John Joubert, Nebraska Boy Snatcher
Grim Discovery
Two days later, two pheasant hunters came across Christopher in the woods, in a dense area five miles from town. They recognized his photo from the papers and called the police. He was clad only in his underwear and had been repeatedly stabbed. In addition, after death, his throat had been cut so deeply that it had nearly removed his head. There was also a strange mark on him, a figure of some kind carved into his torso. Some called it a star pattern, and in court documents later it was referred to as resembling a plant. Clearly the boy had been aware of what was happening to him as he bled to death from seven stab wounds. If this had been done by the same killer, and there was good reason to believe it had, then he was escalating in his violence. Two sets of footprints going to the site and one leaving indicated a sole offender. After an examination, it was found that there had been no sexual penetration.
Ressler received the call once again. John Evans told him that another boy had been abducted and murdered in the Omaha area. When the crimes were compared, it was found that the two boys had been similar in height and build, so they might have attracted the offender by appearance. Ressler revised his profile to indicate that the killer was probably in his twenties and said again he was likely not very large. Both boys had also been abducted and taken away in a vehicle. Both were forced to strip, and neither were sexually assaulted. Ressler viewed this as "a killer's anger with himself" and a denial of his homosexuality. In his book, he says that he went out on a limb to say that it could be an enlisted man who does mechanical work and is not intellectual. He reiterated that this person would likely be involved in some occupation dealing with children.
Yet there were differences, too. Ressler thought that Danny Joe had been held captive and then killed, while it appeared that Christopher had been taken and killed immediately, right there were his body was left. Danny Joe had been left in a fairly visible place near a road, while Christopher's body had been better concealed. Danny Joe's clothing had been taken, while Christopher's was piled near the body. Danny Joe had been bound with rope and tape, but Christopher had not.