The Twin Cities Weepy Killer /// Part 1 /// 771

Summary

---

True Crime Garage – "The Twin Cities Weepy Killer /// Part 1 /// 771"

Released July 10, 2024

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, hosts Nic and the Captain take listeners into the chilling true crime case known as the "Weepy-Voiced Killer" or the "Twin Cities Weepy Killer." This is Part 1 of their deep dive into a series of violent attacks and murders that bewildered police and terrorized women in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the early 1980s. The episode focuses on the first known attack on Karen Potak and the murder of Kimberly Compton, emphasizing the bizarre, remorse-laden phone calls from the perpetrator and the perplexities of investigating an organized yet emotionally erratic killer.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Attack on Karen Potak (December 31, 1980)

• Setting the Scene:

  • 20-year-old Karen Potak, a college student, attends a New Year's Eve party in St. Paul, far from her hometown. After an argument, she leaves on foot, alone in a cold, unfamiliar big city.
  • She accepts a ride from a man near Pierce Butler Road/Syndicate Ave., only to be attacked and left for dead.
  • Details of the Crime:
    • She is brutally beaten, primarily to the head with a metal object (likely a tire iron or crowbar). Despite life-threatening injuries, she survives with a long recovery ahead.
    • The scene is industrial, near train tracks and Malmberg Manufacturing—a spot likely chosen for privacy.

• The First Weepy Call (03:12–04:56):

  • A male with a high-pitched, quivering voice calls 911:

    “Don’t talk, just listen. I’m sorry what I did to Compton. I couldn’t help it. Don’t know why I had to stab her. I am so upset about it. I keep getting drunk every night. I’d rather kill myself than get locked up.”
    [03:12–03:44]

  • The caller's remorse and emotional instability are palpable.
  • Law Enforcement Perspective:
    • The hosts analyze whether the caller is a bystander or the attacker and what can be gleaned from his behavior and voice.

• Investigation Hurdles:

  • Karen can't identify her attacker or recall much due to trauma and possible intoxication.
  • Crime scene lacks physical evidence or a weapon.

    “Unfortunately, our victim’s not able to help out a whole lot... and the crime scene was not incredibly helpful as well.”
    [16:22–17:42]

  • Police trace the 911 call to a nearby payphone but have no other leads.

---

2. Psychology of the Attacker & True Crime Comparisons

• Discussion on Organized vs. Disorganized Killers:

  • Hosts compare the attacker to infamous criminals like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, exploring the evolving nature of remorse, organization, and loss of control in serial killers.

    “Both of those individuals started off very organized, and then later... in Bundy’s case specifically, he becomes a frenzy killer.”
    [23:15–25:05] — Nic

  • They consider whether the “weepy” calls signal real remorse or a calculated effort to avoid murder charges.

    “If he can get emergency personnel to her and save her life, then maybe... he’s going to not feel so bad for what he did.”
    [20:23–22:08] — Nic

• The Unusual Nature of the Calls:

  • Serial killers rarely call the police expressing guilt or crying.
  • The consistent “weepy” and remorseful tone sets this perpetrator apart from more coldly calculating killers.

---

3. The Murder of Kimberly Compton (June 3, 1981)

• Victim Profile and Sequence of Events:

  • Kimberly Compton, 18, freshly arrived from rural Pepin, Wisconsin, in search of opportunity.
  • After a meal at Mickey’s Diner (a local institution), she is approached by a friendly man who offers to show her around St. Paul.
  • He murders her—stabbing her over 60 times with an ice pick and strangling her with her shoelace—mere hours after she arrives in the city.

• The 'Don’t Talk, Just Listen' 911 Call ([03:12–03:44] and [39:25]):

  • The killer calls police hours after the murder, in the now-infamous "don't talk, just listen" style, with a high-pitched, sobbing voice. He volunteers investigative details unknown to the public—such as the use of an ice pick—which confirms his involvement.

    “God damn, will you find me? I just stabbed somebody with an ice pick. I can’t stop myself. I keep killing.”
    [39:25] — 911 Caller

• Identification and Investigation:

  • Police identify Kimberly via a key found in her pocket, which unlocks her bus station locker containing her ID—a moment the hosts remark on as detective “gumshoe” work.

• Pattern Recognition & Law Enforcement Response:

  • Law enforcement quickly sees similarities to the previous case—even bringing in voice and behavioral experts—though definitive linguistic matching is elusive.

    “Police did think that the calls were made by the same person, but…experts…can’t say 100% it’s the same guy.”
    [42:11] — Nic

---

4. Aftermath and the Weepy-Voiced Killer's Calls

• A Series of Confessional Calls:

  • Following Kimberly's murder, the killer calls police multiple times (about three more calls within days), expressing remorse, correcting details in news reports, and referencing the victim by name—confirming his close following of media coverage and emotional turmoil.

