WA WA - Susanna Stodden, 56, & Mary Cooper, 27, Pinnacle Lake, 11 Jul 2006

[Peter Hamilton]

reb,it only seems that way---there have always been serial killers around,going back over a hundred years,in this country as well as Europe---But the proliferation of gun-ownership here has certainly not improved things at all---If you own a gun in your house,it is 38 times more likely that gun will be used against you or your family(suicide,murder,accidents) than that it will be used to defend yourself from burglars,rapists,etc.

 

[Malapoo]

There was a killer on the Appalachian Trail. Have the book somewhere "Murder on the Appalachian Trail" but don't remember names-if they were even real names. Young couple hiking "end to end" were killed by a local. I'm re-reading my book about Danny Rolling since another subject brought him up, but I'll have to put the AT murder one next in line.

Is it just me, or does Washington State seem to have an extrodinarily high number of serial killers? Maybe it's because I'm an Ann Rule fan and she writes a lot about local crimes, but it just seems in my true crime library there are a hack of a lot of books that take place in Washington especially in and around Seattle? Is it in the water or something or does all that rain make folks nuts - and I don't mean to make fun or light of a terrible thing.

 

[detecto]

Thurs Oct 19th -EVERETT -- Snohomish County sheriff's officials confirmed Wednesday that skeletal remains were found off a trail on Mount Pilchuck east of Granite Falls in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

<snip>

The site is not far from a trail where a Seattle woman and her daughter, Mary Cooper and Susanna Stodden, were found slain in July. That case remains under investigation.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/289272_remains19.html

Thread about the Seattle women that were found slain in July:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41081&highlight=Mount+Pilchuck

 

[Dr. Doogie]

no,the Appalachian killer was somebody else----the "Sleeping Lady' killer was not a hunter or survivalist--he lived in a middle class neighborhood near San francisco,and only owned a handgun--this was about 20 years ago--he was an older guy,in his 40's--he had already been in prison several times for attempted rape and kidnapping--the pictures in the book showed his progressive physical deteioration each time he was in prison--he claimed prison made him an animal,and he was tired of getting caught all the time--so he then decided to leave no witnesses--think his name was David Carpenter--just remembered it

This killer was known as the "Trailside Killer". He usually operated in the area around Mount Tamalpias (sp?), commonly called Mount Tam, in Marin County, just north of San Francisco. Because he closely resembled the police sketch of the Zodiac Killer, he was investigated for those crimes too, but was cleared because he had been in prison during that crime spree.

 

[detecto]

Another article:

Bones removed from near Pilchuck:
A medical examiner will determine whether the partial remains belonged to a human or an animal. http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/10/19/100loc_b1bones001.cfm

 

[maima]

Here's an update on this, detecto:

Human Remains Found by Hikers Identified
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/289765_remains24ww.html

The remains are those of Brandon Kempf, 19, who disappeared in August 2005. I think there's a thread for him in the Missing forums(?).

 

[gardenmom]

Here's an update on this, detecto:

Human Remains Found by Hikers Identified
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/289765_remains24ww.html

The remains are those of Brandon Kempf, 19, who disappeared in August 2005. I think there's a thread for him in the Missing forums(?).

Investigators believe Kempf was slain, but they recently had to release a man charged in the case because a body had not been found.

I hope this guy is sweating big time, and I hope they are watching him to make sure he doesn't make a run for it or kill himself.

 

[Kat]

http://heraldnet.com/article/20110710/NEWS01/707109877/-1/news01

Published: Sunday, July 10, 2011

Five years later, David Stodden still hikes the remote trail where his wife and daughter were killed.

Bless his heart.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

I've gone to national parks on vacation many times, and did a lot of hiking during my trips. We always hiked in a group, but my biggest fear was being attacked by a bear, buffalo, or mountain lion. I never even considered the possibility that someone could murder me, and the rest of the people I was with. When you are in a national park, you feel like you're away from the "real world" where the only bad thing that can happen to you would be due to Mother Nature. I hope that one day, there is justice for these women.

 

[sweetheart29]

My husband always carries the 357 pistol when we go hiking in Colorado. We have only had a hand few of people to say something about it. He carries it in a holster on his hip. There was one guy that was asking all kinds of question about it cause he didn't know he could carry a gun unconcealed so he left his in his car. But the reason he carries his is cause of animals not people. We also carry bear spray. We found our selves a little to close to a bear one time.

 

[Simply Caustic]

Disappointing that LE declined America's Most Wanted's assistance early on in this case.....5 years later, no arrests..seems like the 'helping hand' wouldn't have hurt, at the very least.

