Latest news with #serialkiller
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
BBC Audio Morgan's Warriors: The matriarch on a mission to protect
Melissa Robinson lost her cousin to a serial killer targeting indigenous women in the city of Winnipeg, Canada. When she learned that police didn't plan to search for any of the women's remains, she led her community in protests that swept the nation and forced her government's hand. In 2024 Jeremy Skibicki was given four life sentences for the murders of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and Ashlee Shingoose. When the verdict was announced, Melissa swore she would do all she could to stop this happening again. She formed a group called Morgan's Warriors, walking the streets where all these women were preyed upon. Reporter Brandi Morin has been to Winnipeg for Outlook to tell Melissa's story. This is just one chapter in a life that has always been about holding up those around her, often while surviving blow after blow. Melissa was recently made a Pipe Carrier by indigenous elders - a position honouring wisdom and ongoing spiritual leadership - but her journey here has been long. Melissa's story includes the impact of suicide and violence. But's not just been about survival, it's the tale of a matriarch finding her power, in her family and her community. If you'd like to tell us what you think, or share your experiences, please email us at outlook@ or send a voice note to WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 Presenter: Asya Fouks Reporter: Brandi Morin Producer: Helen Fitzhenry (Image: Melissa Robinson in front of Brady Landfill at Camp Morgan, Winnipeg, Canada, 27 September 2023. Credit: The Washington Post via Getty Images)
CTV News
7 hours ago
- CTV News
Inmate charged with first-degree murder in death of serial killer Robert Pickton
An artist's sketch shows accused serial killer Robert Pickton taking notes during the second day of his trial in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, B.C., Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006. (Jane Wolsack/The Canadian Press) MONTREAL — A federal inmate has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of serial killer Robert Pickton last year. Martin Charest, 52, was charged on July 3 for allegedly attacking Pickton at Quebec's Port-Cartier maximum security prison. Pickton died in hospital on May 31, 2024, 12 days after he was assaulted, but no charges were laid at the time. An investigation report released earlier this month revealed Pickton was assaulted by a fellow inmate who broke a broom handle and thrust it into his face, and a separate report by an independent observer named Charest as the suspect. Pickton was convicted in 2007 on six counts of second-degree murder but was suspected of killing dozens more women at his pig farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C. Charest will appear in court on Thursday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2025.
CBC
8 hours ago
- CBC
Inmate charged with 1st-degree murder in death of serial killer Robert Pickton
A federal inmate has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of serial killer Robert Pickton last year. Martin Charest, 52, was charged on July 3 for allegedly attacking Pickton at Quebec's Port-Cartier maximum security prison. Pickton died in hospital on May 31, 2024, 12 days after he was assaulted, but no charges were laid at the time. An investigation report released earlier this month revealed Pickton was assaulted by a fellow inmate who broke a broom handle and thrust it into his face, and a separate report by an independent observer named Charest as the suspect. Pickton was convicted in 2007 on six counts of second-degree murder but was suspected of killing dozens more women at his pig farm in Port Coquitlam, B.C. Charest will appear in court on Thursday.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Eerie 'serial killer' link that could finally solve the mystery of beloved news anchor who vanished into thin air
Investigators are continuing to probe a suspected serial killer in connection with the disappearance of news anchor Jodi Huisentruit, as they work to establish whether a compelling lead is a vital clue or just an incredible coincidence. Huisentruit, 27, was running late to her shift at KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa, on June 27, 1995, when she was abducted from the parking lot of her apartment complex sometime after 4am. Where Huisentruit was taken next - and by whom - remains a mystery three decades on. She was declared legally dead in 2001, but no arrests have ever been made and her body has never been found. For years, police closely guarded evidence and leads, leaving her loved ones in the dark - fearful her disappearance would never be solved. However, a new documentary, Her Last Broadcast: The Abduction of Jodi Huisentruit, has pulled back the curtain on the case for the first time, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the investigation and revealing never-before-heard evidence. One potential suspect profiled in the documentary is Christopher Revak, an accused killer first linked to the case in 2009. Revak took his own life in jail the same year while awaiting trial for the 2007 abduction and murder of Rene Marie Williams, 36, in Missouri. He was also suspected of murdering Deidre Harm in 2006 after meeting her at a bar in Wisconsin. In the years since, investigators have probed whether Revak could be tied to other deaths across the Midwest. To date, he's been tentatively linked to five homicides spanning 14 years, including Huisentruit. Christopher Revak, who killed himself in a jail cell in 2009 after being booked on homicide charges, is being re-examined by cops In December last year, Mason City Sergeant Terrance Prochaska traveled to Wisconsin to meet with investigators overseeing the Harm case and compare notes on Revak - a meeting captured in Her Last Broadcast. The most compelling thread tying Revak to Huisentruit is the fact that Revak's first wife - identified only as 'Jennifer' - was living in Mason City in 1995, when the news anchor disappeared. Stranger still is the fact that Jennifer lived in the same duplex as Huisentruit's close friend, John Vansice, who is believed to have been the last known person to see her alive and is a leading person of interest. 'This is one of the biggest coincidences in this case,' Prochaska said in the documentary. According to Prochaska, Jennifer moved to Mason City from Wisconsin Dells after breaking up with Revak, who stayed behind in Wisconsin. Jennifer moved out of Vansice's building three months before Huisentruit disappeared. She told police that Revak, then 23, never visited her while she was living there. However, law enforcement's working theory is that Revak may have traveled to Mason City to come looking for Jennifer and began surveilling the address, unaware she'd moved out. The night before Huisentruit disappeared, Vansice claimed she came to his apartment to watch a recording of a surprise party he'd thrown her weeks earlier. 'If Revak was looking for [Jennifer] or found her and was stalking her to see if she was living here, the chances of him running into Jodi are very gives me chills,' said Prochaska. Like Jodi, the remains of Revak's only confirmed victim, Rene Williams, were never found - but traces of her blood discovered in his car pointed to his guilt. In the documentary, investigators say Revak's method was to target women he'd just met, often approaching them late at night in parking lots, in Midwest towns where he had connections - akin to how Huisentruit was abducted. Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase, who investigated Williams' murder, said the coincidence of Revak's ex living next to Vancise is too great to overlook. 'I've been in law enforcement for 32 years, and I do not believe in coincidences,' said Degase. 'I believe in my gut that he killed Jodi. What are the chances of his girlfriend living next door?' Prochaska is trying to put Revak in Mason City on or around June 27, 1995 - the day Huisentruit's trail went cold. Records place Revak in Wisconsin on June 17 and on July 9, 1995, but his whereabouts between those two dates are unknown. The investigation into Revak remains ongoing. In a statement to last year, Wisconsin Rapids Lt. Scott Goldberg said his department and MCPD 'wouldn't be doing Jodi justice' without reexamining Revak. John Vansice is also extensively investigated in Her Last Broadcast. Vansice, Huisentruit's closest male friend in Mason City, was more than 20 years her senior. He had a boat he often took Huisentruit out on, which he'd christened 'The Jodi' in tribute to her. He quickly became a person of interest after turning up outside her apartment, telling police he was likely the last known person to have seen her. According to Vansice, then 49, she stopped by his home on the evening of June 26 to watch a video of a surprise birthday party he'd thrown for her weeks before. The last person to speak with Huisentruit was her producer at KIMT-TV, Amy Kuns, who called her at 4am the following morning to let her know she'd overslept for work. Husientruit apologized and said she'd be at the station within 15 minutes. She was due on air at 6am. However, Huisentruit never showed. Somewhere between leaving her apartment and trying to get into her car, she was attacked by an unknown assailant. In the documentary, it's revealed that Vansice called KIMT-TV early on the morning of Huisentruit's disappearance, and asked her producer, Amy Kuns: 'Hi, is Jodi there? It's John.' Kuns, who was about to go on air in Huisentruit's place, said she informed him she wasn't, to which Vansice responded: 'Well, where is she? Why isn't she at work?' According to Kuns, that call came in before she was aware that anything grave had happened to Huisentruit, and before police came to KIMT to report her abduction. 