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00:00In December 1991, in Detroit and neighboring city Highland Park,
00:07the bodies of two women were discovered in abandoned buildings.
00:13They were being lured in with crack cocaine.
00:17Then they were strangled, killed, and left for people to find.
00:22When more bodies started appearing, police from both districts realized
00:27that a dangerous predator was roaming their streets.
00:31The community was livid. They wanted it done right now.
00:36When are you going to solve it?
00:38We didn't have a clue of getting to the suspect yet.
00:43One woman was sure she had survived an attack by the killer,
00:47a man she knew as Tony, 24-year-old Benjamin Atkins,
00:52but her claims were ignored by the police.
00:55They file a report, but then nothing comes of it.
01:00They basically just told her, go home.
01:02Now everybody knew her, go home, Darlene.
01:05With every month that passed, the body count continued to rise
01:09until one officer finally took Darlene's claims seriously
01:13and drove her out onto the streets to look for her attacker.
01:17She got the hyperbidolating.
01:21And I grabbed her and physically shook her.
01:24I said, what's wrong, Darlene? What's wrong?
01:26She said, that's him. That's Tony.
01:29When the truth finally emerged,
01:32Benjamin Atkins would be unmasked
01:34as one of the world's most evil killers.
01:37In 1994, a case that had horrified the city of Detroit concluded.
02:06With one of the world's fastest-moving serial killers,
02:1024-year-old Benjamin Atkins, being locked away for life.
02:17But when the killings began three years earlier,
02:20they had gone largely unnoticed.
02:23In the beginning, when they did find that the victims were known prostitutes
02:28and they were drug addicts,
02:30they were just thought of as the typical homicides
02:34that were happening in the city at the time.
02:36To find a deceased sex worker
02:40was not at all unusual in Detroit.
02:42When the community started demanding answers,
02:48four law enforcement agencies came together to catch the killer.
02:53Atkins had the whole city paralysed with fear.
02:57Women were genuinely afraid to go out at night on their own,
03:00particularly in the Highland Park area.
03:02The FBI profilers were stating that he killed more people
03:08in less time than Jack the Ripper.
03:10And to be involved in that case
03:12was something that I will always remember.
03:19This killer's story begins in Ohio on August the 26th, 1968.
03:25Benjamin Atkins had what you could describe
03:31as a catastrophic childhood.
03:34He was the younger of two brothers,
03:36and by 1970, his father had disappeared.
03:40His mom, Judy, was on her own
03:42with these two young, very young boys.
03:45And so at that point, she went to Detroit,
03:47where her mom was living.
03:51But Judy was really absent
03:54through Benjamin's childhood.
03:57She was addicted to heroin,
04:00and she was doing prostitution.
04:04She simply couldn't cope,
04:07and it wasn't long before
04:08Benjamin was put into care.
04:14He was in the foster system
04:16from a very early age,
04:18from the age of four or five years old.
04:21He and his brother were shuttled
04:22from one foster home to another.
04:27He got shipped around
04:28and eventually wound up in a boy's home
04:31where he was physically and sexually abused
04:34on a regular basis.
04:37In 1980, at the age of 11,
04:40Atkins was discharged from the care system.
04:43He's returned to his mother,
04:46but nothing really has changed.
04:49He watches her have sex with various men
04:52at various points.
04:54The boys were left to their own devices.
04:57And that is when Benjamin, as a teenager,
05:01started hustling on the street.
05:03He learned he could get money
05:05by selling himself with men on the street.
05:08From there, Benjamin got into a variety of drugs,
05:14and he graduated to crack cocaine.
05:20It was a way out.
05:21It was an escape for him
05:22from the horrors of the life that he was leading.
05:26In the 1980s, Detroit was a city in decline.
05:31We had a drug problem at the time.
05:33We had street sales of crack cocaine and heroin
05:36that were rampant.
05:39The city was overwhelmed with the narcotics trade.
05:43Crack was available very easily, very cheap,
05:48and people got addicted very quickly.
05:53By the time Atkins got to be an adult,
05:56he was spending a lot of his time on the streets.
05:59He was homeless off and on.
06:01Sometimes he would stay with his brother.
06:03Sometimes he would just be sleeping
06:05in abandoned buildings.
06:07And that's when the crimes began.
06:13In his early 20s,
06:15Atkins' violent tendencies started to emerge.
06:19Atkins was very methodical.
06:21He followed the same formula.
06:23He would meet a female,
06:24and maybe it was someone he even saw around.
06:27People tended to know each other there on Woodward Ave
06:29in Highland Park in Detroit.
06:31And so he would typically talk to her,
06:35engage her in conversations,
06:36say, hey, I've got something to smoke.
06:38You have a pipe.
06:39That was the question that he asked
06:41the one known survivor at the time, Darlene,
06:43do you have a pipe to smoke with?
06:45And that's how he was able to lure her off
06:47to a dark corner and then try to kill her.
06:52Darlene was someone who was a mom
06:55and a wife in Highland Park.
06:57She had boys.
06:59In October 1991,
07:02Darlene's youngest son,
07:03Rashad Green,
07:05was 12 years old.
07:07There's not enough time for the words
07:08to put in about my mother.
07:10Nothing she wouldn't do for her family,
07:12especially her kids.
07:13There's nothing she wouldn't do for us.
