January 17, 2024 • 32 mins
Classmates describe the profile of each victim and how their search brought them closer to the victim and ensuring justice for them. Journalist Shane Waters shares his connection to the classroom and Alex Campbell.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
A group of high school student High school.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Students Elizabethan High School students started a project to research
a string of unsolved murders. Their research led to the identification.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Of the killer.
Speaker 4 (00:12):
Investigators now have an answer to a thirty four year
old question.
Speaker 5 (00:17):
Once you start getting a few tips, or a few
leads or few identifications, then the cold case isn't so
cold anymore.
Speaker 6 (00:25):
There's a pretty good chance he's still alive.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Everything that the students predicted through their profile turned out
to be accurate.
Speaker 7 (00:33):
Redhead killer profile mal Caucasian, five nine six, two hundred
and seventy pounds, unstable home, absent father, and a domineering mother,
right handed, a Q above one hundred, most likely heterosexual.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
There is no profile of this killer except for the
ones the students created.
Speaker 8 (00:51):
Just because some of these women no longer have people
to speak for them does not mean that they desire
to not be so anymore.
Speaker 9 (00:57):
What if this guy's still alive?
Speaker 10 (00:58):
Like what becomes after us?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
You're gonna kill me?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, this is Murder one on one, Season one, episode two,
With a little help from my friends. I'm Jeff Sheen,
a television and podcast producer at Kati Studios with Stephanie Leideker,
Courtney Armstrong, and Andrew Arno. Once the class had named
(01:24):
their killer, they wanted to focus on the victims connected
by his senseless crimes. Who were these six women? And
why did he choose them to die?
Speaker 9 (01:34):
How do six women go missing and nobody knows that
they're missing. There were six victims, all with red or
reddish hair. Only one of the victims is identified. They
were found along like highways or interstates. Most of them
were in Tennessee, there was one in West Virginia, Kentucky.
They were all around the South, So we named the
(01:55):
killer the Bible Belt strangler, just because he was killing
in the Bible belts of more suffocated.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
They also had some other interesting similarities. They were all white,
all of them were estrange from their family, Many of
them were transient, oftentimes involved with prostitution, and it appeared
that many of them were actually abducted on or along
the interstate, so was this tie to these interstates. They
were either pregnant, had recently lost a baby, or had
(02:23):
had a c section, so there were some very interesting
things though. They were all killed up close with the hands,
so some of them had blunt force trauma. Or suffocation
or strangling was how they died. So those are the
major similarities.
Speaker 9 (02:38):
It's scary to think that somebody in my community or
in any community could go missing and nobody look for her,
nobody know her name, and she'd be found a state
away and nobody knows that she's from here.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
During the semester, junior Cayle Van Dervor recalls the assignment
structure our class.
Speaker 9 (03:00):
We each divided into groups to pick a specific victim.
We got to know every detail about that victim, and
we felt very connected to our victim. I had the
West Virginia victim, and I picked her because I have
family in West Virginia, so I felt very connected to her.
I felt like I would basically say, I felt like
she was family because I'd worked so hard to find
(03:23):
her justice.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Here's what we know about each victim, according to mister
Campbell's classes research.
Speaker 10 (03:29):
At Campbell County Jane Doe.
Speaker 8 (03:31):
On January first, nineteen eighty five, the body of a
woman was found disposed of over the side of the
guardrail near Stinking Creek in Campbell County, Tennessee. The body
was hauled up the embankment off the southbound side of
Interstate seventy five in the small town of Jellicoe. The
victim had been dead for an estimated three days and
(03:52):
was in an advanced state of decomposition. She had been
beaten bound with strips of cloth taken from her shirt
and strangled with a ligature. She was Caucasian and had
shoulder length, curly red hair. Her age was estimated to
be between seventeen and twenty five, but possibly as old
as thirty. The victim was found clothed in a tan pullover,
(04:14):
a shirt and jeans. The young woman had freckles over
her body in various scars, including a burn mark on
one arm. She was ten to twelve weeks pregnant.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
When she died.
Speaker 8 (04:25):
She had a partial upper denture holding two false teeth.
It is believed that she was between five foot one
and five foot four inches when she died, and was
approximately one hundred and ten to one hundred and fifteen
pounds with green eyes. Additionally, she had been wrapped in
what has been variously described as a blanket, comforter or bedspread.
Speaker 10 (04:47):
Cheatham County, Jane Doe. On March thirty first, nineteen eighty five,
the skeletonized body of a red haired female was found
in Pleasant View, Cheatham County, Tennessee, by a driver who
had a mechanical breakdown. She was believed to have died
between three and five months previously from an unknown cause.
Her remains were found at the side of Intersex twenty four,
(05:09):
between mile markers twenty nine and thirty, in the same
timeframe as the rest of the victims in the known
physical features being similar. The body was found with a shirt, sweater, pants,
and underwear. She was white, between five feet and five
feet two inches tall. However, her weight could not be determined.
An examination of her teeth showed that the victim had
(05:32):
some evidence of crowding and overlapping in her mouth. This
woman was believed to be between the ages of thirty
one and forty at the time of her death. The
Knox County Jane Doe.
Speaker 8 (05:45):
On April one, nineteen eighty five, the body of a
woman was found in a large white admiral refrigerator in Gray,
Knox County, Kentucky, alongside Route twenty five. Her death was
by suffocation. Contradicting reports have her being killed from the
night before to a few days earlier. Distinguishing features of
the body included a number of moles on the right
(06:07):
side of her neck, near one ankle and below each breast,
a yellow stained upper incisor, and a scar and other
marks on her abdomen indicating that she had borne at
least one child. Her eyes were light brown and hair
was red and nearly a foot long, which fit the
pattern of the red Head murders. After the autopsy, this
(06:29):
victim was determined to be between twenty four and thirty
five years old and approximately four feet nine to four
feet eleven inches tall. The victim was nude except for
two distinctive necklace pendits, one of a heart and the
other of a gold colored eagle, and two pairs of socks,
one white and the other white with green and yellow stripes.
(06:51):
There are reports that the victim may have been soliciting
a ride to North Carolina over seabee radio, and she
could have been at a nearby truck stop the previous
knot Five hundred people attended the Jane Doe victim's funeral,
which was even televised, and a headstone and burial plot
were donated. The case was a local sensation, as the
(07:12):
town was a quiet and sleepy place where little out
of the ordinary usually happened.
Speaker 10 (07:19):
The DeSoto County Jane Doe is a woman found murdered
on January twenty fourth, nineteen eighty five, in Olive Branch, Mississippi.
