WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:02.600 This is a story of the anguish of Kern County 2 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:05.960 families whose loved ones were brutally murdered two decades ago. 3 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:09.000 The families want this story told, but to tell it 4 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:12.759 it is necessary to describe vicious sex assaults. These descriptions 5 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:14.679 may be too intense for some viewers. 6 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:20.280 It's incredibly uncommon for that to happen. 7 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:23.839 It was surreal. She had a lot of defense moves 8 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:24.879 on her hands. 9 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.920 Someone is killing women in Bakersfield. 10 00:00:27.239 --> 00:00:29.480 And her daughter will live with that image for the 11 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:30.239 rest of her life. 12 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:32.679 I certainly don't want to alarm the public. 13 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:35.640 At this point, we knew that she had been stabbed 14 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:36.520 multiple times. 15 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.359 A rash of murders paralyzing the city. 16 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:41.039 It never goes away ever. 17 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:44.399 It was so brutal, missus really weird. 18 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:46.960 But I do believe they need to be informed. 19 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:50.600 It is unusual, and especially women who may be out 20 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:51.679 walking late at night. 21 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:54.960 She too, was repeatedly stabbed to death. 22 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:59.600 This is a special edition of seventeen News Bakersfield Secret 23 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:03.719 series You'll Kill Her Now Here's Olivia La Voice. 24 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:07.480 Women vanishing from the streets of Bakersfield. To this day, 25 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:11.640 these vicious homicides are unsolved, but are they related, it's 26 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:15.400 one man responsible for killing these women. Evidence suggests after 27 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:19.239 their deaths, their killers spent time with their bodies, posing them, 28 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:23.280 positioning them, maybe so he could admire his work, maybe 29 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.879 so he could further abuse them. A serial killer hunting 30 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.760 women in our city. Yet somehow it was largely kept 31 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:33.760 from the public until now. For more than a year, 32 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:37.120 we've been looking into these unsolved murders. We want to know, 33 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:40.920 could one man be responsible for all of these killings. 34 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:46.400 It wasn't long before Christmas. Christmas nineteen ninety six came 35 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:47.000 and went. 36 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:50.000 I think she was coming from the store. She was 37 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:52.079 gone too long, longer than normal. 38 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:55.760 Forty four year old Maryan Perkins vanished. It was on 39 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:59.519 a rainy dat a couple viewing a vacant home in 40 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:03.359 East Bay Kersfield made a horrifying discovery in the backyard. 41 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.519 How they identified her was through her dentures. 42 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:11.360 Her body decomposing. She'd been beaten and stabbed numerous times, 43 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:14.000 her nude body tied in a blanket. 44 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:15.800 She was just such a beautiful person. 45 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:20.039 Two years later, I don't know why this person did 46 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:24.800 this to Mama. I used to talk to her every 47 00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:28.599 single day, several times a day. Thirty nine year old 48 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:31.759 Leslie Don Preston was found in a field on Madison Street. 49 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.719 She was lasting live three days prior. Her body was nude. 50 00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:38.319 The killer had posed her. She had been stabbed in 51 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.800 her neck, chest and face. He stabbed her nineteen times 52 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:51.479 and left her there. Two more years go by. 53 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:56.360 Yes Mahelia Jackson walked in the next morning and found 54 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:57.719 her mother dead on her bed. 55 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:01.080 Ruby Lee Merriweather, a single mother of four, was nude, 56 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:03.400 stabbed eighteen times. 57 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:05.240 And sexually assaulted. 58 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:08.199 There was no forced entry to her home, and it was. 59 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:12.120 Clear that Ruby had tried to escape her attacker by 60 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:13.439 crawling under the bed. 61 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:15.560 The detectors are out right now going door to door 62 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:17.800 trying to locate any witnesses that might have seen her 63 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:18.759 in the last couple of days. 64 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:23.080 We had to take care of each other. From wherever 65 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:25.400 she left off, we had to pick it up, and 66 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:26.240 that's harsh. 67 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:30.719 Six months later, eleven days before Christmas. 68 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:33.879 On the morning of December fourteenth, they say attractor repair 69 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:36.960 man finds the body of twenty seven year old Katrina 70 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.639 Antoinette Pink near Ridgeview High School. 