Courtesy of the L.A. Times: "FBI database links long-haul truckers, serial killings" (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-serialkillers5-2009apr05,0,2434292.story)

There's no mention of leads in the Ohio Trucker killings. It's great that the FBI is finally taking a look at the bigger picture. The number of red dots on that map is truly disturbing.

Were there any other UM cases besides the Ohio murders that could (potentially) be linked to truckers?

I don't think there were any other cases specifically linked to truckers, but there are some cases that could fit the pattern. What about the Little Miss P case in Florida?

Holy cow that map looks like it has measles.

"We're about 10th in line," said Capt. Clarke Fine of Hendricks County, Ind. "I figure if Texas fries him, we're good."

Haha, gotta love my home state of Indiana.

I hate to say this but looking at that map,

It looks like there may be multiple truck serial killers out there!

Just to make sure I am on the same wavelength here...are we talking of the series of truck-stop killings in Ohio that were profiled on the 100th episode???

Sean P McCracken

I hate to say this but looking at that map,

It looks like there may be multiple truck serial killers out there!

Yep. Or killers that just happen to use the interstate system.

While I think it's great that the FBI is looking at possibly related cases, I still think the nefarious "trucker serial killer" is about 20% truth and 80% myth. There have been quite a few serial killers who've turned out to be truck drivers, but those aren't the only people who murder along interstates. Commercial drivers don't even make up the majority of interstate traffic in the U.S.

Yep. Or killers that just happen to use the interstate system.

While I think it's great that the FBI is looking at possibly related cases, I still think the nefarious "trucker serial killer" is about 20% truth and 80% myth. There have been quite a few serial killers who've turned out to be truck drivers, but those aren't the only people who murder along interstates. Commercial drivers don't even make up the majority of interstate traffic in the U.S.

I agree.

Also, ironically interstates are very convenient places to dump bodies just because this heavy traffic makes it impossible to track a particular vehicle, whether serial killers are truckers or not. And since the roads are interlocked through several States, it becomes impossible to trace the origin and the destination of a particular car.

Even in a car a killer just needs to open the door, push out the victim, and drive off.

Meg, I agree that the trucker serial killer angle may be sensationalizing things a bit.

There is very little inherent meaning in that map itself, or the lone fact that bodies were dumped along interstates. I think where the database is valuable for the other data that is attached to the location of the body. That is, when LE can compare similarities in cases across state lines and even county lines. If someone does commit multiple murders, and they catch the murderer in one case, they may be able to link that person to other cases.

I think maybe it's a bit misleading for the article to limit it's discussion to truckers, but maybe these are the only types of cases where the database has been effectively used as a tool thus far. There may be people of any other profession who travel a lot and have used the interstate as a dumping ground.

Not only that, but I am convinced that not that many of these bodies appearing on the map were dumped mere meters from the interstate roads. They could have been dumped in woods, ditches, or even buried in spots all within a few hundred meters of the interstate, but counted as near the interstate nonetheless.

In these cases, the interstate were used as a means to reach the spots to get rid of the bodies, than the end itself.

There is very little inherent meaning in that map itself, or the lone fact that bodies were dumped along interstates. I think where the database is valuable for the other data that is attached to the location of the body. That is, when LE can compare similarities in cases across state lines and even county lines. If someone does commit multiple murders, and they catch the murderer in one case, they may be able to link that person to other cases.

I think maybe it's a bit misleading for the article to limit it's discussion to truckers, but maybe these are the only types of cases where the database has been effectively used as a tool thus far.

Oh yeah, I very much agree. I think miscommunication between LE is probably one of the top reasons unsolved cases continue to remain as such, especially in areas outlying large cities without a "metro" police force. I tend to believe that the reason agencies throughout Ohio (of the prostitute murders segment) weren't "ferevently" investigating their respective cases had much more to do with the absence of "good commo", as well as a lack of tools such as this--and far, far less with the reductionary notion that LE "doesn't care about prostitutes", as the interviewed journalist alleged.

Notice he was a trucker....

I have a feeling this guy might bust a bunch of cases wide open. Just a gut feeling.

Source:
http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=15532


Publish Date: 4/10/2009



A Longmont man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of a 1975 double homicide in Grand Junction, according to officials. Police identified the suspect as Jerry Louis Nemnich, 64, of 219 Terry Street in Longmont.

By Pierrette J. Shields
© 2009 Longmont Times-Call

LONGMONT — A 64-year-old Longmont man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of a 1975 double homicide in Grand Junction, according to officials.

Jerry Louis Nemnich is due in court in Mesa County this afternoon and Grand Junction officials are scheduled to release more information about the investigation at a 3 p.m. press conference.

