One of history’s deadliest serial killers was a married family man who managed to squeeze in 218 credited murders (and as many as 250) while working as a popular British physician. The Long Island Serial Killer. One New York serial killer has been plying his grisly trade for over twenty years now, killing at least ten victims between 1996 and 2010, and possibly more we haven’t yet discovered. Dubbed the Long Island Serial Killer or the Craigslist Ripper, the extent of these unsolved crimes is still unknown.
- New Mexicos Worst Serial Killers
- Who Was The Worst Serial Killer In America
- Who Is The Worst Serial Killer In The United States
- On the morning of February 10th 1990 a horrendous crime, which is still unsolved, occurred in Las Cruces. Stephanie Senac (aged 34) arrived at Las Cruces Bowl along with her daughter Melissa Repass (aged 12), and Amy Hauser (aged 13). Senac worked at the bowling alley, while the girls worked in.
- 10 Worst Serial Killers 10. Wayne Williams – Body count: 2-31. Thought to be responsible for the infamous “Atlanta Child Murders” that took place in Atlanta, Georgia, between the years of 1979 and 1981, Williams was actually convicted of the murder of two adult men (29 year old Jimmy Payne and 27 year old Nathaniel Carter).
AMW has aired the case of the still unidentified West Mesa Serial Killer out of Albuquerque, New Mexico four times between 2009 and 2010. This perpretrator is believed to be responsible for the murders of 11 women and girls (plus an unborn fetus) who disappeared between 2003 to 2005.
Criminal Investigations Division
On Feb. 2, 2009, Christine Ross and her dog Ruca left their home on Albuquerque's west side to go for a walk. Ruca found a large bone protruding from the earthen trail.
Christine felt that the bone didn't look normal. She took a picture of it and then sent a text message to her sister, a registered nurse. A little while later, Christine's sister contacted her and told her that the bone resembled a human femur.
Christine immediately notified the Albuquerque Police Department and it was quickly determined that the bone was in fact human. During the ensuing weeks, detectives uncovered the skeletal remains of 11 women and one unborn child, all buried in makeshift graves.
Forensic investigators have now identified all 11 victims. Ten of the victims; Monica Candelaria, Victoria Chavez, Virginia Cloven, Syllannia Edwards, Cinnamon Elks, Doreen Marquez, Julie Nieto, Veronica Romero, Evelyn Salazar, and Michelle Valdez; all have a common link. They have ties to both drugs and prostitution. The eleventh victim, Jamie Barela, has no known involvement in these particular activities.
Using a sketch and dental records, the Office of the Medical Investigator identified Syllannia Edwards on November 13, 2009. Law enforcement authorities in Lawton, Oklahoma had classified her as an endangered runaway and reported her missing in 2003. In May of 2004, Edwards had been seen associating with prostitutes on East Colfax Avenue in Aurora, Colorado. She may have been staying at the Ranger Motel. Edwards was seen in the company of three other women: Lucretia, Ty and Diamond. She might have been using the nicknames 'Mimi' or 'Chocolate.' Edwards was 15 years old when last seen.
Using DNA evidence, forensic experts at the University of North Texas identified the remains of Virginia Cloven and Evelyn Salazar on November 17, 2009. Both women were reported missing in 2004 and are from the Albuquerque area.
The eleventh victim, 15 year old, Jamie Barela, was identified on January 26, 2010. She was last seen leaving a family gathering with her cousin, Evelyn Salazar, during the month of April 2004. Salazar had been identified as victim of the serial killer approximately two months earlier. Both young women were heading to a park near San Mateo and Gibson in southeast Albuquerque when they disappeared.
Detectives are currently looking for leads and would like to know more about the victims. Investigators would like to hear from women who may have been working the streets of Albuquerque between 2001 and 2005, or anyone who may have solicited the victims during that period of time.
A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for this crime.
