discovery changed everything. That month, Regina's body was found in Illinois and was identified by dental records.

The case might have gone cold there had it not been for Rhodes's need to keep trophies from his victims. Not only had he photographed Regina in the exact spot where her body was found, he'd also kept her diary, which police found among his belongings. It was all the proof authorities needed. Rhodes was convicted of first-degree murder in Illinois and sentenced to life in prison. For years, that was the only murder Rhodes could be tied to. But when the bodies of two more of his victims, Candice Walsh and Douglas Ziskowski were found and identified, he was extradited to Utah to stand trial in 2006.

However, Candace and Douglas' families requested that the charges be dropped. In 2012, Rhodes was again moved, forced to face his crimes in another state, this time to Texas, where he'd murdered Regina and Ricky. He confessed to the murders to avoid facing the death penalty and was given a second life sentence. The simple conclusion to Robert Rhodes' story is that four murders were solved, bringing a tiny measure of closure to his victim's family. But as we mentioned earlier, it's believed that Rhodes' job made it possible for him to kill many, many more people. And the sad fact is we may never know who or where they are. That hasn't stopped authorities from trying, though. Since its inception in 2009, the FBI's Highway Serial Killings Initiative has investigated the murders of over 750 victims whose bodies were found near highways.

According to their reports, investigators have a list of some 450 suspects they can link to those murders, and a disproportionate number of those suspects are truck drivers. How many have they connected to roads? We don't know, but of course he's not the only trucker to kill while on the road. Those stories seem never ending, and not all of the puzzles have an answer. Coming up, the terrifying story of the Redhead murders. Own it all. your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly

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But what about the ones you've never heard of because they were never caught? So far in this episode, we pointed out how difficult it can be to link the murders of a truck driving killer. Their transience helps them spread out their victims, making it almost impossible for authorities to connect the dots. But sometimes a string of victims seem so obviously connected that everyone's sure it's the work of one killer. That's exactly what happened in the late 1970s and 80s, when the bodies of women began turning up across a stretch of states, colloquially known as the Bible Belt. Though it's difficult to pinpoint when the murders began, one of the prominent early victims was found in Wetzel County, West Virginia. To this day, the woman remains unidentified, so we'll call her Jane.

Jane's naked body was dumped alongside Route 250, and it's believed that she was suffocated to death. She was estimated to be between 35 and 45, and crucially, she had Auburn hair. That's what eventually made her slaying a potential piece of the puzzle known as the Redhead Murders. Unfortunately, there was little for authorities to go on with this particular murder. With no one to identify her, it seems likely that Jane had no strong consequences. connections to a community, which would have made her an ideal victim for a serial killer. This left investigators at a dead end, and the case went cold. However, in September of 1984, another body was discovered, bearing some similarities to the

first. This time, however, the crime scene was near the city of West Memphis, Arkansas, over 700 miles away. 28-year-old Lisa Nichols was strangled to death and dumped along Interstate 40. Her hair was Strawberry Blonde. Like Jane, Lisa was initially unidentified, until a couple from Florida recognized her and said she'd stayed briefly with them. They barely knew her and no others came forward once her identity became public. Given her lack of connections in the area, it seems probable that she was hitchhiking when her killer picked her up. Of course, that's not the only possibility. Lisa's identity was also matched to fingerprint records. Because her fingerprints

were on file, it's possible she'd been arrested at some stage, which suggests she might have been a sex worker. Whatever the truth, her killer obviously considered her an easy target. What wasn't easy was solving Lisa's murder. Like Jane before her, there was little evidence to suggest who the killer was, leaving the case to stagnate. It's not clear when authorities first noticed a pattern between the cases of murdered women with red hair, but once they did, it was impossible to ignore. The next victim found was Tina Marie McKenney in January of 1985. She was in her early 20s when she died, had red hair and a slight build, like the earlier victims, and was found next to a highway. This time, just off Interstate 75 in Tennessee.

Tina had been strangled to death, possibly with a piece of her own t-shirt, then wrapped in a blanket and dumped down an embankment beside the road. While authorities scrambled to identify Tina, even more bodies turned up next to highways. The skeletal remains of a young girl were found not far from where Tina's body was discovered. She'd been dead for up to four years, and there was no way of knowing her hair color. But because she was also found along I-75, it strengthened her connection to the other cases. And those cases were piling up in Tennessee. On March 6, 1985, a red-headed woman named Linda Shack told police a horrifying story.

Linda was a dancer, and she told local authorities that the night before, a customer at the club where she worked offered her $200 to have sex with him. Linda agreed and went to a motel with the man. They had sex, and then he led her back to her car, where he became aggressive. He ripped up her shirt and used it to bind her arms and legs. Eventually, the man pulled over and used another strip from Linda's shirt to strangle her until she passed out. Believing her dead, he dumped Linda's body and drove away. But Linda wasn't dead. When she woke up, she was in an open drain by the road, still tied up with the shirt around her neck.

