Murder In America - EP. 195: TEXAS - The "Lucky" Serial Killer Kenneth McDuff

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

In today's episode of the show, we explore the disturbing story of Kenneth McDuff, a murderer who was let out of prison, from death row, who went on to become one of the state's most disturbed serial killers. This story is shocking, unbelievable and incredibly infuriating. And you're listening to MURDER IN AMERICA. - Listen to our new show, "THE CONSPIRACY FILES"!: -Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5IY9nWD2MYDzlSYP48nRPl -Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/id1752719844 -Amazon/Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab1ade99-740c-46ae-8028-b2cf41eabf58/the-conspiracy-files -Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/PC:1001089101 -iHeart - https://iheart.com/podcast/186907423/ -PocketCast - https://pca.st/dpdyrcca -CastBox - https://castbox.fm/channel/id6193084?country=us - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. In last week's episode, we talked about a man named Kenneth Allen McDuff. He grew up in the small town of Rosebud, Texas. And from a young age, Kenneth started showing signs of being a troubled individual. He was a bully, always picking on people smaller than him. As he got older, he liked to rob small businesses. And although there were no documented records of any assaults, he was known to brag about reaping and killing women.

His first known kill was actually a triple homicide in 1966 when he was just 20 years old. Kenneth and his accomplice, Roy Dale Green, came across three teenagers who were hanging out at their high school's. baseball field. And by the end of the night, all three teenagers were brutally murdered. But luckily, their deaths were almost immediately solved. Kenneth's accomplice was so overwhelmed with guilt, he ended up confessing to the murders the very next day. And in last week's episode,

we left off with their trials. Both Roy and Kenneth were convicted of the murders, and Kenneth was even scheduled to be executed by the electric chair. But as you'll learn in this episode, he would somehow be let back out into society. And unfortunately, following his release, he still had that insatiable need to kill. So this is part two of the story of Kenneth Allen McDuff. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Brown.

And you're listening to Murder in America. Following the murders of Luis Sullivan, Robert Brand, and Marcus Dunham, the state of Texas had scheduled Kenneth McDuff's execution for October 8th, 1968. And as you can imagine, for the victim's family members, they were relieved to finally have justice. Now, nothing would ever bring Louise, Robert, and Marcus back, but at least they knew that the monster who killed them would get the justice he deserved. Or so they thought. As you may know, the death penalty is not an easy process. And although the state of Texas executes far more people than any other state, there are still a lot of hurdles to jump through when it comes to appeals.

And Kenneth McDuff was appealing his verdict almost immediately. immediately after his trial. Because of this, his 1968 execution was postponed to 1969. Then it was postponed again to 1970. And after a few years in prison, he was pretty confident that he would never get put to death. After all, while he was there, none of the death row inmates he was with were executed. In prison, Kenneth had earned the reputation of being a tough guy, the same reputation that he sought to have throughout his entire life. Kenneth was so aggressive in prison, they even let him serve as the block tender, which is essentially someone who runs their cell block. Now, this title is considered a privilege in prison. It means that inmates respect you,

and they fear you. They listen to what you say. And it's typically only given to people who don't put up with anything. Now, by then, Kenneth had accepted the fact that he was going to live the rest of his life in prison. But by a string of luck, there was a Supreme Court case going on in 1972, that would change everything. It was the case of Furman v. Georgia. And I won't go into the nitty-gritty of all of it, but essentially, it ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional because it mostly affected minorities.

Now, Kenneth was not a minority, but this Supreme Court ruling immediately overturned all death sentences in the United States, meaning Kenneth's sentence was effectively changed to life in prison, along with the 88 other inmates on death row, him. Now for a lot of the victims family members who were looking forward to their executions, this was a punch in the gut. Sadly, this also meant that under Texas law at the time, some of these offenders also now had a shot at parole. And believe it or not, Kenneth McDuff

was one of these people. Now while in prison, Kenneth had earned his GED and completed 45 hours of community college credits, but he was not considered a model prisoner. In fact, it's some point, he had even been caught smuggling and using drugs in prison. Due to this, he had to be transferred to the Ramsey unit, which was specifically given to criminals who needed extra supervision. One of the assistant wardens would later say, quote, we consider McDuff to be extremely dangerous and a high escape risk, end quote. But even though he hadn't proven himself to be trustworthy, Kenneth McDuff would somehow get lucky. That very same year, a Texas inmate named David Ruiz, who had been given a 25-year sentence for armed robbery, issued a handwritten

lawsuit against the Texas Department of Corrections. David complained that the prisons were overcrowded. Inmates didn't receive quality medical care, and they were constantly being brutalized by block tenders while prison guards turned a blind eye to the abuse. David said that the Texas prisons were a violation of his constitutional rights. After eight long years, the case of Ruiz v. Estelle went before United States District Judge William Wayne Justice. of Tyler. It would be the longest trial in the history of Texas, a total of 129 days. Ultimately, Judge Justice ruled in favor of the plaintiff, and from there, there were a lot of changes in the state's prison system. The court ruled that severe overcrowding in Texas prisons was unconstitutional.

There were population caps in prisons, and the state was forced to either build new prisons or release inmates early to meet the new limits. With this ruling, county jails were filling up with state prisoners waiting to be transferred, prisons that had no space. According to author Gary Laverne in his book titled Bad Boy, the Texas Department of Corrections was instructed to parole prisoners to make space for new inmates. He stated, they were instructed to release 150 prisoners a day, 750 a week, $3,000 a month, $36,000 per year, or nearly 75% of the population Judge Justice allowed to be housed in Texas prisons in 1987. So with the overcrowding, the Texas prison system was releasing thousands of inmates back onto the streets. And at first, it was just inmates convicted for drug crimes or petty theft.

But over time, they even started releasing violent criminals. And in 1976, after only serving 10 years, Kenneth McDuff was placed on the parole list. That same year, his mother, Addie McDuff began working hard to get her son's conviction overturned. Addie ended up hiring an attorney from Dallas named Gary Jackson, and Gary believed that Kenneth had been wrongfully convicted. He said that the true killer of the broomstick murders was actually his accomplice, Roy Dale Green. So in 1979, Gary Jackson typed up a 26-page letter to the chairman of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and he had a new story of what happened. According to Kenneth, on the night of the broomstick murders, Roy came to him stating that he wanted to commit a robbery, but Kenneth was on parole, so he claimed he didn't want any part of it. So while in Everman that night, Kenneth decided to wait in this burned out building while Roy committed the crime.

And he even said that he let Roy use his car, but he wasn't involved. Kenneth stated that he patiently waited in that burned out building all night long until Roy, finally came back to pick him up. Surprisingly, Kenneth actually got time added on to his sentence because he had tried to pay a member of the parole board $10,000 to release him. But even with this, he was still being considered for parole. That alone should have proven that he was not rehabilitated, but once again he continued to fall through the cracks.

Now every time Kenneth was up for parole, the victims affected by his crimes would write letters to the parole board, begging to keep him behind bars. But by the late 80s, there was a lot of pressure to parole inmates due to overcrowding. They needed more space for incoming prisoners. Gary Laverne reported in 1988, nearly 50,000 inmates who applied for parole were approved, and in 1989, 61,000 were paroled, some of whom were violent criminals. Now, by 1989, it had been 23 years since, the broomstick murders. Kenneth McDuff was now 43 years old, and in September of that year,

he was up for parole for the 15th time. The three-member panel was Cora Mosley, Dr. James Grahamberry, and Chris Mealy. Chris Mealy was the board member who would determine Kenneth's fate, and he admitted that he had been impressed by Kenneth's record, which is pretty surprising considering he had smuggled drugs into the prison, and he attempted to bribe a parole member. I'm not sure. sure how that's impressive. But on September 14th, 1989, Kenneth McDuff was granted parole, the man who raped and tortured a 16-year-old girl, a man who brutally murdered three innocent teenagers. And on October 11th of that year, Kenneth walked out of the prison a free man. And I can't even imagine what Luis, Robert, and Marcus' family thought. This man took their lives. And now he was in his

40s, walking free, when their loved ones never got the chance. Now, as you can imagine, when word got out that Kenneth McDuff had been released, everyone was shocked. The people of Rosebud, Texas began locking their doors again. Some people even pulled their children out of school, and they had every right to be afraid. There were whispers around town that Kenneth had vowed to get revenge on the people in his past who had wronged him. If you remember in the previous episode, we talked about a man named Tommy Salmons, the boy who humiliated McDuff by beating him up after school that one day. Well, by now, Tommy was grown with children of his own,

but in the days after Kenneth's release from prison, he received a strange phone call. Tommy said that when he answered, all he could hear on the other end of the line were three gunshots. Then the caller hung up. But Tommy knew without a shadow of a doubt that the caller was Kenneth McDuff. He was letting the town of Rosebud know that he was back. The news of McDuff's release was a shock to everyone,

but the residents of Fall County were the most outraged of all. Even though it had been decades since Luis, Robert, and Marcus had been killed, their deaths were still felt throughout their community. Now the man who actually arrested McDuff for those murders back in 1966 was Sheriff Brady Pamplin, and by 1989 he was retired. But when he heard the news, he immediately called up his old colleague. When I first found out that Kenneth Allen Macduff had been released from prison, the first thing I did was called Parnell McNamara in Waco, Texas, Deputy Marshal. Parnell and his brother Mike, both are marshals, and we've been friends ever since with little bitty boys, and I called Parnell and told him, I said, Parnell, you're not going to believe this, but they've released Kenneth McDuff.

and I don't know if it'll be three days, three weeks, three months, but sooner or later, the bodies of young girls, young ladies, or boys are going to start turning up. When Parnell heard this news, there was silence on the other end of the line. Finally, after several seconds, he said, have they gone crazy? Now, these officers got to see the brutality of McDuff's crimes firsthand. It was the case that would forever stick with them. Retired Sheriff Brady Pamplin was a Texas Ranger and a World War II vet before he served on the force for 30 years.

He had seen the worst of the worst, but nothing was as sadistic and violent as McDuff's crimes. So to them, when they heard he was back on the streets, they were incredibly worried. After his retirement, Brady Pamplin's son actually became the sheriff of Falls County, and they were determined to keep an eye on McDuff to make sure he didn't hurt anyone else. But Kenneth wasn't staying in one place for long. Life in Rosebud was not what Kenneth expected. By then, most of his family had families of their own and had moved away.

His older brother Lonnie, who was his closest sibling, had actually been murdered while he was in prison. Apparently, he was shot to death by the ex-husband of this girl he had been seeing. So after Kenneth's release, it seemed as if Rosebud was no longer serving him. But before moving, it's widely believed that he committed a crime in the nearby town of Temple, Texas. Just three days after his release from prison, the body of 29-year-old Seraphia Parker was found beaten, strangled, and raped in a field in Temple, Texas, which is only about 20 minutes away from Rosebud. Now, Serafia was a sex worker, and as you've seen throughout true crime stories, monsters like McDuff like to target these people, because sadly, their murders don't get as much attention. Now, McDuff was never charged with Seraphia's murder, but it is.

is widely believed that she was his victim. After 23 years in prison, he was itching to kill again. But he knew he had to be smart. Killing teenagers would surely put him right back where he came from. So this time he chose a victim that wouldn't garner a lot of attention, and it seemed to have worked in his favor. Unlike his previous murders, the police never came looking for him. They never even questioned him. And this would be the beginning of a series of disturbing rapes and murders that would haunt central Texas. After that murder, McDuff moved around a lot. He couldn't seem to stay in one place. He moved to Temple, Cameron, Belmead, Tyler, Dallas, and Rockdale. On October 17th, he was living in Rockdale with his sister, but almost immediately he started having problems

with his brother-in-law. Apparently, Kenneth would just take their car whenever he wanted to. He also refused to get a job. At dinner, the family would sit down together and Kenneth would start making crude comments about women right in front of his young nephew. So eventually, Kenneth was kicked out. From there, he had no other choice but to move back in with his mother in Rosebud. And as you can imagine, he really took advantage of her. For his entire life, Addy McDuff thought her son could do no wrong, even after he was convicted of murdering three teenagers. Once he was released from prison, Addie bought him another car. She gave him a credit card that she would pay off every single month, and she didn't force him to get a job. Even further, Kenneth,

Kenneth truly believed that the Justice for McDuff Inc. was going to make him famous. His attorney told him that they were talking about this movie and book deal. So in Kenneth's mind, he didn't have to work, and he was able to go about life however he wanted to. But this freedom led him down a dark path. It was reported that in 1990, he started robbing local drug dealers. He was often seen speeding down the highway in his brand new car. When the residents of Rosebud saw him out and about, they were disgusted. but they didn't dare cross his path.