Anyone with information concerning the victims and/or potential suspects is asked to contact the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273 or (505) 768-2450. Crime Stoppers can be called at (505) 843-STOP.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected]
Victims
Victim: Jamie Barela
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: Using DNA evidence, forensic experts were able to identify 15 year old Jamie Barela as one of the victims of the 118th Street serial killer. She was last seen at a family gathering in April of 2004. Jamie and her cousin; Evelyn Salazar, who is also a victim, had left the gathering and went to a park near San Mateo and Gibson SE. They were never seen again. Barela was killed by an unknown person who then buried her in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
Victim: Monica Candelaria
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: Sometime between 2003 and 2005 an unknown person killed 22 year old Monica Candelaria and buried her in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
Victim: Victoria Chavez
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: In 2005 an unknown person killed 26 year old Victoria Chavez and buried her in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
New Mexicos Worst Serial Killers
Victim: Virginia Cloven
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: Using DNA evidence, forensic investigators were able to identify 24 year old Virginia Cloven as one of the victims of the 118th Street serial killer. She was reported missing in 2004. Investigators believe that she was killed sometime between 2004 and 2005 by an unknown person who then buried her in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
Victim: Syllannia Edwards
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: Using a sketch and dental records, the Office of the Medical Investigator has identified one of the unknown victims of the 118th Street Serial Killer as Syllannia Edwards. Law enforcement authorities in Lawton, Oklahoma had classified her as an endangered runaway and reported her missing in 2003. In May of 2004, Edwards had been seen associating with prostitutes on East Colfax Avenue in Aurora Colorado. She may have been staying at the Ranger Motel. Edwards was seen in the company of three other women: Lucretia, Ty and Diamond. She might have been using the nicknames 'Mimi' or 'Chocolate.' Edwards was 15 years old when last seen. Syllannia Edwards was killed sometime between 2004 and 2005 and then buried in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
Victim: Cinnamon Elks
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: Sometime between 2004 and 2005 an unknown person killed 32 year old Cinnamon Elks and buried her in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
Victim: Doreen Marquez
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: Sometime between 2003 and 2005 an unknown person killed 24 year old Doreen Marquez and buried her in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
Victim: Julie Nieto
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: Sometime between 2004 and 2005 an unknown person killed 24 year old Julie Nieto and buried her in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
Victim: Veronica Romero
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: Sometime between 2004 and 2005 an unknown person killed 28 year old Veronica Romero and buried her in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
Victim: Evelyn Salazar
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: Using DNA evidence, forensic investigators were able to identify 27 year old Evelyn Salazar as one of the victims of the 118th Street serial killer. She was last seen at a family gathering in April of 2004. Evelyn and her cousin; Jamie Barela, who is also a victim, had left the gathering and went to a park near San Mateo and Gibson SE. They were never seen again. Salazar was killed by an unknown person who then buried her in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
Victim: Michelle Valdez
Suspect: Unknown
Location: 118th Street SW, Albuquerque, N.M.
Synopsis: Sometime between 2004 and 2005 an unknown person killed 22 year old Michelle Valdez and buried her in a mesa located adjacent to 118th Street SW in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Michelle was pregnant at the time of her death. The skeletal remains of her unborn child were found buried with her.
Please call the 118th Street Task Force at 1-877-765-8273, (505) 768-2450 or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP with any information you may have concerning this crime.
You may also email information to Detective Denice Myers at [email protected] or Investigator Ida Lopez at [email protected].
Front Page
E-mail a link to this story to a friendSunday, September 19, 1999
Infamous Crimes in N.M. History
Through the century, New Mexico has been the site of high-profile crimes. In some cases, they helped shape the history of the state. In others, they raised the level of consciousness pertaining to an issue:
1908
New Mexico's most famous lawman, Patrick F. Garrett, was gunned down on a road to an Organ mining camp east of Las Cruces by Wayne Brazel over a ranch-lease dispute. Brazel shot Garrett twice, once in the head and once in the chest. Brazel was tried for murder and acquitted.
