WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:04.080 Meet John Doe, a quiet, friendly type who likes to 2 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:08.400 keep his yard trimmed and tidy. He's a perfect neighbor 3 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:13.359 in every way but one. John Doe kills women, a 4 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:14.039 lot of women. 5 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:17.440 The bodies are piling up. People began wondering what's going 6 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:19.839 on here? Who are these women? Who's killing them? 7 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:27.079 Seventeen women dead and police can't find him. He's a 8 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:31.839 serial killer with the ultimate weapon. He's a chameleon. 9 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:36.240 Serial killers trademark is their ability to manipulate those around 10 00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:38.280 them into believing that they are nothing more than just 11 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:39.280 a regular human being. 12 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:44.240 It was like a puzzle, and I wanted to solve it. 13 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:47.240 A dark, twisted puzzle spawned from the mind of a 14 00:00:47.359 --> 00:01:28.120 killer that only forensic science can stop. Spokane, Washington. By day, 15 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:31.400 it's a safe place to raise a family, but when 16 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:37.079 night falls, a darker underbelly emerges. In the past three years, 17 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:40.959 six women have been found dead, shot and dumped in 18 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:44.959 the countryside. Their bodies are so decomposed at least find 19 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:50.439 little evidence, and identifying them takes months. When investigators finally 20 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.400 do put names to the victims, they discover they have 21 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:57.480 one thing in common. They are ladies of the night. 22 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:01.359 There is extremely unusual half dead prostitutes in the city 23 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:04.799 of Spokane. Within a short period of time, we had 24 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:08.159 some type of a serial murder situation going on here. 25 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:12.439 There was somebody preying on that segment of our society 26 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:13.560 here in Spokane. 27 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:18.319 Then the streets grow quiet and investigators pray the killing 28 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:24.800 is over. August twenty sixth, nineteen ninety seven, a rider 29 00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:27.759 on the outskirts of Spokane sees what he thinks is 30 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:28.800 a dead deer. 31 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:32.879 That is no animal. 32 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.719 Detectives Rick Gravenstein and Fred Rooch respond to the crime scene. 33 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:47.280 Is this woman the latest victim of the serial killer? 34 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:51.680 The location of the body strikes a chord with investigators. 35 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:55.199 It was in a rural area, wheat fields and trees. 36 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:59.439 Gravenstein and Rooch know this countryside well. 37 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:03.639 Every single body that was found in this county. Regardless 38 00:03:03.639 --> 00:03:04.960 of the reason we responded to. 39 00:03:06.520 --> 00:03:11.400 Previous crime scenes have yielded little evidence. This victim's wounds 40 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:16.879 are fresh, potentially offering clues about the killer. A small 41 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:19.599 hole in the skull points to the cause of death, 42 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:20.719 but a. 43 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:22.879 Hole in the back then she had apparently been the 44 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:25.479 victim of a gunshot wound. They had shot with a 45 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:26.800 small caliber handgun. 46 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:30.479 But if they're right, the crime scene doesn't match the crime. 47 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:32.759 Every time you have a head wound, you have a 48 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:36.080 great deal of bleeding, particularly with the gunshot wounds. That 49 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:38.080 blood should be there at the scene. 50 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:41.039 When there's a lack of blood and an immediate location, 51 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:44.960 that generally indicates that the killing did not occure there. 52 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:48.000 And this is what's commonly referred to as a dump site. 53 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:51.080 Every one of the victims had been transported by a 54 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:54.199 motor vehicle to their body found sites. We know we 55 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:56.759 have a car somewhere. More than likely it has a 56 00:03:56.759 --> 00:03:58.120 great deal of evidence in it. 57 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:02.240 And the method of transport isn't the only similarity to 58 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:03.439 the previous crimes. 59 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:07.560 The fact that they were in the rural areas, all female, 60 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:11.360 in different conditions of disrobing, and the fact that they 61 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:14.319 all having been shot it did lead you to at 62 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:17.560 least suspect strongly that there was some relationship there. 63 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:22.560 If the serial killer is back, investigators need hard evidence 64 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:27.079 to confirm their suspicion, but first they have to id 65 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:31.000 the victim. Through dental records, they learn her name is 66 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:32.519 Jennifer Joseph. 67 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:35.600 A local prostitute. 