All language subtitles for CrimeFeed S01 E08_track3_[eng]

[narrator] This week on
Crimefeed, serial killers,

the cases that terrorize
communities.

A developing mystery in
Oregon, six women dead

and fears that a serial killer
is to blame.

Plus, Dennis Rader,
the BTK killer,

named for his method,
bind, torture, kill.

For decades,
he stalked his prey.

Now police believe
there may be more victims

yet to be found.

And a killer on the border.

Detectives in Texas learn
a serial killer

is hiding in their ranks,

investigating the murders
during the day

and slaughtering witnesses
at night.

This isCrimefeed
with Nancy Grace,

private investigator
Derrick Levasseur,

and investigative reporter
Mara S. Campo.

Good evening, I'm Nancy Grace.

This is Crimefeed
and I want to thank you

for being with us tonight.

Are there more serial killers
now than in the past?

Or are we just catching them
more now more than ever?

More victims seemingly
emerging.

First up, dog catcher
turned serial killer

Dennis Rader, AKA BTK,
bind, torture, kill,

based in Wichita
and a warning tonight.

Much of what you are about
to see and hear...

very disturbing.

The local church deacon,
Dennis Rader,

stoking fear across
the heartland

with ten known victims,
all of them bound, tortured,

murdered in similar
modus operandi,

method of operation,
even sometimes dressing

in his victims' clothes,
binding himself

and taking selfies to relive
the thrill of the kills.

But now, are more of Rader's
victims being uncovered?

He bragged about the murders
of defenseless women,

taunting the media,
sending police bizarre puzzles

and bone-chilling letters,

even suggesting his own
moniker to them.

And it stuck, B-T-K.

But his own bid for attention

and adulation
led to his capture.

-Did it not, Mara?
-It sure did, Nancy.

In 2005, BTK sent
a floppy disk to

a local news station,
which police then traced back

to his church computer,
unmasking this
sadistic monster

as a seemingly ordinary
husband and father of two,

a Boy Scout troop leader,
a church deacon,

and a city employee.

But Dennis Rader, he was
hiding in plain sight

and, Nancy, Rader was
so calculated that

in his courtroom confession
he described the measures

that he took to keep kids calm

during the murder of
Shirley Vian.

We're going to take
a listen to it now,

but again, we have to warn you
this describes violence

around children, so please,
protect your peace.

And Nancy, you know,
he has said that he planned

to kill those children
as well,

but the phone rang
and he got scared that

maybe somebody was coming
over and that's why he left.

But we know he had killed
children before.

This man is a demon
on this earth.

And there are more victims.

Mark my words,
there are more victims.

What do you make of
the recent digging

in rural Butler County?

I mean, listen,
they're discovering
more trophies, right?

They found
the pantyhose ligature.

Wasn't that one of the items
that they found out there?

Well, I think there
they're looking

at a barn, because
in one of his musings,

he talks about,
"I wonder if they'll find
anything in a barn."

And a credible source
has recently told

the task force that

BTK Dennis Rader had been
in that area on that land.

So in the past days,
the task force
has been out there

looking with drones,
with sniffer dogs.

Um, but I think after
this many years,

I would be very surprised
if there was any DNA evidence,

but maybe something buried.

Yeah, I mean, Nancy,
we know that Rader

has given detectives plenty
of reasons to believe

there are additional
victims out there.

Let's look at some
of the sketches

that Rader has drawn
over the years.

Police believe these
sketches are either
his victims after the fact,

so he can relive that moment,
or they're just fantasies

he was having at the time.

But the question is,
are these sketches of victims

they haven't found yet?

Many of them
are depicted in barns,

and Rader's daughter,
Kerri Rawson,

has said he's always had
a fascination with barns.

So could there be
additional victims out there

that we just
haven't found yet?

That's the real question.

Yeah, so his daughter
has announced that

they are investigating
his possible connection

to five more victims.

So these are unsolved cases
of women who disappeared.

And now police think, based on
some of these sketches

and some of the evidence
that they uncovered

when he was arrested,

you know, they recovered
a trove of information

because, like Derrick said,
he was keeping all of
these trophies.

He was keeping all of
this detailed information

in his journals, and now
they're trying to
piece them together.

So, for example,
in 1976,

Oklahoma teen
Cynthia Dawn Kinney
disappeared.

