WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.400 In the quiet spring of nineteen ninety two, a string 2 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:13.759 of brutal murders unfolded along the quiet towns and highways 3 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:18.719 of America's Midwest. One by one, small business clerks were targeted, 4 00:00:19.079 --> 00:00:23.160 ambushed in broad daylight, and shot execution style. Being left 5 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:28.120 behind with little evidence and even fewer answers, The killer 6 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:31.239 seemed to vanish into the interstate traffic each and every time, 7 00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:37.320 earning the chilling nickname the Ie seventy Killer. Three decades later, 8 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:41.479 their identity still remains a mystery, and the deadly events 9 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:45.520 still haunts the road that they once prowled. This is 10 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:48.960 the unsolved story of the Eye's seventy Killer. 11 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:54.600 My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and. 12 00:00:54.520 --> 00:01:02.719 Grim, a true crime podcast. Warning the following yes material 13 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:06.719 more mature audience listener discretion. 14 00:01:25.319 --> 00:01:30.200 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Wicked and grib true crime. 15 00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:33.719 But yeah, we've had some people who are like they've 16 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:37.719 got the intro downpacked and memorized. We've seen people lip 17 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:40.120 sync it before as their red can't put it in 18 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:42.959 their stories or send it to us. We do record 19 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:45.000 a new one every time. It's not the same thing 20 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:47.920 that gets replayed. Yeah, which I mean. 21 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:50.719 You could easily just put something in there, but it's 22 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:51.319 kind of fun. 23 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:56.519 We're also recording anyways, we can just say it again. Yeah, 24 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:58.400 sometimes we put a little bit of a different spin 25 00:01:58.439 --> 00:01:59.799 on it, but usually it's the same. 26 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:01.840 Or if one of us has a cold, then you're 27 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:02.920 aware right away. 28 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.799 That too, too. Got to love the fact that you 29 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:09.439 actually rely on your voice and your sound for something 30 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:11.759 like a podcast. 31 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:13.800 It when I get sick, it makes me kind of 32 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:16.639 panic a bit more like oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. 33 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:19.360 It's just I don't know. It's like your livelihood a 34 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:19.919 little bit too. 35 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:22.280 That's true because I mean, if you lose your voice, 36 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:24.159 if you're still if your body's still fine, you can 37 00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:26.639 go into work, right mm hmm. And here, if you 38 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:28.639 lose your voice but your body is still fine, you 39 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:31.879 can't go into work. It's like no one's going to 40 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:32.479 be able to hear me. 41 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:34.759 Well yeah, and especially too with like photo shoots, I 42 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:38.800 can't really do them with no voice either, So that's true. 43 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:40.080 So yeah, now. 44 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:42.000 People rely on you, and we rely on you guys 45 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.599 for listening to the show, and people like Anika Wilson, 46 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:50.120 Sassy Chicks, Tiff Amber Malpin, Justine, Meghan Lowry, Tabitha Colvin, 47 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:56.400 Lauren kpe Hart, Prinita Sandela, Samantha Mayhew are all people 48 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:58.840 we rely on. Because they just signed up over on Patreon, 49 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:02.159 they're getting behind the scenes and exclusive content. So thank you, yeah, 50 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:05.000 thank you very very much. How'd you like my segue 51 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:06.960 that time? That's good. I just went right into the 52 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:08.159 games without even talking. 53 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:09.599 About, oh we're going there. 54 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:13.879 It was an aggressive one. Are you excited for this case? 55 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:14.879 Well? 56 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:18.280 Yeah, but something else. We're going golfing? 57 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:22.439 Okay, holy shit, we're going to a driving range. Is 58 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:25.360 that considered golfing? I don't going to a driving range, that's. 59 00:03:25.159 --> 00:03:29.159 Just going to a driving range. We last time we 60 00:03:29.240 --> 00:03:31.800 golf was high school because we did have gym together 61 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:34.879 a pee and we actually had golf in one of 62 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:38.280 our classes. And I think you or I haven't been 63 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:42.520 since no, and that was a long ass time ago. Yeah, 64 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:44.919 that was half our lifetime ago. 65 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:47.439 And now we live about you. 66 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:49.080 Know, more than actually shit a. 67 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:51.599 Few minutes away from a golf course. So we're gonna 68 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:53.280 go see if we are into it. 69 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:55.479 Yeah, you know. So it's gonna be a good day. 70 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:57.759 Some true crime, some coffee. 71 00:03:57.639 --> 00:03:59.960 And some golf hockey is kind of over for us, 72 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:01.159 so we're going golfing. 