The I-65 Serial Killer

Chris discusses a killer who preyed on hotel clerks in the late 1980s and early 1990s along the Interstate 65 corridor in Kentucky and Indiana. The perpetrator was recently and positively identified via genealogy after more than 30 years. 

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
People just want to know whatit's like to be me. How does it
feel to see a dead body? Tell afamily their loved one has been
murdered, talk to a rape victim,catch a killer and get them to
confess hold on tight, myfriends. Get ready for the
journey and welcome to murderwith mannina. Hello everyone and

(00:23):
welcome to another edition ofmurder with mannina. I hate to
say I'm excited about this case,because it's super, super sad,
but I didn't know anything aboutit and it kind of how it
happened here in Indiana, inOhio and Kentucky. And so he's
actually known as a serialkiller. His name is Harry Edward

(00:46):
Greenwell. And he's what we callthe I 65 serial killer. So I 65
is a major interstate. And Idon't know how far south it
runs. But if you take it to ifyou take it from Indianapolis
north, it'll take you all theway up into Chicago and in
Michigan. And then if you takeit all the way south, you can go

(01:08):
south for a long, long time, Ithink all the way to Florida. So
anyway, major major interstate,but he was an American serial
killer robber and rapist who hadkilled at least three female
hotel clerks along Interstate 65In Indiana, and Kentucky. Now
three female killed three femalebut they really think he's

(01:31):
involved in a lot more. But theyweren't able to prove it. And
this happened between 1987 and90 in 1989. And I was a junior
in high school at the time. Buta little bit of background on
Harry Edward Greenwell. He wasborn in Louisville, Kentucky in
1944. In 1963, he was arrests ofwhat he had been 19 He was

(01:54):
arrested for the first time forarmed robbery. And he did two
years. In 1965. He was arrestedagain on a sodomy charge. So now
it's like 22. Now he's went fromrobbery to sodomy. Four years
later, he was paroled from theKentucky State Penitentiary and
then 1978 His wife died in ahouse fire in Wisconsin. A short

(02:17):
time later he met a 39 year oldsingle mom and married her and
she had just recently come froman abusive relationship. So he
spots these people prettyeasily. They had a son together.
Yes 1982. He was arrested againfor burglary but escaped twice
and recaptured. And then he wasreleased in 1983. So you can

(02:40):
kind of see this little trendhere. He gets arrested, but he's
not in for very long. February21 of 87. He sexually assaulted
and shot. Vicki 41 year oldVicki Lucille Heath, who was a
night clerk at the Super Eightmotel in Elizabethtown,
Kentucky. The lobby and thecrimes. The lobby was the crime

(03:02):
scene when it showed severesigns of a struggle in a fight.
The phone had been uprooted fromthe wall. Her body was found in
a trash bin near the motel andthis is why I always tell you
don't stay. The shitty asshotels eat like stay up.
He knew that was coming but shewas found

(03:23):
in a trash bin near the motel.
She spent my big the victim herespent most of her life in
Kentucky. She had both a son anda daughter and they were
starting their adult life at thetime of her murder. She had been
recently engaged and was earningextra money so she took a night
shift job at the Super Eightright off the interstate. The
911 call said that the lobby wasin total disarray and that no

(03:48):
clerk was found so people camein to check in said that the
lobby was a mess. She was foundwith her klore with her clothes
tore up. She appeared to havebeen shot in the head. There was
one set of muddy footprints thatleft that lead away from her
body, which ended were tiretracks started. Now we're in the

(04:10):
80s here okay. The autopsy showsshe had been robbed, beaten,
sodomized and shot twice in thehead with a 38 caliber handgun.
38 caliber bullets wererecovered in the ground after
going through her body. Severalfootprints were photographed,
there was a rape kit rape kitdone and you in usable DNA was

(04:31):
found. After numerous detectiveswork the case and waiting and
they were waiting for moreadvancements in DNA. They said
that they did send the DNA offin 2010. There was a hit in
codice. And codice stands forthe Combined DNA Index System
and it matched the DNA of anunknown offender known as the i

(04:55):
65. serial killer who was wantedin Indiana for the March 3 1989
sexual assault and murder of adays in clerk and her name was
Petey Gill and another womanJean Gilbert and the rape and
stabbing of another woman thatsurvived an attack in 1990. So

(05:19):
if we rewind a little bit nowwe're at March 3 1989. He killed
two hotel clerks along i 6524year old Margaret. Maddy Peggy
Gill, who was a non auditor shewas sexually assaulted shot
twice in the head. Her body hadbeen dumped. In a back hallway,

(05:39):
there was $179 taken. She workedat the Days Inn in Merrillville,
Indiana, which isn't very farfrom Chicago, right off of 65.
She was a student am I'm atSawyer business college and had
been working at the Days Inn fora year and a half. She was the

(06:00):
youngest of four childrendescribed a shy, soft spoken and
quiet she was still living withher parents. Her boss said she
liked working the late shift the11pm to 7am shift because it was
quieter and less hectic. Thisguy's a piece of shit. So four
hours later after that, afterher murder and sexual assault,

