How come the I-70 killer was never caught?

[Blackout]

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[xxxxmattxxxx69]

Originally Posted by Blackout805

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Well in the early 90s stores surveillance wasn't very high tech if they had any. They may have just had one obvious camera or nothing at all. He could get away then if no one saw him he could just pretend nothing happened

[Blackout]

but with forensic evidence and such this is a classic case of something you'd expect to be solved

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by Blackout805

but with forensic evidence and such this is a classic case of something you'd expect to be solved

To my knowledge, the only significant pieces of forensic evidence were the rounds that killed the victims. They were all from a .25 handgun, although I can't recall if it was established that they were all fired from the same .25. Beyond that, there wasn't a lot to go on--aside from the physical description of the shooter. Also, keep in mind that the shootings occured across state lines and multiple police jurisdictions. I'd imagine it'd be difficult to link up all those agencies and have them all working equally as hard on the case simultaneously. Some agencies may simply be better funded and equipped than others to handle an extensive investigation and forensic testing.

Speaking of caliber--what a seemingly unusual one to use. A .25? I've never ever seen a .25, let alone ever fired or owned one. I suppose the killer may have chosen it because it's probably quiet.

[mwcarolina]

First let me answer your question. The reason he hasnt been caught is simple. Either A) he moved out of the I70 area and is somewhere else. B) he's in prison or jail or C) he's dead. It's very hard to find a serial killer like this guy because 1) he kills you and he only let one witnesss walk away alive and 2) he does his killing quick and takes off. No one has even seen this man's car, no one knows much about him except his looks and his gun and that's not much information to catch someone. He likely didnt leave much DNA because i dont think he raped these women, just killed them.
To my knowledge, the only significant pieces of forensic evidence were the rounds that killed the victims.
yep, i also think that's right, not much forensic evidence.
Beyond that, there wasn't a lot to go on--aside from the physical description of the shooter.
and even that is not much to go on when you have no face to match with this description.
I suppose the killer may have chosen it because it's probably quiet.
that's very likely.

[cocytus]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

To my knowledge, the only significant pieces of forensic evidence were the rounds that killed the victims. They were all from a .25 handgun, although I can't recall if it was established that they were all fired from the same .25. Beyond that, there wasn't a lot to go on--aside from the physical description of the shooter. Also, keep in mind that the shootings occured across state lines and multiple police jurisdictions. I'd imagine it'd be difficult to link up all those agencies and have them all working equally as hard on the case simultaneously. Some agencies may simply be better funded and equipped than others to handle an extensive investigation and forensic testing.

Speaking of caliber--what a seemingly unusual one to use. A .25? I've never ever seen a .25, let alone ever fired or owned one. I suppose the killer may have chosen it because it's probably quiet.

Actually, the weapon he used was an Intratec .22. It's a very rare and shouldn't have been that hard to track down. Not many were made and not many were sold.

.25 is rarely used in the US due to its lack of stopping power. It's mainly used here in cheaply made "Saturday special" style handguns, although a company called Seecamp made one that is an excellent weapon.

I don't think that the killer was caught because:

1) He crossed jurisdictional lines and that usually prevents even slam dunk cases from being solved.
2) There were only a few witnesses that actually saw him and survived.
3) None of the stores where he struck apparently had video surveillance.
4) He parked his vehicle away from where he committed his crimes and then walked to it. That doesn't seem like much...but they apparently only had sketchy descriptions of one thing that would have nailed down his identity.
5) He apparently didn't send the police any of the taunting notes or letters that some of those psychos do.
6) He was either caught for another crime, became ill or was committed to a mental institution.

And finally,

7) Bad police work.

[sdb4884]

Is there a link between the i70 killer and the person who murdered those women on another interstate (non-prositutes) ?

[melskie007]

Originally Posted by cocytus

Actually, the weapon he used was an Intratec .22. It's a very rare and shouldn't have been that hard to track down. Not many were made and not many were sold.

.25 is rarely used in the US due to its lack of stopping power. It's mainly used here in cheaply made "Saturday special" style handguns, although a company called Seecamp made one that is an excellent weapon.

I don't think that the killer was caught because:

1) He crossed jurisdictional lines and that usually prevents even slam dunk cases from being solved.
2) There were only a few witnesses that actually saw him and survived.
3) None of the stores where he struck apparently had video surveillance.
4) He parked his vehicle away from where he committed his crimes and then walked to it. That doesn't seem like much...but they apparently only had sketchy descriptions of one thing that would have nailed down his identity.
5) He apparently didn't send the police any of the taunting notes or letters that some of those psychos do.
6) He was either caught for another crime, became ill or was committed to a mental institution.

And finally,

7) Bad police work.

Its mainly the Juristiction of every area which is the biggest hold up! Secondly, Its a cold case..Do you know how many cold cases the police have to contend with. This would litterly be a case they would look at every now and then to follow up on any new leads or info. As for DNA? thats hard to determine, depends on the range of execution and if he would in fact be stupid enough to have sex with his victims and leave dna behind...In that time it would be lucky if the cops collected enough sample to actually perform a dna match of some kind. It would be interesting to see the profile they came up with given such small information.