71 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:42.120 The twenty seven year old's t shirt was pulled up, 72 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:46.800 her pants pulled down with long, deep gashes across her neck. 73 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:50.159 She was last seen two days before at the Tropicana 74 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:54.439 Motel on Union Avenue. One month later. Billy Jean Bear 75 00:03:54.599 --> 00:03:57.039 was from a small town in Alaska. She'd had a 76 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:00.199 tough life. She came to Bakersfield on a bus with 77 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:02.800 ten dollars in her pocket just a few months before 78 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:05.599 she was murdered. The forty two year old was riddled 79 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:08.080 with stab wounds to her neck. She is left with 80 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:10.639 her pants and under were pulled down. The murders of 81 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:14.319 Katrina Pink and Billy Bear were clearly similar to investigators 82 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:16.240 and seventeen News reporters. 83 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.480 Both had previously been arrested for prostitution and were known 84 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:23.839 to work the Baker Street and Union Avenue areas, and 85 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:27.920 the most obvious similarity the murderer used a knife. For now, 86 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:30.839 police are not calling these murders the work of a 87 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:34.240 serial killer, but until they're certain, they are asking you, 88 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:37.680 especially if you're a woman, to use extra caution when 89 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:38.560 going out at night. 90 00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:41.639 But that was two thousand and one, and despite that warning, 91 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:44.079 three months later, another woman. 92 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.319 Was murdered a founder land on the Siwalk. 93 00:04:48.680 --> 00:04:52.480 Blood soaked the concrete near the train tracks in East Bakersfield. 94 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:54.160 How lung does she lay there? 95 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:00.600 Summer twenty nine, year old Patricia Bessie Martin was to death, 96 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:03.920 her shirt pulled up, her prop pulled down to somebody. 97 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:09.720 She was insignificant, but I think to everyone here she 98 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:13.800 was extremely significant. 99 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:18.720 Patricia Martin former Baker's Who police sergeant Bill Darby, was 100 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:21.079 a new patrol officer in the spring of two thousand 101 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:21.399 and one. 102 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:25.319 It would have been the first murder I'd seen to 103 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:29.480 that extent, and the viciousness. 104 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:32.600 The gruesome murder scene stuck with him. Four years later, 105 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:35.439 Darby's mentor impaired the wisdom of a veteran cop. 106 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:38.319 He told me to keep an eye out for a 107 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:40.680 series of murders that happened in the late nineties early 108 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:44.600 two thousands. He believed they were all connected based on 109 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:51.920 their lifestyles and definitely the types of murders, the weaponology. 110 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:53.720 Six in all were they linked. 111 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:56.759 Whether it's told to the press or not, this would 112 00:05:56.759 --> 00:05:59.000 have been obvious that there was a serial killer. 113 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:05.079 Most murders are a result of sex, drugs, or money. 114 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:10.120 Now retired, Greg Laskowski analyzed thousands of current county crimes 115 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:11.800 during his thirty year career. 116 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:14.759 It's just a vicious killing him aprosse tote. 117 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.000 You know this ritualistic. 118 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:20.319 Murder, then you may look at it. This person has 119 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:21.120 an issue and. 120 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:24.160 May be doing this again and again, be a repeat offender, 121 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:26.879 a killer on the streets of Bakersfield. 122 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:28.279 It was very brutal. 123 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:33.519 The victim was stabbed multiple times and sexually assaulted, and 124 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.040 it was very obvious that she had been sexually assaulted. 125 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:43.519 Bakersfield Secret serial killer, Bakersfield secret serial killer. Here's Olivia 126 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:44.680 a voice. 127 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:48.839 Mary Anne Perkins, Leslie Don Preston, Ruby, Lee Merriweather, betweena 128 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:50.879 pink Billy Behar and Patricia Martin. 129 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:56.399 We have someone out there that is harming women in 130 00:06:56.519 --> 00:07:00.279 an extremely an ordinary way. 131 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:04.040 Police quietly pieced together a theory that a serial killer 132 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:08.040 had killed six women, but time moved on the cases 133 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:11.279 of all the victims grew cold until. 134 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:13.959 My street name was Gypsy Rose. 135 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:17.160 It was a few days after Thanksgiving two thousand and seven. 136 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:19.800 Gypsy Rose was working Union Avenue. 