Two black boys were found murdered at the end of July 1979, officially starting one of the most highly publicized murder series in history. A couple of years later, 29 black youths would be dead and a black man, Wayne Williams, who many people believe was railroaded by the government, would be imprisoned for life. Recent efforts to vindicate Williams have stalled.


The Boston Strangler
Between June 14, 1962 and January 4, 1964, thirteen women in the Boston area were victims of a single serial killer or possibly several killers. In the early cases, the middle-aged and elderly women were obscenely posed, leaving a very distinct signature. Later cases were quite different, involving young women. The women of Boston were in a panic over the unsolved murders.

Eleven of these murders were popularly known as the Boston Strangler series. All of these women were murdered in their apartments, had been sexually molested, and were strangled with articles of clothing. With no signs of forced entry, the women voluntarily let the killer(s) in their homes. These were respectable women who for the most part led quiet, modest lives.

Even though nobody has ever officially been on trial as the Boston Strangler, the public believed that Albert DeSalvo, who confessed in detail to each of the eleven "official" Strangler murders, as well as two others, was the killer. However, most people who knew him personally did not believe him capable of the vicious crimes and today there is a persuasive case to be made that DeSalvo wasn't the killer after all.


The Spokane Serial Killer
The stark realization that the deaths of seven women since late summer 1997, four of whom were killed during the years final weeks, were the work of a serial killer, renewed fears among the public and law enforcement officials alike that the infamous and elusive Seattle-area Green River Killer had found a new killing ground in and around Spokane, Washington.

It was only talk and speculation, quelled by the fact that the killers method of operation was markedly different from that of the Green River Killer. Disturbingly, the number of bodies would more than double before they stopped, and many others would be attributed to the same killer.

The real shocker was when the killer was caught: father of four daughters and a son, Robert Yates Jr. led a relatively ordinary and unremarkable life that was characterized by exemplary military service.


The Pied Piper of Tucson
Hey, come on, babe, follow me. Im the Pied Piper follow me. Im the Pied Piper And Ill show you were its at

Charles Howard Schmid Jr., or "Smitty," was called "The Pied Piper of Tucson," for his ability to get girls to fall for him. He stood five feet, four inches tall, but added three more inches by padding his stack-heeled cowboy boots with rags and tin cans. He also dyed his reddish-brown hair black, used pancake make-up, whitened his lips, and applied a fake mole to his left cheeka "beauty" mark. Arrogant and narcissistic, he came from a wealthy family, so he used the niceties he could buy to impress young high school girls. He adopted the droopy-eyed look associated with Elvis, his idol, and acquired a rock musicians mystique.

Smitty was a fixture around the high school, luring girls into his cars. They hung out on Speedway, a main drag, and they were easy prey for a predatoreven one who stumbled around in his ridiculous boots. He became something of a folk hero to kids who didnt quite fit in, because he was older and he knew things. He was strange, but he livened things up in a desert town full of retired people where nothing much was happening. Smitty made things interesting.

Many girls went out with him and three never returned. There are a lot of places to bury a body in the desert.



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