68 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:38.519 At the autopsy, the coroner looks for the serial killer's 69 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:39.439 signature mo O. 70 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:42.519 There were generally at least two gun shot wounds to 71 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:46.079 the head region very closely situated, and this is sometimes 72 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:51.360 referred to in police military circles as double tapping. In 73 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:53.519 other words, the habit of firing. If you're going to 74 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:55.120 fire the gun firate twice. 75 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:58.959 But Jennifer Joseph's body tells a different story. 76 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:04.720 In this this particular autopsy, there were some distinctly different findings. 77 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:09.199 She had gunshop wounds elsewhere that included the left shoulder, 78 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:13.319 and there was also a gunshop wound to the chest region, 79 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:20.879 the enteror chest region. This strongly suggested this lady either 80 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:24.160 resisted or it may have potentially almost got away. 81 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:29.240 Bullet fragments indicate the killer used a twenty two pistol, 82 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:34.319 a discovery which gives them pause for thought. Investigators know 83 00:05:34.439 --> 00:05:38.040 the previous victims were shot with the larger twenty five 84 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:42.199 caliber weapon. Now they must ask themselves, is the killer 85 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:46.199 changing his mo or worse, could this be the work 86 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:51.120 of a copycat killer. To link Jennifer's murder to the others, 87 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:56.399 they'll need more than circumstantial evidence. The coroner searches her 88 00:05:56.439 --> 00:05:58.959 body for traces of the killer's DNA. 89 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:03.800 What we're looking for primarily is seminal fluid that gives 90 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:07.040 us the opportunity if we can recover it for DNA 91 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:10.480 identification of a perpetrator or at least somebody who's had 92 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:13.680 intercourse in a brief interval prior to the death. 93 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:18.879 In previous cases, the massive deterioration of the bodies made 94 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:21.600 DNA retrieval almost impossible. 95 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:27.240 In many cases, putrefaction was so bad that you weren't 96 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:29.920 even sure that you could tell where you were sampling. 97 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:34.800 Despite these challenges, the coroner has managed to get two 98 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:39.560 matching DNA samples from previous victims. Now he searches for 99 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:50.560 male DNA in Jennifer Joseph's body. True to form, the 100 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:55.160 coroner gets his sample and with it the answer investigators 101 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:56.199 have been waiting for. 102 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:01.079 It became very apparent to us that this was the 103 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:02.240 DNA of our killer. 104 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:11.519 Despite the different used in the Jennifer Joseph killing, the 105 00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:15.319 DNA evidence leads no doubt that after a year of silence, 106 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:21.000 the serial killer is back on the prow. If investigators 107 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:23.839 want to catch their killer, they have to head down 108 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:27.680 to his watering hole and in Spokane that means East 109 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:35.399 Sprague Avenue, better known as the Track. They spread a 110 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:38.879 wide net attempting to identify regular customers. 111 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:44.519 We briefed the uniform division to try to make as 112 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:47.360 much note as possible of everybody that was utilizing the 113 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:49.720 prostitutes actor. It's quite not. 114 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.839 But winning the confidence of these women presents police with 115 00:07:56.920 --> 00:07:58.879 a challenge. 116 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:05.360 The relationship between police and prostitutes is typically real adversarial. 117 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:07.160 We're on opposite sides of the lock. 118 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:11.639 The prostitute stonewall the police at every turn. 119 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:16.160 They're reluctant to reporting of this to the police, and 120 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:18.800 because they don't trust the police. 121 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:23.480 The killer chooses his victims wisely. He stalks the track, 122 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:27.920 knowing full well that a missing prostitute attracts little police attention. 123 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:35.679 There were people at higher levels controlling purse strings, that 124 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:38.399 sort of thing. That did make some off the cuff 125 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:43.080 comments about spending that much time investigating the death of 126 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:44.720 a prostitute, But. 127 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:49.080 The attitudes of local citizens presents an even greater obstacle. 128 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:52.559 Because only prostitutes were showing up dead, there was really, 129 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:55.440 unfortunately not a lot of attention paid to this, and 130 00:08:55.480 --> 00:08:57.919 this community woke up very slowly to what was going on. 131 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.720 If these had been school teachers or nurses ending up 132 00:09:00.759 --> 00:09:04.080 dead and tossed into these fields and along the roadsides, 133 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:06.000 something would have been done much quicker. 