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00:07The 8th of February, 1990, Riverside, California.
00:13The half-naked corpse of a woman was found in a grapefruit orchard
00:17on the outskirts of the city by two local workers.
00:21We didn't know who she was.
00:23We'd lift up her shirt, and right in the middle of her chest
00:27were four very distinct stab wounds.
00:31Forensic scientists later identified the woman
00:33as 35-year-old sex worker Carol Miller.
00:37Her stab wounds were a calling card
00:39of the so-called Riverside prostitute killer
00:42who'd already slain three women.
00:4539-year-old Bill Suff would go on to take another nine victims.
00:51I would tell the girls, stay off the streets for a while.
00:54It's not safe. There is a serial murderer out there.
00:57But by day, Suff was a model employee for the local county.
01:02He was very friendly. He was the guy next door.
01:05He was a chameleon.
01:06He could become this monster
01:09and brutalize these women horribly.
01:13The Jekyll and Hyde killer even attacked his own children.
01:17I was not wanting to believe that he would kill our child.
01:23There's no rhyme or reason for it.
01:26Suff beat his two-month-old daughter to death.
01:30He brutally killed and mutilated 12 women.
01:33He spread fear across the county of Riverside,
01:36making Bill Suff one of the world's most evil killers.
02:01The 23rd of December 1991, Riverside, California.
02:09A workman made a shocking discovery.
02:12He found the body of 39-year-old Eleanor Casares lying in orange groves.
02:18She'd been strangled, stabbed and mutilated
02:21and was the 13th victim of the man who'd later become known
02:25as the Riverside Prostitute Killer.
02:30When we look at this particular murder, it was very violent.
02:34And if we look at what he did with the victim's breast,
02:37he mutilated it and he threw it some 40 feet away.
02:40He's just discarding this woman's body part like it's trash.
02:44And I think that's how he saw these victims.
02:47In an act of bravado, the killer dumped Eleanor's body
02:51just a block away from the Riverside Police Department.
02:55Local detective Christine Keir Sheffield had warned Eleanor
02:59about a serial murderer on the loose only days earlier.
03:04When we saw it was Eleanor, I was just like, oh, my God.
03:08You know, we just had this talk.
03:09We just had this talk.
03:11And I knew she had little children.
03:14You fight back your emotions and say,
03:16we've got to get this solved.
03:18Knowing a serial killer was on the rampage
03:21shocked the county of Riverside.
03:24The fear was rampant.
03:25It affected people's willingness to go out at night
03:28and just walk in their neighborhoods.
03:30And the papers played up to that.
03:32There was a great deal of building pressure
03:35on us, law enforcement, to find this individual.
03:42This killer's story begins on the 20th of August, 1950.
03:47William Lester Suff was born in Torrance, California.
03:53From the outside, his family did appear to be very traditional.
03:56He was the eldest of five siblings.
03:58But there was an incredibly abusive relationship
04:01that went on between Suff's parents.
04:04And when a child grows up in an environment like this,
04:06they learn violence is a way of getting what you want.
04:10Violence is a way of maintaining feelings of control.
04:13And those are very toxic things, but they take root.
04:17His mother, Elizabeth, was domineering, overbearing.
04:21His father, William, rather remote.
04:24I'm not suggesting for a moment there was abuse,
04:26but there was certainly a very poor male role model
04:30anywhere around.
04:31At the age of 16, Suff's father walked out on the family.
04:36And his mother was left bringing up five children on her own.
04:40Suff had to work part-time to support his family,
04:43who were in dire straits.
04:46Well, Suff had to take on quite a considerable role
04:50looking after his siblings.
04:51He had a lot of responsibility.
04:53He was essentially an adult in this house.
04:56And I think that impacted upon his own development
04:58to make him quite an isolated and quite a solitary individual.
05:02Elizabeth starts up another relationship with a man
05:06she was eventually to go on and marry.
05:08Now, he was the opposite, if you like, of Suff's father.
05:12He was firm, disciplinarian, very tough, I think, on Suff.
05:20At school, young Suff was an unremarkable student,
05:24but he held his own amongst his peers,
05:27achieving average grades.
05:29He also developed an interest in music
05:32and learned to play the trumpet.
05:35He was in a high school marching band, as a matter of fact.
05:38In his senior year in high school,
05:40his high school marching band had been selected
05:42to participate in the Rose Parade,
05:45which is quite an accomplishment.
05:47It was here, playing with his band,
05:50that the 18-year-old Suff met his first love, Terrell,
05:54who was just 15.
05:57Well, me and my friends from school,
05:59we went to the game, and Bill was there.
06:02He was kind of cute, and so naturally we all flirted.
06:06At the time, I was infatuated.
06:10I thought he was a cute guy.
06:12He asked me for my phone number, and I gave it to him.
06:14And then I heard from him a couple months later
06:18he was going into the Air Force.
06:21Suff wrote to Terrell from his Air Force base in Texas,
06:25where he was training to be a medic.
06:27And just over a year later, in May 1969,
06:31he asked for her hand in marriage.
06:34But Terrell had suffered a devastating event.
06:38I had been raped, got pregnant, and said,
06:42no, I can't marry you, you know, circumstances,
06:47and told him what happened, and he says,
06:49well, I want to marry you anyway.
06:51So we did.
06:53Although Suff had accepted that Terrell had been raped,
06:59and that she was carrying the child,
07:01ironically, he didn't accept the child.
07:04Suff lied and told Terrell that the Air Force
07:07didn't allow children to live at the base.
07:10She was forced to leave the baby with Suff's mother
07:12and stepfather in California,
07:14and make the move to join him in Texas alone.
07:18For him, it was an opportunity to exert control
07:21over somebody else.
07:23Terrell was someone who was quite vulnerable,
07:25who had been through quite a lot,
07:27so I think he took advantage of that situation.
07:30Pretty much his behaviour started changing
07:33when I moved to Texas,
07:35because then he felt like he had complete control over me.
