Photo by INDIANAPOLIS POLICE As intense as his compulsions were, Burns says that one day in 2002, they just dissipated, so he stopped, and claims to not have committed a crime since. A grand jury in Cleveland on Tuesday indicted Robert Rembert Jr. on 10 counts of aggravated murder for three killings in 2015 and one in 1997, according to court documents. “I was only 23 when I was arrested. However, he does admit that, up until recently, he never felt remorse for his horrific actions, and that these feelings of guilt and sorrow are new emotions for him; adding that he hopes his brain might one day be studied for abnormalities. I no longer felt like committing crimes, so I didn’t,” he said. Rhoades was a long-haul trucker, in jail since 1990, who had recently been convicted of a couple of new "cold cases." They certainly deserve it. Now, after pleading guilty to sexual assault and the subsequent sentencing in April, Burns has confessed to homicides he committed in Oregon, Arizona, and Wyoming during the same time period as the sexual assaults, and says he doesn’t dispute the label of ‘serial killer.’ In fact, during his April rape sentencing, Burns specifically asked the judge to show him “no mercy,” and voiced discomfort over having to face any of his victims in person. “I’m not going to live much longer anyway. Though, Jesperson himself claims to have killed 160 women. Nearly 70-year-old Mark Douglas Burns was arrested in September of 2019, nearly two decades after he committed his last crime, and is set to be sentenced for first-degree murder charges and attempt to commit aggravated robbery on Friday, December 4th. “Maybe these crimes were just some way of me actually being able to present my whole entire complete self as a human being to another person, whether they wanted it or not… I’m still not a normal human being. 1 Background 2 Murders, Arrest, and Incarceration 3 Modus Operandi 4 Known Victims 5 Notes 6 On Criminal Minds 7 Sources 8 References Jesperson was born in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. After his crime-compulsion ceased, but prior to his arrest for the serial rape and murder cases, Burns worked as a truck driver in Ogden, Utah, where he hid from police in plain sight for nearly three decades. I mean, it is what it is. “Now that that has happened, I figured I might as well go clear the books. So even if I get a death sentence I’m gonna spend probably 8 or 9 years waiting to be executed…. He was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder on June 27, 2006,[2] and was sentenced to death in August 2006. Public Domain Between 1975 and 1990, Robert Ben Rhoades, a.k.a. When Ford was only two years old, he fell off a step and hit his head. I’m a good neighbor. In November 1980, Ford was hit by a drunk driver, causing another head injury and drastically changing his personality, gaining murderous and violent impulses in the process, which resulted in him being institutionali… Robert was also known as The Truck Stop Killer and rapist. Maybe I’ll live long enough that that will go away too.”. ... 22, a truck stop convenience store clerk in northern Iowa who was bludgeoned to death during an overnight shift in 1992. Try to give as many people a sense of justice as possible… I’ve always wished that there was something I could have done. Bonin was executed in 1996, and earned the dubious distinction of being the first person in California … I do feel remorse. He walked into the Humboldt County Sheriff Department in Eureka, California in November 1998 with a woman's severed breast in his pocket. Menu. I do feel sorrow. This map shows the more than 500 cases in our Highway Serial Killings Initiative database; the red dots mark where bodies or remains have been found along highways over the past 30 years. For the Iowa State Representative, see, List of death row inmates in the United States, List of serial killers in the United States, "Wayne Adam Ford: The Remorseful Serial Killer", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wayne_Adam_Ford&oldid=1014371796, Prisoners sentenced to death by California, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 March 2021, at 18:21. Keith Hunter Jesperson is a Canadian-American serial killer also known as the Happy Faced Killer. Despite his confessions, Burns refused to disclose just how many women he sexually assaulted over the years, and says he isn’t sure why he committed so many violent sexual crimes. “On the one hand it was a hunger that was unquenchable, unsatisfiable, but on the other hand it fed me. “As a representative of the more than 7.4 million professionals in the trucking industry, we are deeply concerned that your network would produce ‘Big Sky,’ a television series that depicts a professional truck driver as a serial killer,” ATA wrote in a letter addressed to series producer David E. Kelley and Michaela Zukowski, head of entertainment for ABC Big Sky. Strangulation was his preferred method of murdering, the same method he often used to kill animals as a child. “I didn’t pick (my victims). Ford was born in Petaluma, California, as the second son of an American father and a German mother; the couple divorced when Ford was ten years old. [1] He confessed to having killed four women in 1997 and 1998, and is thought to have killed others.