NV NV - Might there have been a serial killer in Las Vegas in the 70s and 80s?

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ShereeBee said:
Hi, I’m new to this group, I would love to talk to you about this case. I would tell you on here but, I don’t want you to think I’m crazy.
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No one will think you're crazy. If you know something, please say something! Don't forget you can leave anonymous tips with LVMPD, too. Their number is 702-828-3521.
 
Can someone please tell me, how many of these cases had a victim barefoot?
I’m working on my own mothers case and have a very dark feeling about something. Also, has anyone brought up Arroyo Grande Doe?
 
Can someone please tell me, how many of these cases had a victim barefoot?
I’m working on my own mothers case and have a very dark feeling about something. Also, has anyone brought up Arroyo Grande Doe?
 
Aguilera_Vegas said:
So I have been working with the family of Vickie Lynn Brekke happened on 05/08/1978 and I got the autopsy report. She was actually tortured before she was dumped, she had abrasions of all different kinds from her knees, upper tordo, stabs, head was kicked in, she was brutally murdered, nothing that the newspaper or anybody mentioned, as a matter of fact, there's a few suspects, but the police, nor the Detectives didn't make any effort Into the investigation. We believe there is more than one suspect because she had fingernail marks, bite marks, also she had a fractured nose, right eye was sunk in it was leaking, hole on left side of her skull, linear abrasions postmodemn across her chest, knee, and wrist. It was an attempt sexual assault. She had just drank two beers. The thing is, she didn't have shoes on, so she was somewhere comfortable, because it happened at 1am not at 5 PM like they thought. Only 15 yrs old. Any opinions help. Thank you everyone
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Could you please email me? I’d like to share my mother’s case with you. Some very similar findings not reported. I’d also like to share a few names with you and see if they match.
Lovetyleedee@gmail.com
 
Lovetyleedee said:
Can someone please tell me, how many of these cases had a victim barefoot?
I’m working on my own mothers case and have a very dark feeling about something. Also, has anyone brought up Arroyo Grande Doe?
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Welcome to Ws Lovetyleedee, hope you find the answers you are looking for!
 
Serial killer Stephen Peter Morin lived in Vegas between 1977 and 1980 under the name Robert Generoso. During that time, he was suspected in the abduction and murder of at least 3 women in the area. 16-year-old Kim Bryant was abducted in broad daylight from a Dairy Queen across the street from her high school in 1979. Her body was found in a desert area on the west side of Las Vegas. In 1980, Cheryl Daniel was abducted from her car in a supermarket parking lot, and Susan Belote was kidnapped from her job at a local cleaner. The bodies of Belote and Daniel were found near each other along the I-15 in southern Utah. Morin could have been involved in some of these murders mentioned in your post.
 
1970 - 1979
Here is the LVPD website on the unsolved 70-79... 4 strangled and dumped but I don’t know locations etc.
 
Aguilera_Vegas said:
Las Vegas had a few serial killers, but there were also them drive-tru serial killers that traveled from state to state, like Stephen Morin, and Samuel Little whom has over 90 victims, and Morin had 48 suspected but only was charged with 4 murders. Recently a man name John Doane was charged with a new case from 1978 , he dubbed the "screwdriver rapist" he was caught in 1979. I think he's worth looking into.
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My sister was one of his victims in 1979. She was the one who put him in jail. He was a monster. I would not be surprised if he did have more victims prior to the attack on my sister.
 
bflocket said:
I think a (single) serial killer could have definitely killed both Miller and Perron. Both are young teenagers and went missing within days of each other and not far from each other.
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I noticed that, too! The locations and dates are very close. The 70s and 80s were scary. I live here in Vegas now and girls that young aren’t found murdered with no leads now, and the population is 5+ times larger. Maybe they did have suspicious family members or friends back then, but they couldn’t find enough evidence. So sad.
 
bgbonzo said:
<modsnip>

Basically there are seven unsolved cases from 1971 to 1989 of girls aged 13-18 seemingly abducted off the streets, sexually assaulted, murdered, and disposed of in the nearby desert. If we exclude the one from 1989 the range narrows to six cases from 1971 to 1983.

I have not looked at the individual cases very closely, so not sure how similar they look.

I think it's just a question of probability. How likely is it that some of these cases are due to the same perpetrator or perpetrators?


Arguments for:

+ It seems to be a relatively high number of victims of that sort of stranger abduction killing in a city in the 300k-500k range over a decade. These cases of school girls being snatched off a street, raped, and killed, if that's what these are, are very rare and get a lot of attention when they do happen.

Arguments against:

- The argument for is so obvious that maybe we should assume LE has reason to believe the various cases are not connected.
- It's not THAT many, active serial killers can easily generate one victim every few months. This is much less than one a year depending on how you parse it.

Other considerations:

+/- Are there any missing girls from the area as opposed to just found deceased that could be added to the tally?
+/- If the count seems suggestive but too low for an active killer, it's possible there are victims in another jurisdiction.


