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11 Serial Killers Connection to Iowa · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: All right, so get ready, because today we're diving into
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  a part of Iowa that's usually swept under the rug.
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  We're talking about serial killers, and they're surprising ties to
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  the Hawkeye State.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting you say that, because we tend
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  to think of these figures as coming from well somewhere else, right,
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  big cities, anonymity, that kind of thing. But this deep dive,
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  it really flips that script.
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  Speaker 1: It totally does. Just look at the Donald Deane's study case.
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  This is a story that's been making headlines recently. This
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  guy lived in Therman, Iowa, normal life by all accounts,
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  but now his own daughter is claiming he may have
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  killed up with seventy people. Seventy they're actually digging up
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  his property as we speak, trying to find answers. It
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  really makes you think twice about those quiet, unsuspecting towns,
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  doesn't it.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely the line between ordinary and terrifying is thinner than
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  we think. Yeah, and that's exactly what we're going to
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  cover today, exactly.
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  Speaker 1: So let's start with the case that bridges the gap
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  between past and present. Clark Perry Baldwin. We're talking murders
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  that happened in the early nineties. But get this, they
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  weren't solved until twenty twenty.
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  Speaker 2: And that's where we see how much forensic science has
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  changed the game. Baldwin probably thought he was in the
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  clear decades gone by. Then bam, investigators find his DNA
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  on a discarded chopping cart, of all things, and it's
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  a match. This case really highlights how genealogy databases are
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  revolutionizing cold case investigations. It's pretty incredible and more than
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  a little unsettling.
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  Speaker 1: It's like something out of a movie, only it's real life.
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  And speaking of echoes from the past, we've got Jake Byrd. Now.
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  His story is straight out of a horror film. Brutal
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  axe murders in the nineteen forties, confession spanning over a
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  dozen states.
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  Speaker 2: And what's really disturbing about Bird is how his case
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  exposes the complexities of the criminal justice system back then
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  and even now. He was initially sentenced to thirty years
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  in Iowa for a horrific access ault. And here's the kicker.
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  They let him out early after only twelve years for
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  good behavior.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, hold on, So this guy who clearly has a
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  thing for violence and acxes, apparently they just let him
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  walk free. No, surprises. Here he goes on a multi
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  state killing spree. How on earth did that happen?
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  Speaker 2: Well, back then, the focus was on penal rehabilitation. The
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  idea was to reform offenders, not just punish them. But
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  over time, as we learned more about criminal psychology, we
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  developed better risk assessment tools, so our approach to sentencing
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  has changed, thankfully.
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  Speaker 1: Still, it's a stark reminder that even with good intentions,
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  the system can fail and the consequences can be devastating.
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  All right, shifting gears a bit, Let's talk about Carol
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  Edward Cole. This one's different. He was actually born and
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  raised right here in Iowa, Sioux City to be exact.
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  Speaker 2: And Cole's life, it's a tragic story of mental illness, alcoholism,
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  and these increasingly violent fantasies. He actually claims have committed
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  his first murder at eight years old, said he drowned
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  a friend who teased him. Now, whether or not that's true,
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  we can't say for sure. But what's undeniable is how
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  his case highlights the immense challenges of recognizing and addressing
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  early signs of violence, especially in a system that often
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  fails those who eat it most.
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  Speaker 1: It really makes you wonder, you know, could early intervention
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  have changed his path? Could it have prevented the thirty
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  five murders he eventually confessed to. It's a question that
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  comes up a lot with these cases, especially when you
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  think about someone like John Wayne Gacy, the killer clown.
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  You've had that name, right, Oh?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah. Gaysey's case, it's practically a textbook example of
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  how evil can hide in plain sight. The guy was
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  living a double life, right, dressed up like a clown,
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  entertaining kids at parties, at a seemingly normal life in Waterloo, Iowa.
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  Even worked as a restaurant manager, and all the while
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  this horrifying secret was lurking beneath the surface.
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  Speaker 1: Just thinking about it gives me chills. Your friendly neighborhood clown,
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  your boss, the guy's serving you coffee. You just never
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  really know what's going on behind closed doors, do you.
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  Speaker 2: That's the thing, isn't it. It's unsettling for sure, But
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  that's why understanding these patterns, recognizing the signs, it's so
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  important not to glorify these individuals, but to learn from
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  these tragedies and hopefully prevent them in the future.
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  Speaker 1: It's about connecting the dots understanding what makes these individuals
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  tick and ideally intervening before it's too late.
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  Speaker 2: And it often comes down to using those advancements in
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  froenic forensic science you mentioned, right. Take Harry Edward Greenwell
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  for example, the I sixty five killer. This guy commits
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  these horrific crimes in the late eighties and just disappears,
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  vanishes off the radar.
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  Speaker 1: It's mind boggling. Decades go by, the case runs cold,
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  families are left wondering, hurting, and then nine years after
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  Greenwell dies, DNA technology steps in and identifies him as
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  the guy. It's almost hard to wrap your head.
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  Speaker 2: Around, right, talk about justice delayed, but in the end
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  it was just as served. And that's huge. Those families
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  finally get some closure and name a face to put
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  to the nightmare. But it also makes you think, doesn't
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  it about the ethics of it all? I mean, they
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  caught him through a familial DNA.