Now they think she may
have been who he referred
to as,

"bad laundry day."
He had all of these codes.

So there are a lot more
questions now about who else.

[Nancy] Cynthia worked at
a laundry and he had reason,

business purposes to be across
the street from that laundry

where she goes missing
and as a matter of fact,

it is Cynthia that I believe
they're trying to connect

to that Butler County search
and this search

has just been going down.

This didn't happen last year,
two years ago.

It's happening now
and they've gone back
multiple times

dating back all the way back
to last March

and they keep going back
and they keep going back

and I'm waiting for them
to go back

with ground penetrating radar
because...

that sonar device shows
where the dirt deep down under

where you're standing.

It looks like a metal detector
but it shows up like

a baby sonogram
and you can see where the dirt

is actually different
like disheveled,

out of place from the dirt
around it.

So that's something I believe
that they will do.

Now the task force is doing
a lot under Sheriff Verdin

that we can't talk about,
but...

That search is out
in the open.

You can see the drones,
you can see the dogs,

and even a former FBI
out there looking.

But what's interesting,
Nancy and Derrick,

this is something
we've spoken about.

BTK, as far as we know,
was completely quiet

from 1991 to 2004.

There was no activity
that we know of.

That's 13 years.

So does a serial killer
suddenly stop for 13 years...

-No.
-...before re-emerging?

And that's exactly,
in terms of their psychology,

do they stop?

Well, I think that's where
the sketches come in, right?

'Cause detectives in the
task force are going to have

to go in and reverse-engineer
this entire thing, right?

They're going to follow
the breadcrumbs in reverse,

-Yeah.
-where they're going to look
at these... they're going

to look at these sketches,
they're going to look at
the trophies,

and they're going
to compare them to cases
from that timeframe,

where they were missing person
cases or murders.

And what they have to do
is look at these sketches

and see, are there anything
in them?

Some of the sketches
we saw earlier,

there's specific
colored dresses.

Were any of
the victims wearing something

like this at the time?

Then they can go in
and look at the photos

that Dennis Rader took
of himself.

A lot of the times
they said those photos

were actual depictions
of some of his victims.

So in any of those photos,
have they not been linked
to certain cases?

This is where you may be
able to do that.

You know the sketch of
the little girl wearing
a yellow...

It looks like a nightie.

-Yeah.
-Well, here is Dennis Rader.

I've been comparing
and connecting sketches...

-Yeah.
-...with pictures
that he is wearing.

And I mean, this guy,
I had to actually put
these face down.

I don't know how
many autopsies,

crime scenes, murder scenes,
homicide scenes I've been on,

but I actually have to put
these face down.

I don't want them
looking at me.

Where Rader will, there it is,
thanks Charles or John Dee,

there it is, this is him,
this is Dennis Rader.

He gets the victim's clothes,
he dresses up

in the victim's clothes,

sometimes putting on
their makeup,

and then he dresses
himself up...

like this, bind and torture
to relive it.

Nine photos, I believe.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

I believe there's nine photos,
and I wonder if all nine

of those photos
have been linked
to the ten murders

he's already been
connected to.

If not, we have to relook at
those photos,

compare them to the sketches
to see what other

unsolved cases
they might be tied to.

Did you see that background?

The background was in
a rural forested area.

This guy did not go dormant.

He didn't go to sleep
for ten plus years.

He killed somewhere else
or he disposed of the bodies

in a way that we have
not found them

or connected the missing woman
to Dennis Rader.

They're out there.

His daughter is right.

Well, in addition
to the photos

that he took of himself
in these poses,

he also would often take
photos of his victims.

And one of the most disturbing
details of many,

many to choose from,

he took one victim
from her home,

where he killed her,
to his church

because he had keys
to the church,

based on being
a church leader,

and took photos of
her dead body in his church

because that turned him on.

This man is as sick
as they come.

He would even take
the victim's makeup.

And put on their makeup.

Little known fact,
did you know Ted Bundy

would actually sometimes
bathe, redress,

and do hair and makeup
of his dead victims?

-I did not.
-And then have sex
with parts of their body.

But I'll leave that
for another moment.

So what is it like
to sit down with

a sadistic killer like
Dennis Rader for years

and listen to him
describe his "conquests,"

also known as his murders?

We find out from author
Katherine Ramsland next.