'That stood out in my memory as very odd,' Kuns said, 'because I don't remember him calling on any other day.' Later that morning, Vansice drove to Huisentruit's apartment with two others to speak with police. One of those two people appeared in the documentary anonymously and claimed Vansice's first words that morning were 'Jodi's gone' - before the news had broken about her suspected abduction. Sergeant Prochaska said that in the immediate aftermath, Vansice made himself almost too available to investigators. He was incredibly forthcoming but suddenly stopped cooperating when certain, unspecified details stopped adding up, Prochaska said. Fellow anchor Amy Johnson, who worked for KGAN-TV at the time, claimed that Vansice would call her station religiously asking for the latest 'scoop' on the investigation. 'He did all the things the perpetrator of a crime would do,' said Johnson. Vansice also allegedly called KIMT after undergoing a polygraph test to tell them he'd passed and would be 'popping champagne' in celebration, which those who knew Huisentruit found odd. Prochaska declined to comment on whether or not Vansice passed his polygraph, adding only that he's never been ruled out conclusively. Vansice quickly left Mason City for Arizona, where he died in December 2024 from Alzheimer's. He maintained his innocence until his death. Her Last Broadcast reveals that MCPD is taking a close look at another person of interest, Brad Millerbernd, the ex-husband of one of Huisentruit's closest friends, Patty Niemeyer. In the series, Niemeyer describes how, after watching an ABC 20/20 special on the case three years ago, she got a gut feeling that her ex-husband may have been involved. Niemeyer claimed Millerbernd always had an odd preoccupation with Huisentruit. Millerbernd has not been accused of any crimes related to Huisentruit and has denied any wrongdoing in his conversations with law enforcement. He declined to speak in the latest ABC documentary, and the Daily Mail's attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful. At the time Huisentruit vanished, Millerbernd was living three hours from Mason City in Winstead, Minnesota, property records show. He often commuted to Iowa for work, driving a white Ford Ecoline van. Millerbernd's van stood out to Mason City detectives. Several witnesses reported seeing a mysterious white Ford van parked outside Huisentruit's apartment moments before she was abducted. Identifying the owner of that vehicle has long been seen as the key to cracking the case. According to Prochaska, Millerbernd also matches the description of a man who was spotted lurking around Huisentruit's apartment building two days before she disappeared. In 2022, Prochaska quizzed Millerbernd over the phone about his memories and interactions with Huisentruit. According to the detective, Millerbernd admitted to taking Huisentruit out to dinner in the fall of 1994, picking her up in his white van. Niemeyer also claimed Huisentruit reached out to her on June 5, 1995, to inform her that Millerbernd had 'tried to contact her.' Millerbernd was interviewed by Prochaska again in October 2024. He agreed to submit DNA voluntarily and undergo a polygraph, but the results of those tests have not yet been released.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
‘Sex obsessed' Night Stalker killer sent me twisted doodles from jail… but constant chilling request turned my stomach
RICHARD Ramirez shocked America when he displayed a pentagram on his palm during his trial for 13 murders and declared 'Hail Satan'. And Alfie James was also taken aback when the Night Stalker sent him a drawing of the same hand, alongside sketches of scantily clad women. 18 18 18 18 Britain's top amateur criminologist began writing to Ramirez after he was given the death penalty in a bid to explore what made him tick. But Alfie never imagined the twisted requests that the sex attacker would make - and the sinister childlike drawings he would post to him from across the Atlantic. He said: 'I looked at the drawing of his hand and it sent a chill down my spine. 'His hand was massive and had played a part in the many murders and rapes he had committed. 'But that wasn't the only shocking thing that arrived in the post from him. 'As well as his own drawings of women wearing very little, he actually asked me to take photographs of women in real life. 'He wanted me to take my camera when I went swimming to capture pictures of women and girls in bikinis. It made me feel sick – and I obviously said no.' After years of communicating with killers here in the UK – including Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and Moors Murderer Ian Brady – Alfie became intrigued by the 'Night Stalker' case after watching a documentary. He said: 'We don't have the death penalty here, of course, so I was fascinated by what life on death row was like. 