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We're prohibited by Law eight team 24 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:00.000 plus terms and conditions applying. See website for details. 25 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:11.760 You are now listening to True Murder, The most shocking 26 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.879 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 27 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:22.239 written about them. Geesy Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker BTK Every 28 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:25.959 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 29 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:30.280 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your 30 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:45.560 host journalist and author Dan Zufanski. Good Evening school teacher 31 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:50.079 Olivia dare Christian was murdered in her Hampton, Virginia apartment 32 00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:55.239 in nineteen eighty one. Her killer left few clues, and 33 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:59.560 the murder went unsolved. Three decades later, in twenty eleven, 34 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:04.959 Next Generation detective Randy Mayer reopened Olivia's dusty cold case 35 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:10.199 file and began unraveling the mystery. Mayor located a reluctant 36 00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:12.919 witness who was a teenager back in nineteen eighty one. 37 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:17.639 She recalled a suspicious man lurking outside Olivia's apartment the 38 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.960 morning of the murder and provided a detailed description of 39 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:25.520 the man. Detective Mayor then researched hundreds of cold cases 40 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:28.319 hunting for a person who fit the description, and used 41 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:33.080 a similar mo he identified a prime suspect, a Smithfield 42 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:37.280 Foods employee, by then in his sixties, previously convicted of 43 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:42.719 several brutal sex sexual assaults. Digging further, Mayor linked him 44 00:02:42.759 --> 00:02:47.280 to two other unsolved Hampton homicides. Was this man a 45 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:51.240 serial killer? Mayor enlisted the help of FBI agent Lisa 46 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:56.120 Ludovico cuter Phil Figura. Could the team uncover enough evidence 47 00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:01.360 to bring Olivia's murderer to justice? Is from nineteen eighty 48 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:05.319 one identify him? And would a jury convict in a 49 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:10.919 cold case based entirely on circumstantial evidence. The book that 50 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:15.000 we're featuring this evening is Eyes of a Monster with 51 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:19.439 my special guest, journalist and author, Ron Peterson Junior. Welcome 52 00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:21.479 back to the program, and thank you very much for 53 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:23.680 this interview. Ron Peterson Junior. 54 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:27.080 Thank you Dan, It's good to be with you. 55 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:32.960 Thank you so much for this incredible story, Eyes of 56 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:39.439 a Monster. Let's get right to this case and Olivia 57 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:44.879 Derek Christian and the horrible crime September fourth, nineteen eighty 58 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:48.599 one in Hampton, Virginia. Tell us a little bit about 59 00:03:48.599 --> 00:03:52.879 Olivia Dere Christian and what was happening that Friday before 60 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:55.520 Labor Day. 61 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:59.039 Thanks Dan, and yes, as you described in your introduction. 62 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:01.520 She was a thirty two year old school teacher in 63 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:05.919 the town of Hampton, Virginia. Hampton's in the southeastern corner 64 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:09.000 of Virginia, the area known as Hampton Roads, kind of 65 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:13.159 a waterfront town. And it was the Friday before Labor 66 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:15.520 Day weekend, and she was getting ready to go in 67 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.279 the school for training and to get ready for the 68 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:22.959 students to come to school the following Tuesday. And she 69 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:25.680 was killed that morning at seven thirty am. And in 70 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:27.600 a lot of murder cases, you know, the time of 71 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:32.759 death is not for sure, but in this case, the 72 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:37.480 murder weapon was her bedroom alarm clock. Her attacker had 73 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:40.920 used it first to strike her in the head, knocked 74 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:43.240 her unconscious, and then she was straggled with the court 75 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.879 of the alarm clock. And as an analog alarm clock 76 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:49.680 had showed the time of death, which was seven thirty am. 77 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:52.079 And that was really one of few clues that the 78 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:54.920 original investigators in nineteen eighty one had to work with. 79 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:00.839 Right, how was it that she was found than by who? 80 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:04.680 And then again what to how do police proceed? 