The Pharmacy Maniac

On May 26, 2011, a masked man with a sawed-off shotgun, and black cellophane bag would walk into a Klassika Pharmacy at 34 Lenina Prospekt in the Chelyabinsk city center in Chelyabinsk, Russia. There were a total of 8 people in the pharmacy. There were 4 employees and 4 customers. He would then demand valuables from everyone inside saying "I need 60 thousand rubles. Put the money in, whoever doesn’t want to, can move away, but I will shoot you in the stomach."

The people inside would oblige and give up their money and valuables. Two women would enter and would end up also giving their jewelry. Four of the people inside were able to escape through an exit in another room.

49-year-old Vladamir Shin entered the pharmacy. He would see the robbery happening and began to run out the front door. The Masked man would scream "Stop" just before shooting Vladamir in the chest. This would kill him and the masked man would flee the scene

He was described as wearing a medical mask, glasses, and a hat. Items given to the man were gold chains, bracelets, a ring, a cross, a church pendant, and money.

Around 5:30 on August 10, 2011, the man would once again walk into another Klassika Pharmacy. This one was 500 meters from the first one. This time upon entering he would shoot 30-year-old Igor Ustinov. Others in the Pharmacy would run into another room and huddle in a corner.

He would walk outside reload his gun and then come back inside. He would walk past Igor who was laying on the ground suffering from his wound. He would then ask "Where is he?" and then turn around and finish killing Igor by shooting him in the face several times.

According to witnesses, he stated "It's all your fault, it's all your fault white coats. When he was satisfied that Igor was dead he placed the gun into the black cellophane bag and left. He changed the direction he was walking several times and police were able to follow him on CCTV until Truda Street about a kilometer from the pharmacy.

Witnesses from the first scene stated that he was a man between 27 and 35 years old. He's 5'9" to 6'0" and 180 to 185 lbs. He is blonde with a face full of acne. He was wearing a jacket with blue and green stripes, blue jeans, and a dark-colored baseball cap. The only difference between the first description of him and the second it seemed as if he was sickly. He had a yellow look to his skin.

According to witnesses, the criminal looked ridiculous and behaved uncertainly. He was also heard expressing himself in phrases used by stereotypical American soldiers. It's possible that the murderer robbed people from the first scene to cover up the fact that he resented the pharmacy chain, "maybe, he cannot purchase some kind of drug.". He may have been sick with something as he was looking yellow during the second murder.


SOURCES:
Wikipedia (there is a video of the second murder on here)
Serial Killer Database
Serial Killers Wiki

Murder of Bertha Scott and Nancy Lagerquist

On May 2, 1990, 86-year-old Bertha Scott was found dead in her room at the Riverside Health Care Facility on East Broadway in Missoula, Montana. She was found still restrained to her bed, but it was not seen as a suspicious death at the time. The window however was open which was memorable to some, but not strange. 

Around 2 am on July 1st 87-year-old Nancy Lagerquist, who was a resident at the same facility, was taken from her room. It was found that Nancy was sexually assaulted and died because of it. Her body was then thrown into the river where she was found. 

When staff was interviewed a nurse recalled how Bertha, who died in May, had discoloration on her throat. This would lead investigators to exhume Bertha's remains and autopsy her body. Bertha had been murdered by being strangled to death. It's believed the killer or killers broke into the rooms using the windows of the rooms. 

SOURCES:

Missoula County

Uncovered (Bertha)

Uncovered (Nancy)

The Havre Daily News August 16, 1990

The Missoulian Augustt 21, 1990

The Lisbon Ripper

Starting in July of 1992 the in the City of Lisbon, Portugal a start of 3 known murders happened. He brutally murdered three women giving the perpetrator the title of the Lisbon Ripper.

The first known victim was 22-year-old Maria Valentina who went by Tina. She was a prostitute who frequented the area around Avendias Novas, Avenidas Defensores de Chaves, and Avenida Cinco de Outubro. She was found on July 31,1992 in a large cabin in Póvoa de Santo Adrião. She had been strangled, disemboweled and had internal organs removed.

