Illinois Serial Killer Arrested [Archive] - Crime Library Message Boards

odette

08-13-2007, 06:12 AM

Trucker Mendenhall forgoes hearing

Case moves forward for Illinois driver accused in women's murders

By SHEILA BURKE
Staff Writer
Friday, 08/03/07
tennessean.com

Wearing a blue oxford shirt and khaki pants, serial murder suspect Bruce Mendenhall offered a soft-spoken acknowledgment Thursday that he was waiving his right to a preliminary hearing.

In a barely audible voice, Mendenhall, 56, told Metro General Sessions Judge Mike Mondelli that he understood his rights, setting the stage for a likely indictment on first-degree murder charges and a trial sure to garner national media attention. ... continued at this link > Trucker Mendenhall forgoes hearing (http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070803/NEWS03/708030425/1017/NEWS)

http://i13.tinypic.com/6h7vuj6.jpg
Bruce Mendenhall appears in court.
(SHELLEY MAYS / THE TENNESSEAN)

odette

08-13-2007, 06:17 AM

http://i18.tinypic.com/4kp38z8.jpg
Bruce Mendenhall

odette

08-13-2007, 06:26 AM

Suspect in deaths waives hearing

Case of man accused in killings of women at truck stops will go straight to grand jury

By Travis Loller
Associated Press
August 3, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- An Illinois truck driver suspected in the slayings of women at truck stops in several states, including Indiana, waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Nashville on Thursday, and his case will go straight to a grand jury.

That prevented the prosecution from presenting any evidence against Bruce Mendenhall. Few details about his alleged crimes have been revealed beyond the first affidavit, filed soon after he was arrested July 12 and charged in the slaying of a woman in Nashville.
The hearing was meant to determine whether there is enough evidence to keep Mendenhall in jail, where he is being held without bond. .... continued at this link -> Suspect in deaths waives hearing (http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070803/LOCAL/708030482/1196)

odette

08-13-2007, 06:38 AM

Friday, 08/03/07
Families' hopes rest on suspect in 6 killings
From far, wide, they seek closure for loved ones

Originally published July 28, 2007
By JENNIFER BROOKS
Staff Writer

For countless grieving families across the country, the arrest of alleged serial killer Bruce Mendenhall could offer answers after years of anguish.

The 56-year-old long-haul trucker allegedly has implicated himself in six killings over the past year. On Friday, police in Birmingham, Ala., filed murder charges against Mendenhall in the death of Lucille Carter. Carter, 44, was found on July 1, shot with a .22-caliber weapon and dumped nude next to a trash bin on a service road. There was a plastic bag over her head and duct tape around her neck. ... continued at this link -> From far, wide, they seek closure for loved ones (http://www.ashlandcitytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070803/NEWS03/108030004)

excerpt
Mendenhall has been driving a truck, crisscrossing the country for almost 20 years. It's anyone's guess how many unsolved homicides and disappearances could be linked to him.

odette

08-13-2007, 06:57 AM

"Indianapolis Police Review Evidence Found In Serial Killer's Rig"

WKRN.com
August 9, 2007, 5:02 pm

Indianapolis Police came to Nashville Thursday to review evidence found in confessed serial killer Bruce Mendenhall's tractor trailer.

According to Metro Police, the evidence is likely related to a homicide that happened in Indianapolis.

A body has not been found, but the name of a potential victim was given to police.

Investigators believe Mendenhall has killed at least three women in Indiana, but suspect there could be more. ... continued at this link -> "Indianapolis Police Review Evidence Found In Serial Killer's Rig" (http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/indianapolis-police-review-evidence-found-in-serial-killers-rig/111787.htm)

http://i15.tinypic.com/52mnjh1.jpg
Bruce Mendenhall (center)

odette

08-13-2007, 07:14 AM

FBI probes for link between possible serial killer, Zywicki
1992 MURDER | Woman killed on way to Iowa college

July 17, 2007
BY LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporter
Chicago Sun Times

Last week's arrest of an Illinois truck driver, charged in the death of a woman in Nashville and suspected in several other slayings, has authorities here questioning whether he might be responsible for the 1992 death of a woman passing through Illinois on her way to college.

A spokesman for the FBI office in Chicago confirmed that authorities contacted Nashville police about the suspect, identified as Bruce Mendenhall, 56, of Downstate Albion. Investigators here are examining what, if any, ties he might have to the death of Tammy Zywicki, who disappeared after dropping her brother off at Northwestern University and was eventually found dead in Missouri. continued at this link 1992 MURDER (http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/470999,CST-NWS-zywicki17.article)

http://i16.tinypic.com/4xvppx3.jpg
Tammy Zywicki

odette

08-13-2007, 08:22 AM

Group Suspected Accused Trucker Years Ago

Director Says Group Had Suspicion 5 Years Ago

Reported By Jeremy Finley

POSTED: 4:59 pm CDT July 31, 2007
UPDATED: 7:32 pm CDT July 31, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A missing persons organization said they may have been on the trail of Bruce Mendenhall five years ago.

