In 1978 Robert Pretty came home from work. dishes and food from breakfast were half eaten on the kitchen table. he found his wife Karen (aged 28) strangled to death. her hands and feet were tied up with telephone cord. her head was found submerged in a bathtub filled with water.she had been strangled with a telephone cord..

He also found his two young boys heads submerged in water drowned and beaten to death. hands and feet tied up. Scott and Mark were ages 5 and Items had not been stolen from the home. only one drawer was found opened. None of the victims were sexually assaulted. all of the victims were wearing Pajamas when they were found.

What a sad case! :/ does anyone have info or theories on this case? some people linked the case to the Texas 1-45 highway killer. but in my opinion it really doesn't fit his alleged method of killing. others believe it was a mistaken hit.

Not familiar with this case, but after reading a handful of websites about it I think it's a mistaken hit. Feel bad for Robert Pretty, wonder how he's doing today.

Not familiar with this case, but after reading a handful of websites about it I think it's a mistaken hit.

I believe the same thing. The case was never presented on UM, but it would have been appropriate for the show.

I believe the same thing. The case was never presented on UM, but it would have been appropriate for the show.

Unfortunately hardly any cases from the seventies were ever profiled. I would've loved to have seen profiles on cases like this or the infamous "Tape Recorder Man" child abduction case (Sheila and Katherine Lyon) from 1975 that still baffles me to this day.

I just read about the Lyon sisters case. I wonder if it happened today if more people would've made a fuss about the "Tape recorder man" hanging around those kids. (sick BTW! did he get off on recording children's voices?) it's also frustrating the alleged sighting of the License plate wasn't accurate because the plate was bent?? also the same person said he saw the girls bound and gagged in the same car. why wasn't this info. taken seriously?? baffling indeed!

I just read about the Lyon sisters case. I wonder if it happened today if more people would've made a fuss about the "Tape recorder man" hanging around those kids. (sick BTW! did he get off on recording children's voices?) it's also frustrating the alleged sighting of the License plate wasn't accurate because the plate was bent?? also the same person said he saw the girls bound and gagged in the same car. why wasn't this info. taken seriously?? baffling indeed!

Well I was checking blogs on the case today and found a rather long and convoluted explanation as to just who "Tape Recorder Man" might have been. Again it's a long read but an interesting one nonetheless:

This message came from Adam Klein. He has developed an intriguing theory about who the Tape Recorder Man (TRM) may have been. Thanks to Adam for letting me share it with my readers.

The Tape Recorder Man was, I believe, James Mitchell DeBardeleben the II. In my trauma as a 9 year old boy growing up in quiet Kemp Mill, I held on to the pain and gripping fear of the Lyon sisters.

Later in life I was reminded of their nightmare once again. In my extreme curiosity I studied the case with enthusiasm. I asked the question to myself over and over again - if a man was going to kidnap two middle class white girls out from under their family's and community's noses - why the hell would he be seen in public talking to the girls before he kidnapped them? Would the public display help him? If so I could not work out in my mind how it would help him?

I thought about this question. I meditated on many more like: Did he want to get sketched? If so why? Was he taunting the police? What was he doing for the weeks before the kidnapping acting as a Tape Recorder Man? How does a full-grown man, well-dressed man, get his face drawn in the paper and NO-ONE in the whole community recognizes him?

Then I went to sleep one night and I had a dream. The dream related to me seeing a group of bullies in a high school in the late 1950's attempting to stuff the head of another teenagers/classmates head into the opening of a vending machine. The sadism was over the top and the rage toward the one getting bullied was intense. They were enraged at him for his violence toward a female classmate.

When I awoke I saw exactly how the crime could have happened. I sat on the edge of my bed and had an experience I have never had in my life and never had since: I literally watched my mind show me how this crime very likely could have happened. It answered every question I had puzzled over and then many many more.