The second known victim was 24-year-old Maria Fernanda was found on Jan. 27, 1993. She was also found in a cabin Entrecampos. Railroad workers that were working on a nearby bridge found her body. She had also been disemboweled with organs removed.

The third known victim was 27-year-old Maria João and was found on March 15, 1993. She was a resident of the Santo António dos Cavaleiros ghetto she lived alone with her two cats. She was found near the location of the first victim and it had been learned that the two were actually friends. Maria was also disemboweled, but this time almost all of her internal organs were taken. 

All three women were young brunets named Maria. They were all three allegedly prostitutes and suffered from drug abuse. They weren't killed with a knife, but a small scalpel. Even if the killer is found the statute of limitations has run out on these murders and they wouldn't be prosecuted because of it. 

It could be possible that there were more murders that were done in different countries. There were four identical murders that occurred in the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Denmark, and Belgium. There was also speculation that there was a small string of unsolved murders that were similar in Massachusetts. It could be possible they started murdering here while living in Bedford large Portuguese population and went back to their native land to start killing. But there had been no official link made in these murders. 

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Publico
Crime and Justice
Serial Killers A-Z

The Connecticut River Valley Killer's Suspected Victims

The Composite Sketch of the Possible Serial Killer

From 1978 to 1986 there were several women violently murdered along the New Hampshire and Vermont border in the Connecticut River Valley near Route 91. There are at least 6 connected murders that are believed to have been done by the same person. It's been noted that there are similar M.O.'s, often used dumpsites, and wound patterns that linked the murders. He seemed to include the attempted murder of a pregnant woman. All the victims were stabbed to death and their throats were slit. It's believed that the women listed here are possible victims of the same killer.

Cathy Millican

On October 24, 1978, 26-year-old Cathrine, "Cathy" Millican was taking photographs of birds at the Chandler Brook Wetland Preserve in New London, New Hampshire. She was found where she was last seen and had been stabbed over 20 times. 

Mary Elizabeth Critchley

On July 25, 1981, a friend of 37-year-old Mary Elizabeth Critchley was dropped off near exit 13 of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Framingham,  Massachusetts. She was planning to hitchhike to Waterbury Vermont where she lived. On August 9, 1981, her body was found in the woods off of Unity Stage Rd. in Unity New Hampshire. It's unknown how she had died. She is currently seen as a possible victim of the Connecticut River Valley Killer though.

At the time Mary was attending classes at the University of Vermont. 

Bernice Courtemanche

On May 30, 1984, around 3:30 p.m. Bernice Courtemanche was last seen in Claremont, New Hampshire trying to hitchhike to Newport to see her boyfriend. She was reported missing and two years later on April 19, 1986, her skeletal remains were found just off Cat Hole Hill Road in Newport, New Hampshire. She had knife wounds to her neck and a head injury.

 At the time of her disappearance, Bernice was a high school student and part-time nurse's aide.

Ellen Fried 

On July 22, 1984, just after midnight 26-year-old, Ellen Ruth Fried was last seen talking on the payphone outside a convenience store in Claremont, New Hampshire. On September 19, 1985, her body was found in a wooded area next to the Sugar River in the Kellyville area of Newport, New Hampshire. The cause of death is undetermined, but the findings at the scene indicated she was sexually assaulted before her death. 

At the time of her death, she was a nurse at the Valley Regional Hospital.

Eva Morse

On July 10, 1985, 27-year old Eva Morse was hitchhiking on Route 12 in Charleston New Hampshire. Her body was found in West Unity, New Hampshire. It was determined she had stab wounds to the neck. Her body was found 500 feet from where Mary's was found.

Lynda Moore 

On April 15, 1986, around 3 p.m. a family member of 36-year-old Lynda Moore found her body inside her home in Westminster, Vermont. She was the only one home at her time of death. She was the only one of the possible victims to have died inside her home and not abandoned. 

Barbara Agnew 

On Jan. 6, 1987, 39-year-old Barbara Agnew went missing. Her vehicle was found in the northbound rest area in White River Junction. Her body was later found on March 28, 1987, in Hartland Vermont. Her body had been abandoned in a wooded area.  Barbara was a nurse at the time of her death. 