137 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:26.800 He had paid me and it was like Jacoline Hide. 138 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:33.600 He became real aggressive, real wrath. He pulled out an ie. 139 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:38.079 She'd been raped before, but she never experienced anything like this. 140 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:44.040 Was humiliating, it was dirty. If I had gotten any 141 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:47.800 kind of DCS on the on the seats of the car, 142 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:51.879 he made me lick that up. 143 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:56.319 Even more horrifying than the violent sexual assault. 144 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:00.160 He had told me that, and there were winds in 145 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:06.639 that he had killed behind dumpsters in his basement, in 146 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:13.399 his car. He told me that if I didn't be quiet, 147 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:16.519 that I was going to end up like some of 148 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:17.439 the other girls. 149 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:20.079 She says he held her for six hours. 150 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:26.560 What really honestly saved my life was that street cleaner 151 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:28.279 that came around the corner. 152 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:32.840 Badly beaten and naked. She took the one chance to survive. 153 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:37.159 A month later, Christmas Eve two thousand and seven, another 154 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.200 prostitute gone to a man's car. Suddenly he became violent. 155 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:44.159 She begged to be let go, and after hours of 156 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:47.440 assaulting her, he told her to get out of his car. 157 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:50.120 In March nineteenth, two thousand and eight, a car pulled 158 00:08:50.200 --> 00:08:53.360 up to a woman working as a prostitute on Union Avenue. 159 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:55.679 Once she was in the car, the man locked the 160 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:59.600 doors and said you're mine now. Hours of brutal beatings 161 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:03.240 and average rape followed. The victim was sodomized and forced 162 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:05.919 to eat her own feces. When she jumped from the 163 00:09:06.039 --> 00:09:08.639 vehicle and tried to run, the rapist hit her with 164 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:09.159 his car. 165 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:12.480 He drove five blocks, swerving to shake her loose, and 166 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:14.960 slammed on the brakes, causing her to fly into this 167 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:18.799 ditch behind a clinic in downtown Bakersfield. The woman woke 168 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:22.000 up naked and battered, but thanking God she was alive. 169 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:26.679 Three days later, yet another woman working as a prostitute, 170 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:29.639 got into a man's car off of Union Avenue, and 171 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:32.759 as they began to engage in sexual activity, he stopped, 172 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.120 looked at her and said, you know what I really want. 173 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:37.919 I want to keep you. He choked her until she 174 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:40.639 passed out. When she came to, the man shoved her 175 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:43.720 out of the car, nude from the waist down. Four 176 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:47.679 prostitutes attacked while working Union Avenue between two thousand and 177 00:09:47.720 --> 00:09:50.039 seven and two thousand and eight. They shared the same 178 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:54.360 suspect description, a man who was brutal, vile, talked of 179 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.519 killing other women in the past. They described his car 180 00:09:57.559 --> 00:10:00.000 and a tattoo of a tiger on his arm. 181 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:04.320 Goin right away because I was so embarrassed. 182 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:07.519 Two days later, she summoned the courage to tell police 183 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:10.840 about the rape and what her attacker said about keeping 184 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:13.120 women in his cellar and killing them. 185 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:15.559 We didn't have very many of those women that would 186 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:17.960 come forward to say that they were assaulted. 187 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:21.200 Crime Scene technician Sherry Hill worked with one victim to 188 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:25.440 create a composite sketch. The rapist eluding capture is now 189 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:30.960 on detective's radar. Two days after the last assault, patrol 190 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:34.200 officers on Union Avenue spotted a car with a cracked windshield. 191 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:37.639 Looking closer, they realized the car matched the vehicle description 192 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:41.080 of the serial rapist, even down to a wiper that 193 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:44.279 was missing, Matching one of the victim's stories. They pulled 194 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:47.080 over the Gold Mercury and found the man driving the 195 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:50.679 car matched the suspect description, from his physical features to 196 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:57.320 tattoos and gold necklace. His name Michael Charles Brown. Officers 197 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:00.000 brought Brown in on a traffic violation, ready to question 198 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:01.720 him about the fourest Salts. 199 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:06.879 Seemed intelligent, he seemed calm. We knew certain facts that 200 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:11.440 were indisputable fact and he chose to lie, and all four. 201 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:15.559 Rape victims positively identified Brown as their attacker. Ultimately, DNA 202 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:19.240 recovered from three of the Union Avenue victims matched to Brown. 