07:39He started to get physical,
07:41and that was only six months in.
07:44In early winter 1970,
07:47Suff was discharged from the Air Force.
07:50The following November,
07:51the couple had their first child, William Jr.
07:55Suff himself at this point is 21,
07:58a new young father,
07:59struggling to realise what being a father means.
08:03I think fatherhood was a dreadful shock to him.
08:07The couple stayed in Texas,
08:09but Suff drifted from job to job
08:11until he found work as a parking attendant.
08:15Even then, he was fired for stealing a client's car.
08:18So Terrell had to work in a restaurant to pay their bills.
08:23So when he loses his job,
08:25and Terrell becomes the main breadwinner,
08:26this causes quite a lot of conflict in him,
08:28because it compromises those feelings of control
08:31that he has over this family.
08:33Suff has some very fixed views about men and women.
08:36Men should be breadwinners.
08:38Women should be caregivers.
08:39So I think this causes quite a lot of conflict for him.
08:43In July 1973,
08:46the couple had their second child,
08:48a daughter called Dijonet,
08:50affectionately known as Dee Dee.
08:53Whilst Terrell went out to work,
08:55the volatile Suff was left at home alone with Dee Dee,
08:59and their newborn bore the brunt of his frustrations.
09:04When somebody's abusive
09:05and they're used to getting what they want through being violent
09:07and they try and use that tactic on a baby,
09:10it doesn't work in the same way that it would work on an adult.
09:13If anything, it's going to make the baby cry more,
09:16it's going to make them scream more,
09:17and this is just a really toxic environment to bring a child into.
09:22But soon, the angry and possessive Bill Suff
09:25would break into a rage that would spiral out of control.
09:29Before long, the little life he held in his hands
09:33would be in mortal danger.
09:35On the 25th of September,
09:37Terrell received some alarming news
09:40about their two-month-old baby.
09:44Suff rings his wife at work
09:47and says you must come home at once
09:49because Dee Dee's not breathing.
09:52Terrell rushes home to discover
09:55that her newborn daughter is indeed not breathing.
09:58When we look at the abuse that their daughter was subject to,
10:02it is really horrendous.
10:04Broken ribs, broken wrists, cigarette burns.
10:07It was really awful.
10:10Suff tries to explain her injuries
10:13by saying that his son, William Jr.,
10:16had been too aggressive in hugging and kissing her.
10:21Bizarre, I would have said,
10:22because I don't think any toddler is capable of infecting
10:25those kinds of injuries,
10:27but that was Suff's story.
10:30I was not wanting to believe
10:37that he would kill our child.
10:39And when he was arrested,
10:42I was trying to still work in my mind
10:44how he could have done it or why.
10:47There's no rhyme or reason for it.
10:50When the doctors examined Dee Dee,
10:53they also found evidence of old injuries
10:55which suggested she'd been abused over a period of time.
10:59Terrell's world was turned upside down even further
11:02when she too was arrested on charges of murder.
11:06Their son was taken into care
11:08and on the 11th of April 1974,
11:12both parents were sentenced to 70 years
11:15for killing their daughter.
11:16I didn't have my son.
11:19I'd lost my daughter.
11:22And I really had nothing.
11:25You know, I was just devastated, destroyed.
11:30And I wasn't sure
11:32how I was going to actually make it through.
11:3820 months into her sentence,
11:40Terrell was granted an appeal hearing.
11:43The court was not satisfied
11:44with the evidence against Terrell,
11:46and exonerated her.
11:49I walked outside the courtroom and just screamed.
11:53Because now I can try to move on.
11:57And I immediately started divorce proceedings.
12:01And it was one of the best days of my life.
12:05Meanwhile, her ever-manipulative ex-husband
12:08was making his own plans for an early release.
12:12When Suf's in prison,
12:14he demonstrates the kind of behaviour
12:16that officials want to see.
12:17He's compliant.
12:19He appears to be someone trying to better himself.
12:22He volunteered for the prison library.
12:26He took two degrees,
12:28caused no trouble whatever.
12:30Suf is such a modern prisoner
12:32that he serves only ten years of his sentence
12:35and is released in 1984.
12:40On the 6th of March,
12:4233-year-old Suf was awarded parole.
12:45He moved back to California
12:47and found a job in the county of Riverside
12:50selling Greyhound bus tickets.
12:53He appeared to be a real pillar of the community,
12:56and it diverts attention away from him.
12:59He blends in.
13:00He's the average Joe.
13:02In October 1986,
13:05Suf got a new job as a supply clerk for Riverside County.
13:09He'd started dating a teacher called Bonnie
13:12and moved in with her
13:14to help care for her elderly grandmother.
13:17He's effectively creating the persona,
13:20the quiet man who doesn't mind helping,
13:23very ordinary,
13:24but within him,
13:25something quite different was happening.
13:27People at work loved him.
13:29He was good to everybody on the outside.
13:32He had this facade going on about him
13:34that you could trust him,
13:37that he was a kind and giving person,
13:39but at the same time,
13:41he had that secret devil within him.
13:44Suf split up from his girlfriend, Bonnie,
13:47after he admitted stealing money from her grandmother.
13:50He often spent nights
13:52cruising the local red-light districts
13:54looking for casual sex.
13:56He developed a hatred
13:58for the women he saw on the streets.
14:00I think he reserved a particular distaste for sex workers
14:04because he saw them as less than women.
14:06He saw them as women who weren't fulfilling
14:08the roles of the caregiver and the nurturer,
14:11and he had some very rigid ideas
14:13about who women are and how they should behave.
14:16Soon, this seething resentment would escalate.
14:19In January 1989, 38-year-old Suf
14:23was driving his van down Main Street
14:26in Lake Elsinore
14:27when he spotted a young woman called Rhonda Jetmore.
14:31They agreed on $20 for sex,
14:34and she demands the money up front.
14:37It is extremely dark.
14:39Suf hands her the bill,
14:40and she switches the flashlight on to look at it,
14:44and instead of it being a $20 bill,
14:45it's a $1 bill.