    “This time he’s calling to say he’s sorry for stabbing Kimberly Compton and that he would turn himself in, but he doesn’t.”
    [44:19] — Nic “Next day after call number two...he calls again, this time calling to say that some of the details in the newspaper are inaccurate.”
    [46:03]

  • The hosts discuss how the use of the victim’s name in later calls suggests he learns details from media, not from direct acquaintance.

• Victimology and the Predatory Mindset:

  • Kimberly’s grandfather is quoted as lamenting her trusting nature:

    “I can’t for the life of me see why anyone would want to manipulate a girl like that. It had to be a regular maniac to do a job on her like that.”
    [47:56] — Theodore Compton

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the First 911 Call:

  “Don’t talk, just listen. I’m sorry what I did to Compton. I couldn’t help it. Don’t know why I had to stab her... I’d rather kill myself than get locked up.”
  [03:12–03:44] — Weepy-Voiced Killer

• On Organized vs. Disorganized Killers:

  “Eventually Douglas comes out with the idea, well, there’s a mixed offender that is both organized and disorganized.”
  [23:21] — Nic

• Regarding the Killer’s Remorse:

  “It’s almost like, is this guy so remorseful right away that he needs to get her help? And then is this his real voice or is this some kind of disguise?”
  [20:08] — Captain

• On Forensic Details:

  “She was beat with an object... likely a tire iron or crowbar... the brain was exposed when responders arrived.”
  [27:52–28:29] — Nic

• On Identifying the Victim:

  “They find a key in her pocket... open up the locker... thus being able to identify our victim as 18 year old Kimberly Compton.”
  [41:27–42:05] — Nic

• On the Pattern of Calls:

  “Two days later... the caller with the same weird voice calls police once again. This time he’s calling to say he’s sorry for stabbing Kimberly Compton.”
  [44:03–44:19] — Nic

---

Important Segment Timestamps

• [03:12] – First 911 “Weepy” call (Karen Potak)
• [04:56] – Case introduction: Karen Potak’s attack
• [08:16] – Analytical breakdown of the 911 call
• [13:14] – Barriers to police investigation
• [23:21] – Organized vs. disorganized killer discussion
• [27:52] – Forensics on weapon used
• [33:09] – Second case: Kimberly Compton
• [39:25] – 911 “Don’t talk, just listen” call (Kimberly Compton)
• [42:05] – Identification of Kimberly Compton
• [44:03–46:03] – Series of remorseful calls after Kimberly’s murder

---

Overall Tone and Style

The episode maintains True Crime Garage’s signature mix of detailed, researched storytelling and informal, accessible banter. Nic’s delivery is thoughtful and methodical yet personal; Captain provides candid, often philosophical perspectives and asks probing questions about criminal psychology and police procedures. The dialogue is respectful toward victims and admirably critical of the perpetrator’s rationalizations.

---

Conclusion

Part 1 ends on a tense note: The “Weepy-Voiced Killer” has now taken a life and is haunting the investigation with remorseful, guilt-ridden calls. The hosts foreshadow more details and developments to come in Part 2, promising a continued, deep-dive investigation into one of Minnesota’s most harrowing and psychologically complex criminal cases.

---

Transcript

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Oregon parks make an Oregon summer, but what makes an Oregon park well? Oregon Lottery gameplay helps no matter the game Megabucks, video lottery or keno funds from lottery games help support parks projects across the state, ensuring they stay safe, accessible and open for all. In fact, Discover State Park Scratches are in stores now. It's the perfect way to put a little bit of Oregon's parks in your pocket. The Oregon Lottery Together we do good things. Must be 18 or older to play. Lottery games are based on chance and should be played for entertainment only.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Courage. I learned it from my adoptive mom.

[Adopt Us Kids PSA Voice]

Hold my hand. You hold my hand. Learn about adopting a teen from foster [e-mail] you can't imagine the reward brought to you by Adopt Us Kids, the U.S. department of Health and Human Services and the Ag Council.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, thanks for listening. I'm your host, Nick and with me as always, is a man with the voice of a drunken angel. Ladies and gentlemen, here is the Captain.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

It's good to be seen and good to see you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

This week we are very excited to be featuring Mortal Bloom Hazy IPA by the good folks up at Founders Brewing Company. There is no harsh aftertaste here with Mortal Bloom. This hazy is intense with tropical notes of both pineapple and mango and ABV 6.2% garage grade, four and a quarter bottle caps out of five. And let's give some thanks and praise to our friends that helped us fill up the old garage fridge for this week's set of shows. First up, a shout out to Katie in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

And a big we like your jib goes out to Andy from London, Ontario, Canada.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Next up, a big shout out to Jen in Blues Creek, N.C. and last but certainly not least we have Jody Harding in Sturgeon County, Alberta, Canada. Everyone we just mentioned, they went to truecrimegarage.com clicked on the pint glass and helped us out with the beer fund. And for that we thank you.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Yeah BW Double R U N if you need more True Crime Garage for your earballs, make sure you subscribe to us on Patreon or Apple Subscription and colonel that's enough of the business.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

All right everybody gather round, grab a chair, grab a beer. Lets talk some true crime.

