Latest / Shades of Murder / 67: Hunt for a Serial Killer - The Shoe Fetish Slayer part 1

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67: Hunt for a Serial Killer - The Shoe Fetish Slayer part 1 · Shades of Murder

0:09
In the spring of 1969, along the Long Tom River in Oregon,
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investigators located the body of a young woman.
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Her disappearance and murder was a string of unexplained
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incidents of missing girls in the region.
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Detectives would begin to unravel the pieces of a bizarre
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puzzle, leading them to one of the most notorious and sadistic
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serial killers in American history.
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Who was this innocent victim and what kind of monster had
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brutally murdered her and dumped her in the river?
1:17
Hello and welcome to shades of murder.
1:20
I am your host, Alita Caldwell. In this podcast, I discuss cases
1:26
of murder from around the world and throughout history,
1:31
attempting to unravel the layers of darkness that help make
1:35
humans into monsters. Please be forewarned that each
1:42
episode contains specific and at times very graphic and
1:46
disturbing details of the case. This show is not intended for
1:50
all audiences and listener discretion is strongly advised.
1:56
If you enjoy what I do and want to support the show, please make
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review. Your feedback and your support
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means more than you know. Thank you.
2:10
Oregon is an absolutely mesmerizing state and the
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Pacific Northwest. Surrounded by majestic
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mountains, hiking trails with surreal waterfalls, and
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picturesque sandy coastal beaches, it is an ideal area to
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call home for nature lovers and artists at heart.
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In the late 1960's, the state had no more than 150 homicides
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in any given year. Like most of the country at that
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time, it saw a huge uptick in violent crime beginning in the
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1960s and peaking in the 1990s. Gone with the days of the
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idealistic, innocent 1950s following the victory of World
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War 2. The 1960s brought with it
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massive change. The Vietnam War, the hippie
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counterculture movement, widespread rebellion, and
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violent student protests. With these significant societal
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events and shifts in culture also came more murders.
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However, in Portland, OR, most of the communities were
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relatively safe, family oriented, and quiet.
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The same pretty much ring true for its capital, Salem, which
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also saw a lot of cultural development in this period.
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For the most part, residents were not exposed to crime and
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violence in their neighborhoods, and the world around them still
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felt protected and safe. These cities and the entire
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state of Oregon would forever be impacted by the crimes that
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began in the onslaught of 1968. Linda Slauson was only 19 years
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old when she vanished on January 26th, 1968.
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A pretty and determined young woman, she was driven to sell a
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customer a fully loaded encyclopedia set that day.
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For the younger listeners out there, encyclopedias were sold
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door to door from the 1960s through the 1980s.
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I personally remember fondly perusing through each letter
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learning about the most fascinating people, places and
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things around the world. But like other door to door
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sales, it was a challenging and not very lucrative job to sell a
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rather expensive set of leather bound educational books.
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It had not unfolded to be this great career.
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She was instructed and sold by the teachers of the course.
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She even practiced the role-playing scenarios they had
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been taught. But when residents opened their
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doors, Linda was met with frustrated, impatient people who
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didn't have the time to listen to what she was selling, much
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less the money to buy them. She figured if she just sold one
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entire collection, complete with the yearbooks, Atlas and all,
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she could pay her rent, buy some food, and even a few new
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clothes. On that particular night, she
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had been dressed very nicely as she normally was, even wearing
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her heels, which ended up not being the best idea in the
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pouring rain. But Linda was determined to make
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that sail. When Lettuce Lawson first
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disappeared, everyone at her company thought she likely just
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quit selling encyclopedias. No one had a clue as to what
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residences she had visited that night.
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Sales people came and went. It was part of the industry of
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door to door sales, so at the time there was no particular
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reason to be concerned. When she stopped showing up,
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however, things were different for her family, who became
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immediately worried and filed a missing persons report.
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No one in Linda Slauson's life knew where she could be.
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There was no trace of her at all.
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She had vanished. In July 1968, a 16 year old girl
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named Stephanie Vilko went missing in Portland.
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No connection was made to the disappearance of Linda Slauson.
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Jan Susan Whitney was an accomplished young woman.
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At 23 years old, she was finishing up her degree at the
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University of Oregon in Eugene, had her own car, a job, and a
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busy social life. After visiting some friends in
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Eugene, she left to drive back home on the I-5 to her apartment
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in Mcminnville, but she was never seen again.
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The following day, her vehicle was located at the Santiam Rest
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Stop. It was locked except for a few
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personal items inside. There was no blood and no signs
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of a struggle that had occurred in the car.
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There appeared to be a minor mechanical issue, which may have
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led it to be inoperable. One good latent print was lifted
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from one of the hubcaps, but in 1968 a single latent print would
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have been deemed worthless to investigators.
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At the time, only the FB is 10 Most wanted had single prints on
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file. The police searched ditches and
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the lands along the highway, but there was no sign of the young
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woman. She had vanished without a
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trace. The last time Jan Whitney was
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seen was on November 26th, 1968, ten months to the day Linda
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Slauson had mysteriously disappeared.
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Oregon State Police received an anonymous letter regarding Jan
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Whitney. It was mailed from Albany, NY in
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a plain envelope with such tedious handwriting that it
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appeared the writer was attempting to disguise it.
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In the letter, the individual claimed to have been at the rest
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stop where the woman's vehicle was abandoned and indicated they
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had been present when she went missing.
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Lieutenant Robert White appealed to the public for the writer to
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come forward, but no one ever did.
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Stephanie Vilko, the 16 year old girl who had gone missing from
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her Portland area home after heading out to swim in July of
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that year, had now been located. On March 18th, 1969, a high
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school teacher discovered her skeletonized remains along the
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banks of Gale Creek. The wind, ice, water, and impact
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of time had made it impossible for a forensic pathologist to
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determine how the girl had died and whether or not she had been
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a victim of homicide. On March 27th, 1969, a 19 year
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old college student named Karen Elena Sprinker disappeared.
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Karen Sprinker was an aspiring Dr. following in her
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veterinarian father's well known and respective footsteps.
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Although she preferred to work on humans, she was extremely
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busy as a pre Med student and was excelling in her courses.
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On top of her dreams she was solidly pursuing.
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She had been class salutatorian at Sacred Heart Academy, a
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member of the National Honor Society, a finalist of the
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National Merit Scholarship, had won Salem Elks Leadership Award,
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and was a member of the Marion County Youth Council.
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Karen was not only highly intelligent and a very
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impressive young woman, but she was also beautiful in a innocent
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girl next door sort of way. She had dark brown eyes and her
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thick, very dark brown, almost black hair fell past her
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shoulders. Karen was innocent, chaste and
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very trusting. The day she was last seen, Karen
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had lunch and shopping plans with her mother.
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They had planned to meet at noon inside the restaurant within the
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Meijer and Frank department store.
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The shopping store was located in downtown Portland, only a
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block and a half east of the Salem Police Department and a
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block and a half north of the courthouse, which held the Mary
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and Sheriff County's offices. It was daytime when she parked.
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The area would have been presumed to be one of the safest
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spots in the city. Karen Sprinkler was always
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impeccably prompt, and when 1215 came around, her mother was
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puzzled to not see her daughter at the restaurant yet.
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Then it was 12/30 and still no sign of Karen.
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Her mother at first thought maybe she got the time or even
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the date mixed up, but that wasn't like Karen.
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She left the restaurant and called home from a nearby phone
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booth, but no one answered. Then she returned to the
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restaurant and asked the Hostess to tell Karen her mother had
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gone home and to call her there right away.
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When Missus Springer drove back home, Karen wasn't there, nor
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was she at her father's vet clinic, and he hadn't heard from
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her either. Karen wasn't a girl who would
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have left without telling them. She wasn't a rebel, nor did she
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have any kind of secret life. Her parents spoke to all of her
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friends, who are just as perplexed as to where the young
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woman could be. They called hospitals and her
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dormitory back at Oregon State, but there was no sign of Karen
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Springer. When her parents finally
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contacted the police, Even though it was protocol to wait
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at least 24 hours to file a missing persons report on an
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adult, the officers felt something was wrong.
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They filed the preliminary missing person report that same
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day. The next day, the police went to
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the parking garage of Meyer and Frank's Department Store.