Garrett, the slayer of Billy the Kid, was also the Doña Ana County sheriff who investigated the disappearance and presumed murders of Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and 8-year-old son Henry in 1896. The prominent Republican and his son disappeared near Chalk Hill between Las Cruces and Alamogordo. Garrett's pursuit of three suspects was dogged, but no one was convicted of the Fountain murders. New Mexico ranchers Oliver Lee and Jim Gilliland were acquitted in the case.
In November 1880, Garrett was elected sheriff of Lincoln County. His job was to hunt down William 'Billy the Kid' Bonney. After a two-month search, Garrett arrested Bonney at Stinking Springs near Fort Sumner. Bonney was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1878 murder of Garrett's predecessor. Awaiting execution, Bonney killed two guards in his escape from the Lincoln County jail but was hunted down by Garrett a second time. On July 14, 1881, Garrett shot and killed Bonney at the Maxwell Ranch house near Fort Sumner.
1916
In retaliation for a double cross in which promised weapons were never delivered, Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa ordered 500 of his men to raid the small border town of Columbus, N.M. On March 9, 1916, more than 100 of Villa's men were killed during and after the raid while 16 Americans were killed. President Woodrow Wilson called out the Army to pursue Villa. Four men, identified as Villistas, were executed by hanging, and at least one was pardoned, according to newspaper accounts.
1929
Who Was The Worst Serial Killer In America
On July 3, 1929, a headless body was found in Arthur Manby's home in Taos. Was it Manby, one of the most hated land speculators in northern New Mexico's history, or was it the body of a transient? Neighbors and local police formed a coroner's jury and decided it was Manby's and that he had died of natural causes. An investigator for the New Mexico attorney general later determined foul play was involved, but no one wanted to spend the money for an investigation. Associates of Manby's reported seeing him in Europe months after his death. One of the West's great unsolved mysteries, it became the subject of a book by Frank Waters.
1949
Ovida 'Cricket' Coogler disappeared March 30 from downtown Las Cruces. Her body was found in a shallow grave, launching a series of events that changed New Mexico politics and marked the first modern criminal prosecution under the federal civil rights laws. Football player Jerry Nuzum was charged and later acquitted. But three law enforcement officials, Doña Ana Sheriff A.M. 'Happy' Apodaca, Deputy Roy Sandman and State Police Chief Hubert Beasley were convicted of torturing a black man to get a confession in the case. The three were each sentenced to one year in federal prison. The state Supreme Court ordered a special grand jury and prosecutors to investigate the case and allegations of corruption. An investigator in the case, former FBI agent Ed Mechem, was elected governor in 1952.
1967
Bud Rice, 54, and Blanche Brown, 81, were shot dead in the Budville Trading Post the night of Nov. 18. U.S. Navy sailor Larry Bunten, visiting family in the area, was arrested the next night at a roadblock and charged with murder. Eighteen days later Bunten was released from jail after evidence became overwhelming that he was with family at the time of the shooting. Billy Ray White then became a suspect, was put on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list and arrested in Illinois. A year later he was acquitted by a jury in Los Lunas.
1970s
State Police Officer Robert Rosenbloom was shot and killed Nov. 8, 1971, during a traffic stop about eight miles west of Albuquerque on I-40. Three suspects in the shooting eluded a police manhunt for almost two weeks, then hijacked TWA flight 106 at Albuquerque's International Airport and flew to Cuba. Cuban authorities arrested the hijackers, Charles Hill, Ralph Goodwin and Michael Finney. Goodwin died in Cuba in 1973. Hill and Finney were released from a Cuban prison in 1980, but chose not to return to the United States to face murder and hijacking charges.
* * *
Who Is The Worst Serial Killer In The United States
Four members of the Vagos motorcycle gang were convicted in 1974 for the mutilation murder of UNM student William Velten. The four, Richard Greer, Ronald Keine, Clarence Smith and Thomas Gladish, spent 17 months on death row. Their case was in the appeals process when Kerry Rodney Lee, an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration, confessed to the murder.
