Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hash behind the badge serial killer chronicles asterisk. This is
Detective Emily M. Carter coming to you with the latest
updates on serial killer investigations across the nation. I've spent
the last week combing through recent reports and cases that
have caught the attention of law enforcement and true crime
communities alike. As a rookie detective fresh out of the academy,
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I find these cases both chilling and instructive. Each one
offers valuable insights into criminal psychology and investigation techniques. Good evening, listeners,
Detective Emily Carter here, but you all can call me M.
Fresh out of the academy, with my criminology degree still
warm in my hands, and already I'm diving deep into
some of the most disturbing cases hitting our nation. Tonight,
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we're exploring the latest developments in serial killer investigations across
the United States, and let me tell you, the landscape
is as troubling as it is fascinating. You know, my
forensics instructor always said that serial killers never truly vanish
from society, They just evolve along with our detection methods.
As someone who spent years studying case files before finally
getting my badge. I can tell you he wasn't wrong.
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What we're seeing in twenty twenty five proves that point
all too clearly. Let's start with what's making headlines right
now in New England, where there's growing concern about a
potential serial killer operating across state lines. Since early March
of this year, seven bodies have been discovered throughout Connecticut,
Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The pattern has caught the attention
of both law enforcement and Internet s LUTH's alike, with
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nearly nine thousand members joining a Facebook group called New
England sk to track and discuss these cases. Five. While
official sources haven't yet connected these deaths, the geographic proximity
is raising red flags, particularly with the bodies found in
Grotton and Killing Lee, Connecticut, which are close to a
Rhode Island case. The situation has become significant enough that
local police in Grotton recently issued a statement addressing the
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social media speculation. Five. I've seen this kind of scenario
play out in our academy case studies. Sometimes public speculation
runs ahead of the evidence, but other times civilian spot
patterns before they're officially acknowledged. Having worked my first multiple
homicide scene just last month. I can tell you that
determining where the deaths are connected takes meticulous forensic work.
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The evidence has to tell the story, not just our
desire to find patterns, but seven bodies in two months
across a relatively small geographic area. That's something my lieutenant
would definitely call a statistical anomaly worth investigating. What's particularly
interesting about the New England situation is how it relates
to what criminology experts are saying. Just two weeks ago,
on May thirteenth, Northeastern University published research examining these very rumors.
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According to their experts, the known evidence doesn't align with
typical serial killer behavioral patterns. Three. This highlights an important
lesson from my profiling classes. Not all multiple homicides are
the work of serial killers, even when they occur in
geographic proximity. Moving to the Midwest, Illinois continues to hold
the unfortunate distinction as one of the states with the
highest number of serial killer victims in American history, approximately
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six hundred eighty victims, awarding to recent data one. The
shadow of John Wayne Gacy, the infamous killer clown, still
looms large over the state's criminal history, Gaysey murdered at
least thirty three young men and boys in the Chicago area,
hiding most of their bodies in a crawl space beneath
his home. One what's always disturbed me about the Gaycy case,
and what we studied extensively at the academy, was how
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he maintained an affable public persona while committing these horrific crimes.
As a rookie detective working my BEE, I now understand
why my training officers emphasized looking beyond the obvious. Criminals,
especially the most dangerous ones, often hide in plain sight.
New York follows closely behind Illinois, with around six hundred
and seventy seven serial killer victims throughout its history. One
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the state has seen notorious killers like David Berkowitz, the
son of Sam, whose shooting spree in the late nineteen
seventies paralyzed New York City with fear. More recently, the
state has dealt with killers like Joel Rifkin, who murdered
seventeen women between nineteen eighty nine and nineteen ninety three,
primarily targeting sex workers in and around New US York City,
and Kendall Francois, who was convicted of murdering eight women
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in Poughkeepsie from nineteen ninety six to nineteen ninety eight.