Mendenhall is the trucker who police said could be a serial killer. He has been charged in the deaths of two women: one in Tennessee and one in Alabama.

Their suspicions are troubling given what a search warrant shows was found in Mendenhall's truck when he was arrested.

Police produced a list of items found in Mendenhall’s truck that ended in more than 300 items including a rifle, several weapons cartridges, knives, black tape, handcuffs, a nightstick, latex gloves, sex toys and condoms.

Several items were blacked out by investigators. .... continued at this link Group Suspected Accused Trucker Years Ago (http://www.wsmv.com/news/13792102/detail.html)

Gallery: Images Of Key Players In Possible Serial Killer Case (http://www.wsmv.com/slideshow/13673287/detail.html)

PDF: Items Found In Truck (http://www.wsmv.com/download/2007/0731/13792525.pdf)

odette

08-13-2007, 08:53 AM

Cold cases thawing
Task force looks at Mendenhall

By LEN WELLS
Courier & Press correspondent 464-7415 or beckj@courierpress.com
Tuesday, July 31, 2007

A federal task force has been formed to dig deeper into the background of serial killer suspect Bruce D. Mendenhall, 56, of Albion, Ill.

After his arrest more than two weeks ago for the murder of a Tennessee woman, Mendenhall allegedly implicated himself in the slayings of as many as six women in the South — a revelation that has triggered interest from as many as 75 cold case units that want to determine if Mendenhall could be implicated in open homicide cases. ... continued at this link Cold cases thawing (http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/jul/31/coldcasesthawing/)

odette

08-16-2007, 09:00 PM

Serial Murder Suspect Indicted in Wilson County

newschannel5.com
Aug 17, 2007 12:27 PM

LEBANON, Tenn. - A Wilson County grand jury has returned an indictment against suspected serial killer Bruce Mendenhall. ...

continued: Serial Murder Suspect Indicted in Wilson County (http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=6943844)

docwho3

08-17-2007, 02:58 AM

Does anyone know if he was in any other states as well, such as ohhhhh perhaps N.H.?

odette

08-17-2007, 12:19 PM

State Of Tennessee, County Of Davidson, Affidavit, Criminal Homicide ...

Affidavit pdf (http://www.wkrn.com/ads/pdf/brucemendenhall1.pdf)

odette

08-17-2007, 12:32 PM

Does anyone know if he was in any other states as well, such as ohhhhh perhaps N.H.?

Many links related to Bruce Mendenhall at below link. wkrn.com/nashville/news/mendenhall-case

Click HERE for related links, stories, and videos (http://www.wkrn.com/ads/brucemendenhall.html)

odette

08-19-2007, 03:53 AM

A mother never forgets

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 11, 2007

Fifteen years since her drive back to college took a violent and deadly turn in Illinois, Tammy Zywicki is seldom far from her mother's thoughts. Subtle items throughout the family's Ocala home make it so. ....

excerpt from article:
"Tammy had just dropped off her younger brother at Northwestern University in suburban Chicago and had turned her 1985 Pontiac T1000 toward Grinnell on Aug. 23, 1992, when the car broke down along Interstate 80 near LaSalle, Ill.

A passerby caught the last glimpses of her alive there at mile marker 83, hunched over her car's raised hood with a trucker who had stopped, ostensibly to help. A semitrailer truck was seen parked behind her car.

Tammy's body turned up nine days later hundreds of miles away along an interstate in southwest Missouri, shrouded in a red blanket sealed with duct tape. The young woman, who once wrote in a high school journal she didn't want to suffer when she died, had been stabbed repeatedly in the chest. She bled to death.

The story's horror grabbed headlines: A college coed, in distress after her car fails her along a freeway, is snatched up, possibly by a predator trucker prowling the highways posing as a Good Samaritan."

excerpt from article:
"Investigators wonder if it's Mendenhall, whose truck routes will be scrutinized to pinpoint whether he may have been anywhere near Tammy's car the day she vanished. At the same time, the FBI's Rice says, investigators will check whether any military or prison time excludes him from consideration. That could take weeks, perhaps months."

continued: A mother never forgets (http://www.sptimes.com/2007/08/11/State/A_mother_never_forget.shtml)

http://i9.tinypic.com/6bjdizo.jpg
Tammy J. Zywicki
Unsolved Crimes
Illinois State Police
Illinois State Police ~ Unsolved Crimes (http://www.isp.state.il.us/crime/unsolveddetails.cfm?ID=1)

odette

08-19-2007, 04:20 AM

http://i12.tinypic.com/5y9cdvt.jpg
for the web Courtesy Metro Nashville Police
Department Bruce Mendenhall drove this
truck into the parking lot of Truck Stops of
America in Nashville, Tenn.

http://i16.tinypic.com/542hdzd.jpg
for the web JIMMY NESBITT / Courier & Press
Police personnel were gathering evidence at
the home of Bruce Mendenhall on Friday.

