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The Cowboy Fantasy That Turned Into a Killing Spree · FBI Files

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Scenes from this show have been recreated. In the Pacific Northwest,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Arima Grutli would unite three women who would never meet
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: to eat. The first disappeared months before her wedding. The
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: second also disappeared, leaving behind two children. And the third
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: survived a night of terror and spoke for the others
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: she never met. The search for a serial killer took
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: FBI agents across the country as they followed his deadly trail.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Evidence piled up. They had no obvious suspects. The mall
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: was bombed. Ted Kinski was arrested. Fugitive on a high.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: The FBI files. The disappearance of women sparked a manhunt
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: in the Pacific Northwest. Even a media blitz wasn't enough
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: to track down the drifter who first charmed them and
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: then murdered them. As investigators continued to follow his trail,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: he was always one step ahead. I'm Jim Castro, former
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: director of the FBI in New York. In a case
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: that made the 10 most wanted list, agents hoped that
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: by having a victim, The killer would forgive him. It
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: would help bring about his punishment. Deadly trail. March 28, 1987,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Laurent Crosston. Left a party in suburban Tacoma, Washington in
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: the early morning hours. He was looking forward to a
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: day of fishing.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: I'm having a good time.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Laurent's girlfriend... Robin Smith, age 22, decided to stay. She
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: was having a good time. Robin assured her she would
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: be fine. God, I love you. And I love you. Okay.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: A guy she had met at the party was giving
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: her a ride home. After fishing all day, Loran fell asleep.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: He was tired. Wake up until Sunday afternoon. Robin. Hadn't
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: seen his girlfriend since the party two days before. Robin was... Worried,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: the young man called Robin's mother. Hello. Edna Smith assumed
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: her daughter was with Loran. Now, let me see. Wait
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: a minute. Robin... She checked Robin's old room. Robin?
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: No, I haven't seen her.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Maybe she got in really late and didn't hear her.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: You can check her room. Lon told her not to worry. Okay,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: she'd be there in a few minutes. Maybe Robin had
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: decided to spend the weekend with her friends. An hour later,
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Loran and Robin's brother arrived at the apartment. No one there.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: No one. I think we have a choice. With no
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: sign of Robin, the family decided to call the police.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Lauren met up with the Smiths to wait for detectives
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: from the Perse County Sheriff's Department. I'm Robin's mother. They
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: were all worried. This is out of character. Robin had
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: never done anything like this before.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: And she didn't come back last night.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: They described Robin as a cheerful but quiet girl. She
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: worked long hours as a waitress, saving most of her
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: money for her upcoming wedding. Detective Terry Wilson and his
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: partner began their investigation. Can we take this? Sure. According
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: to the information we received from her mother, Mrs. Smith,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: it wasn't common for Robin to leave and not return.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: She was engaged... She was very family-oriented, and apparently, if
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: she went somewhere, her family went too. Or she always
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: told them where she was going, so this is not normal.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Laurent Grostin told detectives that he had seen her the
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: night before. Until 4 a.m. On March 28, Robin and
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Laurent were at a bar until it closed at 2 a.m.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Some of the people they had been with had invited
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: them to another party at a nearby apartment. The apartment
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: was rented by Elizabeth Green and Darren O'Lyle. Loran and
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Robin were having a good time and didn't want the
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: night to end. I laughed. The last place Laurent saw
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Robin was at that party. Before he got there, at
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: what time? Detective Wilson went to the apartment where the
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: party had been held. He found Elizabeth Green at her house.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: We had a good time.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: What happened?
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: They left together? She corroborated Laurent's story and told the
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: detective that she had been thinking about taking Robin to
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: her place. How long have you been living here? But
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: as the night wore on, her plans changed. Darren seemed
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: more interested in Robin, so Elizabeth stayed in the kitchen
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: and flirted with a man named Mike Priota. Elizabeth told
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: the detective that she and Priota planned to meet later
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: at his apartment where they could be alone. Priota's left
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: the party first to avoid Darren getting suspicious. By dawn,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Darren Oil barely seemed to notice. They sell movies. He
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: kept telling her about his favorite author, Louis L'Amour, who
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: wrote stories about the Wild West. About living off the land.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Boyle was unemployed and talked about living off the land
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: like the fans in the romance books.
