REOPENED: The Heartland Killer

Summary

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Cold Case Files – REOPENED: The Heartland Killer

Podcast: Cold Case Files
Host: Paula Barros/A&E
Episode Date: January 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Cold Case Files delves into the chilling story of Timothy Wayne Kreicher, a serial predator whose crimes went unsolved for decades across multiple states in America’s heartland. It chronicles the rape and murder of Deborah Shepherd in 1982, connecting it to a broader pattern of killings and assaults that spanned Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. Through the voices of investigators, family members, and journalists, the episode reveals the heartbreak of cold cases, the dogged determination of loved ones, the evolution of forensic technology, and the eventual unmasking of a killer with the help of DNA evidence.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Deborah Shepherd’s Murder: The Cold Case Begins

• Setting the Scene:
  April 8, 1982, Carbondale, Illinois. Deborah Shepherd, a Southern Illinois University student, is brutally murdered in her apartment.

  • [00:43] Bridget Shepherd: “I had unanswered questions. Even though I knew she was gone, I didn't believe it.”

• Initial Investigation and Family’s Distress:

  • Police are confused by the lack of obvious injuries or struggle.
  • The initial autopsy fails to find evidence of foul play, leading police to rule the death “natural.”
    • [08:05] Lt. Paul Echols: “There were no marks or wounds on Deborah's body… a little bit of bloody froth that had come from Deborah's mouth.”
  • Her family, especially her father Bernie, refuses to believe this and pushes for further investigation.
    • [09:46] Bridget Shepherd, on her father’s suspicions: “He was extremely angry. He most definitely felt that they were sweeping it under the rug, possibly because of her being African American as well as they didn't want the publicity.”

• Breakthrough via a Second Autopsy:

  • Bernie brings Deborah’s body to Chicago for a second autopsy, revealing evidence of strangulation and sexual assault.
    • [12:17] Bridget Shepherd: “My father was adamant about finding out what happened to her. How did this happen? Who did this? And he wanted justice.”

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2. Dead Ends and New Leads

• Suspects Cleared:

  • Both Deborah’s boyfriend Randy and her new roommate Anthony are investigated and cleared via strong alibis.
  • Investigators fixate for a time on a friend of Deborah’s linked to a similar sexual assault, but evidence dispels this suspicion.
    • [19:15] Lt. Paul Echols: “No fingerprints were ever identified. No other physical evidence was ever linked to this friend.”

• Case Goes Cold:

  • [19:52] Bridget Shepherd: “I just couldn't accept that she was no longer with us. It was the most painful thing in my life I had to go through.”

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3. Pattern of Violence: Linked Cases Across States

• Murders in Cape Girardeau, Missouri

  • 10 weeks before Deborah’s murder, 55-year-old Margie Call is found murdered, and six months later, 65-year-old Mildred Wallace is killed, both in eerily similar circumstances—window entry, binding, sexual assault, and strangulation or shooting.
    • [24:58] Det. Jimmy Smith: “Both were found deceased in their bedrooms with hands tied behind her back. But one particular thing stood out. Mrs. Call was strangled to death, and Mildred Wallace was shot in the head with a .38 caliber handgun.”

• Community Gripped by Fear:

  • [25:38] Carly O’Keefe: “Husbands were afraid to let their wives go anywhere without them. They were afraid they'd come home from work and find their wife was the next victim.”

• Difficulty in Solving:

  • Despite some forensic evidence (hair, blood typing, partial palm print), DNA testing is unavailable in the early 80s and both cases go cold.

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4. Decades Later: Forensic Breakthrough

• Restart of Investigation (2006):

  • Lt. Paul Echols, newly promoted and emboldened by recent case successes, pushes to reopen Deborah’s case using new DNA techniques.
    • [28:51] Lt. Paul Echols: “I explained... I had some things I'd like for her [Suzanne, DNA expert] to look at. So she suggested that I bring that over and she would take a look at it.”
  • A long-preserved shirt yields a viable DNA sample, linking crimes across states.

• The Moment of Match:

  • [31:02] Carly O’Keefe: “Oh my gosh. We can finally put a face to this case and finally bring justice to Deborah Shepherd.”

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5. Identification of Timothy Wayne Kreicher

• Profile and Background:
  • Kreicher, an EMT with a history of sexual assaults, spent time in multiple states, was a registered sexually dangerous person, and worked in positions of trust.
    • [32:11] Lt. Paul Echols: “In 1963, he had committed several rapes. He had stabbed one lady and had been sentenced to 40 years in prison... by 1972, he became part of a group that was trained to be paramedics.”
  • He is matched to DNA at other crime scenes (Margie Call and Mildred Wallace) and a palm print at another.

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6. Confessions and Scope of Crimes

• Confession and Interrogation:

  • Initially defensive, Kreicher eventually confesses after being confronted with DNA evidence and offered a deal to avoid the death penalty—provided the families agree.
    • [35:05] Timothy Wayne Kreicher (on Deborah's murder): “He was sexually insult[ing her].”
    • [39:35] Timothy Wayne Kreicher (on Margie Call’s murder): “I killed her. How’d you do that? Strangled her.”

• Victimology and Hunting:

  • Kreicher’s method involved stalking, peeping, breaking in, and lying in wait.
    • [39:07] Narrator: “He did this to establish whether they lived alone and what their daily routine was.”

