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May 25, 2025 13 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
At approximately 3.30 pm on July 18, 2015, a resident
of the 800 block of 6th Streetin Charleston, west Virginia,
was startled by the sound of awoman screaming emanating from
the alleyway behind her home.
Prompted by concern, sheventured out to investigate,
discovering Heather Saul in astate of agitation, pacing
anxiously, heather told thewoman that she had been attacked

(00:21):
by a man who tried to rape her,whom she subsequently shot and
killed in self-defense.
Welcome to Human Wreckage, apodcast that journeys into the
twisted lives and darkestsecrets of the killers who walk
among us unseen, unnoticed,until it's too late.
Some serial killers leavebehind a legacy of fear etched
into the collective memory of acity, a state or even a nation.

(00:43):
Others remain hidden in theshadows, their crimes scattered
across state lines, their namesbarely whispered, until a single
act of violence brings theminto the spotlight.
Neil Falls was one of thoseshadows.
He was never convicted ofmurder.
His name never made headlinesthe way others did.
No courtroom spectacle, nomedia frenzy.
But when he died in 2015, thetruth began to unravel and what

(01:07):
lay beneath was a chillingportrait of a man who may have
been far more dangerous thananyone ever knew.
Falls was killed by a woman hehad intended to murder a woman
who fought back and survived.
What police found in the trunkof his car that day shocked even
seasoned investigators Axes,knives, handcuffs, bleach, trash
bags, a so-called kill kit,meticulously prepared for a life

(01:28):
of violence.
But it was the list ahandwritten list of names and
addresses of other women thatled to chilling questions.
How many others were there andhow many never got the chance to
fight back?
Let's get into it.

(02:14):
The resident immediately called9-1.1, relaying Heather's
distressing account to theoperator.
She described Heather's visiblyinjured state, noting the
presence of cuts.
Operator she describedHeather's visibly injured state,
noting the presence of cuts.
Responding to the call,officers were dispatched to the
scene where they found Heatherstill outside, visibly shaken.
Heather disclosed that sheworked as a sex worker and had

(02:35):
advertised her services on theonline platform Backpage.
She recounted receiving amessage from a man identified as
Neil Falls who had solicitedher services, leading to the
altercation.
Alone at home, heather foundherself face to face with Falls
as he arrived at her doorstep.
Without hesitation he pressed agun against her abdomen,
uttering the chilling ultimatumlive or die.

(02:57):
Drawing on her lifetime ofresilience, heather recounted
her instinctual response I'vefought men my whole life.
I guess I had to be ready forthat guy.
What followed was a franticstruggle for survival spanning
10 to 15 minutes.
Heather pleaded for her life asFalls told her no, you're going
to be quiet.
As he tightened his grip aroundher throat, I was telling him

(03:19):
to please just let me breathe,but he wouldn't.
She recalled.
She said that Falls told herthat he was calling the shots.
Falls dragged Heather aroundthe house with his hands gripped
tightly around her throat.
I don't know where he waswanting to take me, but he was
wanting to take me somewhere,she recollected.

(03:41):
As Falls dragged Heather intothe kitchen, their struggle
intensified.
It culminated with a moment ofopportunity as Heather spotted a
rake within reach.
She managed to grab it,prompting Falls to momentarily
lower his guard to try and takecontrol of the makeshift weapon.
Falls to momentarily lower hisguard to try and take control of
the makeshift weapon.
Heather said I grabbed the gunand just shot it behind me.
It hit him.
Heather was stunned.
She told police she didn'tactually believe it was loaded,
since Falls hadn't shot her.

