So I've decided to type up what is known about Robert Ben Rhoades, and the reasons why he could and could not be the possible culprit here. Unfortunately, there isn't much information out there about him. I will also include my own opinions. Feel free to add anything you'd like. Of course, this doesn't mean he is guilty.
What we know-
He was a trucker.
Lived in Houston.
He killed at least four (likely more).
His killings began (according to him) around 1975. The first murder we know of was 1989.
Killed both males and females (primarily targeted females).
His victims were primarily runaways, hitchhikers, and prostitutes.
The youngest victim we know of was 14.
He was a sexual sadist and active in the BDSM community.
His crimes involved torture.
He both shot and strangled victims.
He kept his victims for an extremely long period of time.
He pestered the victims families after a murder.
Cut his victims hair, and took their clothing.
Reasons why it could be him-
Houston is very close to Huntsville.
He was a trucker. Walker County Jane Doe was spotted at a truck stop.
He had the ability to isolate her to commit the crime in his cab.
He picked on runaways and hitchhikers.
She was tortured before her death.
Her clothes were taken.
She was strangled.
Reasons that are against Rhoades' involvement-
Walker County Jane Doe was killed and her body discovered within a day. Rhoades tended to keep his victims alive for an extended period of time (hair growth was used by police to determine the length of time one of his captives was held, which seems to suggest to me that it was at least a month).
One of Rhoades's trademarks was that he cut his victims hair. Walker County Jane Doe had her hair.
In my opinion, the fact that she was killed and discovered so quickly doesn't mean too much. If it was indeed Rhoades, he could simply have had a different truck at the time, or perhaps his torture chamber came along a few years later when he had the money to furnish it. One take on this case I've seen is that the fact she was assaulted with an object (and the fact there was no offender evidence) suggests that the offender was female. However, given Rhoades's background in BDSM, it seems just as likely that Rhoades would use an object on her and not his own body. I think it would be really interesting if we could get a hold of his trucking logs for 1980. Ultimately, I wish he was doing his time here in Texas. I would like the Texas Rangers to get a crack at interrogating him. And I also wish he didn't get that plea deal for extra life sentences.