In 1988 Jane Boroski was seven months pregnant and was attacked outside of a closed convenience store. She was stabbed many times and was able to drive to a friend's home for help. She and the baby survived and she described him to the police and create a composite sketch. It's possible that she was a surviving victim of the Connecticut River Valley Killer.

SOURCES:
Unsolved Mysteries
Wikipedia
New Hampshire Department of Justice (Cathy)
New Hampshire Department of Justice (Mary)

New Hampshire Department of Justice (Bernice)

New Hampshire Department of Justice (Ellen)

New Hampshire Department of Justice (Eva)
Vermont State Police (Lynda)
Serial Killer Podcast

The Feburary 9th Killer

Sonia Mejia and Damiana Castillo

In two different Salt Lake City Suburbs, two tragedies happened exactly two years apart. Two Hispanic women were murdered in similar ways. It was initially thought of being a coincidence, but when the killers DNA connected the two. This caused fear in the Salt Lake City area around February 9th of the following years.

On February 9, 2006, pregnant 29-year-old Sonia Mejia was home by herself in her Taylorsville flat. In the middle of the day, a Hispanic man knocked on her door. a neighbor claimed that the two seemed to have had a heated argument and he forced his way into her home.

Her husband came home later and found that she'd been assaulted and strangled to death. But not only did he lose his wife their unborn child didn't survive either. Sonia's jewelry was stolen and her car was found in Murray, Utah.

Evidence speculates that Sonia didn't know her attacker. That he may have been stalking her and found out where she had lived and moved on with his plans.

On February 9, 2008, 57-year-old Damiana Castillo didn't show up to church. She wouldn't ever miss it and this worried some people at the church and especially her family. Her son went to check on her at her West Valley City home and found her body. She'd been murdered the same way Sonia was. Jewelry was also stolen from her home. There were no signs of forced entry.

The man was described as a Hispanic male with short black hair that was in his late teens the too early '20s at the time of the attack. He was between 5'3" and 5'5" and around 135 to 150 lbs. It isn't known if Feb. 9 is significant to the killer or if it was a coincidence he decided to kill on those days. Other cases haven't been linked yet and it's possible he's committed similar crimes. He isn't technically a "serial killer".

Police believe they know who the person that was responsible for these crimes are.
SOURCES:
Good 4 Utah
KSL
Good 4 Utah
CNN

John Wayne Gacy the "Killer Clown"

John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He was a Chicago area construction worker and was even a clown performer for kids parties called "Pogo the Clown".He was well liked by people in the community and most never would had suspected he was the reason boys were going missing in the Cook County, Illinois. No one expected him to be the monster he became.

Gacy was born to a blue collar family in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up Gacy had a troubled childhood. His father was a drunk who would beat the family with a razor strap if he believed they were misbehaving. Gacy also had issues coming to terms with his bi-sexuality.

Gacy was also isolated at school because of his congenital heart disease. He couldn't play with the other kids like he wanted. Even though Gacy was tested to be highly intelligent he had dropped out of high school.

After her dropped out of high school he moved to Las Vegas and became a janitor for a mortuary for a while before moving back to Chicago. When he returned he went to business school. After graduation his first job included management trainee for a Nunn Bush Shoe Company where within a year he excelled and managed a clothing store in Springfield, Illinois.

In 1966 He married his 1st wife and began to work for his father in law in Iowa. He began a family with his then wife. In 1968 Gacy was convicted of sodomizing a male employee. His wife filed for divorce. Upon hearing this he told his wife that her and the children were dead to him.

 He was sentenced 10 years in prison, but only spent 18 months . He was paroled in 1970 and moved back to Chicago to become a contractor and started his own construction business. In February of  1971 he was charged in the attempted rape of a young man. The young man didn't show up to court and the charges were dropped. In middle of the 1970's two more men accused him of rape.

By 1975 Gacy was married to his second wife. He had told her that he was bi-sexual and was going to stop having sex with her. She'd find homosexual magazines, and he'd bring home boys to his garage. In 1976 she took her two daughters and divorced Gacy. The two never had children together.