At the edge of my bed I watched a "movie" of sorts delivered from somewhere deep inside of my mind. Whoever kidnapped them impersonated a police office. He either was a cop or he had a police uniform. His whole tape recorder man routine was his way of either tormenting the community and or communicating to someone is some sick psycho-sexual drama.

If he had a police uniform then he could sit in a car near the most obscure point on the normal route of teenagers on their way from Kensington to Wheaton Plaza. Such a move would allow him to immediately gain the girl's trust. Once they saw him as a police officer they would be willing to "help" the officer by speaking into a microphone in the middle of the mall. A simple lie, like "the Police force has been seeking a criminal -well known to come up here to Wheaton Plaza - I will change to plain clothes and come up to the mall -if you girls would be willing to speak into this mic this would help decrease the criminal's suspicion that he is be followed by the police...."

Then he could kidnap them when they are walking home. He could tell the girls "this is top police work there is no danger to you, but if you could not talk about it, at least till you have dinner with your family tonight, that would help the police". He can simply lie in wait for the girls return and then ask them for further assistance. If they could just get in the car and go up to the station for about 10 minutes. And if they get in the car, which they did, that's it.

I sat on the edge of bed slack-jawed. I said to myself well great but if their has been no criminals in the DC area that impersonate police, and kidnap girls/women such a theory is worthless. Since it is so many years later if any such person existed then forget it. Furthermore, I would have to believe that such a criminal would NOT be a cop so Police uniforms would have had to have been stolen.

I googled police impersonator, Washington DC area. And there he was, one of the most dangerous serial rapists in the history of America was right here in the DC area - James Mitchell DeBardeleben. Between 1979 and 1983 he was named the "mall passer" because he loved to pass counterfeit money at shopping malls. He especially had a passion for committing crimes in crowded malls, and beyond that he liked crowded holiday malls. His counterfeit operation was a way of financing much darker and more sinister crimes - kidnapping, torturing and raping girls and women.

DeBardeleben was a sexual sadist. He was a murderer. He was a kidnapper. He was a highly sophisticated and extremely dangerous criminal.

He was all over the DC area - especially Wheaton. He robbed the bank that existed in the parking lot of Wheaton plaza. He followed the bank manager for weeks and watched his coming and going behavior. When he went to work one morning DeBardeleben went to his house and lied to his wife stating that he was a Federal Banking Official. When she opened the door he burst in put her at gun point, tied her up and gagged her. He called the bank and told the husband/manager that he would kill his wife if he did not leave $ 30,000 in the Wheaton Library bathroom. Again a highly sophisticated and extremely lethal criminal.

I wanted to know if Police uniforms had ever been documented as having been stolen. When I went into the Washington Post Archives I discovered 3 Maryland State Police uniforms went missing in a Robbery of A Baltimore Dry cleaning business in February of 1975. The article was published in Sept of 1975 when one of the stolen uniforms re-appeared in bizarre crime scene involving a police impersonator attempting to rape male truck drivers.

The February robbery of the dry cleaners coincided perfectly with the appearance of the Tape Recorder Man at area malls. This fits not only my crime theory but the profile DeBardeleben.

Further exploration of the crime brought me into another coincidental and highly compelling piece that I had never known before: A nearly identical crime took place at an outdoor mall in Fort Worth Texas on December 23,1974. 3 young girls went to a mall, very similar to Wheaton Plaza, and went missing, never to have been seen or heard of again.

I did more research on DeBardeleben. He lived in Fort Worth in 1974 - in the house his mother owned. She died in the Spring of 74 his wife (Carol Miller of Arlington Virginia) left him and went into hiding up in Arlington, VA in the Autumn of 1974. This reportedly enraged this well documented psychopath.

The sketch of the TRM is definitely an attempt at the schoolteacher face of one James Mitchell DeBardeleben - including the birth anomaly-related to his bizarre looking nose.