[1]. At the time of this writing, Robert Rembert Jr. is only an accused serial killer. [1], He had two brief marriages, both of which ended in divorce. But he was an African American serial killer in California who killed and targeted prostitutes. Ford was born in Petaluma, California, the second son of an American father and a German immigrant mother. Serial killer & rapist lived undercover as working truck driver for 30... Driver blames bee-sting for wreck that spilled cheese, Police search for answers following shooting at FedEx facility that left 8 dead, Truck yard employee run over by tractor trailer in reverse. “Obviously there were probably some that were never even recorded. I do feel regret. ... who was never officially named by police, was released without charge. Over a five year period (1990-1995) he murdered eight known women. My brain does not function like a normal human being. I’m a marine. Well, I haven’t always. Ford turned himself in. He is an American Serial killer who is suspected of torturing, raping and killing more than 50 women. He was working as a long-haul truck driver at the time of his arrest. the Truck Stop Killer, may have killed as many as 50 victims. On October 5th 2010, the front page of USA Today featured a story about potential serial killers dumping bodies along highways near rest areas and truck stops. ... who has previously lived in Nashua, Iowa, and Springfield, Missouri, was a cross-country truck driver … “If that’s what it is, then that’s what it is,” Burns responded. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and prosecutors. “When they called me out of my cell to take me down to vacate the sentence, I had no idea. Stacy Keach, an American trucker working in Australia, begins to suspect that the driver of a green van he keeps seeing on the road is a notorious serial killer, but the more he tries to prove it, the more he unwittingly indicts himself and his big old truck. Just whoever left the door unlocked,” said Burns, who almost exclusively chose victims living in apartments with sliding glass doors. “Maybe it’s just a loose wire. He walked into the Humboldt County Sheriff Department in Eureka, California in November 1998 with a woman's severed breast in his pocket. Joseph Michael Nissensohn, 68, is one of those on death row affected by Gov. The results of Friday’s sentencing will be added to the 242 year sentence Burns received earlier this year for multiple rapes in Utah. Police Believe Trucker Samuel Legg Is a Cross-Country Serial Killer LONG HAUL Authorities have tied him to four bodies and a rape but say there may be more secrets to uncover. Edmund Kemper, also known as the "Co-ed Butcher," was a California serial killer who was raised by his mother in Helena. As victims, he chose sex workers working in parking lots and truck stops located alongside Interstate 71. "The Happy Face Killer", is a Canadian-born American (possibly prolific) serial killer and serial rapist. A former Southern California truck driver, Bonin earned the moniker Freeway Killer because many of his victims’ bodies were found alongside various California freeways. Trucker charged in serial killings faces scrutiny across US. “[My arrest felt like] a great weight lifted off of me,” he continued. I am a predator. Truckers make ideal serial killers: FBI. In the cab of his truck was a DVD titled “Hunting Humans,” about a serial killer. He never wanted to pay the girls. In November 1998, long-haul trucker Wayne Adam Ford calmly walked into the Humboldt County Sheriff’s office in Eureka, California, and presented them with a woman’s severed breast. “I’ve got a pretty good idea. “The one in Wyoming [Higgins]… is actually the only female victim I ever killed,” he said in an interview with Fox 13 Now in February 2020, which has only been released now following the conclusion of police investigations into Burns’ crimes. Skyline killer lured tow truck driver at random, coworker says: ‘Anyone could’ve gone up there’ Driver stabbed to death after answering call for help [3] Currently, he resides on death row at San Quentin State Prison in California. Jennings Choyce would pick them up, get the women into his truck, and then he would hold them at gunpoint before raping them. Jamie Lee Curtis pops up as a hitchhiker. Still, the stunning confessions could make Little the most prolific serial killer in US history if convicted, according to Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland. Wayne Adam Ford (born December 3, 1961) is an American serial killer. It made me feel complete.”, “I don’t know if it’s a chemical imbalance. Alarming? Keith Hunter Jesperson (born April 6, 1955) is a Canadian-American serial killer who murdered at least eight women in the United States during the early 1990s. He confessed to having killed four women in 1997 and 1998, and is thought to have killed others. Many of his victims were sex workers and transients who had no connection to him. “If there is such a thing as an ideal profession for a serial killer, it may well be as a long-haul truck driver.”. The serial killer's name was Robert Ben Rhoades. He shocked authorities even further when he confessed to murdering four … The article begins with the story of a severed head found of a teenage girl a few hundred yards from a truck stop in Barstow, California. The FBI has said that truck driver is the ideal occupation for a serial killer. Totally my bad. The 1-45 Killer, if indeed one person, would be one of the most prolific serial killers … He dropped out of high school and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served for 6 years before being honorably discharged in 1985. These are feelings I’ve never experienced before.”. My bad. “I was wondering if perhaps I would get caught some day because of DNA — the advancement of DNA,” he said, referencing the genetic genealogist that used a public database to find one of Burns’ relatives who had uploaded their DNA online. I’ve always had a very high sense of honor, and the fact that I could do something like that to people is so unhonorable. The FBI has recently shared its finding that the profession most conducive to being a serial killer is that of a long-haul truck driver. There may be some that [police] don’t know about. SAN QUENTIN — Louis Peoples, the former Stockton-area tow truck driver who used a stolen deputy’s gun to go on a months-long robbery spree that left four people murdered, died in … “It doesn’t bother me. My memory’s not as good as it used to be, but I’m not going to get into [how many I assaulted] now,” Burns said. Although Burns says that he never wished to be caught for his crimes, now that he has, he feels as if a burden has been lifted off of him. The 1-45 Killer. If you want to be a serial killer, then being a long-haul trucker is an excellent career choice, according to the FBI. I’m a good employee. Since 2002, I’ve wished there was something I could have done for my victims. Keith Hunter Jesperson, a.k.a. Your’e Darn Tootin! “It gave me the opportunity to provide closure to my victims. Maybe I’ve got an extra Y chromosome,” he said. A convicted serial killer and rapist is now awaiting another sentencing after evading police as a working truck driver for nearly 30 years. Victims of the long-haul truck driver tended to be truck … Robert Benjamin Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist. None of them were planned.”