73 00:04:01.639 --> 00:04:04.159 Hockey is not over. It's over for the second I know. 74 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:07.080 I'm just kidding. And the Stanley Cup runs still going. 75 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:09.719 We are still watching that, so and I do have 76 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:12.919 to say I did pick a new team for it, 77 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:17.040 not for standard cheering, just for the Stanley Cup because 78 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.680 the Canucks are out. I am cheering for the Winnipeg 79 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:21.639 Jets to win the Cup this year. Okay, well we 80 00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:22.839 both are. We both are. 81 00:04:22.920 --> 00:04:25.600 Yeah, we both kind of picked that team only, and 82 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:28.040 I think only because we felt they also have a 83 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:29.199 good chance. 84 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:33.000 And I do like hellabuck though he is kind of 85 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:35.279 shitting the bed in the playoffs. 86 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.399 Yeah, the last two games. That's so sad. Pressure's got 87 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:38.519 to maybe or something. 88 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:43.680 Yeah, but I mean with him versus you know, Bennington, 89 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:46.519 it's like the Keene Canada versus US thing all over 90 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.240 the nations. Yeah, if you know, you know, but yeah, 91 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:51.360 if you're not a hockey person, probably doesn't make sense 92 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:52.839 and you probably don't care to hear about it while 93 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:55.560 you're trying to like, let's get to the case, so 94 00:04:55.959 --> 00:04:59.480 let's go, let's do that, Let's do exactly that. All right, 95 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:02.959 you ready, okay. In the spring of nineteen ninety two, 96 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:06.639 a shadow slipped quietly along America's highways, a figure who 97 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:11.040 targeted unsuspecting store clerks in small, quiet shops scattered across 98 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:15.319 the Midwest. This was no ordinary criminal. The man who 99 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:18.199 became known as the I seventy Killer left behind a 100 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:23.920 trail of devastation across Indiana, Kansas, and Missouri, killing six 101 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.560 people in less than one month with chilling precision. His 102 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:32.519 method was always the same, a sudden execution style gunshot 103 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:34.480 to the back of the head, a small amount of 104 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:37.639 cash taken, and then he'd vanished back into the endless 105 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:42.120 ribbon of the Interstate. Now to understand the I seventy Killer, though, 106 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:46.439 you first have to understand his hunting grounds. The Interstate seventy. 107 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:49.800 It isn't just any road. It's a massive stretch of 108 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:53.560 highway running east to west across more than two thousand, 109 00:05:53.720 --> 00:05:57.360 one hundred miles of the United States. From the crowded 110 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:01.240 streets of Baltimore, Maryland, to the rugged landscapes of Utah. 111 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:04.000 I seventy cuts straight through the heart of the country 112 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:07.920 in the Midwest. It winds through Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas, 113 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:11.120 the very states where the killings would take place. These 114 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:14.279 highways are a lifeline for commerce and travel, but they 115 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:19.639 also offer something darker, obscurity. On any given day, thousands 116 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:22.600 of cars flow through the rest stops, the gas stations, 117 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:26.120 in small town shopping plazas, or whatever you may find. 118 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:29.879 Drivers come and go without notice, blending into the endless movement. 119 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:34.639 It's easy to arrive unnoticed, and even easier to leave unnoticed. 120 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:38.800 The killer seems to have figured this out and understand 121 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:43.600 this perfectly. He didn't choose crowded malls or bustling city streets. Instead, 122 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:47.759 he struck at small specialty shops tucked just off the highway, 123 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:52.000 placed where only one employee might be working, where security 124 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:56.199 cameras or any other measurements were almost non existent, and 125 00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:00.360 where an outsider wouldn't raise any immediate suspicion. So to 126 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.319 say the least, it was the perfect environment for someone 127 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:06.240 who wanted to kill quickly and then slip away and 128 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:10.839 disappear into the rolling miles of asphalt in Cornfield and 129 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:14.439 just go now. The first known victim of the I 130 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:17.879 seventy killer was a woman by the name of Robin Flauder, 131 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:20.439 a twenty six year old store manager with a bright 132 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:24.360 future ahead of her. On April eighth, nineteen ninety two, 133 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:27.680 Robin was covering an afternoon shift at the Paylist's Shoe source, 134 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:32.680 located at seven three two five Pendleton Pike in Indianapolis, Indiana. 