07:15Alongside caring for her family, however,
07:1834-year-old Darlene struggled
07:20with drug addiction.
07:22She was known around the area.
07:25She was part of the community.
07:27She also spent some time on the street,
07:29and she spent some time doing prostitution.
07:33Even when she ventured off into different things,
07:37she would always make her way back
07:38to see if nobody else was me or her baby.
07:42I used to sit in my front-room window
07:44and look out the window looking for my mother
07:45to come walking up at any moment.
07:48Some days I wouldn't go to sleep
07:49waiting up looking for her.
07:50I would get on my bike
07:52and ride through the neighborhood
07:52looking for my mother.
07:55That's my mom.
07:58Darlene had seen Atkins
08:00on Woodward Ave in Highland Park,
08:03and she knew him as Tony.
08:05That was his street name.
08:06There was one night,
08:12early morning hours,
08:14like three or four in the morning.
08:15Darlene was out and about,
08:17and she was on her way somewhere,
08:19and she encountered Tony.
08:23Tony asked her,
08:24do you have a pipe?
08:25Do you want to go smoke somewhere?
08:27And there was nothing unusual about that at all.
08:30Highland Park in Detroit
08:34had been a prosperous community,
08:36but it had gone downhill very quickly,
08:40reflecting the collapse of the economy
08:42of Detroit as a whole.
08:46Most of the buildings
08:48on the southern Woodward corridor
08:49were abandoned.
08:50There was hundreds,
08:52if not thousands,
08:53of houses in the city
08:54that were abandoned.
08:55They went to the outside
08:57of an abandoned restaurant.
08:59Tony said something about,
09:01you know, it's a little windy out here.
09:02Let's go inside.
09:03Once they get inside,
09:05she's reaching for the pipe,
09:08and all of a sudden,
09:09he grabs her,
09:10and he takes the coat
09:13that she's wearing
09:13and brings it down around her arms
09:16so she can't move.
09:18He attacked her.
09:20He raped her.
09:21But then he attacked her again.
09:23And at that point,
09:24she started screaming.
09:27She realizes that her life is in danger,
09:29and so she's fighting him.
09:31She manages to hit him hard enough
09:34to give her a moment to run outside.
09:38She runs outside.
09:39She's yelling, screaming,
09:40help, help, rape.
09:44There's actually someone nearby.
09:46He heard Darlene screaming,
09:48and he's like, where you at?
09:52And that was enough,
09:53knowing that there was another man there
09:55who was approaching.
09:56That was enough to make Atkins run away.
10:03Darlene Saunders was embarrassed,
10:05didn't want to tell anybody about the attack
10:08that she'd suffered,
10:09and she simply went home.
10:10Rashad remembers his mother arriving home that night.
10:16She just hugged me all night,
10:18said right there with me,
10:19just, I just love you so much.
10:23And, you know, I knew something was wrong.
10:24I'm just asking, you know,
10:25mama was wrong.
10:26What are you talking about?
10:27I love you too.
10:30Once she did finally go to sleep,
10:32of course, I had to go to school in the morning.
10:33I got myself together and went to school,
10:36come back, she was still here.
10:37As long as she would be gone.
10:40That night wasn't the last time
10:43Darlene would meet her attacker.
10:45She saw him at a crack house
10:48not too long after that.
10:49And she was coming up to the house,
10:51and he held the door for her to come in.
10:54And she said, Tony, why did you do that to me?
10:57And he said, I don't want to talk about it.
10:59She did not go to police
11:01because truthfully,
11:03for a lot of the women in this situation,
11:06they get attacked all the time.
11:09So she kept the story to herself.
11:13I don't think it's surprising at all
11:15that Darlene didn't report
11:17what had happened to her.
11:18I mean, look at the world she was living in.
11:22I fully expect that she didn't think
11:25anyone would believe her,
11:27that anybody would see her
11:28as important enough
11:29to investigate that crime.
11:33Benjamin Atkins had got away
11:36with assaulting a vulnerable young mother,
11:38but he wasn't about to stop there.
11:41And the next time his attack would end...
11:43..in murder.
11:45In 1991, a man with the desire to kill
11:58was prowling the streets of Detroit.
12:01It would be December
12:02before his crimes would start to be exposed.
12:05December 14th, 1991 was when Debbie Friday
12:12was discovered in Highland Park.
12:17She was probably only killed the day before
12:20because that's about when she was last seen.
12:24So she was not lying there very long
12:27in an empty building before she was discovered.
12:29Later that month, Bertha Mason was discovered.
12:35That was by Detroit police.
12:39At the time, we were dealing with
12:41not as many officers as we should have on the street.
12:44We weren't getting properly funded.
12:47We had laid off 10 police officers.
12:50So it was not good conditions
12:53to be catching a violent, fast-moving killer.
13:00Both victims were sex workers
13:02who were known to the police.
13:05And just a few days later,
13:07at the start of the new year,
13:08the body count continued to rise.
13:15So then January 1992, January 3rd,
13:19there was a demolition company at a house.
13:23One of the workers saw something
13:25over by the chain-link fence that was unusual.
13:29Almost thought it was a mannequin at first.
13:31And they discovered it was a woman,
13:33the body of a woman.
13:34And that was Patricia Cannon George.
13:40With the discovery of a third body,
13:43the media was starting to ask questions.