. If that’s what I am [ a serial killer], then that’s what I am.”. I am a sexual deviant. Though Robert Ben Rhoades is behind bars for three murders, authorities believe that the Truck Stop Killer may have killed about 50 women while out on the road. "I think I’m basically a decent human being if it wasn’t for the fact that I was also a monster," he said nearly two decades after committing his last crime. I’m a good friend. Burns’ crime spree took place between 1991 and 2001, leaving at least 11 rape victims and multiple dead. She had nothing to do with — she did nothing wrong. Leading the pack of American psychopaths/serial killers is this disgusting human being known as “The Green River Killer.” Gary Ridgway was a truck driver who was convicted of 49 murders- … FBI. There are suspicions that he committed three similar killings in New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania, between 1986 and 1988. Other than confess.”. As an FBI press release put it in 2016, “If there is such a thing as an ideal profession for a serial killer, it may well be as a long-haul truck driver.” Truckers appeared on the bureau’s radar more than a decade ago, when an investigation revealed that women were being murdered along the I-40 corridor. ... [/link] The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I didn’t even know even what was going on… “. This article is about the American serial killer. Although Burns has admitted to the murders and rapes, he does claim the killings in Arizona and Oregon were male, exclusively in “self defense,” and says all three murders were “totally by accident. I will inform them of those cases as well and confess to them as well.”, “I had a compulsion that was irresistible…” he continued. But, this year’s sentences are not the first time Burns has had a run-in with the law – back in 1974, he was sentenced to death via lethal gas chamber. An over-the-road truck driver, Mendenhall, 66, had already been sentenced to life in prison for the June 25, 2007, slaying of Sara Nicole Hulbert. Here we will have a look at two caught Serial killer truckers: Robert Ben Rhoades. Lonnie David Franklin, Jr., a one-time garbage truck driver and LAPD garage attendant, was found guilty Thursday of murdering nine women and one girl … [1], Ford turned himself in. “It just left. A convicted serial killer and rapist is now awaiting another sentencing after evading police as a working truck driver for nearly 30 years. He has only three confirmed victims. He had a series of scrapes with the law, including allegations of beating and robbing a prostitute, and animal cruelty for which he served a brief jail sentence. Now, after being identified as the long sought after cold case “Clearfield Rapist,” Burns has been sentenced to life in prison, with the potential for yet another life sentence, and even the possibility of death row. An over-the-road driver based out of Cleveland, Ohio, Rembert served six years in 1997 for voluntary manslaughter after shooting 24-year-old Dadren Lewis, but prosecutors say Rembert murdered at least one more person that same year and was responsible for three murders in 2015. Up until recently I’ve never experienced a feeling of guilt. “And that one was just a total mistake. ... a truck driver, was picking up prostitutes for sex. I would rather be executed than spend the rest of my life in prison.”, “I never experienced love,” he continued. His parents divorced when he was 10. You know, another 10-12 years. Mendenhall will go trial for the murder of Carma Purpura in Indiana in the next few months. Nearly 70-year-old Mark Douglas Burns was arrested in September of 2019, nearly two decades after he committed his last crime, and is set to be sentenced for first-degree murder charges and attempt to commit aggravated robbery on Friday, December 4th. The 1974 death sentence was initially assigned for the rape of a woman in a McDonald’s restroom in North Carolina, but a judge soon vacated the death sentence, leaving Burns with a 25-30 years sentence with the possibility of parole after only six and a half years, which Burns was able to secure, leaving him free to commit more crimes in the years to come. But, he was cheap. Films about real life serial killers & murderers. I don’t know. Despite accusations, he claims he never used his truck route to commit crimes. I think I’m basically a decent human being if it wasn’t for the fact that I was also a monster.”. By the time I got my death sentence vacated and was given a 25-30 year sentence, I was eligible for parole in like 6.5 years,” Burns said. "Robert Rembert is a serial killer. I don’t know how I could have convinced myself that it was okay.”, “I have become what I think is a responsible citizen. It was just a situation that just went to **** instantly, and I chose the wrong way to handle it.”. Beginning in 1983, he had escalating problems at work and psychological declines, necessitating several hospitalizations. Burns has confessed to the murder of victims in three states, and has been charged with the 2001 murder of 28-year-old Sue Ellen Gunderson Higgins in Evanston, Wyoming. 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