135 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:35.600 She hadn't planned to work that day. She was stepping 136 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:38.560 in for an employee who had called out. The Paylist's 137 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:41.519 store was quiet, sitting on the outskirts of the city, 138 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:45.439 with minimal staff and no security cameras. The only precaution 139 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:48.720 was a simple door buzzer that chimed whenever anyone entered 140 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:54.600 the store. That afternoon, Robin was working alone. Police would 141 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:58.879 later reconstruct a rough timeline of what happened. The last 142 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:02.199 known transaction at the red occurred at one twelve PM, 143 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:04.839 a customer purchased a pair of men's shoes and a 144 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:09.439 pair of women's as well, short time after tragedy would strike. 145 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:14.279 Investigators believe that the killer entered the store, likely pretending 146 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:17.800 to browse and be a patron, but once he confirmed 147 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:20.639 Robin was alone, he led her to the back stock 148 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:24.639 room at gunpoint. There, using a twenty two caliber pistol, 149 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:27.560 he shot her execution style in the back of the head, 150 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:32.559 not once, but twice. He then emptied the register, but 151 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:35.200 it still estimated that he stole less than a few 152 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:39.279 hundred dollars. He then fled through the rear exit, disappearing 153 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:45.039 before anyone could react. That is some scary shit, yep. 154 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:45.600 Do you know. 155 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.240 I noticed that when I'm in a store or somewhere, 156 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:51.440 if there's only one person working, I like almost so 157 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:54.960 nervous for them because I feel that you should have 158 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:57.519 two people at all times kind of thing. 159 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:01.159 I agree, it's a safety measure. Right now, there are 160 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.200 different you know, things that are written into you know, 161 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:07.039 procedures and stuff for safety. Is like, okay, if you 162 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.559 need help, like there's other stores beside you or across 163 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:13.759 the street, there's other people quote unquote technically around, but 164 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:16.080 they're not in the same building. They're not there to 165 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:18.039 see or hear. What if you slip and fall off 166 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:20.960 or ladder? For say, yeah, right, I feel. 167 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:24.320 A mall might be okay, you know when everyone's inside 168 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:26.039 and you're like walking around the circle and all these 169 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:29.200 stores have their storefront. But even like an outside mall 170 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:32.039 isn't a safe I don't know, but it costs so 171 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:34.799 much more for a business owner to have two people working, 172 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:36.840 That's true, what do you do? 173 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:39.840 It's funny because working in like industrial places that I 174 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:42.759 did before I was a first aid attendant and the 175 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:45.480 regulations where you have to have one first aid attendant 176 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:48.240 on site. Mm hm, Well what happens if that first 177 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:51.080 aid attendant is the one that gets hurt? Oh? 178 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:51.399 Shit? 179 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:54.519 Yeah, that went through my mind so many times because 180 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:57.720 like I was working in like very dangerous areas, right, 181 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.559 like giant saws and massive equipment, and you're the one. 182 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.480 What if I'm the one that gets hurt? Oh, then 183 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:07.559 you're just fucked exactly. So. But at the same time, 184 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:10.120 it's like how far do you push those countermeasures too, because, 185 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:12.519 like you said, it's going to cost those store clerks 186 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:15.360 or the business owners extra money, money that they probably 187 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:19.039 couldn't afford or stay to stay open in many cases. 188 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:20.440 I don't know. 189 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:25.480 It's so messed up though, how everything is regarding money, right, 190 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:29.320 and I think it it comes to people's safety. 191 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:32.080 The world revolves around it, and they say money is 192 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:33.799 the root of all evil, and it makes sense it 193 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:37.639 does now. For hours, no one realized anything was wrong. 194 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:40.720 Some customers who came in during the afternoon even didn't 195 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:43.759 see an employee year round and swipe some shoes off 196 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.360 the shelves, unaware that Robin was actually lying dead just 197 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:47.600 a few steps away from them. 198 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:48.039 Shit. 199 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:51.919 It wasn't until around two twenty one pm that help 200 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:55.600 finally arrived. A worker from the neighboring Speedway gas station 201 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:59.240 entered the Paylass to check after one store manager couldn't 202 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:02.559 reach Robin by phone. Finding the shop empty in the 203 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:06.679 cash registered drawer hanging open, the employee quickly called the police. 