'What does it do to someone's mind sitting there in a cell day after day, knowing that the only way out is the executioner's chair?' Netflix docu-series Night Stalker - The Hunt for a Serial Killer to track horrific murders of Richard Ramirez In 2007 he wrote to Ramirez at San Quentin Prison, California's oldest jail, which opened in 1854 and was where Charles Manson also served time. Ramirez replied and they struck up a regular correspondence, swapping scores of letters over the next six years until the killer died of natural causes in 2013 before he could be executed. During that time, Alfie – who turned part of his vast true crime library into the definitive biography of Sutcliffe, I'm the Yorkshire Ripper, written with Sun reporter Robin Perrie – gained a fascinating insight into the mind of a killer. Violent upbringing 18 Born in El Paso, Texas, in 1960, Ramirez grew up in an abusive family – his dad was violent and he saw his cousin shoot his wife dead during an argument. In 1982, when Ramirez was 22, he moved from Texas to California and two years later began attacking men, women and children, often breaking into their homes at night. He used guns, knives and his bare hands to kill his victims, telling one woman to swear 'to Satan' that she wouldn't look at him as he sexually assaulted her. He carved a satanic symbol into the wall of the home of another couple he attacked. Ramirez was arrested in 1985 after his photo appeared on the front of newspapers as part of a police appeal. Locals recognised him as he left a store and gave chase. He ran for six miles, trying to car jack vehicles to get away before a group of have-a-go-heroes surrounded him. In the latest instalment of The Sun's Meeting a Monster series, Alfie revealed that the killer took a sick pride in his escape bid. Factory worker Alfie, 49, said: 'He was really proud of how far he had run. 'He ran for miles and miles away from a crowd that were after him after they recognised him in the newspaper. He was quite boastful about how far he ran. 'I first came across his story on a documentary and I thought being on death row is totally different to anything we have here. 'So I wrote to him and, just like the serial killers I had written to here in the UK, he replied. 'He asked me as many questions as I was asking him. Where have you been, where are you going, how many are in your family? He sometimes wrote a list of questions for me to answer, and I'm thinking, 'Who's interviewing who here?' 'He would send a lot of drawings, mainly of females in bikinis, and he would say, 'Can you send some pictures of girls in underwear bikinis?' 'One time I said we'd been swimming he said, 'If you go again can you take some pictures poolside for me?' I thought, I'm not doing that." Sick obsession 18 Alfie said Ramirez was "clearly sex obsessed", adding: "It was constant. 'He also once mentioned he liked the Benny Hill shows. I immediately thought, 'It's not the jokes or sense of humour he likes, it's the girls in swimsuits and stockings and suspenders.' 'The girls he drew were always in stockings and suspenders or short skirts, and he said in one letter, 'Do you have any school yearbooks? If so send copy pages from the girls' sports section'.' In another, Ramirez wrote: 'Send pics of girls. Make 'em in bikini thong or lingerie from head to toe,' and he also asked Alife: 'Do you have a favourite sport? Mine to watch is girls' volleyball.' In yet another, he begged: 'Send pictures of naked girls. You can try covering naked spots by drawing a bikini.' As well as his near X-rated drawings, he also sent more childlike sketches of cars and transformers. Alfie said: 'He came across as very young in many ways, sending drawings of things like transformers or the Green Goblin. 'I quizzed him about death row. You always think it is really noisy in prison, but he said death row was quiet because they had proper steel doors. 'He didn't seem scared about his execution, he seemed quite relaxed.' 18 18 Richard Ramirez's victims During his violent crime spree, Ramirez committed 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries. Here we list his murder victims. Mei Leung, nine, was murdered on April 10th, 1984 in the basement of her family apartment building. He proceeded to beat, strangle and then rape Mei before stabbing her to death. He was only linked to her murder by DNA in 2009. Jennie Vincow, 79, was murdered by Ramirez in her flat in Glassell Park, Los Angeles on June 28th 1984. Ramirez repeatedly stabbed her in the head, chest, and neck and then slashed her neck so deeply it nearly decapitated her. Dayle Yoshie Okazaki, 34, was shot in the head by Ramirez when fleeing his attempted murder of her roommate Maria Hernandez, 22, on March 17th, 1985. Tsai-Lian "Veronica" Yu, 30, was attacked by Ramirez an hour later on March 17th, 1985. He dragged her out of her car in Monterey Park, and shot her twice with a .22 caliber