14:47Now, she's furious.
14:49I'm not doing this for a dollar bill.
14:51She is angry.
14:54Suf launches himself at her
14:56in an attempt to begin to strangle her.
14:59Rhonda fought back,
15:01smashing Suf around the head
15:02with her flashlight,
15:04and made her escape.
15:06I think it taught Suf something very specific.
15:11Never let them survive.
15:13If you attack them, they must be killed.
15:15You cannot afford to have another Rhonda.
15:20Six months later, on the 26th of June, 1989,
15:25single mother Kimberley Little
15:27was soliciting sex along Main Street.
15:30Suf was one of her regular clients.
15:32He picked her up, put her into his van,
15:37take her to an isolated spot,
15:39rape her, stab her, strangle her,
15:42and he put some of his clothes on her.
15:45He demonstrated an extraordinary lack of DNA awareness.
15:49He left semen at the scene.
15:51He left pubic hair at the scene.
15:53She was clothed,
15:55and she was wearing a man's western-style shirt.
15:59She had pants on,
16:00but she had a long blue bath towel that covered her.
16:04Now, this was significant to the profiler
16:08because he felt that the suspect knew her.
16:12There was a sign or an indication of remorse.
16:15He couldn't look at her.
16:16He covered her.
16:17He left her there.
16:19Any remorse Suf may have felt soon disappeared.
16:24Six months later, on the 12th of December, 1989,
16:29Suf returned to Lake Elsinore's red-light district again.
16:34He picked up 23-year-old Tina Leal,
16:37then strangled and stabbed her.
16:39She was dumped off a quiet road in nearby Paris,
16:43and a couple discovered her body the following day.
16:46She was wearing men's clothing.
16:49The suspect had mutilated her body,
16:52but the evidence showed that she was dressed after she was killed.
16:59We noticed that she had very distinct stab marks
17:03towards the middle of her chest,
17:05not the typical kind of stab marks
17:07that you would see when somebody's in a rage.
17:09These were very controlled, very clean-looking stab marks
17:14that would indicate somebody had control over their senses
17:18and their emotions at the time.
17:20It wasn't until the autopsy later that day
17:24that detectives discovered the true horror
17:26of Suf's final act of humiliation against his victim.
17:30The pathologist discovered that a 95-watt light bulb
17:37had been inserted into her vaginal vault.
17:41Now, according to the pathologist,
17:45he felt that the suspect had to take quite a bit of time with her
17:50because the light bulb was intact.
17:52It hadn't broken.
17:54With at least two victims under his belt now,
17:58Suf was becoming bolder.
18:00Just over one month later, on the 18th of January, 1990,
18:05he struck again,
18:06strangling another sex worker, Darla Ferguson, after sex.
18:11Her body was found in a remote area along a dirt road
18:15just outside of Lake Elsinore.
18:17Now, the unique thing with Darla Ferguson
18:19was that she was nude, she was strangled,
18:23just like the other victims,
18:24but her upper torso was covered in a very large black bag,
18:29a trash bag,
18:31and it was tied at the waist.
18:33We did not look at the first murders
18:36as being connected at all.
18:38They were like independent events that happened.
18:41The only similarity that we knew at the time,
18:44they were in the Elsinore area,
18:45and they were female prostitutes.
18:48But soon a pattern would begin to emerge for investigators.
18:53Just over two weeks later, on the 6th of February,
18:57Suf had identified a hunting ground closer to home.
19:00He picked up 35-year-old Carol Miller
19:03from Riverside's red light district, University Avenue.
19:07He stabbed and strangled her,
19:10then dumped her in a grapefruit orchard
19:12on the outskirts of the city.
19:14She was discovered two days later
19:17by agricultural workers.
19:19Well, I went out to the Carol Miller scene,
19:22and she was naked,
19:23except that she had her shirt over her face.
19:28Next to her was a partially eaten and peeled grapefruit.
19:33And we lift up her shirt,
19:34and right in the middle of her chest
19:37were four very distinct stab wounds.
19:40I was aware of the Tina Leal case,
19:43where she also had four distinct stab wounds
19:46that seemed to be very deliberate.
19:48Carol Miller had the same,
19:49and that was atypical,
19:51just not what we normally see.
19:54Steve Sarkovsky was also drawn to something else
19:57that the killer's van had left at the scene.
20:01There were hundreds of feet of tire tracks,
20:04so we took literally hundreds and hundreds of pictures
20:09to document them,
20:11see if they matched anything else.
20:13Questions were now starting to be asked
20:16about whether this series of killings
20:18could in fact be linked.
20:20Tina Leal, Darla Ferguson,
20:22and Carol Miller.
20:24They had occurred in consecutive months.
20:28So we didn't really know what was going to happen,
20:30and we didn't know if we were going to expect another case.
20:33So it's like, did we have a serial killer?
20:36So now the object was,
20:39well, let's analyze the evidence
20:40and see what we can come up with.
20:42Whilst investigators pored over the evidence he left behind,
20:46serial killer Suf had made his mark,
20:49killing the sex workers he so despised.
20:53Despite having killed at least four sex workers,
20:56his rampage had only just begun.
20:59At night, Suf stalked the streets in his van
21:02looking for his next victim.
21:04But by day, the local county clerk
21:07was a pillar of the community.
21:11Riverside County was promoting a rideshare program
21:15to conserve energy,
21:16and interestingly enough,
21:19Mr. Suf was the poster boy for the program.
21:23He was on the front page of the newsletter,
21:25and the headline said,
21:27take a ride with Bill,
21:29and he was standing next to his van
21:31that he had kidnapped and murdered
21:32and assaulted all these women in.
21:35Things were going well for Suf.
21:38Not only was he a model employee,
21:40he'd started a new relationship.
21:43He meets Cheryl,
21:45and there's got to be at least,
21:47oh, I would say 20 years difference in their age.
21:51She was only a teenager.