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: Seriously.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: I will do it. Someday. Elizabeth had heard it all before.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: You know about Louis L'Amour? And at 8 a.m., she
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: left the apartment to meet with Prihota. She told O'Neill
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: and Robin that she would buy more beer. I'll be
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: right back. When she returned 24 hours later, O'Neill and
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Robin were gone, were gone.
• 7:09
  Speaker 5: They're gone, and I don't even understand.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Elizabeth pointed out that several things were missing from the apartment. I.
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: I have no idea, but.
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: When we searched the apartment, we found that the TV
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: was missing and the power cord had been pulled.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: It had been pulled.
• 7:25
  Speaker 6: Also, the cords from two lamps that were there. Some
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: of her clothing was gone. And she also specified that
• 7:33
  Speaker 6: a blanket was missing. Things were missing from the house.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: It's yours, right? In a box, Wilson also found social
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: security cards with different names on them. Aladdin, Leopard, Nicolet,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: in particular, Sebulon McCranahan. Some of them. When Detective Wilson
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: told him what happened, Detective Wolstad immediately suspected foul play.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Robin was left alone with Darren Onar and something happened
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: at that residence after that. It would be speculation to
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: say that perhaps Darren tried to assault her physically or sexually.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Perhaps she refused, or there was something jumeau, something that happened,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: and I think she was probably assaulted at that house.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Dennis Morrison. Detectives interviewed Dennis Morrison, O'Neal's friend and former boss.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: I have a few questions for you about... Morrison. You
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: said that O'Neal had worked for him as a carpenter.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: The last time you saw him. Asked me for a
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: loan last night. You said you saw O'Neal a few
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: days earlier. Hello, how are you? It was Saturday afternoon,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: the day after the party. I got plenty of money, man.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Don't you have any that I could borrow? Oil came
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: by to ask for travel money.
• 8:55
  Speaker 7: Hell.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: He said he was going east to the Cascades. Morrison
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: didn't have any to give him. Oil was about to
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: leave when Morrison realized he could write him a check.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: He walked over to Ovalie Lee's car to offer it
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: to him. His friend looked nervous and anxious to get going.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Then a movement in the back of the car caught
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Morrison's attention. It sounded like something was pushing against the
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: back seat from the trunk. Besides, I gotta punish him.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Oil told him it was his dog, that he put
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: it in there to punish him.
• 9:34
  Speaker 7: Hey!
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Before Morrison could say anything, Oil drove off. All he said?
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Morrison described the car as a brown Chrysler with Montana plates.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: After the party. City. Thanks. The authorities knew they were
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: three days behind on O'Neill. He could be anywhere by now.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: This is Warstone. Detectives continued their search with a handful
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: of contacts with O's men in the area who had
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: issues with the matter. They called Gary Skinner, the owner
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: of another woodworking shop where O'O had worked part-time. He
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: told detectives that he had been looking for Darren Hall
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: since his last day at work. When Darren left, he
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: apparently took a hammer from the shop because he was
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: no longer in sight, and Mr. Skinner had no other
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: explanation for what had happened. Expected to provide a clue
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: to his whereabouts, P.S. County detectives were hoping that all
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: the past would provide some answers, but thus... A background
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: check revealed that the suspect was no stranger to trouble.
• 10:49
  Speaker 8: He had outstanding warrants for trouble in Colorado, had been
• 10:54
  Speaker 8: charged with sexual assault, battery, and all of the victims
• 11:00
  Speaker 8: we heard about had been women.
• 11:04
  Speaker 9: So his profile was starting to indicate that we were
• 11:06
  Speaker 9: looking for a person who was likely predatory in nature,
• 11:09
  Speaker 9: but very violent.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Pierce County officials logged everything they knew about Trindon into
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: the National Crime Information Center database nationwide. Lists of criminals
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: and victims' aliens. They included his physical characteristics, a description
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: of his tattoos, and the make and model of his car.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: If Ani were caught by any police officer anywhere in
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: the country, Pierce County would be notified immediately. Detectives also
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: helped Robin's family launch a media campaign to find her.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Her picture was posted across the Washington area alongside O'Neal's.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: The campaign began generating leads. Oney was seen walking into
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: a local hospital alone on March 29. There was no
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: security at the hospital, but the emergency room nurses were
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: nervous about his presence. So they called several male hospital
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: employees and Darren eventually left without receiving any treatment for
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: visible scratches. Investigators believed Robin had scratched O'Neal's face when
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: he attacked her. Hospital staff told police that the disheveled
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: man had a teardrop tattooed on the corner of one
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: of his eyes. He also had the letters J-U-N-E on
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: the knuckles of one hand. Detectives learned that Jun was
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: the name of Oil's ex-wife. Excuse me, detective. The media
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: blitz continued to yield leads. Welcome. Please have a seat.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: A highway patrolman had seen Ogilil in his car at
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: two different locations on March 30th. Two days after Robin disappeared...