The victim was found by a truck driver driving southbound
on US Highway seventy eight, one hundred feet east of
Coldwater River Bridge at around seven thirty a m. Her
(07:39):
body was twenty feet south of the highway and her shoes, undergarments,
and jacket were missing. She was strangled with a ligature
and possibly sexually assaulted. Authorities speculate she may have been
tossed over the side of the bridge. She was estimated
to be twenty to forty years old. She was approximately
five feet two inches to five feet four inches tall,
(08:01):
with a weight of one hundred and five to one
hundred and thirty pounds. She is believed to have been
a heavy smoker. She had three piercings in each ear
and her fingernails were deeply bitten. She also was a
Caucasian with red hair. The Campbell County Jane Doe.
Speaker 8 (08:20):
On April third, nineteen eighty five, the skeletonized partial remains
of a young girl were discovered about two hundred yards
off Big Wheel Gap Road, four miles southwest of Jellico, Tennessee,
in Campbell County, near a stripmond. She was believed to
have been dead between one and four years Her age
was estimated between nine and fifteen years old. She was
(08:42):
found by a passerby in an area where trash was
often dumped, and it appeared her body had been moved
from its original site because of animal activity. The cause
of death was listed as undetermined, which did not rule
out homicide. Thirty two bones, including her skull, were recovered
from the scene. Walker was Caucasian, had a very small
(09:02):
build with red hair and freckles. A necklace and bracelet
made of plastic buttons were found nearby, as well as
a pair of size five boots and a few scraps
of clothing. The Green County Jane Doe.
Speaker 10 (09:16):
On April fourteenth, nineteen eighty five, the body of a
young white female was found in Greenville, Green County, Tennessee.
Her body was discovered by a fisherman in the brush
beside a small creek that was fifty eight feet from
the exit ramp for Gerald'stown Road. She was determined to
have been killed between three and six weeks previously, and
(09:38):
her body was in an advanced state of decomposition. She
appeared to be beaten and died, most likely from blunt
forest trauma, which caused a head wound and could not
roll out a laceration to an internal organ. However, decomposition
hindered these assessments. She had been approximately six to eight
weeks pregnant shortly by before she died, but had miscarried
(10:02):
before her death. She was estimated to be fourteen to
twenty years old, possibly as old as twenty five. She
was approximately five feet four inches to five feet six
inches tall, with a weight of one hundred and thirty
to one hundred and forty pounds. She had a slight
overby and had some feelings in her teeth, showing that
she had dental care in her life. Her fingernails had
(10:25):
pink polish. She had light brown to blonde hair with
red highlights.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Only one of the six victims would be identified.
Speaker 10 (10:34):
The Crittenden County Jane Doe. On September sixteenth, nineteen eighty four,
the body of a woman was found in Critenon County, Arkansas,
along Interstate forty near West Memphis. Despite all the traffic.
Her body lay alongside the highway for four days before
a hitchhiker noticed nichols corpse and contacted local authorities. She
(10:57):
was found near the exit ramp. Her body had been
there for several days and was beginning to decompose. Her
body was covered only by the remnants of a nit top.
She had been killed by strangulation. She was identified as
a twenty eight year old Lisa Nichols. She was Caucasian
and had a petite frame. Her family members described her
(11:17):
as growing up with beautiful red hair, but many would
characterize it as strawberry blonde. By this time. She was
identified by a couple from Florida who had allowed her
to stay with them for a period of time. She
was positively identified through fingerprints.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Let's stop here for a break. We'll be back in
a moment. Murder one oh one with their list of
six victims, the class wanted to figure out what drew
the killer to these particular ku woman.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Were looked at two parts, the how of the crime
and the why of the crime. So the how would
be things like picking up people along the interstate, killing
them with a knife or something like that, but the
why is really what drives the killer to do this?
Why do they want to choose a redhead, Why do
they want to choose Caucasian? Why do they want to
choose somebody who's in the sex trade. Why would they
(12:26):
prefer to kill.
Speaker 6 (12:27):
Them with their hands instead of a gun or knife.
That's what makes each.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Killer an individual is that there's this profile they share
which hardly any other killer will match.
Speaker 11 (12:40):
I think, especially with the prominence of legal and law
enforcement and crime see investigation entertainment that you see on
TV and in the movies and right now, that that
helps peak the interest of the students in a situation
like this, and also to explore what it's really like
true or is it really you know, much more difficult
and dirty. My name is Josh, But when I'm and
what Elizabeth? In high school, the first I heard about
(13:02):
it was when mister Campbell came to me and pitched
the idea. He's walked in and say, I got kind
of a crazy idea. Let me see what you think
about it. Honestly, the first thought is usually wow, what
would happen if this was was my inn, or my
sister or you know, someone in my community. Now, you know,
how would I feel and what would I want the
justice system to do?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
But how did the project fit into Elizabeth In High
school's curriculum.
Speaker 11 (13:24):
Our job is obviously to teach academic standards in your
English and math and science, but even more so, we
have a social responsibility to our students to prepare them
for life after school. How do you engage with people?
How do you engage in your community? How do you
apply what you've learned? I think that that's a school
we're really focusing heavily on right now, is how can
we take this basic core knowledge and really apply that
(13:47):
to our personal lives. Would I rather be doing something
like that or sitting in class learning from a textbook,
hatting a lecture from a teacher? You know, really just
kind of thought it'd be a great idea for the
kids to apply what they're learning and kind of take ownership.
But when the students, you know, step into a role
where they're they're learning and their their application and knowledge
ties to the community and ties to the world around them,
(14:08):
and they become passionate and interested in the subject matter,
the learning almost comes as a secondhand product of that,
and it's it's fun and it's exciting for them, and
they're engaged in a way that you don't always see students.
If you look back in human history, you know, at
times a fifteen, sixteen, seventeen year olds considered a grown
adult and had grown responsibilities. And too many times we
(14:30):
don't expect enough of our youth. You know, Yes, they
still need mentoring, and they still need help, they still
need guidance, but they're capable of phenomenal things.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
As the semester continued, the class worked in groups to
uncover information.
Speaker 9 (14:46):
We shared information like if the group that was working
on a victim found something that might help another group.
They shared that one group found the podcast that Shane
had done about the murders, and then like, we relay
all our information to mister Campbell and he would make
the phone calls.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
And then Alex found me through Facebook and explains that
he's a teacher out of Tennessee. In his class, is
noticed that one of the Jane does in this case
is in their county and he would like to do
some type of project with his students. To be honest
with you, I thought that it was a weird prank.
