The notorious "Texas Killing Fields" is a remote 50-mile area of land where more than 30 bodies - mainly those of women and girls - have been found since the 1970s. And many more young women have disappeared without trace from the area off the Interstate 45 highway between Houston and Galveston.
Crime experts have long believed the desolate stretch of wasteland close to abandoned oil fields is a hunting ground for serial killers. With little chance of the victims' screams being heard, and with nowhere for them to run, the killers have left police with a string of brutal cold cases.
During five months in 1997, a new predator stalked the area, leaving a trail of dead bodies and traumatised women behind him. However, the authorities hadn't linked the cases and didn't - until they received a series of shocking confessions.
On the morning of 3 April 1997, 12-year-old Laura Smither left her home in Friendswood, Texas, to go for a jog. She never returned. About 6,000 volunteers joined the hunt for the aspiring dancer. Her body was found 17 days later in a Pasadena pond several miles from her home.
A month later, on 17 May, Sandra Sapaugh, 19, was on her way to meet a friend. When she parked outside a store in Webster, Texas, she noticed a man in a white pick-up truck. Setting off again, she realised she had a flat tyre. Behind her was the man in the truck, who offered to help. But he attacked Sandra, tied her up in his truck, and drove off. Incredibly, she broke free and leapt from the moving vehicle. on to Interstate 45, suffering severe injuries. However, she survived and was able to give police a description of her kidnapper.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1658723799/articles/Na4AaZA691658739458721/9688856769.jpg]
On 15 July, 20-year-old criminology student Kelli Cox and her classmates had just finished a tour of a prison in Denton. The mother-of-one called her boyfriend from a garage to say she’d locked her keys inside her car – and was never seen alive again.
Just 11 days later, a car belonging to 19-year-old newlywed Tiffany Johnston was found abandoned at a car wash in Bethany, Oklahoma. Her body was found the next day on a dirt road near Interstate 45. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten, and strangled. Another victim of the Killing Fields.
On August 17, Jessica Cain, 17, from Tiki Island, Texas, had been to a restaurant with friends to celebrate her performance in a school musical. Her vehicle was later found abandoned on Interstate 45 and she was reported missing.
DANGEROUS PREDATOR
Although the authorities had failed to spot a connection between the five cases, they were about to get a major breakthrough.
Sandra, who had leapt from her attacker’s truck, picked out a face from a photo line-up – and under hypnosis was also able to reveal the number of his vehicle’s licence plate. The suspect was quickly identified as William Reece from Oklahoma.
Reece had already been jailed for attacking women and had been released only the previous year. Amid accusations of domestic violence, he’d kidnapped the teenage daughter of a sheriff’s deputy in 1986. The 19-year-old had been driving to a gym when she suffered car trouble. Reece tricked her into his truck by promising to drive her to a phone box. Instead, he tied her up and raped her, before taking her to a motel where she escaped.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1658723799/articles/Na4AaZA691658739458721/1651839659.jpg]
He was arrested and charged, but released on bail. He then raped another woman and was arrested again.
Reece was sentenced to 25 years, but because of procedural errors, this was reduced and he was paroled in 1996 after 10 years behind bars. He then moved to Houston, Texas, and his crime spree began.
In 1998, Reece was sentenced to 60 years in prison after being found guilty of kidnapping Sandra Sapaugh.
Investigators recognised Reece as a predator and attempted to link him to other attacks in the area. It was clear to them that he was an extremely dangerous man. What else was he capable of?
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1658723799/articles/Na4AaZA691658739458721/5763557937.jpg]
SHOCKING CONFESSIONS
In the early 2000s, Reece was legally required to give samples of his DNA for inclusion in CODIS – the FBI’s DNA database – which came up with a pos...
Crime experts have long believed the desolate stretch of wasteland close to abandoned oil fields is a hunting ground for serial killers. With little chance of the victims' screams being heard, and with nowhere for them to run, the killers have left police with a string of brutal cold cases.
During five months in 1997, a new predator stalked the area, leaving a trail of dead bodies and traumatised women behind him. However, the authorities hadn't linked the cases and didn't - until they received a series of shocking confessions.
On the morning of 3 April 1997, 12-year-old Laura Smither left her home in Friendswood, Texas, to go for a jog. She never returned. About 6,000 volunteers joined the hunt for the aspiring dancer. Her body was found 17 days later in a Pasadena pond several miles from her home.
A month later, on 17 May, Sandra Sapaugh, 19, was on her way to meet a friend. When she parked outside a store in Webster, Texas, she noticed a man in a white pick-up truck. Setting off again, she realised she had a flat tyre. Behind her was the man in the truck, who offered to help. But he attacked Sandra, tied her up in his truck, and drove off. Incredibly, she broke free and leapt from the moving vehicle. on to Interstate 45, suffering severe injuries. However, she survived and was able to give police a description of her kidnapper.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1658723799/articles/Na4AaZA691658739458721/9688856769.jpg]
On 15 July, 20-year-old criminology student Kelli Cox and her classmates had just finished a tour of a prison in Denton. The mother-of-one called her boyfriend from a garage to say she’d locked her keys inside her car – and was never seen alive again.
Just 11 days later, a car belonging to 19-year-old newlywed Tiffany Johnston was found abandoned at a car wash in Bethany, Oklahoma. Her body was found the next day on a dirt road near Interstate 45. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten, and strangled. Another victim of the Killing Fields.
On August 17, Jessica Cain, 17, from Tiki Island, Texas, had been to a restaurant with friends to celebrate her performance in a school musical. Her vehicle was later found abandoned on Interstate 45 and she was reported missing.
DANGEROUS PREDATOR
Although the authorities had failed to spot a connection between the five cases, they were about to get a major breakthrough.
Sandra, who had leapt from her attacker’s truck, picked out a face from a photo line-up – and under hypnosis was also able to reveal the number of his vehicle’s licence plate. The suspect was quickly identified as William Reece from Oklahoma.
Reece had already been jailed for attacking women and had been released only the previous year. Amid accusations of domestic violence, he’d kidnapped the teenage daughter of a sheriff’s deputy in 1986. The 19-year-old had been driving to a gym when she suffered car trouble. Reece tricked her into his truck by promising to drive her to a phone box. Instead, he tied her up and raped her, before taking her to a motel where she escaped.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1658723799/articles/Na4AaZA691658739458721/1651839659.jpg]
He was arrested and charged, but released on bail. He then raped another woman and was arrested again.
Reece was sentenced to 25 years, but because of procedural errors, this was reduced and he was paroled in 1996 after 10 years behind bars. He then moved to Houston, Texas, and his crime spree began.
In 1998, Reece was sentenced to 60 years in prison after being found guilty of kidnapping Sandra Sapaugh.
Investigators recognised Reece as a predator and attempted to link him to other attacks in the area. It was clear to them that he was an extremely dangerous man. What else was he capable of?
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1583506613/1658723799/articles/Na4AaZA691658739458721/5763557937.jpg]
SHOCKING CONFESSIONS
In the early 2000s, Reece was legally required to give samples of his DNA for inclusion in CODIS – the FBI’s DNA database – which came up with a pos...
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New UK (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 01, 2022