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: The first time was at a road construction site east
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: of Tacoma. Construction, please proceed slowly. Oni was heading south
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: when the patrolman let him through. Slow down, sir. Oni
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: was also seen a few hours later at a gas
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: station on the same highway. I want you to see
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: some pictures. He called the police when he recognized the
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: man's face in the newspaper. To be sure, the detective
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: showed the patrolman a series of photos. Please look at
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: them carefully. It included a snapshot of O'Neill along with
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: five others. The police officer recognized O'Neill immediately. As investigators
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: continued their pursuit, a Washington State trooper spotted a maroon
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: Chrysler with monol licensed plates on the afternoon of March 30.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: The same day, the police officer spotted oil. On the
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: side of Interstate 5, about 15 miles north of Piedras County,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: two days after, Robin Smith went missing. Unaware of the
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: ongoing investigation, the officer was unsuspecting about the car. He
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: followed proper procedure by reporting the license plate in the
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: vehicle description. A communications officer entered the license plate number
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: into the database. The information should have triggered an alert
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: at the information center about Oil and his vehicle. But
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: it did not. She mistakenly typed in the abbreviation M.O.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: for Missouri instead of M.T. for Montana. The Highway 5
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: trooper was not yet aware that this was the car
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: Darren O'Heal had been driving after Robin Smith went missing.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Investigator's best lead was about to be towed to the impound.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: I quote a lot here. On March 30, 1987, a
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Washington state trooper found a maroon Chrysler with Montana plates
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: 50 miles east of Tacoma. Misinformed by the communications officer,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: the trooper was unaware that Darren DeOyle, the man wanted
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: in the case of Robin Smith's disappearance, had abandoned the car.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: The vehicle was towed to an impound lot for future sale.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: A few days later, the local newspaper ran an article
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: about Robin Smith's abduction. The story described Doyle's car. It
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: resembled a Chrysler the cruise operator had towed away a
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: short time ago. He checked the make, model, and license plate.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: They all matched. He quickly notified the police. Detectives ran
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: the Chrysler's identification number. In 1986, this car was reported
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: stolen from a residence in Idaho by a man named
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: Sebulan McCranahan. Wilson immediately recalled the peculiar name on an
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: identification card he had found in Ola's house. It was
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: one of the suspect's nicknames. In the parking lot of
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: the Western Piedras County Sheriff's Office, the detectives and evidence
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: technicians processed the Chrysler's information. They hoped to find some
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: trace linking Owal or Robin to the car. Open this trunk.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: While the technicians searched inside, the detectives searched our trunk.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: What do we have here? From the looks of it,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: they found a large amount of dried blood. His camera.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: The detectives also found a lavender jacket with blood on it. Mrs.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Smith later confirmed that the garment belonged to Robin. They
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: also collected teeth, bone chips, and a lock of hair.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Long hair. Wallace's fingerprints on one of the empty beer
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: cans indicated his involvement to Alvment. If Detective Wilson had
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: held out any hope that Robin was still alive, she
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: was gone now. We felt we probably had a homicide
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: on our hands based on the type of blood we
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: found in the trunk. So we began to focus on
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: Darren as a murder suspect. At this point, the entire
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: trajectory of the investigation had changed. But in order to
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: charge Oliver with murder, investigators at the Washington State Medical
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Examiner's Lab needed to confirm that the hair and associated
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: fragments belonged to Robin Smith. The Pierce County Sheriff's Office
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: requested that Robin's dental records and blood type be submitted
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: to the lab. But there was a problem. Robin hadn't
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: been to the dentist since childhood. Nor had her blood
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: type been documented. Since no definitive conclusion could be drawn
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: from known samples, no murder charges could be filed. While
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: the search for suspected killer Darenta Ionel came to an
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: abrupt halt to 120 miles to the north, Detective Carlotta
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Yarotov of the Bellingen Police Department was working on a
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: similar case, Maskenone's sonneau case. Wendy Ohi, a 28-minus-year-old single mother,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: was reported missing when she failed to pick up her daughter...