Courier Press (http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/jul/14/slaying-suspect/)

docwho3

08-19-2007, 04:49 AM

Many links related to Bruce Mendenhall at below link. wkrn.com/nashville/news/mendenhall-case

Click HERE for related links, stories, and videos (http://www.wkrn.com/ads/brucemendenhall.html)
Thank you for the info. I found one of the articles you posted very very interesting. (I have read some but have not yet read all the linked info but I intend to.)

odette

08-19-2007, 05:00 AM

CNN ~ Video's

Suspected killer arrested

Trucker suspect in court

Suspected killer arrested (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/12/serialkillings.suspect/index.html#cnnSTCVideo)

odette

08-19-2007, 05:04 AM

Thank you for the info. I found one of the articles you posted very very interesting. (I have read some but have not yet read all the linked info but I intend to.)

You're very welcome :)

odette

08-19-2007, 07:51 AM

Blood Found In Accused Serial Killer's Truck

newschannel5.com
July 14, 2007 04:04 PM

NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Blood was found throughout 56-year-old truck driver Bruce Mendenhall's truck when Metro police questioned him during a murder investigation of a Middle Tennessee woman.

Investigators found a garbage bag that had blood inside and a pair of shoes that had similar prints to shoes found at one of the murder scenes, according to a Metro police affidavit released Friday. ...

excerpt:
"On Friday morning, Cindy Rogers called NewsChannel 5 to talk about her sister, Belinda Cartwright, who was killed in 2001 in Valdosta, Ga. The woman was dragged beneath a big rig.

Rogers sent the station a copy of a composite sketch of the suspect in Cartwright's case.

The comparison to Mendenhall is striking. Rogers contacted Metro police and she believes Mendenhall is the perpetrator.

"To me, it's it's him," Rogers said during a telephone interview Friday. "It's him. I mean, you got to remember this is a computer-generated sketch and it's six years ago so I mean almost everything about it, something just jumped out and said 'hey, you need to look into this.'"

Many photos, articles and video's at this link
continued: Blood Found In Accused Serial Killer's Truck (http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=6787407&nav=menu374_2_1)

http://i13.tinypic.com/6cde98i.jpg
2001 Composite of Belinda's
killer

Both photos, center and right, are of Bruce Mendenhall Missing Pieces Show (http://missingpiecesshow.homestead.com/MissingPiecesEpisode31Archive.html)

odette

08-19-2007, 08:24 AM

Belinda Cartwright's Final Journey

tbo.com/news/reports

Georgia authorities knew her name. They knew a trucker ran her over. They knew she was from Hillsborough County. Yet it took years for her family to find out what happened to their beloved wanderer.
Eight hours after Belinda Cartwright was pronounced dead Feb. 22, 2001, Lowndes County sheriff's detectives, with assistance from the FBI, identified her through fingerprints. ....

Included at below link

* The Tampa Tribune Story
* A Communication Breakdown
* Map: Plant City-Valdosta
* Share Your Comments

Related Documents

* Belinda's Death Certificate
* Coroner's Report
* Letter From FBI
* Lowndes Co. Incident Report
* Supplemental Report

continued: Belinda Cartwright's Final Journey (http://www.tbo.com/news/reports/belindacase/)

odette

08-19-2007, 01:00 PM

Suspected serial killer could be linked to old Nashville murders

By Jared Allen, jallen@nashvillecitypaper.com

Metro Police believe “several” of their unsolved murder cases — cases that date back to the 1980s and 1990s — could be linked to Bruce Mendenhall, the suspected serial killer already believed to be responsible for at least a half-dozen truck stop murders of women, including two that occurred in Middle Tennessee this year.

At a press conference Thursday, Metro Police Detective Sgt. Pat Postiglione said the department’s investigation is leading them back some 20 years, to when Mendenhall, 56, of Albion, Ill. first became a truck driver.

Postiglione also said they believe it possible that Mendenhall may have been behind dozens of unsolved murders all across the country, including “several” unsolved murder cases in Nashville. ...

excerpt
“Well, he’s been a trucker for approximately 20 years,” Postiglione said in response to questions about how far back the 50- 75 law enforcement inquires that Metro Police have received into how Mendenhall could be linked to additional unsolved murders.

continued: Suspected serial killer could be linked to old Nashville murders (http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=57115)

odette

08-19-2007, 01:14 PM

Boss ponders Mendenhall’s ‘lost hours’

landlinemag.com/todays_news
July 17, 2007

On a recent trip to Ohio, driver Bruce Mendenhall called his supervisor with bad news.