(15:25):
So I'm Shane Shane Waters from a foul play crime
series podcast been doing this podcast for a long time,
started it in January of twenty fourteen, which makes it
one of the only crime series podcasts that predates Cereal.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Shane Waters is a podcaster and journalist who happened to
be working on a story about the same six women.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I try to come up with some type of similarities
between the victims and try to find some type of
link of which ones were more than likely linked together,
and that's when I came with the six. The only
one that I thought could be the seventh was a
young child who was also found in Campbell County, but
she was so young, and I thought that was going
(16:08):
to be a really far fetched thing just because of
her age. So I ended up not including her and
just calling it the six. When Alex and I had
our first conversation, he was like, how many did you
come up with? And I was like six, and he's like,
what six? And I told him which six I had,
and he's like, that's funny because that's the sixth we had.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Shane had a deep connection that drew him to the story.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
So before I went into college, I was actually homeless.
I was in high school and I was homeless. Yeah,
and because of the experience of being homeless, I would
go on and that's why I was so determined to
make sure that these women who people were calling throwaway people,
that people, you know, take them seriously. But I know
(16:51):
what it's like to feel less than a human being
and for other people to treat you.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Like that, which is why when Shane first connected with
meter Campbell, he felt it was important to make sure
the class was going to handle these cases with care.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
And the very first conversation I have with him when
he told me that his students wanted to work on
this case, I was very nervous because I already knew
at that point in time why the case in this
series of cases had gone cold. I knew that it
was because society was treating these women less than people.
So I was curious on how high school students would
(17:27):
portray sex workers. I was amazed that they understood and
that they came away with the understanding of knowing that
these women weren't defined by where they were in that
point in their lives.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Sex Workers are often ignored when it comes to crimes
committed against them, despite the fact that they are among
the most vulnerable populations. According to a report by the
World Health Organization, sex workers experience high levels of violence,
including physical assault, rape, and murder. Further, up to seventy
five percent of sex workers report experiencing violence at some
point in their lives. Another study found that only twenty
(18:12):
five percent of homicides against sex workers in the US
resulted in an arrest, compared to the sixty one percent
of rest rate for homicides in general. Ignoring crimes against
sex workers perpetuates the stigma and discrimination that these people face,
making it more difficult for them to access services and
support when they need it the most. This is a
human rights issue that requires urgent attention and action by policymakers,
(18:34):
law enforcement, and society at large. Shane was shocked to
discover that he and mister Campbell's class seemed to be
the only ones working these cases.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
But then the more that I read about it, I
was just like, this is very weird that no one
knows about this, Like why were these riverages forgotten about?
Like surely this case was solved or something like what
am I missing? So I called the TBI and eventually
I talked to this lady and the lady explains to
me that the case was still unsolved, and the case
(19:06):
was with the cold case unit, but it wasn't an
active case that's being worked out. She was just very
not having it. And I was like, is there someone
of the cold case team by her contact if I
receieking tips And she's like, no, we would contact you.
You don't contact them, and I was like okay, and
(19:27):
then she hung up on me, and I was like,
that was a very odd interaction. So that was like
the very first contact that I have with the TBI.
I was very confused at that point on one why
the case wasn't being covered in the media since the eighties,
and then also why the TBI was telling me that
(19:47):
it wasn't being.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Worked Soon, Shane and the class got into a groove.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
It was kind of like they were working in a
classroom and doing like the FBI work and like the
book work, like the textbook work, and then I was
out in the field doing the on the ground work
and talking to people, and then I would go back
to the school and report back and we would collaborate. Then.
(20:14):
So I would go out and go to the locations
and talk to all these people and you know, actually
see the locations where these women were dropped and talk
to the locals, talk to the people who own the property,
talk to eyewitnesses. So each time I found those bits
and pieces, I would kind of go back to the
school to report my findings.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
For Shane, there were advantages to having the class have
his back.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
I'm out there talking to people, and the last thing
I'm sure the killer would have wanted was for work
to get out, you know. So the fact that I
have a classroom of students and a teacher in Tennessee
who if I go missing, they would be ringing doorbells,
you know what I mean. So that also was comforting
as well, because it was kind of scary, to be
(21:02):
honest with you, because I don't know if you've ever
been to rural Kentucky or Tennessee or or West Virginia,
but you don't have cell phone service out there, so
you're going and knocking on doors and you're you don't
know who is going to be answering that door or
if you're gonna be very welcome, Like it's it's kind
of scary. I'm I'm almost shaking right now just telling
(21:23):
you about it. I'm a very large person, like I'm
very very tall, but when you're out there alone, it
was a little scary. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Shane Waters wouldn't be the only ally the class had.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
You know, I always had a respected law enforcement But
you know, it's kind of offensive in a way when
somebody says, well, you're a wanna be cop. It's if
I wanted to be a cop, I perfectly will could
have been. If I wanted to be, I could have
DoD the normal route. I'm not trying to go behind
the thing. I don't want to be a cop. So
my name is Todd Matthews and currently I'm the executive
(21:59):
director for donat at Work and then NAMOUS. The National
Missing and Unidentified Person Systems nam US is based on
dental rakers standing a fingerprint analysis and fairly clinical descriptions
in the circumstances of disappearance or condition that a bodybusman.
So it's very very not outside the layman's ability to understand,
(22:19):
but it's very very scientifically written to the point that
it's not. It's very clinical, and the DOUGH Network we
use anecdotal data.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Founded in two thousand and one, the Dough Network is
a volunteer organization devoted to assisting investigating agencies and bringing
closure to the national and international cold cases considering missing
and unidentified people. In two thousand and five, Todd Matthews
created a larger database called NamUs. It's a national information
clearinghouse and resource center for missing, unidentified and unclaimed persons
(22:47):
across the US. The name of database application fills the
nation's need for a unified, online, free, secure database for
unidentified remains and missing person records. Most commonly, NamUs is
used by law enforcement, victims, loved ones, and medical examiners
and corners. Todd Matthews remembers when he and mister Campbell
first connected.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
Well, it was, you know, some call, you know originally,
and you know, you get a lot of them calls,
but one when you have an accent that's very close
to yours, you kind of you kind of pay attention
to it a little bit, you know, and it's easy
to talk to them. They're from a very similar background
that I am, so it's comfortable you know that their
their areas are facing some of the same problems that
(23:29):
we have in classrooms. So we kind of got each
other kind of understood, and I thought, this is something
I want to do. This is not something I have
to do. I want to talk to this guy. I
want to see what he's gotten, you know in mind,
you know, to plant a seed into these kids and
hopefully it'll it'll be something. Doesn't have to be a lot,
as long as it makes the change, as long as
somebody understands it. So it's definitely worth it. So the
(23:50):
thing that we set up was a virtual meeting, So
we did, you know, like a FaceTime share where I
could see the students. It's fun, you know, when you
first talked to kids like that, you think, I know,
you think this is the thing you watch csilos, not
who's got it? Who's got it? To go forward? Because
it ain't going to be easy. So you know, you
just got to let the cream rise to the top.
