OK/MS/TX - John Robert Williams/Rachel Cumberland

[Marie]

Inmate may be connected to 7 women's deaths

Texas investigator questions convict about truck-stop abductions.

A Texas investigator visited Mississippi last month to once again interview a state inmate possibly linked to the serial killings of seven women believed abducted from truck stops in several states during 2003 and 2004.

About two years ago, investigators from a multi-state task force came to Mississippi to question John Robert Williams and his girlfriend, Rachel Cumberland, of Carthage in relation to the slayings of seven female victims.

In a case unrelated to those killings, Williams, 30, is serving a life sentence at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. He pleaded guilty in 2004 to the kidnapping and shooting death of Neshoba County resident Nikki Hill, whom he and Cumberland met at a casino. Cumberland, 37, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case and is serving a 20-year sentence.


It was reported two years ago that Williams and Cumberland could face charges in Lafayette County in the death of an Oklahoma City woman whose body was found Aug. 20, 2003, off the Tallahatchie River Bridge. But those charges have not been filed.


The Texas case involves the death of Casey Jo Pipestem, 19, a member of the Seminole tribe, whose body was found in January 2004 off a bridge in Grapevine. She last had been seen alive at an Oklahoma City truck stop.


On June 4, 2005, Pipestem's case and those of the other women were included on the television show America's Most Wanted.

Williams had been a long-haul truck driver, and Cumberland often accompanied him on trips, according to authorities.

 

[shadowraiths]

I split out this post as its own thread because Josh & Rachel interviewed this guy in Episode 6.

Williams is the SK who claims that there is a group of about 7 truckers who are part of a killing club, who swap women to rape/kill. I attempted to research the name he gave but am unsure of the spelling. Rachel seemed to think it was Netahey whereas Josh thought it was Netahe. I did find a spelling that, imho phonetically sounds like the term he used: Nednhi (also spelled Ndéndai), which was a band of Chiricahua Apache warriors who mainly roamed the southwest.

That said, I do have mixed feelings with regard to this man's claims. For starters, if you want to keep a secret, you keep it to yourself. Moreover, the more involved, the more likely someone is going to leak that secret. Then, there's his claim that a guy by the name of Jimmy Allen is a member of the aforementioned club. I did do a search for a Jimmy Allen, and found a Northern California career truck driver. So, the chance of him crossing paths with John Williams & Rachel Cumberland, who seemed to travel in the Mississippi, Texas, & Oklahoma area, seem extremely unlikely. And finally, his claim that "Nedni (sp?) an Apache word for Avowed Killers" has the feel of the sensationalistic old Satanic Panic days.

But who really knows? Anyway, that is my takeaway of this Williams guy, at this point.

 

[kat913]

Just a bit more info on the pair....also seems the crimes they were linked to (and suspected of commiting) involved being thrown over bridges. Interesting fact for researching similar crimes.

http://murderpedia.org/male.W/w/williams-john-robert.htm

 

[Danse_Macabre]

Also while researching "Netahey" I found it mentioned in a video game: http://ageofempires.wikia.com/wiki/Apache
Which could totally be where they got it from and incorporated it into their own mythos. -Rachel

 

[Rowanvamp0]

Thank you for posting about John Robert Williams I looked him up after watching the latest episode of The Killing Season. I was lead to this article on Listverse about 10 Serial Killing Long Haul Truckers. http://listverse.com/2015/10/31/10-serial-killing-long-haul-truckers/ I was shocked to see that John Wayne Boyer was hunting in my back yard and how it never made the news here. This is the reason I love The Killing Season it's bringing attention to not only Long Island but also to the "Missing Missing". How could this have gone on and the locals aren't aware??

 

[Mangosteen]

Here's a thought. So, you know how in the documentary they talked to the trucker serial killer? He said that there were seven people who organized killings. Five men and two women. What if that is true,<modsnip>

 

[TippyToes123]

Also while researching "Netahey" I found it mentioned in a video game: http://ageofempires.wikia.com/wiki/Apache
Which could totally be where they got it from and incorporated it into their own mythos. -Rachel

I found an alternate spelling, no clue if this is the same word or not, but this is interesting:

Yah-ta-hey (Navajo: T&#700;áá Bíích&#700;&#303;&#769;&#303;dii) is a census-designated place (CDP) in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 580. The English name for this place is an approximation of a Navajo greeting, though the Navajo name means "like the devil", in reference to J.B. Tanner who operated the trading post located here.[1][2][3]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yah-ta-hey,_New_Mexico

 

[Azban]

Inmate may be connected to 7 women's deaths

Texas investigator questions convict about truck-stop abductions.

