Serial Killer Investigations 2025: Federal Charges, DNA Breakthroughs, and How True Crime Changed Law Enforcement

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**Serial Killer Investigations 2025: New Federal Cases, Modern Forensics & True Crime's Impact on Justice**

Detective Emily Em Carter breaks down the latest serial killer headlines and active investigations dominating law enforcement in 2025—not the classics of Bundy and Dahmer, but the real cases unfolding now.

In this episode, Detective Carter examines federal charges against alleged serial murderer and kidnapper Labar Tsethlikai in New Mexico, explores the conviction of serial rapist Timothy Bachicha, and dissects how pattern recognition, DNA forensics, and case linkage analysis are transforming modern homicide investigations.

**What You'll Learn:**
- How federal prosecutors identify and charge suspected serial offenders
- The connection between serial sexual violence and lethal escalation
- The role of DNA technology and genetic genealogy in solving cold cases
- Why multi-agency task forces and behavioral analysis are critical
- How true crime programming (Investigation Discovery, A&E, The Murder Tapes, American Monster) shapes public expectations and police practice
- The difference between isolated homicides and serial patterns
- How victimology deep dives protect marginalized communities
- Digital forensics: cellphone data, surveillance, and modern investigative tools
- Why serial rapist convictions may prevent future murders

Detective Carter provides insider perspective on how serial cases are investigated, discusses the pressure of public true crime literacy, and explains what to look for when new serial killer cases break in the news.

**Keywords:** Serial killer investigations 2025, federal criminal charges, DNA forensics, cold case breakthrough, homicide investigation, pattern recognition, true crime, victimology, case linkage analysis, criminal profiling

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Listeners, pull up a chair and lock your doors. I
am Detective Emily M. Carter, and tonight we are going
to walk through some of the most recent serial killer
headlines and investigations that have been unfolding across the world.
I am talking about live cases, new charges, fresh forensic angles,
and the kind of updates that keep homicide units and

(00:21):
cold case squads working late. This is not a greatest
Hits tour of Bundy and Dama. This is what is
happening now. A quick reminder from the rookie cop in
the room, these are real people and real victims. I
may crack the occasional joke because that is how a
lot of us in law enforcement keep breathing through the

(00:41):
heavy stuff, but I will never forget that behind every
headline is a crime scene, a family, and a file
box full of hurt. Let us start in the United States,
where federal prosecutors have been moving hard on a man
they are already calling an alleged serial murderer and serial

(01:04):
kidnapper in New Mexico. The United States Attorney and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation recently announced additional federal charges against
a man named Labar Setlikai described in the government's own
language as an alleged serial murderer, kidnapper, and sexual abuser.

(01:24):
According to the press release, investigators believe he is responsible
for multiple killings as well as a series of kidnappings
and sexual assaults that span several years. When you see
that kind of phrase alleged serial murderer and a federal document,
it means law enforcement has spotted a pattern and believes
they can link a series of violent acts to one offender.

(01:47):
From a CoP's point of view, pattern recognition is literally
day one academy stuff. We talk about modus operandi, which
is Latin for method of operation. We also talk about
what instructors call offenders signature behavior. An offender might change
weapons or locations, but the thing they do for psychological
reason that is usually more consistent. In cases like this one,

(02:10):
investigators are ochious looking at individual victims. They are looking
for repeak methods, same kind of approach, similar geography, time patterns,
victim types, forensic similarities, or digital traces. In the New
Mexico case, the federal government is stacking counts that include murder, kidnapping,

(02:30):
and sexual abuse, which signals they have evidence across different
incident dates and may be different jurisdictions on or near
tribal land. New Mexico has a long history of complex
jurisdictional issues involving tribal land, state authority, and federal responsibility.
When the Federal Bureau of Investigation in United States attorney

(02:51):
are out front like this, it usually means the crimes
either occurred in Indian country, involved interstate factors, or rose
to a federal level for some other reason. One detail
that jumps out for me as a rookie is the
strategic use of additional charges. You do not go public
calling someone an alleged serial murderer unless you are confident
you can prove at least some of those acts beyond

(03:13):
a reasonable doubt, but you might not take every case
to trial. Prosecutors can sometimes use stronger cases, the ones
with rock solid forensic evidence or solid witnesses, to leverage

(03:34):
pleas on other cases that are older, weaker, or missing
key evidence. Each new charge broadens the possible sentencing exposure
and can be used to protect public safety if one
count somehow collapses. The same press page also references another
predator out of Albuquerque, a man named Timothy Baccice, described

(03:54):
as a serial rapist who terrorized women there between twenty
seventeen and twenty eighteen. He was sentenced to life in
prison in federal court. This is not technically a serial
killer case, but from a behavioral an investigative standpoint, serial
sexual violence and serial homicide often sit on the same spectrum.

(04:16):
He targeted multiple women over time using similar methods, creating
what the government itself called terror in the community. Why
is this important for our convy sation about serial killers?
A lot of serial homicides start as escalating sexual offenses.

(04:38):
At the academy, we spent whole blocks of training on
the link between early sexual violence and later lethal behavior.
Not every rapist becomes a killer, but many sexually motivated
killers have a long, messy history of prior assault, abductions, stalking,
and domestic violence. When a serial rapist finally gets knocked

(05:00):
off the street with a life sentence, the quiet truth
is that you may have just prevented future homicides you
will never see in a file. Bacchicha's sentencing shows a
few things that matter for understanding current serial offender investigations. First,
it highlights how modern forensic work, especially DNA collection kits
and national databases is essential for linking multiple cases that

(05:24):
at first seem separate. Second, it shows how survivor's testimony,
even years later, remains critical, And third, it underscores why
investigators are now quicker to treat patterned sexual violence as
a major red flag instead of just another case in
the pile. Let us shift the lens a little and

(05:45):
talk about how these real world cases tie into the
way the Biden public consumes crime right now, Because you,
my listeners, you were not just civilians anymore. If you
were following serial killer news in late twenty twenty five,
you are probably also watching true crime shows and streaming
case documentaries that influence how you interpret new stories. Networks

(06:10):
like Investigation Discovery in A and E are still feeding
that appetite hard. One recent article from Precinct Television walks
through the slate of true crime programming. Investigation Discovery is
rolling out as twenty twenty five closes, including new seasons
of The Murder Tapes, American Monster, Mother, May I Murder,

(06:30):
a mini series called Who Hired the hit Man, and
more body camera centered shows. The Murder Tapes, for example,
is now on its tenth season and uses raw body
camera footage, interrogation video, and surveillance clips to reconstruct homicide investigations.
American Monster leans heavily on home movie