Furthermore, the sighting of Lyon Girls in Manassass fitsDe Bardeleben's crime profile as well. Arrogant, sadistic, seeking attention but only to a point. Well thought out escape routes, hoping to get spied, unlikely to get caught.

2 years ago I told the police my crime theory. They agreed that DeBardeleben was a very likely suspect. Politics likely prevent the Montgomery County Police from doing more. The Secret Service convicted DeBardeleben because of his counterfeiting crimes - and therefore they retained all evidence.

The family likely does not want tenuous or complicated legal matters to make their lives come back to the spotlight - they have been through WAY WAY TOO MUCH already.

The Fort Worth police blew there case as well but surviving family members and the Fort Worth police may be interested in helping.

The Secret Service is absolutely off limits to most mortals like me.
But Carol Miller may know something. I believe she may have known in real time who was doing this - so she may have extreme guilt. She has received immunity for her willingness to cooperate with police in previous criminal procedures related to James Mitchell DeBardeleben.

DeBardeleben is dead so she may be willing to talk more now.

The TRM had a very brief moment in public on March 25, 1975. He wore a brown leisure suit.

A brown leisure suit reminds me of a Maryland State Police uniform. An image of Maryland State Uniform from 1975 would be beneficial if produced for the sake of this exploration.

The Lyon girls were reported to have approached TRM almost immediately upon his appearance in public March 25, 1975 at the Wheaton Plaza.

They spoke to him immediately with seemingly no apprehension or in a more care free. Then the TRM left the plaza. Got what he needed and out.

Only in retrospect this "coincidence" was likely totally loaded. Boys, who were the same age as the Lyon girls looked on the strange TRM scene with cautious curiosity. If this made boys suspicious by all right and reason such a man would (AND DID) make most girls and women feel troubled. Why not the Lyon girls?

So some falsely induced trust makes maximal sense - if the girls thought that TRM was a police officer in plain clothes speaking into his microphone would make perfect sense.

Thanks DarkDante! that was an interesting read. not sure if I buy it tho. but it does shed some light on the TRM angle. sadly I have a feeling this crime will never be solved. :/

Not familiar with this case, but after reading a handful of websites about it I think it's a mistaken hit. Feel bad for Robert Pretty, wonder how he's doing today.

Similar feelings toward the father and husband of the three Oba Chandler victims, can't think of their names.

You wonder how people bare that kind of hurt, losing your spouse and your whole family.

This was my post.

I ask that you compare the face of the sketch of the Tape Recorder Man to DeBardeleben -

Photos in Michaud's book reveal a high or receding hair line. Also victim's of his crimes in which he was convicted reported or described the same.

Also FBI crime profilers speak of linkage characteristics. Not to be confused with crime scene signatures - the linkage characteristics relate to the criminals tendencies, styles, types of crimes, methodology of committing crimes and other indicators.

The linkage characteristics are overwhelming:

1. Known to have a passion for doing crimes in crowded malls - Lyon sisters disappeared during Easter week when an Easter bunny was at the Wheaton Plaza.

2. Known to kidnap girls/women.

3. Known to have kept kidnap/rape victims for days in safe houses (Lyon girls were reported by 2 credible witnesses on April 6, 1975 in the back seat of the perpetrator's vehicle - kidnapped March 25, 1975).

4. Known police impersonator below you will see the entire Washington Post article that reported uniforms missing from a dry cleaners at the exact moment in time when TRM was reported to have been appearing at DC area malls - Please note the final paragraph of the article- Impostor Sought by State Police
By Courtland MilloyWashington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (1974-Current file); Sep 19, 1975;
ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877 - 1993)
pg. C1

