April 26, 2025 • 10 mins
In this gripping episode of Bloodstained Backstories, we dive deep into the disturbing case of Paul Michael Stefani, infamously known as the Weepy-Voiced Killer. Known for his haunting, high-pitched phone calls to police—pleading for help after committing brutal attacks—Stefani’s twisted duality as a seemingly ordinary man and cold-blooded murderer left investigators shaken and the public horrified. Join us as we explore Stefani's terrifying crime spree across Minnesota in the early 1980s, the chilling 911 calls that earned him his nickname, and the psychological profile behind the man who cried after killing. We’ll analyze key evidence, the timeline of his murders, and how he was ultimately brought to justice. Perfect for fans of true crime, criminal psychology, and unsolved mysteries, this episode offers a spine-tingling look into one of America’s most bizarre serial killer cases. Don’t miss it.
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#truecrime #podcast #murder #PaulStefani #WeepyVoicedKiller
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of Bloodstained Backstories. I'm your
host Jace and I'm your Host Summer. Paul Michael Stefani
was born on September eighth, nineteen forty four and would
become known as the weepy voiced Killer. The nickname was
coined because he would call police anonymously and report the
(00:21):
crimes in a remorseful, high pitched voice.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Paul was the second of ten children in a highly
religious family in Austin, Minnesota. His parents divorced when he
was just three years old. His mom would meet someone
and get remarried. His stepfather was known to beat his
stepchildren and throw them down the stairs.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Paul married Beverly Lighter and had a daughter with her,
but they soon divorced in nineteen seventy five. He struggled
to hold out a job and was fired from being
a janitor at the Malbourg Manufacturing Company in nineteen seventy seven.
Much is not known about his family, other than the
fact that he completely abandoned them and disappeared out of
(01:02):
their lives.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
He would attack a random woman and be convicted of
aggravated assault. Since this was his first defense, he would
not spend any time in jail, Paul would find a
girl from Syria and they dated for a short time.
She would leave him to return to Syria because her
parents had set up an arranged marriage.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
For her, and this was said to be the event
that caused him to go on the murders spree. He
was committing these murders acting like they were his ex wife.
On December thirtieth, nineteen eighty, Paul beat Karen Potek, a
University of Stevens Point student in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with
(01:45):
a tyrannt, leaving several wounds and so badly that her
brain would be exposed. At three am, he called police
with the report of the attack and would tell police
the location where there is a hurt there, the police said.
He told police that she was at Pierce Butler Road
(02:07):
at the Melbourn Manufacturing machine shop. She would later be
found laying naked in the snow. She would survive and
have no memory of it, and had it not been
for that cold night and the snow, she may not
have survived at all.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
On January third, nineteen eighty one, Paul's next victim was
an eighteen year old named Kimberley Compton. She was a
student from Pepton, Wisconsin. He would stab her sixty one
times with an ice pick in the chest, stomach, and
inner thighs. Her body would be found at a freeway
construction site tuesdays later by a group of teenagers.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
After he killed her, he once again called the police
to report it. Please please squat.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Cop in the sandshop? Please can you tell me what
happened here? I don't know who are you?
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Police thought this was a prank at first, but then
they realized that they had not released some of the
information to the public, such as the murder weapon, and
this was something only the killer would know that it
was an ice pick used in the crime. Police were
able to trace the call to a payphone at the
corner of ninth Ain't Saint Peter's Street when they showed up,
(03:51):
though he was gone. They would later watch that payphone
over the course of a couple of weeks to see
if he would return to use it again, and unfortunately
he did not. Fingerprints could not be collected from the
payphone because unfortunately, there were so many fingerprints from people
using the payphone that they could not tell whose were whose.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Two days later, he called the police again to apologize
for stabbing Kimberly.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Paul, I couldn't know, but I can't get myself killybody else.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
On July twenty one, nineteen eighty two, his third victim
was Kathleen Greening, who was found murdered outside Saint Paul
by her friend Carol Kellogg. They were supposed to go
to Mackinac Island for a vacation together. When Carol arrived
that morning, she knocked on the door and there was
no answer. She let herself inside and would find Kathleen
(05:15):
in the bathtub dead. Paul would later to confess to
drowning her in the bath and her home. This was
the only murder he did not call the police about.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
On August sixth, nineteen eighty two, his fourth victim Barbara Simons,
a forty year old nurse on the Minneapolis side of
the Mississippi River. He met her at the Hexagon Bar
after Paul asked her first cigarette. They spent several hours
together at the bar, and then Barbara would later tell
the waitress Paul was cute. I hope he's nice because
(05:49):
he's given me a ride home. She would be found
stabbed over one hundred times the next day in the
Mississippi River with circular stabb wounds. The medical examiner determined
that she was stabbed with either an ice pick or
a screwdriver. Two days after the murder, Paul called police
(06:15):
killer girl.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I'm After the call, the police started to look into
men who had violent records in the twin cities. They
were able to narrow narrow down their list to eight men.