They knew that he was a dangerous individual, something they had known ever since he was a child, bullying kids in school. But now he wasn't just a bully. He was a cold-blooded killer living in their community. And it wouldn't be long until Kenneth McDuff was back in jail. On July 11, 1990, when Kenneth was 43 years old, he was walking down Main Street in Rosebud, Texas,

when he saw a black teenager walking by. Now we already know that McDuff is a vile human being, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he was also a hardcore racist. On that day, when he saw the black teenager who was minding his business, McDuff decided to accost him, calling him the N-word. And the teenager rightfully stood up for himself, putting McDuff in his place. But in response, McDuff chased him down the street and pulled a knife on him,

threatening to stab him. and soon after this he was placed under arrest. Kenneth McDuff was facing a misdemeanor charge for threatening the young boy. But because he was out on parole at the time, this meant he could go back to prison, which is what everyone was hoping for. The Falls County District Attorney Tom Seahen even wrote a letter to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice that stated,

the above, Kenneth McDuff, is the most extraordinarily violent criminal to ever set foot in Falls County. Now, once again, during Kenneth's hearing for this event, he testified on his own behalf. And during his testimony, he started talking about his hatred of black people. I guess he thought it would somehow help his case. But in yet another string of luck, Kenneth would be let off the hook again. Unfortunately, the boy that he threatened didn't show up to the hearing.

According to the book titled Bad Boy, the young boy's mother feared for her family's safety. And without his testimony, the charges against Kenneth were dropped. By this point, even Kenneth's attorney, Gary Jackson, realized that he was not a good person. So much so, he even filed a motion to have Kenneth's parole reinstated. Keep in mind, this is the same attorney who created the Justice for McDuff Incorporated, the one who fought so hard for him to get released. But, of course, the parole board didn't even take a look at this incident.

Reporter Gary Cartwright explained, quote, What happened next was bureaucracy. There was no hearing, no testimony, no advocacy of any kind. The board made no formal decision to reinstate McDuff's parole. Some anonymous hearing officer simply decided that there was no reason to keep Kenneth Macduff locked up. And so on December 18, 1990, Kenneth McDuff was able to walk out of prison a free man for the third time. And it seemed as if Kenneth knew, this time around, that he needed to get his act together. Because in the months after his release,

he decided to enroll in classes at the Texas State Technical College in Waco. The classes were even paid for through his rehabilitation program. But as you're about to see, Kenneth McDuff was anything but rehabilitated. While taking these classes, he often frequented Faulkner Street, which is an area in town where drug dealers and sex workers used to hang out. While there, Kenneth would usually buy some crack and then leave with the sex worker, taking her back to his dormitory on campus. But according to people that knew him, his crack made him incredibly violent, and he often took that violence out on the sex workers. Soon enough, Kenneth began making a name for himself on Faulkner Street. Anytime the sex workers saw him driving up, the girls dreaded

it. One girl, who went by the name Ducky, said that sex with Kenneth was a miserable experience. She remembered her three-hour sex ordeals with him in which he would penetrate, quote, every hole in her body, end quote. And he apparently liked to humiliate, women. He got off on degrading them. He would also force them to perform sexual acts that they weren't comfortable doing. To him, it didn't matter if they didn't like it. He was paying them. Wago sex workers also said that Kenneth was known to make very strange remarks during sex. He would say things like, have you ever seen a set of balls like this on anybody? And interestingly, all of the girls said that he never got fully undressed during sex. He always opted to leave his boots on.

and there was very little intimate touching. Instead, he enjoyed inflicting pain. And any time the girls resisted or told him to stop, he wouldn't. He would simply tell them, quote, it's only going to hurt for a little bit. End quote. Many of the sex workers said that they didn't even think Kenneth was able to climax. It seemed as if he faked a lot of his orgasms.

Oh, and the girls he was with? They weren't allowed to orgasm. The sex workers said that if they ever appeared, to be enjoying the sex, Kenneth would get angry, to him. The girls were simply there to please him, not the other way around. It was all about control for Kenneth McDuff, and soon enough, sex workers around Waco began to go missing. Now, there's no telling the actual number of women that Kenneth murdered. When a sex worker was reported missing back then, the police department wasn't necessarily

scrambling to solve the case. But the girls on Faulkner Street were very wary of Kenneth McDowell. He seemed to always be one of the last people to see these girls before they suddenly disappeared, and the police department wasn't doing anything about it. Now, because Kenneth was on parole, he had to do regular check-ins with his parole officer. And to them, he seemed to be doing pretty well. In fact, during his first semester at school, he was on the dean's list with a 3.7 GPA. On the outside, Kenneth was a student who was trying to better himself.

But in reality, when darkness fell, he was a drug crazed, sadistic point. Now, while Kenneth was attending this school, he was living by himself in the dorm on campus, and at the time, he was 46 years old. People at the school that knew him said that he often kept to himself. He didn't have any friends. During the spring semester of 1992, he took a course on human relations, and his professor instructed him to list his four best personal characteristics. He chose reliable, respectful, perceptive, and open-minded.

exercise asked students to choose five traits that described how they felt about themselves. Kenneth chose, aware, considerate, loyal, productive, and trusting. Negative traits he listed were, not good at meeting people, and too trusting sometimes. During two assignments in class, they had to take a test on sexual harassment and drugs. And it was reported that Kenneth scored perfectly on both. Many people said that although Kenneth was in his 40s, he acted really and mature. He was never good at making friends, so he always gravitated towards the younger, more impressionable men, men like his old accomplice, Roy Dale Green. When Kenneth would find someone who would listen, he would brag about all of the women he had been with, how good he was

at robberies. And around certain crowds, he would even talk to people about his murders, going into extremely graphic detail. At some point, he told someone that he didn't like to kill more than three people at once because it was too hard to dig multiple graves. He said that the best way to dispose of a body is to bury them in the ground and cover their graves with brush. And apparently, he was just telling random men at his school this information. Soon enough, the residents at his dorm began calling him Mac or Big Mac. However, behind his back, they often joke that he was crack Mack because of how much crack cocaine he did. Now most people would later say that they didn't believe a word that came out of his mouth, but some people were really scared of him. There was something

about him that left them feeling unsettled. Maybe it was the amount of drugs he was doing. Maybe it was the fact that he was always bringing sex workers back to his dorm. Whatever it was, their intuition was spot on because Kenneth was always praying on those around him. One of these people was a young man named Richard he met in his dorm. Like many people in Kenneth's past, Richard was impressionable. And one day, Kenneth convinced him to use his federal student loan check so they could have some fun together. That night, Kenneth used Richard's money to buy some crack on Faulkner Street.

He also rented them a motel room for the night and brought back a sex worker named Jennifer. Now, Richard was new to all of this, but Kenneth wasn't. This was just a normal weekend for him. But according to Jennifer, the night quickly went awry. After smoking crack in the motel room, Kenneth got angry with Richard and attacked him. At some point, Kenneth was straddled over him, and Jennifer watched as he pressed his thumbs down into Richard's eye sockets.

Now, luckily, he was able to get away, and according to people on campus, Richard walked around that week with two black and swollen eyes. Kenneth would later tell people that if Jennifer hadn't been in the room that night, he would have killed Richard without a second thought. But this incident was so frightening, Richard actually dropped out of school shortly after, and unfortunately, he never reported it to the police. But considering Kenneth's record, even if he had reported it,

it's likely that nothing would have even happened. Hey, everybody, Courtney and I have a favor to ask of you. If you love murder in America, you love our show. please leave us a five-star review wherever you listen to your podcasts, whether that's Apple Podcasts, Spotify. If you love our show and you want to help us grow, definitely consider leaving us a five-star review. Also, it helps the show so much when people share out links to our program. So if you're listening and you're loving what we're doing here, share us on your Instagram story, shout us out on X, post one of our shows on your Facebook, and let the world, your friends,

your family know that you're listening to Murder in America. It's seriously, helps us so much helps us grow the show. We couldn't do this without all of you listening at home. Seriously, thank y'all. But let's get back to the story. Now, in September of 1991, Kenneth had spent the night getting drunk and decided to get behind the wheel. He was driving drunk around Temple, Texas, when a police cruiser came up behind him and pulled him over. And at that moment, Kenneth began to panic. He knew he was on parole, so this could have very well sent him back to prison. and the officer ended up arresting him for DWI. And he would later plead guilty.

But as we know, Kenneth had a way of getting around the law. At the time, the prisons in Texas were still overcrowded. So the Texas Department of Criminal Justice didn't think it was necessary to send him back. Instead, he was once again punished with a slap on the wrist. Kenneth was given a fine and he had an additional 20 months added on to his probation, which would prove to be a deadly mistake. About a month after his DUI arrest, Kenneth McDuff would take the life of another young woman. It was October 10, 1991. And like always, he decided to drive down the infamous Faulkner Street to pick up a sex worker.

As he drove down the road, there were many girls out ready for a night of work. However, one girl named Brenda Thompson would never make it back. Out of all of the girls on Faulkner Street, Kenneth had his eyes set on her. He quickly pulled up in his red pickup and ordered her to get inside. Brenda must have not heard the whispers about how dangerous Kenneth was. Because most of the girls knew to stay far away from him, but not Brenda. So from there, she got into his car and the two took off down the road. Brenda was described as a petite 37-year-old, and her life hadn't been easy. She had substance abuse issues and had been arrested a number of times for petty crimes like

DWI, trespassing, possession, forgery, prostitution, and failure to pay fines. And her life was lonely. It was said that she didn't have a lot of friends and she mostly kept to herself, which was the perfect kind of victim for Kenneth McDuff. Horrifically, shortly after getting into his truck, Kenneth attacked Brenda, tying her hands behind her back. Then, once she was bound, he continued driving down the road. Brenda was terrified.

and in that very moment, she knew that she was in grave danger. But luckily for her, she suddenly saw blue and red flashing lights up ahead. It was a DUI checkpoint. Brenda looked over at Kenneth, who was visibly scared. After all, he had a girl tied up in his front seat. But he had no other choice but to stop. As he pressed the break to his pickup, he quickly warned Brenda to shut her mouth. And seconds later, an officer walked up to his way.

window. But as soon as this happened, Brenda began to scream and kick at Kenneth's windshield. The officer quickly saw that her hands were tied behind her back. This girl was clearly in danger. But before they could intervene, Kenneth slammed his foot onto the gas pedal and took off down the road. From there, multiple officers hopped into their cruisers and started chasing Kenneth down the street. But Kenneth had an advantage. He was pretty far ahead of them. Eventually, he turned onto a random street and turned his headlights off, still driving as fast as he possibly could. And somehow, he was able to get away.

From there, he drove about eight miles down Golson Road, a secluded, wooded area in town. And as you can imagine, he was seething with rage. He would later admit that he told Brenda, quote, "'Bitch, you fucked up.'" Now, there is no telling whether or not he had set out to kill Brenda that night. But after that, he was more than ready to end her life. And sadly, he decided to take his time.