[cocytus]

Originally Posted by melskie007

Its mainly the Juristiction of every area which is the biggest hold up! Secondly, Its a cold case..Do you know how many cold cases the police have to contend with. This would litterly be a case they would look at every now and then to follow up on any new leads or info. As for DNA? thats hard to determine, depends on the range of execution and if he would in fact be stupid enough to have sex with his victims and leave dna behind...In that time it would be lucky if the cops collected enough sample to actually perform a dna match of some kind. It would be interesting to see the profile they came up with given such small information.

Let's see:

1) I did say jurisdictional issues were part of the reason. However, the interstate nature of this crime would make (and have made) it case for the FBI. However, it appears that these were seen as individual crimes for an extended period of time and only passed to the FBI well after they could have been easily solved.

2) I'm also aware that there many "cold cases." Frankly, the random nature of the crimes, the lack of an obvious suspect(s) and the police making critical logic and procedural errors are the primary reasons for case going "cold." Had even LE agencies within in the same counties had used the same types of radio systems (which was possible in the early 1970's) there could have been many cases solved that are now "cold."

The public is also responsible by not demanding better police work from their departments and more accountability from the departments leadership. They also have failed in several major cities to pass bond initiatives that would have provide more funding for training and equipment, making some departments fall years behind the technological curve.

That's why there are so many cold cases.


3) There was probably DNA on the shell casings from the weapon. There may be hairs or fluids on the bodies if he touched them after he shot them. Who knows?

The point is, at this late date, the only way this will likely be solved is that a DNA sample found will match another collected by LE in another jurisdiction, a confession or that this guy will attempt to continue his "spree" and will caught as a result.

[melskie007]

Originally Posted by cocytus

Let's see:

1) I did say jurisdictional issues were part of the reason. However, the interstate nature of this crime would make (and have made) it case for the FBI. However, it appears that these were seen as individual crimes for an extended period of time and only passed to the FBI well after they could have been easily solved.

2) I'm also aware that there many "cold cases." Frankly, the random nature of the crimes, the lack of an obvious suspect(s) and the police making critical logic and procedural errors are the primary reasons for case going "cold." Had even LE agencies within in the same counties had used the same types of radio systems (which was possible in the early 1970's) there could have been many cases solved that are now "cold."

The public is also responsible by not demanding better police work from their departments and more accountability from the departments leadership. They also have failed in several major cities to pass bond initiatives that would have provide more funding for training and equipment, making some departments fall years behind the technological curve.

That's why there are so many cold cases.


3) There was probably DNA on the shell casings from the weapon. There may be hairs or fluids on the bodies if he touched them after he shot them. Who knows?

The point is, at this late date, the only way this will likely be solved is that a DNA sample found will match another collected by LE in another jurisdiction, a confession or that this guy will attempt to continue his "spree" and will caught as a result.

Theres not enough funding in cold case investigation as well nor the manpower needed to really persue this..I do know that when you cross boarders its pretty much fbi that runs this. everything you mentioned here i am aware of but my question was what the profile of the killer they had came up with from thier phycological expert looked like? They usually describe who may have done these crimes. any info on this?

[SageSlowdive]

How can they get DNA? To my recollection, the killer left no kind of DNA at the crime scenes to be linked to anything. They could have traced the gun down, somehow, you can probably blame that on sloppy or slow police work.

[cocytus]

Originally Posted by SageSlowdive

How can they get DNA? To my recollection, the killer left no kind of DNA at the crime scenes to be linked to anything. They could have traced the gun down, somehow, you can probably blame that on sloppy or slow police work.

Unless he loaded his weapon w/ gloves on, there would DNA on the shell casings. Since they didn't specify that he had picked up his brass, and the weapon he used ejects its shell casings, there would be brass on the floor.

The weapon (even if it was stolen) would have been the key to tracking down the killer. The weapon he used was VERY rare and it was a poor seller. They should have been able to track all of the weapons manufactured to at least the gun dealers who bought them wholesale.

Here's a description of the weapon:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intratec_TEC-22
The fact that he chose this weapon shows that the killer knew little about weapons at the time of the killings, IMHO.

[Blackout]

Originally Posted by cocytus

Unless he loaded his weapon w/ gloves on, there would DNA on the shell casings. Since they didn't specify that he had picked up his brass, and the weapon he used ejects its shell casings, there would be brass on the floor.

The weapon (even if it was stolen) would have been the key to tracking down the killer. The weapon he used was VERY rare and it was a poor seller. They should have been able to track all of the weapons manufactured to at least the gun dealers who bought them wholesale.

Here's a description of the weapon:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intratec_TEC-22
The fact that he chose this weapon shows that the killer knew little about weapons at the time of the killings, IMHO.

i still say that this guy can be caught!

[Blackout]

any update in the past year?

[mwcarolina]

Originally Posted by Blackout805

any update in the past year?

i havent seen any, but like i said, it's likely the reason he hasnt been caught is he's either in jail or prison, he's dead, he's killing somewhere else with a different weapon or lastly, he's stopped killing. now what the answer is, i dont know.