Maryland State Police are searching for a man believed to be impersonating a trooper. Police said that the alleged impostor was severely beaten when he halted a truck driver and said he was speeding.
The man wore a uniform similar to the one used by state troopers and used a siren and red flashing lights concealed in the grill of his 1974 dark green Chrsyler to halt the truck driver police said.
"Indications are that the impersonator is homosexual" according to the police bulletin. "The truck driver" state police man Walter Johnson said yesterday "said the man began acting real funny. The driver had a night stick with him and beat the man up pretty bad" said Johnson.
The driver was stopped by the alleged impostor along the John F Kennedy Highway (Interstate 95) near Baltimore at 0:30 PM on the night of Sept 9. The driver told the police later that the man dressed in the troopers uniform accused him of speeding and asked him to sit in the patrol car while a summons was filled out.
The alleged impostor was described as a white male in his mid 20's 5 feet 11, 170 pounds and had a tatoo on his right forarm that read "Black Panther". His name tag read "Rook" police said.
The trooper wore a tan uniform with a black waist belt and holster, police said. The make of the gun he wore could not be determined, police said the truck driver told them.
The man also wore several ornaments on his collar, according to police, and he had a 23 channel citizens' radio with two outside antennas connected to it.
Printed in black on an orange background were the words "official use" over the top of a Maryland license plate with an unknown number, police said. The front seat held a black summons book, a brief case and a tan colored Stetson hat, police said.
Since Maryland started a special crack down on speeders in August, using numerous unmarked cars, some citizens have expressed concerns that they might be stopped by someone other than a state trooper.
According to state police LT Lawrence Gibbs "if there is any speculation that a person is not a police man - that he cannot identify himself - there is no need to stop".
Gibbs added that the incident with the truck driver is the only one of its type since State police since the speeding crackdown began. It was also the first incident reported to police since the disappearance in February of 3 state police uniforms from a dry cleaning firm in Baltimore.
Three months later, in April, nearly $10,000 worth of police badges and other ornaments were stolen from a Baltimore manufacturing company.

5. Known Sexual Sadist - named as the worse sexual sadist in the history of America by those most trusted in the field. The Sadism of these crimes and their multi-layering were aimed not only at the child victims but at the Lyon family and the community as a whole. Also being seen in a car some 10 days later may be understood as additional layers of sadism.

6. Was known to have committed crime all over Wheaton Maryland and surrounding areas - including Bank Robbery, extortion, kidnapping, purchasing of printing press all in Wheaton - and around Wheaton kidnapping, raping, forgeries, attempted murder (likely unsolved murders - including Lyon Sisters and likely attached case of Farnum Burton).

7. Known to have done overlay crimes or what might be understood as the exact same crime 2 times or more - Missing Trio in Fort Worth Texas Dec 23, 1974 3 girls go missing from area outdoor mall which was in size, shape, and proximity to community very similar to Wheaton Plaza. Also Missing Trio were reported by a security guard as likely last seen with a security guard impostor inside impostor's vehicle. He lived with his 4th wife in his mother's home in FW Texas minutes drive away from the mall.

8. Known to use Tape Recorders in the recording of sexually sadistic crimes in which he was convicted.

9. Known to have motivation as wife left him and mother died just before winter of 1974.

10. Please note that 2 sketches were made and published of TRM. Sketch one roughly 3 days after the girls went missing were produced upon the reported testimony of 2 of the Lyon girls peers who witnessed them speaking to TRM at the mall a few short hours before having gone missing. Sketch 2 appeared after the Montgomery County Police were inundated with area parents and teens flooding their phones with reported descriptions of a TRM. The second sketch reveals the strange nose of DeBardeleben. Also he was known to wear false teeth when committing his counterfeiting crimes later in his criminal career when he sought by the Secret Service as "The Mall Passer".

11. Known to be extremely methodical in his planning, organizing and execution of crime - with no witnesses, very little evidence.

12. Known to have conducted psychosexual murders in 1966 and 1971 and was likely murdering many others between 66 and 75.

These description may be "long and convoluted" but the crime was a multi-layered, highly complex ruse that included a psychopath revealing his face in public prior to committing an extremely radical and heinous crime. Lesser descriptions would lack the necessary information to more fully bring out this crime theory - so thanks for your time.