One one of the most active and concerning cases currently
being investigated is the so called Little Rock slasher, also
known as the River City Ripper. This unidentified killer began
their spree in August twenty twenty, when the body of
sixty four year old Larry mc christian was discovered in
a residential area of Little Rock, Arkansas. Mc christian had
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been violently and repeatedly stabbed two Just a month later,
in September twenty twenty, another victim was found, a sixty
two year old man identified as Jeff Welch, discovered deceased
on the porch of a private home with puncture wounds
to his neck. The violence continued into twenty twenty one,
when Deborah Walker was attacked and survived fifteen stab wounds.
Her survival provided authorities with a crucial description of the assailant.
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The very next day, the killer struck again, stabbing to
death an unhoused man, forty year old Marlon Franklin two.
The Little Rock Police Department has officially acknowledged these crimes
connected and that a serial killer is responsible. Despite having
a description of the suspect and security camera footage of
someone matching that description, the killer remains at large. The
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case has even attracted a local vigilante who calls himself
Shadow Vision, who's taken it upon himself to hunt the killer. Two.
This kind of case illustrates exactly what my academy instructors
warned about the particular vulnerability of marginalized populations to serial predators.
Three of the four known victims were either reported missing
or unhoused, making them less likely to be immediately missed
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and more difficult to identify. It's a pattern we see
repeated throughout the history of serial killings, and it's something
I pay special attention to in my own patrol area.
Another developing story involves recent advances in identifying victims of
historical serial killings. On April first, twenty twenty five, new
information came to light about the identification of victims of
a serial killer who claimed at least thirty victims and
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possibly as many as thirty five, based on forensic evidence
and historical records. For scientists have been employing new technology
and methods to identify remains that have gone unnamed for decades.
In some cases, over forty years. The investigator in this
case has been meticulously reviewing old files for missed clues
and names of missing persons who vanished during the killer's
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active period. In one example, the researcher found records of
a young man named Randy Harvey, who disappeared between nineteen
seventy and nineteen seventy three and had a known connection
to one of the killer's associates. The case file contained
messages from Harvey's sister, who had repeatedly called looking for
information about her brother. Four these cold case investigations showcase
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how advances in forensic science and DNA technology are finally
bringing closure to families who have waited decades for answers.
As someone who's just starting her career in law enforcement,
it's both heartening and sobering to see cases from before
I was born finally being resolved through scientific advances and
dedicated detective work. Nationwide, the patterns of serial killings continue
to evolve. Current data shows that shooting remains the most
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common killing method among st serial killers, followed by strangulation
and sabbing. Interestingly, serial killer victims are now almost evenly
split between males and females seven, which contradicts the stereotype
that most victims are women. My criminology professor always emphasized
that understanding these patterns helps law enforcement better identify potential
serial cases and allocate resources appropriately. That's especially important when
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we consider that many serial killers operate across jurisdictional boundaries,
making coordination between agencies essential. For example, the FBI's Highway
Serial Killings Initiative specifically focuses on a pool of suspects
who may be using America's interstate system to commit murders
across wide geographic areas while evading detection. Five. This initiative
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recognizes that mobility is a key factor that has historically
allowed some killers to operate for years before being caught.
The forensics lab at my precinct recently received updated training
on new DNA analysis techniques that can extract profiles from
increasingly degraded samples. These advances have already helped solve several
cold cases nationwide and promised to be game changers for
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investigations involving long deceased victims or crime scenes that were
processed before modern DNA collection became standard. Meanwhile, true crime
communities continue to follow these cases with intense interest. Crime Beat,
one of the most popular true crime radio shows, has
featured several episodes discussing recent developments in murder investigations across
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the country. Six While these shows sometimes sensationalized cases, they
also help keep public attention on unsolved crimes and occasionally
generate new leads through listener tips. The continuing public fascination
with these cases reflects both our collective horror at such
crimes and our desire to understand what drives people to
commit them. As someone who studied criminal psychology extensively, I
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can tell you that this question why do they do it?
Is one that haunts every detective who works these cases.