And they had the interest, you know, they had the desire,
(24:12):
they had the youth, and they had the numbers, all
those eyes and all those hands. So a lot of
what they did was, you know, just going through what
would be the basic thing you would do comparison process
of elimination. So they were asking kind of high level
questions to get.
Speaker 9 (24:28):
To know a murder. It was a little eerie to
have to think about every single detail of this man
who took the lives of six women. So it was
it was a challenge, I think for the class to
try to find every single detail.
Speaker 12 (24:43):
And the scariest thing about it. It might be a
person that you know or somebody that your family member
might know. That could just be that you kind of
knew that they were kind of offer they were kind
of doing something, but they're close to home and they're
killing people. It really does shock you.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Let's stop here for another quick break murder. One on one,
Todd Matthews encouraged the class to look at every detail.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
Pour over these files, gather up every piece of data
and save it and try to do something with it.
Have conversations, look at these things, compare notes. And they
had so many people to bounce ideas over, so many
people to see one little thing that might have been
slightly different in another article. You know, people talking to town.
So there was opportunity for them to find stories, comments,
(25:54):
things that people have passed along, and they had the
time and the desire to do it.
Speaker 9 (25:58):
He really got all of us really excited to find
maybe just a name for one of these victims, because
if we could just give one of these victims justice
That would be more than has happened in the last
thirty years. So I think we want all the victims
eventually identified. But I think that our main goal was
to just try to bring this story to lot, try
(26:20):
to give these victims a name, try to give them family,
and I think that we did that by considering them
our sisters.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
And there's always something if you go back and reread
something the kids could have looked for a later article
that maybe described another opject that was found, honoring our body,
some other clue, a comment that somebody made in a
news report. But this is going to require going back
and reading a lot of information, going back and just
literally rereading articles and looking for little Dugan, maybe a
(26:49):
photograph that was a scene that maybe is not digitally available,
comments from law enforcement where they might have mentioned something
about a ligature not a bean in a file or
in an autopsy report that was publicly viewable. So there
was comments locally that you might pick up that you
might not see on the national level. During that time period.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
As the semester was winding down, mister Campbell thought the
class was at an impass.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
What happened was once there were no leads. Once they
had arrested no one, and the case got really cold
and they could never identify them, and there was no
family pushing for this. I think a lot of those
cases were just forgotten. Actually, I know some of those
cases were forgotten. I know a semester seems like a
long time, but really you only have so much time
to do so much. There are people that deserve to
(27:40):
pay for their crimes, and there are families that deserve
to have closure. And so I think that they realized
that if we didn't do something now, in ten years,
how many witnesses are left?
Speaker 6 (27:51):
Or in twenty years is this person still alive.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
So it was really strange that, even though it was
over thirty years ago, I think there was a sense
of like immediacy, that they needed to do something.
Speaker 6 (28:01):
Now because it was going to be too late.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Eventually, the class had two thorough and complete profiles, one
of the alleged killer and the other for his victims.
With so many years of experience, Todd gave the class
a suggestion that changed everything.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
The best way to try and help identify a serial
killer is to identify bodies that we think are attributed
to that serial killer.
Speaker 9 (28:22):
So I would say the ultimate goal is to spread
the word and get these victims spaces out there. Maybe
somebody could recognize someone and.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
See, here's the issue. Law enforcement never said determined that
any of these murders were related to one another.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
In class one day, one of the students came up
with a brilliant idea.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Once we had this information, I told the students, what
are you going to do with it? You have something
that nobody else has. You have a lot of evidence
that all these six are connected, and you have this
profile of this person.
Speaker 6 (28:55):
So what do you want to do with that?
Speaker 5 (28:57):
So the students said they wanted to share it so
that others could have the profile. And so that's when
the students came up with the idea of trying to
share this, you know, with everybody. Do was They said, well,
how would you know if the police had a profile
and they were looking for a certain person, what would
they do? They'd have press conference, they would get the
information out. So the students decided that they wanted to
(29:19):
hold a press conference at the school.
Speaker 9 (29:21):
We invited different law enforcement officials, different media and news
outlets to connect the murders. Would make these cases go
from single murders to a serial killer in the eyes
of law enforcement.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
So we began to work very hard with the police
agencies from four different states that were involved, and also
we looked up all the print media and the TV
media that are in those areas and asked them if
they would all run a story on the same day
and kind of have a region wide media blitz. And
so that was their strategy, get as many police and
(29:57):
media people involved as possible, to get the word out
to as many people as possible, to try to generate
some leads that would help in the case.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
We knew that we needed to spread the word for
it and get more people aware of what happened, especially
in the areas where these women were found.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
It went from a class investigating something to a class
trying to share something with the rest of the world
to try to have an impact or to create some change.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
During the semester, mister Campbell's students discussed their motivations.
Speaker 7 (30:29):
It's important to bring justice to these women because, like
many of us, they have families and people who cared
about them. They might not know they're missing, or they
might be a strange, but they're still a person. They
still had a voice.
Speaker 9 (30:40):
The women didn't have anybody to fight for their right
to be found, because no one was pushing for.
Speaker 8 (30:46):
It or finally giving them the justice that they deserved.
Speaker 9 (30:49):
Whether they were a strange from their family, whether they
may have been.
Speaker 8 (30:51):
Prostitutes or not, they still deserved to have this justice.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
The Bible Belt Strangler could still be out there if
you look at the age range the students have and
the time stillapsed. He's getting a little older, but there's
a pretty good chance he's still alive.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
During the semester at the class talk to a local reporter.
Speaker 7 (31:10):
He deserves pay for what he did. He needs to
come and face the consequences of what he did.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
So you think this guy is like still alive and
out there.
Speaker 9 (31:18):
I'm not sure that he's still a truck driver, but
I do think that he is still alive.
Speaker 6 (31:23):
Do you think we're going to find the Bible Belt Strangler?
Speaker 8 (31:25):
Yes?
Speaker 10 (31:25):
I do.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
It's just a matter of time now that the words
don't more on that next time. Murder one oh one
is executive produced by Stephanie Leidecker, Alex Campbell, Courtney Armstrong,
Andrew Arnot, and me Jeff Shane. Additional producing by Connor
(31:47):
Powell and Gabriel Castillo. Editing by Jeff Twa and Davey
Cooper Wasser, music by Vanikor Music. Murder one oh one
is a production of iHeartRadio and Katie's Studios. For more
podcast from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
A group of high school student High school.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Students Elizabethan High School students started a project to research
a string of unsolved murders. Their research led to the identification.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Of the killer.