And then later,
another cold-blooded killer

uses his position as
a lawman himself

to intercept vital intel
on the case

to hide the fact it's him.

Oh, please.

You are seeing
and hearing serial killer

Dennis Rader, a.k.a. BTK,
bind, torture, kill,

making a self-serving apology
to the families of

some of his murder victims.

It almost sounds like
he's making some sort of

an acceptance speech
to some...

at an awards banquet.

This guy's narcissism really
knows no bounds,

and our next guest
has seen it and experienced it

up close and personal.

Katherine Ramsland,
the author ofConfession of
a Serial Killer:

The Untold Story of
Dennis Rader,

the BTK killer,
and she is with us now.

Katherine, you spent five,
it must have been,

excruciating years
interviewing Dennis Rader

and, hey, one more thing,
when he says the light

is beginning to shine.
My rear end.

This guy...

if he, if he thought
he could do anything

to make up
to victims' families.

He could tell the rest of
the families where

the dead bodies are of
their daughters,

but he's not doing that.

Right, he's, he claims
that ten is his number

and that's as far
as he's going.

He's not going to confess
to something he didn't do.

This is his position
and that's where he's standing

and he said it yesterday
to me.

That's it, ten.
And he, he is not...

the killer of anybody else.

[Nancy] Do you believe him?

I I think there might
be others.

I'm not sure the cases
have been made on

some of the victims
we're looking at, but I think.

We've got ambiguous
circumstances

that he interprets one way.

The task force and the Sheriff
interpreted different way,

so I think physical evidence
is going to tell the tale.

Did you say you spoke
to Rader yesterday?

I did.

About what may I ask?

Some of the things that
are ongoing with all of this.

I have been back
in touch with him for...

I talk to him every couple
of weeks just to keep in touch

with what's happening.

And that's it, just because
the case has been reopened.

Who knows if I'm going
to add another chapter?

I might.

But certainly, I want
to know what's happening

in his mind with all of this.

Since I've been in his mind
for 13 years,

I want to keep up with,

with what the recent events
have been like for him.

Doc, if there are more
victims, and I believe that

there are, he is a narcissist.

He wanted everyone
to know his name, BTK,

all that good stuff.
You've talked to him a lot.

What would be the rationale
behind not giving closure,

or at least giving answers
to the rest of those families

who have loved ones out there
that they still don't know

what happened to them?

What would be
the rationale behind that
from his perspective?

I'm asking to get into
his mind,

which is tough,
but I'm trying to understand,

why not just tell us all
the cases he's involved in?

He says he has told you
all the cases

he's been involved in.

So the rationale for him is,
"I've told my story.

I have nothing more to say."

And his question back is,
"Why wouldn't I tell?"

Because he is a narcissist.
He knows that he is.

He loves attention.
He loves...

He said, why wouldn't I tell
and get even more fame?

So he answered your question
with a question.

See, I don't like that.

When you say, hey,
why haven't you told

the rest of the story?
And he's like,
"Well, why wouldn't I?

Why don't I just answer?"

Does that mean
you don't think he's connected

to Cynthia Kinney
or Shawna Garber?

[Katherine] I don't know
what happened
to Cynthia Kinney.

I'm not sure anybody does.
She disappeared.

But the investigators
for Garber have said

he is not their chief suspect.

But he did say,
this is my story.

It's ten. That's it.

And then he puts the question
out to the task force.

Why wouldn't I tell?

Doctor, there's a part
of the story that has

always confounded me.

And there's a quote
in your book that
speaks to my question.

The quote is,
"You win if people think

they're going to be okay."

In many cases, he was able
to convince people

to allow him to tie them up.
He didn't overpower them.

He convinced them.
How was he able to do that?

And what, if anything, can we,
the public, learn about

managing psychopaths
in the world from that?

There are quite a few
predators know that

about human nature,
that if they let you relax

and think, all you have
to do is do what they say,

you will survive,
you'll be okay.

Um, that's a way for them to
keep you under control.

If you're frightened
and you're panicked

and you're struggling
and you're trying to run away,

that's harder for them
to control.

If they make you believe
that you are going
to survive this,

you will relax
a little bit more.

Not entirely, obviously,
because you're terrified

that somebody is in
your house, but if they say,

"Look, I'm on the run,
I just need your car,

all you have to do
is do what I say,"

that's a way to make them feel
a little bit more at ease.