• Extent of the Crimes:

  • Kreicher confesses to at least nine murders, dozens of sexual assaults, and home burglaries over decades.
    • [41:22] Lt. Paul Echols: “You realize that you finally have resolved what so many people have worked so hard to resolve. But yet, you know, there's still the devastation that one person has done to so many people.”

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7. Justice Delivered

• Sentencing:

  • In 2008, Kreicher receives 13 consecutive life sentences.
    • [41:46] Narrator: “The victims families are in attendance to finally see the man who turned their lives upside down. Kreicher speaks to them and says, I don't know if I would have been so generous if I were in the same situation. Thank you for sparing my life.”

• Family Reflections:

  • [42:27] Bridget Shepherd: “So when she passed away, I lost not only a sister, I lost a mother. … In my dream, we were looking for her and we found her in a church and we brought her home … Then after a while, she tapped me on my shoulder and said, bridget, I have to go now. And then she was gone.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Painful Wait:

  • [05:00] Bridget Shepherd: “Bridget, your sister Deborah passed away. She died. He just fell out crying. It was just devastating.”

• On the Mistakes of Early Investigation:

  • [09:46] Bridget Shepherd: “They were sweeping it under the rug, possibly because of her being African American.”

• Forensic Milestone:

  • [30:16] Narrator (on the discovered DNA evidence): “The T shirt with the semen stain has been sitting in the evidence drawer for the past 25 years.”

• Confession and Closure:

  • [35:05] Timothy Kreicher (finally admitting): “Yes [I killed Deborah].”
  • [41:22] Lt. Paul Echols: “At least we can make sure he never gets out of prison and can never victimize anybody else.”

• Family’s Grief and Relief:

  • [36:01] Bridget Shepherd (on Kreicher's conviction): “When they found the person who killed Deborah, we hugged each other, justice was gonna be served and peace came over us.”

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Timeline & Timestamps

• [00:43] Deborah’s family speaks about the last time they expected to see her.
• [02:18] Randy finds Deborah’s body.
• [08:05] Initial autopsy reveals little.
• [12:00–13:30] Second autopsy and reclassification as murder.
• [17:32] Potential suspect in friend is investigated and ruled out.
• [20:01–26:47] Parallel murders in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; investigations go cold.
• [27:14] Shepherd family describes living under the shadow of an unsolved crime.
• [28:00] DNA reopens the case decades later.
• [31:02] The DNA match is found.
• [32:11–33:38] Kreicher’s criminal history revealed.
• [35:05] Kreicher confesses.
• [39:35] Kreicher confesses to more murders.
• [41:46] Kreicher is sentenced and addresses the families.
• [42:27] Bridget Shepherd reflects on loss and closure.

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Tone

The episode is marked by quiet sorrow, steadfast perseverance, and eventual catharsis. The voices of investigators are resolute but weary. Family members vacillate between heartbreak and relief. The tone never strays far from the gravity and respect demanded by the stories of the victims and their loved ones.

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Conclusion

This landmark episode paints a complete picture: a family’s tenacity for justice, the importance of technological progress in forensics, and the emotional release that comes with closure. It also sharply criticizes early investigative failures due to bias and limited forensic tools—emphasizing that, for the rare one percent of cold cases that get solved, it is only through relentless advocacy, scientific innovation, and luck that justice can finally be served.

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Transcript

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[Narrator]

This episode contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.

[Bridget Shepherd]

I had unanswered questions. Even though I knew she was gone, I didn't believe it. It was Easter weekend and we were planning to go and see Deborah. We were looking forward to that Easter egg hunt, just being together. Instead, it was 25 years before we knew what happened to Deborah.

[Narrator]

There are 120,000 unsolved murders in America. Each one is a cold case. Only 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare storms. It's April 8, 1982 in Carbondale, Illinois and the Easter holiday is approaching. 23 year old Deborah shepherd returns to her ground floor apartment at the Regal Apartments on Graham street after classes at Southern Illinois University. Her boyfriend Randy invites her to go see a movie, but it's already late, almost 11pm and Deborah wants an early night because she has a busy day tomorrow. The following morning, Deborah's family is going to be visiting from Chicago and will be picking her up early. Easter is important to the shepherd family. They like to get together each year to celebrate with a large meal and an Easter egg hunt. Deborah's sister Bridget is looking forward to seeing her. They haven't been able to spend much time together since Deborah moved to Carbondale to study.

[Bridget Shepherd]

We couldn't wait to get Deborah. We were really looking forward to celebrating enjoying Easter. Knowing that her graduation was just a few.

[Narrator]

Deborah turns down the movie invitation. She tells Randy that she needs to clean up the apartment before her parents and sisters arrive in the morning. She told him if he wanted to come over, he could. Randy makes his way to the apartment. As he approaches the front door, he spots a note stuck to it. It's from Deborah and it reads Knock loud. I'm in the shower Deb. Randy knocks several times but receives no response. He tries the front door and discovers that it's unlocked. He enters the apartment and calls out Deborah's name, but he's met by silence. Randy looks through the apartment for his girlfriend and when he walks into her bedroom, he Finds a horrific scene. Deborah's naked body is lying on the floor. She appears to be dead. Randy runs to the living room to use the phone, but the line is dead. He races to a friend's apartment nearby and calls for help. Paramedics and police are dispatched to the scene. Officer Paul Echols is one of the first to arrive.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

I was still a rookie patrol officer with the Carbondale police Department, and I heard the call come in over my radio to assist an ambulance at Deborah Shepard's apartment. Typically, when you hear a sergeant being sent to the scene and then later detectives arriving on the scene, I mean, I knew it was something big.

