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Beattie and Landwehr said they had no idea why the killer would contact the paper after remaining silent for nearly 25 years. The killer may have been put away for another crime (though 25 years sounds like a "life" sentence) and has just now returned to the outside world.

Or he's been living around Columbus, Ohio, and has just now returned to his old boyhood home. Ah, nostalgia.

LAUREL to the Columbus, Ohio, Dispatch and reporter Michael Berens, for seeing the forest and the trees. Using the computerized databases of local newspapers. Berens studied reports on the deaths of nine women whose bodies had been found along interstate highways in Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York between 1985 and 1990. The comparative analysis -- which for bureaucratic reasons no law enforcement agency at any level had managed to do -- revealed such unmistakable similarities that, within days of his page one March 10 piece, an investigative task force was at work in Ohio, the FBI was on the scene, and other links to other murders in other states began to emerge. By May 4, evidence was pointing to a single suspect in Florida in at least three of the serial killings.

If these crimes are all tied in, it's possible the killer was in prison for a period of time and began killing once he was released. It is however a complete certainty that he did not stop killing. Prison or death are the only things that stop these types of killers.

Seems to me the police should be looking at people who's jobs take them out of the area on a frequent basis. Salesmen, truck drivers etc. If other murders are established to have the same MO as this one in various localities, it makes sense to look at time frames the crimes took place then match them up to possible seasonal trucking out of the Wichita area. Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York sounds like a trucking pattern to me and Florida fits right in if the killer hauls produce.

Secondly, if DNA can be extracted from crime scenes around the country that match the MO of this particular crime, maybe the police in those jurisdictions have information in their cold case files that can be useful. When various police departments put their investigational material together similarities come up that can establish possible suspects. It's amazing how many departments are only missing one piece of a puzzle to make a connection.

On bit of information in the report is the killer dismantling the phones of his victims. Obviously he also took the drivers license of one of his victims along with photo's of his handiwork (obvious souvenirs). It would be interesting to see how many murders can be found where this same type of MO exists. Along with other similarities such as entrances into the crime scene, any specific injuries or positioning of bodies/items at the crime scenes.

Serial killers make mistakes, sometimes the smallest mistake takes years to figure out for law enforcement. Let's hope his letter to the paper was the final mistake that allows his capture. Not only to save another persons life, but to give the families of previous victims the closure they deserve.