134 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:08.799 You know, the public's perception of the victims out there, 135 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:11.600 that's a very little concern to me as a detective. 136 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:13.519 I'm the guy at the bottom. My job is to 137 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:14.679 catch who's killing him. 138 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:18.120 That job's about to get a whole lot harder. In 139 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.120 a high stakes game of cat and mouse. The killer 140 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:24.919 continues to elude police over the next few months, right 141 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:29.200 under their noses, he strikes again and again and again. 142 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:33.240 This guy is not going to quit killing people. 143 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:40.799 With every murder, the Spokane serial killer is cleaning up 144 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:48.080 his act. In Spokane, Washington, investigators are chasing an elusive 145 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:52.919 serial killer. They have his DNA, but no viable suspect 146 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:56.720 to match it with, and with his latest victim, he's 147 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:59.240 getting better at covering his tracks. 148 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:04.320 I noticed that placed over her head was a plastic 149 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:09.200 shopping bag with a smiley face imprinted on it, and 150 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:13.399 at that time myself and the other detective's present discussed 151 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:15.480 whether this was some kind of a. 152 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:19.399 Sick joke. For lack of a better term. 153 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:23.919 The latest victim is twenty six year old Darla SIUs Scott. 154 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:27.679 Investigators question the purpose of the plastic bag. 155 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:33.080 These are obviously not playing any role in the death, 156 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:35.039 and the reason for that is there are no holes 157 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:37.080 in the bags and there are gunshot wounds of the 158 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:41.360 head underneath the bag. The only explanation that seems reasonable 159 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:44.480 for this is a person who's probably transporting the body 160 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:48.440 and needs to stop the shedding of blood from the wounds. 161 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:52.720 With this new trick under his belt, the killer won't 162 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:56.639 be leaving any more evidence behind in his car. He's 163 00:10:56.679 --> 00:10:57.840 cleaning up his act. 164 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.679 If I can use the term learning in a perverse sense, 165 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.960 that that's what's going on. He's learning from each of 166 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.879 his victims as he moves along through the course of 167 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:11.559 these murders. 168 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:16.679 With the death toll rising, Women working the streets like 169 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:20.440 Christine Smith know that every trick is a high stake. 170 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:25.080 Scambal are you doing, honey, It's like playing Russian roulette. Really, 171 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:28.679 everybody was in fear. I mean it wasn't just I 172 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:31.879 don't think it was just the prostitutes. I mean everyone 173 00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:32.720 was concerned. 174 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:38.360 Although the track is a hunting ground, many prostitutes stay 175 00:11:38.519 --> 00:11:41.320 for one simple reason, drugs. 176 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:46.919 Every penny I made went to Crack, every single penny. 177 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:50.759 I would work twenty four hours a day, seven days 178 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:52.840 a week. Go go go, go, go, go go. 179 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:56.320 And it was it was just to Bi Crack and 180 00:11:56.360 --> 00:11:58.960 the women that work the track. The killer knows he's 181 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:03.600 got a desperate, captive supply of victims for Christine Smith 182 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:06.679 and the others, Leaving town isn't an option. 183 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:09.519 I mean, you gotta feed the gorilla on your back 184 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:11.320 no matter what. 185 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:17.480 Pressuring the prostitutes for information isn't working, So investigators adopt 186 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:21.720 a news strategy. They send in officers with special instructions 187 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:23.559 build trust with the women. 188 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:29.360 We had detectives assigned just for that purpose, whose marching 189 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:33.279 orders were basically to overlook any of the misdemeanor or 190 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:37.120 low level criminal activity they may be involved in. Befriend them, 191 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:41.159 become their friend, become their trusted somebody so that they'll 192 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:41.600 call you. 193 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:46.080 Through sheer persistence, they finally succeed in getting one of 194 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:49.519 the women to open up. She reveals a key piece 195 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:53.039 of information about the night Jennifer Joseph disappeared. 196 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:55.000 Last time I saw her, she was getting into a 197 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:57.279 white Corvette, a white Corvette. 198 00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:00.559 She get a plate irregular. 199 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:05.440 Now we had a good identification that Jennifer Joseph had 200 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:08.720 been seen in a white Corvette the last time that 201 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:10.600 we could verify that she was seen alive. 