21:54Abusive and controlling men tend to target younger women
21:58because they are easier to manipulate,
22:01they're easier to isolate,
22:02they're easier to shape and mold,
22:04and to chip away at their sense of identity.
22:09Whirlwind romance.
22:11He rushes her off to Las Vegas,
22:13they get married.
22:14She doesn't really know anything about him.
22:15She's a child compared to this mature adult
22:18who also happens to be a serial killer.
22:21Cheryl becomes pregnant.
22:23Despite being a newlywed,
22:26Suf could not suppress his need to kill,
22:28so he came up with a clever ruse
22:30to tell his new and expectant wife.
22:33He was telling her that he did
22:35the disaster preparedness program
22:37for the county of Riverside,
22:39and that's why he was out late
22:40till 1 or 2 in the morning.
22:42He had disaster preparedness pamphlets.
22:44I don't know if he ever passed any of them out,
22:47but he convinced her
22:49that that's what he was doing at night time.
22:51Just seven months after getting married,
22:54Suf was looking for his next victim.
22:57On the 30th of October,
22:59he returned to University Avenue
23:02in the city of Riverside,
23:03where he picked up 33-year-old Cheryl Coker.
23:08After sex, he strangled her,
23:10then placed her body into a dumpster.
23:13She was Suf's fifth victim,
23:15and in his final depraved act,
23:18he sliced off her right breast.
23:20He's making judgments about them as women,
23:23because breasts are obviously
23:25a part of nurturing children.
23:26And I think this is perhaps his way of saying,
23:29these women, in my opinion,
23:31are not fit to be mothers.
23:32They are not fit to be women.
23:34From where the body was located,
23:36there was an embankment,
23:38and when he sliced her breast off,
23:41he tossed it like a frisbee
23:43that went all the way up the embankment
23:45on the top up there.
23:46So that was rather unusual.
23:50Once again, he leaves DNA and fiber evidence behind.
23:55He's not grown any more aware of forensic proof
23:59than he was before.
24:01Just seven weeks later, on the 21st of December,
24:05another sex worker, Susan Sternfeld,
24:08was found strangled in a dumpster
24:11close to the location of the previous killing.
24:15When you're starting to find women
24:16that are placed in dumpster areas,
24:19you start to do a little bit of a tie-in.
24:22So in my mind,
24:24I'm thinking that there's somebody out there
24:26that feel that these women
24:27are nothing more than trash.
24:29And so we're going to treat them like trash.
24:32After we kill them,
24:33we're going to dump them in the trash.
24:36Now Saff, the prostitute hater,
24:38was picking up pace with his murders.
24:41Barely a month later,
24:43on the 18th of January, 1991,
24:4642-year-old Kathy Puckett
24:48vanished whilst working University Avenue
24:51in Riverside.
24:52She was found strangled the next day
24:55by a motorist
24:56at the side of a dirt road 30 miles away.
24:59Forensic scientist Steve Sarkovsky
25:02attended the scene
25:03and made an important discovery.
25:07I saw dozens of tire tracks
25:09and I noticed that there was one
25:11that struck a familiar chord
25:13to some of the tire tracks
25:15in the Carol Miller case.
25:16We have finally some physical evidence
25:19that would link at least two of the cases.
25:22That was the first time
25:23that we now had some evidence,
25:26forensically,
25:26that said,
25:27we've got a serial killer going here.
25:29When Steve Sarkovsky started looking
25:32for other evidence
25:33linking the spate of sex worker killings,
25:36his suspicions were confirmed.
25:38I started looking at all the trace evidence,
25:41the fibres,
25:42and saw some commonalities.
25:44I saw fibres that were grey in colour
25:46from one victim to the next,
25:49to the next.
25:49And so we were starting to build up
25:52some idea that, in fact,
25:54we do have a series going on,
25:56a serial killer.
25:57We had to put a stop to it.
25:59To us,
26:00it was not that they were prostitutes,
26:01it was,
26:01they were human beings being killed.
26:03Women are being killed
26:04and dumped
26:05in places all over the place.
26:07So we need to make a tie-in here somehow.
26:11Now that there was conclusive evidence
26:13confirming that a serial killer
26:15was on the loose,
26:16a task force was created
26:18linking the various law enforcement agencies
26:22investigating the killings
26:23in both Riverside
26:25and Lake Elsinore.
26:27They put out posters
26:28appealing for locals
26:29to come forward
26:30with any relevant information
26:32and offering a reward of $11,000.
26:36By the 27th of April,
26:38they had an eighth case
26:40of a dead sex worker
26:41on their hands,
26:4224-year-old Sherry Pacer.
26:45For the forensic team,
26:47gathering evidence
26:48at this crime scene
26:49proved much more difficult.
26:51We were in the process
26:53of looking at the body
26:56to see if there were any fibers on it.
26:58We already saw a shoe print
26:59and the sprinkler system came on.
27:02It was just a small little garden area
27:03behind the bowling alley.
27:06We're standing on top
27:08of literally sprinklers
27:10coming up on us
27:11to keep the water off the body
27:12and yelling,
27:14have them shut the sprinkler system off.
27:17With the sprinklers
27:18washing away potential evidence,
27:21it reduced the amount of information
27:23forensics could gather.
27:25However,
27:26they did find traces of semen
27:28on Sherry's body.
27:30Despite having a heavily pregnant wife,
27:33Cheryl, at home,
27:34on the 3rd of July,
27:36Suff struck again,
27:37taking his next victim,
27:3937-year-old Sherry Latham.
27:42The whole task force
27:44is starting to feel pressured
27:45because we have these bodies
27:47that are appearing
27:48and I didn't feel any closer
27:50to identifying
27:51or providing
27:52that kind of information
27:54to catch the guy.
27:56Three weeks later,
27:58Suff became a father once again
28:00when Cheryl gave birth
28:02to their daughter.
28:03Whilst he was forced
28:05to spend some time at home,
28:06the task force
28:08were making every effort
28:09to close in on him.
