Posted on 07/08/2005 6:52:29 PM PDT by WKB
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Authorities in Mississippi say they've arrested two suspects in a string of killings of truck stop prostitutes, including several in Oklahoma.
Authorities say John Williams[pictured] and Rachel Cumberland[pictured] of Carthage, Mississippi, have pleaded guilty in the kidnapping and death of a Mississippi woman and are suspects in the truck stop killings. The two are being held without bond.
Williams and Cumberland are due in court next week on kidnapping and murder charges in the death of Jennifer Hyman of Oklahoma City. Hyman's body was found August 20th, 2003, in Lafayette County, Tennessee. She had been strangled.
Authorities in Yukon are considering charges against the two in the September 2002 kidnapping and murder of Samantha Patrick of Oklahoma City. Her body was found in a trash bin behind a Yukon grocery.
Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner George Phillips says he can't say they were responsible for all the killings of the truck stop prostitutes, but he says lawmen believe there is a link.
Law enforcement officials in Oklahoma and four other states have been investigating the killing of prostitutes at truck stops in a series of incidents dating back to 2003.
PING
There's no place like Aruba. There's no place like Aruba.
To the ABPP (Already been posted police)
I don't care
bookmk,ping
"Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner George Phillips says he can't say they were responsible for all the killings of the truck stop prostitutes, but he says lawmen believe there is a link."
If they were, I hope they nail them but good!
"he can't say they were responsible for all the killings "
Seems the writer wants us to guess how many.
what a lovely couple
A Little more
OXFORD — Two Carthage residents have pleaded guilty in the kidnapping and death of a Neshoba County woman in what authorities say may be part of a multi-state, serial killing of truck-stop prostitutes.
John Robert Williams, 28, and Rachel Cumberland, 35, are being held at the Lafayette County Detention Center.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say that they were responsible for all of those murders, but we do believe that there is a link," Mississippi Commissioner of Public Safety George Phillips said this morning at a news conference at the Lafayette County Courthouse.
Law enforcement officials from five states, including Mississippi, have been discussing the possibility that a serial killer has targeted truck-stop prostitutes in the region for several years.
The seven victims included six prostitutes. The prostitutes were found nude or only partially clothed.
At least four victims were last seen at a truck stop, and at least three were strangled. The bodies were found near highways and creeks in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.
"We are exploring the possibilities of unsolved murders," Phillips said.
On Tuesday, Williams pleaded guilty in Neshoba County Circuit Court to the kidnapping and murder of Nikki Hill, 28, of Shuqulak in Neshoba County. Her body was found July 18, 2004, off a Neshoba County road near Highway 16 West in Philadelphia. She appeared to have been shot several times.
Williams was sentenced to life plus 20 years on the charges. Cumberland on Tuesday pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Hill's death and received a 20-year sentence, authorities said today.
Williams and Cumberland next week will appear in court for an initial appearance on charges of kidnapping and murder in the death of Jennifer Hyman of Oklahoma City. Hyman's body was found Aug. 20, 2003, off the Tallahatchie River Bridge at Highway 7 North in Lafayette County. Hyman had been strangled.
The guilty pleas by Williams and Cumberland in Hill's death culminates a year-long investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, the FBI, and the Neshoba County and Lafayette County sheriff's departments, Phillips said.
Williams was arrested in Pearl on Aug. 17, 2004, by MBI agents and Neshoba County deputies. Cumberland was arrested shortly before then in Pearl, authorities say.
Authorities in Yukon, Okla., are considering charges against the pair in connection with kidnapping and murder of Samantha Patrick, 22, of Oklahoma City. She was found in a dumpster behind a Yukon grocery store on Sept. 12, 2002
To WKB
I do.
They sure look guilty.
I wasn't talking to you
"Law enforcement officials from five states, including Mississippi, have been discussing the possibility that a serial killer has targeted truck-stop prostitutes in the region for several years."
That is just exactly what seemed to be going on.
" Hyman's body was found Aug. 20, 2003, off the Tallahatchie River Bridge at Highway 7 North in Lafayette County."