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Karen Sprinker's abandoned car was discovered on the roof of
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the parking garage. It was parked neatly between the
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lines and the car was locked. The only items found inside were
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some of Karen's books. When the vehicle was taken in
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for testing, no blood or semen was located, there were no
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cigarettes in the ashtray, and the only Leighton Prince lifted
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were identified as belonging to members of the sprinkler family.
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Investigators did notice that the steps leading down from the
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roof to the store entrance, although a brief walk, were very
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dim and eerily silent when no one was around.
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The door to the store entrance was also very heavy and could be
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awkward for a young woman to hold.
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It could be a dangerous few minutes for someone to be alone.
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Multiple reported sightings of the young woman were made to the
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police, but none of them panned out to be accurate.
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One of them involved her even hitch hiking to a hippie
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commune. Karen Sprinker's boyfriend was
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so desperate to find her that he even implanted himself into the
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hippie counterculture in Portland.
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He dressed the part to blend in, hung around for a few days, but
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it was a dead end. He knew in his heart that Karen
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never would have been part of that scene.
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Amongst the many reported sightings and random tips, the
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Salem Police Department received some bizarre information. 2 high
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school girls who had initially talked to a trusted neighbor
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woman, a better peculiar person they saw in the parking garage
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on the same day Karen Sprinker went missing.
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The woman encouraged the girls to go talk to the police about
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what they saw. According to them, they first
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saw what they thought was a very tall and heavy woman in a dress
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and heels. The person was just standing in
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the garage as if they were waiting for someone tugging at
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their girdle and fixing their nylon stockings.
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They were so taken back by this bizarre sight, they actually
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drove back up the ramp to look at the person again.
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Then the girls realized that it wasn't a tall, heavy woman at
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all, but a man dressed up as one.
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The police were puzzled by these details, but they didn't dismiss
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the strange story. It did make a weird, logical
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kind of sense that Karen would have been more likely to talk to
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or help someone in need if they appeared to be a female.
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By all accounts, Sharon Wood should have been the perfect
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victim. On April 21st, Sharon Wood, as
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secretary at the Portland State College History Department, left
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the building around 3:30 PM. She had been very distracted
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that day, totally in her own world, making her an especially
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vulnerable target. Sharon and her husband of seven
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years were having major relationship issues and
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unfortunately they were headed toward a divorce.
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She also felt particularly bad that day.
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Physically. She was suffering from a middle
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ear infection and was getting used to wearing contact lenses.
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At first she had trouble even finding her car keys and then
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she couldn't remember what floor of the 8 storied parking garage
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her vehicle was. She thought it was in the
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basement. As she walked as fast she could
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down to the underground level, the door slammed behind her,
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locking her off from any light and more importantly, other
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people. Sharon soon realized that her
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car wasn't parked in the basement.
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While she was about to return to that dark, looming space between
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the parking levels, she became aware of a presence.
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It was behind her. Her gut instructed her to walk
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toward the daylight entrance, which was on the far side of the
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garage. The young woman walked as fast
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as she could in her heels, but within a few steps she felt
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someone tapping her on the shoulder.
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The man was tall, very large, and had icy blue eyes.
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He held a gun and told her that if she didn't scream then he
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wouldn't shoot her. Sharon instinctively yelled no
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inside the vacant basement and the man approached her from
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behind. But when the stranger wrapped
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his bulky hounds around her slim neck, something went wrong.
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The gun faced her now, and she attempted to pull and twist his
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fingers around it. That didn't work, but as his
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fat, fleshy hand passed in front of her mouth, Sharon bit down on
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his thumb. She bit it as hard as she could
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and blood oozed into her mouth. His blood.
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She did her best to stop biting it, but the moment of sheer
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panic and terror had locked up her jaw.
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She could not release her grasp on his thumb.
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Sharon and her attacker did this bizarre dance with one another.
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A small young woman and this massive man.
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That is, until he gained the upper advantage and held onto
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her long hair, pulling her face to the concrete floor.
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The man began to beat her senselessly, banging her head
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against the cold, merciless ground.
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An uncalming vehicle appeared, saving Sharon from certain
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death. As she began to lose
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consciousness, her jaw finally unlocked, freeing her
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assailant's thumb from her teeth's relentless grip.
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The man grabbed the gun and fled.
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He had been forced to abort his mission.
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His surviving victim, an incredibly brave young woman
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named Sharon Wood, had a shocking story to tell the
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police. She had been attacked by a very
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large, tall man who was strangely dressed as a woman.
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The woman told them how she had sensed the evil.
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And I knew that I was going to die.
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So everything within her thought him.
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Somehow officers never connected the vicious assault made on
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Sharon Wood with the eerily similar disappearance of Karen
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Sprinker. The next day around 10:30 AMA,
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14 year old girl named Leanne Brumley was assaulted.
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She was walking in her neighborhood when a strange
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large man approached her. The man grabbed her by the
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shoulder of her coat and shut her between two houses.
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He pulled out his gun and told her that he wanted her to come
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with him, but that he wouldn't hurt her.
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He also told the little girl that he wasn't going to rape
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her, he wouldn't do that. Then the man tried to force her
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inside his vehicle, but the girl was much stronger than she
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appeared and she fought off the much larger and older man,
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kicking and getting away. She ran away screaming at a
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woman in her yard to come help her. 14 year old Leanne Brumley
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may have been another survivor. April 23rd, 1969 was the last
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day that 22 year old Linda Don Soleil was seen.
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The strikingly Pretty Woman had ash blonde hair, blue eyes, and
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was supremely petite at barely above 5 feet tall.
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Yet she was known for being very athletic and full of feisty
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energy. She was madly in love with her
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boyfriend and had gone to Lloyd's shopping mall that day
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to purchase him some nice gifts for his birthday.
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Linda was supposed to meet him at the YMCA, where he worked as
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a lifeguard, by 6:30 PM, but she never showed up.
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Her boyfriend left a few hours later and drove over to her
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apartment, but there was no one there.
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Half angry and half concerned, the young man left confused as
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to where his girlfriend Linda could be.
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The next day, Linda Soleil didn't show up at her employers,
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Consolidated Freightways, which cost her family and friends
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great panic and fear. When she was reported missing,
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investigators immediately began to search for her, noting the
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rising cases of young missing women in the Portland and Salem
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area. The Oregon State Police joined a
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local officers in Portland to conduct an extensive search of
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the parking garage and the grounds of Lloyd's shopping
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Mall. There they located her car, her
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prized red VW Bug, just like Karen Sprinkler's vehicle was
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found. It was in the parking garage,
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locked and with no signs of a struggle.
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This incident sparked detectives to look more closely at the
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cases of the missing young women and patterns began to emerge.
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Within 16 months, four young women within a 50 mile area had
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disappeared without a trace. No witnesses, nothing in their
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lifestyle or backgrounds that indicated they ran away.
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No one had been aware of the women having any issues with a
21:26
stalker or experienced anything suspicious.
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There was not one piece of physical evidence.
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No purse, no blood, no clothing, nothing.
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This left investigators to believe that the perpetrator was
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picking at random, or rather, he had been watching until he found
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his prime target. The man would then follow them
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to a location where they were vulnerable, lure them away
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somehow, and however he did it, he did it lightning quick
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without any signs of a struggle. Then he made them disappear.
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It felt to detectives like the assailant was purposely choosing
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his victims in different local jurisdictions to help minimize
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the chances that different police departments would put the
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pieces together. But this situation had become
22:23
far too serious and they decided to share communications across
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departments. Information was shared across
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not only the entire state of Oregon, but all 13 western
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states received detailed information about the missing
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young women and the threads tying them together.
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In May of that year, a fisherman was along the Bundy Bridge that
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overlooked the Longtime river in western Oregon.
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The Longtime River is a 57 mile long tributary, a freshwater
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river that floated into the larger Willamette River that ran
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between Eugene and Corvallis. The man spotted something odd
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looking floating just beneath the surface of the water.
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Holding onto a Maple sapling, he hung out over the river's edge
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to look closer at the object. The fisherman almost fell in
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when his eyes registered what it was, a human corpse with pale
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skin and light hair fanning out over the river.
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The man jumped from the spot and flew to his car, driving to the
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nearest police station. When officers arrived at the
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Bundy Bridge, they realized the person was a young woman and she
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had been weighed down with an engine transmission.
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The killer, though, had made a grievous error.
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He had misjudged the depth of the water.
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That or he had either been unable or was unwilling to place
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the body in the middle of the river.