203 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:22.879 As prosecutors were building their case against the suspected rapist, 204 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:25.720 the thirty three year old's DNA was entered into the 205 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:31.399 nationwide DNA database. Cotis another match nine years after Ruby 206 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:35.559 Merriweather's daughter ran out into the streets screaming for her mother. 207 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:37.799 Finally a DNA match. 208 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:38.960 I could tell he's sick. 209 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:43.360 I mean, who would even find that in there? You know, 210 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:46.399 take that in a mind to do someone like that. 211 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:50.559 Michael Brown's DNA was found in feces located on Ruby 212 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:53.879 Merriweather's body. Brown was twenty five years old when the 213 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:57.320 murder occurred in two thousand. Investigators to this day have 214 00:11:57.480 --> 00:11:59.960 no idea if the pair knew each other or how 215 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:04.399 Brown got into her home. Brown denied everything, no explanation 216 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:07.519 for why his DNA was at the Merriweather crime scene. 217 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:10.919 I thought that we would be able to finally close 218 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:14.080 several cases. 219 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:20.039 Asked her how many more families it was, so that 220 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:21.759 I'd know it's more families. 221 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:25.240 All eyes are on. Michael Charles Brown born into a 222 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:28.519 big family in the small central Mississippi town of Grenada, 223 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:32.480 with family in Bakersfield, he visited periodically. He even spent 224 00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:34.879 a year attending Highland High School. In the summer of 225 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:38.039 nineteen ninety six, Brown made the permanent move from Mississippi 226 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:41.559 to Bakersfield after being discharged from the Army. None of 227 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.879 Brown's friends or family wanted to talk to me about 228 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:46.879 how Brown spent his time in Bakersfield, and mine's Olivia 229 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:50.480 always in reports of seventeen years. I called you before 230 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:52.840 I'm doing a story on your son, Michael. 231 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:56.519 And I just want to, Okay, can I give you 232 00:12:56.639 --> 00:12:57.039 a letter? 233 00:12:57.399 --> 00:12:59.960 At this point in the investigation, detectives have very little 234 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:00.559 to go on. 235 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:02.200 Two things have been determined. 236 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:05.000 There was no sign of forced entry, and the victim 237 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:05.600 was last scene. 238 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.720 About ten o'clock, homicide Detective Bill Darby was reviewing the 239 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:11.320 Ruby Merriweather case in his office. 240 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.639 Looking into that case, and I was looking at crime 241 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:16.039 scene photos as a police service technician had walked in 242 00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:19.159 and just to shoot the breeze and she says, oh, 243 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:22.080 I took those pictures. Said we just came back a 244 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:25.279 DNA hit And she said, Kathleen's case, there's a DNA 245 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:27.279 And I said, now, this is a Ruby Merriweather. It 246 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:29.360 was almost like you could see it in her saying, 247 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:33.600 this is really weird. You know, this looks just like 248 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:35.279 the pictures I took of Kathlen. 249 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:39.759 Heising's Puzzled over two different crime scenes, the technician confused 250 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:43.200 the July nineteen ninety eight bloody murder of beloved elementary 251 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:47.159 school principal Kathleen Heisey with the pictures taken at the 252 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:49.759 Ruby Merriwether homicide from two years later. 253 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:53.440 The similarities, I'll just say, are We're obvious. The similarities 254 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:54.600 are incredibly obvious. 255 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:57.440 But Darby wasn't the first person to notice. 256 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:00.799 I had seen very many homicides at that point, but 257 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:01.840 this was unique. 258 00:14:02.519 --> 00:14:06.159 Single mother, fifty year old Kathleen Heisei was, by all accounts, 259 00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:14.440 a very unlikely target for murder. Atalani June thirtieth, nineteen 260 00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:22.679 ninety eight. The voicemail to her daughter is the family's 261 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:30.000 last contact with Kathleen. She was most likely dead within 262 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:31.399 hours of making that call. 263 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:36.559 Her case almost never left my desk in my entire career. 264 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:43.080 Between Ruby Merriweather and Kathleen Heisei, both of the victims 265 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:44.639 were stabbed multiple times. 266 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.440 There was no forced entry, and it didn't seem like 267 00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:50.759 the killer was in any hurry. At either crime scene. 268 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:55.480 There were similarities on what was actually done to each victim. 269 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:58.440 The Merriweather murder the Heisy murder. 