[911 Caller / Killer Voice]

Don't talk, just listen. I'm sorry what I did to Compton. I couldn't help it. Don't know why I had to stab her. I am so upset about it. I keep getting drunk every night. I can't believe I think a big dream. I can't think of being locked up. If I get locked up, I'll kill myself. I'd rather kill myself than get locked up. I'll try not to kill anybody else.

[Adopt Us Kids PSA Voice]

Fire.

[911 Caller / Killer Voice]

Emergency. Please don't talk, just listen. I'm sorry. I killed that girl. I stabbed her 40 times. Kimberly Compton was the first one over three. I don't know what's in front of me. I'm sick. I'm going to kill myself. I'm sick. Where are you? I'm just going to. If somebody dies with a little turn on it, Will you find me? I just stabbed somebody with an ice pick. I can't stop myself. I keep killing somebody. Yes, please, this is an emergency. Police and a squad to Pierce Butler. Own manufacturing company, machine shop, pr. An ambulance too. There's a girl hurt there. Can you tell me what happened to her? There. She's laid on the ground in the back. By the. By the. By the.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

What's the address?

[911 Caller / Killer Voice]

I don't know. Who are you?

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

This week's true crime story starts off on December 31, 1980. We are going to go to one of the big Twin Cities, St. Paul, Minnesota. It's dark out and it's quite cold. The Minnesota winters are typically cold and the wind can feel almost sharp when it hits you. So turn up those collars. It's also New Year's Eve and there is always a certain level of excitement that comes with this evening as many prepare to hit a stop or two and partake in the festivities leading up to and just after midnight. For some, this night can be quite magical or at least filled with much anticipation. So on this night we have a young woman, 20 year old, Karen Potok. She is a University of Stevens Point student. She's walking alone. She has left a New Year's Eve party. Now, this is not such a great idea. It looks like she left the party after getting into some kind of argument with the people that she was attending the party with. Now, I am unsure of where Karen was heading to, but keep in mind she is actually about three hours from where she is living at the time. She's in the big city that night to celebrate the coming holiday and the stroke of midnight. And now after an argument, she's out walking in the cold by herself. So we can surmise that she did not have a vehicle with her based off of what is about to happen. So maybe she was just going to go and blow off some steam. But in all likelihood, the only people that she knew in the big city of St. Paul on that night were the people at the party inside of the nightclub that she just walked out of. A man spots the young woman walking alone in the cold, in the dark and offers her a ride, or at least an opportunity to get into the vehicle and get out of the cold. Karen accepts the offer. She is picked up. This is near Pierce Butler Road in Syndicate avenue intersection in St. Paul, Minnesota. And that was all that the man needed, was simply to get her into his car. Now she was going to be his. Not too long later, this is approximately about 3:00am St. Paul 911 emergency services receives a call. The caller's voice was seemingly male, but the voice was in a higher pitch and the caller sounded like he was shaking. It was obvious to the dispatcher that the male caller likely had either been crying or attempting to disguise his voice, or possibly both. The man was calling to tell them, there is a girl hurt there. She needs help. And now the caller described the location of where the girl could be found, asking for an ambulance. The dispatcher asked for details about what had happened to the girl. And what's the caller's name? What is the girl's name? But the caller with the very strange voice failed to provide much information beyond what we've already discussed. And again, the dispatcher is asking the caller who he is, and the caller immediately hangs up the phone.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Yeah, because if you're the dispatcher, you're wondering, is this a good Samaritan that came across a victim and is calling for help, or is this the attacker?

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Yeah. And on top of that, you want to know as much as you can about the person who is hurt as described by the caller. You want to know as much about the caller. What's the relationship like? You're saying, was he the attacker, or is he just trying to help out? But also within that call, Captain, the caller is calling because he's requesting assistance and help for this woman. He refers to her as a girl, but he's slightly vague on where the the woman would be found. So part of that is probing the caller for additional information so you can get the ambulance, get the EMTs as close to where this woman can be found as soon as possible. And as we said, he doesn't provide much in the way of detail regarding where she can be found. Exactly. So emergency services, they're going to race to the general location that was provided to them by this strange caller. With a quick search, they located a woman who was very badly beaten. And. And without going into Too much detail. To describe her as very badly beaten would be a huge understatement. Most of the injuries were to the head and parts of the body, but, but mostly the head. She was unresponsive when they arrived, but she's still breathing and she was actually barely breathing, very faint breathing, but she was still alive. So emergency services located what would appear to have been the lifeless body of a young woman. This is near a set of train tracks running near the Malmberg machine shop. So this is today and I'm sure back then as well, Captain. Quite a busy area of St. Paul for folks that live there. They will likely know this area. The business is Malmberg Manufacturing. This is a business located on Syndicate Street. This is an area filled with both businesses, but it's also quite industrial as well. So they find her body near these train tracks near the Mallberg Manufacturing. And I'm only repeating that name because it will play a role or at least I believe in this case as we continue going through some of the details here and it would appear to the police that not only where we found her is going to be important, but they also believe that that's likely where the attack went down, that she was attacked in this same area where we're finding her.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Her wounds are very severe and so I'm sure there's some evidence that blood evidence that this attack happened there.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Yeah. So the man who gave Karen a ride, he drove her to this location. The train tracks are behind this manufacturing business. He attacked her severely even though she is still alive. Thankfully when help gets there, she's still alive. There's no way, I'm guessing there's no way that, that he thought that she was still alive or, or maybe he did and we can get into that as we go as well. But the descriptions I have seen regarding her life threatening injuries, there's no way that I would have walked away from there thinking she was alive or responding to the scene thinking that she was alive when attempting to go and help her somehow. Really only by the grace of God and with the help of some very incredible nurses and doctors at the nearby hospital. And don't forget about those first responders that, that help so much as well, this poor woman survives the attack. I'm very happy to report that she is still alive today. But we are talking about a very long recovery from very, very serious injuries. Police, once they are able to speak with Karen because she's unconscious for quite some time. So eventually, with the assistance of medical staff and really trying to help her, eventually they will be able to interview her, but she's not really able to be much in the way of any help or able to provide much information to help lead police to her attacker. She doesn't know who he was. Can't really give much in the way of details of that evening.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