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Wendy had an appointment on the evening of April 24, 1987.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: She left her daughter with the girl's grandmother away. When
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Wendy failed to pick her up or call her the grandmother,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: went to her home to retrieve her granddaughter's favorite pillow,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: but found... bloodstains on Wendy's bed and called the police.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: Detective Jarrett obtained a warrant to enter the home. Wendy's car,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: a red Ford Mustang, was missing. The front door to
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Wendy's home was not red. Her wallet and keys were
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: also missing. In the bedroom, Detective Jarrett found evidence of
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: a brutal assault.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: There were bodily fluids on the bed and a large
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: amount of blood deposited under the pillow, which had seeped
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: into the mattress. There was splatter of cow's blood at
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: medium impactor speed on the wall, and there were... Also,
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: blood stains on the wall.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Bellingham police removed the entire bed as evidence. More of
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Wendy's blood was found on the headboard, along with two
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: blonde hairs that did not belong to the missing woman.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Police also found an Amlan Borden acrylic nail. Wendy's friends
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: told police that she had gotten acrylic nails for her
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: date with a man named Michael Johnson. Wendy had met
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: Johnson at lunch that afternoon. There was the new waiter
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: at La Paloma Restaurant. Detective Jarrett visited the restaurant looking
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: for leads.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: I spoke to the owner to see if she had
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: filled out any employment forms for Mr. Johnson and all
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: she had was a handout in We had a... He
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: had some information... She gave it to me and we
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: ran it for fingerprints.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: While the detective waited for the results, she went to
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: the mission where the waiter lived, according to the writing
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: on the handout. Detective Jarrett spoke to the receptionist who
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: remembered the day Johnson left the room.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: He had seen Mr. Johnson at the mission at 7.30 a.m.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: the day after. Wendy Oki had gone on her date
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: with him, Aya.
• 22:12
  Speaker 10: At that time, he was wearing black pants, a vest,
• 22:14
  Speaker 10: a white shirt, and a tie, and told her he
• 22:18
  Speaker 10: was going to walk.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: He also said he had met a girl and was
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: moving in with her. This person also stated that Mr.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Johnson drove a red Torino and drove away in it.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: He had previously owned no vehicle.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: On May 4, 1987, Joretta received a phone call from
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: Oregon police. They had found Wendy's car, a red Torino,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: abandoned in a tavern parking lot. Inside, police found fingerprints
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: that matched those found on the license plate pipe. A
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: check through an automated fingerprint identification system revealed that The
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: prints belonged to Darren Dion on the man, wanted for
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: the alleged murder of Robin Smith. Detective in Pierce County,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: 120 miles south of Bellingham. They quickly realized that there
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: were striking similarities in both cases.
• 23:22
  Speaker 10: Since we were convinced that Darren Talcala was responsible for
• 23:26
  Speaker 10: Robin Smith's death and also felt that he was responsible
• 23:30
  Speaker 10: for the disappearance and possible death of Wendy O'Neill, it
• 23:35
  Speaker 10: seemed to us that everyone else in the country was
• 23:38
  Speaker 10: taking a great risk with Darren O'Neill.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: Pierce County officials called in the FBI to assist with
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: the search. A former special agent in charge of the
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: FBI's Tacoma office, O'Neill, was assigned to the case.
