1 Ignored Again

After I dumped the pothead Julie Winningham, I came across another article about the two losers who were serving time for Taunja Bennett’s murder. Something about it pissed me off. I wondered why nobody noticed the graffiti I’d left on the restroom walls. Did they think I was lying?

I decided I needed to give up a little more information to make people believe me. I sent another Happy Face note to the Washington County Courthouse:

I killed Miss Bennett Jan 20, 1990 and left her 1½ miles east of Lateral Falls on the switchback. I used a ½” soft nylon rope burnt on one end—frayed cut on the other—and tied it around her neck. Her face her teeth protruded from her mouth. Death was caused by my right fist pushed into her throat until she quit moving. Threw her Walkman away. Her purse $2.00—I threw into the Sandy River. I cut the buttons off her jeans. I had raped her before and after her death. I left her facing downhill and her jeans down by her ankles. I did not know any of them.

I checked the papers for a month and didn’t see a word. I wondered what I had to do to get noticed. The only thing I could accomplish with another note was my own arrest and conviction, but I was dying of curiosity about what was happening. My gut told me to butt out, but I couldn’t help myself.

I thought, Maybe if I gave the cops enough information, I could get those two people out of prison without me coming forward. At the time I didn’t know what police and prosecutors will do to keep from admitting their mistakes. Innocent people can die of old age in prison if their case has been marked “solved.” It’s just the way law enforcement works.

 

In April 1994, four years after I killed Taunja, I composed another note on pale blue paper. At the top of page one, I drew a circle with two smaller circles for eyes and a little arc for a mouth. I sent it to the biggest paper in the Northwest, the Oregonian:

I would like to tell my story! I am a good person at times. I always wanted to be liked. I have been married and divorced with children—I didn’t really want to be married but it happened. I have read your paper and enjoyed it a lot. I always have wanted to be noticed like Paul Harvey, Front Page, etc. So I started something I don’t know how to stop. On or around January 20th 1990 I picked up Sonya Bennett and took her home. I raped her and beat her real bad. Her face was all broke up. Then I ended her life by pushing my fist into her throat. This turned me on. I got a high. Then panic set in. Where to put the body? I drove out to the Sandy River and threw her purse and Walkman away and I drove the scenic road past the falls. I went back home and dragged her out to the car. I want to know that it was my crime. So I tied a ½" soft white rope cut on end and burned on the other—around her neck. I drove her to switchback on the scenic road about 1½ miles east of Lateral Falls. Dragged her downhill. Her pants were around her knees because I had cut her buttons off. They found her the next day. I wanted her to be found. I felt real bad and afraid that I would be caught. But a man and a woman got blamed for it. My conscience is getting to me now. She was my first and I thought I would not do it again, but I was wrong.

Once again there was no reaction, so I scribbled more details for the Oregonian:

My last victim was a street person. It was raining in Corning, California. She was wet and I offered a ride to Sacramento, California. I stopped at a rest area near Williams and had her. I put her body on or near a pile of rocks about 50 yds. North of highway 152 westbound about 20 miles from Santa Nella.

It was getting hard to trust my inner self. I kept arguing with my conscience. I had to get away from long haul trucking. Victims are too easily found. So I quit and found a good job driving where I am in the public eye and out of harms way. The truck has a bold name on the side so it is easily recognized. I got away from what became easy. I do not want to kill again and I want to protect my family from grief. I would tear it apart.

I feel bad but I will not turn myself in. I am not stupid. I do know what would happen to me if I did. In a lot of opinions I should be killed and I feel I deserve it. My responsibility is mine and God will be my judge when I die. I am telling you this because I will be responsible for these crimes and no one else. It all started when I wondered what it would be like to kill someone. And I found out. What a nightmare it has been. I had sent a letter to Washington county judges criminal court taking responsibility, to #1 [the Bennett murder]. But nothing has been in your paper. This freedom of press you have the ball. I will be reading to find out. I used gloves and same paper as last letter “no prints.” Look over your shoulder. I may be closer than you think.

I didn’t sign any of the letters or reread them for errors, but I made a little Happy Face so the paper would know it was the same guy. I figured if the Portland authorities were too stupid to recognize that somebody else did the Bennett murder, maybe the California cops would get to work on the murder in Corning and confirm that I was legitimate.