28:11One of the deputies
28:12was assigned
28:13to try and identify
28:14some shoe impressions
28:15that were left
28:16at several of the scenes.
28:18So what he did
28:19is he took a photograph
28:20of the shoe impression
28:21and it was blown up
28:23to a one-to-one ratio,
28:25which means
28:25it's the actual size
28:26of the impression.
28:28What that deputy did
28:29is he went to
28:30all the different shoe stores,
28:32picking up shoes,
28:33looking at the bottom,
28:34at their soles,
28:35to try and find
28:36the same pattern.
28:38And after many hours,
28:40he was successful.
28:41He found that shoe.
28:43So now we had
28:44a shoe identified
28:45and we have
28:46a shoe size identified.
28:48Meanwhile,
28:49forensic scientist
28:50Steve Sarkovsky's
28:51hard work
28:52had started to pay off.
28:54He'd been analyzing
28:55the tire marks
28:56found at the scenes
28:57of Carol Miller
28:58and Kathy Puckett's killings,
29:00and he, too,
29:01had made a breakthrough.
29:03I was able to identify
29:04what kind of tire it was.
29:06It was an Armstrong Ultra Track.
29:09It had a very unique
29:10kind of tread design
29:12or pattern.
29:13And so I would take
29:15this picture with me
29:16wherever I would go.
29:18I remember one time
29:19I went to a restaurant
29:20with my dad
29:20and my two youngest kids
29:22and I'd be looking
29:23at the cars
29:24in the parking lot
29:25to see if I found
29:26a similar tread design.
29:28They're going,
29:29Dad, what are you doing?
29:30The task force
29:31was so determined
29:32to catch this killer
29:34that many were unable
29:35to leave their work
29:36at the office.
29:38Many times
29:39I would take my casebook
29:40home and lay it out
29:41on the bed
29:42and say,
29:42what are we missing?
29:43Is this somebody
29:44that knows these girls?
29:46Is it somebody
29:46that works down here?
29:48Is it somebody
29:49coming in from out of town?
29:50And it was rather
29:53disturbing to me
29:54to say the least.
29:55So I started putting
29:56all my effort into it.
29:58But an even bigger break
29:59would come for the task force
30:01on the 15th of August.
30:03At 10pm,
30:04serial killer Bill Suff
30:06was once again cruising
30:08Riverside's Red Light District.
30:11Suff goes out
30:12searching for prey again
30:14and comes across
30:15a young woman
30:16called Kelly Whitecloud.
30:17She is spirited
30:19and not one
30:21to suffer fools gladly.
30:23They make a deal.
30:26She got in his van
30:27and went with him
30:28to McDonald's
30:29because she wanted him
30:30to buy her a hamburger.
30:33Once they got back
30:35in his van,
30:36Suff said he wanted
30:37to take Kelly out
30:38to nearby orchards
30:39for sex,
30:40but she refused.
30:42An argument broke out.
30:44She felt uneasy
30:46and so ultimately
30:48when they drove out
30:49of the McDonald's parking lot,
30:51she bolted from the van
30:52and ran away.
30:54As Kelly recovered
30:56from her encounter
30:57with Suff,
30:58she witnessed him
30:59pick up her friend
31:00and fellow sex worker,
31:02Kelly Hammond,
31:03further down
31:04University Avenue.
31:06Whitecloud is shouting
31:08to her down the street,
31:10don't get in the van,
31:12don't get in.
31:13Hammond ignores it,
31:15gets into the van
31:16and becomes
31:16Suff's next victim.
31:19Suff had sex with Kelly
31:21in the back of his van
31:22and then strangled her
31:24with a ligature.
31:26He dumped her nude body
31:27in an alleyway
31:28and posed it
31:29with her legs
31:30in the air,
31:31which meant
31:32almost for the first time
31:33in his spree
31:34that she was found
31:35relatively quickly.
31:36Her body was still warm
31:38when it was discovered.
31:39Suff had taken the lives
31:41of at least
31:42nine sex workers,
31:43but a witness
31:44had seen the predator
31:46on the prowl.
31:47The net would soon
31:48close in
31:49on the killer.
31:53On the 16th of August,
31:55an office worker
31:57found Kelly Hammond's body
31:58and called the police.
32:01Detective Christine
32:02Keir Sheffield
32:03had previously gone
32:05undercover
32:05as a local sex worker,
32:07so she investigated
32:09the latest murder
32:11using her contacts
32:12on the street.
32:13I knew
32:14because I had a rapport
32:15with the girls
32:16that Kelly Hammond
32:17was a good friend
32:18of Kelly Whiteclown's.
32:19So I went to
32:20University Avenue
32:21and I looked
32:23for Kelly Whiteclown
32:24and I found her.
32:25I said,
32:26get in the car, Kelly.
32:27And I asked her,
32:28when's the last time
32:29you saw Kelly Hammond?
32:30She goes,
32:30oh, I saw her last night.
32:31Why?
32:32And I said,
32:33well, I'm going to tell you this.
32:34I go,
32:35Kelly was murdered last night.
32:37And so she,
32:39of course,
32:39became hysterical
32:40and was crying.
32:42Kelly told
32:43Detective Keir Sheffield
32:44about her altercation
32:46with the client
32:47in the van
32:48and how the same man
32:49had picked up her friend.
32:51With this breakthrough
32:52of finally finding
32:53a witness,
32:54the task force
32:55rushed in
32:56a forensic artist
32:57to create a sketch
32:58of the suspect.
33:01And Kelly told her
33:02he's a white guy
33:03with a chubby face,
33:04he's wearing glasses,
33:06and she really gave
33:07an awesome description.
33:09I was ecstatic.
33:10I just felt that
33:11we were getting closer now.
33:13We were getting closer.
33:14We had something.
33:16So we now have
33:18a drawing
33:18of a suspect.
33:20We have the type
33:21of vehicle
33:21and color
33:22that he was driving.
33:24We're excited about this.
33:25This is the best
33:25type of information
33:26that you could hope for.