A Texas investigator visited Mississippi last month to once again interview a state inmate possibly linked to the serial killings of seven women believed abducted from truck stops in several states during 2003 and 2004.

About two years ago, investigators from a multi-state task force came to Mississippi to question John Robert Williams and his girlfriend, Rachel Cumberland, of Carthage in relation to the slayings of seven female victims.

In a case unrelated to those killings, Williams, 30, is serving a life sentence at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. He pleaded guilty in 2004 to the kidnapping and shooting death of Neshoba County resident Nikki Hill, whom he and Cumberland met at a casino. Cumberland, 37, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case and is serving a 20-year sentence.


It was reported two years ago that Williams and Cumberland could face charges in Lafayette County in the death of an Oklahoma City woman whose body was found Aug. 20, 2003, off the Tallahatchie River Bridge. But those charges have not been filed.


The Texas case involves the death of Casey Jo Pipestem, 19, a member of the Seminole tribe, whose body was found in January 2004 off a bridge in Grapevine. She last had been seen alive at an Oklahoma City truck stop.


On June 4, 2005, Pipestem's case and those of the other women were included on the television show America's Most Wanted.

Williams had been a long-haul truck driver, and Cumberland often accompanied him on trips, according to authorities.

I find it very coincidental that the name Jimmy Allen is connected to an Oregon man who works alone for a himself in trucking, and who has 4 charges for violent sexual crimes. I looked up many of his details online and they mirror what Killing season uncovered.

It's also particularly interesting to note that he now lives in Oregon, which is at the exact same position as New York is on the map. John Roberts Williams mentioned he planned to move to NY for easier killing. This could have possibly been for committing crimes across border in Canada and returning to US as both police systems would not be connected. Many truckers operate cross border in these areas.

In any case it would be great to see this disgusting group of perverted killers brought to justice, if they exist. From the staggering numbers of missing women and deaths along the highways it's highly likely this is a common problem within the trucking community.

 

[honesty]

There are a lot of murders of women in Canada. We have some great information on this site about the murders. Sadly there is no indication there are any suspects. That is not tons there are no suspects but none have been named.

Speaking of truckers crossing borders, be is a US trucker entering Canada or a Candian trucker entering the US there is a process.

As a US driver entering Canada for the first time the driver will have his entire cab, driving area as well as sleeper berth, and the cargo inspected. He or she will then enter a office and provide identification to the birder agency. They do run a fast criminal background check on the driver. Canada does not want criminals entering their country and the US does not want criminals entering their country.

To speed up the process, after the first initial background check a driver can get a FAST or a CDRP pass to show each time they enter the country. This is more or less a document a driver will have that is also stored in a database at the birder crossings that says this driver has been vetted and approved to cross into the country they are entering.

The driver will still endure a short delay each time they cross as there are a lot of documents that have to be in place for the cargo to enter the country. As a US trucking company bringing cargo into Canada they must ahead if time request PAR's. The PAR is secured using a customs broker.

At the check in lane a driver must show 2 proofs of ID. This is typically commercial drivers licence and their FAST card if they have one, a passport can also be used or certified birth certificate.

A US driver entering Canada cannot have any weapons. This includes a knife over a certain length, pepper spray, and certainly no firearms. The process is pretty much the same for a driver entering the US from Canada.

These guys are very aggressive in searching your property and cargo. They will open every little baggy, zipper, they will ecen look in the pockets of clothing hanging in the closet! It can be a little embarrassing as they even take a look at your very personal items.

 

[suckmykiss]

Hi all! Newbie here. Is there a discussion thread about the man Josh and Rachael interviewed after being referred to him by John Williams? He said (in so many words) he'd never acted on his dark impulses. I'm interested to hear others take on him.