She managed to crawl back up to the road where several truck drivers pulled over to help her. Using the information Linda gave them, investigators tracked down and apprehended her attacker, identifying him as 37-year-old Jerry Johns. You might not be surprised to learn that Johns was a truck driver. In fact, he owned a trucking company with a fleet of. of three vehicles, and though some suspected he might be connected to the Redhead murders, there wasn't any strong evidence tying him to those crimes. Not that that mattered. There was more than enough evidence to bring Johns in on multiple

charges, including assault with the intent to commit murder. After being found guilty, he was sentenced to over 70 years in prison. But the story wasn't over, not by a long shot. While Johns was in custody, bodies continued turning up side freeways. Some of the women had been dead for years, one of whom was later identified as 35-year-old S.B. Black Pilgrim, a mother of five who was suffocated to death. S.B.'s naked body was found inside a fridge dumped alongside Route 25 in Kentucky. She had long, red hair, which drew some to conclude she was linked to the other redhead murders. Investigators also believed S.B. was trying to hitchhike to North Carolina when she was murdered. Initially,

Especially, Espy's body was unidentified, and her case might have faded from memory like so many others. But her body was found near the small town of Gray, and the locals were horrified by her murder. Though they didn't know her name or where she came from, over 500 people attended a funeral service for Espy, and those who couldn't make it watched it on television. It was possibly this stirring public reaction that prompted investigators to call for help. The same month, Espy's body was discovered. police from the states where bodies had been found reached out to the FBI. They wanted to know whether the redhead murders were really related.

The answer was inconclusive. After a six-hour meeting to discuss the cases, investigators announced that while there were similarities between some of the murders, there were also differences. They also acknowledged that the term redhead murders was a bit of a misnomer. At that stage, only a few of the victims truly had red hair, while others had Auburn or Strawberry Blonde locks. It was also pointed out that some victims had had some kind of sexual intercourse before they died,

while others did not, and that the causes of death varied. In short, there were no clear answers in the case, though in the years after SB's funeral, the bodies continued to turn up beside highways across the Bible Belt. Investigators continued to look into the murders, and finally after three decades, that persistence paid off. In 2016, the blanket used to wrap Tina Marie McKinney was sent for DNA testing, and there was a match. The DNA belonged to Jerry Johns, the man who'd tried to kill Linda Shack in 1985.

It was an incredible breakthrough in the case, but unfortunately, Johns had died just months earlier, so he was never made to answer for Tina's murder. All the same, Tennessee authorities were determined to close the case. So in December of 2019, a grand jury indicted Johns for the murder, declaring that had he stood trial, he would have been convicted. Since then, authorities from the Texas Bureau of Investigation have been looking into whether Johns can be conclusively linked to any of the other redhead murders, and they're not the only ones captivated by the mystery. In 2018, a sociology class from Elizabeth 10 High School in Tennessee studied the enigmatic deaths. They even came up with a profile they thought matched the likely killer, who they dubbed the Bible Belt Strangler.

According to the profile, the Strangler was a man aged between 20 and 50 when he committed the murders in the 1970s and 80s. He likely lived in or near Knoxville, Tennessee and was probably a trucker. These are somewhat wide parameters, but Jerry Johns fits into them neatly. But if Johns wasn't the killer in each of the Redhead murders, What then? Does that mean a serial killer escaped justice and might still be alive somewhere? Or doesn't mean that several killers escaped justice? Were all the culprits truck drivers like Jerry Johns and Robert Rhodes? Men who wielded their transients like a weapon? Who chose victims

they felt sure no one could possibly miss? Who dumped their victims by the side of the roads they drove for a living, discarding them like trash out of a window? The frustrating, terrifying answer is that We may never know. Some murders will never be solved. Some killers will never be caught. Because when you live your life on the road, you're almost always one step ahead. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers.

We'll be back next time with the next episode in our Working Late special series. So far in our journey, we've covered cops and truck drivers. What's next? Wouldn't you like to know? 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 Carrie Murphy, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Trent Williamson, Carly Madden, and Bruce Katovich. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Joel Callan, with writing assistance by Robert Teamstra and Kate Kempner,

Gallagher, fact-checking by Haley Milliken, and researched by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial killers stars Greg Poulson and Vanessa Richardson. I'm Sarah Turney, host of the new Spotify Original from Parkcast, Disappearances. Every Thursday, join me for an exploration into history's most gripping missing persons cases. Following timelines, analyzing clues, and piecing together as many answers as possible to find the truth. From prison breaks and child abductions to second chances and even

murder. We'll journey through the many reasons people disappear. Follow my new podcast Disappearances free and only on Spotify. 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, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.