33:28By now,
33:29the police
33:30had drawn up
33:30a profile
33:31of their serial killer.
33:33Detective Keir Sheffield
33:35was asked
33:35by her superiors
33:36to update them
33:38on the investigation.
33:39I said,
33:41this guy,
33:41you know,
33:42he starts off,
33:42he's only doing
33:43white females,
33:44and now we're getting
33:46Hispanic females.
33:48But he's never done
33:49an African-American female.
33:51The following day,
33:53my chief of police
33:55decided to do
33:56a press release,
33:57and he put
33:58the information out.
34:00And it came out
34:01in the newspaper.
34:02So on the 12th
34:04of September,
34:05Suv had a sinister
34:06surprise in store.
34:08He picked up
34:09a black sex worker,
34:1130-year-old
34:12Catherine MacDonald,
34:13stabbed and strangled her,
34:15then left her
34:16on a deserted
34:17building site
34:1840 miles south
34:19in Lake Elsinore.
34:21I think he was
34:23thumbing his nose
34:24at us saying,
34:25you don't know
34:26what I like,
34:27you can't guess
34:28who I'm going
34:28to do next,
34:30and I'm a free man
34:31out here.
34:31I think he was
34:32taunting us.
34:33Suv repeated
34:34many of the hallmarks
34:36he used
34:36in his previous killings
34:38so that the police
34:39could be in no doubt
34:40as to whose handiwork
34:42this was.
34:43But in his haste
34:44to show off,
34:45he also unwittingly
34:46left clues.
34:48Where Catherine
34:49MacDonald was laid
34:51was an area
34:53that had a lot
34:54of fresh dirt,
34:54which is very conducive
34:56to cars driving over
34:57and leaving very good
34:58tire track impressions.
35:00Forensically,
35:00there was a lot
35:01of information
35:02just in the tire tracks
35:03and shoe prints.
35:04What investigators
35:06didn't realize
35:07was that on the
35:08very same day
35:09their serial killer
35:10was hiding
35:11in plain sight.
35:13Two newly appointed
35:14members of the task force
35:16were visiting
35:17the council warehouse
35:18Suv worked at
35:19to collect new office furniture
35:21when their pages
35:22went off.
35:23Suv, they asked
35:25Bill Suv
35:25if they could use
35:26his telephone
35:27to call dispatch
35:27and Bill Suv
35:28said sure.
35:30And while Bill Suv
35:32was nearby
35:32watching them,
35:33these investigators
35:34were taking down notes
35:35on the very body,
35:37on the very person,
35:38the victim,
35:39that he had killed
35:41the day before.
35:42You can just imagine
35:43the euphoria
35:45that he felt,
35:45the feeling
35:46that he was smarter
35:48than us
35:48and we had no idea
35:50that it was him.
35:51Whilst the smug killer
35:53relished watching
35:54the police
35:55run around in circles
35:56trying to work out
35:58who was behind
35:59the slayings,
36:00at home
36:01things were beginning
36:02to slip.
36:04Suv was once again
36:06struggling
36:06with being a father.
36:08So history
36:09almost repeats
36:10itself here
36:11and this is
36:12a very toxic,
36:13a very dangerous
36:14environment
36:15into which
36:15to bring a child
36:16because he doesn't
36:17possess those
36:18feelings of attachment
36:19and warmth
36:20and love
36:21that make most
36:22fathers put the needs
36:23of their child first.
36:25Cheryl threatened
36:26to leave Suv
36:27because of the abuse
36:29he'd subjected
36:30their daughter to
36:31but manipulative
36:33as ever
36:33he asked for
36:34one more chance
36:35to change his ways
36:36and she decided
36:38to stay.
36:39Bill was pleading
36:40with Cheryl
36:41to get back with him.
36:42He was making
36:43all kinds of promises.
36:44They had gotten
36:44an apartment now
36:46in the city of Colton
36:47and she decided
36:48to go back
36:49with him.
36:50When she did
36:51in her own way
36:52of offering him
36:53a present
36:54she had bought
36:55a pair of Converse
36:56shoes for him
36:57for Christmas
36:58and she had given
37:00him those shoes
37:00as an early
37:01Christmas present.
37:02But there was
37:03no sign of Suv
37:04the serial killer
37:06stopping.
37:06Seven weeks later
37:08on the 30th of October
37:09he took his
37:1011th known victim
37:1235-year-old
37:14sex worker
37:14Delia Zamora.
37:17Then barely
37:18two months later
37:19on the 23rd
37:20of December
37:21Suv lured
37:2239-year-old
37:23Eleanor Casares
37:25into his van
37:26in broad daylight.
37:28He's becoming
37:29incredibly brazen
37:30that the fear
37:31of getting caught
37:32does not seem
37:33to be something
37:33that is on his radar.
37:35He's really
37:36engaging in some
37:37quite risky behaviour.
37:39Suv killed Eleanor
37:41and took her
37:41to an orange grove
37:43just a street away
37:44from the
37:45Riverside Police Station.
37:46He left her body
37:48there to taunt
37:49the task force
37:50investigators.
37:52Yet again
37:53strangulation,
37:54yet again
37:54dumped
37:55and now
37:57part of the signature
37:58a breast is cut off.
38:00Just two hours
38:02later her body
38:03was found
38:03by an orchard worker
38:05and the police
38:06were called
38:06to the scene.
38:08Once again though
38:09Suv slipped up
38:10leaving footprints
38:11and tyre tracks
38:12in the dirt
38:13he'd been wearing
38:14the new shoes
38:15Cheryl had given him
38:16as a gift.
38:18I was able
38:19to identify
38:20that these are
38:21Converse tennis shoes
38:23because that's
38:24how good
38:24the impression was
38:25and from there
38:26I was able
38:27to tell that
38:27there were three
38:28different types
38:29of tyres
38:29on this vehicle
38:30and where those
38:31tyres were located
38:32where the different
38:33types were.