Some bad things happen at that bridge. ;o)
These types of murders have been profiled on Unsolved Mysteries since 1991!
Cute couple...
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/070905dnwespipestem.8847c096.html
Police: Couple may be killers
Grapevine: Woman found here could be one of their victims
08:23 PM CDT on Friday, July 8, 2005
By DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News
GRAPEVINE – A Mississippi trucker and his girlfriend may be responsible for the serial killings of women in at least three states, including an Oklahoma woman whose body was found in Grapevine last year.
Grapevine police traveled to Mississippi to question John Robert Williams and Rachel Cumberland about the slaying of Casey Jo Pipestem, who was last seen Jan. 28, 2004, at a truck stop in Oklahoma City. The prostitute's nude body was found three days later in Big Bear Creek just off State Highway 360 in Grapevine.
Police believe the two may be sexual predators who took turns assaulting their victims.
Also Online
Yolanda Walker reports
"I feel confident we have the right people," said Grapevine police Sgt. Bob Murphy. "We feel he has extensive knowledge in these cases."
Mr. Williams and Ms. Cumberland pleaded guilty earlier this week in the death of a Mississippi woman and have been charged with murder in the death of another woman. Oklahoma authorities are considering charging the pair with the 2002 killing of a Yukon, Okla., woman.
Sgt. Murphy said Ms. Cumberland denied involvement in Ms. Pipestem's death, but police are looking at her as a suspect after Mr. Williams implicated her.
Ms. Pipestem's uncle, Ted Underwood, said the family is encouraged about the new developments.
"It's been a real roller coaster," Mr. Underwood said. " We are really elated that law enforcement has worked so well together on this case. It would have been easy to dismiss Casey like so many others. We knew the trail was getting cold."
The first break case came last month when Ms. Pipestem's slaying was featured on the television show America's Most Wanted.
"A family member of Mr. Williams indicated that when she saw the episode, she got cold chills and knew it was him," Sgt. Murphy said.
Over four days last month, Mr. Williams gave Grapevine investigators extensive details about Ms. Pipestem's slaying that only the killer would know, Sgt. Murphy said.
Police have not charged either in the slaying and said they are looking for physical evidence that may tie them to the case.
Mr. Williams, 29, was a long-distance truck driver for several companies over the last few years, hauling various cargo such as chickens and steel, police said.
Ms. Cumberland, police said, often accompanied him.
Police believe the two may be sexual predators who took turns assaulting their victims.
Mr. Williams pleaded guilty Tuesday to kidnapping and murder charges in the death of a Mississippi woman, said Warren Strain, spokesman for the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Williams was sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.
Nikki Hill, 28, of Shuqualak, Miss., was found July 18, 2004 off a Neshoba County road near Philadelphia, Miss.
Ms. Cumberland, 35, pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter in the death of Ms. Hill and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Mr. Williams and Ms. Cumberland, both of Carthage, Miss., will be in court next week for an initial appearance on charges of kidnapping and murder in the death of Jennifer Hyman of Oklahoma City. Ms. Hyman's body was found Aug. 20, 2003, off the Tallahatchie River Bridge in Lafayette County, Miss.
The two are also suspects in the slaying of Samantha P. Patrick, 22, of Oklahoma.
Ms. Patrick's body was found behind a grocery store on Sept. 12, 2002, in Yukon, Okla.
Jessica Brown, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said Oklahoma authorities will travel to Mississippi to interview Mr. Williams and Mr. Cumberland.
"This is very encouraging," Brown said. "... We're hopeful this man can give us some answers to the cases we're investigating from Oklahoma and others."
But authorities believe more than one person is responsible for the string of killings.
"We've never thought it was just one person," she said.
Law enforcement officials have been investigating killings that date back to 2002 in which truck stops were the common thread.
Authorities said six of seven victims included in the investigation were prostitutes. The prostitutes were found nude or only partially clothed.
At least four victims were last seen at a truck stop, and at least three were strangled, authorities said. The bodies were found near highways and creeks in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.
Damn! That broad's face could stop a clock.
Same MO as stated by UM!
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