And that helps with
the control issue.

Has anybody thought the reason
he's not coming clean

with any other murders is
because those murders

may have occurred in
a death penalty jurisdiction,

which, you know, of course,
he's not going to come forward
with that.

And I...

I believe that that is
a specter that haunts him,

the fact that he could get
the death penalty.

But regarding
Cynthia Dawn Kinney,
the 16-year-old

that goes missing
from a laundromat,

he's dropped so many clues
that he was responsible

for that, like it was
a bad laundry day.

and that he always
had a fantasy

of stealing someone
from a laundry.

And wow, she goes missing
from a laundry

across the street from
where he has been.

It's just too many
coincidences.

I've got a question.

What is he like when
you talk to him?

What is his demeanor?

He's calm and he will say
the bad laundry day

refers to a Wichita laundromat
where he had an apartment

for a while.

So that's one of
the cases of ambiguity.

And there isn't any proof
that he was in the bank

next door or across the street
from her.

So he will say it isn't him
and the bad laundry day

is about watching people
in a laundromat

on 17th Street in Wichita.

What's his explanation
for these other sketches

that we viewed earlier
in this episode?

Does he shed any light on
to who those women are?

Are they just random
depictions of fantasies

he had, or are they connected
to something?

He says they are drawings
he made as part of
his fantasies.

Do you believe that?

It could be.
He made hundreds of drawings.

He doesn't have hundreds
of victims.

-[Derrick] We don't know that.
-So, yeah, it could be.

But the idea that
he would have been
completely dormant

-for 13 years, do you think
that that's possible?
-He wasn't.

He said he was not dormant.

He was always, he sent me
a list of 55 projects.

These are people whose houses
he cased, people he stopped,

people he took a lot of
details on.

Did you just call
the dead people projects?

Just curious.

-What?
-Did you just call
the dead murder victims

-projects, the girls,
the women, the children?
-That's what he--

That is what he does.

He has names for all of them
as projects,

like Project Cookie,
Project Lights Out.

Project Mexico.
He has names.

That's exactly how
he referred to them.

Katherine, thank you so much
for being with us

and shedding light,
more light onto the nature of

BTK Dennis Rader,
the dog catcher killer.

Guys, still to come.

Did an elite investigator lead
a double life

as a serial killer?

The Border Patrol
serial killer case next.

Tracking a serial killer
who successfully eludes

law enforcement,
it's all-consuming.

But this next serial
killer seems to know

the investigator's every move.
Why?

Because he himself
is on the team assisting in

the hunt for the killer.

The killer is him.

Mara, the serial killer
actually inside

his own murder investigation.

Yeah, and part of what's
so disturbing, Nancy,

is that this guy actually
had his hands
in the investigation.

Juan David Ortiz was a border
patrol supervisor who had

formerly been a Navy medic
and completed

a tour of duty in Iraq.

He held a master's degree
in international relations,

but his credentials
were masking a dark truth,

his heinous acts of violence.
Let's take a look.

[Nancy]
On September 4th, 2018,
beside a stretch of road

just outside the city limits
of Laredo, Texas,

a rancher discovered the body
of 29-year-old Melissa Ramirez

with multiple bullet wounds
to the head.

Ramirez had been a sex worker
in the city's roughly

four-block red light district
on San Bernardo Avenue.

Local police took up the case,
turning to the nearby

U.S. border office for help.

Investigators had gotten
the lead that Claudine Luera,

another sex worker, had some
ideas of who killed Ramirez.

But before anyone
could question Luera,

she was also found murdered
in the same style as Ramirez,

shot in the head
at close range.

Finally, ten days into
the investigation,

a break came in the case.

Sex worker Erika Pena
flees from her client's truck

after he brandishes
a gun at her,

running to a nearby
police officer for help.

[speaking in Spanish]

She was able to identify
her captor,

leading investigators
to the man's home.

That's when they learn
it's one of their own.

Juan David Ortiz,
a border patrol officer

assigned to help investigate
the killings.

But before fellow officers
could find Ortiz,

he claimed two more victims,
also women he picked up

on San Bernardo Avenue,
killing Griselda Hernandez

and Janelle Ortiz
in one night.

But why did he do it?

Ortiz has been
convicted of murder

for four victims in total.