(06:47):
They took the mugshots to the bar, and bar staff
recognized Paul as being there with Barbara. Police began to
set up a savalance team and watch him. A few
hours later, a call came into the police. It wasn't Paul,
it was a witness who claimed he saw a woman
being stamped with a screwdriver and when he attempted to
help her, he was threatened by the attacker.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
On August twenty first, nineteen eighty two, Paul was able
to lose their surveillance team and picked up Denise Williams,
who was a nineteen year old sex worker in Minneapolis.
Paul offered her one hundred dollars to have some fun
and they drove back to his apartment. She said something
was wrong with Paul when he began driving through the
dark suburban area. Rather than returning her back to the
(07:33):
city where she was originally picked up, he turned on
a dead end road and pulled out a screwdriver and
stabbed her with it. Denise picked up a bottle and
hit Paul in the head and face several times. Denise
would ultimately be stabbed fifteen times.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Denise's screams caught the attention of a man who lived nearby,
and when he saw Paul trying to stand Denise again,
he began to wrestle with him, causing him to flee
the scene. The man called for an ambulance, and he
would later help to identify Paul as the attacker. At
the hospital, de Niece was shown mugshots of several men
(08:11):
and picked out Paul from the mugshots.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
When Paul returned to his apartment, he noticed how badly
he was bleeding, so he called the EMS and stated,
I'm all cut up and I got beat up. The
nine one one operator recognized his voice. Police arrested Paul,
who denied being involved in any of the attacks. However,
when police showed him photos of the victims, his voice
(08:36):
became all choked up and turned into the same kind
of voice that they had heard so many times over
the phone. Paul pleaded guilty to the assault of the
niece and the murder of Barbara, but there wasn't enough
evidence to charge him in the other attacks.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
On February twenty eighth, nineteen eighty four, during the trial
for Barbara Simmons, Paul's wife, sister, and a woman who
lived with him at the time testified that they believed
the hysterical caller that called the police after the attacks
was Paul. He was convicted of the murder an attempted
murder of Phinis, and was sentenced to fifty eight years.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
In nineteen ninety seven, Paul had been diagnosed with skin
cancer and given less than a year to live. It
was at this time that he decided to confess to
the murders of Kimberly Compton, Barbara Simons, and Kathy Greening.
As long as he could have photos of his mother's gravesite,
he would give detectives all of the details and a
(09:39):
full confession. Paul had not been considered a suspect in
the murder of Kathy because there was no follow up
phone call after the fact, so police didn't know who
murdered her and did not have him on the radar
as a suspect. He would later die on June twelfth,
nineteen night of skin cancer in the Oak Park Heights Prison.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Thanks for tuning in to blood Stained backstories, don't forget
to follow us on social media to stay updated, share
your thoughts, and connect with fellow crime enthusiasts. You can
catch us anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts Spotify,
Apple Podcasts, or you go to platform. Make sure to
hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode.
(10:26):
Join us next week as we uncover another chilling case.
Until then, stay safe and stay curious.
Welcome back to another episode of Bloodstained Backstories. I'm your
host Jace and I'm your Host Summer. Paul Michael Stefani
was born on September eighth, nineteen forty four and would
become known as the weepy voiced Killer. The nickname was
coined because he would call police anonymously and report the
(00:21):
crimes in a remorseful, high pitched voice.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Paul was the second of ten children in a highly
religious family in Austin, Minnesota. His parents divorced when he
was just three years old. His mom would meet someone
and get remarried. His stepfather was known to beat his
stepchildren and throw them down the stairs.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Paul married Beverly Lighter and had a daughter with her,
but they soon divorced in nineteen seventy five. He struggled
to hold out a job and was fired from being
a janitor at the Malbourg Manufacturing Company in nineteen seventy seven.
Much is not known about his family, other than the
fact that he completely abandoned them and disappeared out of
(01:02):
their lives.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
He would attack a random woman and be convicted of
aggravated assault. Since this was his first defense, he would
not spend any time in jail, Paul would find a
girl from Syria and they dated for a short time.
She would leave him to return to Syria because her
parents had set up an arranged marriage.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
For her, and this was said to be the event
that caused him to go on the murders spree. He
was committing these murders acting like they were his ex wife.
On December thirtieth, nineteen eighty, Paul beat Karen Potek, a
University of Stevens Point student in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with
(01:45):
a tyrannt, leaving several wounds and so badly that her
brain would be exposed. At three am, he called police
with the report of the attack and would tell police
the location where there is a hurt there, the police said.
He told police that she was at Pierce Butler Road
(02:07):
at the Melbourn Manufacturing machine shop. She would later be
found laying naked in the snow. She would survive and
have no memory of it, and had it not been
for that cold night and the snow, she may not
have survived at all.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
On January third, nineteen eighty one, Paul's next victim was
an eighteen year old named Kimberley Compton. She was a
student from Pepton, Wisconsin. He would stab her sixty one
times with an ice pick in the chest, stomach, and
inner thighs. Her body would be found at a freeway
construction site tuesdays later by a group of teenagers.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
After he killed her, he once again called the police
to report it. Please please squat.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Cop in the sandshop? Please can you tell me what
happened here? I don't know who are you?