[Narrator]

The police and paramedics are perplexed by the scene. Right away, it's clear that Deborah is deceased. Her body is cold to the touch, but there are no obvious injuries, including no defensive injuries. There also doesn't appear to be any sign of a struggle. They continue to scour the apartment for clues. Investigators uncovered that the phone line in Debra's apartment has been cut and the glass from one of her windows has been removed. It's now apparent that Deborah's death was no tragic accident. Somebody had crept into her apartment and killed her. Officer Echols also notices something peculiar in the bathroom.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

They didn't really notice that much out of place, except for in Deborah's bedroom, of course. That's where Deborah's body was. It was apparent that Deborah had taken a shower and also noticed that there was some mud in the bathtub, which was out of place.

[Narrator]

Deborah's body is transported to the medical examiner's office for a cause of death to be determined. While Deborah's family are making the final preparations for their trip to Carbondale the following morning, the phone begins to ring. It's Carbondale police. Bridget remembers the moment she found out that her sister had been killed.

[Bridget Shepherd]

I woke up in the morning and found all my family members, cousins, aunts, uncles, everyone at our house at like 7 in the morning. And my dad looked me in my eye and told me, bridget, your sister Deborah passed away. She died. He just fell out crying. It was just devastating.

[Narrator]

Deborah was born on December 10, 1958 in Chicago to Bernie and Hazel Anthony Shepherd. She graduated from Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields, and they attended Prairie State College in Chicago Heights before transferring to Southern Illinois University, where she was majoring in marketing. Deborah had been anxiously anticipating her graduation, which was set for May 1982. Deborah's family was well off so much that to celebrate, her parents planned on surprising her with a brand new sports car. Deborah Was one of three girls she was always close to. Her sisters, Nicole and Bridget. The trio were inseparable. Growing up.

[Bridget Shepherd]

Deborah was such a warm, spirited, loving person. She was loved by everyone. Deborah was like a mom to me. She always would, you know, make Rice Krispie treats for me and my sister. Remember her getting ready to go out sometimes to a concert with her friends. And I would be sitting right by her in the bathroom while she's making her face up. She props me up on the sink and she's putting on her makeup and she puts a little lip gloss on me. She had so many dreams, so many goals and dreams, you know, one day have a family of her own and have a successful career, and all of that was taken away. My father loved his family. His daughters, you know, would do anything. Was no mountain high enough. But my father felt helpless. We all felt helpless, but especially him.

[Narrator]

Investigators immediately went to speak to Randy, Deborah's boyfriend, who made the gruesome discovery. He takes investigators through the night in question. He tells officer Echols that he had invited Deborah to a movie, and when she turned down the offer, she invited him over.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

Investigators looked at Deborah's friend Randy. His reaction in finding her, his emotions seemed consistent with him truly being surprised when he found her. There was no evidence that they had had any issues. His story seemed to check out. There was just nothing to link him to her death.

[Narrator]

At the medical examiner's office, Deborah's body is prepped for autopsy. The pathologist performs a rape kit. But in 1982, the use of rape kits is still very much in its infancy. DNA technology is non existent at the time, which means that the rape kit could only identify things such as foreign hairs, the presence of semen and blood type. Officer Echols describes the findings of the autopsy.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

The initial autopsy that was conducted on Deborah shepherd was done by a pathologist that the Jackson County, Illinois coroner brought to Carbondale. There were no marks or wounds on Deborah's body. There was some evidence of pulmonary edema, a little bit of bloody froth that had come from Deborah's mouth.

[Narrator]

The autopsy does very little to answer any questions about the perplexing death. The pathologist even considers that Deborah may have had some kind of medical episode which resulted in her death. Deborah's family refuses to accept this. Deborah was a 23 year old healthy woman in the prime of her life, and there is evidence of foul play in her apartment. They find it unfathomable that her death was accidental. Bridget recalls how their father Bernie, dismissed the pathologist's findings.

[Bridget Shepherd]

You know she was never sick. She was never, you know, she was always full of life. She was not ill. My dad wanted to be for sure because my dad is trying to figure out who did this.

[Narrator]

Police accept the findings of the pathologist and rule Deborah's death as natural. The autopsy findings are made public, and the following morning, the media begins to report that Debra's death was simply an accident. The headlines in the newspaper Southern Illinoisan read student death now believed not foul play. Other newspapers report the same, leaving Deborah's family feeling devastated. Bridget and their father have their own suspicions as to why Deborah's death was dismissed as natural.

[Bridget Shepherd]

He was angry. He was extremely angry. He most definitely felt that they were sweeping it under the rug, possibly because of her being African American as well as they didn't want the publicity.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

The.

[Bridget Shepherd]

But I know that my father was definitely trying to investigate to help find out what happened to her. My father knew something bad that happened.