(06:22):
Greenwell shot and sexuallyassaulted 34 year old Jn
Gilbert. She was a part timeauditor at the Remington Indiana
days in. She was found in theearly morning hours near a
roadway $247 was taken and boththese victims are shot with 22

(06:42):
caliber handgun. This is crazy.
I didn't even know about thiscase. I've never heard I know.
So Jan was 34 and she wasstudying business at St. Joseph
College. She was recentlydivorced and had a 12 year old
son and a 17 year old daughter.
Now we're into January 2 of1990. Greenwell attacked a 21

(07:06):
year old hotel clerk at theColumbus Indiana days in. He
sexually assaulted her stabbedand robbed her, but she
survived. She described him in acomposite drawing was produced
DNA evidence linked it to the1989 murders. So in 1991, he

(07:27):
sexually assaulted and stabbedanother woman in Minnesota
living with the Minnesota shesurvived and one gave and she
gave a similar description. Thisone was officially linked to the
others in 2013. So the murderswere considered coal until 2008.

(07:47):
When DNA from evidence wassubmitted. In 2010, the Kentucky
state police announced the DNAlinked the three murders and
we're officially dealing youknow when we're officially
dealing with a serial killer andlinked him to at least four
cases in several states werefemale halter. Hotel clerks
working along I 65 are sexuallyassaulted and robbed. He

(08:12):
greenwall was identified as akiller through a DNA match with
a close family member. Indianastate police announced the
identification and April 2022and believed he was involved in
other violent crimes in theMidwest. He was never arrested,
however, because he died in 2013in Iowa, due to cancer. He was

(08:34):
68. Can you believe that? 6868years old? Wow. And he moved to
Iowa. And he moved to Iowa?
Can you believe that? I nevereven knew bind how many people
how many murders outside Hi,three murders
till at least three murders. Butthey're now just going back

(08:57):
because this just all came outin 2022. going back and looking
at old cases along i 65. Andthey think he was involved in
the gazillion of them. But hewas never He was never arrested.
He was never arrested. So what'sinteresting, like I 65 You know,
like any other major interstate,they've got these hotels right

(09:18):
off the exit. You know, so thiswas going on, but this was in
the 80s You know, and so itwasn't, and I don't it from what
I could tell it didn't get a lotof press. He wasn't deemed a
serial killer for a long time.
So it wasn't like one of thosethings where it got out and you
needed to start paying attentionif you were a female auditor or
clerk working at a hotel.

(09:40):
Right, exactly. That's the shameof it that it wasn't made more
public so that people couldprotect themselves, or camera or
security systems put exactly.
cameras in law. So you wonderespecially
and when you start thinkingabout like even when you think
about Ted Bondi like that gotout why did that get out more
than like this? You know,because it's still this Same.

(10:00):
There's there wasn't socialmedia there wasn't, you know the
news 24 hours a day, and it'slike, how does some get out? And
some don't? You know, becauseyou would.
And in the 80s, in the 80s,there were such things as
security cameras, right that thehotels could have done that had
they known that that's the dateand preying on? Yeah, no, not at

(10:21):
the same rate. Sad. Interestingthat that that he preyed on the
hotel clerks that makes sense.
What are the chances somebodyelse is going to be there? What
are the chances they're going tobe female and male, all alone?
unprotected. Kind of makessense? Totally makes sense. And
they got so you have to knowthat he has been involved.
I mean, for from a predatorsperspective, I'm talking about

(10:43):
makes sense. easy prey?
Yep. And he, you know, so butwhat's actually looked at his
background, like it's not likehe started his his crime spree
or started getting arrested whenhe was 18 years old. And what's
interesting and even gotarrested again. A second time he
was arrested for sodomy. But hegot out like, it's like he kept

(11:05):
getting out. So he never spent.
I don't think he spent longerthan about two or three years
for his charges that he startedwhen he was 18. So just an
interesting case. I don't know.
I just found it and I couldn'tbelieve
it. Do we know anything? Do weknow anything about his life
before he died? Other than hehad cancer? Or what kind of

(11:26):
cancer was he married? He wasmarried at one point, because he
married that well, while he wasmarried twice. So you may want
to be interesting to look backand I should do that because
it's his first wife was killedin a house fire.
Well, there you go. And whatabout the seven second wife?
I couldn't find anything onthat. I was just trying to like,

(11:48):
that's whatI'm wondering when he died at
68. What was the situation? Didhe have a relationship? Did he
have to go and interview thekids? I'm glad to. Crazy, that
would be very interesting. Yeah.
Harry Edward Greenwell. So ifanyone's listening, it was
familiar. With this case, we'regoing to deep dive into it a

(12:08):
little bit more if you guys haveany information on it. I knew
nothing about it I never heardabout and I guess it takes three
people, three people to be litto be considered a serial
killer. But it's just crazy howsome get really national
attention. I mean, obviously,Ted Bundy, but you know, why did
that get so popular? I mean, whydid it just jump off and get so