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The girl's body wasn't easy to retrieve.
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She was light on her own, but with a car transmission she
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weighed a little under 200 lbs, making it a challenge for even
24:08
the strongest of officers. The victim had been bound to the
24:12
transmission with nylon cord and copper wire.
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Within the bonds was a reddish toned fabric which resembled a
24:19
mechanic's cloth. A beige coat still clung to her
24:22
body, but she had few other garments on.
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She was small with fair skin, ash blonde hair and blue eyes.
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The girl was later identified as missing person Linda Don Soleil.
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Doctor William Brady, one of the foremost forensic pathologist in
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the country at the time, arrived to perform a preliminary
24:43
examination. It was observed how Doctor Brady
24:46
stood out sharply amongst the police officers and crime scene
24:50
detectives, unlike the others wearing their uniforms or
24:53
protective hazardous coveralls at the scene of a murder.
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He was dressed so finely he appeared to be a visiting
25:01
ambassador rather than a working medical examiner.
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Hailing from New York City before relocating to Oregon,
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Doctor Brady transformed the autopsy method.
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The coroner system is considered to be less superior than a
25:13
medical examiner system because it is less thorough and less
25:18
diligent. The coroner system ended in 1956
25:21
in Oregon. When Doctor Brady arrived in the
25:24
state, he established the most sophisticated state medical
25:28
examiner system in the country. In circumstances of a homicide
25:33
or suspicious death, the body isn't allowed to be removed
25:36
without formal authorization by the medical examiner.
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Therefore, the body can't be undressed, washed, or otherwise
25:44
prepared in any manner prior to an autopsy being performed.
25:48
The official cause of Linda Don Soleil's death was traumatic
25:52
asphyxiation. Seen on the victim were the
25:55
classic petechial hemorrhages, also known as pinpoint
25:58
hemorrhages on her neck, lungs, heart and eyes, which are a
26:02
result from a lack of oxygen. A hyoid bone at the back of the
26:06
tongue, which is EU shaped bone, was fractured and there was a
26:10
visible ligature mark around her neck.
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At least investigators could tell her family that she had
26:16
died quickly. Hopefully it would be a small
26:19
comfort to her loved ones. Strangulation is a relatively
26:24
merciful way to be killed. Loss of consciousness tends to
26:28
occur quite fast, sometimes within a matter of seconds, and
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death follows in silence. During the autopsy, Dr. Brady
26:36
discovered something bizarre, something that would be kept
26:41
from the media. 2 needle marks were found, one on each side of
26:47
Linda Soleil's rib cage and the skin around each puncture wound
26:52
had post mortem burns. It was something that Doctor
26:57
Brady nor the detectives had ever seen before.
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The victim also had multiple bruising contusions and
27:06
abrasions on her body, indicating that although petite
27:10
Linda Don Soleil had fought ferociously with her killer over
27:18
the weekend after her body was discovered, half of a dozen
27:21
skilled scuba divers who were part of the reserve sheriff's
27:24
team thoroughly combed each part of the Long Tom River North and
27:29
South of the Bundy Bridge. They hoped to find pieces of the
27:34
victim's clothing, a purse, something that belonged to her
27:39
or her killer, but there was nothing there except for jumbled
27:44
knots of weeds, old tires, and other junk people shouldn't have
27:49
thrown into the river. The divers were freezing and
27:53
beyond exhausted, but remained fully committed to doing
27:58
whatever was necessary to find Linda Soleil's murderer.
28:04
They may not have known the young woman, but her death and
28:08
the disturbing discovery of her body had deeply affected them
28:13
all. When Monday arrived, no one
28:16
could have expected that it wasn't something belonging to
28:19
the victim or the killer that they would discover within the
28:22
cold, dark, murky waters. But another body, only 50 feet
28:29
from where Linda Soleil had been found, laid another young woman.
28:34
She was barely floating at the surface, her body weighed down.
28:38
The girl had been tied to A6 cylinder vehicle engine.
28:43
After 46 days of waiting, hoping and wanting the worst case
28:52
scenario to not be true, there she was.
28:57
Missing person Karen Alena Sprinker had been found.
29:02
Investigators were horrified to see that the engine was bound
29:06
with the same kind of nylon cord and copper wiring, along with
29:11
the red mechanical rag tied to the engine head.
29:15
They had a serial killer. Not just any kind of serial
29:19
killer either. This man was the worst kind of
29:24
monster. A lust killer, someone who would
29:28
not stop unless he is stopped by law enforcement or he is dead.
29:35
Detectives Jim Stovall and Gene Doherty were the 2 investigators
29:40
in charge of hunting down the individual who had murdered two
29:44
young women and may be responsible for killing more.
29:50
Time was not on their side. Doctor Brady once again
29:54
performed the autopsy, and just as Linda Soleil's life was
29:58
taken, Karen Sprinkler's official cause of death was
30:01
determined to be traumatic asphyxiation.
30:05
Her neck had ligature marks from a narrower band than Linda's
30:08
had, likely from a rope. Karen Sprinker had on the same
30:13
clothing she had worn, which she was last seen as identified by
30:16
her mother, a green sweater and a green skirt.
30:20
What was bizarre to detectives is how her cotton bra, which she
30:24
was known to regularly wear, had been replaced.
30:28
The killer had dressed her in a waist length black brassiere
30:32
that was far too large. Then they made a horrifying
30:36
discovery. As Doctor Brady removed the bra,
30:40
soaked clumps of brown paper towels spilled out.
30:45
Karen Sprinker's breasts had been removed.
30:50
Both the medical examiner and the detectives were appalled and
30:54
shocked at this grisly sight. It was grotesque, disturbing and
31:01
very bizarre. The extensive search of the Long
31:04
Tom River would end a couple of days later.
31:07
No more bodies were found. Detective Jim Stovall and Jean
31:11
Doherty had little doubt that they would find the other two
31:14
missing women, Linda Slosson and Jan Whitney, alive.
31:20
Meanwhile, Detectives Stovall, Doherty and Salem Police Officer
31:25
Jim Frazier, who lent a great deal of assistance to their
31:29
homicide investigation, looked into all possible leads.
31:33
They spent days upon days and junk yards trying to identify
31:38
the auto parts that have been tied to the victims bodies.
31:43
The parts were linked to a Chevrolet model between 1953 and
31:46
1962 and the engine head weighed about 60 lbs.
31:51
Tracing the parts to an individual vehicle or even
31:54
vehicles was next to impossible and there were no serial numbers
31:59
for comparison. There was literally no way to
32:04
identify the vehicles they had come from.
32:07
The nylon cord and copper wire, in addition to the black
32:11
brassiere that had been strangely placed on Karen
32:14
Sprinkler's corpse, were also untraceable.
32:18
They were far too mass produced to yield any valuable results.
32:23
The investigation began to shift in energy and make real progress
32:27
once Jim Stovall decided to take a chance on his background in
32:31
criminal psychology and create a criminal profile for the
32:35
offender. The killer was believed to be
32:37
between 20 and 30 years old. Based on the age of his victims,
32:42
he was likely highly intelligent, or at least of
32:45
average intelligence since the knots used to tie the bodies to
32:49
the engines were intricate, indicating that the person was
32:52
skilled. The perpetrator could very well
32:55
be an electrician since the copper wire was twisted in the
32:59
same manner as electrical wiring is commonly found.
33:04
He was either from a broken home or was a child who had a
33:08
domineering mother and a weak, submissive father.
33:13
This seemed obvious to Detective Stovall because the killer had
33:17
an intense hatred for women. Based on the mutilation of Karen
33:23
Sprinkler's breasts and the desecration of their bodies
33:27
being tossed in and weighed down by vehicle engines in a river,
33:33
the offender likely had a long history of antisocial behavior.
33:39
Since the women had been strangled but not beaten, their
33:42
murderer probably wasn't an athlete.
33:45
He also was unlikely to be steadily employed because the
33:50
women had disappeared at different times of the day.
33:53
What was peculiar and hadn't really been thought about until
33:57
the profile was created, was how the man always committed these
34:01
acts toward the end of the month, as if the killer was
34:05
driven by some kind of cycle. Once this criminal profile was
34:10
made, Detective Stovall began to cross compare the cases to find
34:15
shared elements that could link the murders and disappearances
34:20
to one individual. It seemed apparent to
34:24
detectives, based on the disposal of the two bodies along
34:28
the Long Tome River that the assailant was a resident or
34:32
someone very familiar with the area.