(04:02):
Reflecting on the encounter,heather said you could tell he
was confident with what he wasdoing and saying he had done it
before.
You could tell, falls waspronounced dead at the scene and
it was decided that Heatherwouldn't be charged with any
crime, as it was a clear case ofself-defense.
However, the shooting wouldresult in an investigation, but

(04:22):
that investigation would be intoNeil Falls.
Following the fatalconfrontation with Falls,
detectives made a chillingrevelation they suspected him to
be a serial killer.
When his vehicle was searched,they had come across a trove of
unsettling items, includingmultiple axes, a shovel, bleach,
a bulletproof vest, handcuffs,knives and a machete,

(04:42):
heightening suspicions of hisnefarious activities.
Moreover, tucked away in Fall'spocket was another damning
piece of evidence a post-it notebearing the names, ages and
phone numbers of six sex workerswho had advertised their
services on the same platform asHeather.
In an effort to track down someleads, detectives released
photographs of the items, alongwith Fall's name and his

(05:03):
photograph.
In response to the escalatinggravity of the case, charleston
detectives enlisted the supportof the FBI, recognizing the
necessity of a concerted effortto disseminate crucial
information nationwide.
Lt Steve Cooper affirmed thecollaboration, stating they are
assisting us in submitting thiscase into a national database
that goes to most lawenforcement agencies throughout

(05:25):
the country in order to sharethe details of what happened
here, of what happened here.
Simultaneously, a thoroughexamination of Falls' background
commenced, with detectivesdelving into his past in search
of potential links to unsolvedcrimes.
Born on September 24, 1969, inEugene, oregon, falls was the
youngest of ten siblings,growing up amidst poverty and

(05:50):
familial turmoil, exacerbated byan abusive father prone to
violence against his mother.
Following his formative years,falls relocated to Greensburg,
kansas, where he resided withhis father until the latter's
passing in 1995.
Following his stint in Kansas,falls returned to his native
Oregon, where he securedemployment as a private security
guard.
Subsequently, he relocated toHenderson, nevada, in 2000,

(06:11):
assuming a position as asecurity guard at Hoover Dam.
However, reports fromacquaintances suggest a
disturbing shift in his demeanor, marked by increasingly
aberrant behavior, includingreports of animal abuse in the
desert expanses of Arizona.
During this period, falls alsodeveloped a penchant for
soliciting the services of sexworkers, a habit that extended

(06:31):
to international destinationssuch as the Philippines, where
he engaged in sex tourism.
These concerning behaviorsculminated in 2008 when Falls
faced allegations of sexualharassment, resulting in his
departure from his job.
Subsequently, falls adopted atransient lifestyle, traversing
various states, including Oregon, indiana, kentucky and Texas.

(06:53):
Descriptions from individualswho encountered him during this
time depict him as odd andcreepy.
In January 2015, he experiencedemotional turmoil following
revelations about the maritalstatus of a woman he was
involved with, compounded by theloss of his mother.
During the investigation, theFBI identified Falls as a
suspect in a string of murderstargeting sex workers along the

(07:15):
Las Vegas Strip spanning from2003 to 2007.
Significantly, falls lived inthe nearby locale of Henderson
during the period of thekillings, coinciding with his
employment at Hoover Dam.
Moreover, suspicions aroseregarding his potential
involvement in a series ofunsolved homicides and
disappearances of women in thevicinity of Chillicothe, ohio,

(07:36):
where he had been residing atthe time of his death.
Six women had vanished and fourhad been found dead in creeks.
After Falls was killed, thedisappearances abruptly stopped.
Among the potential victims ofFalls are Misty Marie Seans, a
sex worker, disappeared from LasVegas on March 12, 23.
Her torso was found wrapped inblack plastic bags and cloth

(07:58):
near State Route 159, close toState Route 160.
She was identified bydistinctive tattoos a
hummingbird and an M design.
Jody Brewer, a sex worker, wentmissing from Las Vegas in August
2003.
Her body was found wrapped inplastic near Interstate 15 in
San Bernardino County,california.
Later that same monthno-transcript.

(08:26):
Her rental car was foundabandoned in the South Las Vegas
Valley.
Approximately three weeks later, detectives discovered only her
legs in a grassy field offInterstate 55 near Springfield,
illinois.
It wasn't until three yearslater that DNA testing confirmed
the identity of the legs asbelonging to Lindsay.
Megan Nicole Lancaster, a sexworker, disappeared from

(08:46):
Wheelersburg, ohio, on April 3,2013.
She was expected to return toher parents' home after running
errands that night, but nevermade it.
Two days later, her car wasdiscovered abandoned at a fast
food restaurant.
Holly Renee Logan, a sex worker, who vanished in Columbus, ohio
, on July 21st 2013.
She wasn't reported missinguntil December of 2014.

