IL/TX/OR+ - ROBERT BEN RHOADES, "The Truck Stop Killer", 1970's-90's

[mysteriew]

Robert Ben Rhoades, a Houston trucker who kept a torture dungeon in the cab of his long-haul rig, accepted two life prison sentences
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/sns-ap-tx--serialkiller-texas,0,3734866.story

Houston trucker already imprisoned in Illinois for murder avoids Texas death penalty with plea
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/sns-ap-tx--serialkiller-texas,0,3734866.story

 

[mysteriew]

Images
http://murderpedia.org/male.R/r/rhoades-robert-ben-photos.htm

http://murderpedia.org/male.R/r/rhoades-robert-ben.htm

 

[mysteriew]

A posting from a person who believes that she was a potential victim who got away.
ROBERT BEN RHOADES - Page 2 - Cold Case Investigations

 

[mysteriew]

Descriptions of his crimes and his MO

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/dec/11/accused-killer-awaits-hearing/

http://www.articlesbase.com/law-art...me-the-case-of-robert-ben-rhoades-380655.html

 

[mysteriew]

Old article

Rhoades' travels are the subject of a book, "Roadside Prey," by Alva Busch.

A story in the Tucson Weekly in 1996 quoted officials as saying they believed by early 1990, Rhoades was kidnapping and killing an average of three women a month. He allegedly carried a briefcase of torture items with him on the road, according to the article.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700237712/Texas-town-to-try-case-involving-Utah-body.html

 

[Claudette]

I just read this article.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-suspected-serial-killer-serving-life-in-illinois-spared-death-penalty-in-texas-20120329,0,6612427.story

"A month later, police say 14-year-old Regina Walters of Pasedena, Texas disappeared with her boyfriend near Houston. Her body was later found by a farmer in downstate Illinois, her boyfriend was never found."

I'm convinced the unnamed boyfriend is a UID somewhere, I have a strong feeling he was found. I think this because everyone else was found but many states apart because he was a truck driver. One couple he murdered were found in Texas (husband) and Utah (wife). He went UID for 2 years, she 13 years. If we can find out his name I'll start a thread....would I do it here or in the missing section? Maybe a question for the mods.

 

[mysteriew]

Claudette I thought of the same thing. In the Desert News article it identified Ricky Lee Jones and a further search shows that he was identified in 2008.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/identified9.html

 

[Claudette]

He told a woman he had been kidnapping girls for 15 years, but every victim known was a couple.

• Regina Walters and unnamed boyfriend
• Patricia Candace Walsh and Scott Zyskowski (newlyweds)

Patricia and Scott were picked up in either Texas (according to Article 1) or Georgia (Article), Scott was found in Texas. Patricia was found in Utah so it's pretty obvious he probably kept her around for a while and left Scott in Texas right away I would think. Prosecutor thinks they were both killed in Texas but I disagree.

Regina and unnamed bf were picked up in Texas. Wonder if any other couples are missing from TX in the early 90s.

For reference.

Article 1
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/dec/11/accused-killer-awaits-hearing/

Article 2
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-suspected-serial-killer-serving-life-in-illinois-spared-death-penalty-in-texas-20120329,0,6612427.story


I believe one of his routes, or part of it was I-30/40/55 (Texas to Illinois) I believe unnamed bf would be found along here as Walters was found in Illinois and they were picked up in TX. I can't find an obvious route from TX to UT.

 

[Claudette]

I should be asking "why does the MSM keep saying he hasn't been found" but I know better than that after being here a few years lol.

 

[Claudette]

Possible victims
Tara Suzette Breckenridge
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/603dftx.html
Why I think so: pretty, religious like the married couple, age like the married couple, in Houston like the teen couple.
Why may not be: I don't remember exactly when he was taken into custody and may have already been in custody at this point.

Kristen Smith
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1187dftx.html
Why: pretty, age fits. Not sure of location, not familiar with Texas geography. Her car had a flat so I could see him offering to help.

Camora Lynn Grimes
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/750dftx.html
Why: Age. Not much info about her.

Christina Janette Chandler
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/591dftx.html
Why: high-risk and maybe fine with hitchhiking, her vehicle found abandoned however a window was shattered from a bullet and blood found. IMO though it was probably her bf.

Stephanie Michelle Beuhler
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/279dftx.html
Why: car found abandoned at side of the road with flat tire, age
I really think this is a strong one.

Ashley Fuller Reed
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/221dftx.html
Why: Was to meet up with two unknown men supposedly named Dave and ROBERT. Her car was found abandoned on the freeway ramp to her home. Age, pretty.

Michelle Lee Richardson
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/339dftx.html
Last seen walking down Hwy 322

Elizabeth Ann Campbell
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/113dftx.html
Long story with her last whereabouts but she was accepting rides from people and her purse was found off I-10 in OZONA (! same place victim Scott was found). Described as naive and not intune with dangers in society. Boyfriend was immediately cleared.
Strong match.

I only got down through 1986, will check more later.