• 23:57
  Speaker 11: At that point, we knew we were dealing with an
• 23:59
  Speaker 11: individual who was extremely agile and dangerous. Yet a history
• 24:05
  Speaker 11: of being a violent sexual offender now had a killer tag.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: Since Wendy and Robin's bodies were still missing, no murder
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: charges were formally filed. Thank you very much. Sexual assault
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: charges against Ernie were still pending in Colorado. The FBI
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: opened a federal case against the fugitive for unlawful flight
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: to avoid prosecution. Still, O'Neal was able to stay one
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: step ahead. No one knew where the suspected serial killer
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: had gone after he was in Oregon. And authorities still
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: had no murder case until they found the bodies of
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: the missing women. In May 1987, evidence pointed to the
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: brutal murders of two innocent women in Washington state. Hell yeah, man.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: The FBI and local police launched a media campaign to
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: uncover suspected killer Darren O'Neill. Dozens of agents fanned out
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: to investigate sightings throughout the Pacific Northwest. Yes. O'Neill was
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: spotted hitchhiking at truck stops north and south of Searle. Right,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: that's him. A trucker came to the aid of O'Neill
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: on May 23. He helped on Interstate 5. He claimed
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: his passenger thanked him because the cops were looking for
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: him for him. They were after him. Great. The trucker
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: dropped him off on the highway a short time later,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: just a few miles outside of town. Special agent in
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: charge emphasized that while leads were emerging, the search for
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: the elusive killer was getting better.
• 26:09
  Speaker 11: The months following Robin Smith and Wendy's disappearance were truly
• 26:14
  Speaker 11: frustrating as O'Neill's facial and body language changed. People kept
• 26:19
  Speaker 11: telling us that the photos we were showing of O'Neill
• 26:22
  Speaker 11: were of two different people, which they were not.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: The FBI focused on places where the drifter could blend in.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: Since Ani was always on the move, agents would question
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: travelers on buses and at train stations. They hoped someone
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: had seen him and remembered his distinctive tattoos. Even when
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: they found people who had Berza, it was always too late.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: O'Neil was comfortable in the ever-changing world of travelers and wanderers,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: where people could easily disappear forever. Hey, hey. It wasn't
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: if we're going to find Darren O'Hela at the Ramada
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: Inn that forced us to be realistic and have to
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: look for him in places where he would blend in easily.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: For example, we would search bus stops, homeless shelters, day
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: labor camps. He was certainly not someone who.
• 27:32
  Speaker 11: Would be looking for a job with office hours, which
• 27:35
  Speaker 11: really made finding him harder, and the search continued for
• 27:39
  Speaker 11: months afterward.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: As officers and detectives continued to search for hundreds of
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: mostly negative sightings, detectives were called to the rural area
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: surrounding Crystal Mountain east of Mount Rainier. Hikers had reported
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: finding what appeared to be human remains. This area, the
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: location was close to where a ranger had seen O'Neil's
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: car a month earlier. Not too far after Robin Smith
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: went missing. In the woods, officers spotted a jawbone and
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: a skull. Each was carefully marked before being removed. As
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Stud and Wilson inspected the crime scene, they wondered if
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: the remains were Robin. Investigators also found other bones scattered
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: around the area. They found folded clothing hidden at the
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: base of a nearby tree. It matched the description of
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: the outfit Robin was wearing to the party. The clothing
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: was the same. They also recovered a wallet. Inside it
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: was Robin Smith's driver's license. Investigators spread out to cover
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: the extensive area. Their persistence paid off. They found a
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: hammer with markings similar to the missing hammer reported by
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: one of O'Neill's former bosses, Amor. Detectives also suspected it
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: was the murder weapon. The Pierce County Medical Examiner agreed.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: A careful review of the arrest revealed that Robin had
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: likely died from blunt force trauma to the head. Darren
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: was charged with first degree murder. When we found Robin
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: Smith's arrests, we certainly had confirmation that it was murder,
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: and as a result, federal authorities then issued their second
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: separate investigation. Mmm, we have Vabinian.