 

[rdixon1120]

I split out this post as its own thread because Josh & Rachel interviewed this guy in Episode 6.

Williams is the SK who claims that there is a group of about 7 truckers who are part of a killing club, who swap women to rape/kill. I attempted to research the name he gave but am unsure of the spelling. Rachel seemed to think it was Netahey whereas Josh thought it was Netahe. I did find a spelling that, imho phonetically sounds like the term he used: Nednhi (also spelled Ndéndai), which was a band of Chiricahua Apache warriors who mainly roamed the southwest.

That said, I do have mixed feelings with regard to this man's claims. For starters, if you want to keep a secret, you keep it to yourself. Moreover, the more involved, the more likely someone is going to leak that secret. Then, there's his claim that a guy by the name of Jimmy Allen is a member of the aforementioned club. I did do a search for a Jimmy Allen, and found a Northern California career truck driver. So, the chance of him crossing paths with John Williams & Rachel Cumberland, who seemed to travel in the Mississippi, Texas, & Oklahoma area, seem extremely unlikely. And finally, his claim that "Nedni (sp?) an Apache word for Avowed Killers" has the feel of the sensationalistic old Satanic Panic days.

But who really knows? Anyway, that is my takeaway of this Williams guy, at this point.

Although the LE official Rachel and Josh contacted about this stated he did tell them about this as well but left out Mr Allens name. He also said he felt he was very credible in that everything he'd told them so far they were able to verify. This man has not one thing to lose by being forthcoming and stated quite frankly he knew EXACTLY how many women he killed and that it was over 30....many simply because of opportunity.... They tapped in the hood of his truck either hustling work a ride or money. He also said he was shocked it took LE so long to catch up to him as its "all the truckers talk about"....indicating their are FAR MORE than the 7 he mentioned out there. Now THIS is a man I'd like to sit and talk with.... I believe we have much to learn from him.... He certainly needs to do some good here before his time is up.... Scariest part is I would absolutely have trusted this man.... Crazy

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Sib]

Inmate may be connected to 7 women's deaths

Texas investigator questions convict about truck-stop abductions.

A Texas investigator visited Mississippi last month to once again interview a state inmate possibly linked to the serial killings of seven women believed abducted from truck stops in several states during 2003 and 2004.

About two years ago, investigators from a multi-state task force came to Mississippi to question John Robert Williams and his girlfriend, Rachel Cumberland, of Carthage in relation to the slayings of seven female victims.

In a case unrelated to those killings, Williams, 30, is serving a life sentence at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. He pleaded guilty in 2004 to the kidnapping and shooting death of Neshoba County resident Nikki Hill, whom he and Cumberland met at a casino. Cumberland, 37, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case and is serving a 20-year sentence.


It was reported two years ago that Williams and Cumberland could face charges in Lafayette County in the death of an Oklahoma City woman whose body was found Aug. 20, 2003, off the Tallahatchie River Bridge. But those charges have not been filed.


The Texas case involves the death of Casey Jo Pipestem, 19, a member of the Seminole tribe, whose body was found in January 2004 off a bridge in Grapevine. She last had been seen alive at an Oklahoma City truck stop.


On June 4, 2005, Pipestem's case and those of the other women were included on the television show America's Most Wanted.

Williams had been a long-haul truck driver, and Cumberland often accompanied him on trips, according to authorities.

Just received a letter from John Williams....should I take what he says as legit and honest...or should I watch for any agenda he has? Any thoughts? Thx Sib

 

[honesty]

Just received a letter from John Williams....should I take what he says as legit and honest...or should I watch for any agenda he has? Any thoughts? Thx Sib

Defiantly watch for any agenda he may have.
I wonder why he wants to talk now?
Why spill his guts?

I do not know how long this creep drove a truck, but let me just say a little something. Having been a driver and been around drivers all my life there are some blowhards out there, lots of them.

I've had very little sleep the last few days so I hope I'm making sense in what I'm about to say.

These men spend a lot of time alone. And when they get to talking and telling stories they are often embellished. You know they are embellishing when your watching them speak. These guys will look at you in a way as if to say "you believe me don't you?" They are looking for you to be engrossed in their story as if it's interesting or a funnier story than it actually is.