<modsnip>


Here is the site I'm getting the cases from:
http://www.lvmpd.com/Sections/Homicide/CasesByYear/19701979/tabid/326/Default.aspx


****

Case #: 78-27590
Victim: Vickie Lynn Brekke
Suspect: Unknown
Location: East Lake Mead Blvd. approximately 6 miles east of Mt. Hood in the desert area.
Date: 5-8-1978

Synopsis:
On 5-7-1978 Vickie Lynn Brekke departed from her home at 3612 Braddock Street, North Las Vegas, NV to walk to a friend's house. She had called her friend and was to arrive around 5:30 pm. however she never arrived. On 5-8-78 her body was discovered in the desert area to the east of Sunrise Mountain. The autopsy revealed that Vickie had died as a result of strangulation. Vickie was a 15 yr. old WFJ.


****

Case #: 75-23324
Victim: Gerri Ann Ralston, 15 YOA
Suspect: Unknown
Location: Henderson Ponds, Pabco Rd. and Hollywood St, Clark County, NV
Date: May 22, 1975

Synopsis:
On May 21, 1975, Gerri was reported as a missing person to the Henderson (NV) Police department by her father. She was last seen in route to buy cigarettes at the Maverick Service Station on Boulder Highway. On May 22, 1975, Gerri&#8217;s body was found in the pond. She was still wearing the same clothing from the day she disappeared. The subsequent investigation determined that Gerri had been sexually assaulted and strangled. It appears her body had been disposed of at the recovery site in a effort to conceal it, the actual murder site was never located.


****

Case #:71-11701
Victim: Susan Rae Perron
Suspect: Unknown
Location: Desert area approximately 5 miles west of U.S. U.S. Highway 95 off of Lone Mountain Road
Date: Victim discovered on April 16, 1973

Synopsis:
On June 13, 1971 Susan Rae Perron (WFJ 14 yrs.) left her home to walk to Lorenzi Park to go swimming. It was not determined if she ever arrived at her destination. On April 16, 1973 the remains of a human skeleton was found in the desert area approximately 5 miles west of U.S. 95 Highway off of Lone Mountain Road. Through dental records it was determined that the skeletal remains were those of Susan Rae Perron. Cause of death was determined to be blunt trauma to the head.


****

Case #: 71-12531
Victim: Jody Marie Miller
Suspect: Uknown
Location: 150' northwest of the corner of Jones and Lone Mountain Blvd. in shallow grave in desert area.
Date: Body discovered on 11-2-1971

Synopsis:
Jody Marie Miller crawled through the bedroom window of her house on 6-21-71. She was reported as a missing juvenile and last seen by a female friend on 6-23-71. On 11-2-71 her remains were discovered wrapped in a blanket, lying in a shallow grave in the desert area approximately 150' nw of Jones and Lone Mountain. Jody was 13 yrs. old at the time of her disappearance.


****

Case #: 89-72494
Victim: Stephanie Anne Issacson, 14 YOA
Suspect: Unknown
Location: Desert Area Northwest of Stewart/Linn
Date: 6/1/1989

Synopsis:

Stephanie Issacson, a 14 year old Eldorado High School student, left for school at approximately 6:30 a.m., on foot. When Stephanie didn't return home after school her father became concerned. Her father contacted the high school and learned that Stephanie had never arrived. Her father then contacted her friends, they had not seen Stephanie all day. The Police Department was contacted and a missing person report was filed.
An organized search, of the route she normally walked, uncovered her body in a desert lot near Stewart and Linn. Stephanie had been sexually assaulted and strangled.


****

Case #: 83-26198
Victim: Catherine Tighe
Suspect: Unknown
Location: Desert area north of Indios and east of Mountain Vista, Las Vegas, NV
Date: Between 02-07-1983 and 03-02-1983

Synopsis:
The 17 yr. old victim was last seen at Chaparral High School on 2-7-83. On 3-2-83 the victim was discovered in the desert area near Indios and Twain, covered by debris. The parents of the victim had filed a missing persons report when Catherine failed to return home from school on the 7th. The coroner's office listed the cause of death as manual strangulation. No suspect has ever been identified.


****

And this last one is an outlier, she was a college student back home for the holidays rather than a school girl.

Case #: 83-91138
Victim: Diana Rae Hanson
Suspect: Unknown
Location: Desert area Spring Mountain and Buffalo
Date: Between 12-30-1983 and 12-31-1983

Synopsis:
Diana R. Hanson, home for Christmas vacation from College, left her parent's home, 6400 block of Desert Inn, around 4:30 p.m., December 30, 1983 to participate in her daily jog. Diana never came home. Her parents reported her missing at approximately 6:00 p.m. On December 31, 1983, at approximately 10:00 a.m., a construction worker reported a dead body in the desert area near Spring Mountain and Buffalo.

Diana was identified by her parents. An extensive investigation was undertaken. It appears that the suspect abducted Diana somewhere along her route and drove her to the area where she was discovered. Diana was sexually assaulted and murdered. There were signs of a struggle in the immediate area and Diana's clothing was located near by. In spite of the extensive investigation no viable suspects have been identified.

