robert ben rhoades

Follow us on Twitter: @AShudders. There was that one girl. Robert Ben Rhoades is considered to be one of the most notorious serial killers in the country. I flew to Austin to meet with two retired FBI men, special agents Mark Young and Robert F. Lee, who'd both worked on the case. I hitchhiked in Europe and settled in Vienna for a few years. When I first saw his apartment, I thought I'd walked into the showroom of a furniture store. robert ben rhoades, serial killer, torture, trucker Caught by Accident Robert Ben Rhoades. He said he didn't want to get caught up in anything time-consuming. Robert Ben Rhoades, 66, is already serving a life sentence without parole for the 1990 murder of 14-year-old runaway Regina Walters in Illinois. Around her neck was a dog chain with a padlock attached to the ring that had been used to restrain her neck. The Daily Nonpareil reports that these logs put Rhoades in the immediate vicinity of as many as 50 unsolved murders. new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help While the first few months were great, Debra noticed that Roberts appetite for sex increased. As I saw it, it didn't matter if I left, because in so many ways I was already gone. Rhoades has spent the past few years in a Texas prison, but will soon be sent back to Illinois to serve the life sentences. To a teenager, though, someone pushing 40 is pretty old, and hair often looks darker in photos. Eventually she was left unbound. Rhoades is additionally suspected of torturing, raping, and killing more than 50 . Robert Ben Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist. ", Pennal was the woman chained into Rhoades's truck when they arrested him in Arizona. He picked up two of his other victims in Texas. Young then showed me some photos of Rhoades in the 1980s that had come from his wife. 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. I needed to understand what my responsibility was and to find my own answers, if nobody else's, so I began to look. Her remains were found in September 1990. Rhoades' attorneys did not respond to requests for comment from ABCNews.com. It was in this compartment that Robert Ben Rhoadesconstructed a tiny room of horrors to hold his undetermined number of victims. At the time, he was struggling himself, living with several other guys in a house where you flushed the toilet with a bucket of water and working what little construction there was in the county. Robert Ben Rhoades. It is also worth mentioning that Debra has spoken at domestic violence conferences over the years and shared her story. Initially, agents had disagreed over whether the young girl on Rhoades's film was Regina. Some of these were women left in Dumpsters. There was always a sick mom or dead grandparent involved, and I was almost always abandoned by my jerk of a boyfriend, who'd made off with all my money and my car. (Robert Ben Rhoades) He was involved in the BDSM and swinger scene in his hometown of Houston. It wasn't the early '70s, it was 1987, and the woman killed was 19-year-old Lamonica Cole. Drew Peterson, former police sergeant, was sentenced to 38 years for the murder of his 3rd wife, Kathleen Savio. His clothes were gray or blue, but that may have been the light. Rhoades was dressed that night as an airline pilot, and it was months before Davis found out he wasn't one. Davis asked quietly. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Robert Boyd Rhoades was sentenced Friday to die by lethal injection for the rape, torture and murder of an 8-year-old Yuba City boy kidnapped three years ago while walking. There were other points where she saw similarities and would say, "That sounds like Bob," but these were less emphatic, and it was hard to tell what she really thought. I kept my eyes closed, stayed still, then rolled away from him, pretending I was still asleep. Around the same time that Robert joined the military, his father was arrested for molesting a twelve-year-old girl and ultimately committed suicide while awaiting trial. Debra also talked about Robert having sex with her against her will one time, which finally pushed her to end things with him. I remember thinking it could be me, since I was also a teenage hitchhiker. Friend, 43, says she wants "California voters to know what kind of offenders are on death row," men like Robert Boyd Rhoades, who sodomized, tortured and killed 8-year-old Michael Lyons two . I asked her the same questions I was asking everybody: Did you ever hear about a hitchhiker in a Dumpster? The trucker bought us chicken-fried steak, chatted amiably, and let us nap in the cab while he drove. He would then take them to his torture chamber (yes, he had a torture chamber . Sure, serial killers ~killed~ people, but what did they actually do? And while I was getting more adept at survival, he was very likely getting more adept at killing. The store for professional drivers was clean and quiet. First Name Robert. Rhoades was a sexual sadist. The serial killer's name was Robert Ben Rhoades. GQ may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Investigation Discovery referred to Rhoades' truck as a "rolling torture chamber," based on what was kept inside this enclosure. He narrowly avoided the death penalty, accepting a second life sentence. The sheer amount of victims he had coupled with the contrast of how little we know about his crimes makes this