Now, I'm not saying that Williams is doing this, but just know it is common for some, not all, drivers to seek attention through story telling. They need attention because of the hours they spend alone.

One thing I can clearly see he's embellished on is his statement about its all truckers talk about. Perhaps that is true in his circle of peers, but it is nit something every driver talks about.

Being he gave information on a driver that has checked out so far then we can be lead to believe some of what he says is credible and he and that driver may have talked about these things all the time because they were two peas in a pod so to say because they were both into the same disgusting type of crimes.

Just be careful if your going to engage in the exchange of letters. Protect yourself and also be sure to take anything he says with interest but also a grain of salt.

The prison he is in a horrible, not just because it is a prison, it's one of the worst of the worst. He may have motive to admit to things in other states in hopes of getting moved out of the prison he is in and into a better prison.

As much as I would like to think he is singing like a bird to get it off his chest I also feel like there is some reason why he would want to start talking now.

By the way, you are very brave to write to someone who's professed to killing many people. I am not that brave for sure.

 

[The_Florida_Monster]

I split out this post as its own thread because Josh & Rachel interviewed this guy in Episode 6.

Williams is the SK who claims that there is a group of about 7 truckers who are part of a killing club, who swap women to rape/kill. I attempted to research the name he gave but am unsure of the spelling. Rachel seemed to think it was Netahey whereas Josh thought it was Netahe. I did find a spelling that, imho phonetically sounds like the term he used: Nednhi (also spelled Ndéndai), which was a band of Chiricahua Apache warriors who mainly roamed the southwest.

That said, I do have mixed feelings with regard to this man's claims. For starters, if you want to keep a secret, you keep it to yourself. Moreover, the more involved, the more likely someone is going to leak that secret. Then, there's his claim that a guy by the name of Jimmy Allen is a member of the aforementioned club. I did do a search for a Jimmy Allen, and found a Northern California career truck driver. So, the chance of him crossing paths with John Williams & Rachel Cumberland, who seemed to travel in the Mississippi, Texas, & Oklahoma area, seem extremely unlikely. And finally, his claim that "Nedni (sp?) an Apache word for Avowed Killers" has the feel of the sensationalistic old Satanic Panic days.

But who really knows? Anyway, that is my takeaway of this Williams guy, at this point.

First let me say that you are my kind of people for conducting that research. Great job.

I agree to an extent that the only true way to keep a secret is to KEEP IT A SECRET. Although in this circumstance, each person involved would have insanely compromising material on every other member, virtually ensuring silence of everyone. Even then people slip up, get arrested and snitch/make deals or blab to the wrong person. However I think even stupid people are smart enough to know not to speak of murder. I am very skeptical of any jail house informant coming forward to a camera crew. However his details were so obscure, so specific, I found the likelihood of fabrication unlikely. If so it would be the most random story to concoct that required some amount of knowledge of truckers, crime and native american language. Williams definitely killed Taddemika McHenry, I found another websleuth page with a woman who knew her when she lived a rougher life and was in Williams' truck and spoke with him on the phone (while he is incarcerated) seeking closure. It is unlikely to me that was his first murder since they are rarely caught/prosecuted for their first crime. At the very least it would seem he ran in a small circle of criminal truckers, some of which could have been the people we're looking at.

I was able to find a little more information on the Netahey or Netahay, some of which you have already mentioned. <modsnip>

I found this on websleuths (the site mentioned constantly in the doc.): “Rachel seemed to think it was Netahey whereas Josh thought it was Netahe. I did find a spelling that, imho phonetically sounds like the term he used: Nednhi (also spelled Ndéndai), which was a band of Chiricahua Apache warriors who mainly roamed the southwest.” When looking into the history of this band of “Apache murderers,” I found this brief history of Geronimo and his Chiricahua Apaches. “Soon, he joined a fierce band of Apache known as the Nedhni band of Chiricahua and with them, took part in many raids and attacks in Northern Mexico and over the border into US lands.” They were apparently known to commit murder and THIS sounds like the historical basis for the group of truck driving killers.
Obviously truck drivers aren’t going to have the greatest grasp of the Apache (or any Native American) language so I’d take that name with a grain of salt. One mispronunciation can have a completely different meaning and I find that to be a very unusual name for a group of unknown killers and rapists. Apache are big on oral traditions, if you knew an Apache it would probably get you a lot more info. Unfortunately due to how obscure and little known all Native American languages are online, there isn’t a whole lot of info.
There is also a “netahey” mentioned in the old computer game Age of Empires (of all places). Rachel herself suggests in the websleuths page one of the members could have played the old pc game and incorporated that into their serial killer group's method. Robert William Johnson would have been around the right age to play that as a kid, as was I.
<modsnip - Reddit is not an allowable source>

