Introduction

 

Forty-six years ago, Robert Hansen came to Alaska on an odyssey that culminated in violent attacks on women. By the time of his arrest and conviction, there were between fourteen and 27 suspected killings. Eyewitness accounts indicated a cruel mind who planned a humiliating and deadly experience for his victims. His care in planning and use of Alaskan wilds as a graveyard allowed him to continue to prey on women almost with impunity. Interestingly enough, he was identified with an emerging M.O. as early as 1972. At his sentencing, Judge Moody noted that we are told of cases falling through the cracks in the criminal justice system. This case was pushed through a hole.

Even as the Hansen case was unfolding, the Alaska State Troopers developed protocols for sexual assault and reached out to Seattle Rape Relief for assistance in building and supporting advocate safe houses in Alaska. Today, most cities in Alaska have an advocate system involved with rape investigations. Additionally, the Department of Public Safety in Alaska has built a $56 million crime lab to speed evidence processing. More is needed. We know that assaults of all types provide a breeding ground for murder.

In 2013, the University of Alaska Justice Center released data which reflects the percentage of Alaska women being assaulted. The data indicates that Alaska is number one in the U.S. for sexual assaults. Clearly the environment from 1972 to the present does not indicate a vast improvement in outcomes.

The behavioral profile of present day serial killers and mass murderers too often matches that of Robert Hansen. We need to identify those behaviors early on and take steps to ameliorate them. As a first step, the authors urge: “See something, say something.”

If there is any good news here, Robert Hansen remained in prison throughout his 461 year plus life sentence, spending many of them as the jailhouse barber. Hansen died of natural causes on August 21, 2014, at the Anchorage Regional Hospital. He was 75 years old.

Of Robert Hansen’s death, Glenn Flothe, the retired Alaska state trooper who was instrumental in Hansen’s 1984 capture, said: “On this day we should only remember his many victims and all of their families, and my heart goes out to all of them. As far as Hansen is concerned, this world is better without him.”

Walter Gilmour and Leland E. Hale, authors
June 2016