Robert Ben Rhoades

Robert Ben Rhoades

Rhoades' mug shot by the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Born (1945-11-22) November 22, 1945
Council Bluffs, Iowa
Other names The Truck Stop Killer
Criminal penalty Life without parole
Conviction(s) Murder
Killings
Victims 3-50+
Span of killings
1975–1990
Country United States
State(s) Texas and Illinois
Date apprehended
April 1, 1990
Imprisoned at Menard Correctional Center

Robert Ben Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist. He was convicted for three murders, and slated to be tried for two more before charges were dropped due to the wishes of victims' families. He is believed to have tortured, raped, and killed more than 50 women between 1975 and 1990, based on data about his truck routes and women who went missing during those years and who met the profile of his preferred victims. At the time he was caught, he claimed to have been active in his activities for 15 years[1][2] He took photos of some of his victims, and the photo of his that is best known is that of his last victim, Regina Kay Walters, which he took moments before killing her in an abandoned barn in Illinois.

Early life

In the early years of his life, Rhoades was raised by his mother alone, though his father returned from overseas when Robert was still in school. Rhoades' high school years were notable only for an arrest at age 18 for tampering with a vehicle. After graduating in 1964, he joined the Marine Corps. That same year, his father was arrested for molesting a 12-year-old girl, and subsequently committed suicide. In 1966, Rhoades was dishonorably discharged from the military. A year later he was arrested again, this time for theft.

After his dismissal from the Marines, Rhoades married three times, having a son with his first wife, and became a truck driver.[3]

Murders

Rhoades is believed to have first killed in November 1989, though he was accused by only one unnamed victim of kidnapping and torture. The 18-year-old victim was a drifter, and when Rhoades was detained, the victim declined to press charges, feeling that she would not be believed despite extensive evidence. In her statement to police she says that "I don't see any good in filing charges. It's just going to be my word against his. If there was any evidence, I would file. I would file charges and sue him." [4] It was later asserted that she was fearful of Rhoades after enduring two weeks in his truck. Rhoades had converted the sleeper cab of his truck into his own personal torture chamber where he kept women, sometimes for weeks, torturing and raping them.[2][5]

Rhoades preyed on hitchhikers and truckstop prostitutes. His first confirmed victims were Candace Walsh and her husband, Douglas Zyskowski, in January 1990. The couple were hitchhiking when Rhoades picked them up in his truck while on a long-haul journey. He immediately killed Zyskowski and dumped his body in Sutton County, Texas, where it was later found. He was not identified until 1992.[6] Walsh he kept for over a week. During this time, he tortured and raped her multiple times before dumping her body in Millard County, Utah.

A month after Walsh's death, 14-year old Regina Kay Walters and her boyfriend, Ricky Lee Jones, both runaway teenagers from the Houston suburb of Pasadena, Texas,[7] disappeared. Like with Zyskowski, it is believed that after being picked up by Rhoades, Jones was killed and disposed of while Walters was kept. Photos seized during a search of Rhoades' home confirmed that he held Walters for a long time, based on the degree of hair growth and bruising. Jones' body was found on March 3, 1991, in Lamar County, Mississippi. He was not identified until July 2008. In Bond County, Illinois, Jones had been charged in absentia with Walters' murder.[8]

In the early morning of April 1, 1990, officer Mike Miller of the Arizona Highway Patrol found a truck at the side of I-10 with its hazard lights on. When he investigated inside the cab, he discovered a nude woman, handcuffed and screaming.[7] There was also a male present who identified himself as the driver of the truck. After failing to talk his way out of the situation, Rhoades was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, sexual assault, and unlawful imprisonment. After further investigation, the arresting detective, Rick Barnhart, was able to make a connection to the Houston case and noticed a pattern stretching over the course of at least five months.

In executing a search warrant for Rhoades' home, police found photos of a nude teenager who was later identified as Walters, whose body was found in September 1990. Also present were photos of Walsh, whose body was discovered that October.

Conviction

In 1994, Rhoades was convicted of the first degree murder of Regina Kay Walters[9] and sentenced to life without parole at Menard Correctional Center in Chester, Illinois. He was extradited to Utah in 2005 to be tried for the deaths of Candace Walsh and Douglas Zyskowski; however, in accordance with the victims' families' requests, the charges were dropped in 2006 and he was returned to prison. Rhoades later was extradited to Texas for the murder of Walsh and Zyskowski where Rhoades, in exchange for dropping the death penalty, pleaded guilty to their deaths and received a second life sentence.[7]

References

  1. "The Truck Stop Killer". GQ. November 2012.
  2. 1 2 Cooper, Greg (2007). "Murder-One Jurisdiction at a Time: The Case of Robert Ben Rhoades". Forensic Examiner. 16 (4): 66–68. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  3. "Robert Ben Rhoades" (PDF). murderpedia.org. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  4. "The Truck Stop Killer". GQ. November 2012.
  5. Reavy, Pat (June 25, 2008). "Texas town to try case involving Utah body". Deseret News.
  6. "Trucker Admits to More Murders". ABC News. 30 March 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 "'Torture chamber' trucker sentence to life in prison". The Telegraph. March 30, 2012.
  8. Karen Brandel. "Cover Story: Dead End (February 29 - March 6, 1996)". www.tucsonweekly.com. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  9. The People of the State of Illinois v. Robert Ben Rhoades, 259 Ill (1994).

Books

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