81 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:08.759 Well, she did not show up for work that day, 82 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:13.879 and one of her coworkers had checked with the principal 83 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:16.839 realized she didn't call in, and it wasn't until later 84 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:20.279 that afternoon that a phone call was made to her parents, 85 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:24.120 who lived in a neighborhood nearby. Her father went and 86 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:27.120 checked on her, and it was late that afternoon, after 87 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:31.519 five o'clock when he used a key that he had 88 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:34.680 to enter her apartment. Immediately he could see signs of 89 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:37.240 a struggle, and as he made his way through the 90 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:42.600 apartment to her bedroom, he found her there and she 91 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:48.240 was dead. The investigators came to the scene immediately. Hampton, 92 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:51.720 it should be noted as a city that an average 93 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:54.720 crime rate or motor rate, you know, for cities that size, 94 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:58.800 probably about one or two a month on average. So 95 00:05:58.920 --> 00:06:02.319 investigators were were used to working homicide cases. A very 96 00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:05.600 good team of detectives who worked the case, among them 97 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:08.680 a detective by the name of James Staveley and another 98 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:10.800 one by the name of J. P. Jones, both of 99 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:15.480 whom are now retired. But Hamps Belief basically had a 100 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:18.959 full court press and the investigation, you know, was around 101 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:22.800 the clock investigation, and then you know, the days afterwards, 102 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:26.199 and it continued. There was a pool of as many 103 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:30.199 as as five different suspects or persons of interests who 104 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:33.079 were evaluated. Among them one of the neighbors who was 105 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:35.839 a woman who you know might have had jealousy for 106 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:39.319 some reason as a motive. Olivia Christian was a single woman, 107 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:41.959 lived alone. She had a boyfriend for the past year. 108 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:45.879 He was vetted as a suspect. The paper boy, who 109 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:48.879 was a teenager was as well. There were at least 110 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:54.680 a few mysterious men reported by neighbors in the apartment complex, 111 00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:59.600 and then also a man who lived nearby who was 112 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:03.480 just suspicious by nature, whose name was Michael Austen, who 113 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:08.319 the days after the investigation failed to polygrass, and then 114 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:12.560 a tracking dog also led to his front door. But 115 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:17.600 perhaps the best league came from a sixteen year old 116 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:20.680 girl who was a neighbor of Olivia Christian lived across 117 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:23.399 the parking lot in an apartment and the morning of 118 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:26.279 the murder, about half an hour to forty five minutes 119 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:29.680 before the time of death, the sixteen year old witness 120 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:34.120 had observed a suspicious man drive in in a distinctive vehicle. 121 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.399 She described it to police as an aqua green four 122 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:41.439 door older Sedan. The paint faded the top a little 123 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:44.360 lighter than the rest of it, and she described a 124 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:46.639 man that was in the car in great detail, an 125 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:50.839 African American man average height and build, with a mustache 126 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:55.639 and a plain navy blue ball cap. According to this witness, 127 00:07:55.720 --> 00:08:00.800 he edited after watching the apartment complet for a while, 128 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:06.800 had seen Olivia Christian that morning and exited his vehicle, 129 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:10.560 went to her apartment window, looked in the window, actually 130 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:15.639 entered the lobby of her apartment corridor, and she saw him. 131 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.360 The witness saw him with his ear toward her door, 132 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:23.839 leaning in on the door, apparently listening. At first, detectives 133 00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:28.079 believed she was credible. She provided under hypnosis. The sixteen 134 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:31.319 year old witness provided a description to a police sketch 135 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:34.960 artist and of what the man looked like a very 136 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:39.200 good composite sketch. But as the investigation unfolded, just through 137 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:44.240 a series of circumstances, the police came to doubt this 138 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.679 young girl's story. Some of the neighbors had said she 139 00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:53.480 was prone to drama, and for a variety of reasons 140 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:56.320 that my book gets into, her account was not found 141 00:08:56.360 --> 00:09:01.080 to be credible, and she was actually interrogated in great detail, 142 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:03.720 and finally she was frustrated that they didn't believe her, 143 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:05.799 so she said, hey, I just made it all up. 144 00:09:07.879 --> 00:09:12.480 So the investigation continued and the case, despite a full 145 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:17.320 court press by the investigators, the case went unsolved. 