 

[Claudette]

It's POSSIBLE that a jacket of Patricia Walsh was found near I-20 near Pecos, TX. Before she and her husband embarked on their trip they stayed with a family in GA - a jacket was found that matched one belonging to the daughter of this family and that jacket had disappeared. Also there was a truck driver witness that may have seen RBR beating up Scott behind a van, and she was present. (article split between two pages)

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=T3UjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G6YEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5975,5907503&dq=patricia-candace-walsh&hl=en

She was found at the mouth of a canyon in Willard County, UT

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Inmate-charged-in-90-slaying-of-Seattle-woman-1167349.php

Also, if we're to believe the poster in the above link from mysteriew, he has been active AT LEAST since 1974. Probably even before then. I personally believe in the story. Way too weird to be made up. I hope she finds this thread and offers her insight and becomes a verified poster. I would like to know where they were picked up, it sounds like the Phoenix area. Interestingly he said he had to take a detour to Utah. I'll bet there are UIDs tied to him in Utah other than the one we know about.

 

[Claudette]

The victim that survived and was found by LE was Lisa Pennal. "she had accepted a ride with Rhoades at a coffee shop in Buckeye, Arizona." so he approaches people that aren't just hitchhiking. It gets graphic as to what he did so I won't post but "During this ordeal, Rhoades told Pennal that he had been doing this to girls and women for 15 years."
http://www.articlesbase.com/law-articles/case-study-murderone-jurisdiction-at-a-time-the-case-of-robert-ben-rhoades-380655.html

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

I was going to post about this man just now.
And seen he had been listed on the 29th of March.
Something about this man has excited me in the killing fields.
​

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...amber-trucker-sentence-to-life-in-prison.html
​

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

One of the most intense photos I have ever seen.
Putting her hands up in defense because death is approaching.
Poor girl. What a nightmare that had to be for her.

http://murderpedia.org/male.R/r/rhoades-robert-ben-photos.htm

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

August 1976 in Sumter, South Carolina.

Can we place him in South Carolina in 76?
His weapon of choice.
357?
Looking for any information on him around that time.
[ame="http://officialcoldcaseinvestigations.com/member.php?u=1553"]Cold Case Investigations[/ame]

[ame="http://officialcoldcaseinvestigations.com/showthread.php?p=60109"]ROBERT BEN RHOADES - Page 2 - Cold Case Investigations[/ame]

the following from the above link.
I can place this monsters criminal past as far back as August 1974.
​

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

Can we move this thread to the Texas killing fields as a suspect please.​

 

[SkewedView]

One of the most intense photos I have ever seen.
Putting her hands up in defense because death is approaching.
Poor girl. What a nightmare that had to be for her.

http://murderpedia.org/male.R/r/rhoades-robert-ben-photos.htm

That picture is so terribly haunting...

 

[fran]

Sexual Sadist And Cold-Blooded Killer Robert Ben Rhoades Was A Travelin' Man, Until...

Well, at that particular time, when I shined the flashlight inside the vehicle, the woman screamed and I saw a momentary illumination of a man's face with the flashlight. That's when this series of events started, and there was no stopping any of the events that happened.

--DPS Officer Mike Miller,
State of Arizona vs. Robert Ben Rhoades

The Peterbilt semi-tractor rig was pointed toward Tucson in the dark, early morning hours of April 1, 1990. Arizona State Trooper Mike Miller wondered if the trucker was having difficulty, because the rig, its hazard lights flashing, was parked on a curb off Interstate 10, just at the city limits of Casa Grande. Those lights nagged at Miller.

His decision to stop that morning came just in the nick of time; it was the first in a horrifying chain of events.

As Miller opened the Peterbilt's cab, he couldn't imagine time depravity he was about to find, nor could he know that blood had spilled well beyond Arizona's borders. Subsequently, the details of two separate kidnappings in different states emerged, gradually fitting like transparencies over a savage homicide in yet another state. Then, evidence that was tagged for destruction in Arizona would be salvaged and yield crucial information.

Only much later would weary investigators marvel at how it all came together. They still wonder about the 50 skeletonized bodies strewn across America that they can't rule out. They only know for sure that Robert Ben Rhoades killed, and cruelly relished it, long before they ever caught up with him.

Although they're still waiting for Rhoades to talk, authorities believe his is a classic case of sexual sadism; they say this frightening psychological disorder is being seen in greater numbers

full 1996 article at link .................. http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/02-29-96/cover.htm

 

[fran]

Robert Ben Rhoades
“Whips and Chains”


Department of Psychology
Radford University
Radford, VA 24142-694


Life Event

more at link .............. http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc 405/serial killers/Rhodes, Robert Ben _spring 2007_.pdf

 

[fran]

Here's an interesting tidbit from the Tucson Weekly cover story.


Young thinks Rhoades increased his savage activity until he was kidnapping and murdering about three girls a month in early 1990. In late 1989 and early 1990, Rhoades had job assignments that brought him to Tucson or neighboring cities 36 times

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/02-29-96/cover.htm