He is suspected in the 1975 homicides of Linda Benson, 24, and her 5-year-old daughter in Grand Junction, the Grand Junction Sentinel reported. Linda and Kelley Benson were were found dead in their apartment on July 25, 1975. Autopsies revealed each had been stabbed multiple times, according to the Associated Press.

Nemnich was convicted of first-degree sexual assault in 1978 and was in prison until 1992, according to court records.

Nemnich lives at 219 Terry St., where he has lived since 2006.

No one answered the door at the residence this morning. A dog barked from inside the home, where all of the curtains were drawn and no lights were on.

Neighbor Sabine Amend said she is friendly with Nemnich and his wife.

“He’s a very friendly, neighborly guy,” Amend said. “He liked his truck driving.”

She said he is a long haul trucker and the neighbors would keep an eye on one another’s homes if the other was away.

“I am very surprised,” she said after learning of Nemnich’s arrest. Neighbor Anastasia Alexander said homes in the neighborhood are mostly rentals. They are mixed in with offices and share the street with the Longmont Post Office.

“I never even go over to that side of the street,” she said, gesturing toward Nemnich’s home.

Cmdr. Tim Lewis of the Longmont Police Department said the police have not handled any calls for service to the Nemnich’s address and he has never been arrested in Longmont.

A man who answered the phone at a trucking company where Nemnich is believed to have been employed declined comment.

Pierrette J. Shields can be reached at 303-684-5273 or pshields@times-call.com.

The guy mentioned on the second page of the article (Bruce Mendenhall) is from my tiny hometown. He's been accused of seven murders so far, but I have always wondered if he is responsible for more.

One of the things, I don;t understand is this.

If this guy has an freezer storage in his rig. How many Peter Builts could have such a set-up like that? He has to be working for a meat packaging, I presume.

I guess the number is astronomical. But how many were in the Ohio area around those times of the murders. There's gotta be a database somewhere with that info.

Mastermind,

It's the trailers that have the refrigeration units on them and not the truck itself.

Any trucker can hook his truck up to any trailer. The trailer can be one with a reefer unit, a flatbed, a softside, a standard trailer, a live cattle hauler, etc. It all depends on what he's hauling, if he's employed by a company or "self" employed, if he normally hauls a variety of things, or if he's always hauling the same thing in a refrigerated truck.

The refrigerated trailers could be hauling processed meat, but they could also be carrying fruits and vegetables, or other stuff that has to be stored in a climate controlled environment that may not even be food related. The possibilities are enormous.

Also, truckers are supposed to keep daily log books. They don't always keep accurate records. If they're up to no good, it's very easy to enter fake info into the log book, and as long as the guy eventually ends up delivering the stuff as expected, the employer would never know that the log is faked.

If he's an independent contractor, holy cow... He would have almost no one to answer to, just the customer.

If they expect to track him down by looking for refrigerated trucks, they're going to have to hope that he's employed by a big company that keeps good records. Otherwise, they won't find a thing.

Also, truckers are supposed to keep daily log books. They don't always keep accurate records. If they're up to no good, it's very easy to enter fake info into the log book, and as long as the guy eventually ends up delivering the stuff as expected, the employer would never know that the log is faked.

If he's an independent contractor, holy cow... He would have almost no one to answer to, just the customer.

If they expect to track him down by looking for refrigerated trucks, they're going to have to hope that he's employed by a big company that keeps good records. Otherwise, they won't find a thing.


Yeah, I think that's the trouble with apprehending criminals who are truck drivers in the first place. It's so easy to manipulate log books. Of course, mileage can always be checked--but if a crime is committed en route to a destination, again, no one may ever find out. There are so, so many more small trucking firms and independent haulers than there are CFIs, Werners, and Schneider Internationals in the country.

Yep, and if he's an independent driver, iirc, he only has to keep mileage records for the IRS, because he's running his own business. So if the IRS wants proof of why he's claiming certain things on his taxes, they can compare his mileage to his fuel purchase receipts, etc.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that if he owns his own truck and is subcontracting himself out to be paid by the job rather than paid by the mile, the company who hires him won't keep track of his mileage at all. This is VERY common.

My dad worked that way, and I met a guy at church last summer, who did the same thing. I forgot what he was hauling, but he was a very devoted church goer. He was 27 years old.

His routine was to disconnect the truck from the trailer, leaving the trailer at a truck stop, and consult his "church map" for a church of his faith nearby.

He drove about 25 miles round trip that sunday evening just to attend a worship service. DH and I talked to him, since he was alone and from out of town (obviously, because he drove up to church in a big rig! lol) He said that he was from SC, and was on his way from Detroit to Wyoming. He hardly ever made that trip, so he didn't expect to ever be back our way again.

He was free to drive around in his truck anywhere he wanted to. Nobody was counting his mileage.