Police were able
to capture him after

he was spotted at
a gas station

and ran away to a nearby
parking garage

where he was finally
apprehended.

After hours of
police questioning,

Ortiz finally revealed
a motive, hatred of

the very sex workers
that he himself

had been regularly visiting.

Let's hear what he had
to say about it.

This was his way of
cleaning up the streets.

-Mmm.
-Cleaning up the streets.

So he was the good guy
in this scenario?

These women, as you often
point out,

we refer to them as
sex workers because,

you know, that's the industry
which the risk that

they were in
that led to their deaths.

But these women were mothers.

These women were trying to get
food to feed their families.

I mean, he's talking about
cleaning up the streets,

like these women were trash
and their lives mattered.

Did you notice in
his confession,

he kind of makes himself
the good guy?

And much like we just heard
the judge's son from Aruba,

Joran van der Sloot,
who confessed to killing
Natalee Holloway,

he basically whitewashes
everything he does.

And says, "I killed Natalee."
Same thing here.

Oh, they're terrible.
They're the scourge
on society.

I'm cleaning up
the streets by having sex

-with them and killing them.
-Yeah.

What's interesting to me
is Ortiz initially,

like you said, he confessed
to these killings

and then later retracted
his statement saying

he was coerced into it.

Let's take a listen
to what Ortiz actually said

during that police
interrogation.

[imitates gunshots]

Blew my shot.

[bleep]

And that's what we refer to
as guilt knowledge.

And just so casual
about the poof, "pow,"

just like it's a game to him.

But we're also supposed
to believe that a man

with a gun is saying walk away
from me and she's saying no,

and walking back towards him.

I don't believe, he's making
it seem as though

he was merciful in some way
and trying to provide warning.

When I don't think any person
would walk towards someone

with a gun who's saying
get away from me.

-No.
-But there are a lot of
questions about

what happened because
at some point in time,

this man was known as
a really hard-working

dedicated agent who got
into this field

because he said he wanted
to use his medical training

from the military to to help
those who had crossed
the border.

He was described by everyone
who knew him

as a solid guy, a family guy.

Even the sex workers
that he had had
encounters with

said, "No, this was one of
our favorite dates."

This was a nice guy.

He was normal. He was funny.

So the question is,
what happened?
Where did he snap?

[Nancy] You know,
when you talk to these women,

especially the one
that survived,

Erika Pina, and she describes
what happened to her,

it's a fingerprint crime.

It's exactly the like,
the same modus operandi,

method of operation
every single time.

And when a jury
saw that,

they quickly returned
a verdict of guilty.

Just, he was so blase about
killing the women.

Yeah, and he wasn't even--

He wasn't really calculated
about it, either.

With Erika Pena, specifically,
he had her in the vehicle.

He told her that he was
a federal agent.

He actually threatened
her one time,

this particular night,
where we see
the body cam footage.

He actually pulled out
the .40-caliber pistol,

pointed it at her.

That's probably
your murder weapon.

And then, when
he's picked up later,

he brings law
enforcement officials

to the remaining
crime scenes for

the two last victims, as well.

So, it's pretty simple
to see why they came back with

a guilty verdict.

Just to think about
this, though,

he was on the inside of
the investigation.

So when one of the women
says, "Hey, I know who
the serial killer is."

-And then that day
she's murdered?
-Yeah.

They couldn't put
that together?

Not good for law enforcement
to have, you know,

-No.
-a wolf inside--

A Trojan horse, if you will,
someone inside who's getting

all the pertinent information
and is able to do this.

It's, uh...
It's a police officer's
worst nightmare.

But now he says...

and, Nancy, I can't wait
to hear your reaction to this.

He blames this on PTSD
from his military service

and his tour of duty in Iraq.

When he was arrested,
he reportedly said, quote,

"The VA did this to me,"
presumably referring
to the meds

that he had been put on
for his PTSD.

During his interrogation,
he said that he sometimes

would mix the meds
with alcohol

and then he would,
quote, "black out."

So this was his explanation
for why he was tied
to those crimes.

You know what,
that's a smear on veterans.

Like my dad, who gave
their all for our country,

and now he's blaming being
a serial killer

on his time in Iraq.

Well, one woman at
the center of the case,

a Laredo hero,
Priscilla Villarreal,

who personally investigated
the cases,

broadcasting it all live
on Facebook.