270 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:00.799 They weren't identical, they were similar. 271 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.919 Kathleen heise had no criminal history, she had come from 272 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:07.000 a well known Current County family, and her case, unlike 273 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:11.240 the others, received massive media attention. For the first time 274 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:14.360 in years, the unsolved murders were linked and pushed to 275 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:15.120 the forefront. 276 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:18.600 The theory started to arise that they were possibly related. 277 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:19.200 To Kathleen Heisey. 278 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:23.960 The victimology, for lack of a better term, is just 279 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:27.360 so far off that, no, you wouldn't put those together. 280 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:31.200 In hindsight hid INSIGHT's twenty twenty, you could go into 281 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:34.879 certain aspects of both cases which we have and see 282 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:37.039 a lot of things that we should have seen. 283 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:41.759 A rash of unsolved murders plagues Bakersfield. Have investigators caught 284 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:49.799 their man? Bakersfield secret serial killer, Bakersfield secret serial killer. 285 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:51.840 Here's Olivia la Voice. 286 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.879 Memorial Day weekend two thousand and one, we. 287 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:57.240 Were made aware of a case by one of the 288 00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:59.879 detectives of the case with Wendy Kyle. 289 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:02.679 There's nothing worse than losing a child, especially in the 290 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:06.759 satic way firefighters responded to a house fire on Circle 291 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:10.320 Drive in Oildale. Inside was the body of twenty four 292 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:13.440 year old Wendy Kyle. Details of the crime scene matched 293 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:15.720 some of the others. She was found near the foot 294 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:19.600 of the bed, partially nude and stabbed numerous times before 295 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:20.559 the fire was set. 296 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:23.879 And I feel like I've lost a part of me. 297 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:32.480 She was born on my birthday. We celebrated our birthdays together. 298 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:35.279 Now, the man that murdered your sister. 299 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:38.519 This is Wendy's sister reaching out to a psychic on 300 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:40.240 the Montell Williams talk show. 301 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.399 The place was on fire and she lived in a 302 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:44.240 small guesthouse. 303 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:47.679 Will they find this person, Yes, they will, absolutely they will. 304 00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:52.399 Tragically, Wendy died on her sister's birthday. There were several 305 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:55.240 persons of interest in Wendy's murder, a man she had 306 00:16:55.320 --> 00:16:58.919 dated who had made incriminating statements, and this man sitting 307 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:03.480 next to Wendy. He has never been identified. Despite several leads, 308 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:06.519 the Wendy Kyle murder case went cold for years. 309 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:09.920 She wasn't what they made her out to be at all. 310 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:15.079 Witnesses contacted law enforcement and seventeen News, providing information placing 311 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:18.519 Michael Charles Brown and Wendy Kyle together at the downtown 312 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:21.720 Bakersfield Mint Bar the night she was murdered. A friend 313 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:24.240 of Wendy's who will call Jane, has tried to help 314 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:27.839 investigators from the start, providing key information about the case 315 00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:31.400 through the Secret Witness Program. Now, to protect the integrity 316 00:17:31.400 --> 00:17:34.839 of the Secret Witness program, we've agreed to conceal her identity. 317 00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:38.279 She knew Wendy, and as it turns out, she also 318 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:40.039 knew Michael Charles Brown. 319 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:44.359 Very nice, friendly, personable, well spoken. 320 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:46.880 Hanging at the Mint Bar in the late nineties and 321 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:50.319 early two thousands. They all ran in a similar social circle. 322 00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:56.359 I trusted him. I trusted him, and he was charming 323 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:56.960 and kind. 324 00:17:57.240 --> 00:17:59.839 When she heard Brown had been arrested for viciously raping 325 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:02.640 four women and killing Ruby Merriweather. 326 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:06.720 Wendy immediately kind of popped in my head. 327 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:09.839 A whole string of murders popped into the heads of detectives, 328 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:13.000 and all eyes are on Michael Brown. But who was 329 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.960 this man? He was in and out of jail dozens 330 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:18.880 of times during the twenty two years he's lived in Bakersfield. 