146 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:22.440 You say that there was reasons for the police doubting 147 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:27.039 the eyewitness testimony of this Anita Purcell. But to compound that, 148 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:30.799 you mentioned Michael Alston. How was it that Michael Alston 149 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:34.399 was a suspect other than just suspicious nature. There were 150 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:40.000 witnesses that police rather thought that they should listen to 151 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:43.480 rather than Anita. Isn't that true exactly? 152 00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:46.799 Yes, there were other residents in the apartment complex and 153 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:50.039 a couple that were visiting from out of the area 154 00:09:50.519 --> 00:09:52.960 who gave an account of seeing a man that looked 155 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:57.879 like the prime suspect, Michael Alston. And he also had 156 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:00.519 a reputation as a keeping tom and just kind of 157 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:03.679 generally a nuisance in the He lived in a neighborhood nearby. 158 00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:09.120 And then remarkably, he looked a lot like the composite 159 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:12.879 sketch that Anita of the sixteen year old witness put 160 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:17.039 together on your hypnosis. So that fact, you know, made 161 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:21.159 investigators believe that Michael Austen was the man that the 162 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:25.080 witness had seen. She was interviewed again and again came 163 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:26.919 to the police station. As I said, she was put 164 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:30.679 under hypnosis and was also given a light detector test 165 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:34.120 at one point. And in some ways, unfortunately, she was 166 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:38.879 treated like a suspect because police, or I should say interrogated, 167 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:41.799 you know, similar to the way they would interrogate the suspect, 168 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:44.960 because police had reason to believe that the man she 169 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.200 had seen was Michael Austin. However, she told them repeatedly 170 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:52.320 the man I saw looked like Michael Austin, but it 171 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:56.960 was not him. So and you can imagine, you know, 172 00:10:57.000 --> 00:10:59.559 putting yourself in her shoes, a sixteen year old girl 173 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:04.960 under this kind of pressure. Finally, after being you know, 174 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.559 grown by these investigators, she said, hey, I made the 175 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:10.399 whole thing up, you know, in large part, just to 176 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:13.600 just to remove herself from the situation. 177 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:20.080 They didn't go any further into that recantation. But to 178 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:26.679 further complicate this, you write of this fascinating canine handler 179 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:31.080 bringing in a dog called harassed to tell us a 180 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.080 little bit about this detour for police. 181 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:37.960 Exactly at that point in time, there was a dog 182 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.279 tracker by the name of John Preston who was from 183 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:44.399 Pennsylvania and he made He was a former Pennsylvania State 184 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:47.200 trooper who worked with Cave nines On in his job there, 185 00:11:47.799 --> 00:11:53.279 and he let the police force in Pennsylvania to work 186 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:56.639 as a dog tracker. And he was hired by different 187 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:00.200 municipalities in Virginia and throughout the country to come and 188 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:05.240 helped them investigate cases in a lot of cases, murder cases. 189 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:08.279 And the dog he had was a German shepherd, not 190 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:10.759 typically known for their spent work, you know, you think 191 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:14.720 more of bloodhounds, but the dog, by all accounts, had 192 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:18.600 had remarkable skills. Now, this case, another case that I 193 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:21.960 wrote a book about that happened about a year prior 194 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.679 to this, was a no body murder case in Bradford, Virginia, 195 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:29.080 the case of Jeina Rene Hall. And this dog tracker, 196 00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:31.639 John Preston, and his dog had worked to that case 197 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:35.960 and he testified in the murder trial and essentially helped 198 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:39.039 convict the killer in that case, Stephen Epperley. That was 199 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.440 in nineteen eighty, about a year before this murder happened. 