34:36
The man would also have to be extremely strong.
34:39
Although there was an initial theory that there was more than
34:43
one person committing the murders together, this was soon
34:47
nixed due to the type of killer he was.
34:50
Lust killers perform their acts in secret.
34:53
They don't want anyone to know about their shameful, disturbing
34:58
fantasies and desires. The offender would appear
35:02
physically normal since most violent sexual offenders are
35:07
normal looking, if not attractive.
35:10
This helps them, of course, to gain access to victims, catching
35:14
them off guard. Since the murderer had chosen
35:17
his victims as far South as Eugene and as north as Portland,
35:21
that meant that his safe place, his home, was somewhere in
35:26
between these two areas. Corvallis or Salem was where he
35:31
lived. Detective Gene Doherty literally
35:36
packed up his things and moved his life over to Corvallis,
35:40
where Karen Springer had attended Oregon State
35:43
University. Along with two local police
35:46
officers, they interviewed female coeds day and night.
35:51
They asked them if they knew Karen Sprinkler about any guys
35:54
she may have dated, any weird calls she received, or
35:57
unsettling experiences she had. They then expanded this to
36:02
general, inquiring about the guys the girls dated themselves
36:06
and whom they had contact with, or if any of them in particular
36:09
stood out as strange. The officers were becoming very
36:14
frustrated, conducting the same interviews day and night until
36:20
it all felt like a dead lead. But a good detective knows that
36:26
all it takes is one person who knows something of importance to
36:32
break open a case. One day, three or four girls
36:37
describe to detectives how they had received a call to their
36:41
dorm from a stranger. The man knew them by their first
36:45
name, but none of them knew who he was.
36:50
He told them he was a Vietnam War vet and had tried to get the
36:54
girls to meet him for a Coke. One of them did end up meeting
36:58
him in the dormitory lounge one night.
37:01
She described the man as being much older than her, like 30
37:05
years old. He was overweight, his hair was
37:08
thinning, but he wasn't vulgar or rude.
37:12
He was pleasant. At one point he placed his hand
37:15
on the girl's shoulder and said be sad.
37:19
She found that odd and even laughed when he said it, telling
37:22
him she didn't feel sad about anything.
37:25
Then the strange big man said to her, think of those two girls
37:29
they found in the river, those girls who got killed.
37:33
That was an awful thing that happened to them.
37:36
She wasn't thrown off by the statement at the time because
37:39
everyone was talking about their deaths on campus.
37:42
The girl even agreed to go out with the man for a coke.
37:47
They just chit chatted for a while but when he left he asked
37:51
her why she agreed to go out with him.
37:53
When the girl said she was just curious, the stranger said to
37:57
her, how did you know I would bring you back home and not take
38:01
you to the river and strangle you?
38:04
Detectives asked the girl to make a date to meet the man in
38:08
the lounge if he ever called again.
38:10
She hesitated, but they assured her that she would never have to
38:14
see them, just to call officers for the time he would meet her
38:20
and officers would be waiting. The detectives were in shock.
38:26
Could this tall, heavy, pale faced, freckled man with reddish
38:30
blonde hair be the monster they were after?
38:35
Salem detectives have been combing through the files to
38:38
find any shared patterns. Then Detective Stovall remember
38:43
the case of the 15 year old girl Leanne Brumley, who have been
38:47
accosted and almost abducted by a large man with freckles.
38:52
The suspect had told the terrified girl, I won't rape
38:56
you, I wouldn't do that. It fell to the detectives as if
39:01
the assailant was protesting too much.
39:05
If he hadn't planned on raping her, what had his plans been for
39:09
the girl? 11 days after the girl had gone
39:12
out for a coke with this strange man, he called again.
39:15
He asked her to go out and he said he would be there in 15
39:18
minutes. The girl attempted to make
39:20
excuses, saying that it was too short a notice and that she
39:23
needed to wash her hair because she needed more time to be able
39:27
to contact the police officers and get them over to the dorm.
39:31
But the man kept insisting. So when she said she could be
39:35
ready in about 45 minutes to an hour, the man agreed to wait.
39:40
The girl immediately contacted the Corvallis Police Department.
39:44
The detectives were pumped up and ready to take down a serial
39:49
killer. When he arrived, the man
39:52
instantly looked out of place. He was massive, much older than
39:57
the students and dressed very awkwardly in a white T-shirt,
40:02
wrinkled high water slacks and a Pendleton jacket.
40:05
Local police officers Lemaire and Miller approached the man
40:09
who waited near the staircase for his date who would never
40:12
show up. When they asked the man basic
40:15
questions, he showed 0 signs of stress or concern as to why
40:19
police officers were bothering him.
40:22
He said his name was Jerry Brutos.
40:24
He lived in Salem but was taking care of a friend's house in the
40:27
area while he was on vacation. The man provided the officers
40:31
with both his family home and his friend's address.
40:34
The man said he worked as an electrician and he confessed to
40:38
being married and having two kids.
40:40
Officers had nothing to bring the man in on.
40:44
They couldn't hold him for meeting up with a pretty Coed.
40:47
Police did notice that he didn't drive AGM or Chevrolet model,
40:52
but a bluish green station wagon that had seen better days.
40:56
But now they finally had a name and a face to investigate and
41:02
unearth the background of a potential serial predator.
41:07
Detectives discovered that Jerome Bruto's, known as Jerry,
41:11
have been committed to the Oregon State Hospital for
41:13
violent sexual offenses as a young man.
41:17
There was nothing further on his criminal record which indicated
41:20
he had either gotten better or he had avoided treatment.
41:23
Once Detective Stovall and Doherty began to look at the
41:26
coincidences between Jerome Brutos and his victims, they
41:31
were increasingly more confident they had found their suspect.
41:35
In January 1968, when Linda Slauson vanished, Jerome Brutos
41:39
resided in the same neighborhood.
41:41
She was selling encyclopedias. He had been working in Lebanon,
41:45
which he would have to commute to using the I5 freeway, the
41:48
same area from where Jan Whitney had disappeared, Jerome Brutus
41:53
currently worked, and Halsey, which was only 6 miles away from
41:57
the Long Tom River. And when Karen Springer went
42:01
missing from the department store parking garage, Brutus's
42:04
house was only a few blocks away.
42:08
Investigators were anxious to have further contact with a
42:12
strange man identified as Jerome Henry Brutos.
42:16
Officer Frazier with the Salem Police Department made a casual
42:19
visit to his residence on Center St.
42:21
The two chatted it up inside the old garage.
42:24
Brutos had made it to his darkroom and workshop.
42:27
The officer observed how the place had a plethora of ropes,
42:32
knots, and even a hook that hung in the ceiling.
42:36
Something about the place fascinated him but also freaked
42:41
him out. When Frazier reported back to
42:44
the homicide detectives about what he had seen, he told them
42:49
he would like for them to go back with him and talk to Brutus
42:52
further because he just had this feeling.
42:56
When Detective Stovall arrived at Jerome Brutus's house, he was
43:01
taken back, even surprised by how unthreatening the man
43:04
appeared to be. He had pictured him as being
43:07
this massive, oversized man who was intimidating.
43:13
Instead, he was greeted by an overgrown Pillsbury Doughboy.
43:18
Even worse, the guy seemed like a loser, the kind of guy that
43:22
was chosen last for a team and definitely not a man who would
43:28
spark women's attention. His heavily lidded eyes sloped
43:33
at the outer corners and his chin and cheeks were overly
43:37
fleshy. Detective Stovall intended to
43:40
show a picture of Jerry Brutos to the girl, Leanne Brumley, who
43:44
had claimed he had tried to abduct her to confirm they were
43:47
the same person. He saw that the station wagon
43:51
identified as his was in the driveway.
43:54
That didn't add up since Leanne had said that the man was in a
43:58
small sports car. Stovall asked Brutos if that was
44:02
his only car, to which he replied it was.
44:05
But when he inquired as to if he ever drove a different car, he
44:08
said that sometimes he borrowed his friend's.
44:11
Carmen Guillen. OK, thought the detective, that
44:16
made more sense. Carmen Guilles are small sports
44:20
cars. Investigators requested to look
44:22
more around Jerry Brutus's garage.