[Narrator]

Bernie told the Chicago Tribune. I think they thought that because Deborah was black, her family would have limited resources and skills to fight with them. What Carbondale police don't realize is that the family has more than enough resources and skills to pursue justice. Determined in his search for the truth, Bernie drives five hours from his home in the Chicago suburbs to police headquarters in Carbondale.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

When Deborah's father, Bernie Sheppard, arrived in town, of course he met with investigators, but they were still waiting for toxicology results. They were also still waiting for the crime lab to do the analysis on the rape kit. So things were still up in the air.

[Narrator]

Emotions are running high, and Bernie is impatient with the wait for answers. He knows that something sinister has happened to his daughter. He just needs the proof. Bernie decides to bring Debra's body back to Chicago for a second autopsy. Five days after Deborah is found in her apartment, her body is transported to the medical examiner's office in Chicago. Dr. Robert Stein closely examines her, looking for any telltale signs of foul Play. Right away, Dr. Stein notices something a little off in the tissues of Deborah's neck. Dr. Stein discovers deep bruising, evidence of manual strangulation. He also finds that she sustained blows to her head. He writes in his report, Deborah shepherd definitely did not die from natural causes. I feel she was strangled and received blows about the head. I saw discoloration inside and outside her throat. These bruise marks don't always show up immediately on black skin and may not have been recognizable to an inexperienced pathologist. As his report was completed, the results come back from the rape kit that was carried out on Debra and Carbondale it says that there was evidence of semen recovered from the oral swabs. Deborah's family are informed of the gruesome discovery.

[Bridget Shepherd]

My father was adamant about finding out what happened to her. How did this happen? Who did this? And he wanted justice.

[Narrator]

The second autopsy report is handed over to Carbondale police, and the case finally transforms into a murder investigation. It's now been five weeks since Deborah was killed, and Carbondale police issued a press release informing the public and the media of the developments in the case. The release said the results of the second autopsy were telephoned to this department earlier this week. It was the opinion of the second pathologist that there was compression of the muscles in the back of the deceased's neck, indicating someone may have suffocated or choked her. The family is relieved that Deborah's murder is now being taken seriously, all thanks to the determination of her father, who refused to accept the police's assertions that she had died naturally.

[Bridget Shepherd]

If he had not gone down to bring the do the second autopsy and bring her body back, there would be no investigation. And he did it all because of the love he has for his daughter.

[Narrator]

Investigators begin looking into people in Deborah's life, hoping to gather some information that could lead to a potential suspect. Another man in Debra's life draws suspicion. Deborah had various female roommates throughout her time in university. One of these roommates had just recently left the university, and Deborah was trying to find somebody to rent out her room. A friend of hers, Anthony, offered to move in. When Debra made her family aware of this, Bernie wasn't too pleased. He didn't like the idea of his daughter living with a man, especially a man he didn't know.

[Bridget Shepherd]

And at first, my father did not want her to roommate with a male, you know, being the protective father he is.

[Narrator]

But Deborah needed help covering the costs of rent, and despite her father's qualms, she allowed Anthony to move in. Anthony had been living with Deborah for just a couple of months when she was killed. When he was questioned, he told investigators that he had been at work that night and return to the apartment to find it swarming with police and paramedics. Naturally, he becomes a person of interest. Delving deeper into Anthony, investigators chat with some of Deborah's friends. One of them informs investigators that one night Anthony had tried to kiss Deborah, but she turned down his advances. Investigators decide to check out Anthony's alibi, and they discover that it was airtight. Anthony was definitely at work when Debra was killed. Ruling him out of their investigation.

[Todd Garner]

Is the movie business.

[Narrator]

In Peril.

[Todd Garner]

We've all heard that before. I'm veteran producer Todd Garner, host of the Producer's Guide podcast. Some of my credits include Con air, Anger Management, xxx13, konam30, and the Mortal Kombat franchise. I'm here to address the biggest burst burning questions facing Hollywood today. Is the next big strike on the horizon? Will studio consolidation affect industry jobs? Are we getting closer to AI generated features? Is there a real difference between movies and content anymore? Some of my past guests include Adam Sandler, Rebel Wilson, Jeff Probst, Eli Roth, Ed Helms, and Kevin James. Join me on the front lines every Thursday. Get new audio or video episodes of the Producer's Guide wherever you get your podcasts.

[Narrator]

Carbondale is a small city and the police department has never handled a case of this magnitude before they turned to the FBI for assistance. The FBI had experienced a sharp increase in profile requests from smaller police forces throughout the United States from the beginning of the 1980s. Using Debra's profile combined with the autopsy report and crime scene report, the Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI creates a profile of the killer's likely characteristics to aid in the investigation.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

The suspect profile provided by the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI led investigators to believe that the suspect was likely someone who was African American, someone who was the same age as Deborah and someone that she knew.

[Narrator]

Bernie turns his attention to all of Debra's friends. He fears that one of them could have been involved. But one by one, they all deny any involvement in her murder and voluntarily take polygraph examinations which show that they are not being deceitful. With no other suspects or even persons of interest in the murder, investigators are stumped. Over the next year, Carbondale police continue to investigate Deborah's murder. The case is just about to go cold when the media begin to report that another woman in Carbondale has been the victim of a sexual assault and a man has been arrested. On June 18, investigators begin examining the sexual assault case that happened just across town. They quickly learn of an interesting piece of information about the suspect in this second attack.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

About a year after Deborah's death, there was another sexual assault across town. Investigators really thought that they had found the suspect since the crime scenes were similar, and then they found out that this individual was a friend of Deborah Shepherd's and actually had been there the night that her body was found.