200 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:45.759 So when he was able to come to Hampton to 201 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:49.639 investigate this case, you know, the detectives and the police 202 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:52.279 force in Hampton were really happy to have them there 203 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:58.679 because of his work and his dog. About within a 204 00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:01.559 week after the murder, dog was scented on the murder 205 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:04.679 weapon on that alarm clock that I mentioned, it was 206 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:07.360 brought into the victims apartment. The dog was scented on it, 207 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:10.120 and the dog followed a trail out of the apartment 208 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:13.519 complex the end of the parking lot, down the road, 209 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.759 across the four lane road and into a residential area 210 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:19.440 and walked to the front door of the house where 211 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:24.440 Michael Austen lived and alerted on his front door, so 212 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:28.720 that the investigators believed, you know, was one of the 213 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:32.039 one of several bits of proof that indicated that Michael 214 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:35.679 Olson was the killer. He also took a polygraph test 215 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:39.519 and failed the test, or I should say the results 216 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:44.639 were inconclusive and leaned toward him being you know, lying 217 00:13:44.679 --> 00:13:48.279 on the on the polygraph and it should be not also, 218 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:51.240 you know, in the years since polygraph science has really 219 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:54.080 come under a lot of scrutiny. This was during a 220 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:56.840 time period the early nineteen eighties where a lot of 221 00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:00.440 police departments really believed that polygraph tests with a good 222 00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:03.480 polygraph operator, you know, they were gospel. They believed they 223 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:07.320 were very accurate. So those were two other other pieces 224 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:10.240 of evidence that pointed at Michael Auston as a suspect. 225 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:14.159 Hence all the pressure on this young sixteen year old 226 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:18.639 witness to indicate that Michael Austin was the man she 227 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:23.120 saw when she repeatedly existed, he I know Michael Austin, 228 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.320 but that was not the man I saw. I saw 229 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.799 a different man. He looked like him, but it was 230 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:29.159 not him. 231 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:34.200 And to Eve had even more complication and I know, 232 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:38.519 this is just amazing at the beginning of this investigation, 233 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:40.679 that there was a couple that was staying in the 234 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:45.000 apartment complex at a friend's apartment that were originally from Baltimore, 235 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:50.639 and that woman felt that Alston again was a good suspect. 236 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:53.960 So there was that rabbit hole for police as well 237 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:55.440 to investigate that claim. 238 00:14:56.840 --> 00:15:01.879 Was it exactly that's exactly right, Yeah, the couple from Baltimore, 239 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:06.120 and it was you know, there are many things, you know, detective. Afterwards, 240 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:09.600 it felt like the investigation was cursed for many of 241 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:13.639 the reasons I mentioned, but also this couple from Baltimore. 242 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:17.960 The investigators in Hampton were talking with them, but each 243 00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:21.840 on the telephone. The woman and the couple was originally 244 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:26.559 from Germany had trouble understanding the English language, so there 245 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:30.519 was some misunderstanding there. Initially, they said that they had 246 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:36.440 seen Michael Austin acting suspiciously in the complex shortly after 247 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:39.000 the murder, but once they were able to talk to 248 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:43.159 them in person, they realized that their information was not reliable. 249 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:47.679 Among other things, the night before, on a Thursday night, 250 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:51.120 this couple had been out bar hopping very late and 251 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:54.360 we're probably still intoxicated the next morning, you know. They 252 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:57.919 finally admitted to that. So that was just one of 253 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:02.960 the things that put their uh, This supposed eyewitness account 254 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:06.240 from this couple that were visiting for the weekend from Baltimore. 255 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:08.919 You know that that made it made them realize that 256 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:12.039 was not a reliable account and one of the one 257 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:14.600 of the few reasons why their case against Michael Austin 258 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:19.000 fell apart. And you know, within months after the murder, 259 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:21.639 they realized that that Michael Austin was probably not a 260 00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:22.600 viable suspect. 261 00:16:24.039 --> 00:16:29.240 Right after one year anniversary of Olivia's murder, the Hampton 262 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:35.360 PD went to FBI's behavioral science units Roy Hazelwood and 263 00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:40.039 they got a profile. What was that profile that we created. 