True Crime: Untold Cases

The Santa Rosa Hitchhiker Murders (California, 1972–1973)

Between 1972 and 1973, at least seven young women (most of them teenagers) were abducted and murdered while hitchhiking in or around Santa Rosa, California. The victims’ bodies were found in rural, wooded areas of Sonoma County. The killings drew comparisons to other West Coast serial offenders, but no single suspect was definitively identified or charged.

The Easter Sunday Massacre – James Urban Ruppert (Hamilton, Ohio, 1975)

 On Easter Sunday (March 30, 1975), James Urban Ruppert fatally shot 11 members of his own family (his mother, brother, sister-in-law, and eight nieces and nephews) in their Hamilton, Ohio home. Ruppert had a history of financial and emotional instability. In one of the deadliest shootings within a private residence in U.S. history, he methodically moved through the house, targeting his relatives during a holiday gathering.

The Joseph Naso “Double Initial” Murders (California, 1970s–1990s)

Joseph Naso was active primarily in California from the late 1970s through the 1990s. He was ultimately convicted of murdering at least four women. Naso’s victims often had matching first and last initials—e.g., Roxene Roggasch—leading some to draw parallels to the “Alphabet Murders” in Rochester, New York (though that case remains separate). Investigators found detailed journals and “lists” in Naso’s home suggesting additional victims.

The Taco Bell Strangler – Henry Louis Wallace (Charlotte, North Carolina, 1990s)

Between 1992 and 1994, Henry Louis Wallace murdered at least 10 young women in Charlotte, many of whom worked at fast-food restaurants, including Taco Bell. Wallace used his familiarity with the victims—often friends or coworkers—to gain access to them. Despite multiple murders happening in close proximity, law enforcement did not initially connect the cases. He was eventually arrested in 1994 and confessed to the killings.

The Fairbanks Four (Alaska, 1997)

On October 11, 1997, a teenager named John Hartman was found severely beaten on a downtown street in Fairbanks, Alaska; he died shortly after. Four young men—known collectively as the “Fairbanks Four”—were arrested and convicted despite limited physical evidence. Years later, new witnesses came forward, pointing to alternate suspects. After a lengthy legal battle and an evidentiary hearing in 2015, the four men were released, though questions about the true perpetrators remain.

The Mary Morris Murders (Houston, Texas, 2000)

Two women—both named Mary Morris—were killed in Houston, Texas, just days apart in October 2000. Mary Lou Morris was found burned in her car on October 12; Mary McGinnis Morris was found shot in her car on October 16. Despite similar names and circumstances, law enforcement never confirmed a definitive link. Some theorize the second murder might have been a botched hit meant for the first victim (or vice versa).

The I-70 Killer (Midwestern U.S., 1992)

In the spring of 1992, six store clerks—often alone in small specialty shops—were shot to death in broad daylight along the Interstate 70 corridor in Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas. The unknown killer used a .22-caliber firearm, targeting women (and one man mistaken for a woman due to long hair) in shops close to the highway. Despite composite sketches and ballistic evidence, no suspect has ever been charged.

Israel Keyes (Alaska & Lower 48, 2001–2012)

Though based in Anchorage, Alaska, Israel Keyes traveled extensively throughout the continental United States between 2001 and 2012. Keyes is notorious for having “kill kits” buried in various states, which he would dig up to commit murders, then rebury. He confessed to multiple murders—including the 2012 abduction and killing of 18-year-old Samantha Koenig in Anchorage—before taking his own life in prison.

The Speed Freak Killers (California, 1984–1999)

Childhood friends Loren Herzog and Wesley Shermantine carried out a series of abductions and murders across California’s Central Valley, beginning in the mid-1980s. The spree lasted into the late 1990s. Nicknamed the “Speed Freak Killers” due to their methamphetamine use, they were implicated in at least four confirmed murders, though authorities suspect the real count is significantly higher. Discovery of wells and burial sites years later fueled rumors of additional victims.

Robert Hansen, “The Butcher Baker” (Alaska, 1970s–1983)

Between the early 1970s and 1983, Robert Hansen abducted, assaulted, and murdered numerous women—often sex workers—in and around Anchorage, Alaska. He would sometimes fly them into the bush with his private plane, release them, and then hunt them. Hansen was an unassuming local baker and avid hunter, which aided in masking his crimes. He confessed to killing at least 17 women, though some speculate the number could be higher.