I'm headed that way.

Another body has been found
at the 15-mile marker on 35.

[Nancy] Priscilla Villarreal
with us next.

And later, Oregon police
insist there is

no serial killers
stalking Portland.

They were wrong.

Priscilla Villarreal
now held as a hero

in Laredo, Texas,
partly because many believe

she had a hand in the ID
and capture of

a serial killer, David Ortiz.

Priscilla, thank you
for being with us.

Tell me how you got involved
in this case.

Well, thank you for having me,
first and foremost.

I knew all these--
All these girls
that were murdered.

I live about six blocks away
from where they used

to transit, you know,
San Bernardo area.

And, you know, when all of
this happened

and all of this went down,
you know,

we first found the first body.

And yes, it was a shock
to our city, because
we didn't know,

you know, we were trying
to find out who had done this.

And then the second body
shows up,

and then we have a third,

and then everybody's just,
you know, kind of scared

and freaking out about,
you know, what's going on.

It was so disturbing,
the fact that, you know,

the way they were killed,
that I had went on
social media

and I said, I think we have
a serial killer in our house.

But what do you mean by that?

It was so disturbing
the way they were killed.

[sighs]

Nothing like this has ever
happened in our city.

So, you know, you come
to a big city and,

you know, it's very common
to see it in other cities.

But when it's a small town
like where I live at,

it's not common.
So it was scary.

We were shocked.

And when I was reporting
on this, you know,

I had went live, like I said,
and started telling everyone,

I think we have
a serial killer in our hands.

Apparently, they have found
another body,

fourth body of a female...

at the 15 mile marker
northbound.

I am headed that way
right now.

I got a lot of calls from
our local authorities saying,

you're scaring the community,
this is not right.

I said, somebody needs
to speak up,

because this is not right
either, you know?

Something is happening,
and the city needs
to be aware.

We need to be vigilant.

As women, we need
to be vigilant.

Somebody's out there,
nobody knows who it is,

and we need to find them.

Now, you say that you knew
these women,

and I would love to hear
a little bit about
the victims,

because we often describe
them as sex workers,

but of course they were
so much more than that.

-Yes, they were.
-But their families
spoke to this,

and they testified about
what these women

meant to them
and how devastating
this loss has been.

So we're going to take
a listen to that person.

I would love your thoughts
on the other side.

Here's some of what
the families had to say.

[sighs]

I'll tell you what my sister
was and will always will be.

She would always be
the six-year-old little girl.

[sighs]

[breathing heavily, sighs]

She was all I had, bro.

She was all I had left.

Monsters like you don't even
deserve to breathe,

nor wake up to every morning.

You are a turd, so take back
those words

you've said to these
beautiful women.

You deserve to die and suffer
for what you did.

And when that day happens,
I will finally be in peace.

So Melissa, Claudine,
Giselda, and Janelle,

what can you tell us
about them?

They were great women.

Sorry, I get a little bit
emotional,

because I knew them on
a personal...

you know, on a personal basis.

And I would transit
this area, because I live
about five blocks

from where they used
to walk the streets.

So, before I had kids,
you know,

I was in the streets
all the time.

I was up till five o'clock
in the morning.

I would see them
walking around.

I would stop, talk to them.

You know, Melissa Ramirez
was one of them.

I remember, you know,
talking to her on
a daily basis,

four, five o'clock
in the morning.

She was pregnant,
walking the streets.

And I'd say, Melissa,
if you need anything,
let me know.

You need some food?

I would buy her some food,
you know.

And Janelle, I knew
personally, too.

Janelle was an awesome person
with an awesome personality.

Claudine, I knew before
she started working

the streets of Laredo.

I knew her when I was younger.

But, you know, when I found
out that they were being
targeted,

which is after the second body
was found,

you know, I made sure that
they were, you know,

ready for anything
because they were still
walking the streets.

And I said, hey,
you need to be careful.

You all need
to be prepared for whoever
is doing this, right?

You know, and then when
we found out it was

a Border Patrol agent,
everybody was just shocked.

[Derrick] What's so powerful
to me about this case

is in a lot of situations,
the detectives are ultimately

the reason the case is solved.

They do good police work,
they solve the case,

but to me,
the real heroes here,
the real problem solvers,

the real crime solvers,
not only yourself,

but also Erika and Claudine.