38:35Having known
38:36Eleanor personally
38:37this was a
38:38particularly difficult
38:39time for
38:40Detective Keir Sheffield.
38:42I wanted to make
38:43sure that I was
38:44there with the
38:44coroner when he
38:45told the mother
38:45and the children
38:47and the brothers
38:48were absolutely
38:49out of their minds.
38:51They wanted to
38:52grab guns
38:53and hit the streets
38:54and I said
38:55please don't
38:56and I said
38:56I considered
38:57Eleanor a friend
38:58so I'm asking you
38:59just let us
39:00handle this
39:01for the next few
39:01weeks and let's
39:02see what we can do.
39:04Detective Keir Sheffield
39:06was determined
39:06to get the extra
39:08resources necessary
39:09to finally get
39:10this killer
39:11off her streets.
39:13Had it been
39:14college students
39:15that had been
39:17at least 100
39:18detectives on this
39:19case all power
39:20would have been
39:20out there on that.
39:21I just felt
39:22it was a slap
39:22in the face
39:23because it's
39:24like saying
39:25well okay
39:26it's just prostitutes
39:27so we'll give
39:28it our best shot
39:29but we're not
39:30going to give
39:31it 100%.
39:32And I was
39:34absolutely livid.
39:36I went to the chief
39:38and I said
39:38listen here's
39:40what we need
39:40to do.
39:42Her chief agreed
39:43to launch a week
39:44long intensive
39:45police operation
39:46in Riverside's
39:48red light district.
39:49We decided
39:50to call it
39:51operation apprehension.
39:52I put a picture
39:54of the suspect
39:56and I said
39:58he will be
39:59on University
39:59Avenue.
40:00If you see
40:01this individual
40:02and he's
40:03trying to
40:03pick up
40:04a prostitute
40:04stop him.
40:06On the 9th
40:07of January
40:081992
40:08the operation
40:10paid off.
40:11A police
40:12motorcyclist
40:13followed
40:14Suf's van
40:14down University
40:16Avenue.
40:17A short while
40:18later he
40:19witnessed the
40:20vehicle make
40:20an illegal
40:21turn and
40:22pulled it
40:23over.
40:24He gets
40:25Suf's driving
40:26license which
40:27is out of date.
40:28The vehicle
40:29registration is
40:30out of date
40:31so he
40:34then starts
40:35to take
40:35a vague
40:35look in
40:36the van
40:37where he
40:38discovers
40:38among other
40:39things a
40:39fishing knife
40:40with what
40:41looks like
40:41blood on it
40:42not to mention
40:43all kinds
40:44of other
40:44stuff.
40:46The traffic
40:47cop knows
40:47what the
40:48police sketch
40:48of the
40:48possible
40:49serial killer
40:50is and
40:51Suf looks
40:51well really
40:53quite like
40:54it.
40:54So now he
40:55calls for
40:56backup.
40:57The phone
40:57call came
40:58and I
40:59asked the
40:59officer
40:59to tell
41:00me what
41:01the driver's
41:02side front
41:03tire was
41:05and he
41:05looked down
41:06and he
41:07told me
41:07and I
41:08had a
41:08chart of
41:09exactly what
41:10tire was
41:10in what
41:11position on
41:11the vehicle.
41:12I then
41:13asked him
41:14to go to
41:15the passenger
41:16side rear
41:16vehicle and
41:18tell me
41:18what the
41:19tire brand
41:19was.
41:21When he
41:21did that
41:22I said
41:22freeze the
41:23scene.
41:24Now
41:25Suf is
41:26taken into
41:26custody
41:27and the
41:28interrogation
41:29begins.
41:31Early in
41:31the morning
41:32I got a
41:33phone call
41:33from my
41:34partner.
41:35He goes
41:35Bob we
41:36got him.
41:37I said
41:37what do
41:37you have
41:37he goes
41:37we got
41:38him.
41:38He's in
41:39custody.
41:40And I
41:41couldn't
41:41believe it
41:42I got
41:42goosebumps.
41:43I mean
41:43it was
41:43just
41:43it's
41:44one of
41:44those
41:44feelings
41:44that I
41:45might
41:45sure
41:45what
41:46you
41:46can
41:46equate
41:47it
41:47to
41:48but
41:48it
41:49was
41:49just
41:49enormous.
41:51Detective
41:52Keir
41:52Sheffield
41:53confronted
41:54Suf with
41:54the damning
41:55evidence
41:56that proved
41:56he had
41:57been at
41:58the
41:58Orange
41:58Grove.
41:59He
42:00goes
42:00yeah
42:00I
42:00went
42:00out
42:01to
42:01pick
42:01some
42:01oranges
42:01on
42:02your
42:02way
42:02to
42:02work
42:02yeah
42:03and
42:04as
42:05I'm
42:05interviewing
42:05he
42:06goes
42:06I
42:07found
42:07a
42:07body
42:08I
42:08said
42:09oh
42:09you
42:09found
42:09a
42:09body
42:10out
42:10there
42:10in
42:10the
42:10orange
42:11groves
42:11yeah
42:12he
42:12said
42:13I
42:13found
42:13a
42:13body
42:13I
42:14asked
42:14myself
42:15who
42:15in
42:15their
42:15right
42:15mind
42:16finding
42:16a
42:16body
42:17or
42:17go
42:17on
42:17to
42:18work
42:18Suf
42:19then
42:19decided
42:20to
42:20stop
42:20talking
42:21and
42:21never
42:22admitted
42:22his
42:23guilt
42:23but
42:24when
42:24his
42:24apartment
42:25was
42:25searched
42:26the
42:26police
42:26found
42:27another
42:27pair
42:27of
42:28sneakers
42:28that
42:29matched
42:29shoe
42:29prints
42:30left
42:30at
42:30some
42:31of
42:31the
42:31other
42:31crime
42:32scenes
42:32most
42:33damning
42:33of
42:34all
42:34the
42:34same
42:35grey
42:35carpet
42:36from
42:36Suf's
42:36van
42:37was
42:37linked
42:37to
42:38fibres
42:38found
42:38on
42:39seven
42:39of
42:39the
42:39bodies
42:40and
42:41his
42:41DNA
42:41matched
42:42profiles
42:42discovered
42:43on
42:43eight
42:44of
42:44the
42:44women
42:44we
42:45even
42:46had
42:46some
42:46cat
42:46hair
42:47at
42:48some
42:48of
42:48the
42:48more
42:48recent
42:49crime
42:49scenes
42:50and
42:50we
42:50ultimately
42:50tied
42:51that
42:51into
42:52the
42:53cat
42:53Mr.