264 00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:44.559 Yeah, and you said, uh, you know, Roy Hazelwood was 265 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:48.840 a noted police profile. This was in the early days 266 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:51.480 of profiling. I'm sorry I didn't have that in front 267 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:54.200 of me. That was trying to, uh to locate that. 268 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:59.440 But he felt it might have been, you know, firston 269 00:16:59.559 --> 00:17:02.720 younger and hold on just a second, I'll see if 270 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:05.720 I can't find that. That profile that they found. 271 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.440 Well it was, he was, I'll do it for you. 272 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:11.640 He was eighteen to twenty four. He said he was 273 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:16.440 close proximity. He lived and probably walked to the scene. 274 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:22.400 Probably lived with his parents, likely a dropout, single, never married, 275 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:30.519 likely owns a vehicle, likely unemployed, likely killed before low IQ, loner, daydreamer, 276 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:36.359 may have speech impediment. But as you're right, as a 277 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:39.559 result of that profile, there was no new candidates entered 278 00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:43.920 into this suspect pool and another year wack by without 279 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:49.359 any developments. There is a little bit of an idea 280 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:53.039 that maybe somebody, if an infamous serial killer, might be involved. 281 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:57.400 Henry Lee Lucas was arrested and then people were looked 282 00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:01.640 at Lucas almost what happens in that regard, and then 283 00:18:01.880 --> 00:18:03.880 introduced Edgar Browning. 284 00:18:05.559 --> 00:18:08.480 Sure, will Yes, Yeah, it was an interesting development. You know, 285 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.400 we used the term serial killer a lot nowadays, but 286 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:14.640 it was a term that really was coined in the 287 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:18.519 late seventies, shortly before this murder was happened. Happened, and 288 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:20.519 it was not one that was used a lot. You know, 289 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:23.359 the whole concept of the serial killer was not as 290 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:28.240 prevalent as it is today. But within a few years 291 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.119 in the murder, it was learned that there was a 292 00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:34.039 notorious serial killer who had actually been in Hampton Roads. 293 00:18:34.839 --> 00:18:37.240 His name was Henry Lee Lucas. He was originally from 294 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:42.319 southwest Virginia with kind of a drifter who drifted around 295 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:46.640 the country, and there was a Netflix theories on him 296 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:51.599 recently called the Confession Killer and is just you know, 297 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:59.599 really interesting background by him, but eaveslink to many many murders. 298 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:03.880 He admitted to hundreds of murders, but police realized he 299 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:07.640 had maybe exaggerated his claims. But he'd been arrested in 300 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:12.799 Texas and he was interviewed in nineteen eighty three, and 301 00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:15.279 then in nineteen eighty four, Hampton police got a copy 302 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.559 of that interview and actually had a state police officer 303 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:22.000 sit down with him and talk to him to see 304 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:25.079 if there was any link between him and the Olivia 305 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:28.519 Christian murder and other murders that happened in the Hampton 306 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:32.160 and Newport News area. And you know, after talking with him, 307 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:34.680 they realized that there was not, but for a while 308 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:36.920 that would look like a very promising lead. 309 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:40.759 Tell us about Edgar Browning from the Hampton Police Department. 310 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:46.000 Yeah, Edgar brown was a really interesting guy and also 311 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:49.599 a very very good detective. He was one I mentioned 312 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:52.440 the other two that also worked the case, but he 313 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:55.400 was one that worked the case quite a bit. But 314 00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:58.480 he was an army veteran originally from Rhode Island who 315 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:03.599 came to Hampton in the in the seventies, distinguished himself 316 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:08.519 as a patrol officer, then became a detective and was, 317 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:11.319 according to the folks I interviewed, you know, was one 318 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:14.880 of the best at interviewing suspects. You know, nowadays we 319 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:17.000 call it an interview. In the old days, they called 320 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:20.519 it an interrogation. But you know, he read this kind 321 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:23.160 of cocky guy. You know, people that the kind of 322 00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:24.799 guy you meet him for the first time, we'd probably 323 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:27.279 rub you the wrong way. The people that worked with 324 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:29.200 him and knew him, you know, really liked him and 325 00:20:29.559 --> 00:20:34.200 respected the kind of work he did. But he was 326 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:37.680 he was the one that first came to realize, you know, 327 00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:41.839 in about nineteen eighty three, nineteen eighty four, that the 328 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:45.839 dog tracker that we talked about, John Preston, was a 329 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:48.880 fraud and that his work in this case was probably fraudulent. 