[Narrator]

Investigators now have their strongest lead in the murder of Deborah, a local man who was involved in a similar attack. Officer Echols details the second attack about.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

A year after Deborah Shepherd's murder. Investigators made an Arrest and a rape across town. The point of entry was a window. Investigators really thought that they had found the suspect since the crime scenes were similar and eventually fingerprints were identified to another individual who had been part of Deborah Shepherd's circle of friends.

[Narrator]

Theories were running rampant in the small community. This was someone who had a crush on Deborah and some people thought that.

[Investigator/Detective]

He knew something about her murder.

[Narrator]

Investigators interview the man, hoping he will slip up and prove his guilt. He acknowledges that he was in Deborah's apartment the night she was killed, but he staunchly denies that he killed her. He tells investigators that he had been with Debra before she was killed, but had left to go to another friend's apartment who lived nearby. He tells them that when he heard the sirens and saw police outside Deborah's apartment after her body was discovered, he walked over to find out what was going on. Investigators are not satisfied and are unyielding in their belief that they have their guy. Doing their due diligence, they check out the friend's alibi, only to learn that it's rock solid.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

No fingerprints were ever identified. No other physical evidence was ever linked to this friend. And the lead, as exciting as it was Grecohn.

[Narrator]

The friend, is ruled out of the inquiries, and investigators find themselves back at square one. The detectives continue to investigate for two years, but despite their best efforts, the case goes cold. Life for the family continues, their grief further compounded by each passing day that the murder remains unsolved.

[Bridget Shepherd]

I just couldn't accept that she was no longer with us. It was the most painful thing in my life I had to go through.

[Narrator]

What detectives in Carbondale don't know is that investigators 50 miles away in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, are dealing with their own string of unexplained murders. Ten weeks before Deborah was attacked in her apartment, 55 year old Margie Call left work and went out for the evening with a group of her friends. Margie was a widow who lived on her own. She and her friends always looked out for one another, and they were very particular about nobody being left to walk home alone. This night was no different. And after playing cards with her club, as she usually did, Margie and her friends walked a short distance to her apartment. Once safely inside her apartment, Margie turned the light on, something that her friends outside recognized as a signal that she got in safely. The following morning, Margie never showed up to work. Her concerned colleagues contacted her brother. Detective Jimmy Smith, with the Cape Girardeau Police Department recalls what happened next when.

[Detective Jimmy Smith]

Margie's brother arrived at her residence that morning to check her welfare. He entered through the carport door leading into the residence, went back to the bedroom, and found Margie lying face down on the bed. Her hands were bound behind her back. She was naked and wearing a pair of black boots.

[Narrator]

Deborah's brother immediately called 911 upon entering the apartment. Officers who had been dispatched to the scene find Deborah with her hands bound behind her back with a leather cord. She had been strangled to death. They conducted a sweep of her apartment and discovered a second piece of leather cord in the bathroom. They observed the scene further and noticed that the window in the bathroom had been smashed. They determined that this must have been the entry point for the killer. The apartment was cordoned off with crime scene tape. As forensic experts examined the scene, they collected two hairs that did not belong to Margie and sent them to be analyzed.

[Detective Jimmy Smith]

They collected those hair samples and forwarded the hair samples to the laboratory, but we had no DNA. DNA was years away at that time. The autopsy report revealed that Mrs. Call was strangled and had been sexually assaulted.

[Investigator/Detective]

Margie's son Don, remembers the moment he was informed that she had been killed.

[Don Call]

When I heard my mother was murdered, I think my first thought was, that doesn't happen to somebody. Like, my mom never said a bad word about anybody, and nobody ever said a bad word about her. She worked for 42 years at Woolworths as a bookkeeper. My dad died of a heart attack in 1978. So after that she lived by herself. She didn't date or anything like that. She had a lot of friends, same group of friends that she had before dad died. Now she had grandchildren. It was the last thing in the world that you would ever think to happen to mom. Or in Cape Girardeau, things like that just did not happen.

[Narrator]

Investigators began piecing together Margie's last known movements. They knew that she had arrived home safe and well the night before, and they knew that she was still wearing the clothing she had been wearing that night while out with her friends. They speculated that Margie's killer broke into the apartment and lay in wait for her to return home or broken. Shortly after she returned, in an attempt to produce a person of interest, investigators started questioning people who Margie had been in contact with. These routine interviews uncovered that Margie had recently been in the hospital. Dawn details a disturbing incident from her stay.

[Don Call]

A policeman would come and they wanted to know about her friends and things like that. We just couldn't tell them anything. We had found out she had been in the hospital for something and somebody had bothered her in the hospital. One of the orderlies, she was, you know, laying down. And maybe he did things he should not have done with her, Groped her or something like that.

[Narrator]

Investigators identified the orderly and questioned him, but he provided an airtight alibi for the time that Margie was killed. Six months pass without a strong lead in Margie's murder until Kate Girardeau investigators are called to yet another brutal discovery. That sounds eerily similar. KFBS 12 News anchor Carly O' Keefe covered the developing story.