44:26
Officer Fraser and Detective Stovall both saw that there were
44:29
weights hanging from rope and the knots mirrored that which
44:33
bound the two dead girls to the engines in the Long Tom River,
44:37
Both the rope and nylon cord hanging with the exact type of
44:43
material and size. Bertos noticed how Officer
44:47
Fraser seemed entranced by the knot.
44:51
He looked at him half smiling and said, you seem to be
44:56
interested in that knot, go ahead and take it if you want
44:59
to. Frazier obliged and cut 2 short
45:02
lengths of the rope, making sure that it included the knot.
45:07
Brutos said goodbye to the detectives and they went on
45:09
their way. For someone who was the prime
45:13
suspect in at least two brutal slangs, Jerome Brutos acted as
45:19
if he had not a care in the world.
45:21
Detectives had nothing substantial on him, not yet.
45:27
But a serial killer always leaves their mark behind.
45:32
The truth was that this second visit to his home, in particular
45:38
inside his garage, had left Jerome Burdos uneasy.
45:44
He knew the police were watching his every move.
45:49
The next day, he contacted Salem Attorney Dale Drake and
45:53
requested a meeting. Brutos told Drake that he was
45:57
having problems with the police and he wanted him to investigate
46:02
as to why they were looking at him.
46:04
Attorney Dale Drake refused to have any retainer and he told
46:09
Brutos that he would look into it and if necessary he would
46:13
represent him on Wednesday, May 28th.
46:17
The following day, officers served Jerome Brutos a warrant
46:22
to search the two vehicles. The station wagon was spotless
46:26
and damp. Brutus claimed that he had taken
46:29
the vehicle into one of those drive through car washes and his
46:32
little boy rolled down the window.
46:34
That Friday evening, Detectives Stovall and Daugherty headed to
46:38
Corvallis with an arrest warrant for assault with a dangerous
46:42
weapon in his attack on Leanne Brumley, but the Brutus family
46:47
wasn't there. Fortunately, police had been
46:52
conducting 24/7 surveillance on him, and they followed the
46:55
vehicle as it took off north on the I-5 freeway.
46:59
Jerome Bruto's had been driving, but while enroute, Darcy, his
47:03
wife, took over and Jerry lay down in the back seat.
47:08
Detectives followed suit behind the undercover police cars who
47:11
tailed them. As soon as the first car got
47:14
close enough, they placed their siren on top of the roof and
47:18
pulled them over. Detective Doherty approached the
47:21
suspect's vehicle at one side, and Detective Stovall and Miller
47:24
went to the other. They observed Brutus's wife
47:28
sitting in the driver's seat, who looked very worried and was
47:31
fumbling to retrieve her license, asking the officer what
47:35
she had done wrong. Then Detective Doherty shined
47:38
his flashlight in the back seat and discovered Jerome Brutos
47:42
hidden underneath the blanket. Officers read him his Miranda
47:46
rights, placed him under arrest, and brought him back to the
47:49
Salem Police Station. It was all a routine procedure.
47:53
That is until Jerome Brutos undressed a change into the jail
47:57
coveralls. The officers were shocked to see
48:00
that this massive, everyday working man was wearing sheer
48:05
women's panties. He immediately told them that he
48:08
had sensitive skin. The detectives remained silent.
48:12
What was perhaps even more disturbing was when Officer
48:15
Frazier searched through the contents of Jerry Brutus's
48:18
wallet. Inside one of the folds, hidden
48:22
deeply inside, was a tiny photograph.
48:26
It appeared to be a Polaroid picture that was cut into a
48:29
rectangular shape, only one inch by 1 1/2 inches.
48:33
The woman was nude, but the photograph was cut so that her
48:37
head and her feet were not showing.
48:39
Behind the girl was a Sears Craftsman tool chest.
48:43
Who was this woman and was she still alive?
48:48
Officer Frazier wondered these questions to himself as he
48:51
placed the image inside a glassine envelope to protect it
48:55
from further damage. At the time of her husband's
48:59
booking, Darcy Brutus believed that her husband had been
49:02
arrested for carrying a concealed weapon.
49:04
But the truth was much more darker and ominous than she had
49:10
ever imagined. And Jerome Brutus was
49:14
narcissistic and delusional enough to believe he could get
49:19
away with it all. Once the interrogation process
49:22
began, Jerome Bruto strongly believed that he was smarter
49:25
than any detective, even boasted to multiple officers as well as
49:30
his lawyer Dale Drake, that he had an IQ of 166, which would
49:35
indicate that his intelligence was beyond that of a genius.
49:38
But like most parts of Jerry Bruto's, it was all a lie.
49:43
In reality, he had been tested at 105.
49:47
However, in his mind he was a genius and he was overly
49:51
confident that no investigator in the country could outwit him.
49:56
Detective Stovall, who was a renowned police interrogator,
49:59
considered one of the very best in the country, first sat down
50:04
with the suspect. He observed how Jerome Brutos
50:07
was cocky, abnormally calm with no signs of stress or concern.
50:12
Detective Stovall asked him questions similar to what you
50:16
would ask someone if they were a prospective employee. 0 signs of
50:20
agitation or panic were shown from the suspects.
50:24
Hours later, Jerome Brutos asked to speak to him.
50:28
Detective Stovall listened to the big man inquire as to how
50:31
they do their job knowing things without having any proof.
50:35
He spoke of how frustrating it must be for the detectives.
50:39
Detective Stovall compared it to a puzzle that slowly and
50:43
gradually came together, but without knowing the cover on the
50:48
box. It took time.
50:51
Then he brought up Brutus's troubles back in his teens.
50:55
The suspect shrugged it off like it was no big deal.
50:59
It was a long time ago. He was just a kid then.
51:02
Brutus kept tethering on the edges with the detective, trying
51:06
to pull information from Detective Stovall, desperate to
51:11
figure out what the detectives did know.
51:15
Their cat and mouse game continued on for three long
51:19
days, their conversations creeping closer and closer to
51:25
discussing the girl's murders. Meanwhile, the suspect's wife,
51:29
Darcy Bertos, received a bizarre call from jail.
51:33
Her husband asked her to go inside his workshop and locate 2
51:37
boxes, one with women's clothing and another which held
51:42
photographs. He wanted her to burn them.
51:46
When Darcy asked him as to why, Jerry simply said that the
51:50
police were asking a lot of questions and he was afraid they
51:54
would try to use the items against him.
51:56
But Darcy couldn't do it. She called his lawyer, Dale
52:00
Drake, about the situation. The attorney wisely informed her
52:05
that if she destroyed what could be evidence against her husband,
52:09
she could be incriminated. Darcy took the lawyer's advice.
52:14
She never went to the workshop and she never told her husband
52:18
Jerry that she didn't destroy his boxes of trophies.
52:22
Instead, she packed up some clothes for herself and the kids
52:26
and went to stay with her parents.
52:29
The next time they spoke, it was Jerome Brutos that asked to
52:33
speak to Detective Stovall. He straight up asked him.
52:37
How would you know if I did it? Stovall played coy with him and
52:41
replied. What exactly are you talking
52:43
about, Jerry? Almost flustered, Jerry replied.
52:48
The girls. If you thought I'd killed the
52:49
girls. How would you know anything if I
52:52
didn't tell you, Detective Stovall looked him straight in
52:56
the eyes and said certain things.
52:59
We know certain things, you know.
53:03
He could see the curiosity spilling over in Jerome Brutus's
53:09
mind. What kind of things?
53:11
He asked the detective. Stovall could sense the change
53:15
in him. Jerome Brutos was itching to
53:19
know what the detectives knew. When Stovall mentioned that
53:24
maybe he knew something about clothing, clothing that seemed
53:28
out of place. Jerome Brutos then blurred out.
53:31
You must mean the bra. Detective Stovall did his best
53:35
to not react to the comment, only nodding his head quietly in
53:41
return. But at that moment he knew they
53:46
had the psycho who had mutilated Karen Sprinkler's body and had
53:50
dressed her into the black brassiere.
53:53
Only the detectives, the medical examiner and her killer knew
53:59
about the black bra homicide. Investigator Stovall didn't want
54:03
to scare Jerome Brutals off as he was slowly opening up to him,
54:09
so he moved on from the conversation.
54:12
When they discussed his meeting the Coed at the dormitory,
54:15
Jerome Brutos told him that the girl was just someone to talk
54:18
to, but that she wasn't really his type.