She gets into a car to get a ride from a stranger. So you'd go up. They're pretty close, so she should have got a good look at him. But you don't sit down in somebody's car and just stare at them. You look forward. You don't want to be rude or weird.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

The other thing too is, and I'm not trying to put any of this on the victim because I really believe that the lack of recall that she has here is simply 100% from the injuries. We're talking about severe head trauma here. But it's New Year's Eve, right. So she maybe be slightly impaired anyway. From the drinking.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Yeah.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

And from. We know she was at a party, but I think what you're hoping for here, Captain, is like something that we've talked about and we discuss regularly in these cases because you and I are both intrigued by the investigation, the manhunt. How do we find who's responsible? What. What evidence and what strategies can we imply to our investigation to figure out who is the bad guy and how we can take him off of the streets? And so you're very likely when you. When you sit down with her, finally, after waiting all of this time, you're going, if she can just give us some kind of description of his vehicle, maybe that will give us. And put us on the path to finding, to lead police to this attacker, who. Look, if we're able to catch up with him, he is most certainly going to be charged with attempted murder here. This is far beyond assault.

[911 Caller / Killer Voice]

Yeah.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

If you're law enforcement, you're sitting there going, okay, we have a severely beaten victim. If I'm law enforcement, I'm going, this is not just assault to me. This is attempted murder. But we have our victim. She got into the car with a stranger. Okay, so before the attack happened, do you remember what the car looked like? Again, something that could be difficult for the victim because, like we said, the weather wasn't great. So a lot of times when the weather's not great and you're walking outside, you keep your head down, the way it works. So you get in this vehicle, you know that you're probably not going to get a great description of this individual because of the attack. And so then the other question is, okay, can we get anything to identify the vehicle, but is there any other items that we could identify the attacker? You know, whether that's a beard or a weird necklace or a tattoo or maybe even a smell or a sound or. Or something that you heard that could help us identify this attacker.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

So the way that this plays out, and here's. Here's where I would take the investigation. And I'm sure that they probably did every bit of this and beyond, you know, as we said, she does not remember the attack itself and really most of the details leading up to the attack. So now you're left with a couple of. A couple of scenarios. One being that she lives three hours away. She's in. She went to the big city for the big party for the big night, New Year's Eve, right?

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Yeah.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

And she's there with a couple lady friends of her. So you're probably working this case very quickly, going, well, we don't have any of her friends or social circle beyond the people that she traveled with to interview, because they're not there, they're not present. She's. She's in town for the night. On top of that, you don't. You're working this. And probably very quickly going to summarize that neither of the people she was traveling with had any level of involvement. So now you're left with the idea of, okay, what do we got? Well, one of the things we do have is we know that it was after midnight that she's picked up roughly 1am so you can go and you can try to interview people that may have been in the general area at the time of when she was picked up, hoping to get that vehicle description. But let's talk about the crime scene. You know, unfortunately, our victim's not able to help out a whole lot with who the attacker was. But also the crime scene was not incredibly helpful as well, that at the crime scene, there is little in the way of evidence for police to work with. There's no weapon found and really nothing at all left behind by the attacker. And the victim can't help because of her horrible injuries suffered during the attack. So that case is going to run out of leads real quick.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Well, like you were saying, she goes there with a group of females, but it's very unlikely because we have the victim saying, I got in the car with a stranger. So it's very unlikely that if somebody had it out for her in her normal life, in her normal social circles, that somebody followed her all the way into the City. So, so law enforcement is dealing with two big hurdles. One, the victim doesn't remember most of what happened that night. And two, we, we could surmise that it's a stranger on stranger attack.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Shortly after the attack, like we said, there's that call. There's that 911 call. The caller described the location or attempted to describe the location where this hurt girl could be found. That he says that he hurt or. Or that. That you can easily connect the dots, that he probably did hurt her, being that when asked who he is, he hangs up the phone. So now really all you're working with is this 911 call. So you have this 911 call. This is a lead for them to track down. Now they do figure out, Captain, that the call came from a pay phone located not terribly far from this crime scene.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Right.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