Speaker 4 (00:12):
Investigators now have an answer to a thirty four year
old question.
Speaker 5 (00:17):
Once you start getting a few tips, or a few
leads or few identifications, then the cold case isn't so
cold anymore.
Speaker 6 (00:25):
There's a pretty good chance he's still alive.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Everything that the students predicted through their profile turned out
to be accurate.
Speaker 7 (00:33):
Redhead killer profile mal Caucasian, five nine six, two hundred
and seventy pounds, unstable home, absent father, and a domineering mother,
right handed, a Q above one hundred, most likely heterosexual.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
There is no profile of this killer except for the
ones the students created.
Speaker 8 (00:51):
Just because some of these women no longer have people
to speak for them does not mean that they desire
to not be so anymore.
Speaker 9 (00:57):
What if this guy's still alive?
Speaker 10 (00:58):
Like what becomes after us?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
You're gonna kill me?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, this is Murder one on one, Season one, episode two,
With a little help from my friends. I'm Jeff Sheen,
a television and podcast producer at Kati Studios with Stephanie Leideker,
Courtney Armstrong, and Andrew Arno. Once the class had named
(01:24):
their killer, they wanted to focus on the victims connected
by his senseless crimes. Who were these six women? And
why did he choose them to die?
Speaker 9 (01:34):
How do six women go missing and nobody knows that
they're missing. There were six victims, all with red or
reddish hair. Only one of the victims is identified. They
were found along like highways or interstates. Most of them
were in Tennessee, there was one in West Virginia, Kentucky.
They were all around the South, So we named the
(01:55):
killer the Bible Belt strangler, just because he was killing
in the Bible belts of more suffocated.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
They also had some other interesting similarities. They were all white,
all of them were estrange from their family, Many of
them were transient, oftentimes involved with prostitution, and it appeared
that many of them were actually abducted on or along
the interstate, so was this tie to these interstates. They
were either pregnant, had recently lost a baby, or had
(02:23):
had a c section, so there were some very interesting
things though. They were all killed up close with the hands,
so some of them had blunt force trauma. Or suffocation
or strangling was how they died. So those are the
major similarities.
Speaker 9 (02:38):
It's scary to think that somebody in my community or
in any community could go missing and nobody look for her,
nobody know her name, and she'd be found a state
away and nobody knows that she's from here.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
During the semester, junior Cayle Van Dervor recalls the assignment
structure our class.
Speaker 9 (03:00):
We each divided into groups to pick a specific victim.
We got to know every detail about that victim, and
we felt very connected to our victim. I had the
West Virginia victim, and I picked her because I have
family in West Virginia, so I felt very connected to her.
I felt like I would basically say, I felt like
she was family because I'd worked so hard to find
(03:23):
her justice.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Here's what we know about each victim, according to mister
Campbell's classes research.
Speaker 10 (03:29):
At Campbell County Jane Doe.
Speaker 8 (03:31):
On January first, nineteen eighty five, the body of a
woman was found disposed of over the side of the
guardrail near Stinking Creek in Campbell County, Tennessee. The body
was hauled up the embankment off the southbound side of
Interstate seventy five in the small town of Jellicoe. The
victim had been dead for an estimated three days and
(03:52):
was in an advanced state of decomposition. She had been
beaten bound with strips of cloth taken from her shirt
and strangled with a ligature. She was Caucasian and had
shoulder length, curly red hair. Her age was estimated to
be between seventeen and twenty five, but possibly as old
as thirty. The victim was found clothed in a tan pullover,
(04:14):
a shirt and jeans. The young woman had freckles over
her body in various scars, including a burn mark on
one arm. She was ten to twelve weeks pregnant.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
When she died.
Speaker 8 (04:25):
She had a partial upper denture holding two false teeth.
It is believed that she was between five foot one
and five foot four inches when she died, and was
approximately one hundred and ten to one hundred and fifteen
pounds with green eyes. Additionally, she had been wrapped in
what has been variously described as a blanket, comforter or bedspread.
Speaker 10 (04:47):
Cheatham County, Jane Doe. On March thirty first, nineteen eighty five,
the skeletonized body of a red haired female was found
in Pleasant View, Cheatham County, Tennessee, by a driver who
had a mechanical breakdown. She was believed to have died
between three and five months previously from an unknown cause.
Her remains were found at the side of Intersex twenty four,
(05:09):
between mile markers twenty nine and thirty, in the same
timeframe as the rest of the victims in the known
physical features being similar. The body was found with a shirt, sweater, pants,
and underwear. She was white, between five feet and five
feet two inches tall. However, her weight could not be determined.
An examination of her teeth showed that the victim had
(05:32):
some evidence of crowding and overlapping in her mouth. This
woman was believed to be between the ages of thirty
one and forty at the time of her death. The
Knox County Jane Doe.
Speaker 8 (05:45):
On April one, nineteen eighty five, the body of a
woman was found in a large white admiral refrigerator in Gray,
Knox County, Kentucky, alongside Route twenty five. Her death was
by suffocation. Contradicting reports have her being killed from the
night before to a few days earlier. Distinguishing features of
the body included a number of moles on the right
(06:07):
side of her neck, near one ankle and below each breast,
a yellow stained upper incisor, and a scar and other
marks on her abdomen indicating that she had borne at
least one child. Her eyes were light brown and hair
was red and nearly a foot long, which fit the
pattern of the red Head murders. After the autopsy, this
(06:29):
victim was determined to be between twenty four and thirty
five years old and approximately four feet nine to four
feet eleven inches tall. The victim was nude except for
two distinctive necklace pendits, one of a heart and the
other of a gold colored eagle, and two pairs of socks,
one white and the other white with green and yellow stripes.
(06:51):
There are reports that the victim may have been soliciting
a ride to North Carolina over seabee radio, and she
could have been at a nearby truck stop the previous
knot Five hundred people attended the Jane Doe victim's funeral,
which was even televised, and a headstone and burial plot
were donated. The case was a local sensation, as the
(07:12):
town was a quiet and sleepy place where little out
of the ordinary usually happened.
Speaker 10 (07:19):
The DeSoto County Jane Doe is a woman found murdered
on January twenty fourth, nineteen eighty five, in Olive Branch, Mississippi.