54:21
When the detective inquired as to what kind of women were his
54:24
type, he said he loved women who got really dressed up and wore
54:28
high heels, stressing that he really liked shoes.
54:34
Stovall observed how excited Brutos became just talking about
54:40
high heels. Then he spontaneously told him
54:44
that he had a collection and he admitted to stealing them from
54:49
women. Detective Stovall acted very
54:52
interested in how he did that, but then Jerome Brutos clamped
54:58
up, saying his lawyer doesn't want him talking to police.
55:02
The detective realized then that nothing was going to stop Jerome
55:08
Brutos from talking. He wanted nothing more than to
55:12
brag to a captive audience, and he had Detective Stovall's full
55:19
attention. Jerome Brutos began to tell the
55:22
detective about a woman back in Portland whom he saw driving
55:25
around one day while working. She had on these high heels that
55:30
made him fall in love at first sight, not with the woman, but
55:35
with her heels. He had to have them.
55:38
So he followed her back to her apartment, jotted down the
55:41
address and returned there early in the morning.
55:44
The suspect openly confessed to how he had taken off the woman's
55:48
window screen, which was partially open, and entered her
55:52
apartment. Brutus claimed that he was there
55:56
only after her shoes, but then the woman suddenly awoke.
56:01
Jerome Brutos told the detective very matter of factly how he had
56:06
to choke the woman so she didn't see him.
56:08
Then he unbuttoned her pyjama top, pulled off her pants, and
56:12
had sex with her. He simply stated that the woman
56:16
was fine and she woke up when he was done.
56:20
Jerome stole three pairs of her high heels and a bra.
56:24
Detective Stovall asked him if that was when he stole the black
56:27
bra, and he clarified that no, that was not the one they had
56:31
been discussing earlier. That one had been much larger
56:35
one which he had stolen off of a clothesline a few years back in
56:39
Portland. Jerome Brutos acted as if it was
56:42
a perfectly normal and rational thing to do, breaking into
56:45
women's homes or taking items off of clotheslines to add to
56:50
his perverse collection. And most disturbingly was how he
56:55
described the rape of the woman as if it were an accident,
57:00
something that just happened in the process of his trying to
57:04
steal her shoes. Detective Stovall held back any
57:08
expressions of shock or judgement while Jerome Brutos
57:13
spilled his stories. He didn't want anything to
57:16
prevent him from sharing more. The victim would later be
57:20
identified as his survivor, Joyce Lynn Cassell.
57:25
When the detective asked Jerome Brutos if anything else happened
57:28
while he lived in Portland, to his shock and excitement, Brutos
57:33
plainly replied. Do you mean the girl with
57:35
encyclopedias? The officer said yes, her name
57:40
was Linda. Jerome Brutos then unravelled
57:45
the truth behind what happened to the young woman that night.
57:51
When he saw her on the street, he waved her over and invited
57:55
her down to his workshop, lying to her that he had company in
57:59
the main house upstairs. Then, as she sat on a stool he
58:04
had offered her, he picked up a 2 by 4 and swung it at her head.
58:11
The girl collapsed to the ground and he choked her to death.
58:16
Detective Stovall again didn't show any signs of judgement or
58:21
emotion at all at his confession to the first murder.
58:27
He accepted it with calmness, which invited Jerome Brutos to
58:33
open up about the others. Detective Stovall listened
58:39
patiently as he provided him with the horrifying details of
58:45
what he had done to Linda Slauson.
58:50
When Jerome Brutus was confident that Linda Slassen was dead, he
58:54
stopped squeezing and just stared at her.
58:59
He was overwhelmed with joy that he had at last accomplished his
59:03
ultimate dream to have a woman to do whatever he wanted with.
59:09
She had no power to say no to him.
59:13
First he looked at her hair, which he disapproved of.
59:16
It was cut in a stylish but boyish look.
59:20
All of a sudden, he heard a movement upstairs.
59:23
His mother and his daughter were making noise.
59:27
He walked back upstairs and instructed his mother to go buy
59:30
him a double cheeseburger, but he wanted her and his daughter
59:35
to eat at the restaurant first before they returned with his
59:38
food. His mother hemmed and hawed
59:42
about the dark and the rain and how she didn't want to go out in
59:45
it, but he eventually got his way.
59:49
Once his mother and daughter left, he returned to the
59:52
basement and looked at the young woman again.
59:56
A loud sound interrupted his plans.
59:59
This time the footsteps were heavy like a man's.
1:00:05
Jerome Brutos dragged Linda's body and hit her in the dark
1:00:08
space under the steps. He also concealed her bag of
1:00:13
brochures and samples in the corner.
1:00:16
Then he left through the back door and walked around to the
1:00:19
front of the house. His workshop was detached from
1:00:22
the main house and was connected through a breezeway.
1:00:26
It was his friend Ned Rawls who had a key, which Jerome Brutus
1:00:31
was really unhappy at that exact moment he had given him.
1:00:36
Ned wanted to chat, so he had to remain calm and cool as if
1:00:41
everything was normal. He had little time to be alone
1:00:45
with the girl, but he had to behave as if she didn't exist.
1:00:50
Jerome talked small talk with Ned for around 10 minutes or so
1:00:54
and then finally got him to leave by telling him that he had
1:00:58
nitroglycerin he needed to take care of in the shop.
1:01:02
When he returned to the girl, Brutus was disappointed at how
1:01:06
boring her clothing was, but he was in for a pleasant surprise
1:01:11
when he took them off. Underneath she wore a blue bra
1:01:15
slip and girdle with red panties.
1:01:18
Brutus removed all of her clothing and then effortlessly
1:01:21
redressed her. The time he had spent unhooking
1:01:25
and rehooking the girdles of women's undergarments he had
1:01:29
stolen throughout the years had paid off.
1:01:32
Brutus ended up having a lot of time with her before his mother
1:01:36
and daughter returned with his food.
1:01:38
Yet he was still pissed off and annoyed when he heard his mother
1:01:42
tapping on the floor. Jerome Brutos didn't have sex
1:01:46
with the girl when he finally returned to the basement.
1:01:49
That didn't feel necessary, having all of these beautiful
1:01:52
undergarments of hers. He became upset with himself
1:01:57
though when he realized he didn't have any film for his
1:02:00
camera. He beat himself up for a while
1:02:04
about that, but reminded himself that the opportunity with the
1:02:08
girl selling encyclopaedias wasn't something he had
1:02:11
expected, much less planned. She was his for the moment, but
1:02:18
he knew that he couldn't keep her body for too long as it
1:02:21
would begin to decompose. He had so many panties and bras
1:02:26
and shoes that hers weren't necessary for his collection,
1:02:30
but he had to have something of hers.
1:02:33
Jerome Brutos decided to take her left foot.
1:02:38
The saw cut clearly through her ankle, but it looked weird on
1:02:42
its own. He decided to place it in one of
1:02:46
her heels and then stored it inside the freezer.
1:02:51
His mother and wife were already asleep, so it was a good time to
1:02:55
get rid of the body. He drove out to the Willamette
1:02:59
River and pretended he had a flat tire.
1:03:02
Brutus tossed her body, in which he had tied an engine head to,
1:03:06
off the bridge railing. He watched as the river pulled
1:03:10
her body in and under, and then he drove back home.
1:03:13
He ended up using the foot as a prop to model his other heels on
1:03:18
for a while. That is, until he became tired
1:03:21
of it too, and decided to toss the dismembered foot into the
1:03:25
same river. Detective Stovall felt sickened
1:03:30
and stunned by what the suspect had confessed to, but it was
1:03:36
only the beginning and he had to remain composed and calm and
1:03:43
listen. Next, Jerome Brutos admitted to
1:03:47
having abducted and murdered Jan Susan Whitney on November 26th,
1:03:52
1968. Jerome Brutos found an outlet
1:03:56
for his growing anxiety around his unfulfilled fantasies that
1:04:01
kept causing him agonizing headaches and dizziness.
1:04:05
The young woman's vehicle had broken down in the freeway as he
1:04:07
was driving back home from work. She wasn't alone though, which
1:04:11
was news to the detectives. There have been two guys with
1:04:15
her, two hippie types. Jerome pulled over and offered
1:04:19
to help fix her car, but he didn't have his tools on him, so
1:04:23
all three of them drove with him towards Salem.