From my perspective as a new detective who spent years
preparing for this career, what strikes me most about the
current landscape of serial killer and v investigations is the
tension between new technological capabilities and age old investigative challenges.
We have tools our predecessors couldn't have imagined, rapid DNA analysis,
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geographic profiling algorithms, vast digital databases of fingerprints and criminal records.
Yet the fundamental work of building relationships with communities, establishing
trust with witnesses, and meticulously following evidence. Trails remains unchanged.
My sergeant likes to remind me that all the technology
in the world can't replace good detective work, knocking on doors,
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talking to people, and paying attention to the details others
might miss. In the Little Rock Slasher case, for instance,
it was a survivor's testimony that provided the most valuable lead,
not a DNA match or camera footage. Another aspect that
fascinates me is how the Internet has transformed both serial
killing and the investigation of these crimes. Online communities now
track and analyze cases in real time, sometimes developing theories
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that help investigations and other times hindering them with speculation.
The new England serial killer rumors dem and straight this
dynamic perfectly. Social media groups with thousands of members are
actively discussing possible connections between cases that officials haven't yet
confirmed are related. As we move further into twenty twenty five,
law enforcement agencies across the country continue to refine their
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approaches to identifying and tracking potential serial killers. Improved data
sharing between jurisdictions, specialized task forces, and advanced analytical tools
are all helping to ensure that patterns are recognized more
quickly than in the past. For those of us on
the front lines, these advances offer hope that we can
identify serial predators before their victim counts rise too high.
My training officer always emphasized that the first forty eight
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hours after a murder are crucial, but with serial killers,
it's often the connections between cases made days, weeks, or
even years apart that prove decisive. What keeps me up
at night as a rookie detective isn't just the existence
of these killers, but the knowledge that they're often hiding
in plain sight, sometimes for years. John Wayne Gacy participated
in community events dressed as a clown. Ted Bundy worked
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at suicide Prevention HOT. The disconnect between their public personas
and private actions is a chilling reminder that evil often
wears a familiar face. That's why I take every suspicious
death on my beat seriously, even when there's an apparent explanation.
The cases we're tracking nationally in twenty twenty five reinforce
what my academy instructors drilled into us. Assumptions are the
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enemy of good detective work, and patterns matter If there's
one thing I've learned in my short time wearing this
Badge's that justice for victims often comes down to someone
caring enough to connect the dots. Sometimes that's a detective
who refuses to let a case go cold. Sometimes it's
a forensic technician who notices a similarity between evidence samples
from different cases. And sometimes it's a member of the
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public who provides the crucial piece of information that breaks
a case wide open. As we continue to monitor the
New England situation and track the ongoing hunt for the
Little Rock Slasher, I'm reminded of something my criminology professor
used to say. Serial killers may be a tiny percentage
of all murderers, but they cast long shadows. Their impact
on communities extends far beyond their immediate victims, creating atmospheres
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of fear and suspicion that can last for generations. For
those in areas where these investigations are active, law enforcement
typically advises heightened awareness without panic. Basic safety precautions become
even more important. Being aware of your surroundings, avoiding isolated
areas at night, ensuring someone knows you're whereabouts, and reporting
suspicious activities promptly. For my fellow law enforcement professionals listening
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these cases underscore the importance of thorough documentation and communication
with neighboring jurisdictions. The serial killer who crosses county or
state lines depends on our failure to share information effectively.
Before I wrap up tonight's episode, I want to acknowledge
the victims in all these cases. In our profession, it
can be easy to become fascinated by the puzzle these
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killers present, the psychology, the methodology, the clues, but we
must never forget that each statistic represents a human life
cut short and families left to grieve. As a detective,
I carry the responsibility of speaking for those who can
no longer speak for themselves, and that's the duty I
take seriously every day I put on this badge. This
has been Detective Emily M. Carter bringing you the latest
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developments in serial killer investigations across America. Until next time,
stay safe, stay aware, and remember, in the world of
criminal investigation, details matter.