After bringing her out into the wilderness, Kenneth raped and tortured her for nearly six hours. Then when he was satisfied, he choked her to death with his bare hands. From there, he buried her body and covered it with brush. And sadly, Brenda Thompson's body would stay out there for seven whole years. Now, one would think that Kenneth would lay low after this, especially since he had just outrun the police. But that wasn't the case.

In fact, just five days after murdering Brenda Thompson, he was back on Faulkner Street, looking for another sex worker. This time, he would pick up 21-year-old Regina DeAnne Moore. Like Brenda, Gina was petite and dependent on drugs. She had three children, but due to her lifestyle, they were all adopted by relatives. In 1991, Gina was in a rough place. Her addiction had gotten so bad that she was locally known to put herself in risky situations. So on October 15th, when Kenneth pulled up his red pickup truck and ordered her to get in,

she didn't think twice. It was around 11 p.m. As Kenneth drove Gina down a remote road on Highway 6, near the Tewacana Creek, Kenneth was able to park his truck far enough down an embankment for privacy. And from there, the two smoked crack together. Now, like we mentioned, crack was known to make Kenneth violent. And after the two smoked, he decided that he was going to kill her. He would later say that it was just for the hell of it.

But once that decision was made, Kenneth tied up Gina's arms and legs. And like Brenda, he tortured her out there for hours. And like Brenda, her body wouldn't be discovered for years to come. Gina Moore was widely known on Faulkner Street. She had a lot of friends. So when she didn't show back up, her friends were worried. One of her fellow sex workers was so worried, she even reached out to Gina's mom. Now, Gina had left home about seven years prior, but Barbara Miller was determined to find out what happened to her daughter.

In the days after her disappearance, Barbara went to Faulkner Street and started asking questions. And soon enough, she learned that Gina was last seen with none other than Kenneth McDuff. To Barbara's horror, she also learned that another sex worker, Brenda Thompson, had also gone missing after being seen with him. Deep down, Barbara had this sinking feeling that her daughter was no longer alive. Now, she tried to go to the Waco Police Department with this information, but of course they didn't seem very interested. Barbara would later say, quote,

I think they looked down on her, just another prostitute and dope user, end quote. Because of this, Barbara had to do some invest. of her own. The sex workers on Faulkner Street told her that Kenneth was a student at the nearby technical school. They were also able to give her his address. So from there, she and her husband drove to the campus to speak with him. They ended up running into McDuff outside of his dorm, and they confronted him. But immediately, he got really defensive. Barbara said that he threw his hands up in the air and started yelling, you better not try and pin this on me. But right then in there, Barbara said that she had this feeling wash over her. She knew that this man had killed her

daughter. Now, interestingly, Gina's cousin was also a sex worker on Faulkner Street, and she said that she knew exactly who Kenneth McDuff was. One of them, he raped, Decky and Bonnie, and he's a violent person, but he's never showed it with me. Now, once again, Barbara pleaded with the police to help in her daughter's disappearance. She even mentioned that it wasn't just her daughter missing, but Brenda Thompson, too. However, they weren't very concerned. To the police, Brenda and Gina got into cars with strangers every single night. They were also known to go on drug benders from time to time,

so I guess they just assumed the girls would show back up. But unbeknownst to them, one of those missing girls was the same girl they saw tied up in that red pickup that sped away from the DUI checkpoint. Now, how they missed that connection, we still don't know. But once again, Kenneth McDuff was off the hook for now. Even though the police weren't on his tail, the sex workers on Faulkner Street were. By then, word had spread that he had likely murdered both Brenda and Gina, and the girls were warned to stay far away from him.

But sure enough, it wouldn't take long for Kenneth to make his way back over to Faulkner Street to find another sex worker. However, this time, when he rolled down his window, the girls confronted him. What did you do with Brenda and Gina? They asked. But once again, Kenneth denied any wrongdoing. I dropped the bitch off.

I didn't even fuck her, he said, but the girls knew better. Now, in the weeks after her daughter's disappearance, Barbara Miller was relentless. She continued to call the police department begging them to look into Kenneth McDuff. And finally, they did. Now, when he was brought in for questioning, they still didn't make the connection

that he was the man who sped away from police at the DUI checkpoint. They were simply there questioning him about Gina Moore. The Waco police officers would later say that Kenneth was very calm. He admitted that he knew Gina and that he did hang out with her on the night of October 15th,

but he said that he dropped her off after they finished their business. And of course, the police took his word it and let him go. Following this, Kenneth felt invincible, and I can see why. No matter what he did in life, no matter how many rules he broke or lives he took, there were no consequences. He was able to get away with whatever he wanted, and from here, he was able to continue on with his path of destruction. After this, Kenneth decided to get rid of his red pickup truck. After running from the police and nearly getting caught, he was scared. So one week,

He drove back to Rosebud, Texas and returned the vehicle to his parents. They didn't ask him about the cracked windshield. Instead, they simply gave him another car, a 1985 tan Ford Thunderbird. From here, Kenneth was a lot less on edge. And he spent that entire December hanging out casually with his friends. One friend in particular said that he and Kenneth had crossed paths and immediately he could tell that he was full of himself. He was always bragging to anyone who would listen.

And of course, Kenneth told this person. and all about how he loved to rob and kill people. They would later say that Kenneth was the scariest, craziest person they had ever met. During one of their outings, Kenneth spotted two young girls on roller skates, and he told his friend he wanted to get them. His friend told him that he was crazy and that he didn't do that sort of a thing. But Kenneth didn't care. He started following the young girls down the street,

making vulgar comments about how hot they were. The friend that was with him said he was disgusted, and after that, he never spoke to Kenneth again. But there was one friend of Kenneth's during this time that wasn't turned off by his vile behavior. And that was Hank Worley. Kenneth had met Hank in the summer of 1991, months before he went on a frenzy murdering sex workers. But like his first accomplice, Roydell Green, Hank Worley was inspired by Kenneth. He would listen to him tell stories about raping women and beating people within an inch of their life, and he was fascinated.

Kenneth and Hank would often drink beer together at dive bars around Belton and Temple. Afterwards, the two would drive around town and Kenneth would point out all the good spots where they can hide a body. Now, like all the others before, Hank would later claim that he didn't think Kenneth was being serious. But soon enough, the two would be hiding a body together. Which brings us to December 29, 1991. It was supposed to be a happy time in Austin, Texas. It was cold out. Christmas had just passed.

And usually around this time of the year, there's a joyful feeling in the year. there's a joyful feeling in the air, but not this year. You see, a few weeks prior on December 6, 1991, a horrible tragedy had taken place in Austin, Texas. It was the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders, which was the very first episode we ever covered here on Murder in America. Now, if you don't remember that case, it's about four teenagers, Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, Jennifer Harbison,

and her younger sister, Sarah Harbison. And in December of 1991, two of the girls were working at this yogurt shop in Austin, Texas. The other two girls were simply keeping them company as they finished up their nightly duties. But before the night was over, smoke started billowing out of the building. When first responders finally arrived, they quickly put out the flames. And at first, they thought it was just an accidental fire. Maybe someone had left on a stove. But as they made their way through the building, they made a gruesome discovery.

In the back room of the yogurt shop were the bodies of all four teenagers. And this was clearly no accident. The girls had been raped, murdered, and their bodies were set on fire. Now, interestingly, witnesses would later come forward saying that shortly before the yogurt shop closed that night, two men were seen sitting at a table near the cash register. They weren't even eating yogurt. They were just quietly sitting there. But sadly, to this day, the yogurt shop murders are still unsolved.

It's one of the biggest mysteries in all of Texas. But in the week after the murders, the city of Austin was on edge. Someone had come into their community and took the lives of four innocent teenage girls. And it wouldn't be long until another girl's life was taken in Austin, Texas. And like with the yogurt shop murders, two men were responsible, Kenneth McDuff and Hank Worley. It was exactly 23 days after the yogurt shot murders. The suspect, or suspects, were still at large. And 28-year-old Colleen Reed was on it.

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Born in Louisiana in April 1963, Colleen was described as a tomboy who always wanted to leave her hometown of Villa Platt. And finally, that opportunity presented itself. Colleen was dating a man named Jamil at the time, and he had just been offered a job at the Marriott Hotel in Austin, Texas. So Colleen decided to join him. She was described by her neighbors in Austin as a sweet woman who mostly kept to herself. She was close with her family and didn't do drugs and rarely drank alcohol. Colleen was determined to make something of her life, she studied hard to become an accountant, and dreamed of one day having a husband and children.

By the age of 28, Colleen was independent and working at the Lower Colorado River Authority as a supervising accountant. She lived alone in an apartment off Westlake Drive and had a cat named Mnou. She joined the Army Reserves for a short time, earning the rank of Specialist E4. However, she realized that that wasn't the life she wanted, so she processed out by the fall of 1991. But she wanted to stay in shape, so she became an avid jogger and golfer and regularly began working out at the future firm fitness center.

Colleen was really enjoying her time in Austin. She hadn't been there very long, but the city was everything she had hoped for, that is, until the yogurt shop murders. her family heard the horrible news, they called Colleen and warned her to be safe, especially since the killer was still on the loose. And Colleen told them that she would, but little did she know she was about to meet a similar fate. On the afternoon of December 29th, Hank Worley was visiting his sister's house in Colleen, Texas. And all of a sudden, Kenneth McDuff unexpectedly showed up and asked if he wanted to go to Austin

for the evening. Kenneth had even promised him a fun night of cocaine and speed. According to him, Austin at the time was the speed capital of the world. So Hank agreed to join him, but their night did not consist of drugs, but of something much darker. But that evening, the two got into Kenneth's car and headed to Austin. Along the way, they stopped to get some beer. And as they drank them, Kenneth bragged about kidnapping women and, quote, using them up. He seemed to have been testing the waters for what he had planned for the evening.

Now, of course, he didn't have a victim picked out, but he was looking for one. He and Hank even drove around the University of Texas and 6th Street, but no one seemed to have stuck out. However, eventually, they would find their victim, and it was none other than Colleen Reed. Earlier that night, Colleen got into her Mazda and drove to downtown Austin to deposit a $200 check that her father had given her for Christmas. Then from there, at around 9 p.m., she left to go to Whole Foods. At the store, she purchased a gallon of milk and a bottle of vitamins. From there, she planned to go back home, but at the last minute, she decided to make one last stop and go to a car wash. The self-served car wash was located on West Fifth Street, and Colleen pulled into one of the stalls. But unbeknownst to her,

a convicted killer just so happened to be driving by at that very moment. When Kenneth's saw Colleen washing her car at the car wash, he knew exactly what their night was going to entail. Immediately, he made a U-turn and drove back in the direction of the car wash. Hank would later say that Kenneth didn't tell him why he was stopping, but with no one around, Kenneth pulled into the stall directly next to Colleen. At the time, she was using a high-powered wand to rinse her car, and she didn't suspect a thing. Hank said that he watched as Kenneth got out of the car. And at first, he acted as if he was cleaning things up.