202 00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:19.080 It's the first big break in the case. But locating 203 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.879 the car is not as easy as it might seem. 204 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:28.759 We had about four thousand corvette registrations from eastern Washington 205 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:30.879 and another nine hundred from northern Idaho. 206 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:35.600 Investigators are also concerned that the car's color might have 207 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:36.639 been misreported. 208 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:40.159 Some people's idea of what white is is another person's 209 00:13:40.200 --> 00:13:44.240 silver or another person's light blue. So you're worried about 210 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.159 excluding cars. It might be the killer's car. So the 211 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.240 list is several thousand corvettes long. 212 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:53.600 Right, we got the pictures of the vets. 213 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:57.679 In an effort to focus the list, they re examine 214 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:02.279 their evidence looking for any connection to the car. Forensic 215 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:07.240 technician Kevin Jenkins recovers a red fiber from Jennifer Joseph schu. 216 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:10.399 The characteristics that I look at to determine if something 217 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:13.559 is a carpet fiber is generally the size. Carpet fibers 218 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:17.120 are generally larger than those used for clothing or upholstery. 219 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.639 Based on the lifestyle of the victim, he concludes that 220 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:23.480 those fibers are not from just any carpet. 221 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:28.200 The fibers were likely from a automotive source just by 222 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.399 the nature of the victims being prostitutes and in and 223 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:34.399 out of cars on a regular basis. 224 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:39.320 Now investigators have a specific tool to pare down the 225 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:43.360 forty nine hundred corvettes on their list. They meet with 226 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:48.039 corvette owners. They check all used car lots and corvette clubs, 227 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:52.200 collecting carpet samples from every corvette they find with a 228 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:53.240 red interior. 229 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.519 Carpet samples from several vehicles were sent to the laboratory 230 00:14:56.600 --> 00:14:59.559 for analysis to compare against the carpet fibers that were 231 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:02.399 found on for Joseph. 232 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:06.159 But there is no match. Checking almost five thousand vehicles 233 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:09.600 is going to take time, time the killer can use 234 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:18.720 to hunt his next victim. Investigators finally know the make 235 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.679 of the Spokane serial killer's car and even the color 236 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:26.320 of its carpet, but they are no closer to determining 237 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:29.639 his identity. They turn to the one piece of evidence 238 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:32.559 they have that might bear the mark of their killer. 239 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.240 You were hoping to potentially get a print off of 240 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:37.200 those bags if at all. 241 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:42.799 Possible, Investigators turned to a radical new approach in fingerprint technology. 242 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:46.039 I first became aware of it one night at home 243 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:50.720 watching a television show about forensic work. 244 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:55.559 The new cutting edge technology is called vacuum metal deposition. 245 00:15:56.039 --> 00:15:59.559 It's the last chance they have to get the killer's fingerprints. 246 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:04.080 This machine is a large metal tank from which they 247 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:08.559 extract all the air and turn it into virtually a 248 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:09.799 perfect vacuum. 249 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:13.159 The device works by heating zinc and gold within the 250 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:18.600 tank until they vaporize. The metals coat everything except contaminants. 251 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:23.159 The fingerprints show up because that is a contaminant, and 252 00:16:23.240 --> 00:16:28.120 any contaminant disrupts the deposition of the metal onto the article. 253 00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:31.919 Having now retrieved four smiley face bags from the killer's 254 00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:37.480 latest victims, police are confident they'll find something, but the 255 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:42.720 first bag reveals nothing. Disappointed, they return to the drawing board. 256 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:47.799 Three bags from three victims are painstakingly run through the system, 257 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:52.000 but still no sign of their killer. On their last try, 258 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:55.440 they finally catch a break and manage to pull a print. 259 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:59.320 It's not the fingerprint they'd been hoping for. It's a 260 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:04.000 pomp print, and that poses problems for investigators. 261 00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:06.960 The palm print has to be compared one to one 262 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:11.319 with a suspect palm print by a human examiner. 263 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:17.240 The trouble is investigators are a long way from finding 264 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:17.960 a suspect. 265 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.720 I liken the whole investigation to a roller coaster. We 266 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:26.079 would be up one moment believing that we were on 267 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:30.480 the trail of our killer, only to find that the 268 00:17:30.599 --> 00:17:31.759 lab would prove us wrong. 