(09:09):
Her friend, jane Bowen, hadvanished from the same area
around six months earlier.
Charlotte Eliza Trigo, a sexworker, who vanished in
Chillicothe, ohio, on May 3rd2014.
She had told her mother thatshe was going on a date, but she
was never seen again.
She had recently asked hermother to help her get into
rehab.
Tanka Lynch, a friend ofCharlotte and fellow sex worker,

(09:32):
who vanished on May 20, 2014.
Three weeks later, hersemi-nude nude body was
discovered in Paint Creek.
She had died from an overdose,but her family believed that she
was murdered.
Wanda Jean Lemons, a sex worker,who vanished in Chillicothe,
ohio, on November 4, 2014.
According to a friend they hadheard she went to Texas with an

(09:53):
African-American truck driver.
According to her family, it wasuncharacteristic of her to not
call or visit.
Shasta Heimrich was pregnant.
The last time her family sawher in Chillicothe Ohio on
Christmas Day of 2014.
Her body was found in a river aweek later.
She had drowned and her deathwas ruled a suicide.
Her friends and family refutethis, saying she was a happy

(10:16):
woman, especially about beingnewly pregnant.
Tiffany Sayre, a sex worker,who vanished in Chillicothe Ohio
on May 11, 2015.
Her body was found wrapped upin a tarp and discarded in a
culvert-off cave road near theRoss and Highland County line.
The breadth of Falls' travels,as evidenced by his numerous
traffic violations in 16 states,suggests the chilling

(10:37):
possibility that his potentialvictims could span across the
nation.
Despite being a prime suspectin a multitude of murders, the
absence of concrete physicalevidence has hindered efforts to
definitively link him to crimes.
In 2018, falls came underscrutiny in connection with the
I-70 murders, a series ofkillings that plagued the
Midwestern United States in 1992.

(10:58):
His residency in Kansas at thetime of the murders, where one
of the murders occurred, coupledwith eyewitness accounts
strikingly similar to hisappearance cast suspicion upon
him.
However, the lack of physicalevidence thwarted attempts to
establish a definitiveconnection between Falls and the
string of homicides.
We began this story with a manfew had heard of Neil Falls a

(11:19):
drifter, a quiet loner, a manwhose past seemed unremarkable.
But, as we've uncovered overthe course of this series, that
silence was deceptive.
Behind it there were patterns,disappearances, unsolved murders
and a trail of women whovanished without a trace.
Falls wasn't a household name.
He didn't fit the image of theserial killer splashed across

(11:39):
movie screens or tabloid covers.
There were no courtrooms, noconfessions, just a violent end
and the contents of his car akill kit, a list of women's
names and a chilling sense ofpurpose.
He moved across the country,never staying long, never
drawing too much attention, buthis travels mirror the
footprints of unsolved cases,women working on the margins of

(12:01):
society, often in the sexindustry, often ignored when
they disappeared.
Neil Falls knew this, he countedon it and yet, despite all the
evidence, despite the tools oftorture, the handwritten list
and his history of violence,neil Falls was never officially
linked to a single murder.
No charges, no trial, justsilence.

(12:21):
Except for one voice Heather,the woman who fought back the
woman who ended his life and indoing so, may have saved
countless others.
Her courage not only stoppedthe killer, it started an
investigation.
It gave detectives something tochase.
It gave families of missingwomen a reason to hope for
answers.
It gave the dead a chance to beheard.

(12:43):
In the end, this isn't just astory about Neil Falls.
It's about the people he triedto silence.
It's about how justice doesn'talways arrive in courtrooms, how
survival can rewrite thenarrative and how, even in the
face of evil, resistance matters.
We may never know the fullextent of Neil Falls' crimes,
but what we do know is enough toremind us of something

(13:03):
essential Evil doesn't alwayscome with warning signs.
Sometimes it looks like a quietman with a backpack and a story
that doesn't quite add up.
Thank you for joining us.
Take care of yourselves.
Thanks for watching.
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