The recording of the male 911 caller with the very strange voice was, I would obviously say that it's him that was the assailant. But of course police would not at the time be in any way to say with 100% certainty that the caller and the attacker were one in the same. But that is your only really lead and true lead at the end.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

It becomes complicated for law enforcement because is this somebody that is familiar with the area or is this somebody that doesn't even live close to this area? You know, let me go far away from my personal location to commit a violent crime. And then I just think there's a lot of questions with this call. Why did, why did the attacker call 911 anyways? You would think that the purpose of the attack was for him to kill her, so why would he want any chance of her to survive? And again, he doesn't know what she will remember and what she won't remember.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Right.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

It's almost like question of, is this guy so remorseful right away that he needs to get her help? And then is this his real voice or is this some kind of disguise?

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

If you take the caller at his word, which it's going to be incredibly difficult to take him at his word, but if you take him at his word, that is what it sounds like to me, that his motivation is to, to get the girl that he just attacked some help. So either he's remorseful, like you said, but also it may just be something of saving his own conscience and soul from having a murder on. On his shoulders, rather than this assault, as deadly as it was. But if he can, if he can get emergency personnel to her and, and save her life, then maybe in some selfish way, he's going to not feel so bad for what he did. And I want to hone in on something that you were talking about just a second ago with the location. And you're spot on there because the, you know, I, I spent a good deal of time trolling around on some maps of St. Paul, looking at the location of where she was picked up and the location of where she was found. And to me, being an outsider, I've, I've never been to the Twin Cities, but being an outsider, it looked to me like one wouldn't have to necessarily be familiar with the area or from the area to have chosen this site. If I were looking to, for a secluded location that was somewhat not too far away from where I picked her up, I think anybody could have really found their way to this spot. So really the location of where she's found doesn't to me, seem to be very helpful for investigators either.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

One of the things that we learn from Mindhunter is that they classify these types of killers where they go, well, this guy's organized or disorganized. I feel like there's this strange type of killer you have, like a Ted Bundy type where there's almost no remorse. I have this urge to kill. I'm going to kill at will, not feel too bad about it afterwards. Almost relish and the joy of talking about the crimes or reliving the crimes in my own mind. And then there's other killers, and I would say, like Dahmer would be a decent example of somebody that had these urges, knew the urges were bad and just couldn't control the urges. And so then when the crime took place, I think it was a double edged sword where there's probably a part of him that enjoyed reliving the fantasy of the killing. And there was a part of him that the reliving of the killing actually haunted him. Does any of that make any sense to you?

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Well, it makes sense in that I've reviewed the same information. I don't, you know, they call it psycho for a reason.

[911 Caller / Killer Voice]

Right.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

And so it's hard for us normal guys to really kind of just dissect these individuals even, even if you were talking about one single attack. But it's, it's weird, right? Like, I'm a big. I respect the organized and disorganized classification of attackers, killers, serial killers. But keep in mind, you know, eventually Douglas comes out with the idea, well, that there's a mixed offender that is both organized and disorganized. So that kind of turns that idea on its head. But the other thing you mentioned, Dahmer, you mentioned Ted Bundy, both of those individuals started off very organized, and then later, because they killed for so long undetected, in Bundy's case specifically, he becomes a frenzy killer. Yeah. After. After a good period of time. And a frenzy killer by nature is disorganized. He's spiraling completely out of control. And like Dahmer said, after his second murder, which he doesn't even really recall killing the man, right. He wakes up and finds the body. So that, in a sense, is disorganized. But he says, well, that's when I just decided that I'm just going to go for it. Right. I. I felt remorse for the first two killings that I did, but after this, I. I know who I am and I'm going to continue to do this. And so he, he devolves into a disorganized killer with people escaping from his apartment. And then, and then like we talked about last week with Robert Pickton.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Yeah.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

He. His own words to the, the informant, to the cop, undercover cop that they put in a jail cell next to him or with him while he awaits trial. And he tells the cop, Well, I killed 49, and I would have killed. Got to 50, but I got sloppy at the end. So I really think that all of these guys, on a long enough timeline, no matter how organized they are, they become disorganized. The one exception would be somebody like a btk. But also, keep in mind, he really, even though he was still unidentified and not apprehended at the time, he really had stopped killing essentially at that point. So maybe he never worked himself to the point of becoming disorganized.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Well, I think that was part of the fetish for him, was the planning and the organization, getting all the items ready that he was going to take and not take and surveillance the house. And I think that's part of what he enjoyed about the whole process. But I think you bring up a good point. I don't know. I guess that's my question is we have some of these killers that seem like they have no remorse at all. And then I would argue, like with, with Dahmer, it wasn't so much of like, I'm just going to kill people and not feel bad about it. I think it was more a sense of, I'm tired of fighting the urge off, so when I have the urge, I'm just going to let it happen. But I still think there was probably some remorse there for Him. But I think that's. Like you said, there's different level. Levels of psycho. But I think that's very fascinating.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