269 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:38.480 With every blind alley they go down, the killer gets 270 00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:43.000 another chance to strike, and two weeks after his last murder, 271 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:51.519 he decides to double his efforts. The latest victims are 272 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:57.200 Laura Wason and Sean mcclenahan. Again it's the same mo. 273 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:02.920 The victims are prostitutes found in isolated rural setting. Both 274 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:05.599 have been shot in the head. Both are tagged with 275 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:10.599 the killer's infamous calling card, But this time one of 276 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.839 the bodies yields a clue, a strange mark behind her 277 00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:15.519 lefty ear. 278 00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:19.079 When a contact gunshop wound occurs, there's a good chance 279 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:22.839 of skin is blown back against the end of the barrel, 280 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:25.400 and that can leave an imprint. 281 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:34.839 Based on ballistics, police know the killer used a twenty 282 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:40.119 two caliber pistol. Now forensic technician Ed Robinson hopes to 283 00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:43.480 use the gunshot mark to zone in on the specific 284 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:45.799 make and model of the murder weapon. 285 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:51.880 I was provided with photographs of one of the shooting 286 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:57.039 victims which depicted damage to the skin near the ear 287 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:01.599 of the hit. Looking at the photo, I was fairly sure, 288 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:05.359 based on my original list of three firearms, that I 289 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:07.480 was going to be able to narrow it down to 290 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:13.200 one firearm. The process that I used was to put 291 00:19:13.640 --> 00:19:18.079 a thin layer of clay on a styrofoam mannequin head 292 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:24.079 and then make impressions with various portions of the firearms 293 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:28.480 that I had previously listed. The process for the photography 294 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:30.960 was just to make everything one to one so that 295 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:33.359 all of the images were the same size. 296 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:37.200 After several attempts, he gets a perfect match. 297 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:39.680 I narrowed the list to raven pistols. 298 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:43.039 Police get a list of raven owners. They compare it 299 00:19:43.079 --> 00:19:46.039 to lists of corvette owners and sex offenders. 300 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:48.920 It was felt if we could compare all those lists 301 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.200 together and shift it and see what shook out the bottom, 302 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:55.400 whose name appeared the most times and all those lists, 303 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:57.640 that was probably our suspect. 304 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.880 Thirteen women dead and police still don't. 305 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:02.440 Have a suspect. 306 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:06.240 As the death toll arises, so does the fear in 307 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:07.000 the community. 308 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:13.200 The pressure was really mounting, and so the public's awareness 309 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:16.720 was really amounting. Even though these women were viewed by 310 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:19.680 many as quote just prostitutes, it still was becoming an 311 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:21.519 issue of significant community concern. 312 00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:25.200 I think that the public was also afraid that it 313 00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:28.680 was going to stem into like, not just out on 314 00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:32.720 Sprague with the prostitutes, if possibly you'd start killing off 315 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:36.039 other just quote unquote normal people. 316 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:40.039 Do police authorities respond to the public pressure. 317 00:20:40.119 --> 00:20:42.480 It formed a task force made up of detectives from 318 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:47.599 the city police department, the Sheriff's Department, the worst State Patrol. 319 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:51.039 We have participation from the FBI as well as the 320 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.279 worst state attorney General's office. 321 00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:57.759 The heightened attention triggers an overwhelming public response. 322 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:02.279 Once the task force was formed, hotline was set up 323 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.200 and a lot of people were calling in their neighbors, 324 00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:08.599 their friends, their ex boyfriends saying I think you ought 325 00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:10.680 to take a look at this guy. And so in 326 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:13.079 quick order, the task force had a long list of 327 00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:14.240 people they needed to look at. 328 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:20.400 Despite the outpouring of tips, no credible suspects are put forward, 329 00:21:20.839 --> 00:21:24.640 suggesting to police the killer is a master at blending in. 330 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:29.839 Cyyl. Killer's trademark is their ability to manipulate those around 331 00:21:29.880 --> 00:21:31.880 them in believing that they are nothing more than just 332 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:32.920 a regular human being. 333 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:36.559 They don't stand out for any particular reason. They don't 334 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:40.000 look like Frankenstein or anything. 