The woman’s body had also been found with a tube sock around her neck. In fact, that very same afternoon little Crystal would be found alone, abandoned at a Kmart store.Where were her parents?That mystery would go unanswered for 8 weeks, until a grim discovery was made: Diana’s body was found in a remote wooded area, viciously stabbed 17 times with a tube sock tied around her neck. But, where was Michael? Had he murdered Diana? Had he murdered others, too?Just four months earlier a couple had been found murdered in the woods nearby. In the early morning hours of December 12, 1985, 21 year old Diana set out for a day trip with her 36 year old boyfriend Michael Reimer and their 2 and a half year old daughter Crystal to get a Christmas tree. Mike had a side gig as a trapper, and he also planned to check his animal traps in the area.Another thing we know for sure: Diana and Michael never did get that Christmas tree. But, there are a few things we do know for sure. In fact, he tried to retire, but the Lewis County Attorney’s Office called him back into service to help solve the murder of Diana Robertson.From the beginning the case has been muddy. Two months later, one woman said that she saw a man with Pesce on the night she was killed, and picked Gay out of a lineup, but she did not consent to being a witness in court because she was worried for her safety.ĭespite a $25,000 reward, no other strong leads were found, and when Howard Gay died in 2003, many suspected that this case would officially never be solved and that the killer was gone permanently.Detective Pat Beale has been an investigator for many, many years. This evidence was not enough to convict him, however, and he was released. His girlfriend also told investigators that some nights when they fought, he would leave the house and these nights were the same as when the murders occurred. This led to the arrest of Howard Gay, who was also said to engage in bondage activity by his ex-wife and girlfriend, and all of the victims were found with their hands bound behind their backs. Pesce’s murder resulted in a lead when witnesses said that they saw a light-colored van nearby and a possibly Caucasian man near her car. Louise Medeiros and Linda Pesce were both found within several days of being reported missing, but were once again discovered to have been sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
The final two victims suffered extremely similar fates as the rest. According to Jeff Oberholtzer, he believed his wife knew her killer. The killer then chased her down the road and shot her twice as she turned away. When Bobbie escaped from the vehicle, the bootie fell out. This was the third victim of a similar murder in the area, so it was then confirmed to be a related case and the task-force was approved to treat it as such. The killer drove Bobbie ten miles south of Breckenridge, to a scenic overlook, where he apparently attempted to rape her. Her remains were found by fishermen a day after she did not report into work, and she was also sexually assaulted and strangled. The third victim was 21-year-old Denise Hughes, a secretary for a phone company.
The tube sock killer serial#
This was eerily similar to the circumstances surrounding the previous murder, so police then started to suspect that it was the doing of a serial killer. She was also found in Keehi Lagoon and like Purdy, she was raped and strangled. The next victim was Regina Sakamoto, a high school student who was kidnapped on her way to school after missing her bus. Her husband provided a lead during the investigation because he thought the murder may be related to her place of work, because two women from there were stabbed to death about a year beforehand. Her body was discovered the following morning in Keehi Lagoon, and there was evidence of rape and strangulation.
The tube sock killer driver#
She disappeared on her way to meet a group of friends and was last seen alive by a taxi driver in Shorebird Hotel around midnight. The first victim was Vicki Purdy, the 25-year-old wife of an army helicopter pilot. Because of this, the also hypothesized that the killer lived or even worked near where the murders took place. They could determine that these murders were not planned in advance and that the killer would notice women who were alone and seized his opportunity to kill them while they were vulnerable.
Due to its importance as the state’s first serial killing, a large task-force was put into place to investigate which also utilized FBI resources.
The Honolulu Strangler, or Honolulu Rapist, killed 5 women in Honolulu, Hawaii between May of 1985 and April of 1986 and has yet to be identified. This week’s case is particularly important because it was the first recorded serial killing case in the state of Hawaii and it is still relatively recent. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another week of Unsolved.