I know Claudine passed away,
obviously,

but her being willing
or starting to put it out

in that community
that she potentially knew

who it was is what caused
Ortiz to...

attack her, which has
caused him to target her.

And that's what exposed him.

And then, couple that
with Erika, as well.

They ultimately solved
this case for the

other members
of that community.

So, it's a really profound
case for me to feel that,

if they-- If Claudine
hadn't spoke up,

if Erika hadn't came forward,
he still may be on the run.

-Of course.
-I honestly believe that.

There may be more victims
if it wasn't for

those two individuals.

I, I, I agree.

You know, I'm curious,
why, with all the fervor

for the death penalty
in Texas,

why did this guy walk
with life without parole?

-Why?
-You want me to
be honest with you?

Yes.

[sighs]

The DA's office did
a [bleep] job at what they do.

It really... they really did,
to be honest with you.

They were fighting amongst
them during the trial.

One of their prosecutors
basically said, "I'm done,
I'm leaving."

And he walked out.

I mean, I can't answer
that question,

but everybody was wild
when he got the life sentence.

Everybody wanted
the death penalty.

If this case doesn't support
a death penalty,

I don't know what case does.

I mean, what he was doing--
not only that, his position.

I think that has
to be considered.

The role he was in, he was
there to protect people,

and this is what he was doing.

And I think that you have
to make an example--

Makes it so much worse,
Derrick.

Yeah, you have to make
an example out of

a situation like this,
because we know--

And again, it's another
can of worms,

law enforcement, the trust
within a community.

When you have someone in
uniform abusing their power,

using it like this, you have
to make an example out of it.

You really do.

Well, I just, I want to,
as a reporter,

I want to thank you
for the work that
you're doing.

-You're doing the real work.
-I appreciate it.

You're on the ground,
you're talking to the people

who are affected,
you are live streaming,

you are speaking
truth to power.

-You are doing the real work.
-Thank you.

No, thank you
for having me here

and I appreciate your words.

Priscilla, thank you so much,
not just for being here,

but for everything that
you've done to help

so many people

that typically
don't have a voice.

After the bodies of
multiple women

are discovered across
the Portland area,

why do police still deny
what's plain to anyone

who hears the news?

Why go to such great effort
to deny a serial killer

is stalking women in Oregon?

That's in Portland, Oregon.
Next.

The bodies of one, two, three,
four, five, six women

found in just three months
in the Portland metro area.

Police scrambled to shut down
theories of a potential

serial killer, even issuing
a press release,

accusing media and the public
at large of stoking fear

and anxiety.

But just two days after that
statement, everything changed.

Mara, what happened?

Well, Nancy Portland
police are keeping

pretty tight lipped about
this case.

They haven't given a cause
of death for all of the women,

saying only that
the circumstances
are suspicious.

But finally, in July
they revealed that

the murders of at least
four of the women

are connected
and they made an arrest

and take a look at this.

-Get your hands up.
-Both hands up! [bleep]

-Put your hands up.
-Picked the wrong day
to stop [bleep].

That's police cornering
38-year-old Jesse Calhoun

at a gas station before
he tried to escape

by jumping into a river.

I guess he was planning
to swim away.

Cops say they connected
the career criminal

to those four victims.

They are calling him
a person of interest

and say he had
a violent history.

with one of the victims.

Now, Calhoun has a long record
with charges such as assault,

harassment, theft
and kidnapping.

And get this, Nancy,
he was actually

let out of prison early.

His sentence was commuted by
the governor because

he had helped fight wildfires
in 2020.

It's very disturbing
when police know that

there is very likely
a serial killer.

In fact, some of these victims
knew each other,

so they were
clearly connected.

Yeah, well, we know
he hasn't been charged for

any of these murders yet,
right?

But what's concerning
to me is that
in November of 2022,

Ashley Real came in,

filed a domestic complaint
against him

for strangulation,
and where did that go?

What happened with that?

Because she was
last seen in March,

and how was he
not tied to this?

You're obviously going
to look at a significant other

if someone goes missing.

Was he already on the radar,
or we just didn't know
about it?

Did they not put this
information out publicly?

And if they did have
this information,

why would someone
come out and say,

"Hey, no need to worry,
these aren't connected

in any way, shape, or form?"

[Mara] Well, we're talking
about the six deaths in

a relatively short period
of time of these young women.