Early 1980s
Pamela Sue Barker, alias Michelle Lynn Pearson, was bludgeoned to death in 1981 and her body set afire by her husband, federally protected witness, Marion Albert Pruett. 'Mad Dog' Pruett then killed two store clerks in Colorado, a savings and loan clerk in Mississippi and convenience store clerk Bobbie Jean Robertson of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Pruett received life sentences for four of the five murders and was executed earlier this year in Arkansas for the murder of Robertson.
* * *
William Wayne Gilbert committed a series of murders in the 1980s while operating as an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Gilbert was convicted and sentenced to die for the murders of newlyweds Kenn and Noel Johnson. He also pleaded guilty to murdering his wife from Las Cruces, Barbara McMullan. Police foiled Gilbert's plans to escape, kidnap his defense attorneys and hold them hostage.
Gilbert told police he also committed other murders but couldn't remember the details. His death sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1986 by Gov. Toney Anaya. He later escaped from the state's maximum security prison near Santa Fe, was captured in California and is serving his sentence out of state.
1986
On Jan. 12, University of New Mexico student Linda Lee Daniels, 22, was kidnapped outside her fiancé's Northeast Heights home. Daniels was taken to a hotel room, drugged and raped, and taken to the Jemez Mountains and killed. Law enforcement officials operating under intense media pressure arrested Johnny Zinn, Wallace Randolph Pierce, Sidney Sliger and James Scartaccini.
Zinn, convicted of 19 charges, was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison; Pierce was sentenced to 66 years after pleading guilty to charges including murder; Sliger pleaded guilty to rape and was sentenced to three years; Scartaccini testified against Zinn, received immunity from prosecution and later committed suicide.
* * *
Dena Lynn Gore, 9, was kidnapped, raped and murdered by Terry Clark in July. Her naked body was found in a shallow grave five days after her disappearance on a remote ranch south of Roswell. Clark pleaded guilty to her murder and was sentenced to die. His legal appeals to have the death sentence overturned have bounced up and down New Mexico courts. Earlier this year Clark asked attorneys to withdraw his appeals so the death sentence could be imposed.
1988
On Sept. 20, Tara Calico, 19, disappeared without a trace while riding her bicycle on N.M. 47 in Valencia County. Her parents mailed 80,000 fliers around the country and appeared on 'Oprah,' 'Unsolved Mysteries' and 'America's Most Wanted,' but Calico is still missing.
1987-89
Four bizarre murder cases grabbed headlines in which the defendants claimed to be mentally ill. In July 1987, Darci Pierce abducted an eight-months pregnant Cindy Ray. Pierce took Ray to the East Mountains and used a key to remove the infant from Ray's womb. Ray died, and the child survived. A jury rejected Pierce's insanity defense, and she was sentenced to life in prison.
A jury also rejected the insanity defense of Judith Neely, who drove her car into a family walking in a Northeast Heights neighborhood, killing 6-year-old Rachel Light and seriously injuring her father. Neely was sentenced to life plus 27 years.
Two other cases ended with the defendants in mental hospitals.
In November 1988, Nancy Feak pleaded guilty to the suffocation deaths of her 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. She was committed for psychiatric treatment.
On Nov. 29, 1988, Nathan Trupp walked into a Northeast Heights bagel shop and fatally shot two men and a woman. He later eluded police and killed two security guards in Southern California. He was found by a California court to be psychotic.
1991
Seven people -- three women, two police officers and two children -- were shot to death at a mobile home park near Española when officers tried to serve court papers on Rick Abeyta. Abeyta was convicted of numerous charges and sentenced to 146 years in prison.
1996Three employees of a Hollywood Video store were killed during an armed robbery, and the grandparents of one employee were kidnapped and executed in the Sandia Mountains. Shane Harrison was convicted of killing the grandparents and sentenced to 258 years in prison; his girlfriend, Esther Beckley, turned state's evidence and was sentenced to 95 1/2 years in prison. The jury couldn't reach a verdict on the three other murder charges.