[Carly O'Keefe]

Mildred Wallace is found dead. She's 65 years old. She's blindfolded, she's tied up and sexually assaulted in really just gruesome fashion.

[Narrator]

Mildred lived just five blocks away from Margie and Gerardo. Investigators working on Margie's murder case are taken aback by the similarities between the two cases. Detective Smith recalls some of those similarities.

[Detective Jimmy Smith]

Very similar point of entry into the residence, both bathroom windows. Both were found deceased in their bedrooms with hands tied behind her back. But one particular thing stood out. Mrs. Call was strangled to death, and Mildred Wallace was shot in the head with a.38 caliber handgun.

[Narrator]

Despite the difference in the method of murder, investigators are faced with a terrifying possibility that all of these murders were connected and that a sadistic killer could be lurking among the community.

[Investigator/Detective]

Carly from KFBS 12 News details the.

[Narrator]

Aura of fear that circulated in the air.

[Carly O'Keefe]

These are all very small bedroom communities. And suddenly another woman is found dead in a very similar manner. Husbands were afraid to let their wives go anywhere without them. They were afraid they'd come home from work and find their wife was the next victim.

[Narrator]

The murders of Margie Call and Mildred Wallace in Cape Girardeau over the last six months have left the Missouri town shaken. Gun sales go through the roof, and residents are terrified of being home alone or leaving their wives or mothers alone. At the time, DNA technology was still years away. The FBI laboratory can only determine if blood found at a crime scene is human blood and the blood type. The investigations are exhaustive. As Detective Smith recalls, they did an.

[Detective Jimmy Smith]

Extensive investigation of Mildred Wallace's background, who she associated with, whether she had a boyfriend, and interviewed various people at work that were friends with Mrs. Wallace. They were unable to turn up any suspects.

[Narrator]

After three years of dead end leads, both the Margie Call and Mildred Wallace cases go cold. Just an hour's drive away in Carbondale, Illinois, the case of Deborah shepherd had been shelved the year beforehand. After two years of investigation, Bridget describes how life changed for the family in the wake of Deborah's Murder.

[Bridget Shepherd]

After so many years of not knowing murdered her, we lost hope. My parents became very overprotective with my sister Nicole and I. They held us very tight and sheltered us so much that, you know, it was overwhelming. But we understood the reason.

[Narrator]

The years slowly turn into decades. And in 2006, it's the 24 year anniversary of Deborah's murder. The family has all but given up hope that one day justice would be served. In May of that year, an unexpected conversation during a television interview heats up the case. Officer Echols was part of that conversation.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

In 2006, I was at the Illinois State Police crime lab in Carbondale sitting with the DNA expert Suzanne Kidd, being interviewed by code case files about another case. I'd been a Carbondale police officer for one week. That's the same day that Susan Chumate was murdered. During some of our downtime, I mentioned to Suzanne that I had another case that I wanted her to take a look at. It was the 1982 murder of Deborah Shepard.

[Narrator]

Officer Echols had solved another cold case two years prior, the 1981 murder of another student at Southern Illinois University. After that success, he is more determined than ever to try and solve the murder of Deborah. But he's hindered by the small amount of DNA that was recovered from the crime scene. He spoke with Suzanne, the DNA expert.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

I explained to her that I had some things I'd like for her to look at. So she suggested that I bring that over and she would take a look at it. After my conversation with Suzanne, I went back to my boss and said, hey, you know, I'd like to reopened from a forensic level Deborah Shepherd's murder case. At the time I was a patrol sergeant working midnights and I was told that I needed to concentrate on my patrol responsibilities. So it was about another year I was promoted to lieutenant and I was put in charge of investigations. And he said, yes, go ahead. Several weeks after I dropped off a few items that had been collected from Deborah's crime scene, including a purple shirt which had been recovered from the bedroom floor. I met with Suzanne Kidd, who told me that she had had some success and had actually found a tiny speck of semen on the purple shirt. Up until this point, the only DNA evidence that we had were a couple sperm that were on a microscopic cell slide where a smear had been taken during the autopsy. Now, the purple shirt actually belonged to Deborah shepherd and was on the floor next to Deborah's body. And of course the big question was how did semen get on that shirt?

[Narrator]

The T shirt with the semen stain has been sitting in the evidence drawer for the past 25 years. Officer Echols, who is now Lieutenant Echols, discovers that when the paramedics were moving Deborah's body onto the stretcher to be removed from the apartment, semen had dripped from her mouth onto the T shirt. Lieutenant Echols sends the semen sample to be analyzed. The examination reveals nine of the genetic codes needed to enter it into the DNA database on a state level. In August of the following year, Lieutenant.

[Investigator/Detective]

Echols is invited by Suzanne and her.

[Narrator]

Partner Stacy speaker, to enter the genetic codes into the computer. They all stand in silence. Lt. Echols has his fingers crossed as he recites a prayer that they identify a match.

[Carly O'Keefe]

Oh my gosh. We can finally put a face to this case and finally bring justice to Deborah Shepherd.

[Narrator]

A press release is sent out to the media, including KFVS 12 News.