He even grabbed their empty beer bottles and threw them away. But then, out of nowhere, Kenneth turned around and charged at Colleen. Before she could even react, Kenneth had grabbed her and was pulling her towards his thunderbird. Fighting for her life, Colleen kicked and she screamed. But it was no use. Kenneth was much stronger than she was. and he quickly threw her into the back of his thunderbird. He then instructed Hank to go back there with her

and make sure she didn't get away. And of course, Hank did as he was told. Within seconds, the thunderbird was back on the road, speeding away from the car wash. But something Kenneth McDuff didn't notice was that a family living across the street had heard Colleen screams. When they looked in the direction of the car wash,

they saw a tan thunderbird speeding away, Now, they weren't able to get a good look at the driver, but they did see that the passenger of the Thunderbird was a Hispanic male. And in that moment, they didn't know what to think, but they knew that whatever they saw wasn't good. They were so worried, they actually decided to drive over to the car wash to see what was going on. And it's there, where they found Colleen's abandoned vehicle, with heavy soap studs still covering the outside. Inside the car, they found her purse, a set of keys and a bag of groceries. And that's when they realized that they had just witnessed the kidnapping, so from here they called 911. Meanwhile, Kenneth was driving far away from the scene,

erratically speeding through the streets of Austin. In the backseat of the Thunderbird, Hank was still holding Colleen down as she pleaded for her life. Looking in the rearview mirror, Kenneth promised her, quote, if you just fuck, you'll be all right. Now eventually, Kenneth pulled off the road and he and Hank switched spots. And as Hank drove the Thunderbird around Austin, Kenneth raped Colleen. He would later say that she was raped orally, vaginally, and anally. Now at some point along the drive, Hank turned on to Ranch Road 620, which was about 23 miles away from the car wash. And he would later say that it's here where Kenneth became enraged. Apparently, during the assaults, Colleen had tried to hurt him. So he started to start. He started to

started beating her in the back seat. From there, he grabbed her shoelaces and used them to tie her hands behind her back. Once she was immobilized, Kenneth lit a cigarette and then used the hot ember to burn Colleen's vagina. Hank continued driving down the road, hearing Colleen's cries the entire way.

When they were about 60 miles away from the car wash, Kenneth ordered Hank to pull over in a secluded area of I-35. Hank did as he was told. In the scenario you're about to hear, will eerily mirror the exact same case that landed Kenneth in prison decades earlier. Because just like with Roydale Green, Kenneth then ordered Hank to rape Colleen in the backseat of his car.

And of course, Hank did as he was told. But he would later claim that he only did this to protect Colleen from Kenneth's brutality. Once the two were finished, they got back into the car and started driving down the road once more. This time, they were headed towards the town of Belton, Texas. Off a secluded road with overgrown grass and brush, Kenneth stopped and pulled Colleen out of the car. He then threw her on the hood of his Thunderbird and raped her again. Afterwards, Kenneth began beating Colleen, punching her in the face as hard as he could. Hank would later say that at some point during the beating, he heard something snap.

He then watched as Colleen fell backwards and her head bounced off the ground. From there, everything went quiet. Colleen Reed was dead. Hank would later say that at this point, he wanted to go back home. So Kenneth put Colleen's body in the trunk, and they drove together back to Hank's sister's house. When Hank got out of the car to leave, Kenneth rolled down the window and asked, Do you have a shovel I could borrow? But Hank told him no.

And from there, Kenneth left to dispose of her body. By the next day, Colleen's sister Lori tried to get in touch with her. She spent the morning calling her over and over again. but to no avail. Colleen wouldn't answer. And Colleen's boyfriend hadn't heard from her either, so it's here where Lori finally reported her sister missing. And soon enough, Austin PD was able to connect her disappearance to that car that was left at the car wash.

The night before, that family had reported a potential kidnapping. But the only leads they had was that a tan thunderbird was seen speeding away from the scene. However, as you can imagine, APD had their hands with the Austin Yogurt Shop murders. So for months, Colleen's case went unsolved. In the meantime, Kenneth McDuff was back in Waco, acting as if nothing happened. He visited his parole officer on February 18, 1992.

And according to him, Kenneth seemed to be doing well. He even noted that he was pleasant and optimistic about his future. But soon enough, he would take the life of yet another young woman. Less than a week after meeting with his parole officer, one of the residents living at Kenneth's dorm on campus noticed a skinny African-American woman knocking on Kenneth's door. Her name was Valencia K. Joshua, who went by the name K. Kay. Kay was a known sex worker and drug addict, and Kenneth was one of her customers. He was also the last person to see her alive. Sadly, during one of their rendezvous, Kenneth would murder Kay. He was also getting incredibly

reckless. Because instead of disposing her body deep in the wilderness like he usually did, Kenneth actually buried her in a shallow grave near his college. But her body wouldn't be found right away. Now, like the other sex workers he killed, people suspected that he was responsible. After all, he was the last one to see Kay alive. And one would think that investigators would immediately look into Kenneth, considering he was the last person seen with the other two missing sex workers, Brenda and Gina. But of course, they didn't. And over the next few days, he continued living his reckless life like he always did. He got drunk, started fights, and went on numerous drug binges.

But despite this, at the end of February, he learned that he had received enough college credits to graduate. And after graduation, he had planned on working at this business called Victoria Machine Works. However, Kenneth got a call from them, letting him know that they wouldn't be hiring him, which made him furious. He was also out around $800 after his Thunderbird, broke down the week before, so he quickly found himself with no money, no job, and no plans for the future. He had also been coming down off a drug bender, and he needed something to make him

feel better, a quick fix, if you will. So once again, Kenneth set off to find another woman. Now his next victim was actually someone he knew from an old job of his. The previous spring in May of 1991, Kenneth started working as a cashier at the local Quickpack convenience store, At the time, he thought it was a good way to get some money while he was in school. And it was. But like with any job, he had to be trained for the position. And the man in charge of training him was an employee named Aaron Northrop. Now, Aaron was described as a good guy.

He was very patient with Kenneth, teaching him all the ins and outs of the job. But as Kenneth was training, he couldn't help but think about how the store lacked security, something he would use to his advantage later on. on. Now keep in mind, he had this job the previous summer, but he only worked there for about three weeks before he just stopped showing up. But a year later, on March 1st of 1992, Kenneth was ready to kill again. And that's when he decided to target an employee of the Quickpack convenience store. The victim in question was Melissa Northrop, who was actually the wife of Aaron, the employee who trained Kenneth the year before. Like all of his previous victims,

Melissa Ann Northup was a petite woman. She was less than five feet tall and weighed only 100 pounds. She was someone that Kenneth knew he could overpower. She had two children, a boy and a girl from a previous marriage, and she did everything she could to support them. Although she didn't have a high school diploma, Melissa was a hard worker, but was forced to take menial jobs. While she was working as a cashier at Waddeberger,

she met another employee there named Aaron. The two dated for a short time, and they eventually got married on June 17. 19th, 1990. Together, the couple decided to leave Whataburger and looked into careers at convenience stores. Melissa chose Circle K and Aaron went to work for Quickpack. Aaron wanted to get into management and by the summer of 1991 Melissa had joined him at the convenience store. She was hired at 4.50 an hour and her duties consisted of running the cash register and doing janitorial tasks around the store. According to author Gary Laverne, Melissa wasn't crazy

about her job and the lack of security in the store. Working the night shift from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. meant that she could possibly be exposed to robberies. But she believed that she wouldn't be able to find another decent job. So she sucked it up, at least for the time being. Melissa Northrop knew exactly who Kenneth McDuff was. She had met him the previous year when her husband trained him as a cashier. But unbeknownst to them, the entire time Kenneth had worked there, He had been taking notes on how easy would be to rob this place. There were no security cameras, the workers didn't carry guns, and they typically had a good amount of cash on hand.

The Quickpack was also surrounded by wooded areas in vacant office buildings. It was kind of in the middle of nowhere. Even further, Kenneth noted how Melissa often worked a night shift all by herself, and he was attracted to her. He even told one of his acquaintances at school that she was, quote, a little short, damn good-looking girl too. So a year later, when Kenneth once again was having the overwhelming desire to kill, he decided that she would be his next victim.

Now earlier that night when Melissa's shift first started, her husband Aaron actually went to the store to visit her. And he did this pretty often. He knew how dangerous the job could be. So when he had some free time, he would come and keep her company. But that morning at 1.30 a.m., Aaron decided to finally go home. When he pulled up to his house around 2 a.m., he called Melissa to let her know that he made it back. When she answered, Melissa complained about her job.

She was tired of working so late, and she wanted to find another job soon, especially because Melissa was actually two and a half months pregnant. She and Erin were so excited to start this new chapter of their lives, and things would definitely start looking up once she found another job. Now after talking on the phone for a few minutes, she and Aaron said their I love yous and hung up. However, Aaron had no idea that this would be the very last conversation ever have with his wife. Because around the time that they were talking on the phone, Kenneth McDuff was making his way over to the secluded Quickpack in Waco, Texas. It was the early morning hours of March 1, 1992.

It was still dark out, and most of Waco was fast asleep. Every once in a while, Melissa would see a car drive up, get some gas, and then leave. But for the most part, her shift was pretty slow. To make the time pass, she pulled out a little notepad and began scribbling down potential baby names. However, as she did, she noticed a man walk up to the store a little after 3 a.m. Melissa stood up from behind the counter, getting ready to greet the customer. But as soon as he walked through the door, Melissa recognized him.

It was Kenneth McDuff, the man who had worked with her the previous year. Oh, hi, Kenneth. Melissa greeted him with a smile. But in that moment when she looked into his eyes, she was not met with a friendly hello. There was darkness within him, and Melissa could sense it immediately. In that moment, Kenneth ordered Melissa to open up the cash register and fearful for her life she did as she was told. Now, there was only $252.52 in $7. side, but Kenneth took it. And from there, he looked at Melissa and said, quote,

come with me. Now, it's very possible that Kenneth had a gun with him and wanting to protect both her and her baby, Melissa did as she was told. Now, Kenneth had actually parked his thunderbird at a nearby hotel, and he walked to the store. So once outside, he asked Melissa for the keys to her car, which was an orange Buick parked out front. After forcing her inside the car, he tied her and ankles, and then quickly sped off down the road, looking for a place to take her. Along the way, Melissa cried. She asked Kenneth what he was doing with her, but he wouldn't give her an answer. However, deep down, Melissa must have known.

She pleaded with him to spare her life. She told Kenneth that she was pregnant, but even that wouldn't change his mind. Eventually, he found a secluded spot on the outskirts of Dallas called Combine. It was heavily deserted and surrounded by farmland and gravel pits. After a while, he parked along a dirt road, forced Melissa out of the car, and he dragged her nearly 1.5 miles through the thick grass. The entire way Melissa screamed for help, but no one heard her. And like with all of the other victims before, Kenneth raped and tortured her for hours

before ultimately ending her life. Kenneth threw Melissa's body into a flooded gravel pit and then made his way back to her vehicle. Later that morning, a South Carolina couple named Richard and Ollie Bannister were returning to the new road in after a late night out. This happened to be that hotel that was near the Quickpack, where Kenneth had left his Thunderbird. And that morning, the couple noticed the Thunderbird next to an Orange Buick. They also said there was a man standing next to the cars, and it was clear that the Thunderbird wouldn't start. The car had broken down. Now, Richard actually approached the man and asked if he needed any help, but the man said no.

He also appeared to be a little nervous. This man would later be identified as Kenneth McDuff. And shortly after Richard approached him, Kenneth jumped into the Orange Buick and took off down the road, leaving his Thunderbird abandoned in the hotel's parking lot. Now, at around 4 a.m., Melissa's husband Aaron called the store again. Like we mentioned, he called her a lot during her graveyard shifts. One, to keep her company, and two, to make sure she was safe working all by herself. But this time when he called her, she didn't pick up.

And I'm sure at first he assumed that she was just busy with the customer. But after several more calls, Melissa still wasn't answering. So it's here, where Aaron decided to drive to the store. When he pulled up to the quick pack that morning, he immediately felt his stomach drop. Melissa's orange Buick wasn't in the parking lot. He ended up going into the store, and there was a customer waiting at the front, looking for an employee. But no one was behind the front desk. Aaron quickly began to panic.