13:47The writer for the Detroit News
13:49came up and asked,
13:50could he speak with me?
13:52I said, sure.
13:54He was saying,
13:55what information do you have
13:56on the serial killers?
13:58We didn't use, at that time,
14:01serial killer.
14:02We used multiple homicides
14:04and things like this.
14:08Detroit Police Department,
14:10their homicide division,
14:11said there was no such thing
14:12occurring in their community.
14:14We knew that was not true.
14:19We knew that there was incidents
14:21occurring in Detroit.
14:23Usually there's cooperation
14:24in law enforcement
14:25between police agencies.
14:27Our officers from Highland Park
14:29went to Detroit
14:30and they got buzzed off.
14:33So there were no communications,
14:35which made it extremely difficult.
14:37It was only a few weeks
14:40before police were called
14:41to yet another crime scene.
14:43Later in January 1992,
14:46Vicky Truelove was discovered
14:47at an abandoned nursing home
14:49along Woodward Ave.
14:52That's four women,
14:55three in Detroit
14:55and one in Highland Park.
14:58Detroit has no choice
14:59but to think,
15:00okay, maybe it's the same person
15:02doing this.
15:03We got the same M.O.,
15:04we got the same victim type.
15:07Maybe we have a serial killer.
15:12The scenes were very chaotic.
15:16All of them were
15:17in abandoned buildings.
15:21And you had rubbish
15:22and litter
15:23and construction material
15:25that's fallen from the buildings.
15:29All four victims
15:30had crack cocaine
15:31in the system
15:32and all had been
15:33manually strangled.
15:36Some of the bodies
15:37had been there
15:38for several weeks,
15:40not in the best condition.
15:44Although police
15:45were no closer
15:46to finding the killer,
15:48the crime scenes
15:49were yielding some clues.
15:52Used condoms
15:53were found
15:53near some of the bodies.
15:57At one location,
15:58they was able
15:59to get a palm print.
16:02Then there was
16:03the discovery
16:04at the Monterey Motel
16:05in February 1992
16:07that blew the case
16:08wide open.
16:12The Monterey Motel
16:14was in Highland Park
16:15in Detroit
16:16on what was known
16:16as the Woodward Corridor.
16:18And it had a good past,
16:20but like Detroit itself,
16:21had begun to decay dreadfully
16:24and it had become
16:25a home for vagrants.
16:27It was often used
16:28by sex workers.
16:31On February 17th, 1992,
16:34a man searching
16:35for scrap material
16:36in the motel
16:38made a gruesome discovery.
16:40He goes into the bathroom
16:42of one of the empty rooms
16:44and he sees
16:46what appears to be
16:47a body part
16:48of a person.
16:49And he realizes,
16:51okay, wow,
16:51this is a dead woman
16:53that I have found here.
16:54And so he runs out of there,
16:55he gets police.
16:58Highland Park
16:59public safety officers
17:01arrived at the scene
17:02and made the decision
17:03to check the rest
17:05of the motel.
17:07There were just trash
17:08everywhere.
17:10Bits and pieces
17:11of rubble,
17:13parts of the room,
17:14wrappers from food
17:16and cigarettes
17:17and liquor bottles
17:18and just trash everywhere.
17:21They go through
17:22each of the rooms
17:23and lo and behold,
17:24they find two other females
17:26in two other rooms
17:28and all three women
17:29have been left there
17:30at different times.
17:33They didn't have
17:34any identification
17:35and that's not unusual
17:37for people
17:38who's working the street.
17:39They don't carry
17:40identification.
17:41DNA wasn't a big thing
17:44in the early 90s.
17:45We didn't have
17:46a DNA database.
17:47So most of them
17:49were identified
17:49by their fingerprints.
17:52Two of the three bodies
17:53were identified
17:54as Valerie Chalk
17:56and Juanita Hardy.
17:58The identity
17:58of the third body
18:00found inside
18:01the Monterey Motel
18:02would remain a mystery
18:04for many years.
18:06For this Jane Doe,
18:07they had her fingerprints
18:08and they had a lot
18:09of missing females
18:10on record
18:11to test her against.
18:13They ran her prints
18:14against a lot
18:16of different women
18:17with no results whatsoever.
18:22When they found
18:23three at once
18:23and they were all killed
18:24in the same fashion,
18:25they realized
18:27that it had to be
18:27one person killing
18:29the people
18:30in the same way.
18:32They then linked it
18:33together with some
18:34of the other bodies
18:35that were being found
18:36and they knew
18:37at that time
18:38that they had a problem
18:39that they were going
18:39to need assistance with.
18:44Michigan State
18:45police profiler
18:46David Minzey
18:47was called in
18:48to help.
18:49I was asked
18:50to come in
18:50when they discovered
18:51the three bodies
18:52in the abandoned motel
18:54in Highland Park.
18:57Profiling is something
18:58that we can provide
18:59detectives
19:00who may never
19:01have investigated
19:01a serial killer.
19:03David started
19:04putting together
19:05a profile
19:06of the killer.
19:08I always felt
19:09that he was
19:10in that area
19:11specifically because
19:12he was comfortable
19:13there.
19:13I think that
19:14there was some thought
19:15that maybe somebody
19:16else was coming
19:17in to Highland Park
19:18from the suburbs
19:19and I never felt
19:20that to be true.
19:21I thought that
19:21he was in there.