[Carly O'Keefe]

It was 2007 and we got a press release that there had been a break in a cold case. The Carbondale police said that after 25 years, finally technology had caught up with their investigation and we finally know who murdered Deborah Shepherd. There was a DNA match. 63 year old Timothy Wayne Kreicher. He was an EMT. He would go into houses. If people had a heart attack, he would bring them to the hospital. He delivered babies, he saved lives. The female EMTs that he worked with often talked about what a nice guy he was and how he looked out for them. He would warn them, you know, don't go out late at night. Don't, you know, walk through parking lots alone. You don't know who you're going to run into.

[Narrator]

When Lieutenant Echols delves deeper into Kreicher's background, he discovers that Kreicher has been living a double life.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

He originally had come from the Allentown, Pennsylvania area. He had joined the Navy, had been shipped to the Waukegan North Chicago area where he got in trouble. In 1963, he had committed several rapes. He had stabbed one lady and had been sentenced to 40 years in prison. By 1972, he became part of a group that was trained to be paramedics.

[Narrator]

After Kreicher served just 13 of his 40 year sentence, he was paroled in 1976. Upon his release, he applied for a job with Southern Illinois University Ambulance Service. He was hired on the spot. Lt. Echols continues looking into Kreicher's past and uncovers some disturbing incidents.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

I pulled a report that had been investigated in 1979 where Tim Kreicher had Been arrested for investigation indecent liberties with the child. By the fall of 1979, he was sent back to prison, and he became the first person ever in the history of Jackson county to be certified as a sexually dangerous person, which required him to attend counseling. He was released from prison in June of 1981 and returned back to Carbondale to live.

[Narrator]

Lt. Echols then discovers that Kreicher had not changed his ways, and he is currently in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting three women in Pennsylvania 19 years earlier. He is now 63 years old and incarcerated at the Big Muddy Correctional center in Ina, Illinois, not too far away from Carbondale. Lt. Echols drives to the prison to interview him about Deborah's murder.

[Timothy Wayne Kreicher]

Maybe you can help us out with something. What year are you talking about?

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

He immediately was on defense.

[Timothy Wayne Kreicher]

This girl's name was Deborah Shepherd.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

Does that mean anything to you?

[Timothy Wayne Kreicher]

We know you did it. Oh, baloney. I'm telling you, got the wrong person.

[Narrator]

Kreutcher steadfastly denies that he was involved in Deborah's murder. So Lt. Echols produces a copy of the report from the laboratory showing that his DNA was found at the crime scene.

[Timothy Wayne Kreicher]

I think we need the engines right now. Just. I'll talk to an attorney.

[Narrator]

Lt. Echols leaves the prison that afternoon feeling embittered. He had anticipated a confession, but he remained hopeful that they had gathered enough.

[Investigator/Detective]

Evidence against Kreicher for murder charges to be filed.

[Narrator]

Early the next morning, Lieutenant Echols awakens to find a voicemail on his phone. It's from Lieutenant Shuler from the Big Muddy Corrections.

[Investigator/Detective]

He informs Lieutenant Echols that Kreicher wants him to come back and that he.

[Narrator]

Wants to confess just simply.

[Timothy Wayne Kreicher]

Did you kill Deborah Shecker?

[Bridget Shepherd]

Yes.

[Timothy Wayne Kreicher]

He was sexually insult.

[Investigator/Detective]

Kreicher graphically describes Deborah's murder.

[Narrator]

He tells Lt. Echols that he has been watching Deborah through the window. When he heard her start the water in the shower, he took off the window panel, climbed in, and then lay.

[Investigator/Detective]

In wait at the other side of.

[Narrator]

The bathroom door with a gun. When Deborah came out of the bathroom and saw the unknown man standing before her, she jumped backwards and fell into the bathtub.

[Investigator/Detective]

Kreutcher explained that he grabbed Deborah and shoved her into the bedroom, where he forced her to perform a sexual act before he strangled her to death.

[Narrator]

When the interview with Kreicher ends, Lt. Echols places a phone call to Bernie to inform him that they have caught his daughter's killer. It's the phone call that the family has been waiting for. For over 25 years.

[Bridget Shepherd]

When they found the person who killed Deborah, we hugged each other, justice was gonna be served and peace came over us. But then at the same time, we have to go to see this monster that killed my sister to see and tell him what we think of him. And how could you.

[Narrator]

As news of the new development circulate through the state and the surrounding areas, Detective Smith over in Cape Girardeau is transfixed to his television.

[Detective Jimmy Smith]

Something clicked when I heard murder case 1982 solved after all these years. I couldn't get to work soon enough. That morning I contacted Lieutenant Echols with the Carbondale Police Department. I inquired if he felt like Kreicher could have been in Cape Girardeau during the years that our homicides occurred, 1977 to 1982.

[Investigator/Detective]

Investigators speak with Kreicher's cellmate and learn.

[Narrator]

That Kreicher was very likely in Cape Girardeau during that same time frame.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

So then I started working very closely with Detective Jimmy Smith, which advised me that they had some DNA from the 1982 cases of Margie Call and Mildred Ward Wallace. They also had a partial palm print from the window of Mildred Wallace.

[Investigator/Detective]

The DNA and palm print are compared to Kreicher's DNA and palms.