On December 11, 1978 15 year old Robert Piest had disappeared. He'd told his mother he was going to visit Gacy for some job opportunities. When he didn't return home. On December 21 police searched Gacy's home in Norwood Park Township, Illinois.

Gacy knowing that soon they will discover his secret admitted he killed 33 boys. He tried to claim that he had multiple personalities and one of the other personalities did it.

He sat on death row for 12 of the 21 life sentences.

He claimed to have dumped his last 5 bodies in the Des Plains River as he was running out of space in the crawlspace.

Gacy died on May 10, 1994 from lethal injection.

The Murders:

Gacy was considered "charming" and would tell boys that he had job opportunities or would pick up young prostitutes or runaways with the promise of money in exchange for sex. He would often pick up the boys from bus stations. His known victims ages range from 14 to 21 years old. Out of the 33 victims 6 still remain unidentified by July of 2018.

 Once he got the boys in his home he would trick the boys into trying a handcuff trick in which he would subdue the boys, sexually assault, torture, and murder them. At least 5 of the boys worked at Gacy's business.  A few made it out alive, but 33 didn't.

Gacy's first murder happened in 1972 where he'd stabbed to death teenager Tim McCoy. His next murder happened two years later in 1974 he killed an unidentified victim. Even though he stabbed his first victim, he chose to strangle the rest. By 1976 Gacy was already connected to two boys who he claimed to have runaway. The family's suspected Gacy of hurting them, but there was no evidence of it.

After Gacy's wife divorced him in 1976 he called them the "cruising years" as he was able to bring the boys home without worrying. That he was free to hunt for victims and this was when a majority of victims were killed.

SOURCES:
https://www.biography.com/people/john-wayne-gacy-10367544
http://murderpedia.org/male.G/g1/gacy-john-wayne.htm
https://www.historicmysteries.com/john-wayne-gacy/
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/07/24/john-wayne-gacy-victim-reconstructions-released-by-authorities.html
https://www.thoughtco.com/john-wayne-gacy-the-killer-clown-973164
http://crimemagazine.com/boy-killer-john-wayne-gacy

Three Unidentified Jane Doe Suspected Victims of Maury Troy Davis

These Three Jane Does are believed to be victims of serial killer Maury Troy Davis. He raped, tortured and killed his victims. Davis had never identified the three women as he hung him self in a St. Louis jail after he was charged with two other murders.c He was being investigated for 10 murders. He claimed to have murdered 17, but some believe he may have murdered at least 20. He had video taped at least one of the murders. He hunted in Missouri and Illinois border near the St. Louis area. It is possible the following victims may be from Missouri. His victims have all been sex workers so far, so it's possible the following victims may also be sex workers. 

 Jan. 11, 2002 Mascoutah, Illinois Jane Doe.

Illinois Department of Transportation employees were working along the I64 along post 22 when they found remains. It was an African American female between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. She had been dead for months. 

The skeleton was partially dressed in a Jason Mathews black velour jump suit with full legs. She also had two rings with her. One was a thin gold band and the second had a clear blue central gem piece with multiple small clear green ones surrounding it.

Other Images:

Sources:

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/11788

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/327ufil.html

March 11, 2002 Madison County, Illinois Jane Doe

IDOT workers found the skeletal body around 2 p.m. on March 11, 2002  Illinois near Sliver Creek  overpass in Collinsville, Illinois. She had died within the last 4-6 months. She was a black female between the ages of 24 and 30 years old. She was 5'3" and 105 lbs. She was wearing a size medium pair of rhinestoned, grey colored Second Skins shorts and a red and white men's XL Tommy Hilfiger Flannel button down. She was wearing a mens Gold Nugget ring with two glass stones, and she was wearing one bracelet is a metal hoop, approximately 3 inches in diameter, smooth on one side with a channel on the other side. A ring of black onyx beads on elastic string fits into the channel bracelet. The second bracelet is a combination of three separate bracelets, the second bracelet has numerous plastic beads that were yellow, green, black, mauve, and brown strung with thin elastic string that could be stretched. The three separate bracelets were gathered by a single, oval shaped metallic ring with a small hole at one end that appeared to be for the purpose of hanging a charm.