• 30:10
  Speaker 11: They also issued another warrant for unlawful flight to avoid
• 30:12
  Speaker 11: prosecution to avoid prosecution.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: The FBI was more determined than ever to get involved
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: with the man responsible for this heinous crime. By June
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: of 1987, the FBI had issued two federal warrants for
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: the arrest of suspected serial killer Darren O'Neill, still at
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: large in the Pacific Northwest. The remains of a woman
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: had been found near Mount Rainier. A second woman was
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: still missing and presumed dead ahead. As oil had last
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: been in Oregon, Special Agent Michael Elsie of the FBI's
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: Portland Field Office was called in. Knowing he was a
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: sex offender, I checked with local law enforcement agencies on
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: some of his cases to see if his M.O. matched
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: any descriptions or anything that might help us. Special Agent O'Donnell,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: Detective Smith, it meant hundreds of hours, man, man. But
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: the agents refused to just wait for another sighting or
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: another victim. Dozens of agents met with detectives in precincts
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: around the region to try to link OIL to pending
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: sexual assault cases. The search was complicated because Oney looked
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: so different in each of his photos in N. Colorado
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: and here in Washington, he was a possible suspect. More
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: and more often, the agents were coming up empty-handed. Frustrated
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: and short of leads, the agents continued to wade through
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: hundreds of old files. With a dangerous assailant on the prowl,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: the agents had to exhaust every avenue. Thank you. An
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: agent met with Portland Police Detective Bill Carterer. As he
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: had done dozens of times before, the agent compared on
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: Zasone's photo two sketches of sexual offenders. One sketch stood out.
• 32:29
  Speaker 11: Perfect match.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: It bore a striking resemblance to the fugitive. And the
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: hair was real. A 14-feet-old girl named Heidi Lang had
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: provided the sketch 15 months earlier when she filed rape
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: charges against an unknown assailant. From the police report, her
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: description of the crime sounded quite similar to O'Keele's other assaults.
• 32:54
  Speaker 6: Looking at the photos of Mr. O, especially when he
• 32:56
  Speaker 6: had the beard and glasses, I saw that there was
• 32:59
  Speaker 6: a resemblance between the two.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: Their M.O.s also matched. They were very similar. Fortunately, he
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: did not murder Ms. Lang. He had other interests. Agent
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Elsie wanted to talk to Hyde Lang as soon as possible.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: Detective Cotter arranged a meeting between the girl and the FBI.
• 33:26
  Speaker 5: Two o'clock, a little later.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: With her mother by her side, she told the story
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: from the beginning. Near midnight on January 17, 1987, two
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: months before Robin Smith disappeared, Hyde broke. her mother's punishment
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: and walked to a nearby convenience store to buy a soda.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: It was a dangerous part of town. The girl had
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: walked there many times before, but never as late as
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: she had that night. As she crossed the overpass to
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: get to the store, a truck driver called out to
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: her from his rig. She ignored him and kept walking.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: Within minutes, she had bought the soda and was headed
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: back home. She walked as fast as she could before
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: her mother, Seattle, realized that she had left. Yes, the
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: overpass and... Heidi told investigators that by the time she
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: got to the overpass, the man in the truck were gone.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: But on the other side of the overpass, the trucker
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: jumped out of the bushes and grabbed her. Stop it, I.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Told you to get in the truck, he... Forced her
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: to walk down an embankment without looking at her, threatening
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: her with a knife and push her into his trailer
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: parked on the side of the road. Years later, Heidi
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: recalls that she thought she was going to die.
• 35:12
  Speaker 5: The first thing I noticed was how dangerous he was.
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: I felt like he had every intention of murdering me.
• 35:23
  Speaker 5: There was no doubt about it.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: Sit in the back. He threw her into the special
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: compartment of his truck. I was terrified with no idea
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: where he could take her or what he would do
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: with her or.
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: He threatened to prostitute me and sell me to pimps.
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: He said he would cut me. I tried to avoid
• 35:48
  Speaker 3: anything that might anger him. I had to act as
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: if I was simply talking to him and at the
• 35:56
  Speaker 3: same time get the information about him.
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: Despite Heidi's best efforts, the rocker rushed into the compartment
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: and raped her repeatedly for four hours. He didn't like that.
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: I thought like a woman. That made him more violent.
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: He got more violent.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: I had to.
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: Keep talking and distracting him from other things. And I
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: did my best to make him believe that I was insignificant.
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: And that I was just there to be with him
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: and that nothing would happen if he let me go.
• 36:54
  Speaker 7: Heidi's insight and bravery paid off.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: After suffering hours of abuse, tormentor let her go. She
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: ran all the way to the truck stop. She asked
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: an employee to take her home. After everything she had
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: been through, Heidi bravely submitted a rape kit. This provided
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: investigators with samples of a rapist's semen, although no comparison
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: could be made until the suspect was caught. When Heidi
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: finished her story, Detective Carter showed her a series of
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: photos of Apto Ambail and some men who looked like him.