(12:31):
popular? I mean, we know whyDahmer did because of the
gruesome natureof his Ted Bundy also because he
was so tremendously unassumingeducated. Yes. Some charming, I
guess with a new charming, Ithink just the last thing you
want backed to have such asatanic streak. Yeah. Serial
killersare intriguing. But when you go

(12:55):
back and you look at thehistory, you know, they start
out doing small stuff, and thenit just escalates, escalates,
but I bet you he assaulted and Imean, I bet you are probably
looking at 2030, maybe even 40feet,
and I just wonder what kid Whatkind of father he was to the
kids because some of thosepeople, some of those serial
killers really seem to havelived a pretty done a pretty

(13:18):
good job at living that doublelife. Like, for instance, do we
know anything about Delphi?
What's the latest on Delphi?
We don't know a lot. I haven'theard anything. So that's crazy
to bring this up. So right thethe probable cause came out,
there's a change of venue. Youknow, the trial I think is set

(13:38):
for sometime next year. And thenit just went crickets. It
literally went crickets, but themore people I've talked to, it's
a really it's an obviouslydisturbing case from the
beginning. But what's even moredisturbing and we've mentioned
this before was the probablecause or the lack of probable
cause right that they have I'mscared for this to go up and
say you think there may not beenough evidence to convict him

(14:02):
and then he would get away withmurder if he's done it. He would
get away with trying with Delphifrom the very beginning. He's
he's still here. He's living inthe town. He's He's He's here
now in sight. You said it fromthe very beginning he was really
part of the communityI mean, he served and you get to
see thesurvivors printing pictures for

(14:24):
them and lastly,if withheld some evidence, I
just don't see how they're gonnawin that I just don't see how
they're gonna center based onthat probable cause
I hope they know I hope theydidn't things under wraps, you
know, even if it is illegally sothat they hope they pull

(14:45):
something out of their hat lastminute and trial. That's a well
this is weird. This isinteresting that I I want
6365 60 I'm gonna look that uptoo. I just love to know what
crazy If he lived and up until68 years old, I mean, that was
his life. And you know that ifhe killed that many people, he

(15:08):
had kids, he was in a marriage,but you know that it was always
in the back of his mind, it wasalways this program is running,
who am I going to get next? Whatam I gonna do fantasizing about
it? But, you know, and so thesepoor kids had to live with a
father that literally was hadthat running through his mind.
Well, yeah. And then like thevictims, I mean, they, the one

(15:29):
victim, she had a 12 year oldand a 17 year old. And
just, I mean, that's justhorrible. Oh, it's just, and
they've just gonethrough this whole entire life,
gone through this entire lifewithout nobody being held
responsible.
That's the hardest part, nobodygot away with it. And also that
it wasn't in the media so thatother hotel clerks could be on
alert, there could be some layerof protection in place that the

(15:52):
cops would No, be, you know,patrol those hotels along the
well, kudosto the detectives, you know,
with with collecting theevidence and keeping the DNA
doing all that because, youknow, as we're advancing, it's
going to be harder and harder toget away. I'm hoping it's going
to be harder and harder to getaway with crimes like this,

(16:12):
because of the advances in DNAand the family genealogy and all
of that stuff that, you know,people are into, and people are
doing that, you know, maybeit'll help, which is people
won't do it. I don't know, orthey'll think of, you know,
better ways to get away with it.
But how did you find that case?
You know, what, sometimes I justI'm kind of into right now, as

(16:35):
we've been, you know, talkingabout my cases, just hitting
kind of Indiana cases. So I justGoogled, you know, I don't know
what I put in there, crazy casesin Indiana, or unsolved cases in
Indiana. And I just started todo the research on it. And I
really wanted to talk about thevictims and kind of what their
life was about and give you alittle bit of history about them

(16:56):
and what they were doing and whythey were working. But yeah, I
just kind of I'm into talkingabout Indiana cases that
haven't, you know, been solvedor that are really intriguing,
because we have a lot, we hadthe I 70 killer, as well. And
that's the other majorinterstate. And I could talk
about that on another episode.
But he was just picking uphitchhikers and prostitutes
killing them and then dumpingthem off by seven days. So

(17:18):
that's another major interstateduring what period of time? It
was in the early 70s. I think.
Yeah. So but a lot of yeah, whenpeople hit check, right, gosh,
scary stuff. Anyway, so if youguys have any cases that you
want me to talk about, or if youknow, especially my Indiana

(17:39):
listeners that knew about thisguy know anything about him, but
it was kind of intriguing andscary and the amount of DNA that
was left at the scenes withthese rapes and the you know,
and the one there was a womanthat he assaulted in Columbus,
Indiana and she survived so shereally fought the shit out of
him and came up with a compositeand and really helped with that

(18:00):
so yeah, crazy case. Anyways,guys, well, thanks. Again. We
thank you for listening. Give usa shout out give us a rating. We
appreciate it and we will seeyou next time on murder with
Medina.

(18:21):
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