1:04:27
He dropped the two guys off on an on ramp so they could head
1:04:30
north and drove Jen back to his residence.
1:04:34
He then lied to her and said that his wife wasn't home yet
1:04:38
and he didn't have his keys. Bruto struck up a bizarre
1:04:42
conversation with the girl. He said to her how it was a
1:04:45
funny thing to ask someone to close their eyes while trying to
1:04:48
explain how to tie a shoe since they can't see.
1:04:53
The girl turned around to face him and began to emulate tying a
1:04:56
shoe with her hands. Brutus clarified that that isn't
1:04:59
what he meant, and he had her face back toward the front and
1:05:04
asked her to instruct him what to do without using her hands.
1:05:08
Then he pulled out a mailman's leather strap.
1:05:12
He had gone from the house when he pretended he couldn't enter.
1:05:15
It made a loop around her head and tightened the ligature
1:05:20
around her throat. He opened the rear door and
1:05:24
pulled his end of the strap through the door and closed it.
1:05:27
This in turn pulled the girl back and bent her into a
1:05:31
backwards position on the seat. She wasn't moving.
1:05:34
Brutus returned back to his house to make sure his wife
1:05:37
hadn't come back yet from her friends.
1:05:39
Fortunately Darcy wasn't home so he went back to the vehicle and
1:05:43
had sex with the girl's dead body.
1:05:46
Detective Stovall felt the nausea rising, and as much as he
1:05:51
wanted to bolt from the room, away from this sick, predatory
1:05:56
monster, he wouldn't allow himself to budget.
1:06:01
That wasn't the end of the story.
1:06:03
Jerome Brutos next dragged Jan's remains back to his workshop.
1:06:07
Later on in the night, he sexually satisfied himself again
1:06:11
with her corpse and dressed her from pieces of his collection.
1:06:15
Capturing the moments on film. Brutos hung Jan Whitney up on
1:06:19
the rope that he and Frazier had seen on the ceiling in his
1:06:22
garage that day, never imagining the worst possible scenario
1:06:29
could ever happen. The girl hung there for several
1:06:33
days. Each day after work, he would
1:06:37
pull her down, dress her up, have sex with her decomposing
1:06:42
body and capture each moment with more pictures.
1:06:46
But Brutos wanted something more of hers, something he could have
1:06:50
forever. He got the idea of making a
1:06:54
paperweight from her breast. Jerome Brutos discussed the
1:06:58
mutilation and desecration of the woman's body as if he were
1:07:02
discussing a mechanical or engineering process.
1:07:06
He cut off her right breast, skinned it and stretched it on a
1:07:10
sawdust mound, tacking its edges to a board.
1:07:13
Then he made a mold using plastic.
1:07:16
But he added too much hardener and the final product just
1:07:19
wasn't what he was hoping for. This kind of fetish induced body
1:07:24
mutilation was extremely rare. The only person up to that point
1:07:29
known in history was the psychotic mother hating loner Ed
1:07:34
Gain who had killed his mother and another older woman and
1:07:37
crafted vests from their skin. Jerome Brutus's bragging voice
1:07:43
interrupted Detective Stovall's thoughts, telling him how the
1:07:47
police almost caught him that Thanksgiving weekend.
1:07:50
This was the first Detective Stovall had heard of the
1:07:53
incident since it wasn't under their division.
1:07:57
Two days later, after Jerome Brutos had abducted Jan Whitney,
1:08:01
a car spun out of control and crashed into their garage while
1:08:07
he and his family were away on holiday.
1:08:09
It caused damage to the structure and punched a hole in
1:08:13
the exterior wall. Since the doors were all locked,
1:08:17
investigators were unable to determine the extent of the
1:08:20
damage the accident caused. An officer left a card and asked
1:08:24
for the owner to contact them. That same weekend, the vehicle
1:08:29
had struck Jerome Brutus's garage.
1:08:32
Jan Whitney's body was hanging in his workshop.
1:08:38
When Jerome returned from the Thanksgiving holiday.
1:08:40
He contacted the Salem Police accident officer and unlocked
1:08:43
the door so he could judge the damage done inside the garage.
1:08:47
When the officer left, he nailed boards over the fractured wood
1:08:51
and his torture shop was sealed off again.
1:08:55
To think, if the police had pride into his workshop a bit
1:08:59
closer on that initial day of the wreck, they would have seen
1:09:03
the girl hanging and two innocent young women's lives may
1:09:09
have been spared. Then he later disposed of her in
1:09:12
the river. When Detective Stovall pressed
1:09:15
him on whether it was the Willamette or maybe the Long Tom
1:09:18
River, Jerome Brutos climbed up. It was as if he was so
1:09:24
delusional that he believed he would get away with her murder
1:09:29
if they couldn't find her remains.
1:09:31
He also admitted to having used his car to tow hers back to the
1:09:34
rest stop where the police discovered her abandoned
1:09:37
vehicle. The one thing Jerome Brutos was
1:09:40
really dumb about was the law. But even Stovall had to admit to
1:09:44
himself that a confession wasn't always enough.
1:09:49
In almost every sensationalized murder case, especially those
1:09:52
involving serial homicide, half a dozen or more men will come
1:09:57
forward claiming to be the culprit.
1:09:59
Whether it's a matter of their own distorted self perception
1:10:03
that desperately is craving attention, fame, or they're
1:10:07
mentally ill, it was a fact that men confessed to crimes they
1:10:11
didn't commit without a body. Even the most graphic and
1:10:15
grotesque of details that Jerome Brutos provided the police with
1:10:20
may not hold up in court without a way to prove how the women
1:10:24
were killed. Detective Stovall was scrutinous
1:10:28
and diligent with every detail Jerome Brutos gave him.
1:10:33
Every time he left the interrogation room, he would
1:10:36
pass his notes over to Detective Frazier and others on the team
1:10:40
to look into each piece of his story.
1:10:43
Even if not every piece that he spoke about fit.
1:10:47
There was nothing that could explain Jerome Bruto's being
1:10:50
aware of the long black bra, a detail he offered up that no one
1:10:57
knew about. It would be a gross
1:10:59
understatement that Detective Stovall was overwhelmed by the
1:11:05
horror of Jerome Brutus's crimes, but he knew he had to
1:11:10
return to listen to more. It was for the girls, these
1:11:18
young women whose voices had been silenced by this monster.
1:11:25
He had to do it for them. Next time Detective Stovall met
1:11:29
with the suspect, he learned about the doomed fate of Karen
1:11:32
Sprinker. That day, Jerome Brutos decided
1:11:35
to drive around the area near the department store, Meyer and
1:11:38
Frank, Despite the fact that he was feeling terrible, actually
1:11:42
too lazy to even work that day, he watched and got really
1:11:47
excited when he spotted a young woman wearing a mini skirt and
1:11:51
high heels. He parked in the store's parking
1:11:54
garage and searched for the girl for more than an hour in the
1:11:57
department store, but he never spotted her again.
1:12:01
So Jerome Brutos gave up and decided to leave.
1:12:04
While walking back, he spotted a different girl.
1:12:08
He thought she was pretty, so as she was about to pull open the
1:12:11
door between the garage and the department store, he grabbed her
1:12:15
by the shoulder. The girl turned around to see a
1:12:17
pistol pointing at her. Brutos lied, telling her that if
1:12:21
she doesn't scream, he wouldn't hurt her, if she came with him,
1:12:25
he wouldn't harm her. Then he forced the girl into his
1:12:28
vehicle and drove her back to his house and put her inside the
1:12:31
garage. Jerome Brutos asked the girl if
1:12:34
she had ever been with a man before, to which she said no,
1:12:37
she was a virgin and she was on her period.
1:12:41
This startled the detective as no one but them knew Karen
1:12:46
Sprinker had been on her period when she disappeared.
1:12:50
Jerome Brutos then flatly confessed to having raped the
1:12:54
girl on his workshop floor. The girl never fought him off or
1:12:58
resisted at all, believing him when he said he wouldn't kill
1:13:03
her if she did what he wanted. He even allowed her to use the
1:13:07
bathroom inside the house since his wife Darcy was away.
1:13:13
When she returned, he dressed her in clothes and shoes and
1:13:17
took a lot of pictures of her. Karen Springer still believed he
1:13:21
would let her go. Instead Brutos tied her hands
1:13:25
behind her back, placed a rope around her neck and using his
1:13:30
come along which hoisted her up on the hook.