331 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:22.279 Now overlaid that timeline with the calendar of the murders, 332 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:26.079 and it's clear Brown was free and in town at 333 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:30.799 the time of every homicide. Brown was out of jail 334 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:34.039 and living less than a mile from Maryan Perkins when 335 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:37.160 she was killed in nineteen ninety six. A week later, 336 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:40.359 he was arrested for stealing a car. He was incarcerated 337 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.839 for that until March nineteen ninety eight, four months after 338 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.440 he got out. The bodies of Leslie Don Preston and 339 00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:50.599 Kathleen Heisey were found just one day apart. Two years later, 340 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:54.359 June fifteenth, two thousand, a woman walking down Chester was 341 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:57.359 forced into a stranger's car after he raped her. He 342 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:01.640 drove off. Four days later, Ruby Marywe's body was discovered. 343 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:05.359 Michael Charles Brown was arrested on July tenth, two thousand. 344 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:08.240 From then on, he was in custody as the DA's 345 00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:12.880 office built their case against him until December fourth, prosecutors 346 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:16.599 abruptly dismissed the case and Brown was free to go. 347 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:21.359 Ten days later, Katrina Pink was found murdered. Records also 348 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:23.880 show in January of two thousand and two, Brown and 349 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:26.799 his brothers were arrested at a party after a man 350 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.519 was stabbed to death. Investigators couldn't pinpoint which of the 351 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:34.640 brothers committed the crime, so the Browns were released. After that, 352 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:37.519 Brown was in and out of jail, mostly for duys. 353 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:40.680 In March two thousand and three, Brown was arrested for 354 00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:44.480 hitting a pedestrian, Gary White. As a result of the crash, 355 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:47.920 White's body became lodged in the windshield of Brown's car 356 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:50.039 turned into the Duener Schnitzelan. 357 00:19:50.119 --> 00:19:52.079 He and his brother had to remove the body from 358 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:54.200 the windshield and they left it behind. 359 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:57.000 Goldie White is the pedestrian's cousin. 360 00:19:57.319 --> 00:20:01.279 What to put a dead body or a ro aman winshield? 361 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:03.680 That's crazy. 362 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:06.920 Brown was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and sentenced to prison. 363 00:20:07.559 --> 00:20:10.720 Four years later, he was released his last two thousand 364 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:14.000 and seven term ended in October. A month later, the 365 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:19.640 prostitute rapes began. This is kg ET's murder book, documenting 366 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:23.279 every homicide in Kerr County, the cause of death, the 367 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:26.799 weapon used, the way the killer left the victim. For 368 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:30.799 this investigation, I found each woman was murdered in Bakersfield, 369 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:36.519 stabbed numerous times, left either completely or partially nude, most 370 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:40.160 with their body displayed in a sexualized manner. All of 371 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:43.960 these women fit a profile. No other homicide in Kerrent 372 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:47.960 County has matched these same characteristics since the killing of 373 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.839 Wendy Kyle in two thousand and one. What looks to 374 00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:53.799 be a pattern left behind by a single. 375 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:58.240 Killer, Bakersfield secret serial killer. 376 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:02.480 I personally believe that Michael Charles Brown killed all of 377 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:04.119 those women and Kathleen. 378 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:08.039 After our twenty sixteen investigation into the Kathleen Heisie case, 379 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:12.039 we received numerous tips from viewers, but one call stood out. 380 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:14.799 A woman said she lived just down the street from 381 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:19.680 Kathleen Heisei, remembering the day before her murder, something strange happened. 382 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:23.319 A young black man offered to clean her carpets for free. 383 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:27.039 She declined his carpet cleaning services. Moments later, she called 384 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:29.799 a friend who lived a few houses down, only to 385 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:32.799 find that the same man offered the neighbor free carpet 386 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:36.359 cleaning and she had accepted. So our caller went to 387 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:39.759 her friend's house. When she arrived, the man seemed startled. 388 00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:41.880 He told the two women he needed to get his 389 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:45.519 equipment from his car. The man walked out and never returned. 390 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:48.640 Both women were slightly rattled by the situation, but they 391 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:51.960 didn't report the incident until they heard the very next 392 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:54.119 day about Kathleen Heisi murder. 393 00:21:54.839 --> 00:21:58.160 It was like a commercial type van. 394 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:01.920 But remember Jane, the friend of Wendy Kyle and Michael 395 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:02.640 Charles Brown. 396 00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:06.440 He had been saying he was doing carpet cleaning. 397 00:22:07.559 --> 00:22:10.519 Brown was tried for Ruby Meriweather's murder and the rapes 398 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:11.200 of the four women. 399 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:12.319 The judgment in. 400 00:22:12.359 --> 00:22:14.240 Order of this court that you shall suffer the death 401 00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:17.279