204 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:10.159 When officers arrived, they did a sweep of the store, 205 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:14.399 and they discovered Robin's body in the storage room. She's 206 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:17.639 there dead. The scene was chilling, and at first the 207 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:21.080 investigators assumed it was a robbery gone wrong, a tragic 208 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.720 but not unheard of type event. No one suspected that 209 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:27.440 they were looking at the first victim in a much 210 00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:30.440 larger pattern of violence that was about to sweep across 211 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.879 the Midwest. As police campassed the area, a nearby paint 212 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:39.120 store manager came forward with an eerie Sighting before the murder, 213 00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:42.120 he had noticed a disheveled man in a green coat 214 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:45.080 sitting on a curb across from the Payless shoes. He 215 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:47.679 was rifling through a bag and staring at the store. 216 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:51.360 The man had lingered for about thirty or forty minutes, 217 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:55.600 talking and giggling to himself. Right before the sirens wailed 218 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.559 and the police came, the witness saw him attempt to 219 00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:02.600 hitchhike towards the nearby interstate. Just three days after Robin's murder, 220 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:05.639 the killer struck again, but this time there were two 221 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:10.320 victims instead of one. On April eleventh, nineteen ninety two, 222 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:15.039 in Wichita, Kansas, a small bridle shop called Labride Elegance 223 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.480 became the site of the next attack. The shop was 224 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:21.200 located at four to six y one three East Kellogg Drive, 225 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:24.320 not far from the busy intersection of I thirty five 226 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:28.600 and I seventy. Like the payless store, it was an unassuming, 227 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:32.159 lightly staffed business, a vulnerable target hidden in plain sight. 228 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:36.480 That Saturday evening, thirty two year old Patricia Majors, the 229 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:39.960 store owner, and her employee, twenty three year old Patricia Smith, 230 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:43.440 they are both Patricia's, had agreed to stay late to 231 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:46.039 accommodate a male customer who needed to pick up a 232 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:49.559 Cumberland for the for an event. Now, the store's normal 233 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:51.799 closing time was around six pm, but The two women 234 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:56.120 waited inside, expecting a routine transaction. What they got instead 235 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:01.200 was a nightmare. Sometime around fifteen, a man knocked on 236 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:04.919 the locked front door, believing he was the expected customer. 237 00:13:04.919 --> 00:13:07.720 One of the women let him inside, but he wasn't 238 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:11.039 there for a pickup. Armed with a twenty two caliber 239 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:14.320 semi automatic pistol, the man forced both women back into 240 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:18.200 the office. There he executed them two gunshots to the 241 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:22.440 back of their heads. Like Indianapolis, the cast register was emptied, 242 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:25.919 but only a small amount of money was missing. The 243 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:28.919 killer might have escaped unnoticed if not for a small 244 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:33.480 twist of fate. The real customer arrived to pick up 245 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:36.399 that cumber Bund. I think, I said Cumberland. At first 246 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:39.360 it's a cumber Bund. Just minutes later, oh. 247 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:41.639 Okay, here I was wondering, did he like set this 248 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:43.559 up that he was the customer? 249 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:46.919 But no, no, now, According to his statement, the man 250 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:50.279 entered the store and was immediately confronted by the gunman inside. 251 00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:52.639 The killer tried to force him into the back room 252 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:55.759 as well, likely to execute him along with two women, 253 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:59.679 but the customer refused and bolted instead, fleeing the parking 254 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:03.000 lot are fleeing into the parking lot. He didn't call 255 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:06.679 police immediately, though, he was overwhelmed and confused, but eventually 256 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:12.039 made an anonymous call. About an hour later. Police arrived 257 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:15.559 and they found the store keys still dangling in the 258 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:20.039 front door lock. In the back room, both Patricia Majors 259 00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:24.759 and Patricia Smith were found shot. Patricia Majors was found 260 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:28.120 pronounced dead at the scene, but Patricia Smith, however, was 261 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:32.440 found fatally wounded and still clinging to life. She was 262 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:35.080 rushed to hospital but died later that night. 263 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:37.519 Here, I was like, oh my gosh, does she live? 264 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:38.399 Okay? 265 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:42.080 This fucker though, Like, is he doing this? I mean, 266 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:44.000 I'm sure we'll kind of find out or if he's 267 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:47.480 doing numerous is he doing it for the killings or 268 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:51.879 the money because he's getting pennies basically for these people's lives. 269 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:53.679 Yeah, correct, So. 270 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:56.440 I think it's definitely probably more than just for the money, 271 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:00.919 because that is some sort of asshole that think someone's 272 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:03.120 life is worth like a couple hundred bucks. 