The victim was found by a truck driver driving southbound
on US Highway seventy eight, one hundred feet east of
Coldwater River Bridge at around seven thirty a m. Her
(07:39):
body was twenty feet south of the highway and her shoes, undergarments,
and jacket were missing. She was strangled with a ligature
and possibly sexually assaulted. Authorities speculate she may have been
tossed over the side of the bridge. She was estimated
to be twenty to forty years old. She was approximately
five feet two inches to five feet four inches tall,
(08:01):
with a weight of one hundred and five to one
hundred and thirty pounds. She is believed to have been
a heavy smoker. She had three piercings in each ear
and her fingernails were deeply bitten. She also was a
Caucasian with red hair. The Campbell County Jane Doe.
Speaker 8 (08:20):
On April third, nineteen eighty five, the skeletonized partial remains
of a young girl were discovered about two hundred yards
off Big Wheel Gap Road, four miles southwest of Jellico, Tennessee,
in Campbell County, near a stripmond. She was believed to
have been dead between one and four years Her age
was estimated between nine and fifteen years old. She was
(08:42):
found by a passerby in an area where trash was
often dumped, and it appeared her body had been moved
from its original site because of animal activity. The cause
of death was listed as undetermined, which did not rule
out homicide. Thirty two bones, including her skull, were recovered
from the scene. Walker was Caucasian, had a very small
(09:02):
build with red hair and freckles. A necklace and bracelet
made of plastic buttons were found nearby, as well as
a pair of size five boots and a few scraps
of clothing. The Green County Jane Doe.
Speaker 10 (09:16):
On April fourteenth, nineteen eighty five, the body of a
young white female was found in Greenville, Green County, Tennessee.
Her body was discovered by a fisherman in the brush
beside a small creek that was fifty eight feet from
the exit ramp for Gerald'stown Road. She was determined to
have been killed between three and six weeks previously, and
(09:38):
her body was in an advanced state of decomposition. She
appeared to be beaten and died, most likely from blunt
forest trauma, which caused a head wound and could not
roll out a laceration to an internal organ. However, decomposition
hindered these assessments. She had been approximately six to eight
weeks pregnant shortly by before she died, but had miscarried
(10:02):
before her death. She was estimated to be fourteen to
twenty years old, possibly as old as twenty five. She
was approximately five feet four inches to five feet six
inches tall, with a weight of one hundred and thirty
to one hundred and forty pounds. She had a slight
overby and had some feelings in her teeth, showing that
she had dental care in her life. Her fingernails had
(10:25):
pink polish. She had light brown to blonde hair with
red highlights.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Only one of the six victims would be identified.
Speaker 10 (10:34):
The Crittenden County Jane Doe. On September sixteenth, nineteen eighty four,
the body of a woman was found in Critenon County, Arkansas,
along Interstate forty near West Memphis. Despite all the traffic.
Her body lay alongside the highway for four days before
a hitchhiker noticed nichols corpse and contacted local authorities. She
(10:57):
was found near the exit ramp. Her body had been
there for several days and was beginning to decompose. Her
body was covered only by the remnants of a nit top.
She had been killed by strangulation. She was identified as
a twenty eight year old Lisa Nichols. She was Caucasian
and had a petite frame. Her family members described her
(11:17):
as growing up with beautiful red hair, but many would
characterize it as strawberry blonde. By this time. She was
identified by a couple from Florida who had allowed her
to stay with them for a period of time. She
was positively identified through fingerprints.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Let's stop here for a break. We'll be back in
a moment. Murder one oh one with their list of
six victims, the class wanted to figure out what drew
the killer to these particular ku woman.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Were looked at two parts, the how of the crime
and the why of the crime. So the how would
be things like picking up people along the interstate, killing
them with a knife or something like that, but the
why is really what drives the killer to do this?
Why do they want to choose a redhead, Why do
they want to choose Caucasian? Why do they want to
choose somebody who's in the sex trade. Why would they
(12:26):
prefer to kill.
Speaker 6 (12:27):
Them with their hands instead of a gun or knife.
That's what makes each.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Killer an individual is that there's this profile they share
which hardly any other killer will match.
Speaker 11 (12:40):
I think, especially with the prominence of legal and law
enforcement and crime see investigation entertainment that you see on
TV and in the movies and right now, that that
helps peak the interest of the students in a situation
like this, and also to explore what it's really like
true or is it really you know, much more difficult
and dirty. My name is Josh, But when I'm and
what Elizabeth? In high school, the first I heard about
(13:02):
it was when mister Campbell came to me and pitched
the idea. He's walked in and say, I got kind
of a crazy idea. Let me see what you think
about it. Honestly, the first thought is usually wow, what
would happen if this was was my inn, or my
sister or you know, someone in my community. Now, you know,
how would I feel and what would I want the
justice system to do?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
But how did the project fit into Elizabeth In High
school's curriculum.
Speaker 11 (13:24):
Our job is obviously to teach academic standards in your
English and math and science, but even more so, we
have a social responsibility to our students to prepare them
for life after school. How do you engage with people?
How do you engage in your community? How do you
apply what you've learned? I think that that's a school
we're really focusing heavily on right now, is how can
we take this basic core knowledge and really apply that
(13:47):
to our personal lives. Would I rather be doing something
like that or sitting in class learning from a textbook,
hatting a lecture from a teacher? You know, really just
kind of thought it'd be a great idea for the
kids to apply what they're learning and kind of take ownership.
But when the students, you know, step into a role
where they're they're learning and their their application and knowledge
ties to the community and ties to the world around them,
(14:08):
and they become passionate and interested in the subject matter,
the learning almost comes as a secondhand product of that,
and it's it's fun and it's exciting for them, and
they're engaged in a way that you don't always see students.
If you look back in human history, you know, at
times a fifteen, sixteen, seventeen year olds considered a grown
adult and had grown responsibilities. And too many times we
(14:30):
don't expect enough of our youth. You know, Yes, they
still need mentoring, and they still need help, they still
need guidance, but they're capable of phenomenal things.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
As the semester continued, the class worked in groups to
uncover information.
Speaker 9 (14:46):
We shared information like if the group that was working
on a victim found something that might help another group.
They shared that one group found the podcast that Shane
had done about the murders, and then like, we relay
all our information to mister Campbell and he would make
the phone calls.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
And then Alex found me through Facebook and explains that
he's a teacher out of Tennessee. In his class, is
noticed that one of the Jane does in this case
is in their county and he would like to do
some type of project with his students. To be honest
with you, I thought that it was a weird prank.