handgun. Vincent Charles Zazzara, 64, and his wife Maxine Levenia Zazzara, 44. Ramirez shot Vincent in the head on March 27th, 1985, then proceeded to beat and shoot Maxine in the head three times. He mutilated her dead body by carving an inverted cross into her chest, then removed her eyes and placed them in a jewellery box which he took with him. Bill Doi, 66, on May 14th, 1985. Ramirez shot Bill in the face with a .22 semi-automatic pistol and then beat him unconscious. He then raped Bill's disabled wife Lillian Doi, 56. Bill died in hospital from his injuries. Mabel "Ma" Bell, 83, and her disabled sister, Florence "Nettie" Lan, 81, were attacked at their home on May 29th 1985. He bludgeoned Florence with a hammer and then raped her. He then bludgeoned Mabel before electrocuting her. He used lipstick to draw a pentagram on Mabel's leg and the walls of the room. Both women were found alive and comatose. Mabel died on July 15 in hospital from her injuries. Florence died in August from hers. Mary Louise Cannon, 75, was stabbed to death by Ramirez in her home in Arcadia on July 2nd 1985. He bludgeoned her with a lamp until she was unconscious, then stabbed her to death with her own kitchen knife. Lela Kneiding, 66, and her husband Maxon Kneiding, 68, were shot dead and hacked with a machete by Ramirez while they were still alive on July 20th 1985. Chainarong Khovananth, 32, was shot dead by Ramirez the same night in Sun Valley, Los Angeles. He then repeatedly raped and beat Somkid Khovananth, 32. Elyas Abowath, 31, was fatally shot while asleep by Ramirez on August 8th 1985. He then attacked Elyas's wife Sakina Abowath, 27, and repeatedly raped her in front of the couple's three-year-old son. Peter Pan, 66, and Barbara Pan, 62, were shot by Ramirez at their home in Mission Viejo, on August 24th 1985. He raped Barbara before shooting her in the head. No regrets Unlike some of the killers Alife has corresponded with, Ramirez was reluctant to discuss the details of his crimes. But like almost all of them, he didn't express any remorse, and suggested he didn't have many regrets, only in the way his arrest had affected his own life. Alife said: 'The only time he ever hinted at any regret was when he said he 'came to California on a whim and as you can see, didn't turn out too good'. 'It was like he was brushing off all of his crimes and was suggesting they only happened because had moved to California. 'It is typical of the self-absorption that a lot of serial killers exhibit. 'It was as if it was nothing, as if he had moved to LA for work and the job didn't work out. He was massively trivialising a lot of very serious crimes. 'And when I pushed him again on whether he had any regrets, he didn't mention murdering and raping all those people. 'He said the one regret that came to mind was not asking out more girls on dates when he was at school, which was incredible.' 18 18 18 Ramirez was found guilty on all charges - 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries - in 1989 and given 19 death penalties. He died before he could be executed, from complications from health issues including lymphoma and hepatitis C. Alife and Ramirez swapped their last letters just weeks before his death. He said: 'You always want to find out more about a serial killer. The next letter might finally contain that one nugget which explains why they did what they did. 'But with Ramirez, as with some of the others I have corresponded with, it wasn't easy to read their letters. 'I certainly didn't miss his non-stop requests for disturbing pictures of women and the stream of strange drawings he sent me. 'Or, like with so many others, his sense of self-importance. When I pushed him again on whether he had any regrets, he didn't mention murdering and raping all those people. He said the one regret that came to mind was not asking out more girls on dates when he was at school, which was incredible Alfie James 'There are many complex reasons why anyone becomes a serial killer, but that is one common factor I have discovered. 'A lot of them have a massively over-inflated sense of their own importance, they think the world revolves around them. 'Whether it is a case of them enjoying the publicity that their crimes have afforded them or whether they were always like that, who knows? 'But they do tend to feel that conversations should always be about them and their feelings, as if they are always the most important person in the room, as if they are the celebrity of their hospital or prison. 'A lack of remorse is another common factor. Not one of them that I got to know expressed full and genuine remorse for their crimes and the terrible heartache they had caused their families. 'In their minds, their cases involved another victim – and that was them.' 'I'm The Yorkshire Ripper' by Robin Perrie and Alfie James is published by Mirror Books and is available in paperback and as an ebook. Buy it on Amazon now. 18 18 18