273 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:07.039 We'll definitely talk about that, So don't worry, kay. Now. 274 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:09.960 For the first time though, this is important, investigators had 275 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:13.279 a living witness the man who stumbled into the attacker right, 276 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:16.200 and with his help they were able to create a 277 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:19.600 composite sketch of the suspect. The man was described as 278 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:22.840 a white male, approximately five to seven, around one hundred 279 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:26.759 and fifty pounds, short, dull red hair combed forward, slight 280 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:30.080 stubble on his face, with a brown jacket and dark pants. 281 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:32.919 Okay, he got a real good look at him, he did. 282 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:35.080 Now there would be a sketch that was made, and 283 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:37.279 it would become the face of the investigation in the 284 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:42.000 months to come. Ballistics tests also quickly confirmed what some 285 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:46.399 detectives already feared. The gun used to kill both Patricia's 286 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:50.399 match the one that ended Robin's life just days earlier. 287 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:54.720 As well. It was now official a serial killer was 288 00:15:54.759 --> 00:16:01.480 on the loose, and he was far from done. After 289 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.799 the back to back killings of three young women, the 290 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:07.759 pattern seemed clear until the killer made an unexpected move. 291 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:12.120 On April twenty seventh, nineteen ninety two, more than two 292 00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:16.279 weeks after the Wichita double homicide, the I seventy killers 293 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:19.840 struck again, but this time the victim was a male. 294 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:25.279 Michael McCown age forty, was working alone at Sylvia's Ceramics. 295 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:29.120 His mother's small ceramic shop located at two six one 296 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:33.679 five South third Street in Terry Hout, Indiana, just off 297 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:38.159 Interstate seventy. Michael wasn't originally supposed to work that day, 298 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:41.600 a pattern the killer seemed to exploit again and again, 299 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:44.879 but had decided to come in after a chiropractor appointment 300 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:49.080 earlier that morning. At around four PM, a customer entered 301 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:52.679 the store and made a horrifying discovery. Michael was lying 302 00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:55.799 just inside the front area, dead from a gunshot wound 303 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:59.240 to the back of the head. Police determined that the 304 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:03.159 attack had been sudden and close range. Evidence suggested that 305 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:06.519 Michael had been stalking shelves, possibly retrieving a small ceramic 306 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:09.519 house for a customer, when the killer crept up behind 307 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:14.599 him and pulled the trigger. Gunpowder stippling from around the 308 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:17.079 wound indicated that the pistol had been fired from less 309 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:22.640 than four inches away, nearly contacting him when the shot 310 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:23.200 was fired. 311 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:27.440 That's crazy, and he wouldn't have even known what was coming. 312 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:31.119 I don't think no, probably not, uh huh. 313 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.279 Just doing his job and then someone just walks in 314 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:34.519 and boom. 315 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:38.200 Yeah, brig Unlike the previous murders, the cast register wasn't 316 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:42.039 touched this time, Approximately fifty dollars remained inside there, and 317 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:45.119 Michael's personal money about fifteen bucks, was still in his pocket, 318 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:51.279 only his wallet was missing. This presented a puzzle for 319 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:55.279 the investigators. Was the I seventy killer changing his behavior 320 00:17:55.440 --> 00:18:00.279 or had Michael simply not been the intended target. Some 321 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:04.279 theorized that Michael, who had long brown hair and wore 322 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.640 a small earring, might have been mistaken for a woman 323 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:11.200 from behind the store's name, Sylvia Ceramics, could have reinforced 324 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:16.599 a false assumption potentially. However, family members later clarified that 325 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:18.799 at the time of his death, Michael had cut his 326 00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:22.720 hair short, making it much less likely that he would 327 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:25.960 be confused for a female employee, especially at close range. 328 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:30.039 When the killer attacked right right now. I mean there 329 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:32.160 is a whole thing around gender and identity. But so 330 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:35.519 we're talking assuming someone's gender from behind. Did the killer 331 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:40.920 do that? Get it wrong? The family doesn't think so, okay. Additionally, 332 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:44.319 given the killer's usual method of leading victims to the 333 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:48.839 back room, Michael's murder seemed to be more upper opportunistic. 334 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:50.680 That that's the word I was looking for. There you go. 335 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:53.240 He was attacked at the shop floor, right out front, 336 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:55.519 right without any effort to isolate him. 337 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:59.119 When people would find him instantly when they came in exactly. 