 

[cluciano63]

There was a killer on the Appalachian Trail. Have the book somewhere "Murder on the Appalachian Trail" but don't remember names-if they were even real names. Young couple hiking "end to end" were killed by a local. I'm re-reading my book about Danny Rolling since another subject brought him up, but I'll have to put the AT murder one next in line.

Is it just me, or does Washington State seem to have an extrodinarily high number of serial killers? Maybe it's because I'm an Ann Rule fan and she writes a lot about local crimes, but it just seems in my true crime library there are a hack of a lot of books that take place in Washington especially in and around Seattle? Is it in the water or something or does all that rain make folks nuts - and I don't mean to make fun or light of a terrible thing.

I've always thought there was a disproportionate # of SK's in Pacific NW as well...JMO
Or maybe there are just more hikers, causing bodies to be found more often, I don't know...

 

[jjenny]

Disappointing that LE declined America's Most Wanted's assistance early on in this case.....5 years later, no arrests..seems like the 'helping hand' wouldn't have hurt, at the very least.

Decline help from AMW? That just makes no sense to me.

 

[cluznar]

I know who killed these two women but can not prove it. See there is a serial killer who moved to Seattle in 2005. He started killing back in 1970. I have already told Snohomish county sheriff's what I know.

 

[noZme]

I know who killed these two women but can not prove it. See there is a serial killer who moved to Seattle in 2005. He started killing back in 1970. I have already told Snohomish county sheriff's what I know.

How recently did you speak with law enforcement?

During the course of a case open as long as this one, the investigators change. Why don't you make an appointment with someone in charge? Gather all the information you have with notes about who you suspect & why. Perhaps the knowledge you bring may fill in the gaps of what they already know.

 

[Pensfan]

Decline help from AMW? That just makes no sense to me.

One's chances of being "ambushed" on a hiking trail are miniscule. The probability that two people would be ambushed has to be close to zero.

David Stodden was told his lied detector test was inconclusive and he needed to take another one. I never read that he took the second polygraph. Does anyone know if he did?

 

[Pensfan]

Found it. He took two and was told that both were inconclusive.

Stodden himself took two polygraph tests with what he says where inconclusive results.
"I'm not really sure what's going on," said Stodden.
His relationship with investigators is intermittent and strained.
http://www.king5.com/news/local/59782972.html?unconfirmed=1

For a widower who stated that murder cases with lot of publicity were more likely to be solved, it is bizarre that he hasn't been more active to have his wife's and daughter's murder solved.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

I wasn't able to follow this case when it first happened but always wondered what happened. I remember Mark Fuhrman featured it on his then radio call-in show about 3-4 months later maybe. it was very interesting (I miss that show) and from what I recall the husband was the object of suspicion or at least it seemed that way at the time.

This case has always bothered me....mother and daughter go out for a nice relaxing hike and then they're shot dead.....who would ever guess that could happen?

There was a lengthy article written in a Seattle paper around that time - I wish I could Locate that....there's really not a lot of info available.

 

[Pensfan]

Stodden says he spent the day working on a house on the west side of Green Lake, which is corroborated by a fellow worker (investigators would not comment). He says he became a little concerned when he got home about 5:30 and Mary had not returned. She and Susanna were supposed to have been home an hour earlier. Maybe they stopped to run an errand or pick up groceries, he thought.
http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/10/nation/na-trail10/2

I wonder why the police would not comment on whether the husband had an alibi.

This has always interested me. David's murdered wife, Mary, was studying to get a master's in speech therapy. She somehow ended up as a school librarian. He was studying contemporary dance and somehow ended up as a handyman contractor. Were a lot of their personal goals altered when their relationship started?

In an interview about a week after Mary and Susanna were murdered, David tells the reporter that he and Mary had disagreements (turf wars and she DEMANDED that the garage which he wanted to remove should stay put). Yes, all married couples disagree, but is this what grieving spouses mention to a reporter a week after their wife of 3 decades has been murdered? Weird.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20060720&slug=hikers20m

 

[Pensfan]

Three days after the murders, David and his two other daughters, Elisa, 24, and Joanna, 21, hiked a trail not far from the crime scene, as a way of confronting the terror that had come into their lives. "We went to a lake nearby, and Joanna and I went for a swim and it was a really beautiful day," says Elisa. "We felt it was important to go where we were afraid to go."
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20061488,00.html


The remaining family members decided to go hiking 3 days after their mom/wife and daughter/sister are found brutally murdered. Most mourning family members would be with their deceased loved ones at the funeral home for visiting hours. Weird.

How close was this trail was to the trail where their family members were murdered? Were they returning to the crime scene?