Was the 'I-65 Killer' also the 'I-70 Killer'?

[JM]

Given the recent developments in the 'I-65 Killer' identification and the possible similarities with the 'I-70 Killer', I thought it might be prudent to open a new thread on this topic.

As you may or may not know, on April 5th of this year, Indiana authorities announced that they had identified (through genetic genealogy) the offender known colloquially as the 'I-65 Killer'. His name was Harry Edward Greenwell.

NYTimes | 'I-65 Killer' Who Terrorized Model Clerks in the 1980s Is Identified

His chosen conduit for terror was Interstate 65, preying on women working as night clerks at motels along the highway.

For more than three decades, the serial killer evaded the authorities, who say he was responsible for at least three murders and a separate sexual assault in Kentucky and Indiana during the late 1980s and in 1990.

Investigators now say that they have discovered the identity of the man known as the I-65 Killer, and that he died in 2013 at age 68.

Naturally, this caught the attention of authorities in the states where the 'I-70 Killer' struck, including Indiana, Missouri and Kansas.

KMOV in St. Louis has written about this possible connection here.

“We are talking with the Indiana task force,” said Detective Raymond Floyd, who is heading up the St. Louis task force investigating the I-70 murders. “Right now, it is preliminary. But there are definitely some similarities, and we are going to pursue them.”

Retired detective on the case, Michael Crooke, joined the hosts of the podcast The Murder Sheet to discuss the 'I-70 Killer'. Part 1 was released this week. Part 2, releasing next week, will discuss the possibility that Greenwell was also good for the 'I-70' murders.

Also, previously mentioned KMOV recently did a six-part web series about the I-70 cases and they are excellent. The YouTube playlist is linked here. As luck would have it, last year a group of local, state and federal LE were convened to review this case. If Greenwell was the offender, I've no doubt we'll here about this connection soon.

As for comparisons, here's an undated mugshot of Greenwell and the most famous 'I-70' composite:



Yes, there are definitely similarities. In fact, it almost looks like he posed for the drawing. That said, to me, the biggest 'a-ha' is that he traveled for work and did commit murders along the road. That's a very specific type of MO.

I guess we'll see.

[zack007attack]

This is probably the most viable suspect we've heard of in this case. However, the biggest issue is always the hard evidence, which is far more valuable than circumstantial evidence (including a common modus operandi). It would be difficult to tie him to any of the murders because there didn't seem to be any physical evidence left behind aside from the bullets recovered from the victims' bodies which linked them together and to the same weapon; there wasn't any fingerprints or DNA which could link a suspect to the crime scenes. As the years passed, this would have given him ample time to dispose of the murder weapon.