19:22He didn't stand out.
19:23He didn't draw
19:24any attention to himself
19:25and that's how
19:26he was able to operate
19:27for so long
19:28and do so much damage.
19:30Seven bodies
19:31had now been discovered.
19:33Women were terrified
19:34to go out
19:35after dark.
19:36The communities
19:37of Highland Park
19:38and Detroit
19:39were being targeted
19:40by a serial killer
19:42and he was far
19:43from finished.
19:53By 1992,
19:56seven bodies
19:56had been discovered
19:57in and around
19:59abandoned buildings
20:00in the cities
20:01of Highland Park
20:02and Detroit
20:03in Michigan.
20:05Police were following
20:06up all sorts
20:07of leads
20:08but were no closer
20:09to identifying
20:10their killer.
20:14Usually,
20:15when you start
20:16looking at a murder,
20:17the first thing
20:17you're going to think
20:18about is motivation
20:19and if there's
20:20no relationship,
20:22where do you
20:22even start?
20:24and that's why
20:26serial killers
20:26are difficult
20:27to catch.
20:28It's that complete
20:29lack of relationship.
20:31This could be
20:32literally anybody.
20:35At the time,
20:36it was sort of chaos.
20:37We were going around
20:38asking informants
20:39for any leads
20:40and there was a lot
20:41of people
20:42that were giving us leads
20:43and telling us people
20:44that they thought
20:45were the person
20:46and we were doing
20:48our jobs.
20:49We were going
20:49to those people,
20:50investigating them
20:50and questioning them,
20:51trying to figure out
20:52where they were
20:53at the times
20:53of these deaths.
20:55We had girlfriends
20:56reporting their boyfriends,
20:59wives reporting
21:00their husbands
21:00and none of it
21:03was credible.
21:07There was a lot
21:08of fear
21:09in Detroit
21:10and Highland Park
21:11when the news
21:12was getting around
21:13that there was
21:13a serial killer
21:14and there were residents
21:16in Highland Park
21:17especially
21:17that were worried
21:18about their children
21:20walking to school,
21:21that were worried
21:21about just taking
21:22a walk anywhere
21:23in the city.
21:26The streets
21:27were barren
21:28as soon as
21:29the streetlights
21:29came out.
21:30You could walk
21:31from one end
21:31to the next
21:32and probably
21:32wouldn't pass
21:33two people.
21:35As the body count
21:36grew,
21:37so did the interest
21:39from the media.
21:41It worked
21:42the community
21:43up in a frenzy.
21:44They wanted it
21:45done right now.
21:47Why haven't
21:48we solved this?
21:49We're finding bodies.
21:51What are you doing
21:52about this?
21:53When are you
21:53going to solve it?
21:55We didn't have
21:55a clue
21:56of getting
21:58to the suspect yet.
22:03Darlene Saunders,
22:04who'd survived
22:05an attack
22:06the year before
22:07by the man
22:08she knew
22:08as Tony,
22:09heard the news reports.
22:11She could feel
22:12in her heart
22:13that it was Tony
22:14that did this
22:15to the women.
22:16and so
22:18in March
22:19she goes
22:20to police
22:20and she sits
22:22down
22:22and she tells
22:23her story.
22:23They file
22:24a report
22:25but then
22:26nothing comes
22:26of it.
22:28They looked at her
22:29as a drug addict.
22:30Prostitute.
22:32Who gonna do
22:32something to you
22:33like this?
22:35They basically
22:36just told her
22:36go home.
22:38You know,
22:38everybody knew her.
22:39Go home, darling.
22:39She was overlooked.
22:43She was treated
22:44like an object.
22:45Just pushed
22:46to the side.
22:49Meanwhile,
22:5043-year-old
22:52Vicky Marie
22:52Beasley Brown
22:53went out
22:54one night
22:55and didn't
22:56return home.
22:59Vicky Marie
23:00Beasley Brown,
23:01she was a mom.
23:03She had kids
23:03at home.
23:06Vicky Marie's
23:07eldest daughter,
23:08Renee,
23:08was 23 years
23:10old when
23:10her mom
23:11went missing.
23:12My mom
23:13was a very
23:14innocent,
23:16creative,
23:17charismatic
23:18ball of energy.
23:21She loved
23:23singing
23:23and drawing
23:24and writing
23:25and cooking
23:26but she didn't
23:27really have
23:28a lot of street
23:29sense.
23:29She trusted
23:30people probably
23:31a little bit
23:32too much.
23:34She was not
23:35living on the
23:36street.
23:36She had a home
23:37but she had
23:38had troubles
23:39in her
23:39adulthood.
23:40She had had
23:41struggles with
23:42dependency on
23:43drugs.
23:44She struggled
23:45with addiction
23:45but she was
23:46not a prostitute.
23:47That was not
23:48her lifestyle.
23:50Renee was out
23:51of the country
23:51when she heard
23:52that Vicky Marie
23:53was missing
23:54but her 9
23:55and 10-year-old
23:56sisters still
23:57lived at home
23:58with their mom.
23:59We are a married
24:01Air Force family.
24:02At the time,
24:03we were living
24:03in Germany
24:04and we had
24:05just had
24:05her first baby
24:06and we got
24:06the news
24:07that my mom
24:07was missing
24:08and from that
24:10I just kind
24:11of knew
24:12something was
24:12wrong because
24:13she missed
24:13my little
24:14sister's birthday
24:14and that's
24:16something she
24:16would have
24:16never done.