 

[The_Florida_Monster]

Defiantly watch for any agenda he may have.
I wonder why he wants to talk now?
Why spill his guts?

I do not know how long this creep drove a truck, but let me just say a little something. Having been a driver and been around drivers all my life there are some blowhards out there, lots of them.

I've had very little sleep the last few days so I hope I'm making sense in what I'm about to say.

These men spend a lot of time alone. And when they get to talking and telling stories they are often embellished. You know they are embellishing when your watching them speak. These guys will look at you in a way as if to say "you believe me don't you?" They are looking for you to be engrossed in their story as if it's interesting or a funnier story than it actually is.

Now, I'm not saying that Williams is doing this, but just know it is common for some, not all, drivers to seek attention through story telling. They need attention because of the hours they spend alone.

One thing I can clearly see he's embellished on is his statement about its all truckers talk about. Perhaps that is true in his circle of peers, but it is nit something every driver talks about.

Being he gave information on a driver that has checked out so far then we can be lead to believe some of what he says is credible and he and that driver may have talked about these things all the time because they were two peas in a pod so to say because they were both into the same disgusting type of crimes.

Just be careful if your going to engage in the exchange of letters. Protect yourself and also be sure to take anything he says with interest but also a grain of salt.

The prison he is in a horrible, not just because it is a prison, it's one of the worst of the worst. He may have motive to admit to things in other states in hopes of getting moved out of the prison he is in and into a better prison.

As much as I would like to think he is singing like a bird to get it off his chest I also feel like there is some reason why he would want to start talking now.

By the way, you are very brave to write to someone who's professed to killing many people. I am not that brave for sure.

I wholeheartedly agree with the embellishment. Men getting together recounting stories often leads to embellishment if not outright fabrication. It's the reason 2 lb Bass are recounted as 10 lb monsters. However murder seems like the kind of thing you'd downplay if anything. I'm not sure someone would divulge information that could result in additional charges, jail time or even a death sentence, even for the chance of moving to a more favorable prison. He took a chance coming forward and if his information, if even remotely credible, is alarming. He could name names, details and the story itself was so specific it seems unlikely to fabricate. Apache and Native American languages are some of the least used, least understood languages in America and the odds (no offense intended here) of uneducated truckers knowing the Apache language seems very unlikely. Like if I named something after a yiddish or chinese concept, I would likely get the translation wrong. It seems like it would require some amount of first hand knowledge.

I'm curious; from your own personal experiences, have you ever seen anything that would lead you to believe there are organized groups of criminal long haul truckers? Perhaps not murderers, but habitual johns or truckers with a violent streak towards women? Like you said, it is a profession that demands isolation. Isolation can lead to prostitutes, using prostitutes can lead to a resentment of prostitutes, that resentment can turn to rage, and from rage you get violence. I'm sure you have seen a lot of crazy things...

Based on the information available on the FBI's own website, this is a huge problem that is not reported on or widely known at all. 500 victims in the last two decades, 200 suspects...it is a completely under-reported form of serial killer because people do not care about the victims. The problems of jurisdiction jumping and interstate usage prevents law enforcement from being able to get any kind of grasp on the situation. It is even harder when law enforcement doesn't even acknowledge there is a problem.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[The_Florida_Monster]

Here's a thought. So, you know how in the documentary they talked to the trucker serial killer? He said that there were seven people who organized killings. Five men and two women. What if that is true, <modsnip>

Good point. I thought the same thing, or at least that women members of the group could have been used to get the women's guards down enough to engage with a bunch of sketchy men in trucks. I also thought they might have been wives or girlfriends who were along for the ride, just as bored and isolated and were willing participants to the crimes.