Other Images:

                       

SOURCES:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/334ufil.html
http://www.isp.state.il.us/crime/unsolveddetails.cfm?ID=16
https://identifyus.org/en/cases/12204

March 28, 2002 Monroe County Jane Doe

On March 28, 2002 IDOT workers found the remains of a woman while cleaning trash along the highway. She was located in a creek bed On Route 3 near Gall Rd. in Columbia, Illinois. She'd been estimated to have been dead 6 to 12 months. 

She was a black female between the ages of 33 and 50 years old. She was round 5'1" and 105 lbs. She had black hair. She had a healed fracture in her head from a childhood injury. Possibly had a scar across her forehead because of it. She was wearing an XL green shirt with an orange M and the word Mavericks on it, It has two buttons on the top similar to a softbal jersey. She was also found with size 3 khaki shorts from the brand Chazzz Credentials.

The police tried to search for sport teams with the nickname and logo found on the shirt. The source wasn't found, but a coach from the Mavericks softball team that existed in St. Louis County years before. He stated it looked similar to what was worn by the team. He stated that the team was for girls in their early teens and none of them wore an XL.

Other Images:

SOURCES:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/302ufil.html
https://identifyus.org/cases/12166

First Serial Killer of Hawaii The Honolulu Strangler

The Honolulu Strangler or the Honolulu rapist is the first known serial killer of Hawaii and unfortunately enough he had not been caught. He has 5 known female victims he killed between 1985 and 1986. The ages of the known victims was between 17 and 36. As a response a task force was put together having a 27 person team, but unfortunately he hasn't been caught.

The first victim was 25 year old Vicki Gail Purdy. She was described as tough woman and street wise. She was described as being wise on who she could and could not trust. Her husband described her as being a fighter. He believes it would had to have taken two people to do what happened to her.

On May 29, 1985 Vicki dressed up in a yellow jumpsuit and went out clubbing in Waikiki, Hawaii. A motorist found her body 7 am along the rocky embankment of  Ke'ehi Lagoon. Her car had been found parked near the club. She had been strangled to death and her hands were bound and had been sexually assaulted.

The second victim was 17 year old Regina Sakamoto she was from Waipahu. She was a high school senior described as shy and friendly. She was described as being extremely close to her mother.

On Jan. 14, 1986 Regina missed the bus and called her boyfriend around 7:15 a.m. to tell him she would be late. She did not report to class that day and when she didn't return that night she was reported missing. Her body was discovered the next day. She was partially dressed hands bound behind her back and sexually assaulted. She was also strangled to death. She was also found in the Ke'ehi Lagoon. She was last seen at a bus stop.

The third victim was 21 year old Denise Hughes. She was described as always having a smile on her face no matter what. She was described as the ideal employee even with her only working 3 months as a Secretary at the Long Distance/ USA Inc. She had only lived in Hawaii for 5 months with her Sailor Husband. He was stationed

On Jan. 29, 1986 Denise ate super aboard his ship and left to go home around 10 p.m. Worry began to rise when she did not arrive at work the next day. Work had called her husband to see why she didn't arrive. She typically took the bus to work. On Feb. 1, 1986 her body was found wrapped in a tarp and rolled down a mud embankment. Her hands were tied behind her back and she was strangled.

Louise Medeiros from Kauai to search for independence. She was no stranger to trouble and lived with beach people. But family said that the last time they saw she had become more mature and less rebellious. She was three months pregnant at this time.

On March 26, 1986 Louise called her family and said she was on the plane from Kauai to fly home to Ohau. She said she would go home by using theairport bus to get to her boyfriends house in Waipahu, She never made it there. On April 2, 1986 her body was found in a Waikele stream. She'd been bound, raped and strangled.