case haunting. He immediately killed Doug and dumped his body in Texas. The barn had a loft with wind coming through broken slats and was surrounded by the same kind of brown grassy field and frozen mud. Who was the girl in the Dumpster? There were seven within rangeIndiana, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, West Virginia, and New Yorkall less than a day's drive apart. In Martinsburg, West Virginia, where the truck stop should be is a massive Walmart stretching flat and endless along a parking lot the size of a lake. plans and enthusiasm When it turned, when it downshifted, when it drifted toward the shoulderI woke. Lee still uses the tape when he trains police detectives in interrogation. The rig was equipped with handcuffs on the ceiling, which enabled Rhoades to chain his female victims so that he could torture them before killing them. The phrase "play, pass, run" is used twice in the letter. He was not wearing jeans. Through these stories, I jumped from truck to truck. I wrote him back and told him that journalistic standards wouldn't allow me to pay for interviews. But beyond that, it was the man's demeanor that was so chilling. I'm a 30-something true crime writer living in North America with my hubby & two fur babies https://thewickedtruthblog.com/membership Follow More from Medium Fatim Hemraj 8-Year-Old Boy Solves His Own Mom's Murder Fatim Hemraj Teen Murders Her Best Friend for $9 Million Dollars Jonathan Harker He welcomed me into his spacious living room. There's a picture of him in leather and chains that floats around the Internet. My emotions were a planet around which I spun like a moon. He also wanted $500. It is glossy black and long. Instagram: @openshuddetspodcast. "So was the trucker I met a true psychopath?" Sagittarius. Regina Kay Walters 14 years old died by the hands of Robert Ben Rhoades. Eventually, law enforcement discovered Robert Ben Rhoades was a serial killer, in addition to being a sexual sadist who enjoyed torturing women and girls. According to law enforcement officials, almost immediately after he picked up the hitchhiking runaways, Rhoades killed Jones and dumped his corpse in Mississippi. He sent me a text just as I was leaving Texas saying that "Debbie" was ready to talk. Ted Bundy. Mass Market Paperback - January 1, 1996. You called and left a message a day or so after I dropped you off, saying I was going to read about a dead 17-year-old hitchhiker they found in a truck stop and that it wasn't you.". Akin to the murders of Douglas and Patricia, Robert killed Ricky immediately and disposed of his body but held Regina captive for a long period of time, periodically calling her father from a payphone. Watching the driver of my truck walk back across the wet asphalt, a second thought arose: It could be him. Further compounding this problem is that Rhoades did not presumably kill his victims where he met them. Going through the truck stops, I'd heard about women getting their throats slit or strangled. I arrived at his door melting in the hundred-degree heat. There was going to be no more talking. An FBI agent who reviewed the contents of the briefcase dubbed it a "rape kit," and he claimed it was one of the most "refined" kits he'd ever seen, leading him to conclude Rhoades had been torturing and abusing victims for a very long time. Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. However, shortly after they accepted a ride from Rhoades, the middle-aged trucker shot Zyskowski and dumped the 28-year-old's corpse near a Texas highway. Robert Ben Rhoades. It's actually from a Halloween party in Houston where he went as a "slave," led on a chain by his wife, who was dressed as a dominatrix. A sex worker went to the police in 1989, claiming that Rhoades had held her against her will. He attempted college but he soon decided it wasnt for him and dropped out, becoming a long-haul truck driver instead. Robert's victims were hitchhikers. Records on her would provide a date and a place that could then be checked against Rhoades's trucking logs. If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Rick Barnhart, Ed Russell, Troper Mike Miller. According to her, in the summer of 1985, Rhoades was driving for a trucking company based in Georgia that has an office right on I-95. Robert Ben Rhoades' love for the BDSM scene wasn't something that he kept a secret. Rhoades was born to his middle name sake, Ben and his mother, Betty Rhoades, on November 22, 1945 in Council Bluffs Iowa, and was reportedly raised by his mother for most of his childhood. I didn't tell him about my recent inquiries at first; I just asked where he'd dropped me off. Sadly, while the remains of both Zyskowski and Walsh were discovered shortly after they were murdered, it took years for both of them to be identified and returned to their families. He then killed her and dumped her body in Millard County, Utah. But I thought about what she'd said"It would just be my word against his," which was clearly followed by the unvoiced thought: And who is going to believe me? At the center of everything was my own breath. Her murder happened twenty-seven years ago and was essentially pre-Internet. Robert was immediately arrested and charged with unlawful confinement, and sexual and aggravated assault. He's there with his neatly pressed shirt and colossal arrogance. 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