(15:25):
So I'm Shane Shane Waters from a foul play crime
series podcast been doing this podcast for a long time,
started it in January of twenty fourteen, which makes it
one of the only crime series podcasts that predates Cereal.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Shane Waters is a podcaster and journalist who happened to
be working on a story about the same six women.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
I try to come up with some type of similarities
between the victims and try to find some type of
link of which ones were more than likely linked together,
and that's when I came with the six. The only
one that I thought could be the seventh was a
young child who was also found in Campbell County, but
she was so young, and I thought that was going
(16:08):
to be a really far fetched thing just because of
her age. So I ended up not including her and
just calling it the six. When Alex and I had
our first conversation, he was like, how many did you
come up with? And I was like six, and he's like,
what six? And I told him which six I had,
and he's like, that's funny because that's the sixth we had.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Shane had a deep connection that drew him to the story.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
So before I went into college, I was actually homeless.
I was in high school and I was homeless. Yeah,
and because of the experience of being homeless, I would
go on and that's why I was so determined to
make sure that these women who people were calling throwaway people,
that people, you know, take them seriously. But I know
(16:51):
what it's like to feel less than a human being
and for other people to treat you.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Like that, which is why when Shane first connected with
meter Campbell, he felt it was important to make sure
the class was going to handle these cases with care.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
And the very first conversation I have with him when
he told me that his students wanted to work on
this case, I was very nervous because I already knew
at that point in time why the case in this
series of cases had gone cold. I knew that it
was because society was treating these women less than people.
So I was curious on how high school students would
(17:27):
portray sex workers. I was amazed that they understood and
that they came away with the understanding of knowing that
these women weren't defined by where they were in that
point in their lives.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Sex Workers are often ignored when it comes to crimes
committed against them, despite the fact that they are among
the most vulnerable populations. According to a report by the
World Health Organization, sex workers experience high levels of violence,
including physical assault, rape, and murder. Further, up to seventy
five percent of sex workers report experiencing violence at some
point in their lives. Another study found that only twenty
(18:12):
five percent of homicides against sex workers in the US
resulted in an arrest, compared to the sixty one percent
of rest rate for homicides in general. Ignoring crimes against
sex workers perpetuates the stigma and discrimination that these people face,
making it more difficult for them to access services and
support when they need it the most. This is a
human rights issue that requires urgent attention and action by policymakers,
(18:34):
law enforcement, and society at large. Shane was shocked to
discover that he and mister Campbell's class seemed to be
the only ones working these cases.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
But then the more that I read about it, I
was just like, this is very weird that no one
knows about this, Like why were these riverages forgotten about?
Like surely this case was solved or something like what
am I missing? So I called the TBI and eventually
I talked to this lady and the lady explains to
me that the case was still unsolved, and the case
(19:06):
was with the cold case unit, but it wasn't an
active case that's being worked out. She was just very
not having it. And I was like, is there someone
of the cold case team by her contact if I
receieking tips And she's like, no, we would contact you.
You don't contact them, and I was like okay, and
(19:27):
then she hung up on me, and I was like,
that was a very odd interaction. So that was like
the very first contact that I have with the TBI.
I was very confused at that point on one why
the case wasn't being covered in the media since the eighties,
and then also why the TBI was telling me that
(19:47):
it wasn't being.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Worked Soon, Shane and the class got into a groove.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
It was kind of like they were working in a
classroom and doing like the FBI work and like the
book work, like the textbook work, and then I was
out in the field doing the on the ground work
and talking to people, and then I would go back
to the school and report back and we would collaborate. Then.
(20:14):
So I would go out and go to the locations
and talk to all these people and you know, actually
see the locations where these women were dropped and talk
to the locals, talk to the people who own the property,
talk to eyewitnesses. So each time I found those bits
and pieces, I would kind of go back to the
school to report my findings.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
For Shane, there were advantages to having the class have
his back.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
I'm out there talking to people, and the last thing
I'm sure the killer would have wanted was for work
to get out, you know. So the fact that I
have a classroom of students and a teacher in Tennessee
who if I go missing, they would be ringing doorbells,
you know what I mean. So that also was comforting
as well, because it was kind of scary, to be
(21:02):
honest with you, because I don't know if you've ever
been to rural Kentucky or Tennessee or or West Virginia,
but you don't have cell phone service out there, so
you're going and knocking on doors and you're you don't
know who is going to be answering that door or
if you're gonna be very welcome, Like it's it's kind
of scary. I'm I'm almost shaking right now just telling
(21:23):
you about it. I'm a very large person, like I'm
very very tall, but when you're out there alone, it
was a little scary. I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Shane Waters wouldn't be the only ally the class had.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
You know, I always had a respected law enforcement But
you know, it's kind of offensive in a way when
somebody says, well, you're a wanna be cop. It's if
I wanted to be a cop, I perfectly will could
have been. If I wanted to be, I could have
DoD the normal route. I'm not trying to go behind
the thing. I don't want to be a cop. So
my name is Todd Matthews and currently I'm the executive
(21:59):
director for donat at Work and then NAMOUS. The National
Missing and Unidentified Person Systems nam US is based on
dental rakers standing a fingerprint analysis and fairly clinical descriptions
in the circumstances of disappearance or condition that a bodybusman.
So it's very very not outside the layman's ability to understand,
(22:19):
but it's very very scientifically written to the point that
it's not. It's very clinical, and the DOUGH Network we
use anecdotal data.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Founded in two thousand and one, the Dough Network is
a volunteer organization devoted to assisting investigating agencies and bringing
closure to the national and international cold cases considering missing
and unidentified people. In two thousand and five, Todd Matthews
created a larger database called NamUs. It's a national information
clearinghouse and resource center for missing, unidentified and unclaimed persons
(22:47):
across the US. The name of database application fills the
nation's need for a unified, online, free, secure database for
unidentified remains and missing person records. Most commonly, NamUs is
used by law enforcement, victims, loved ones, and medical examiners
and corners. Todd Matthews remembers when he and mister Campbell
first connected.
Speaker 4 (23:08):
Well, it was, you know, some call, you know originally,
and you know, you get a lot of them calls,
but one when you have an accent that's very close
to yours, you kind of you kind of pay attention
to it a little bit, you know, and it's easy
to talk to them. They're from a very similar background
that I am, so it's comfortable you know that their
their areas are facing some of the same problems that
(23:29):
we have in classrooms. So we kind of got each
other kind of understood, and I thought, this is something
I want to do. This is not something I have
to do. I want to talk to this guy. I
want to see what he's gotten, you know in mind,
you know, to plant a seed into these kids and
hopefully it'll it'll be something. Doesn't have to be a lot,
as long as it makes the change, as long as
somebody understands it. So it's definitely worth it. So the
(23:50):
thing that we set up was a virtual meeting, So
we did, you know, like a FaceTime share where I
could see the students. It's fun, you know, when you
first talked to kids like that, you think, I know,
you think this is the thing you watch csilos, not
who's got it? Who's got it? To go forward? Because
it ain't going to be easy. So you know, you
just got to let the cream rise to the top.