• 37:58
  Speaker 5: It was incredible that he was there.
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: And I saw and recognized him.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: I didn't expect to see him in those photos.
• 38:09
  Speaker 5: I hadn't heard anything since I turned in the drawing.
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: Seeing her attacker's face brought back memories, but she never
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: hesitated to shrew report him. He was determined to confront
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: her rapist and put him behind bars.
• 38:29
  Speaker 6: Pants.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: I think I wanted to make sure that this person
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: didn't hurt anyone else. And that showed a lot of
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: strength of character, especially at 14 years old, to be
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: able to be so descriptive with what happened and see
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: the description of the subject matter. And it led us
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: to the right path. Agent Elsie called the Tacoma office.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: They finally had a witness to testify against Oni in
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: other places. but they still had to find him. Agent
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: Oros called FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. to request additional assistance.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: On June 18, 1987, Dad O'Neil's name was on the
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. The case was now a
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: priority for every FBI office in the country. Agents had
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: to find Oil before he could strike again. In June
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: of 1987, suspected serial killer Darren O'Neill was added to
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List to Libo. Hey, this
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: is the right one. Special Agent Oros was in charge
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: of the case. He convinced the FBI's Fugitive Publicity Unit
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: in Washington, D.C., that Dar-Oil met the criteria for the list, and....
• 40:22
  Speaker 11: The Bureau's decision about who goes on the 10 Most
• 40:25
  Speaker 11: Wanted list is a fusion of many different factors.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: First is the protection of the community.
• 40:32
  Speaker 11: Second, it has to do with the agility of these
• 40:35
  Speaker 11: individuals in moving themselves across interstate lines.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: With the nationwide publicity, the hunt for oil was relentless.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: There were countless reports of sightings from different states. Aeon
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: had seen him at various bars and taverns in the Northwest.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: We're looking for a man who... may... Investigators followed dozens
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: of leads, only to find witnesses with vague descriptions of
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: the fugitive. No one knew his whereabouts. Something striking about
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: his appearance?
• 41:17
  Speaker 7: No.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: The agents ran out of things to do? Seen him. Okay,
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: thank you very much.
• 41:24
  Speaker 11: Well, the leads had been running out for a long time.
• 41:28
  Speaker 11: The leads from other agents weren't showing any immediate results.
• 41:33
  Speaker 11: We were going back to the same people, re-interviewing family
• 41:37
  Speaker 11: and friends. We were reaching out to early contacts, early bosses,
• 41:42
  Speaker 11: looking for any kind of lead that would tell us
• 41:45
  Speaker 11: or show us a pattern of his activity and movement
• 41:48
  Speaker 11: around the country.
• 41:50
  Speaker 4: Uh, Seven months later, on February 3, 1988, agents discovered
• 42:00
  Speaker 4: that O'Heal had gone to Lakeland, Florida.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: He was identified by a police officer in Lakeland as
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: he was making what appeared to be a drug deal.
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: The officer did not know that O' was wanted for murder.
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: Hoyle noticed the officer but did nothing. The officer drove
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: around to investigate. When the patrol car passed and stopped,
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: Hoyle stopped and asked for directions, pretending to be lost.
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: Stop your car. The officer told him to pull over. Instead,
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: O'Eal sped off. The officer followed him, hauling out O'Eal's
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: Louisiana license plates as he drove. O'Eal tried to lose
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: him by weaving through the streets of Lakeland. When the
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: car stopped, the suspects fled, chasing a white male. The
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: officer ran after him and was eventually caught. The car,
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: where were you with your car? O'Neal was extradited to
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: Louisiana when police learned that the car he was driving
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: had been reported stolen in another state. When asked for
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: his name, Oney replied that he was Son Mayu. An
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: officer who had spent nights working on matching the fingerprints
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: of the individual she knew as Son Mayu Using the
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: list of prints associated with the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives,
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: she discovered that the individual she knew as Sal was
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: the individual we knew as Daro Eel. Anya was extradited
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: to Washington State to face charges. But prosecutors knew their
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: cases were weak. Since Wendy Ahi's body was never found,
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: Oney could not be charged with her murder. The Robin
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: Smith case carried more weight, but lacked a definitive forensic identification.