***

During this five year period (1979-1983) the population of Las Vegas grew from 413,000 to 525,000. Seems to me five girls aged 13-15 and one aged 18 being abducted and killed in that period is unusually high. Also the girls tend to resemble one another, judging from the pictures. All white, almost all brunettes. (I'm not including the outlier case I mention in these observations.)
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Is it "possible" ? yes, is, the question however is , is it "probable" ?, that what you have to prove.

Here's some factors to consider, those who abduct and murder children are amongst the most likely to re-offend multiple times , in short, those who abduct kids for sexual purposed, then kill them are much more likely to become serial offenders.

This however does NOT mean they will always offend against child victims , some kill who is available at certain times in the offenders life, (Arthur Shawcross raped and murdered 2 children, 1 male, then 1 female before moving on to adult prostitutes after he was released from prison)

However unlike murderers of adult victims, the MO (which can and does almost always change) does not with these deviant types . IE if they use a knife in their earlier crimes, especially if they are successful, they will tend to keep using that type of weapon , this holds true for behavioral traits as well. Again for EX Shawcross raped and killed 2 children, 1 was a male, the other was a female, then he moved on to adults, what was consistent however is that he used the same manner (manual strangulation) to kill ALL of his victims, adult and child alike.

Most abduction murders of children, select their victim based simply on the lack of an adult presence, other kids dont usually deter a committed adult. Physical traits of the victim, in these types of cases, play almost no role in the crime itself .

In this case, you have:

a common victim type (White/Teenage/Female/Brunette)

a common group criminal acts, (Abduction/Rape/Murder)

A common manner of disposal (All dumped in the desert)

a common manner of death (Strangulation, with one suspected Blunt force trauma)

a common area as far as city (Las Vegas)

a relatively short period of time ('71-'83) =12 years

Given those factors, I feel its possible there was a serial offender active in the area at that time, However without any real evidence before me or a linkage analysis, it would be impossible to say absolutely yes or no.
 
bumbleberry said:
I had a weird experience in the early 70's. My parents and I use to go to Las Vegas once in a while. They would gamble and I would hang out in the area Foxy's hot dogs. One time I was crossing in the x crosswalk walking towards the Golden Nugget when a male and a female came up to me. Each one had grabbed a hold of one of my arms before even saying a word to me.. There were hundreds of people in the area but no one seemed to noticed what was going on. At first they were nice said they had tickets to a concert and wanted me to go party with them. When I didn't comply right away, they started getting aggressive insisting that I was going with them. Luckily, I was a farm girl and a lot stronger than I looked. I jerked my arms away from both of them at the same time loudly telling them no. They didn't say a word and just faded into the crowd. The male looked a lot like Peter Lorrie with the same build and dark circles around his eyes. The female was a skinny, bleached blond maybe a little taller than the male. Both were around 5'8 or 5'9 and thin.
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The second I saw this thread I thought, 'What about the Gallego's?' When I read your account of this incident I got a very strange feeling. I highly doubt they would be responsible for all of these victims, but I'm certain they were never honest about how many people they murdered and they were active in Nevada and Las Vegas. Gerald Gallego bore a resemblance to Peter Lorrie in a little bit of uncanny way, and Charlene was a thin, blonde, attractive woman. Even if people don't like that theory I would say *you* might have definitely had a run-in with them. Good job getting out of that situation!
 
Due to the great work of @othram, 2 Las Vegas serial killers have been identified this year:

Johnny Blake Peterson (1960 – 1993)
Victims:
- 16-year-old Kim Bryant; murdered on January 26, 1979
- 22-year-old Diana Hanson; murdered on December 31, 1983

Darren Roy Marchand (1965 – 1995)
Victims:
- 25-year-old Nanette Vandenberg; murdered on February 27, 1986
- 14-year-old Stephanie Isaacson; murdered on June 1, 1989

I suspect there are more cold cases they are responsible for.
 
faithx said:
Due to the great work of @othram, 2 Las Vegas serial killers have been identified this year:

Johnny Blake Peterson (1960 – 1993)
Victims:
- 16-year-old Kim Bryant; murdered on January 26, 1979
- 22-year-old Diana Hanson; murdered on December 31, 1983

Darren Roy Marchand (1965 – 1995)
Victims:
- 25-year-old Nanette Vandenberg; murdered on February 27, 1986
- 14-year-old Stephanie Isaacson; murdered on June 1, 1989

I suspect there are more cold cases they are responsible for.
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We have an ongoing collaboration with LVMPD (dozens of older cold cases) that will likely identify more victims of these men and more suspects to more crimes.
 
othram said:
We have an ongoing collaboration with LVMPD (dozens of older cold cases) that will likely identify more victims of these men and more suspects to more crimes.
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That is amazing to hear. I am always keeping an eye on your case announcements. Thank you for everything that you do!
 
Updated Dec 8 2021 rbbm.
Cold case murder suspect may be involved in more homicides, police say | KLAS
''Cold case murder suspect may be involved in more homicides, police say
Johnny-Blake-Peterson-on-background.jpg

Johnny Blake Peterson (Photo: LVMPD)

''Now. Metro Lt. Ray Spencer confirms his department is investigating a possible connection between Peterson and five other cold case homicides.

Police have recently been solving cold cases in the valley with the help of Texas-based forensic sequencing laboratory Othram Inc.''
 
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