[Narrator]

They both come back as a match. Detective Smith couldn't quite believe it.

[Detective Jimmy Smith]

When I got the news, I hair set up on the back of my neck and it brought tears to my eyes.

[Investigator/Detective]

But these murders were only the beginning of Kreicher's cold blooded crime spree.

[Narrator]

Investigators were about to uncover a reign of terror that spanned across four states. Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

[Timothy Wayne Kreicher]

I just couldn't say no. I couldn't stop.

[Narrator]

Lieutenant Echols and Detective Smith speak with.

[Investigator/Detective]

Kreicher, hoping to get further confessions.

[Narrator]

He already confessed to Deborah's murder, but he denied any involvement in Margie and Mildred's murders, despite the fact that he had been connected to the crime scenes. Carly had her own suspicions as to.

[Carly O'Keefe]

Why Missouri has the death penalty, Illinois does not. So Timothy Kreicher couldn't be put to death for Deborah Shepard's case, but he could have been in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. So while they had the DNA evidence in the Mildred Wallace case, they didn't have evidence to back up the other murders. So they made a deal.

[Narrator]

The investigators decide that in order to elicit a confession, the death penalty needs to be taken off the table. But first they need permission from the victims families. They all agreed they were willing to.

[Investigator/Detective]

Forego the death penalty in exchange for a Full confession from Kreicher.

[Narrator]

I don't.

[Detective Jimmy Smith]

Let me ask him one question.

[Timothy Wayne Kreicher]

How many times did you shoot Mrs. Wallace?

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

Once.

[Investigator/Detective]

Investigators learned that Kreutcher hunted women, stalking.

[Narrator]

Them in parking lots, following them home and then peeping through their windows. He did this to establish whether they lived alone and what their daily routine was.

[Investigator/Detective]

Krecher would stalk his victims for a.

[Narrator]

Week or two before finally breaking in, where he would then lay in wait, ready to attack. In addition to the details of Mildred's case, Detective Smith finally gets some answers about the unsolved murder of Margie.

[Timothy Wayne Kreicher]

I killed her. How'd you do that? Strangled her.

[Narrator]

Detective Smith knows what Kreutzer's confession will.

[Investigator/Detective]

Mean to the victim's face.

[Detective Jimmy Smith]

He had no remorse. As I sit there and listening, I'm thinking I'm going to be able to contact surviving family members and tell them that we have a person responsible for sexually assaulting or murdering their loved ones after all these years.

[Investigator/Detective]

Timothy Kreicher claims responsibility for six other.

[Narrator]

Murders, including the 1977 double murder and sexual assault. A 58 year old Mary Parsh and her 27 year old daughter Brenda in Cape Girardeau.

[Timothy Wayne Kreicher]

Is there any particular race that you sought out? No, that's just easy victim. Easy to. That's what you look for was easy victims.

[Narrator]

He also confesses to the 1979 murder of 51 year old Myrtle Rupp from Temple, Pennsylvania. The 1977 murder of 21 year old Sheila Cole.

[Bridget Shepherd]

Cole.

[Narrator]

And the 1978 murder of 51 year old Virginia Lee Whitty from Marion, Illinois. And the 1978 murder of 51 year old Virginia Lee Witt from Marion, Illinois.

[Investigator/Detective]

Kreicher isn't finished confessing just yet. He additionally admits to over 20 unsolved.

[Narrator]

Sexual assaults, home burglaries and an attempted murder that led to a wrongful conviction in 1981. Lieutenant Echols and Detective Smith let out a collective sigh of relief knowing that they had finally caught such a dangerous predator. A predator that had been stalking the United States for decades and even put an innocent man behind bars.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

You realize that you finally have resolved what so many people have worked so hard to resolve. But yet, you know, there's still the devastation that one person has done to so many people. At least we can make sure he never gets out of prison and can never victimize anybody else.

[Investigator/Detective]

In April 2008, Timothy Kreicher is sentenced to 13 consecutive life sentences for the murders of nine women in four different states. The victims families are in attendance to finally see the man who turned their lives upside down. Kreicher speaks to them and says, I don't know if I would have been so generous if I were in the same situation. Thank you for sparing my life. Kreicher is currently incarcerated at the Pontiac Correctional Facility in Illinois, where he will.

[Narrator]

Remain until his death.

[Lieutenant Paul Echols]

And it was through the DNA that was matched in Deborah Shepherd's case that we were able to solve all of these murders.

[Bridget Shepherd]

Deborah took care of me, you know, my parents took care of me, but she most definitely took care of us. So when she passed away, I lost not only a sister, I lost a mother. I had dreams, you know, of my sister. One day in my dream, we were looking for her and we found her in a church and we brought her home. We were celebrating that we found her. Then after a while, she tapped me on my shoulder and said, bridget, I have to go now. And then she was gone.

[Narrator]

Cold Case Files is hosted by Paula Barros. It's produced by the Law and Crime Network and written by Eileen McFarlane and Emily G. Thompson. Our composer is Blake Maples. For A and E, our senior producer is John Thrasher and our supervising producer is McKaney Lin. Our executive producers are Jesse Katz, Maite Cueva and Peter Tarshis. This podcast is based on A and E's Emmy winning TV series, Cold Case Files. For more Cold case files, visit aetv.com.