The last known victim was 36 year old Linda Pesce. Linda was known for her love of adventure. She hitch hiked across The U.S. on her own, she moved to Hawaii to dance and lived in Guam for a while before moving back to Hawaii. She was described as carefree, street-wise, and opinionated. She did not live the wild life as she had before she gave birth to her daughter. She had changed her wild ways, but was described as being a fighter.

On April 29, 1986 Linda left her apartment and was expected to come home late due to work. Her roommate reported her missing to the police the next morning. Problem was she never made it to work and her car was abandoned on the side of the Nimitz-H1 viaduct. On May 3rd Linda was also found with her hands bound, raped, and strangled.

SOURCES:
http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/hawaii/honolulu-strangler-mystery-hi/
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/global/story.asp?S=5099177
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16181220/vicki_purdy_honolulu_strangler/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16181332/vicki_purdy_honolulu_strangler/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16190673/honolulu_strangler/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16406441/hawaii_strangler/

What are Serial Killers?

A Serial Killer is a person who commits a series murders of at least two people and or two separate murders over a period of time ranging from hours to years. The definition for serial killers have changed over the years. As it used to be defined by the FBI as four different events separated by a cooling-off period. By the 90's it was lowered to 3, but thus did still exclude those who were caught before continue murdering.

Serial killers aren't a new thing, they've been around since the beginning of time. It's a popular topic among law enforcement, mental health experts, academia, and the general public. It's also been the subject of many shows, movies, books and stories. Many people don't even realize that serial murders take up only 1 percent of  all homicides. Currently there are 35 active serial killers at any given time in the U.S.

There are many myths that come with serial killers.

Serial Killers are loners and a weird.

In reality many serial killers are not loners. Most of them don't appear to be reclusive or to be misfits in their public lives. Some might even seem completely normal and are able to hide in plain site in their communities. They seem so put together that they are often overlooked by Law Enforcement.

For example BTK, or Dennis Rader, was married with two children. He was a boy scout leader, served the U.S. Air Fore, was employed as a local government employee, and was the president of the church. No one had suspected that he had killed 10 victims and sent 16 taunting letters to the news media in a 30 year span in Wichita, Kansas until he was caught.

All Serial Killers are white males.

This is not true as serial killers are of all races and sexes. The diversity of serial killers correlates to the races of population. Women are not immune from being serial killers either. 52. 21% of Serial killers are White, 40.3% are Black, 6.1% are Hispanic, 0.7% is Asian, and 0.8% is Native American. 90.8% are men and 9.2% are women.

Charles Ng is an Asian serial killer and was a native of Hong Kong, China before becoming a serial killer in Northern California with Robert Lake.

Derrik Todd Lee is an African American male who killed at least 6 women in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Rory Conde,a Colombian native was a Hispanic serial killer who killed 6 prostitutes in Miami, Florida.

Nannie Doss was a female serial killer who poisoned 11 people between the 1920's to 1954.

Serial Killers are only motivated by sex.

This is a big reason for 46. 11% (including thrill, lust and power) of serial killers, but there are other motives. 31.68% did it for financial gain, 8.12% did it for multiple reasons, 7.84% did it out of anger, 3.28% did it for a criminal enterprise, 1.21% did it to avoid arrest, .62% did it for attention, .73% did it for convenience, .41% did it due to a hallucination, and .21% did it due to a Cult.

Amy Archer- Gilligan killed many of her boarders after they named her  in their life insurance. Between 1911 to 1916 she killed at least 48 people.

Serial Killers travel and operate on interstate. 

Serial killers have defined comfort areas that they kill within or at. Once in while they will kill outside of their comfort zone after they built their confidence. Many of them do not include them traveling on interstate to kill.

All Serial Killers are insane and or evil geniuses. 
This is a common misconception as many of them do have personality disorders, but are not considered insane. The intelectual levels of serial killers also vary from below average to above average levels.

Serial Killers want to get caught.

Serial killers committing their first crime/murder are inexperienced and then learn to develop their skills and get better at not being caught. It isn't until they get too confident that it is their down fall. As in they begin taking short cuts and or have the mind set that they won't get caught.

Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/serial-murder
http://www.statisticbrain.com/serial-killer-statistics-and-demographics/
https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder