Greetings,

Having watched this segment again yesterday, it got me thinking. It profiled numerous children going missing in the San Francisco Bay Area (Interstate 80 corridor). This one volunteer seemed to arouse suspicion in some people.....most notibly Kim Shultz, mother of Amber Shultz who went missing while jumping rope one day from her yard. I'm kind of split 50/50 on this one. A few days later, this 'Timothy' guy shows up at her door saying he wanted to help search for Amber. Then, just like that, his demeanor changed. He went from apparently very concerned to a stone-cold look on his face and said something to the effect, "Of course now you'll be searching for a dead body."

How did he know that she was (or would be) already dead? Amber's mother certainly seemed very wary and/or suspicious of him.....

Also, he would visit one girl's grave site upwards of around 90 times a year.....

What do you guys think?

Was he directly involved with the abductions OR is he just a victim of his own eccentricities?

I'm split 50/50 as well. On one hand, it is suspcious that the scent of two of the missing girls was traced to the grave of another girl who was abducted, who he visited 90 times a year. But, on the other hand, he doens't look anything like the person in the composite sketch of Michaela Garecht's abductor. Plus they really don't have anything really concrete on this guy.

There are some people who do things without really taking into consideration how others might react to it. It's possible Tim is one of those people.

Hi:

I agree with both of you. Tim Binder is an interesting suspect but Im not convinced of his guilt either.

He certanily fits the profile of a serial killer (involvement in the investigiation and search for victims and visits to the grave) but on the other hand, as Wiseguy182 stated, he doesnt resemble the police sketch of Michaela Garechts abductor. I have the same question Wiseguy182, is it possible he is a "good guy" that sincerely cares, hence explaining his interest in the missing girls?

And do the Bay Area law enforcement people have incriminating info about Tim Binder they have not released to the public? I wonder. Whether he is the killer or not, the police should keep close tabs on him. I read some place that he sent a letter to a girl who lives in his neighborhood... thats just creepy.

Christopher

I just read Stalemate, and it was certainly interesting.

Bindner is no doubt guilty of being very weird. However, I lean toward not involved. The book had very little discussions of the evidence, incriminating or exculpatory.

There is some weight given to the fact that someone saw a man wrestling with a young girl near the Swartz home at the time of the disappearance. However, the man was in a Bonneville, whereas Bindner drove a van.

The Garecht abduction was much more "disorganized" than the others.

I would love to hear someone elses thoughts on the book.

Just watched this case...

Tim Bindner is CREEPY! Wow... I can't believe the behavior of that guy.

Just watching the story about Amber Swartz makes me think he is definitely guilty, yet there is no concrete evidence. But this guy needs some help from a qualified shrink. Visiting a dead girl's grave, whom he doesn't know, over 90 times in one year?!? Good Lord.

He may have done nothing but he does nothing to help his own case based on his behavior.

I was thinking about getting a copy of "Stalemate." Anyone here read it?

Thanks...

I read Stalemate too. Well, most of it.

Binder is certainly a complex and frightful person. I wonder if anyone has ever tried to check out the graves he visited so often. There was speculation that he might have buried bodies in other people's graves, right?

At the very least, Binder is guilty of making the families of the missing girls even more miserable.

Honestly, I think he's guilty of something.

Hmm, well I used to think Binder was guilty too. However, I have thought about this more and while the guy is guilty of being weird and creepy that doesnt necessarily make him guilty of being a child kidnapper, rapist and murderer. That sort of irritates me when people make this big leap that because the guy is weird and creepy that it automatically makes him guilty of murder.

The problem I have with Binder being responsible for these murders is, if he truly was responsible for all these murders, could he allude detection? The answer is, no. Yes the guy could be a psychopath and plant himself at the scenes.

But I just have a hard time believing that Binder if he was truly the rapist and murderer would camp out at the grave sites, participate in the searches, because it only makes him look more guilty and makes people pay more attention to him. But yes, Binder is a strange one, there is no doubt about that.

Hmm, well I used to think Binder was guilty too. However, I have thought about this more and while the guy is guilty of being weird and creepy that doesnt necessarily make him guilty of being a child kidnapper, rapist and murderer. That sort of irritates me when people make this big leap that because the guy is weird and creepy that it automatically makes him guilty of murder.


I'm not sure if he's guilty or not, but his behavior is beyond bizarre. HE is the one who puts himself at the center of all of these cases. HE is the one who has an obsession with dead little girls graves. HE is the one who harrasses the mothers of the victims.

You are right, Kadrmas, that those things alone don't make him a murderer. However, it is not a "big leap" to think he may likely have done it. Basic police procedure tells you that if someone returns to the scene, the funeral, the grave, or has an abnormal interest in the crime, they are at the very least a person of interest.

We don't know if Bindner is guitly. But he has no one to blame but HIMSELF for why people think he is involved. And this happened in four different cases???

No physical evidence on him, but certainly it is not a "big leap" to think he may have done it.

TM, I didnt say it was a big leap for someone to think Binder may have done these abductions and murders. I said it was a big leap for someone to think that because he is a creepy guy that it automatically means he for sure did the murders. While you didnt say you thought he for sure did it other people have so I was merely presenting another point of view.

TM, I didnt say it was a big leap for someone to think Binder may have done these abductions and murders. I said it was a big leap for someone to think that because he is a creepy guy that it automatically means he for sure did the murders. While you didnt say you thought he for sure did it other people have so I was merely presenting another point of view.

Fair enough. I misread what you said. Sorry to get that confused.

Yeah, I see what you mean now about assuming he may be involved or saying he automatically did it.

Sorry for the confusion! ;)

I've always suspected Mr. Binder.

Simply too bizarre acting for one.

I don't think he was involved, but I don't think "Good Samaritan" is a fitting title either.

I'm not sure if he's capable of the crimes, but it really seems highly implausible to me that he could continue this odd behavior for so long in the same area and *not* be convicted of any of the crimes if he was guilty of any of them.

His actions to me just sound like someone who is slightly mentally impaired with a fixation on these sorts of crimes and empathy towards the victims. He has the time and the means to dedicate to his cause/interest, but unlike most people, either doesn't see the possible consquences of his actions or just ignores them. Maybe when he was young he lost a friend to a similar crime or was a victim himself of a similar crime?

It just seems highly unlikely to me at this point that he is guilty - mostly because it seems absolutely implauisble that if he were guilty of *something* related to these crimes, there would not be enough evidence to bring him to trial. He just gets his nose into everything way too often to not get caught at something by now.

I just watched this segment for the first time today. I usually skip through the segments featuring harm coming to little kids (since becoming a dad I've become too squeamish to watch any true crime segments or shows featuring hurt children) but I made myself watch this one and the Darlie Routier segment.

I truly do not have an opinion one way orthe other on this one. He sure does some bizarre **** but it seemed like aside from the eyewitness placing Bindner at the scene of the child being tossed inside the car, the only person inferring any malevolent or sinister activity by Bindner was Amber Schwartz' mom. I cannot imagine her grief and need for justice but everytime she described Mr. Bindner's actions she made them seem as if the only explanation for anyone doing those things was nefarious and evil.

But what a weirdy-weirdo, a newly WEALTHY weirdy-weirdo, but a all-time grade "A" 100% weirdy-weirdo nonetheless. I mean, visiting a stranger's grave 80+ times in one year? Break that down everyone...it's damn near twice.a.week!! I don't even brush my teeth that often!

It sucks that since he settled out of court for 90K that now noone is going to go forward on this guy unless they have unquestionably irrefutable evidence. Wait...maybe that doesn't exactly "suck". I mean...that's the way the system should work I guess. If people can get thrown in the hoose-gow just for being oddballs then I'm placing a citizen's arrest on nowheregirl. Talk about your weirdy-weirdos!!

But what a weirdy-weirdo, a newly WEALTHY weirdy-weirdo, but a all-time grade "A" 100% weirdy-weirdo nonetheless. I mean, visiting a stranger's grave 80+ times in one year? Break that down everyone...it's damn near twice.a.week!!


BINGO! We have a winner. . .

Guilty or not, Mr. Bindner is in need of some serious help. I would be willing to bet the parents don't visit their children's graves that often.

I say again, his own behavior is causing him to be the focus of scrutiny. In any case, he needs psychiatric care. By any definition that is abnormal behavior and he needs to know why he is doing it so he can stop.

Wasn't this segment first shown in 2001-2002 on Lifetime? I'm looking at this other book in addition to Murderers Among Us called Reward, which is another compilation book of unsolved cases and they contain many cases featured on UM or AMW and were published around the heyday of these programs, 1991 and 1994 respectively. The Tim Bindner case was featured in Reward and his obsession with graves is majorly disturbing. Who interjects themselves in child abduction/murder cases like this? This is beyond suspicious. I bet some tough pressure and interrogation would have him talking.

This is beyond suspicious. I bet some tough pressure and interrogation would have him talking. "Tough" interrogation techniques are what get you false confessions. He's already been questioned by the police, and the court has said they overstepped their bounds in investigating him. I'm pretty sure that territory has been covered. Maybe once upon a time, I would have leaned towards guilty, but a lot of time has passed and there's no evidence to tie him to the crimes. He's probably just a mentally disturbed guy with an unhealthy (to put it politely) fascination with dead children. Enough to make your skin crawl? Yes! Enough to throw him in prison? That's not how the system is supposed to work.

Oh, and I have just one thing to say to Corky "Gum Disease" Kneivel: If brushing twice a day qualifies me as a weirdy-weirdo, than lock me in the pokey and throw away the key. I'm guilty as charged!

Guilty somehow. I know he was cleared of 2, but damn he was creepy.

He has to be involved, bizarre and creepy personified.

I think Binder had some mental disorder, personally. I don't think he was involved in the child abductions, because there was no concrete evidence to tie him to any of them. As far as I know, Binder has kept a low profile since.

After watching this on Amazon Prime, I noticed that they cut a lot out of the segment. Most of it was minor points about Bindner, including his "we're looking for a dead body" line and his weird interactions with Kim Swartz (her trying to be friends with him, him leaving strange voicemails, and suggesting that she read "Crime and Punishment"). The original segment was about 17 minutes (I didn't realize it was that long!) but on Amazon Prime, it's only about 10 minutes.

Anyway, I'm not 100% sure that Bindner is guilty of these disappearances, but there seems to be a lot of circumstantial evidence that ties him to at least some of the cases. Kim made a good point in the segment: What are the chances that two missing girls' scents would be tracked to both Angela Bugay's grave (the grave he visited 90 times in one year) and to two separate vehicles belonging to Bindner.

Also, it seems like a major coincidence that he sends the creepy backwards letter to the girl in Fairfield just a few days before Nikki Campbell vanished in the same town.

Reading Nikki Campbell's Charley Project page, there was some other incriminating details I didn't know about:
- Binder was actually arrested for trying to lure two girls into his van (however the charges were later dropped)
- He played "mind games" and taunted several missing girls' families
- He asked a reporter to interview him at a cemetery at 4:30 in the morning!
- He told the reporter that he felt that the missing girls were "his children"
- When she asked how he believed the abductions occurred, he said one child was "submissive" but the other fought back against her assailant
- In the late 80s, he wrote a letter to law enforcement, stating that he believed the next girl that would be abducted would be a nine-year-old
- the next girl that vanished was nine-year-old Michaela Gaerecht
- In 1990, he sent a holiday card to an FBI profiler with a hand holding up four fingers
- Nikki, who was four, vanished a few months later

Overall, it would not surprise me if Binder is responsible for at least one of these girls' disappearances, but I don't know if there is enough evidence to say for certain.

Binder is definitely a creep, but I don't think he was involved in any of the disappearances. Still couldn't bring myself to vote for "good samaritan" though.

Binder is definitely a creep, but I don't think he was involved in any of the disappearances. Still couldn't bring myself to vote for "good samaritan" though.


Eeeeh, same. I think. Maybe.

He's creepy AF, and why is he stalking the graves? But they haven't made their case against him. (and Michaela Gaerecht's abductor was described as a muscle-bound potmarked long haired blonde man, which is definitely not Tim Binder)

He gets massive side eye from me though.

Eeeeh, same. I think. Maybe.

He's creepy AF, and why is he stalking the graves? But they haven't made their case against him. (and Michaela Gaerecht's abductor was described as a muscle-bound potmarked long haired blonde man, which is definitely not Tim Binder)

He gets massive side eye from me though.

100% agree — he is weird AF and I think he has an unhealthy obsession with these cases. I don’t think he killed anyone, but he is no good samaritan and his motives are highly suspect. He may just be a pedophile with a bizarre hero complex.

He may just be a pedophile with a bizarre hero complex.


This right here.

I really want to know why Filmrise gave him a "hero" edit for the updated episodes. Was it them trying to mitigate liability because he sued LE? Even though that material had always been there after said suit? Did they stupidly edit it for time so they could fit in that unnecessary Jonathan Ortiz update?


This one cut so much out that if you hadn't seen the full version you really wouldn't form a picture of just how creepy this dude was.

Reading Stalemate really made my stomach turn. I lean toward Tim Bindner not being involved, but being guilty of being a total weirdo. He even wrote letters to Kim telling her, "In my own way, I love you." The UM segment doesn't even scratch the surface of his bizarre antics.

Agree with those saying he's not a Good Samaritan, either. If anything, he's hindered the investigations by being a nuisance and walking red herring, not to mention causing Kim Swartz and others emotional distress.

This one cut so much out that if you hadn't seen the full version you really wouldn't form a picture of just how creepy this dude was.

This had to be due to legal reasons I would think.

Completely agree. I think he is so crazy he doesn’t even realize the pain he isn’t inflicting. I suspect he has voices in his head.

It’s been years since I read it but I wonder if LE got fixated on him and jeopardized other investigations.

I've long been of the mind that Tim Bindner isn't directly guilty himself, but he either suspects or knows more than he's letting on. Some of the things he's done point to a guilty conscience, but there is a lack of direct evidence for Bindner's actual involvement.

Todd Mueller pointed out above that maybe Tim Bindner is a pedophile with a bizarre hero complex. Maybe there's some truth there. And maybe because of that he knows or suspects he knows who is responsible for these crimes but he's afraid to come forward with that info because it will expose him or because he's afraid of the individual he suspects.

The guy's definitely a character, to say the least:

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/05/11/Tim-Bindner-who-pedalled-a-unicycle-to-his-28000-a-year/4096484632000/

Is he online? You get the impression he has the same mentality as social media trollers-regardless of whether he is a killer. Could you imagine what his Twitter posts would be like?

The guy's definitely a character, to say the least:

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/05/11/Tim-Bindner-who-pedalled-a-unicycle-to-his-28000-a-year/4096484632000/

:eyes2:

There are no words or available emoji to describe my reaction to this.

Yes. I always have.

I don't think he might have been involved with all of them, but there are a few I highly suspect he was.

Somebody else being charged in the Michaela Garecht murder today.

https://www.ktvu.com/news/da-charges-man-with-murder-following-1988-disappearance-of-michaela-garecht

There isn't an option for "creepy dude trying to insert himself into investigations" so I didn't vote.

Probably will turn out that he is just a weirdo, but has never abducted or murdered any kids.