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Police thought this was a prank at first, but then
they realized that they had not released some of the
information to the public, such as the murder weapon, and
this was something only the killer would know that it
was an ice pick used in the crime. Police were
able to trace the call to a payphone at the
corner of ninth Ain't Saint Peter's Street when they showed up,
(03:51):
though he was gone. They would later watch that payphone
over the course of a couple of weeks to see
if he would return to use it again, and unfortunately
he did not. Fingerprints could not be collected from the
payphone because unfortunately, there were so many fingerprints from people
using the payphone that they could not tell whose were whose.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Two days later, he called the police again to apologize
for stabbing Kimberly.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Paul, I couldn't know, but I can't get myself killybody else.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
On July twenty one, nineteen eighty two, his third victim
was Kathleen Greening, who was found murdered outside Saint Paul
by her friend Carol Kellogg. They were supposed to go
to Mackinac Island for a vacation together. When Carol arrived
that morning, she knocked on the door and there was
no answer. She let herself inside and would find Kathleen
(05:15):
in the bathtub dead. Paul would later to confess to
drowning her in the bath and her home. This was
the only murder he did not call the police about.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
On August sixth, nineteen eighty two, his fourth victim Barbara Simons,
a forty year old nurse on the Minneapolis side of
the Mississippi River. He met her at the Hexagon Bar
after Paul asked her first cigarette. They spent several hours
together at the bar, and then Barbara would later tell
the waitress Paul was cute. I hope he's nice because
(05:49):
he's given me a ride home. She would be found
stabbed over one hundred times the next day in the
Mississippi River with circular stabb wounds. The medical examiner determined
that she was stabbed with either an ice pick or
a screwdriver. Two days after the murder, Paul called police
(06:15):
killer girl.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I'm After the call, the police started to look into
men who had violent records in the twin cities. They
were able to narrow narrow down their list to eight men.
(06:47):
They took the mugshots to the bar, and bar staff
recognized Paul as being there with Barbara. Police began to
set up a savalance team and watch him. A few
hours later, a call came into the police. It wasn't Paul,
it was a witness who claimed he saw a woman
being stamped with a screwdriver and when he attempted to
help her, he was threatened by the attacker.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
On August twenty first, nineteen eighty two, Paul was able
to lose their surveillance team and picked up Denise Williams,
who was a nineteen year old sex worker in Minneapolis.
Paul offered her one hundred dollars to have some fun
and they drove back to his apartment. She said something
was wrong with Paul when he began driving through the
dark suburban area. Rather than returning her back to the
(07:33):
city where she was originally picked up, he turned on
a dead end road and pulled out a screwdriver and
stabbed her with it. Denise picked up a bottle and
hit Paul in the head and face several times. Denise
would ultimately be stabbed fifteen times.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Denise's screams caught the attention of a man who lived nearby,
and when he saw Paul trying to stand Denise again,
he began to wrestle with him, causing him to flee
the scene. The man called for an ambulance, and he
would later help to identify Paul as the attacker. At
the hospital, de Niece was shown mugshots of several men
(08:11):
and picked out Paul from the mugshots.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
When Paul returned to his apartment, he noticed how badly
he was bleeding, so he called the EMS and stated,
I'm all cut up and I got beat up. The
nine one one operator recognized his voice. Police arrested Paul,
who denied being involved in any of the attacks. However,
when police showed him photos of the victims, his voice
(08:36):
became all choked up and turned into the same kind
of voice that they had heard so many times over
the phone. Paul pleaded guilty to the assault of the
niece and the murder of Barbara, but there wasn't enough
evidence to charge him in the other attacks.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
On February twenty eighth, nineteen eighty four, during the trial
for Barbara Simmons, Paul's wife, sister, and a woman who
lived with him at the time testified that they believed
the hysterical caller that called the police after the attacks
was Paul. He was convicted of the murder an attempted
murder of Phinis, and was sentenced to fifty eight years.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
In nineteen ninety seven, Paul had been diagnosed with skin
cancer and given less than a year to live. It
was at this time that he decided to confess to
the murders of Kimberly Compton, Barbara Simons, and Kathy Greening.
As long as he could have photos of his mother's gravesite,
he would give detectives all of the details and a
(09:39):
full confession. Paul had not been considered a suspect in
the murder of Kathy because there was no follow up
phone call after the fact, so police didn't know who
murdered her and did not have him on the radar
as a suspect. He would later die on June twelfth,
nineteen night of skin cancer in the Oak Park Heights Prison.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Thanks for tuning in to blood Stained backstories, don't forget
to follow us on social media to stay updated, share
your thoughts, and connect with fellow crime enthusiasts. You can
catch us anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts Spotify,
Apple Podcasts, or you go to platform. Make sure to
hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode.
(10:26):
Join us next week as we uncover another chilling case.
Until then, stay safe and stay curious.
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