335 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:44.160 The man who is killing prostitutes in cold blood could 336 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:47.559 even be a family man, someone his friends and neighbors 337 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:51.559 would never suspect. Someone who's not likely to ever come 338 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:56.799 to the attention of police, someone with an iron clad cover. 339 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:04.000 With the count now at thirteen, law enforcement agencies across 340 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:08.640 the region joined together to catch the elusive Spokane serial killer. 341 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:13.559 Investigators believe they are chasing someone with an ironclad cover, 342 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:17.400 a killer with the ability to hide in plane sight, 343 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:23.000 but with no viable suspects, police follow up on the 344 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:26.440 only concrete lead they have, the killer's brand of weapon. 345 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:29.880 They contact raven gun owners in the area and bring 346 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:31.480 their weapons in for testing. 347 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:36.640 Twenty five auto caliber firearms were submitted to the crime 348 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:41.880 lab for test firing and microscopic comparison to the bullets 349 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:45.200 taken from the murder victims. All of the firearms that 350 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:49.640 were submitted were test fired into a water recovery system, 351 00:22:50.039 --> 00:22:54.039 which allows for the collection of nearly Christine or Pristine 352 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:58.920 bullets and the collection of the test fired cartridge cases. 353 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:04.160 The bullets were Hubbard and those test fires were microscopically 354 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:08.519 compared to the bullets from the murder victims. 355 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:13.359 But no matches are made and the frustration wears hard 356 00:23:13.400 --> 00:23:13.960 on the team. 357 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:17.960 My biggest challenge in these cases was to have a 358 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:21.680 positive attitude that hopefully, this time we're going to find 359 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:25.880 something that's going to shut down this activity. And over 360 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:28.119 and over again that didn't happen. So it's frustrating. 361 00:23:28.440 --> 00:23:29.559 You can't sleep at night. 362 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:31.720 You go to bed at ten o'clock, You wake up 363 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:34.000 at two, you turn the coffee pot on, you get 364 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.200 the books out, and you start reading about the case. 365 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:38.200 You can't put it away. 366 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:43.400 Just when they're at their lowest, the killer throws another 367 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:48.279 sucker punch. The fourteenth victim is Linda Mabon, but this 368 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:49.519 time is different. 369 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:54.079 The body had been dumped into a ditch and then 370 00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:58.400 buried in the botanical debris. There was quite a lot 371 00:23:58.440 --> 00:24:01.440 of it in forensic standards ill on the site, enough 372 00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:04.759 to tell that it did not match the local vegetation. 373 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:10.519 After thoroughly examining the debris. Forensic botanist Richard Old makes 374 00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:12.799 an expert determination. 375 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:14.720 The evidence that was dumped with the bodies was all 376 00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:17.720 horticultural in nature. The site where it was dropped was 377 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:20.519 primarily exotic weeds and a few native plants. 378 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:23.160 The debris provides another clue. 379 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.720 There was no pine needles associated with it, and this 380 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:28.200 is largely a pine needle area. 381 00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:34.160 Instead, Old recognizes traces of Japanese maple oak and dark 382 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:35.279 bark chips. 383 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:39.680 This was typical of horticultural material that would have fallen 384 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:42.359 in the fall. It was deciduous vegetation. 385 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:46.680 It's the kind of vegetation found in backyards. 386 00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:49.240 There's a lot of illegal dumping that goes on in 387 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:52.000 that area, typically from people getting rid of long clippings 388 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:54.480 and cleaning up the yards that sort of thing. But 389 00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:56.799 no one would just put lawn debris on top of 390 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:59.079 bodies unless you were the killer. 391 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:03.720 A killer who likes to keep his yard trim and tidy. 392 00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:07.599 Based on the materials he found at the crime scene, 393 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:11.640 Richard Old sets about creating a picture of the killer's yard. 394 00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:17.599 If he can find that yard, he can find the killer. 395 00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:22.680 That yard that that material came from was out there someplace. 396 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:25.400 It was like a puzzle and I wanted to solve it. 397 00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:29.440 Old knows that the debris came from a landscape garden 398 00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:33.960 based on species type, a natural proximity from tree to tree, 399 00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:38.240 he begins to assemble a unique botanical fingerprint of the 400 00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:39.039 killer's lair. 401 00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:42.680