You're absolutely right. And that. That is one thing that makes Dahmer. I wouldn't say one of a kind, but certainly unique.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Yeah.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Is that the. The pleasure. Sorry for these terms, but I mean, we're trying to. We're trying to define some of this and. And look at these and examine some of this.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

We're all adults here.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

The pleasure of killing for Dahmer far outweighed the sadness and remorse that it brought him.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Right. And that. And that's what I think is so fascinating. This. And they all talk about it. Almost all of them talk about there's some kind of sensation, there's some kind of urge that they feel.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Well, and in this case that we're talking about here today, from, you know, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, 1980 to 1981, with this particular attacker, with what little information we have to go on, I would say in this instance, we're probably talking about somebody that is fairly organized just by reviewing what limited information we have. Right. Like, so the. Our victim here, Karen, she was not beat with. With hands and fist.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Right.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

She was beat with a. With a. With an. An object. And it was likely a. A tire iron or crowbar, something of that nature, a metal object because her head was. Her head was split open. The brain was exposed when the responders arrived on the scene. And so that means that this attacker had the weapon already with him. So that falls immediately into the organized killer category. And the other thing, too, is the call comes in at roughly 3am Remember, she's picked up at roughly 1.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Yeah.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

So there's not a whole lot of time. What I'm getting at here is that he picked her up, and once she was in the car, it seems to me, it looks to me like he went pretty quickly to this location and. And started attacking her. So that shows some level of planning or forethought in advance.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Yeah, because remember the Lauren Sperrier case? And they. They picked up a guy. I'm sorry, I'm gonna be blurry on some of these details, but when they were studying the surveillance tapes and trying to figure out what happened to Lorne Sperrier, they found a guy that he was convicted of many crimes before, and he was just driving around in a van all night, and they see his van. They see his van on surveillance, and then when they pick him up and go, what are you doing? You know, and he's like, this is one of the things I do. And I'm not the only person out there doing that looking for opportunities. Maybe they don't take the opportunity, but they're driving around looking for that opportunity. So like you said, if this guy is familiar with the location, this guy could be driving this location every night for a month. So now he knows. Once I do get a victim in my car, I know of several places I could take them. So like you said there, I think that's again a level, like you said, of organization.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Oregon Parks make an Oregon Summer. But what makes an Oregon park? Well, Oregon Lottery Gameplay helps no matter the game Megabucks Video Lottery or Keno funds from lottery games help support parks projects across the state, ensuring they stay safe, accessible and open for all. In fact, Discover State Park Scratches are in stores now. It's the perfect way to put a little bit of Oregon's parks in your pocket. The Oregon Lottery Together we do good things. Must be 18 or older to play. Lottery games are based on chance and should be played for entertainment only.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

So many people are focused on where their money is today. Acorns is the financial wellness app that cares about where your money is going tomorrow. And with the Acorns potential screen you can find out what your money is capable of. Acorns is easy. You can sign up in minutes and start automatically investing your spare money even if all you've got is spare change. Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a five dollar bonus. Investment join the over 14 million all time customers who have already saved and invested over $27 billion with Acorns. Head to acorns.com garage or download the Acorns app to get started. Paid non client endorsement compensation provides incentive to Positively promote Acorns Tier 2 compensation provided potential subject to various factors such as customers accounts, age and investment settings does not include Acorns fees. Results do not predict or represent the performance of any Acorns portfolio. Investment results will vary. Investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC Registered Investment Advisor. View Important [e-mail] Garage the GLP1 pill

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

you've been waiting for is now on ROE. Yep, it's finally here with the same clinically proven ingredient now in a pill and now on Roe. It's the first FDA approved GLP1 pill

[Adopt Us Kids PSA Voice]

for weight loss at the lowest price available. That's one daily GLP1 pill for big results now on RO. Go to RO Listen to see if you qualify RX Only go to RO

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Safety for serious side effects and boxed warning associated with GLP1s courage.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

I learned it from my adoptive mom.

[Adopt Us Kids PSA Voice]

Hold my hand. You hold my hand. Learn about adopting a teen from foster [e-mail] you can't imagine the reward brought to you by Adopt Us Kids, the U.S. department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

All right, we are back. Cheers, mates.