And they had the interest, you know, they had the desire,
(24:12):
they had the youth, and they had the numbers, all
those eyes and all those hands. So a lot of
what they did was, you know, just going through what
would be the basic thing you would do comparison process
of elimination. So they were asking kind of high level
questions to get.
Speaker 9 (24:28):
To know a murder. It was a little eerie to
have to think about every single detail of this man
who took the lives of six women. So it was
it was a challenge, I think for the class to
try to find every single detail.
Speaker 12 (24:43):
And the scariest thing about it. It might be a
person that you know or somebody that your family member
might know. That could just be that you kind of
knew that they were kind of offer they were kind
of doing something, but they're close to home and they're
killing people. It really does shock you.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Let's stop here for another quick break murder. One on one,
Todd Matthews encouraged the class to look at every detail.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
Pour over these files, gather up every piece of data
and save it and try to do something with it.
Have conversations, look at these things, compare notes. And they
had so many people to bounce ideas over, so many
people to see one little thing that might have been
slightly different in another article. You know, people talking to town.
So there was opportunity for them to find stories, comments,
(25:54):
things that people have passed along, and they had the
time and the desire to do it.
Speaker 9 (25:58):
He really got all of us really excited to find
maybe just a name for one of these victims, because
if we could just give one of these victims justice
That would be more than has happened in the last
thirty years. So I think we want all the victims
eventually identified. But I think that our main goal was
to just try to bring this story to lot, try
(26:20):
to give these victims a name, try to give them family,
and I think that we did that by considering them
our sisters.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
And there's always something if you go back and reread
something the kids could have looked for a later article
that maybe described another opject that was found, honoring our body,
some other clue, a comment that somebody made in a
news report. But this is going to require going back
and reading a lot of information, going back and just
literally rereading articles and looking for little Dugan, maybe a
(26:49):
photograph that was a scene that maybe is not digitally available,
comments from law enforcement where they might have mentioned something
about a ligature not a bean in a file or
in an autopsy report that was publicly viewable. So there
was comments locally that you might pick up that you
might not see on the national level. During that time period.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
As the semester was winding down, mister Campbell thought the
class was at an impass.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
What happened was once there were no leads. Once they
had arrested no one, and the case got really cold
and they could never identify them, and there was no
family pushing for this. I think a lot of those
cases were just forgotten. Actually, I know some of those
cases were forgotten. I know a semester seems like a
long time, but really you only have so much time
to do so much. There are people that deserve to
(27:40):
pay for their crimes, and there are families that deserve
to have closure. And so I think that they realized
that if we didn't do something now, in ten years,
how many witnesses are left?
Speaker 6 (27:51):
Or in twenty years is this person still alive.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
So it was really strange that, even though it was
over thirty years ago, I think there was a sense
of like immediacy, that they needed to do something.
Speaker 6 (28:01):
Now because it was going to be too late.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Eventually, the class had two thorough and complete profiles, one
of the alleged killer and the other for his victims.
With so many years of experience, Todd gave the class
a suggestion that changed everything.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
The best way to try and help identify a serial
killer is to identify bodies that we think are attributed
to that serial killer.
Speaker 9 (28:22):
So I would say the ultimate goal is to spread
the word and get these victims spaces out there. Maybe
somebody could recognize someone and.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
See, here's the issue. Law enforcement never said determined that
any of these murders were related to one another.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
In class one day, one of the students came up
with a brilliant idea.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
Once we had this information, I told the students, what
are you going to do with it? You have something
that nobody else has. You have a lot of evidence
that all these six are connected, and you have this
profile of this person.
Speaker 6 (28:55):
So what do you want to do with that?
Speaker 5 (28:57):
So the students said they wanted to share it so
that others could have the profile. And so that's when
the students came up with the idea of trying to
share this, you know, with everybody. Do was They said, well,
how would you know if the police had a profile
and they were looking for a certain person, what would
they do? They'd have press conference, they would get the
information out. So the students decided that they wanted to
(29:19):
hold a press conference at the school.
Speaker 9 (29:21):
We invited different law enforcement officials, different media and news
outlets to connect the murders. Would make these cases go
from single murders to a serial killer in the eyes
of law enforcement.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
So we began to work very hard with the police
agencies from four different states that were involved, and also
we looked up all the print media and the TV
media that are in those areas and asked them if
they would all run a story on the same day
and kind of have a region wide media blitz. And
so that was their strategy, get as many police and
(29:57):
media people involved as possible, to get the word out
to as many people as possible, to try to generate
some leads that would help in the case.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
We knew that we needed to spread the word for
it and get more people aware of what happened, especially
in the areas where these women were found.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
It went from a class investigating something to a class
trying to share something with the rest of the world
to try to have an impact or to create some change.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
During the semester, mister Campbell's students discussed their motivations.
Speaker 7 (30:29):
It's important to bring justice to these women because, like
many of us, they have families and people who cared
about them. They might not know they're missing, or they
might be a strange, but they're still a person. They
still had a voice.
Speaker 9 (30:40):
The women didn't have anybody to fight for their right
to be found, because no one was pushing for.
Speaker 8 (30:46):
It or finally giving them the justice that they deserved.
Speaker 9 (30:49):
Whether they were a strange from their family, whether they
may have been.
Speaker 8 (30:51):
Prostitutes or not, they still deserved to have this justice.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
The Bible Belt Strangler could still be out there if
you look at the age range the students have and
the time stillapsed. He's getting a little older, but there's
a pretty good chance he's still alive.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
During the semester at the class talk to a local reporter.
Speaker 7 (31:10):
He deserves pay for what he did. He needs to
come and face the consequences of what he did.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
So you think this guy is like still alive and
out there.
Speaker 9 (31:18):
I'm not sure that he's still a truck driver, but
I do think that he is still alive.
Speaker 6 (31:23):
Do you think we're going to find the Bible Belt Strangler?
Speaker 8 (31:25):
Yes?
Speaker 10 (31:25):
I do.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
It's just a matter of time now that the words
don't more on that next time. Murder one oh one
is executive produced by Stephanie Leidecker, Alex Campbell, Courtney Armstrong,
Andrew Arnot, and me Jeff Shane. Additional producing by Connor
(31:47):
Powell and Gabriel Castillo. Editing by Jeff Twa and Davey
Cooper Wasser, music by Vanikor Music. Murder one oh one
is a production of iHeartRadio and Katie's Studios. For more
podcast from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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