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  Speaker 1: Right, You're right, It's not so cut and dry exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Investigators are combing through databases looking at relatives DNA. Where's
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  the line when it comes to privacy and our genetic information?
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  Pretty thorny stuff. But let's shift gears a bit let's
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  talk about Robert Hanson, the butcher baker. Now, this guy
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  he actually honed his hunting skills right here in Iowa
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  before heading up to Alaska. That's where he really made
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  his name stalking and killing women. Chilling stuff.
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  Speaker 1: It's a chilling thought. The idea that someone could be
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  so adept at hiding their true nature and those skills
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  they honed, they were used for such darkness. It's disturbing,
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  to say the least.
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  Speaker 2: And it's that ability to blend in that's so unsettling. Hanson,
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  he had his bakery, was a family man, at least
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  on the surface. We see it time and time again.
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  Tacky Israel Keys, for example, run its own construction business.
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  Seemed like a regular guy, but underneath a whole other story,
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  a meticulously crafted double life. These guys were masters of deception.
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  Speaker 1: It's a reminder that evil doesn't always come with a
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  warning label. Sometimes it's the quiet ones, the ones who
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  seem so ordinary that you have to watch out for.
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  And speaking of flying under the radar, let's talk about
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  Charles Ray Hatcher. This guy's story is like a master
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  class in criminal cunning.
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  Speaker 2: No kidding. Hatcher really highlights how someone can exploit the
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  weaknesses of the system, especially back then. The guy was
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  a chameleon, multiple aliases, fake birth dates, drifting from state
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  to state, leaving a trail of victims in his wake.
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  It's enough to make your head spin.
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  Speaker 1: It's terrifying, really, to think that someone could be so
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  good at evating justice for so long. All right, brace yourself,
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  because this next one is a real head scratcher. Randy
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  Stephen Kraft, the scorecard killer, infamous for his crimes in California.
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  But what's the Iowa connection, you ask, Well, it all
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  comes down to a single word scribbled in his journal, Iowa.
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  Speaker 2: Shilling, isn't it? Yeah, one word and so many questions.
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  Investigators think it refers to a marine from des Moines.
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  The guy was found murdered in California. It just goes
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  to show how far reaching these cases can be, how
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  the impact ripples outward, touching lives in ways you wouldn't expect.
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  Speaker 1: It's a stark reminder that these crimes don't exist in
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  a vacuum. They leave scars on families, communities. The effects
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  can be felt for generations. It's heartbreaking. But let's move
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  on to another case. This one is sure to make
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  you think twice the next time you're at a truck stop.
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  Robert ben Rhodes, the truck stop killer. This guy from
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  Council Bluffs, Iowa, turned his truck into a mobile torture chamber.
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  Speaker 2: It's a horrifying thought, and it exposes a really dark
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  side of transient lifestyles, those long stretches on the road,
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  the isolation, the anonymity, It can attract a certain type
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  and it can leads people incredibly vulnerable.
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  Speaker 1: It's a chilling reminder that danger can lurk even in
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  the most ordinary places, and for some that danger alerts
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  even closer to home. Take, for example, the case of
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  Gano Gilbert Smith. This guy from right here in Iowa
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  became a family annihilator, murdered six of his own relatives. Six.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's tough to even process something like that. The
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  family farm should be a sanctuary in place of safety,
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  and then you have a case like Smith's and it
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  just shatters that illusion absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: It makes you realize that darkness confester anywhere, even in
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  the places we consider safest. And speaking of families, our
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  final case hits close to home for me personally. Robert
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  Stangler never heard of.
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  Speaker 2: Him, the name rings a belle Wait. Is that the Spangler,
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  the one they named the building after at Iowa State.
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  Speaker 1: That's the one. It's always been unsettling to me, that connection,
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  this place of learning of growth forever linked to this
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  guy and the way he went about it so calculated.
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  Speaker 2: What do you mean.
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  Speaker 1: Spangler killed his family, his wife and kids to get
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  out of his marriage, staged it to look like a
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  murder suicide. Then years later he does it again, takes
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  out his third wife. The audacity is just unbelievable.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting you bring up those two cases
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  back to back Smith and Spangler, because they both highlight
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  this really disturbing aspect of family annihilators, that twisted sense
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  of control.
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  Speaker 1: It's like they believe they have the right to decide
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  who lives and who dies, all within their own family.
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  It's chilling, it really is.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's a reminder that sometimes the monsters we
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  should fear most aren't the ones hiding in the shadows.
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  They're the ones sitting across from us at the dinner table.
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  Speaker 1: It's a chilling thought to end on, but an important
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  one nonetheless. As we wrap up this deep dive into
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  Iowa's dark side, it makes you wonder, what is it
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  about these stories, these glimpses into the darkest corners of
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  human nature, that we find so fascinating, and, let's be honest,
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  so terrifying.
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  Speaker 2: It's a question that's been debated for centuries. Maybe it's
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  the need to understand the extremes of our own nature,
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  or perhaps it's a morbid curiosity, a way to confront
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  our own mortality. Whatever the reason, these stories remind us
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  that darkness can lurk even in the most unexpected places.
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  Speaker 1: And that's a lesson we should never forget, because by
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  shedding light on these dark corners, by talking about these cases,
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  by understanding the patterns and the warning signs, maybe, just
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  maybe we can prevent future tragedies. So until next time,
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  stay curious, stay informed, and most importantly, stay safe out there.