He ran behind the counter and noticed that Melissa's purse was still there. And eerily, sitting on the counter was that notepad where she had doodled potential baby names. From here, Aaron frantically ran through the store, calling out her name, but there was no sign of Melissa. Then he noticed the empty cash register, and at that moment Aaron knew that something terrible had happened to his wife. So from there at 4.37 a.m., he called 911. Soon enough, McLennan County Sheriff's officers arrived at the Quickpack after getting Aaron's 911 call, but as they walked through the store, they saw that there was no sign of a struggle.

The empty cash register was concerning, but the officers weren't thinking that Melissa had been abducted by a serial killer. In fact, they were actually suspicious of Aaron, but unbeknownst to anyone, the real person responsible for her disappearance was Kenneth McDuff, and by this point was speeding out of town in Melissa's Buick. By March 3rd, two days after murdering Melissa, no one had seen or heard from Kenneth McDuff, and his mother, Addy, was growing concerned. So much so, she called the Bell County Sheriff's Department to file a missing persons report. An officer arrived at the McDuff residents and Addy told him that she had last seen her son on the morning of February 29th.

But she was concerned because he had left her house upset and in a hurry. She believed that something terrible had happened to him. Eventually, the missing person's report ended up on the desk of investigator Tim Steglick. Tim entered Kenneth's information into the system and discovered his long criminal rap sheet. And even during the beginning of the investigation, Tim felt that something was off about his mysterious disappearance. When he phoned Addy to find out more information, she told him that he failed to meet with his probation officer in Temple and that he was set to graduate from college soon. According to Addie, Kenneth would never have left shortly before graduation, and she believed

that someone had murdered him. Now days later on March 6th, one of the managers at the New Road Inn called the Sheriff's Department to report that a tan thunderbird had been abandoned in their parking lot. When the police ran the license plate, they discovered that the car belonged to a missing and endangered person, Kenneth McDuff. And when they inquired further, they too discovered his lengthy criminal record. And soon enough, they started to wonder whether or not his disappearance had to do with the missing pregnant woman, Melissa Northrop. After all, Kenneth's abandoned vehicle was right by the quick pack, where Melissa went missing. So finally, the police started to put two and two together. Now, because his vehicle was abandoned, they impounded and searched it.

And inside, they found Kenneth's wallet and a receipt from the Quickpack, where he had purchased gasoline shortly before Melissa was reported missing. And for the past week, they had been using all of their resources to try and find Melissa. After all, she was a pregnant woman who went missing from her place of work. They also had a bee on the lookout for her orange Buick. And on the afternoon of March 6th, they would finally be. find it. Like the Thunderbird, Kenneth had abandoned her vehicle. They searched it for clues, but only located a few bags of clothing that Melissa intended to donate to goodwill. However, the front

seat of the Buick had been pushed back as far as it would go, which was strange considering Melissa was only 4 feet 11 inches tall. It was becoming clear that Kenneth had been driving her car. Now, the search for Melissa had been well underway, but after connecting her disappearance to a unknown serial killer, investigators decided to get the FBI involved. The FBI ended up reaching out to the sheriff's department in Everman, the town where Kenneth had committed his first known killings of the three teenagers. And as you can imagine, when they heard that he was a suspect in the disappearance of a pregnant woman, they were horrified. They had known from the very beginning that Kenneth McDuff would kill again. And sure enough, here they were. When one of the agents spoke to

the sheriff in Everman, they asked if he believed Kenneth was responsible. And he stated, absolutely. Now, technically, there wasn't enough evidence to issue a warrant for his arrest just yet. They, of course, knew that he was responsible for Melissa's disappearance, but they couldn't prove it. However, they were able to come up with some charges against him. Apparently, in the past, Kenneth had sold drugs to an undercover informant, so they charged him with peddling drugs and possessing firearms, both federal offenses, which meant Kenneth McDuff was now a federal fugitive.

But the FBI had no idea just how much damage Kenneth McDuff had done, how many families he had torn apart. Over in Austin, Texas, Colleen Reed was still missing. She hadn't been seen or heard from in over three months. Her family had done everything in their power to try and find her. They passed out flyers attached with pink ribbon, Colleen's favorite color. They even contacted the Austin and San Antonio media outlets and offered a $5,000, reward. And soon enough, Colleen's mysterious disappearance caught the attention of the popular TV shows America's most wanted and unsolved mysteries. They told the story of her car being abandoned

in that car wash, how that family that lived nearby heard her screams. But again, no one had yet connected her disappearance to Kenneth McDuff. And no one even knew where he was. Unbeknownst to investigators. After killing Melissa Northrop, Kenneth had fled the state of Texas. Now to this day, no one knows how he fled or if he had any help, but by March 10th, he was in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That morning, he had walked into a Salvation Army homeless shelter and said that his name was Richard Dale Fowler, but he wouldn't stay at this shelter very long. Five days later, on March 15th, he was in Kansas City, Missouri checking into another shelter under that same name, Richard Dale Fowler. And while there, he actually got a job. He was hired by a trash company that took trash out for

the city, and he was paid about $190 a week. And while at this job, Kenneth made a friend. The man's name was Francis, and he was in need of a roommate at the time. So Kenneth moved in with him into his one-bedroom apartment in Kansas City. And for the next few weeks, he lived there, assuming this new identity. Residents at the apartment complex would later say that he mostly kept to himself. He reported to work every day and didn't party at night. He was doing his absolute best to try and lay low. But if you've learned anything about Kenneth McDuff, then you'll know that it wouldn't be long until he reverted back to his old ways. On April 10, 1992, Kenneth was in Kansas City looking

for a sex worker, but he happened to walk right into a sting. Investigators had set up decoys throughout the city and Kenneth walked right into their trap. After trying to solicit sex from a decoy, he was quickly arrested. But in typical Kenneth McDuff fashion, he was somehow able to get away, yet again. Believe it or not, when he was brought into the police station, they fingerprinted him, and he said his name was Richard Fowler, and somehow they believed him. Then shortly afterwards, he was released. The investigators in Kansas City let him go, completely unaware that he was a wanted fugitive. From there, Kenneth went back home where he lived with his new roommate, Francis. And like all of the friends he had before, Kenneth went on and on about all the crimes he had committed throughout his life. He told

Francis about his drug use and robberies, which didn't scare Francis away. So eventually, Kenneth opened up to him about the women he had killed. He even told them that he loved to kill his victims with his bare hands. Francis would later admit that he noticed Kenneth always slept with a butcher knife on his pillow, and every time he would receive a paycheck, he would spend all of it on crack cocaine. Back in Texas, investigators were searching tirelessly for Kenneth McDuff. They pulled long shifts, sometimes 18-hour days. Some even slept on the floor of the U.S. Marshal's office in Waco.

And over time, everything started to piece together. Investigators had located some of Kenneth's friends, and that's when they learned that he had spent Christmas Day in the Austin area. And this piece of information was huge. because Colleen Reed had gone missing in Austin just a few days after Christmas. They also learned that the witness and her disappearance saw a tan thunderbird leaving the car wash, which is exactly what Kenneth McDuff drove. But interestingly, the description the witnesses gave of the passenger did not match Kenneth's description.

The witnesses said that the passenger was a dark-skinned, possibly Hispanic male. Now, investigators were more sure than ever that Kenneth was responsible for Colleen's disappearance. They also knew that he was known to have accomplices. So investigators went to work trying to figure out who this Hispanic male was, and soon enough, they would find him. After speaking to some of Kenneth's friends, they learned that he had been hanging out with a man named Hank Worley. So from here, detectives went to pay Hank a visit.

They ended up finding him at a hotel where he was. he had been living with his 14-year-old daughter. And at first, Hank denied ever-knowing Kenneth McDuff. But the investigators were not going to let this go. Over the next few days, they continued showing up at Hank's hotel room, asking him questions. On their fifth visit, they noticed that Hank had had a few beers, so they tried to pull at his heartstrings. This time, one of the investigators told him, quote, Hank, you're hiding a kid killer. You know that? You're protecting a man who raped and brutalized and strangled a girl not much older than your daughter over there. Picture her on the ground, a broomstick across her throat, crying out to you for help,

begging you to speak out, to do what's right, to save the life of some other young girl. And according to investigators, it's here where Hank broke down. Once he gathered himself, he was finally ready to come clean. And Hank told the detectives everything. He said that he and Kenneth had gone to Austin four days after Christmas to look for speed and cocaine. And that while they were there, Kenneth spotted Colleen at the car wash and abducted her. He said the two drove down I-35 while Kenneth raped and brutalized Colleen in the back seat. But as for what happened to her body, Hank wasn't sure.

If you remember, Kenneth actually dropped him back off at his sister's house before he disposed of her. The last he saw her, Colleen was dead in the trunk of the Thunderbird. But Hank did tell investigators that when he asked Kenneth what he planned on doing with Colleen, he responded, quote, I'm going to use her up, end quote, whatever that means. But with this story, there was yet another victim added on to Kenneth McDuff's victim list. And sadly, there was about to be one more. If you love murder in America, you love mysteries, you love true crime, you love murder stories, The Unknown, that I have a new show for you.

It's called The Conspiracy Files, and it's hosted by me, Colin Browne from Murder in America and the Paranormal Files. On the Conspiracy Files, we explore everything from bizarre deaths to freak paranormal events, pedophile rings, government corruption, ritual sacrifice. No topic is untouched on this show. Everything that we talk about on the conspiracy files is backed up with fact. I release reference sheets with every single episode that we do so you guys know everything we're talking about is confirmed to have happened and be real. It's a completely different type of show than anything else you've ever seen about conspiracy theories.

Instead of a bunch of conjecture and theories, we're presenting you people with facts, telling you the story, walking you through the story just as detailed as we do with murder in America, and then letting the listener decide what they think. Anyways, you should definitely give it a listen. It's called The Conspiracy Files. The links are in the description of this show, and you can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And now let's get back to our story. On March 25th, a local Waco resident decided to eat lunch in a remote area behind the Texas State Technical College,

where Kenneth had been enrolled before he fled Texas. As this person sat down to enjoy his sandwich, he heard the sound of buzzing behind him. When he turned around to see what it was, he noticed a strange pile of brush. Curious, the man approached the area and made a shocking discovery, a human skull. From here, he immediately called 911, and investigators quickly arrived at the scene. And under the brush was a human body. It had been mostly intact except for the skull.

Fingerprints would later determine that the body belonged to Valencia K. Joshua, the sex worker that was last seen knocking on Kenneth's door on campus. Now, Kay was found nude and in the fetal position. Due to the state of the body, the medical examiner could not determine the official cause of death, but ruled it as homicidal violence. And there was one crucial piece of evidence at the scene. It was a hair that did not belong to Kay. Investigators would later learn that the hair belonged to none other than Kenneth McDuff. So thankfully, another one of Kenneth's victims had been located.

But over in Austin, Texas, detectives were still trying to find the body. of Colleen Reed. For weeks, Hank Worley accompanied investigators on trips around Central Texas, trying to find the locations of where Kenneth could have dumped her body. But according to Hank, he had no idea. It was also obvious that Hank was extremely worried about being tied to this crime. He told investigators that he did have sex with Colleen that night, but according to him, it was consensual, which was obviously a lie. So on April 21st, 1992, Hank Worley was arrested. Although Hank didn't murder Colleen himself, he was definitely a part of this crime. Now, sadly, after Hank was arrested, his arrest affidavit was leaked to the public, and the media released descriptions of Colleen's horrible last moments of life, which is unfortunately how her family found out what happened to her.

They didn't get a call from the police. They had to learn through the news that Colleen had been raped and tortured. But after this broadcast, Kenneth McDuff's name and face were plastered all over Texas. They warned the public that he was dangerous, and there was immense pressure to find him, especially because more of his victim's bodies were being found around Texas. On April 26th, a Dallas fisherman named Jeffrey Hurd decided to spend his Sunday on a small boat in the town of Combine. But after about three hours of fishing, Jeffrey noticed something odd floating in the water. water. As he paddled closer, he was horrified to discover that it was a dead body. Jeffrey immediately left and found a phone to call 911.

Soon after, Dallas police officers arrived and they found the highly decomposed body of Melissa Northrop and her unborn child. Melissa's hands were still bound behind her back by shoestrings and a purple shirt had been pulled over her head. She had on a bra, but she was completely nude from the waist down. Floating near her body was a size 6 high top tennis shoe with a lace is gone. Now as with Valencia K. Joshua, Melissa's body was too decomposed to determine the cause of death, but it was ultimately ruled as homicidal violence. And this was not the outcome that anyone wanted, but sadly it was what they expected. And Melissa's killer was still on the loose. On May 1st, 1992, America's Most Wanted aired a segment on Kenneth Allen McDuff,

and after the airing, tips started pouring into the hotline, including one from an employee at the Longview Disposal System in Kansas City, Missouri. The man stated that he worked with someone named Richard Dale Fowler, and he said that Richard oddly fit the description of the man, featured in the show. So from here, the Kansas City Police looked into Richard's record, And that's when they saw that he had been arrested and fingerprinted on April 10th for soliciting a sex worker. Immediately, Kansas City Sergeant J.D. Johnson called Bell County, Texas. He then faxed over Richard's fingerprints for comparison.

And what do you know, they determined that Richard Dale Fowler and Kenneth Allen McDuff were the same person. From here, Sergeant Johnson phoned Kenneth's employer to find out where he was. And luckily for them, they learned that that day, Kenneth was assigned to garbage truck number 103. They quickly tracked down the truck's route. And at 1.32 p.m. on May 4th, the team of officers finally found the truck. And within seconds, it was surrounded. Like with his previous arrests, Kenneth McDuff tried to get away, but he quickly surrendered once he realized he couldn't run.

Finally, after several long years, his reign of terror, had come to an end. The nationwide manhunt for McDuff ended this afternoon with his arrest in Kansas City. McDuff is the prime suspect in the recent abductions or murders of six women in Waco and Austin. Channel H. Robert Riggs has been following this story.

He joins us now from our Austin Newsroom. Robert? John's six Kansas City police officers armed with shotguns surprised McDuff as he was entering a landfill after lunch today. McDuff had been in Kansas City for a month. A 46-year-old Kenneth McDuff was caught working on a privately operated trash truck under the alias of Richard Fowler. Police received a tip from a viewer of last week's episode of America's Most Wanted.

McDuff had been arrested under his alias by Kansas City Police in April for soliciting prostitution and were able to match fingerprints. Police say McDuff tried to flee but surrendered without a fight when he realized he was surrounded. U.S. Marshals led a manhunt for McDuff, who was a fugitive on federal gun and drug charges. But law enforcement officers suspect the parole killer of three Fort Worth teenagers is involved in the disappearance of at least six Central Texas women. McDuff's alleged accomplice in the abduction of Colleen Reed from an Austin car wash last December says McDuff planned to kill the young woman after they sexually assaulted her. Reed's body has not been found. Last week, police found the body of 22-year-old Melissa Northrop in a southeast Dallas gravel pit. Police suspect McDuff abducted Northrop from the Waco convenience store in March where she worked as a clerk.

City police say that McDuff insisted he was Richard Fowler when he was arrested, but changed his story and admitted he was McDuff when shown fingerprints. He is now being taken to federal marshals office, federal marshals from Waco, are en route to Kansas City to bringing back to Texas. On May 6, 1992, Kenneth McDuff was transported via aircraft back to Texas with the U.S. Marshals. Although residents of Texas were relieved that Kenneth had been caught, others were angry that he had been able to get away with it for so long. Melissa Northrop's sister-in-law said, I hate him. I want to see him fry.

McDuff viewed as many by an walking indictment of the Texas parole system is also already known as the broomstick killer for his brutal slain of three teenagers in Fort Worth back in 1966. He was given the death penalty, but it was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, commuted to life, and then he was paroled in 1989. Channel 8 Robert Riggs joins us now live in Waco where a task force hunting for McDuff was based. Robert?

Vince, Waco police suspect that McDuff killed a Waco woman here just four days after he was paroled in October 1989. Tonight, the people in the Central Texas community are relieved that McDuff is behind bars. Waco truck stop waitress Barbara Miller praised that the arrest of Kenneth McDuff will provide clues to find her daughter. Miller personally hunted down and confronted McDuff last October. Miller's daughter, 21-year-old Regina Moore, was a drug addict who became a prostitute. to support her habit. Moore was last seen alive with McDuff. Thank God.

Just thank God nobody else will be hurt. Because there's a lot of mothers out there looking for their daughters. And I know how they feel, you know. And I play for them. I do. Last week, a southeast Dallas County gravel pit yielded the body of another of McDuff's suspected victims. 22-year-old Melissa Northrop,

the pregnant mother of two, was abducted March 1st from the wake-old. convenience store where she worked. Northrop's husband had trained McDuff for a clerk's job at another quick-pack store. We are all very, very happy that this person has been taken off the streets. He can go and kill no more. Megduff is a strong suspect of the disappearance of six women, including 28-year-old Colleen Reed, who an alleged accomplice of McDuff, says McDuff randomly abducted from an Austin car wash last December. U.S. Marshals led a massive seven-week manhunt for McDuff.

All of us here are husbands. We have wives, we have daughters, we have sons. It's a relief that this man is not out there doing what he's suspected of doing. Now, earlier we mentioned the yogurt shop murders where four teenage girls had been brutally raped, murdered, and set on fire in Austin, Texas. And given that Kenneth was in the Austin area at the time, they had to look into him as a suspect. But DNA evidence would later prove that it wasn't him. However, around this time, he was looked into as a suspect. But clearly after his arrest, everyone wanted to know how a convicted killer, who was once sentenced to death after murdering three teens, was able to walk free and become a member of society.

So there was a lot of talk about the circumstances surrounding his original parole in 1989. If you remember, he was also convicted of trying to bribe one of the members of his parole board. Now, something we haven't yet mentioned is that Kenneth actually had a grown daughter at the time of his arrest. Her name is Teresa Allen. And can you guess how Teresa was conceived? Well, sadly, in 1964, Kenneth had raped a woman and nearly killed her. Following the rape, the woman found out she was pregnant. Teresa never had a good relationship with her biological father, Kenneth.

But in her 20s, when he was incarcerated, she started visiting him. Teresa said she was shocked when she learned that her father had been paroled back in 1989. And from the beginning, she always believed that her dad paid his way out of prison. But it makes me sick to be part of this man is what it does to me. I mean, I don't know, like I told mom, I said, I just can't believe I'm part of somebody so cruel. The daughter of suspected serial killer Kenneth McDuff believed her father tried to bribe his way out of prison. On the night's update, an exclusive interview as part of a two-month investigation into the parole of Kenneth McDowth. Tracy has the night off. I'm John McKay.

Good evening, everybody. How did a convicted killer get out of prison? That question has haunted victims' families and has left the highest levels of state government embarrassed. Tonight, Channel 8's Robert Riggs has the first of a series of investigative reports on McDuff's parole. U.S. Marshals led a nationwide manhunt for the murder known as the broomstick killer. Kenneth McDuff returned to Waco last month in chains under heavily armed guard. Did you kill anyone, Mr. McDuff? McDuff was convicted in 1966 for the abduction and murder of one of three Terrant County teenagers. A grisly confession by his accomplice described how McDuff strangled the teenage girl with a broomstick after raping her.

But McDuff escaped his date with the electric chair and was released on parole in 1989. Now, McDuff has been charged with the early 1992 murder of 22-year-old Valencia Joshua of Fort Worth. Joshua's body was found in a shallow grave, in a shallow grave near where McDuff attended trade school in Waco. And McDuff is also a suspect in a string of sadistic sexual murders of other young women, all committed since his parole date. Police sources say McDuff may be responsible for the murders of four teenage girls in an Austin yogurt shop last December.

And McDuff has been named by an accomplice as the killer responsible for the kidnap, rape, and torture murder of 28-year-old Austin accountant, Colleen Reed. McDuff is also suspected of kidnapping and killing Waco convenience store clerk Melissa Northrop on March 1st of this year. The body of the pregnant mother of two children was found in a southeast Dallas County gravel pit. He should not be out because he killed three people and he was on death row. That's not right. It's not right for anybody who's on death row to be free. In all, McDuff is a suspect in at least 15 brutal murders, all allegedly committed since he was released from state prison. The question of how Kenneth McDuff got parole troubles victims' families and law

enforcement officers. Kenneth McDuff's estranged daughter believes her father bribed his way out of prison. The statement was that there was $25,000 offered. Teresa Allen says that in 1987, she was privy to family conversations about paying a $25,000 bribe to an unidentified person in the parole system. According to Allen, the family wanted McDuff moved to an East Texas prison because he would have a better chance of getting out. A few months later, in September 1987, McDuff in fact got transferred to the newly opened Michael unit outside Palestine. McDuff was on the road to freedom. Do you think he bribed his way out? Do you think that's the way he got out?

I think it's very possible. I think it's very, because how could someone with his record get out? I mean, how can they get parole? Alan started visiting McDuff at Retrieved Prison in the spring of 1986. Alan says she is McDuff's daughter from a 1964 rape in which McDuff tried to kill her mother. Parole Board panels repeatedly denied McDuff parole while he was in Retrieve in other Houston area prisons. Megduff had a reputation here as a quiet, passive inmate, who did what he was told to do, who said, yes, sir, and no, sir. Megduff knew how to do his time.

McDuff made leather goods in the prison craft shop. He completed a graphic arts printing course and took college correspondence courses. For 10 years, McDuff's house was a small concrete cubicle inside a prison dorm built in 1933. Alan says McDuff did the right things to try to fool the parole board into thinking he was rehabilitated. He'd always talked about the classes he was taking and he got into church and all this other stuff, that he was going to get out on good behavior. But to me it seemed like it was just a game. It seemed like it was just a game. He was playing with everybody because he already had intentions

and maybe going wrong when he got out. He just wanted to play the game to show us how smart he is. McDuff has a history of trying to bribe his way out of prison. 11 years ago during an interview with a parole commissioner, McDuff said, If you can help me make this parole and get me out of TDC, I can guarantee that you will find $10,000 in the glove compartment of your car. I can guarantee you the $10,000 because my dad promised me I could have that much just for that purpose. He's pretty well off. But the parole commissioner turned McDuff in. A Brazoria County jury convicted McDuff of the bribery charge in 1982. Just seven years after the bribery conviction,

and after having been denied parole 14 times, McDuff was released from prison on October 11, 1989. The law enforcement officers suspect McDuff raped and killed again just four days later. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Waco says it is investigating the bribery allegation. tomorrow we'll tell the story of how members of the parole board change their minds about Kenneth McDuff. Robert Riggs, Channel 8 News, Austin. A former parole board member involved in the McDuff case is one of four targets of a new investigation called for today by Governor Richards. Richards wants to know if former members of the parole board sold their services to get inmates out of jail early. I want to emphasize to you that we do not have hard evidence of any crime.

we do have allegations, we do have smoke, and we do have suspicions that I think must be cleared up immediately given the serious nature of the subject matter. Richards refused to name the four former board members under investigation. A similar probe in 1989 found no wrongdoing. In February of 1993, Kenneth McDuff went on trial for the abduction and murder of Melissa Northrop, but it wasn't going to be an easy trial, as there were no eye witness. nor any physical evidence tying Kenneth to the crime scene. For the prosecutors, there was only circumstantial evidence.

46-year-old Kenneth Allen McDuff arrived at the courthouse telling reporters he is an innocent man. He's accused of killing 22-year-old Melissa Northrop, a Waco convenience store clerk. In court, prosecutors told the jury they'll prove McDuff boasted that he planned to kill the night Northrop disappeared. We will bring you a witness who says that Kenneth McDuff discussed with him how he was going to rob the quick pack eight, and then how the best way to dispose of a body was to tie them up, weight their feet, and gut their stomach so they wouldn't float. McDuff was captured and returned to Texas last spring. He's a pro-league convicted of killing three Fort Worth teenagers in 1966. Some investigators believe he may be connected with several more central Texas murders,

beginning within days of his 1989 parole. Victim's rights groups are keeping a close eye on this trial. McDuff is synonymous with the failure of the parole board and the parole division to, A, the fact that he was released from death row, in effect that McDuff had violated his parole on several different occasions and still was allowed to remain in the community. The victim's mother choked back tears while describing events surrounding the disappearance of her daughter. But defense attorneys are telling the jury

circumstantial evidence is not enough to convict. What you have before you today and what you will see before you in the next two weeks may well rank as one of the most inept, one of the most bungled, one of the most error-prone criminal investigations in the history of the state. It is rife with contradiction. It is rife with gaps. It is replete with mistakes. And it is replete with judgments made not according to evidence, but according to prejudice and hatred. And hatred of one man, Kenneth Allen McDuff. As the trial continues, as many as 50 witnesses could be called, but testimony is expected to wrap up by the middle of next week.

In Houston, Ron Regan, Texas News 5. Over the next few weeks, dozens of witnesses took the stand, including Kenneth's mother, Addy McDuff, Melissa Northrop's mother, Barbara, and of course, Kenneth's wingman in the Colleen Reed murder, Hank Worley. Now, there had been an argument on whether or not Hank should testify because he wasn't linked to the Melissa Northrop case. However, the prosecution wanted to compare the similarities between both Colleen and Melissa. They wanted the jury to see just what type of monster they were dealing with. Interestingly, a few days into the trial, Kenneth's public defenders asked to be relieved of their duties.

They told Judge Bob Burdett that Kenneth refused to let them lead. second-guessing their defense strategy and arguing with them in the courtroom. But the final straw was when Kenneth told them he was going to testify on his own behalf. They did not believe it was a good idea, but Kenneth wouldn't take no for an answer. Judge Broudez allowed Kenneth to take the stand, and for two and a half hours, Kenneth spun an elaborate tale of drugs, prostitution, and robberies. It appeared as though he loved to hear himself speak, and he told the court that on the night of Melissa's disappearance, he had met a man named Al.

though Al could never be located. But according to Kenneth, this Al guy paid him $1,500 for his Thunderbird. And in return, he was traded Melissa's Orange Buick. But Kenneth said he did not know it was stolen and that he was innocent. But of course, it was obvious to everyone in the courtroom that he was lying. After Kenneth's testimony, the prosecution believed that he had sealed his own fate. During closing arguments, prosecutor Crawford Lang left the jury with an image of the monster on trial. He raised his left hand, pointed at Kenneth and said, quote, I submit to you that the

evidence shows that this defendant is every person's nightmare. The evidence shows that he is the monster that comes out of the dark and jerks innocent people off the streets and takes them out and slaughters them. And with that, the jury left for deliberation. Luckily, after only four hours, they had reached their verdict. Kenneth McDuff was found guilty, for murdering Melissa Northrup. There was a sigh of relief throughout the courtroom. Kenneth finally got the justice he deserved. And when it came to sentencing,

everyone wanted to see Kenneth McDuff put to death, and they wanted to make sure he was actually executed this time around. For the sentencing phase, the prosecution called for Kenneth's accomplices, Roydale Green and Hank Worley, and they would ultimately tell the court how they had witnessed Kenneth's brutality first-hand. They both walked the jury through all of the horrifying things they saw Kenneth do during his crimes.

And that seemed to be the nail in his coffin because after only 65 minutes of deliberation, the jury handed down their sentence. Kenneth McDuff was to be executed. Here is Melissa Northrop's husband, Aaron, and her mother, Barbara, outside of the courtroom. A Houston jury hands down a verdict in the murder trial of Kenneth McDuff. Hello everyone. That story tops News 8 at 6. The decision was announced just minutes ago. It's the second time Kenneth McDuff has faced the death penalty, this time for the murder of a 22-year-old convenience store worker,

and the jury took just under four hours today to reach its verdict. General, it's Robert Riggs, joins us live now with the jury's decision. Robert? Tracy Kenneth McDuff, 46-year-old Kenneth McDuff, a parole killer, has been convicted of capital murder in the kidnapping of 22-year-old Melissa Norther from a Waco convenience store. or last March. Mcduff gave a somber expression as the jury delivered its guilty verdict. Melissa Northrop's family cried and hugged one another. Northrop's brother said he couldn't stop

the tears knowing what his sister suffered. Lethal injections too quick. He put Melissa through a brutal death and nobody should have to die that way. And this man is going to die. The only thing I hate about it is that we're going to have to wait 10 to 15. years before he does and that's not wrong. Melissa didn't get to wait 10 or 15 more years. There are some sorry people out on the street and they need to be put back in the jail where they belong. Should have never been out left out in the first place. With Kenneth now behind bars, it was time to look into how all of this had happened. Everyone wanted answers as to how Kenneth was released from prison back in 1989. And soon enough, on September 1st, 1993,

The news hit the media that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice fired prison and parole chief James Lina due to instances of corruption on how he allowed violent criminals to walk free from prison. They had come to a horrifying reality that if Kenneth had not been paroled, dozens of Texas women would still be alive. And Kenneth wasn't the only violent criminal they had set free. It gives us an opportunity to examine where we ought to go from here in the management of these massive institutions. Governor Ann Richards accepts the resignation of Texas prison chief James Linnaw. Linnaw quits in the wake of a news aid investigation into allegations of corruption in the parole and prison systems. Good evening and thank you for joining us. The Texas Board of Criminal Justice tried to fire Linaw in July but backed off under heavy political pressure from House lawmakers.

Well today it was revealed that Lynaul will leave the post he's held for six years to take a job at the University of Texas Medical Branch. In our News 8 investigation, we have learned the FBI has questioned at least one former warden about Lynaw's running of the prison system. Channel 8's Robert Riggs has this exclusive report. Texas prisons under the administration of James Lianow secretly released its most violent inmates to make room for more prisoners. Gang members and the worst prison troublemakers returned to the streets early, only to commit new brutal crimes against innocent victims. Cell blocks like this one hold a shocking story,

that the prison system once kept secret. It's a prison within a maximum security prison called administrative segregation, or in prison slang, ad se. The most dangerous and vicious of the inmates are kept caged here for 23 hours out of the day. They can't even be trusted to leave their cells to eat. Yet the Texas Department of Criminal Justice turned 1,700 of them loose on the public.

Many should not have gotten out because they had lost good time credit off their sentences because of disciplinary problems. Linau, in an interview before his resignation, admits the prison system freed inmates who couldn't get along in the prison world, much less the free world, just to prevent overcrowding. And how could you turn people loose that are the worst of the worst on society that hadn't had their good time result, restored for violating the rules and assaulting guards and other inmates in the prison? I can assure you that a number of the security people objected to the procedure. Why didn't you stop it? There was a parole boards doing.

It was authorized by the parole board. The parole board says that this was just a paper sham that you wanted them out the door, that you wanted new space in the prison, more space, that some of these people were even released at midnight in Huntsville. All over people missed and released at midnight in order not to break the 95%. But the real thing is,

if you look at it realistically, the prison was going to be full one way or another. In other words, we were going to operate right at 94%. If I released one, I get another one. Any, in essence, pressure, the prison people didn't care. Wardens and guards who complained about releases from ADSEG were threatened with their jobs. We obtained this exclusive video from prison sources. The prison system refused us access to ADSEG units and refused to. to provide a list of inmates who were free.

State controller John Sharp obtained a partial list of inmates set free from AdSaid. The prison system destroyed two years' worth of documents in an apparent violation of the Records Retention Act. You can't just simply say, because of Ruiz, we led a violent criminal out to make room for a nonviolent criminal that subsequently went out and raped someone. Our review of Sharpe's records found that 87 inmates freed from AdSeg are now fugitives wanted for new violent crimes,

including four murders, four attempted murders, 12 rapes, seven child molestations, five child abuse cases, and 29 armed robberies. Countless more inmates released from Adseg are back in prison serving new sentences. One of them is Servando Pachikano, convicted of killing one of two women that he kidnapped from a Fort Worth optical store in 1990. Pachikano left 41-year-old Cruz Torres bound and gagged in an abandoned building. Torres, a mother of four children, suffocated. Pachicano went on a violent crime spree in Fort Worth just eight months after he was released from a prison cell block reserved for the meanest of the mean. Lano will leave the prison system under a cloud of controversy just as controller

Sharp launches a massive audit. Sharp took the unusual step of asking district attorney Ronnie Earle to assist and investigate any allegations of criminal wrongdoing. Robert Regs, Channel 8 News, Austin. It's wild that these types of men were allowed to walk free, simply to control overcrowding. And Kenneth McDuff's crimes put a huge spotlight on how horrible of a mistake this was. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice tried to make things right by firing the parole chief, but the damage was already done.

Now, as for Kenneth McDuff's other crimes, he still had to face his day in court. On January 20th, 1994, he was on trial once again for the abduction and murder of Colleen Reed in Austin, Texas. Sadly, by the time the trial started, Colleen's body still hadn't been found. But they did have physical evidence that proved Kenneth was guilty. In the backseat of his thunderbird, five strands of Colleen's hair were found. In addition, they had the testimony of his accomplice, Hank Worley, and it would only take the jury two and a half hours to reach their verdict. Once again, they found Kenneth guilty of capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated

sexual assault. After the verdict was read, Kenneth remained calm, cool, and collected at the date. defense table. However, as he was being led out of the courtroom, he lunged at Hank Worley. He also told a reporter that Hank had confessed to the yogurt shop murders. Here's the audio of Kenneth saying this. I have some information you might be interested in. The yogurt shot murders, Hank Worley told me he took part in those. And he also told me that he liked to watch burning flesh and the smell of it. He also told a man to he worked with and lived at the Blue Motel and Belton, something similar to what I just told you.

If you check that out, I'll give you something else to check out at noon. When did he tell you that? January, 92. First part of January. Yeah, it's the worst of me too. Okay. Well, I thought it had adverse effect on my triumph possibly. Now, apparently, Hank was horrified that Kenneth had said this, and he was adamant that he was not responsible.

He even said that he would gladly take a polygraph to clear his name. But like we mentioned, Kenneth and Hank were both rolled out as suspects and the yogurt shot murders. And there was DNA left at that crime scene, so we have to assume it didn't match theirs. But many people over the years have had their questions. If you remember, one of the yogurt shot victims was even found with an ice cream scooper inserted into her vagina. just like Kenneth did with that broomstick back in 1966. But again, they were both ruled out. Now, during the sentencing phase of Colleen's murder trial,

Roy Dale Green once again made an appearance, telling the jury of the horrors he had witnessed during the broomstick murders. And after only 55 minutes of deliberation, the jury handed down another death sentence to Kenneth McDuff. From there, Kenneth was taken to the Ellis unit on death row, and he was segregated for his own protection. But by this point, he'd only been convicted of two murders he committed following his parole, the murders of Melissa Northrop and Colleen Reed.

But what about the others? Well, in 1998, authorities decided to go to Kenneth and see if he would tell them where some of the bodies were located. At this time, Regina Moore, Brenda Thompson, and Colleen Reed had never been found, and their families desperately wanted them back. At first, Kenneth wouldn't give any information. but after a few meetings, he started talking. And finally, he gave up the location of Virginia Moore. Kenneth admitted that he had buried her under rocks

and a piece of old carpet near the State Highway 6 Bridge and the Tawakana Creek near Waco. And on September 29, 1998, her body was finally discovered. Investigators say they may have found the remains of a Waco woman abducted seven years ago by notorious serial killer Kenneth McDuff. McDuff, who was once the target of a nationwide manhunt, recently received a stay of execution for the murder of another Waco woman. A forensic anthropologist from Baylor University uncovered the partially clothed skeleton. It's believed to be 21-year-old Regina Moore, who was last seen struggling in McDuff's car in 1991.

The shallow grave was hidden beneath boulders beside Highway 6 east of Waco. Federal prosecutor Bill Johnston, who led the dragnet for McDuff, says a confidential enforcement. made guided them to the gravesite. We felt like ever since we started chasing him that there were things we would learn in time. This is one and I gotta tell you this, if this is any indication it's going to be interesting, because this was exactly where it was supposed to be within a foot. McDuff's violent temper flared after he received two death sentences four years ago. He is the first ever Texas death row inmate to have been paroled and then sentenced again for another capital murder.

McDuff abducted Colleen Reed, a 28-year-old accountant from an Austin car wash in 1991. Her body was never found. McDuff also kidnapped Melissa Northrop, a 22-year-old pregnant mother of two children from a Waco convenience store in early 1992. The guy seemed to have no soul. It was much more like an animal or predator than a human being. Involved himself with not just killing, but torture, horrible torture of victims who pleaded for their lives. lives. McDuff received parole even though he had killed three Fort Worth area teenagers in

1966. News 8's investigation of McDuff's release uncovered a bribery scandal involving the Texas parole board. As a result, outraged lawmakers passed a McDuff law. It requires capital murder inmates to serve 40 years before they're eligible for parole and violent offenders to serve one half of their sentences. It had appeared that Kenneth McDuff would take his horrible secrets to his grave. but now investigators say they are a step closer to unearthing what happened to the many women

who disappeared in McDuff's deadly hands. Robert Riggs, Channel 8 News, outside Waco. Regina Moore was found with her hands tied behind her back, and her ankles were secured with a stocking. The stalking around her ankles was tied in a way that would allow Regina to walk to her grave. and soon enough, another one of his victims would be reunited with their family. On October 1st, a few days after Regina's body was discovered, investigators had enough information to locate the body of Brenda Thompson, the other sex worker that Kenneth killed.

Now, although Kenneth had given a general area of where her body could be found, his directions were not super clear. Located off a secluded road, seven miles north of Waco, Kenneth described a general area of where he had buried Brenda in a shallow grave. He told them it was near a partially fallen fence near a hill. With this information, several investigators arrived and started searching for Brenda's remains. The area was heavily wooded and surrounded by poison ivy, but soon enough, they would find her. Brenda Thompson was found with only a pair of socks over her skeletonized feet.

All of her other clothing had rotted and withered away, but finally, they found her. The next victim they needed to find was Colleen Reed, which wouldn't be easy. For some reason, Kenneth did not want to give up the location. He told investigators that they would never be able to locate her without him present. He gave a general area, but it was too difficult to find. And when asked if it was the same location where she was murdered, he once again blamed Hank Worley. But finally, on October 12, 1998, investigators, accompanied by Kenneth McDuff,

located the skeletal remains of Colleen Reed near the Brazos River. After seven long years, Colleen was finally going home to her family in Louisiana. Here's some footage from her funeral. It took a long time, but a victim of a serial killer is finally given. a proper funeral in Austin. Colleen Reed's body comes home after her disappearance seven years ago. Good evening, everybody, and thank you very much for joining us. News 8 investigation six years ago found that the serial killer who murdered 28-year-old, Colleen Reed, should have never been set free. Kenneth McGuff became the first ever Texas death row inmate to have been paroled and then

later sentenced two more times for capital murder. Generalist Robert Riggs exposed a shocking scandal involving charges of bribery in the parole of McDuff and other killers. Tonight, Robert reports from Austin where the last known missing victim is being laid to rest. The U.S. Marshals and prosecutor who vowed that Colleen Reed would someday receive a decent burial with flowers kept their promise. After searching for the body of the murder victim for seven years, they brought Colleen Reed home to Austin. At last, a packed church of family and friends could pay their final respects. And we bring our gratitude to those who caring, whose caring pursuit of justice, has made these healing moments possible. Edna Louise Sullivan.

Robert Brand. Colleen Reed's sister and former fiancé placed a rose in honor of the other victims claimed by her killer. The memorial list started with the three teenagers killed in Tarrant County back in 1966 by Kenneth McDuff. McDuff abducted Colleen Reed from an Austin car wash seven years ago. He had carried her secret burial place to death row until last week when a confidential informant led officers to the graves of Reed and two other women murdered by McDuff. Colleen was Daddy's precious, darling, baby, angel girl. Friends remembered Colleen Reed as a loving daughter, loyal sister, doting aunt, animal lover, practical joker, fundraiser for needy children, a CPA, and proud Marine reservist.

Although the recovery of her body will help the family heal, it also reopened painful wound. So by this point, Kenneth had been convicted for Melissa and Colleen's murders. But even on death row, he refused to speak about what happened with them. Kenneth never admitted that he took Melissa and Colleen's lives, but surprisingly, he was willing to talk about the sex workers he killed. Now, sadly, he would never be convicted for the murders of Regina Moore, Brenda Thompson, or Valencia K. Joshua. There was also that other sex worker, Serafia Parker, that was killed just three days after he was paroled in 1989. Now, in addition to these four women, there were other sex workers that he was suspected of killing, but these are the only four that are officially tied to him.

However, those four women would never get their day in court. Now that Kenneth already had two convictions for the murders of Melissa and Colleen, I guess the courts just didn't want to waste their tax dollars on the other girls, which is sad. But while on death row, he did open up about what he had done to Regina Moore and Brenda Thompson. With them being sex workers, Kenneth didn't value their lives as much, so it was easy for him to talk about.

On death row, he admitted that Brenda had been his first victim after his parole in 1989, and that he had taken her to a secluded location after dodging the Waco police checkpoint. After she tried to break his windshield, Kenneth was furious and told her, Bitch, you fucked up. For the next six hours, Kenneth brutally tortured and raped Brenda and then choked her with his own two hands. As for Regina Moore, Kenneth said that the two smoked rocks together, and then he drove her to a secluded location and killed her just for the hell of it. But again, even with this confession, he would never be convicted for their murders. But justice was right around the corner,

because Kenneth McDuff's execution was scheduled for November 17, 1998. In the weeks before, investigators in Texas were still pleading with McDuff to give over more information about his killings and other potential victims. Horrifically, they think he could have been tied to at least a dozen more unsolved murders. One of the most feared men in Texas is at this hour preparing to die. Barring any unexpected last minute stays, Kenneth Allen McDuff will be executed this evening. General Herald's Robert Riggs has followed McDuff at his grizzly trail of murder and rape for many years now, and he joins us this evening live from Huntsville, where Robert, it's all about to come to an end, isn't it?

It is indeed, Chip. Prison guards move Kenneth McDuff to the death house here at the Walls Unit in downtown Huntsville shortly afternoon. Prison officials described his mood as both docile and joking. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection one hour from now. Inside the Texas prison death house, investigators continued trying to pry information out of Kenneth McDuff about a string of unsolved murders. They will remain there until McDuff's hour of execution scheduled for some time. 6 p.m. News 8 has learned that a prison internal affairs investigator and FBI criminal profilers interviewed McDuff for more than 100 hours starting last week. Federal law enforcement sources say McDuff revealed that he cruised every major city in Texas looking for women to abduct. He also made frequent trips into Mexico while out on parole for three years until his arrest in 1992. Investigators suspect he could be responsible for dozens of murders. But McDuff turned turned angry and quit talking.

McDuff claimed he would give a full confession and a taped interview to a documentary film producer from Austin. But the prison system was concerned that McDuff's family might later profit from the production. And there was concern that McDuff was just trying to manipulate the system one last time. On the morning of November 17, 1998, Kenneth McDuff woke up for the very last time

because this was the day of his execution. Now, normally, when an inmate is scheduled, to be executed. There are anti-death penalty protests outside. But on this day, there were none. It seemed as if even the protesters believed he deserved it. For Kenneth's last meal, he had two 16-ounce T-bone steaks, five fried eggs, vegetables, french fries, peach pie, and a Coke. After eating his meal, he made his way over to the execution chamber. Inside, sitting behind a glass window were four of his victim's family members. This was the day that they had been waiting for for years.

Finally, a little after 6 p.m., Kenneth McDuff was strapped to the gurney with an IV in his right arm. His last words were, quote, I'm ready to be released. Release me, end quote. And after a few minutes, Kenneth McDuff took his last breath, ending a 32 reign of terror over the state of Texas. Following his execution, Kenneth Allen McDuff was buried in the Captain Joe Bird Cemetery, also known as Peckerwood Hill.

The prison cemetery is reserved for inmates who are not claimed by their family members after death. Apparently, none of his family wanted to claim Kenneth after his execution. His headstone does not contain his name, only his death row inmate number 9999055, and the date of his death, November 17, 1998. His execution brought not only long overdue justice, but prison reforms that ensured violent criminals like himself would never be able to walk free again. As for Hank Worley, he was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He is projected to be released on May 14, 2032. But in conclusion, the life of Kenneth McDuff would go on to be very eye-opening for the state of Texas and how they handled their violent offenders.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice even introduced what they called the McDuff laws. $2 billion was spent on building more prisons, increasing the number of prison beds, and also increasing the number of units in each prison, so that violent offenders wouldn't be released back into society due to overcrowding. The governor at the time, Anne Richards, stated, if you're going to bring down the crime rate, you're going to have to build prisons to lock these people up. Would I rather spend the money in another way? Absolutely, yes.

but this is a necessity that I see no other way around. There was also the introduction of the McDuff rule, which stated that if a violent offender is convicted of capital murder and not given the death penalty, they would now be required to spend a minimum of 40 years in prison before they'd be eligible for parole. The destruction caused by Kenneth McDuff was far and wide. He tore families apart across the state of Texas.

He stripped small, entrusting towns of their security, and his reign of terror went on for far too long. With the execution of McDuff, these families, these communities, could finally start to repair the damage that he had caused. But even after his death, the ripple effect of his crimes can still be felt today. And the most devastating part is that it all could have been avoided.

Somehow, the state of Texas let this killer free time and time again. And because of that, So many people lost their lives. Now, like we mentioned, Kenneth is believed to have killed nine people throughout his life. But investigators suspected that there could be many, many more. But we'll never know because Kenneth took those answers to the grave. When I first heard the story about Kenneth McDuff, I was shocked. He was truly one of the scariest, most sadistic monsters I had ever heard of.

And growing up in Texas, I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard of him before. which had me thinking, how many other serial killers are there, like Kenneth McDuff? Ones who fell through the cracks of the justice system, killers who tore families apart, and wreaked havoc on small towns across America, ones that most of us have never even heard of. So if you're listening to this and you know of a serial killer from your area, one that people don't know about,

send us an email at Murder in America podcast at gmail.com. We want to start sharing more of these stories, and I know there are plenty more to tell. Hey, everybody. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. Wow. This story is infuriating. This story is horrifying. I just could not believe the details of this and the failures of the Texas Department

of Corrections. I mean, this entire story is just so wild. It's hard to wrap your head around the fact that this actually happened. in real life. Just wild. If you guys love the show and you want to help support us, please consider joining us on Patreon. If you join us on Patreon, you can get early ad-free access to every episode of the show. So if you don't like the ads and you want to get the episodes early, consider joining us there. We also have for the higher tiers tons of bonus content, entire full-length episodes of

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