42:54Suf
42:54had
42:54in
42:54his
42:54apartment
42:54at
42:55the
42:55time
42:55that
42:55he
42:55was
42:55arrested
42:56on
42:57the
42:5725th
42:58of
42:58March
42:581995
42:59Bill
43:00Suf
43:01finally
43:01stood
43:02trial
43:02at
43:02the
43:03Riverside
43:03Hall
43:04of
43:04Justice
43:04and
43:05pleaded
43:05not
43:06guilty
43:06to
43:0613
43:07counts
43:07of
43:08murder
43:09Deputy
43:10District
43:10Attorney
43:11Paul
43:11Zelleback
43:12presented
43:13the
43:13case
43:14for the
43:14prosecution
43:15I
43:16called
43:16271
43:18witnesses
43:18to testify
43:19during
43:19that
43:19trial
43:20we
43:21had
43:21over
43:21a
43:22thousand
43:22pieces
43:22of
43:23evidence
43:23the
43:24trial
43:24lasted
43:25seven
43:25months
43:25and
43:26it
43:27was
43:27all
43:28a lot
43:28of
43:28circumstantial
43:29evidence
43:29but
43:31on
43:31the
43:3119th
43:32of
43:32July
43:321995
43:33the
43:34jury
43:35finally
43:35delivered
43:36their
43:36verdict
43:36finding
43:37him
43:37guilty
43:38on
43:3812
43:39of
43:39the
43:3913
43:39counts
43:40he
43:41was
43:41also
43:41found
43:42guilty
43:42of
43:42the
43:43attempted
43:43murder
43:44of
43:44Rhonda
43:45Jetmore
43:45on
43:46the
43:46murder
43:47of
43:47Cherie
43:47Peser
43:48they
43:48were
43:49unable
43:49to
43:49make
43:49a
43:50unanimous
43:50decision
43:51despite
43:52Suf's
43:52semen
43:52being
43:53found
43:53inside
43:54her
43:54the
43:55water
43:55from
43:55the
43:56sprinklers
43:56at
43:56the
43:56garden
43:57where
43:57she
43:57was
43:57found
43:58had
43:58potentially
43:59destroyed
44:00vital
44:00evidence
44:01on
44:02on
44:02on
44:0210th
44:03of
44:03October
44:031995
44:04Bill
44:05Suf
44:06was
44:06sentenced
44:06to
44:07death
44:07despite
44:08a
44:08successful
44:09result
44:10detective
44:11Keir
44:11Sheffield
44:12who'd
44:12been
44:12close
44:13to
44:13some
44:13of
44:13the
44:13victims
44:14couldn't
44:15help
44:15but
44:15feel
44:15a
44:15sense
44:16of
44:16unease
44:17she
44:17firmly
44:18believed
44:18that
44:19Suf
44:19was
44:19guilty
44:20of
44:20Cherie's
44:21murder
44:21too
44:23that's
44:23the
44:23one
44:24case
44:24that
44:24the
44:24jury
44:25hung
44:25on
44:25and
44:26they
44:26hung
44:27on
44:27it
44:27because
44:27she
44:28had
44:28two
44:28deposits
44:29of
44:29semen
44:29I
44:30was
44:30hugging
44:31Shree
44:31Pacer's
44:32grandmother
44:32and
44:33I
44:33whispered
44:34in her
44:34ear
44:34you
44:35and
44:35I
44:35know
44:35he
44:35did
44:36this
44:36you
44:37heard
44:37all
44:37the
44:37physical
44:38evidence
44:39so
44:39let
44:40your
44:40mind
44:40be
44:40rest
44:41assured
44:41and
44:41let
44:41your
44:42heart
44:42be
44:42at
44:42ease
44:42because
44:43he's
44:43going
44:44to
44:44die
44:44for
44:44all
44:44the
44:44others
44:45and
44:46he'll
44:46die
44:52in
44:52state
44:52prison
44:53in
44:53California
44:54I
44:55firmly
44:56believe
44:56he's
44:56going
44:56to
44:57hell
44:57there's
44:58too
44:58much
44:58dark
45:00in
45:00him
45:00he
45:01had
45:01a
45:01look
45:01in
45:01his
45:01eyes
45:02that
45:02just
45:02it
45:04was
45:04so
45:04scary
45:05it
45:05was
45:05an
45:06evil
45:07look
45:07I'm
45:08basically
45:08the
45:09one
45:09that
45:09got
45:09away
45:10Saff
45:11spread
45:11fear
45:12amongst
45:12vulnerable
45:13women
45:13on
45:14the
45:14streets
45:14of
45:14Riverside
45:15he
45:16attacked
45:16his
45:17own
45:17children
45:18brutally
45:19beating
45:19his
45:19two
45:20month
45:20old
45:20daughter
45:21to
45:21death
45:22he
45:22murdered
45:23and
45:23mutilated
45:2412
45:24women
45:25and
45:25the
45:25police
45:26suspect
45:26he
45:26had
45:26many
45:27more
45:27victims
45:28that
45:29makes
45:29Bill
45:29Saff
45:30one
45:30of
45:30the
45:31world's
45:31most
45:32evil
45:32killers
45:52son
45:55son
46:05with
46:05his
46:05son
46:05son
46:05he
46:06has
46:06been
46:06to
46:06him
46:10to
46:10him
46:10You
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