24:18It was
24:19terrifying
24:20because I'm
24:20not only thinking
24:21about the fact
24:21that she's missing,
24:22I'm thinking
24:23that I have
24:23two little
24:24siblings
24:24who are
24:25little girls
24:26that I'm
24:27like,
24:27well,
24:27where are
24:28they at?
24:28Who are
24:29they with?
24:30As Vicky Marie's
24:31family waited
24:32for news,
24:33another death
24:34was linked
24:35to the active
24:36serial killer.
24:38In April,
24:40Brenda Mitchell
24:41was discovered
24:42in an abandoned
24:43house in Highland Park.
24:45On April 15,
24:481992,
24:49yet another body
24:51was uncovered
24:51at an abandoned
24:53building in Highland Park.
24:55Public Safety Officer
24:56Craig Pulverenti
24:57was first
24:59on the scene.
25:00We found
25:01a female body.
25:03She was covered
25:04in debris.
25:06Her clothes
25:07were half off
25:08and we realized
25:09that it had
25:10probably been
25:10a murder
25:10and a sexual
25:11assault
25:12at the same time.
25:13The body
25:14was soon
25:14identified
25:15as 43-year-old
25:17Vicky Marie
25:18Beasley Brown.
25:19It was the news
25:20her daughter
25:21had been dreading.
25:23The thing
25:24that's really tragic
25:25is that
25:25she just ended up
25:27at the wrong place
25:28at the wrong time
25:29and met up
25:30with the wrong person
25:31because that was
25:33not her life.
25:34That was not
25:35what she did.
25:36That wasn't
25:37who she was.
25:39It was probably
25:40the scariest,
25:42most helpless
25:43time in my life
25:44because I felt like
25:45there was nothing
25:46I was going to be able
25:46to say or do
25:48to make things right
25:50for those two little
25:52people who
25:53lost their mom.
25:54Highland Park Police
25:57knew that they
25:58needed to start
25:59communicating with
26:00the Detroit Police
26:01Department
26:02if they were to
26:03have any hope
26:04of finding the killer
26:05who was terrorizing
26:07their streets.
26:08Finally,
26:09a meeting was set up
26:11and a multi-agency
26:12task force
26:13was created.
26:16Michigan State Police,
26:17Wayne County Sheriff's
26:18Department,
26:19and the Detroit
26:20Office of the FBI,
26:22they all sent
26:23officers in to help.
26:24And from there,
26:26after that,
26:28it came together.
26:31They realized
26:32that all the victims
26:33had similarities.
26:34They were all choked.
26:35They were all
26:36sexually assaulted.
26:37With the arrival
26:38of summer
26:39in Highland Park,
26:40the temperatures
26:41increased.
26:44In June,
26:46police were alerted
26:47to a foul smell
26:48that was coming out
26:50of an abandoned
26:51commercial building
26:52on Woodward Ave
26:53in Highland Park.
26:55The original call came
26:57that there was a stench
26:58coming from the building
26:59and somebody believed it
26:59to be a body.
27:01So I was dispatched
27:02there along with a couple
27:03of command officers.
27:04And as we got there
27:05and we entered the building,
27:06there were flies everywhere.
27:09And it appeared
27:10that the stench
27:10could just be from the garbage.
27:12So at the time,
27:13the two command officers
27:14stood back at the door
27:15and I said I'd go in
27:16and further investigate.
27:19As I walked in further,
27:21I did look down
27:22and I saw a leg
27:23hanging out
27:23from beneath the garbage.
27:26The tenth body
27:27was identified
27:28as 40-year-old
27:30Joanne O'Rourke.
27:34When I had an opportunity
27:35to view all of the victims
27:37and how they were murdered,
27:40that I really had
27:41a pretty good understanding
27:42of the type of person
27:43that we would be looking for.
27:46David Minzey concluded
27:48that the killer
27:49was likely to be
27:50a black male
27:51who lived in the local area.
27:53He indicated
27:54that he could be
27:55a familiar face
27:56to some,
27:57if not all,
27:58of the victims.
28:00They gave us
28:01a perfect profile
28:02of what the killer would be
28:03and they were dead on
28:05on their profile.
28:07I think the profile
28:09really helped
28:09the investigators know
28:10that they're
28:11on the right track.
28:12that you're heading
28:12in the right direction
28:13and you're going
28:14to find him.
28:16What police didn't realize
28:18is they'd already
28:20taken and put aside
28:22a statement
28:22from a possible survivor
28:24of the killer
28:25they were so desperate
28:26to catch.
28:29In the summer of 1992,
28:32one of Darlene's
28:33family members
28:33put pressure on the police
28:35to look at her evidence again.
28:37at that point,
28:40they finally found Darlene's
28:43old police report
28:44from March
28:45and they had her come back in
28:47and finally police
28:50are taking her seriously
28:52that this Tony
28:53could be the killer.
28:56They decided,
28:57okay, we want to go out
28:58to Woodward Avenue
28:59and see if we can find
29:00this Tony guy
29:01who attacked Darlene.
29:02So Darlene was assigned
29:04to an officer
29:05with the Michigan State Police
29:06named Royce Elston.
