Nick (Host of True Crime Garage) (48:07)
It has. The profile was released, but it was released. Keep in mind, it was released in 1975. And I know that we zoomed ahead here real quick. I'll get back to the profile in just a second. But after this most recent victim Carolyn's death, as much as we have the detectives, the sheriff and others later saying that they're all connected, we have to keep in mind that at this time in the timeline in 73, officially, they're kind of struggling to find an absolute connection between Carolyn's murder and that of the other victims. With the exception of the items that we mentioned. You know, they're found nude, and then her body with the. A couple of the other bodies. They were attempting to definitively connect these. These cases, but to their frustration, it appears they were unable to do so. And this is regardless of sheriff stripik's firm belief that the cases were related, Perhaps even more than originally expected. He further suspected connections between these killings and up to 13 other unsolved cases across the state of California and maybe even into other western states. Despite the lack of a definite link, Some similarities, Including the location where the bodies were found, the fact that the victims were nude, like we said, and the lack of clothing, jewelry, except for a single earring at the scene. I mean, that single earring. This guy's playing with you. This is difficult to ignore. So Carolyn Davis's murder was included in the list of the unfortunate Santa Rosa hitchhiker murder victims. Several months after the terrible discovery of Carolyn Davis's remains, Another California free spirit Met a sad and similarly tragic end. This is Teresa Diane Smith Walsh, nicknamed Terry. She's 23 years old, so she's a little older than some of our other victims here. This takes us to the winter of 1973. She's married, but recently separated. She did have a two year old son with her ex husband. She's telling everybody she needed a break from the situation. So she leaves her young son in the care of her mother In a familiar place that we've heard before in this story, Garberville, California. So terry left her home in miranda, california, and headed south, Seemingly unfazed by any danger or warning as to what was going on in the community. With the bodies being found, the young mother hitchhiked her way across the state, Frequently catching rides off of Highway 101. By late December, she was in Malibu, but by then, she was ready to go back home. Okay, so it's late December 73, she wants to go home. She wants to spend Christmas with her mother and with her young son. Before she could get there, however, she vanishes. Terry was last seen on December 22, 1973, while hitchhiking from zuma beach in Malibu Back to northern California again. Specifically, her destination is garberville, where she expected to spend Christmas. Six days after she was last spotted hitchhiking. Captain. Terry's partially submerged body was discovered by kayakers in mark west creek near Michelle, Way outside of Santa Rosa. Teresa's death was particularly gruesome her remains were found nude, like the other victims. Prior to death, she had been hogtied with a nylon clothesline rope. This is very detailed stuff here. This is when you find a body like this and what was done to her prior to you finding. Someone spent a good amount of time with this victim and went and took great efforts to make sure that she suffered. And this is a unique scene, a unique way to find a victim, and you can't look past any of these details. So prior to death, she had been hogtied with a nylon clothesline rope, rope type rope. Her thumbs. This is very odd. Bound tightly together. She had an injury to the back of her head and a bruise to her left eye. The rope that bound her was looped from her ankles to form a noose around her neck, so, meaning she'd need to keep her body contorted in a way in order just to breathe. But you have to do this in a way that it's unsustainable. You can't keep doing that just to breathe. So the natural positioning of Terry's body would result in her being slowly, methodically, and agonizingly strangled to death, as her muscles would be unable to remain flexed. So it was theorized that after sexually assaulting Terry and watching her slowly strangle her assailant or assailants dumped her body in a a ways up the creek before it washed to its final location during a heavy rainstorm, where it was eventually found. Police would consider Terry to be the seventh confirmed victim, if you include Jeanette Kamahele, which we are, of the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders case. But there were multiple other victims that were possibly related to the same killer or killers, some that would go unidentified for long periods of time and maybe, but hopefully not forever. You asked about the. The suspect profile here, Captain, So you're going to get it, my friend. It's pretty detailed, too. So it appears. While we zoomed ahead to 75. Let's talk about 75. Because in 1975, it does not appear that they were any closer to solving this case than they were in 72 or 73. Sheriff Don Stripik speculated as to whether the Santa Rosa murders were the handiwork of a serial killer. KRONTV News footage from April 25, 1975, featured scenes from the press conference held by the sheriff in Santa Rosa regarding the hitchhiker murders, where they said at least six or seven young women were confirmed victims who had been murdered while hitchhiking around Santa Rosa between 1972 and 1970. Sheriff Stripik affirmed his belief that there were possible connections to 13 other unsolved California murders and possibly even in other Western states. A reporter explained that Stripik has been consulting with an investigator and a quote, witchcraft teaching psychiatrist to produce a composite of the suspect. This reporter stated that the sheriff is careful in his references to the zodiac, as many lawmakers disagree that the Zodiac killer is a possible suspect in the case. Referencing the mystical symbol discovered by Carolyn Davis's remains, Sheriff Stripik stated that the artifact related to medieval English witchcraft and as we said, was meant to speed the deceased to the afterlife. The profile developed by the psychologist depicted a male offender who possessed at least a high school education. Growing up as a loner, he had a passive father and a domineering mother whom he likely deeply hated, as he did all women in general. As a child, this offender tortured and killed animals and pets, perhaps by strangling or poisoning them. He has long standing mental problems and possesses a savior complex to the point he believes he is doing the world a favor by murdering these young women. He may even have been responsible for creating his own religion, like the deranged leader of the Manson clan. In all likelihood, the profile reads, the perpetrator is white and he is apt to being proficient in mechanical pursuits. Of the six female victims of the suspected Santa Rosa killer whose bodies have been recovered, all were under 30 years of age, between ages 12 and 24. They were all found nude, their clothing missing, never to be found. The women were all white, small to medium in stature, and had been wearing casual clothing when they disappeared. All of the missing and murdered girls and women had long flowing hair, which may have initially caught the killer's eye. The hair worn parted in the middle, and most had pierced ears. Each of the girls came from what was then referred to as a broken home, which I don't, I don't know how much we read into that. Some of these were young ladies that had a pretty regular upbringing and had gone off to college. You know, they had successful parents, had gone off to college, and then two of the girls. Yeah, you can say a broken home because we have a stepfather, but she had a stepfather because her, her biological father died in a tragic accident before she was born.