338 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:02.279 It raised disturbing new possibilities about the killer's mindset. Maybe 339 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:05.720 he was less picky than initially believed. Maybe it wasn't 340 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:10.519 about gender at all, but about control, vulnerability, and opportunity. 341 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:12.960 Either way, by the time Michael's body was found, the 342 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:16.240 killer was already gone, disappearing once again into the open 343 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:20.720 roads of the Midwest. The next killing came just days later, 344 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:23.519 and once again the victim was a young woman who 345 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:27.839 hadn't originally been scheduled to work that day. On May third, 346 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:31.200 nineteen ninety two, Nancy Kitts Miller, a twenty four year 347 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:35.960 old college graduate, was managing the boot Village store at 348 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:40.400 the Boya Hills Plaza in Saint Charles, Missouri, a busy 349 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:45.079 shopping center located just off Interstate seventy. Nancy was bright, energetic, 350 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:48.359 with big plans in her life. She had recently graduated 351 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:51.440 with a degree in geography from Oklahoma State University and 352 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:54.039 had just accepted a job offer at the Defense Mapping 353 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:57.039 Agency in Saint Louis. Her new career was only a 354 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:00.960 few weeks away, but on that Sunday afternoon, she was 355 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:03.240 filling in for a coworker who had called in sick. 356 00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:07.160 Nancy opened the store around noon, and by two thirty pm, 357 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:10.720 several shoppers had seen her helping a customer, a man 358 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:15.839 matching the earlier composite description, white male, medium height, slender bill, 359 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:20.200 dull or light brown hair, and minutes later, new customers 360 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:23.880 entered the shop, only to find it eerily empty. When 361 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:26.720 they've entered into the back office, they made a chilling discovery. 362 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:31.279 Nancy was dead shot, execution style in the back of 363 00:20:31.319 --> 00:20:33.599 the head, just like the victims before. 364 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:38.640 Man, this guy is just on a freakin' rampage here. 365 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:42.119 Yeah. Now. Once again, only a small amount of cash 366 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:45.160 was missing from the register. Nancy's purse, sitting close by, 367 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:48.200 was untouched. There's no sign of a struggle, no indication 368 00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:52.000 that she had fought back. Witnesses helped refine the composite 369 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:55.960 sketch even further, reinforcing earlier details, giving police more confidence 370 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:59.599 that the same man was responsible for the string of murders. Still, 371 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:03.200 despite multiple witnesses and a growing public awareness, the killer 372 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:06.039 once again just slipped away without a trace, blending back 373 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:09.799 into the maze of highways that Chris crossed across the country. 374 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:14.119 On May seventh, nineteen ninety two, just four days after 375 00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:18.039 Nancy Kitzmiller's murder, the I seventy killer struck again for 376 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:21.920 what would become the last confirmed time along the interstate. 377 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:26.359 The target this time was Sarah Blessing, a thirty four 378 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:29.680 year old shop owner in Raytown, Missouri, a suburb just 379 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:33.880 east of Kansas City. Sarah had recently opened a small 380 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:37.559 business called Store of Many Colors, located in Woodson Village 381 00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:41.279 shopping center, about two miles from the interstate. Her shop 382 00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:44.880 was quiet new age boutique and sold herbal remedies, crystals, 383 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:49.839 and spiritual wellness items. That evening, at around six fifteen pm, 384 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:53.640 Tim Hickman, who owned a neighboring video rental store, noticed 385 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:57.359 an unfamiliar man loitering around the shop center. The men 386 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:01.039 seemed slightly at a place, wearing a gray sports coat, 387 00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:04.599 and it was too heavy for that warm spring day. 388 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:07.440 He was also seen peering into Hickman's front store window 389 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:12.319 before eventually walking next door to Sarah's shop. Moments later, 390 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:16.559 Hickman heard a sharp pomping noise, a sound that he 391 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:21.799 would later realize was a gunshop. Oh brutal. He rushed 392 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:24.160 outside and caught a glimpse of the man calmly exiting 393 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:26.640 the store of many colors rounding the corner of the 394 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:31.119 building without hurrying. The stranger walked across the parking lot, 395 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.880 climbed an embankment, and disappeared into the neighborhood streets, heading 396 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:40.000 roughly towards Interstate seventy. When Hickman entered Sarah's shop, he 397 00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:43.880 found a terrible scene. Sarah was lying face down at 398 00:22:43.880 --> 00:22:46.920 the back of her store, dead from a single gunshot 399 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:50.400 wound to the head. Like the other victims, she appeared 400 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:53.640 to have been led towards the back room before being killed. 401 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:57.240