29:09My job was to
29:10take Darlene out
29:11every night
29:12hoping that we spotted
29:14the guy
29:15that had assaulted her.
29:17Mr. Royce,
29:24he just kept saying
29:25that we're going to get him.
29:26My mother said
29:27that nobody believed me
29:29so why you believe me?
29:30I believe you.
29:31We're going to get him.
29:34Nighttime was Tony's time
29:36and so Darlene knew that
29:38and so it was always nighttime
29:40when they went out
29:41and Royce would
29:42have Darlene with him
29:44and they would be out
29:44prowling around Woodward Avenue
29:46looking for Tony
29:47like a few times a week.
29:51Darlene was one of a kind.
29:54She would tell me
29:54these war stories,
29:56how she had to jump out
29:57of her car,
29:58how she had to jump
29:58out of a motel room,
30:00how she had to run
30:01to get away.
30:03And I said,
30:04stop telling me
30:05all these war stories
30:06and look at these people
30:07out on the street.
30:10Darlene took him
30:11to all kinds of places,
30:13all kinds of little nooks
30:14and crannies
30:15on Woodward Ave.,
30:16in the drug culture,
30:17in the seedy street culture
30:19that police had no idea
30:21even existed.
30:22They did this for a few weeks
30:24before one night
30:26when Darlene finally spotted Tony.
30:31He was at a pay phone
30:32and Royce and Darlene
30:35and Darlene were in a car
30:36and Darlene started to react.
30:39She started to basically
30:40hyperventilate.
30:42I thought she was sick
30:44and I'm like,
30:44what's wrong with you?
30:46And I grabbed her
30:47and physically shook her.
30:48I said,
30:48what's wrong, Darlene?
30:49What's wrong?
30:50She said,
30:51that's him.
30:52That's Tony.
30:54And I said,
30:55are you sure?
30:55She said,
30:56Royce,
30:56that's him.
30:57He stops the car.
31:00He gets out.
31:01He approaches this guy.
31:05I said,
31:05are you Tony?
31:06He said,
31:07yeah.
31:07I said,
31:07do you know who I am?
31:09He said,
31:09yeah.
31:10He said,
31:11you're the state trooper
31:12that's been looking for me.
31:14I said,
31:14well,
31:14son,
31:14you got two choices.
31:16And he says,
31:17what's my choices?
31:19I say,
31:20either you can lay down
31:21on the ground
31:21or you can die.
31:23And I drew my weapon.
31:24With nowhere to run,
31:28the man lay on the ground
31:29and the arrest was made.
31:31Darlene's attacker,
31:33Tony,
31:33was in fact
31:3424-year-old
31:36Benjamin Atkins.
31:38He knew he was going to get caught.
31:39It was the inevitable ending.
31:42I don't think
31:43he'd have stopped
31:44until he was stopped.
31:47I was glad
31:48that he was caught
31:49because I still didn't understand
31:50what happened.
31:52My father just kept saying
31:54that my mother did
31:55a good thing.
31:57Darlene was very important
31:59to the case.
32:00To be honest,
32:02I don't think
32:03we would have got this solved
32:04if it wasn't for Darlene.
32:07Police were certain
32:09they finally had their man.
32:11A killer responsible
32:12for at least 10 murders
32:14was in custody.
32:16But what he had to tell
32:18detectives
32:19would shock them.
32:20to the core.
32:31By the summer of 1992,
32:34the bodies of 10 females
32:36had been found
32:37in the cities of Detroit
32:39and Highland Park
32:40in Michigan.
32:42On August 20th,
32:44Benjamin Atkins
32:45had finally been apprehended
32:47and was in police custody.
32:49About a day and a half
32:51after Atkins was arrested,
32:54they questioned him.
32:56And at first,
32:57Atkins was denying everything.
32:59Nope, didn't do it.
33:00Don't know these women.
33:01Have no idea
33:02what you're talking about.
33:03And they were getting nowhere.
33:06That's the nature
33:07of an interview
33:07with somebody like him.
33:08You can't go in
33:09and in five minutes
33:11get a confession.
33:12It takes time.
33:13You have to learn about him,
33:15learn about why he may be
33:17the person that he is.
33:19And so they called in
33:21an officer with Detroit police
33:23named Ron Sanders,
33:24who was known to be
33:25a very good interrogator.
33:28Sanders took an approach
33:30of redemption.
33:32Like, okay,
33:33you can't save these women now,
33:35but you can help yourself.
33:38And he was able
33:39to get Atkins
33:40to finally crack
33:42and to finally confess
33:43these crimes.
33:46No remorse whatsoever.
33:49I did this.
33:50I'm the guy that did that.
33:53On August 21st, 1992,
33:57Atkins started spilling
33:59the details
33:59of all ten murders
34:01the police were aware of.
34:03He also confessed
34:05to the assault
34:06on Darlene Saunders.
34:07He would follow
34:09this formula
34:10of engaging
34:10the female in conversation,
34:12taking her somewhere,
34:13an abandoned house,
34:15an abandoned commercial building,
34:16because there were
34:17lots of them
34:17to choose from
34:18on Woodward Ave.
34:20And there,
34:21they would start
34:22to smoke some crack.
34:25Then things went sideways
34:27for Atkins.
34:30Benjamin knew
34:31if he had drugs,
34:33these girls would follow him
34:34to the end of time.
34:37You manipulate somebody
34:39to kill them.