1:13:34
A come along is a hand held lever operated tool that is used
1:13:39
to pull, lift or stretch heavy loads.
1:13:42
Brutos pulled it once more and asked her if it was too tight,
1:13:48
to which Karen weakly replied yes.
1:13:50
Then he pulled it three more times, lifting her off the
1:13:54
ground completely. He watched as her feet kicked
1:14:00
until she took her last breath. After having some family time,
1:14:05
Jerome Brutos later returned to the workshop to have sex with
1:14:10
her dead body. He wanted to attempt making more
1:14:13
paperweights, so he cut off both of Karen Sprinkler's breasts and
1:14:18
made some. He spoke of how he was still a
1:14:21
bit disappointed and how they turned out, but told Detective
1:14:26
Stovall how they were much better than the other girl, Jan
1:14:31
Whitney. Stovall pointed out his victim's
1:14:33
name to him. They were only dolls to him,
1:14:36
nameless pretty young women, playthings he plucked off the
1:14:41
street to fulfill his vile sexual fantasies.
1:14:45
Detective Stovall had to force himself to stay focused on what
1:14:49
mattered most, getting this evil maniac away from women and girls
1:14:55
for good. Jerome Brutos continued on with
1:14:58
his monologue. He discussed how he dressed
1:15:01
Karen Sprinker in the long black brassiere, which now Brutos
1:15:05
couldn't recall where or whom he had stolen it from.
1:15:09
He piled up paper towels in there to stop her from bleeding
1:15:13
in the car. He weighed her body down with
1:15:17
the engine head and dumped it in the Long Tom River.
1:15:21
Stovall asked him about where the pictures were of Karen
1:15:24
Sprinker now. Jerome Bruto smiled victoriously
1:15:29
at the detective, saying they were all gone, they had all been
1:15:34
destroyed. Little did he know that the one
1:15:38
woman he trusted and loved to the extent he was capable of
1:15:43
doing had not done what he had asked of her.
1:15:47
Not this time. Darcy Brutos had betrayed him.
1:15:52
Detective Stovall had to take a break from speaking with this
1:15:57
twisted, disgusting piece of filth who went on and on as if
1:16:02
he had a captive audience eager to listen to the next chapter of
1:16:09
horror. He wasn't, but sooner than later
1:16:13
he would have to listen to more and pretend he didn't want to
1:16:17
carve out his own ears or conceal his desire to call him
1:16:23
out for the monster Jerome Brutos was.
1:16:28
While Detective Stovall spent some time decompressing from the
1:16:32
nightmares of what Jerome Brutos put these young women and their
1:16:38
bodies through, he expressed no remorse, showed no guilt or care
1:16:44
in the world except for his own needs.
1:16:48
He endlessly whined about the conditions in jail, the terrible
1:16:52
food, the uncomfortable bed, how much he wanted to see and speak
1:16:56
to Darcy and the kids. Next was Linda Don Soleil, but
1:17:01
Jerome Brutos first was anxious to reveal that he had two
1:17:05
failures along the way, his assault on Sharon Wood and the
1:17:11
attempted abduction of Leanne Brumley.
1:17:16
Then it was Linda Soleil's turn. He almost laughed about how easy
1:17:22
it was to get her to come with him, showing her his fake police
1:17:26
badge and making up a story about taking her in for
1:17:29
shoplifting. As they drove to his house and
1:17:32
into the garage, Brutos was not expecting to see his wife home.
1:17:38
He had instructed the girl to follow him into the house, but
1:17:41
then Darcy appeared out of nowhere on the back porch,
1:17:45
telling him dinner was ready soon.
1:17:47
Brutos lied to his wife and said go back inside the house and
1:17:50
stay there while he finished up something important in his
1:17:53
workshop. He dragged Linda in there, tied
1:17:57
her up, and then went to eat dinner with Darcy and the kids.
1:18:01
What was even crazier than the fact that this psychopath was
1:18:05
casually having a family dinner while a young woman was tied up
1:18:09
in his workshop was how when Brutus returned later on, the
1:18:13
girl had loosened up the knot. The girl had not attempted to
1:18:16
escape. There was even a phone out there
1:18:20
which she could have used to call the cops, but she did
1:18:22
nothing to leave. She just stood there as if
1:18:27
waiting for him to return. It was beyond bizarre.
1:18:31
But only Linda Soleil knows what happened that day and why she
1:18:37
was still there. Sometimes in moments of terror
1:18:40
and panic, people freeze. They become immobile and aren't
1:18:45
able to run, paralysed in fear. Or maybe it was just another in
1:18:50
an endless parade of delusions Jerome Brutos held and told
1:18:55
himself. Brutos admitted to Detective
1:18:57
Stovall how Linda Soleil had fought him off.
1:19:01
She struggled and battled with him tirelessly until he managed
1:19:06
to get the postal strap around her neck and pull her off the
1:19:10
ground. As she was hoisted up using his
1:19:12
comalong, the girl turned to him and asked.
1:19:16
Why are you doing this to me, To this?
1:19:19
Jerome Brutos just pulled the strap tighter and the tiny
1:19:22
girl's body went limp. He laid her on the floor and
1:19:26
sexually assaulted her as she died.
1:19:29
This girl had kicked him and scratched him and went to war
1:19:34
with him, trying to live in Jerome Brutus's mind that had to
1:19:41
be punished. He hung her up on the hook in
1:19:44
the ceiling as the others before her, but this time Brutus
1:19:49
decided to experiment on the girl.
1:19:51
He went on to describe to Detective Stovall how he had
1:19:55
stuck 2 hypodermic needles, one on each side of her rib cage,
1:19:59
and attached electric leads to them.
1:20:02
Brutus then plugged in the leads to watch what her corpse would
1:20:06
do. What would it do?
1:20:09
Would it dance? But to his disappointment, it
1:20:12
only burned her flesh. This is why she had the burned
1:20:16
marks, Stovall realized. That made sense now.
1:20:20
It had really puzzled both him and Doctor Brady.
1:20:26
Jerome Brutos attempted to make more paperweights from her
1:20:30
breasts, placing cones over them instead of cutting them off, but
1:20:34
it didn't work because the epoxy got too hot.
1:20:38
He described the process to Detective Stovall whether he
1:20:42
wanted to hear it or not. When a breast was salted down
1:20:46
and dried, they shrunk to 1/3 of the size so he never got to make
1:20:51
a perfect mould. Brutus kept her body for another
1:20:54
night before tossing her body way down with the engine in the
1:20:57
Long Tom River. It was too much for Detective
1:21:02
Stovall to absorb or digest. Jerome Brutus was the monster of
1:21:09
all serial killers. Thank God he would never have
1:21:12
the opportunity to perfect his breast paperweights or ever
1:21:17
place a rope around a young woman's neck again.
1:21:22
Detective Stovall wondered if he would be able to eat or sleep
1:21:27
normally ever again. On June 2nd, 1969, the media and
1:21:34
the public finally got a name and face to the monster who had
1:21:39
been hunting and killing young women in their communities.
1:21:44
Marion County District Attorney Gary Gortmaker announced a
1:21:48
charge of first degree murder against then 30 year old Jerome
1:21:53
Henry Burdos, a Salem electrician, for the death of 19
1:21:57
year old Karen Alena Springer. This ends Part 1 of the Shoe
1:22:04
Fetish Slayer. Next episode I will explore the
1:22:09
horrific discoveries made during the search of his property, the
1:22:14
criminal trial, and discuss the dark depths of the life and mind
1:22:21
of serial killer Jerome Henry Brutos.
1:22:25
Please be sure to follow the show so you never miss an
1:22:28
episode. Thank you so much for listening.
1:22:31
I appreciate each and everyone of you.
1:22:33
Your support and your feedback means everything, so please make
1:22:38
sure to leave a rating and leave a review.
1:22:42
It really makes a difference. If you have any questions,
1:22:46
thoughts, ideas for future episodes, I would love to hear
1:22:49
from you. Please reach out.
1:22:51
You can find my contact information in the description
1:22:54
below. Until next time, stay safe and
1:23:00
watch out for Shades of Murder happening in the streets next
1:23:05
door, especially inside your own home.
1:23:10
Shades of Murder is created, researched, written and edited
1:23:15
by Alita Caldwell. Original music Stranger composed
1:23:20
by Stereo Code.