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: It would be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: that the body found in the woods was that of
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: Robin Smith. Despite the obvious obstacles, prosecutors pressed forward with
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: Robin Smith M's case. They would take their chances in
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: front of a jury. Oney and his attorney would never
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: let the case go that far. In Pierce County Court
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: on January 4, 1989, Oney pleaded guilty to first-degree murder
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: in Robin Smith's death. Detective Wilson knew there was an
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: ulterior motive behind the plea.
• 45:11
  Speaker 9: The legal system in Washington State at the time dictated
• 45:16
  Speaker 9: that if a person was convicted of triad revatur, but
• 45:20
  Speaker 9: there was a loophole and you pleaded guilty, the maximum
• 45:23
  Speaker 9: that then you would receive was $ 303, 000.
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: Robin Smith's family was heartbroken. Even without parole, all would
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: be free before the natural end of his life. The
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: killer still faced charges in Portland, Oregon for the kidnapping
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: and rape of 14-minus-year-old Heidi Lang. If convicted, Oney would
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: be incarcerated. But prosecutors had a problem. Assistant U.S. Attorney
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Charles Sparks recalled that the rape kit Heidi had submitted
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: at the time of her assault would not be admissible,
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: for comparison with Oney's.
• 46:13
  Speaker 11: There was a sexual assault kit that included vaginal swabs
• 46:22
  Speaker 11: that had been altered because of how they were stored
• 46:25
  Speaker 11: at the time and were no longer usable. And DNA
• 46:30
  Speaker 11: evidence would have been very helpful, but we didn't have it.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: On May 16, 1990, When O'Neill's trial began, prosecutors knew
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: the only way was to put Heidi on the witness
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: stand and have her face her attacker. I went out
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: that night. It would be traumatic for her, but it
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: was the best hope of putting O'Neill behind bars for good.
• 46:56
  Speaker 3: Testifying at the trial was difficult. It was even harder
• 47:02
  Speaker 3: to look him in the face. It was a terrifying experience.
• 47:09
  Speaker 3: harrowing experience. At first, I had promised him that I
• 47:16
  Speaker 3: wouldn't tell anyone what had happened. And this man had
• 47:21
  Speaker 3: no qualms about going after anyone. Even a little girl
• 47:28
  Speaker 3: walking down the street at midnight. I knew I had
• 47:34
  Speaker 3: to do it despite my fear. That's how I saw it.
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: You would. Point it out today. Hyde pointed out the
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: man who had kidnapped and raped her sitting sullenly a
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: few feet away from her. Her testimony was enough to
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: convict on Yale. The jury found him guilty on all
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: 16 counts of kidnapping and rape. Under Oregon law, he
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: was sentenced to 135 years in prison. Darren Oil is
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: serving his first sentence of 27 years in a Washington
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: State Penitentiary. He will then be transferred to Oregon to
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: spend the rest of his life behind bars.
• 48:31
  Speaker 5: As soon as he was sentenced, I was able to
• 48:35
  Speaker 5: put a lot of things in the past. I was
• 48:39
  Speaker 5: able to put it behind me. And that's the most
• 48:42
  Speaker 5: important thing to me. It was the most important thing.
• 48:47
  Speaker 5: We couldn't have gotten through it if we hadn't put
• 48:50
  Speaker 5: him behind bars.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: Agent Golds has since left the FBI to serve as
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: an assistant district attorney in Sacramento, California. The case is
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: still fresh in his mind.
• 49:05
  Speaker 11: To this day, I still have the Darren Oil pamphlet
• 49:07
  Speaker 11: hanging in my office here at the district attorney's office.
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: It's even on the wall.
• 49:12
  Speaker 11: He is a constant reminder of the dangers we all
• 49:15
  Speaker 11: face when we go out into the streets. I am
• 49:18
  Speaker 11: particularly aware of the fact that he poses a very
• 49:21
  Speaker 11: significant danger to women in society. He is a cold-blooded individual,
• 49:26
  Speaker 11: a calculating killer, and he reaffirms to me that I
• 49:29
  Speaker 11: am in a profession that matters and that every day,
• 49:31
  Speaker 11: when I walk into the courtroom, I am there to
• 49:34
  Speaker 11: make a difference.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: Bye.