34:41That's evil.
34:44Almost always,
34:45he would take
34:46a piece of their clothing
34:48or maybe an object
34:49found nearby
34:50to bind them.
34:54They would pass out.
34:56He would rape them.
34:58Sometimes they would come too.
35:01He would strangle them again.
35:03And when he had strangled them
35:05to the point
35:05that he felt
35:06they were dead,
35:07he would actually check
35:09to make sure
35:09they were dead.
35:11He would press
35:12on their chest
35:14or their stomach.
35:15He would feel
35:15for a pulse.
35:17He would check
35:17to see if there was
35:19any breath
35:19coming out of them.
35:21So he followed
35:22all of these steps
35:23to make sure
35:23that they were dead.
35:25Then he would find
35:26some place
35:26to hide them.
35:27For a person
35:30to just willingly
35:31go out
35:32and kill people
35:32like that,
35:33I think that's
35:34a new level
35:35of evil.
35:37Saunders
35:38had wrote out
35:39every confession,
35:41had him sign it
35:42as soon as he finished
35:44and then go
35:45to the next one.
35:46We literally
35:47looked at each other
35:48like,
35:49whoa.
35:49Atkins' confessions
35:54didn't end there,
35:55however.
35:56He had one more
35:57shock in store.
35:59He said,
36:00I'm going to give you
36:00a body
36:00that you guys
36:02haven't found.
36:04And that right there
36:05hit me like
36:06a ton of bricks.
36:07Out of nowhere,
36:09Atkins had confessed
36:10to an 11th murder.
36:12That was C.C. Wehmer,
36:14the final person
36:15he killed
36:16at the end of May.
36:17So police went
36:18that day
36:18in August
36:19to discover her body
36:20in an empty garage
36:22in Highland Park.
36:24He said it was
36:24down in the basement.
36:25Now this was a garage
36:27and I walked that beep
36:29and I knew
36:30the exact place
36:31that they were speaking of
36:32but I never knew
36:33it had a basement.
36:35The crime scene
36:36was ideal.
36:38There was nothing else
36:39in the basement,
36:40not one thing.
36:41The temperature
36:42was cold enough
36:43that the body
36:44was in ideal condition.
36:48Police were
36:48keen to find out
36:50the motive
36:50behind Atkins' crimes.
36:55He did talk about
36:56a hatred
36:56for prostitutes.
36:59And as Ron Sanders
37:01was questioning him,
37:02he was picking up
37:03on a very troubled
37:04childhood.
37:08And he was hearing
37:09about the mom
37:10who would take
37:11her little boys
37:12and put them
37:12in the back seat
37:13while she was
37:14in the front seat
37:14with a John.
37:16When it comes
37:17to serial killers,
37:18quite often we see
37:19that same childhood
37:20experience that they
37:22weren't really loved
37:23like you should a child.
37:25There were cops
37:27who worked this case
37:28who said that
37:29he was killing
37:30his mother over and over
37:32and over.
37:33They fit the characteristics
37:34of his mother.
37:35They were women
37:37who were working
37:38the streets.
37:39They were women
37:40who were using drugs.
37:41And they were women
37:42of color.
37:45They were varying ages,
37:47but they fit the type
37:49of his mom.
37:50I actually have no sympathy
37:55at all for Atkins
37:56and his troubled past.
37:57People have even worse
38:00pasts than Atkins had,
38:02and they do not go on
38:04to hurt, much less kill,
38:07anyone.
38:16After Atkins was arrested
38:17in August 1992,
38:19as police were
38:21piecing together
38:22the details
38:23of all of these murders,
38:25they tried to put together
38:26a time frame.
38:28It was probably
38:28six to seven months
38:30that these 11 murders
38:31happened,
38:32which is very chilling.
38:35In August 1992,
38:38Atkins was arraigned
38:39for 11 murders
38:41and the assault
38:42on Darlene Saunders.
38:44There seemed to be
38:45a lot of media attention
38:46before Atkins was
38:48identified and arrested.
38:49when there was a killer
38:50out there who was unknown
38:52and we didn't know
38:53who he was going
38:54to strike next.
38:55But then by the time
38:56his trial came around
38:58in January 1994,
39:00Judge Kerwin couldn't help
39:02but notice,
39:02where did the media go?
39:04does anybody still care
39:06about this case?
39:06I think it has become
39:09a bit of a cliche.
39:12This is just another serial killer
39:13killing sex workers.
39:15So why should we care about that?
39:17They were mothers.
39:19They were somebody
39:20other than a drug addict
39:21or a prostitute.
39:22They were people.
39:23The prosecution in this case
39:27went in with confessions
39:30that Atkins made
39:31to all the crimes,
39:33DNA evidence against him,
39:35and a witness,
39:37a survivor,
39:38who identified him
39:39as the person
39:40who attacked her.
39:42That was quite a lot
39:44to overcome
39:44for his defense attorney.
39:47And his defense attorney
39:48at one point felt
39:50like he might pursue
39:51an insanity defense.
39:54And so he hired a psychiatrist
39:56to evaluate Atkins.
39:58He had been by this point
40:01telling not only police
40:02but the psychiatrists
40:04who were evaluating him
40:06that he was hearing voices,
40:09that he had these alternate
40:10personalities in his head.
40:12The dominant one
40:13was named Tony.