And now officials,
initially they were saying

they have nothing to do
with each other.

Now they're saying
four of them they believe
are connected.

-So they still believe
that two of them...
-Right.

are not connected.

But of the four, one of
them is this woman

who actually filed a complaint
against Calhoun.

-That presumably is
the link to Calhoun.
-That's right.

And they have other
commonalities.

They were all found
outside in wooded,

secluded areas,
all under the age of 40.

Two of them were
found on the same day

and less than
three miles apart.

Many of them frequented
the same places.

So there is reason
to believe that there's
something to look into.

[Nancy] Have you guys
looked at his rap,

his record, his rap sheet?

Yet they let him out?

Okay, meth, number one,
methamphetamines.

Guns, a prolific thief,
career criminal,

burglary, even injuring
not only a cop,

but a police dog.

He actually attacked
not only a cop,

but a police dog as well.

And yet, he walks out of jail.

I don't get it.

Um, one, two, three, four,
five, six, yeah,

six women now dead.
That we know of.

And we know Bridget Webster
is tied directly to Calhoun.

There was...
Allegedly,

he would exchange drugs
for sex with her.

And I wonder if that's going
to be a connection

that we find with the other
female victims, as well.

I'm wondering,
not only there may be DNA,

'cause now
they have him in custody,
he can do a buckle swab,

they can get all
that information.

We don't know what they have
at these crime scenes,

because obviously
they haven't said it publicly.

But I think a combination
of forensic evidence

containing DNA,
but also digital evidence.

Did Calhoun ever have
communications with
these women,

whether it was through
the phone or on a computer.

-That's all things
that need to be seen.
-They need to ping him.

-Ping him.
-See if his pings show up
with their phones,

like they did in
Alex Murdaugh...

-Yeah, absolutely.
-...where you see his phone

with his wife,
Maggie's phone.

-Yeah.
-They can do that.

And not only that,
we know that a huge disservice

was done to the public
by announcing

there is no serial killer,

when in fact we think
that there was.

I'm curious why
they haven't made...

formal charges
and why they haven't
announced that yet,

but I think that's to come.

-[Derrick]
They're playing catch up.
-[Mara] And they also

they haven't released a cause
or manner of death

in many of these cases,
and it'll be interesting
to see.

There is one of the six women,
now this is one that

they say is not related
to the four,

who they do believe
is a victim of foul play.

They say that the body
was found in a location

where she was not killed.

So the body, in other words,
was moved to that location.

She appeared to die of violent
death, blunt force trauma.

So it'll be interesting
to see if this woman

is then connected
to the other four.

Did you look at
their pictures?

Charles or John D.,
can you put up
the victim's pictures?

Much like with Ted Bundy,
do you see

the physical similarities
in these women?

Because I do.

[Derrick] To answer
your question earlier,

that's what they're doing
right now.

They're dotting their I's,
they're crossing their T's.

Now they have a suspect,
they have the victims.

They're going to see
if they can make

any connection between
the two of them.

And they're going to do that
for each victim individually.

I mean, one of the women
is the woman he beat.

But these other four,
we know that he's connected

to two personally.

The other four,
they can go back.

Like you were just saying,
GPS coordinates,

cell phone coordinates,
forensics.

Was there any personal
relationships?

-Derrick, Derrick, Derrick.
-Then the charges are coming.

My sweet boy,
it takes one subpoena.

-Yeah.
-One subpoena...

take him to the phone company

and there's your
digital evidence.

-Yeah.
-It's not rocket science.

It ain't brain surgery.

He's in jail till
June of 2024.

So there's really no rush
at this point.

He's not going anywhere.

-They have plenty of time.
-He got out early once before.

-No, he's not going anywhere.
-You want to try it again?

-Yeah.
-Well, they revoked it

just to button that up,
they revoked the,

the commutation of
the sentence or whatever

-Yeah.
-the actual case was and...

And he's now back in prison
because he got out

-and was committing crimes.
-For now.

Mara Campo, for now.

We thought he wouldn't
get out before, right?

He did.

Guys, every week,
Crimefeed brings you

the biggest crime stories
from across our great nation,

some ripped from
the headlines.

Some you may
never have heard of.

For myself, Mara, and Derrick,

we'll see you next week.
Good night, friends.

[inaudible conversation]