[911 Caller / Killer Voice]

Talk.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Hands in the air.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

Cheers to everyone. Cheers to the people in the back. Now we're going to go, we're going to fast forward here a few months to late spring, early summer, when we are going to have a similar and equally bizarre situation. Again, this is in St. Paul, Minnesota. So this will put us, Captain, at June 3, 1981. Interestingly to me, both of those dates with our previous victim and on this date as well, both of these dates that we've discussed are Wednesdays. So Wednesday, July 3, 1981, we have 18 year old Kimberly Compton. Now, she's from Pepin, Wisconsin, and I hope I'm saying that correctly. Now, a lot of the sources will say that Kimberly Compton was a student. But I know, Captain, that the young Kimberly Compton had just graduated high school and was not yet set up for further schooling. Instead, she had decided that it was time to go off and find a place of work for her. She had previously held a waitress job for a short period of time. She liked working and excelled at it. But because, as she put it, there was nothing for her in the very small town, actually the village of Pepin, population 890people, she was going to take her talents to the big city, the Twin Cities, where she was sure to find a job. Her grandfather said that the youngster had proven to be a hard worker and proven to be fine at adapting to new surroundings. So that was no trouble. But what he worried about was that Kimberly was far too friendly. Kimberly's grandfather, Theodore Compton said, quote, I don't give a damn who it was, should stop and talk to them. End quote. Kimberly ventured off to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1981, population over 270,000 people. So a very big difference from her small village in Wisconsin. Now, this poor girl just had stepped off of the bus, had just stepped off of the bus to St. Paul when she has the terrible and unfortunate luck of crossing paths with the last person on that day in St. Paul that any young woman would want to find themselves in the company of. So Kimberly steps off of the bus getting her into town. She rented a locker at the bus depot. She put some of her belongings in this locker. And then she walks across the street from the bus depot to a place called Mickey's Diner. She was looking to get something to eat after her journey. She's going to grab a bite to eat this. Mickey's diner is legit, Captain. It's been there serving up good food since 1960. Still around today, she sits down and orders that day's diner special. She gets her food, and during the course of enjoying her meal, a man approaches her table. And the dude seems friendly enough. He asks if he can sit down and chat with her. She's sitting alone. He sits down and they start talking. She tells him she's very new to town. In fact, she had just arrived. The man offers to drive her around St. Paul to show her some of the city. Then, without any influence from the victim other than this man's own sad madness, once they're out there driving around, he attacks her. So they're out by this spot on the river. He took her to a spot on the river, and she's sitting by the river. This spot where her new city guide chose. The friendly man from the diner had just taken to, taken her to a minute or so prior. He starts stabbing her. He stabs her dozens of times. But apparently that was not enough for him. He ripped out the shoelace from poor Kimberly's shoe and then strangles her with it. She was killed right there by the river's edge just a few hours after getting off of the bus in St. Paul. This time, however, something must have been different because the attacker this time does not immediately call 91 1. Kim's body was discovered by a group of three teenage boys out walking in a wooded area north of Superior and oneida streets in St. Paul. They were the ones to report the body. Now, Captain, I apologize because I'm a little unclear as to the exact timing of this because it's. It's not available in some of the reports. But sometime after this body was discovered by the teenagers are all around the same time. This is when a call comes into police, right? So police are. Are at the same time being made aware of this. This body, this homicide. And they're responding. So having. Respond they have a little bit of detailed information about the crime prior to receiving this call, Even if it's just minutes. So several hours after this poor woman is attacked and what would end up being a murder several hours after this murder took place. But not long enough. We should be very clear, not long enough that any of the information had been released to the Public by the police. This is when police get a call from a male caller with a strangely high pitched voice. The caller is crying and or attempting to disguise their voice. This is now the infamous call that is sometimes referred to as the don't talk, just listen call, as that was the statement that the dispatcher was met with when picking up the call. A description of this call, the short of it, Captain, is the caller tells the dispatcher, quote, God damn, will you find me? I just stabbed somebody with an ice pick. I can't stop myself. I keep killing.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Well, like you said, because this is a strange voice, this has to perk up law enforcement's ears, the dispatcher's ears, and go, this is very similar to a call that came in just a couple months ago.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

There's some detail in that, right? There is a rather important detail offered up by the killer or the caller, I should say, because at the time after finding Kim's body, who was unidentified, early in the investigation, they find this woman, they don't know who she is. And we'll get into that in a sec. But at the time, police knew that the unidentified victim, she had been stabbed 61 times with an unknown sharp instrument, plus the strangulation with the shoelace. See, detectives did not know that Kimberly was stabbed with an ice pick. They knew that she was stabbed with an unknown object. But because of the nature of the wounds, what they did know was that it was not a knife that was used. So the weirdo on the phone answered that question for the detectives. She was killed with an ice pick. And oh, by the way, as we said, the not knowing what she was stabbed with, that had not been released to the public yet either. The police thought, the police actually thought that it was potentially a screwdriver that had done the damage to the victim. But as the killer himself had told them on the strange phone call, it was an ice pick. Now, this is a detail that, that I rather, you know, let's try to, try to walk away from some of the gory details that we just discussed because this is a detail that I just enjoy finding in these stories. This is how the detectives learn the identity of the victim. So the, the victim is Kimberly Compton. But I love these little bloodhound gang type gumshoe detective work stories. So when they arrive on the scene, they have no idea who this victim is. And remember, we told the story of her just stepping off of the bus. So she's not even from the area. And when they find her, she has no identification on her. What police do find in one of her pockets is a key and that key is to the locker that she rented at the bus depot. So they go to the bus depot, open up the locker and inside they go through her belongings, finding her identification there, thus being able to identify our victim as 18 year old Kimberly Compton. Now the police know that the hysterical caller, this is not a hoax, this is not a coincidence. The fact that the caller provided valuable unknown information during the call, which seemed to tell you that this is very, very likely our killer, the attacker.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

How long does it take for them to pick up that this might be the same color as the previous attack?