330 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:52.680 So Browning was, you know, was involved throughout the early 331 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:56.440 years of the investigation. 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Noe's necessary. We were comitted my mom last 346 00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:32.680 terms condition. 347 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:33.799 To play what every details? 348 00:21:36.039 --> 00:21:41.680 Now? You right that this despite everybody's hard work on this, 349 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:46.319 this goes cold. This goes cold. So let's talk about 350 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:52.920 Randy Meyer and what happens with his involvement in this case. 351 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:58.559 Great and thank you. Yes. So the years go by 352 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:03.119 and it's it's years and this is you know, Hampton 353 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:06.359 was by and large of the homicide detectives in Hampton, 354 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:09.799 or the detectives and their Crimes against Persons unit, you know, 355 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:11.640 did an excellent job. But this was one of the 356 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:17.400 few unsolved murders that remained. So thirty years later, next 357 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:21.079 generation detected by the name of Randy Mayer, forty years old. 358 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:27.279 Kind of an overachiever in the detective squad. The kind 359 00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:30.039 of the protocol there is there's enough active cases for 360 00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:32.759 the detectives to work in the Crimes against Person unit. 361 00:22:32.839 --> 00:22:38.000 There not only homicides, but rate sexual assaults, armed robberies, 362 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:41.680 and you know, crimes against people. And once they're ahead 363 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:46.039 on those cases, or all those cases are closed, then 364 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:49.119 they may have time to work old cold cases. So 365 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:52.400 they don't have a dedicated cold case unit. And that 366 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:54.480 was the case with the Randy Mayer. He was working 367 00:22:54.519 --> 00:22:59.240 on another murder, a cold case murder from the eighties, 368 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:03.519 and and happened just by happenstance, to come across the 369 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:07.839 Olivia Christians cold case file. This was in twenty eleven, 370 00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:10.720 as we said, thirty years after the murder, and he 371 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:13.279 brought the file home on a weekend, you know, did 372 00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:16.079 not have a lot to do that weekend, spent Saturday 373 00:23:16.119 --> 00:23:19.680 reading through the file from beginning to end, and then 374 00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:24.240 spent Sunday taking detailed notes and doing some analysis on it. 375 00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:27.920 Came back to work on Monday morning and said, you know, 376 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:30.079 to his sergeant, he said, hey, I'd like to work 377 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:33.240 this case, and his sergeant basically he said, go for it. 378 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.920 Over the course of the next few years, Randy Mayer 379 00:23:37.319 --> 00:23:40.000 pretty much became obsessed with this case. You know, again, 380 00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:42.400 he had he was very busy with his active caseload, 381 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.720 but any spare time he had, as well as evenings 382 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:51.519 and weekends, he'd spend time going through the case, interviewing 383 00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:54.799 some of the old neighbors, some of the old friends 384 00:23:54.839 --> 00:23:58.240 of the Need of Olivia Christians, as well as some 385 00:23:58.279 --> 00:24:00.440 of the persons of interest. And he was able to 386 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:03.880 eliminate some of the folks that were originally suspects. And 387 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:07.839 the more he read through the file, the more he 388 00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:11.160 believed that the witness statement from the sixteen year old 389 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:16.319 witness Anita was was credible that she was she was 390 00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:18.799 telling the truth, and that she only recanted because she 391 00:24:18.920 --> 00:24:23.039 was pressured so much. So he managed to locate Anita. 392 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:25.720 She was by then, she was in her forties. She 393 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:29.119 lived in a neighboring jurisdiction, and when he asked her, 394 00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:31.440 you know, hey, just tell me, were you telling the truth? 395 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:33.720 If you relying, no problem, you know, I would just 396 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:37.119 like to know, she immediately became emotional. She said, I 397 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:40.000 was telling the truth. She said that man's face has 398 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:43.559 haunted me almost every day of my life. She said, 399 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:46.920 you know, I've had nightmares about it. And so they 400 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:48.799 you know, they have a heart to heart and the 401 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:52.200