40:14And Tony was the one
40:16who told him
40:16to do the crimes.
40:17But how much was pretense
40:21and how much was genuine,
40:22I think that's something
40:23that only
40:24Benjamin Atkins knew.
40:27In my opinion,
40:29he was that one evil person
40:31that once he killed somebody,
40:33he enjoyed it.
40:35The man was a monster.
40:37Let's just be truthful.
40:39He was a monster.
40:40He didn't care.
40:41He didn't care.
40:44Psychiatrists deemed
40:45Atkins fit to stand trial.
40:47And on January the 10th, 1994,
40:50proceedings began
40:51at the Wayne County Circuit Court.
40:55Darlene Saunders,
40:56now clean from drugs,
40:58was called to testify.
41:02Darlene Saunders
41:03was an extremely brave woman.
41:06When she testified
41:07at Atkins' preliminary hearing,
41:09she stood up
41:10to a barrage
41:11of cross-examination
41:13designed to question
41:15her character
41:16and her reliability
41:17as a witness.
41:18But she fought
41:19her corner admirably.
41:21She got a prosecutor
41:23telling him
41:24how he tried
41:24to strangle her.
41:25It was like,
41:26you know,
41:27wow.
41:28Amazing woman.
41:29There's nothing
41:29that she couldn't do.
41:30On April 14th, 1994,
41:35the jurors began
41:36their deliberations.
41:37It took them
41:38less than three days
41:39to reach a verdict.
41:41Benjamin Atkins
41:42was found guilty
41:43on all 11 murder charges
41:45and the rape
41:47of Darlene Saunders.
41:49After he was tried
41:51and convicted
41:52and when the time
41:53came for his sentencing
41:54and he had his chance
41:56to make a statement,
41:58he did not apologize
41:59to anyone.
42:01He put the emphasis
42:02on himself,
42:03what he had gone through.
42:06Benjamin Atkins
42:07received 11 life sentences
42:10for the murders
42:11plus an additional
42:12life sentence
42:13for Darlene Saunders' rape.
42:16When Atkins
42:17was sentenced,
42:18it was a great relief
42:20to everyone
42:21from the victim families
42:23who was in the courtroom
42:24to Darlene herself.
42:27When they announced
42:27a sentence
42:28for her own charges
42:29for the rape
42:31and the attack
42:32that she had suffered,
42:33she yelled,
42:34praise you Jesus.
42:36On September 17th, 1997,
42:39after serving
42:40just three years
42:41of his life sentence,
42:43Benjamin Atkins
42:44died in prison.
42:46He was 29 years old.
42:48He was serving out
42:50his sentences
42:50in one of the
42:52correctional facilities
42:53in Jackson, Michigan
42:54and then he died
42:56of HIV AIDS.
42:58So we have to wonder,
43:00okay, did he get tested?
43:01Did he learn he had HIV?
43:03Was there any of that
43:04going on in his brain
43:05when these murders
43:06were happening?
43:07We just don't know.
43:08in 2023,
43:12over 30 years
43:14after the murders,
43:16the Jane Doe
43:17who was found
43:18at the Monterey motel
43:19was finally identified
43:21using forensic genetic genealogy.
43:24At the request
43:25of her family,
43:26her name
43:27has not been
43:28publicly disclosed.
43:29It's fantastic
43:32how well
43:33the scientific community
43:34has helped
43:35with police investigations.
43:38It's a very good thing
43:39for law enforcement
43:40and a very bad thing
43:42for criminals
43:42because it's a little harder
43:44for them to get away
43:44with things these days.
43:46One of the problems
43:48with serial killers
43:50and this interest
43:51that we have
43:52in them
43:52is that we completely
43:54forget sometimes.
43:56There are real people
43:58who were victims here
44:00who really, really suffered.
44:03I would like my mom
44:05to be remembered
44:05as a loving mom
44:07who cared about her kids
44:08but who was at the wrong place
44:10at the wrong time.
44:13She was a gift
44:14to our family.
44:15So many times
44:16we allow people's decisions
44:18and their past
44:20to dictate
44:21and shape your future
44:22and ultimately
44:23you can't control
44:24what happens to you
44:25but you can't control
44:26how you navigate it.
44:28Her life
44:30has created
44:30a legacy
44:31of love
44:32and purpose
44:33and identity
44:34and value
44:35in all of us
44:36that we share
44:36with the people
44:37that we come in contact with.
44:39Darlene Saunders
44:40continued to struggle
44:42with her addictions
44:43but she'd been clean
44:44for a year
44:45when she passed away
44:46in 2002.
44:48My mother did a lot
44:50of things
44:50not so nice
44:52and she did a lot
44:53of things
44:54that were nice.
44:59I'd do anything
45:00to experience that again.
45:04You don't know
45:04how important
45:05somebody is
45:07until you don't
45:08have them anymore.
45:15Benjamin Atkins
45:16took the lives
45:17of 11 women.
45:19He lured them
45:20to their deaths
45:21by preying
45:21on their vulnerabilities
45:22and made sure
45:24their final moments
45:25were filled
45:26with horror.
45:28Had it not been
45:29for Darlene Saunders
45:31he may never
45:32have been revealed
45:33as one of
45:34the world's
45:35most evil killers.
45:36wj
45:51wj
45:51wj
45:53wj
45:54wj
45:55wj
45:56wj
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