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

That's a very great question here because you would think that it wouldn't take long at all. Police did think that the calls were made by the same person, but they brought in like experts and paid, they hired experts to come in and give their air quote, expert opinion on the case. And the opinions kind of come out with like yeah, we're pretty sure it's the same guy, but we can't say 100% it's the same guy. Which is really the conclusion that the police had arrived at themselves. The other thing too, you know, you have, you're really looking from a law enforcement perspective, you are investigating the crime that's handed to you, right? So you're in this case, you're, you are on the receiving end of a murder investigation. Homicide is the crime in this case. Kimberly Compton with Karen Potag, that's an assault slash attempted murder. And it's very easy to look at them as one in the same. But also keep in mind that that may go to a different detective. So I'm guessing like in a lot of the cases that we've talked about, when you have a series of crimes, series offenses, regardless of its murder, rape, robberies, bank robberies, what have you, that you probably have a divided, a house divided amongst the police force, right, where there are some that, that believe 100% it's one in the same and then others that have their doubts. But the weird, the strange here is just going to keep getting weirder and stranger because two days later, right, this is two days after the ice pick call, the caller with the same weird voice calls police once again. This time he's calling to say he's sorry, saying he's sorry for stabbing Kimberly Compton and that he would turn himself in, but he doesn't regardless of what he says on this phone call. So this, to me, this I, this moment here, right, this is a little bit of an aha moment because you're trying to.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

You've.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

You've talked about it already in the first part of today's show. Trying to get into the mind of this attacker. Who is he? What. What is he up to? Why is he doing what he's doing? So this, to me would seem indicative that this fella on the phone is following the case in the papers.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

Well, again, if he's connected to the first attack, you know, he's probably following the case and what happened to that victim because she didn't die. So while my next victim, I can't use the same strategy because I can't leave it to chance that she. That this next victim will walk away and be able to identify me. So he changes his instrument of attack.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

And this is six months later, right between the. Between the time of the first attack, the attempted murder, and then this actual homicide. But what I'm picking up on here in this second call regarding the Kimberly Compton case. This is call number two in this one single case in the Kimberly Compton case. He has now choosing to use her name during this call. This making me believe that he is following the case on the news and, or in the newspapers now, knowing her name. He's using the name during the, this call, which he did not before in the, in the previous call about Kimberly Compton, and he did not use the name of Karen when he called that one in. Now, of course, it's. It's possible that through discussion that he knew Kimberly Compton's name during the course of talking over, you know, her dinner at the diner and then riding around in his car.

[911 Caller / Killer Voice]

Right.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

But this, to me, is. It goes to the psyche of this attacker. And is he. Is he. Look, the, the calls themselves, to me, could insinuate that this guy is far beyond driven. He's completely off the rails, insane. Insane. The following of the. The news stories about his victim would suggest that there is some level of sanity for your attacker here. So then the very next day, the very next day after call number two in the Kimberly Compton case, this son of a bitch calls again, this time calling to say that some of the details in the newspaper accounts were inaccurate. So now 100% confirmation that he is following the case in the news and on the newspapers. And then five days later, another call comes in. So now we're at June 11th. This call, they hear what law enforcement described as a whimpering, barely coherent voice that is crying and saying something like, I'm sorry for what I did to Compton. Now, remember Kimberly's grandfather, with whom she had lived with just prior to her death, had said that he believed Kimberly's overly friendly nature may have helped and made her even more vulnerable or a more vulnerable victim. But please keep in mind she was only a victim because of this predator, this horrible waste of a human that would do such terrible things to a young woman. I mean, imagine a world without these types and how friendly we all would be or we all would want to be. Kim's grandfather, Theodore Compton, added to his comments by saying, quote, I can't for the life of me see why anyone would want to manipulate a girl like that. It had to be a regular maniac to do a job on her like that.

[Captain (Co-host of True Crime Garage)]

So much more to get to stick around for part two.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

And until then, be good, be kind, and don't live.

[911 Caller / Killer Voice]

Sam. Courage.

[Nick (True Crime Garage Host)]

I learned it from my adoptive mom.

[Adopt Us Kids PSA Voice]

Hold my hand. You hold my hand. Learn about adopting a team from foster [e-mail] you can't imagine the reward brought to you by Adopt Us Kids, the U.S. department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council.