Mendenhall told Danny Davis, owner of furniture and trucking business Quality Oak Products, that he had mistakenly driven to Fayetteville, OH, rather than Fayette, OH, and would be a day late with the load.

The trucker’s story about getting lost seemed particularly odd, Davis told Land Line. Davis hired Mendenhall, 56, of Albion, IL, about a year ago after Mendenhall left Dart Transit.

Mendenhall took between 24 to 40 hours to make the five-hour trip, Davis said.

“Even with sleep and everything else, that’s just way, way behind,” Davis said. ...

excerpt
Davis said his mind has raced through scenarios about Mendenhall’s detour ever since his former driver’s arrest.

“It’s concerned me ever since I’ve thought about it,” Davis said. “I’m just wondering if he doesn’t have another victim lying along I-64 or (I-71) somewhere over there … that’s just a long timeline to get where he was going.”

continued: Boss ponders Mendenhall’s ‘lost hours’ (http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2007/Jul07/071607/071707-01.htm)

odette

08-19-2007, 01:28 PM

Indy Police Seek DNA From Serial-Slayings Suspect

Investigators Wonder Whether Man Connected To Other Cases

theindychannel.com/news
POSTED: 8:34 pm EDT August 8, 2007
UPDATED: 2:16 pm EDT August 9, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis police are going to Tennessee Thursday to interview a trucker accused of killing women in four states, hoping to learn whether he committed more central Indiana killings than those to which authorities said he confessed, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

Indianapolis police want to talk to and draw a DNA sample from Bruce Mendenhall, who police said confessed last month to killing six women -- including two in Indiana -- this year. ...

continued: Indy Police Seek DNA From Serial-Slayings Suspect (http://www.theindychannel.com/news/13852537/detail.html)

odette

08-19-2007, 04:25 PM

Suspect spawns search for a sixth body

Police say trucker held in Nashville described leaving victim in Indiana

thetennessean.com
By JENNIFER BROOKS, CHRISTIAN BOTTOROFF
and EMILIE YAM
Staff Writers
Saturday, 07/14/07

Homicide detectives and cadaver dogs are searching truck stops south of Indianapolis for what could be the final victim of alleged serial killer Bruce D. Mendenhall.

Investigators said Mendenhall, who was arrested Thursday as he climbed out of the blood-spattered cab of his semi at a Nashville rest stop, told them he killed a woman Wednesday and left her body in a car at a Flying J truck stop, near a Hardee's restaurant, somewhere on the south end of Interstate 465. ...

continued: Suspect spawns search for a sixth body (http://www.thetennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/NEWS03/707140349)

http://i16.tinypic.com/62qxtl0.jpg
Bruce Mendenhall has worked as a long-haul trucker for 18 years, raising
concerns for investigators that he may be linked to other deaths.
(LARRY MCCORMACK / THE TENNESSEAN)

odette

08-19-2007, 06:52 PM

Police identify blood of 5 women in truck of serial killer

wmcstations.com
July 29, 2007 03:59 PM

There are new developments in the investigation into a suspected serial killer. Bruce Mendenhall was arrested earlier this month in Nashville.

Now, police in Indiana who are looking into a murder there say they've identified the blood of five different women in the cab of Mendenhall's truck. ...

continued: Police identify blood of 5 women in truck of serial killer (http://www.wmcstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=6840454)

odette

08-23-2007, 10:31 PM

Truck Driver Charged in Third Slaying

Associated Press 08.23.07, 6:48 PM ET

LEBANON, Tenn. - A truck driver who authorities say confessed to killing six women in several states has been charged with a third count of murder.

Bruce Mendenhall was taken to Wilson County on Tuesday to be arraigned on charges of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the death of Symantha Winters, 48, of Nashville, police said. Her body was found June 6 stuffed in a trash can at a truck stop in Lebanon, 26 miles east of Nashville. She had been shot. .....

continued: Truck Driver Charged in Third Slaying (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/23/ap4050032.html)

odette

08-23-2007, 10:39 PM

Trucker Charged In Third Slaying

Police Check Man's Alleged Confessions In Other Cases

The Indy Channel
POSTED: 3:41 pm EDT August 23, 2007

LEBANON, Tenn. -- Authorities have filed a third set of murder charges against an Illinois truck driver who Nashville police say confessed to six killings in several states including Indiana. ...

continued: Trucker Charged In Third Slaying (http://www.theindychannel.com/news/13960078/detail.html)

odette

08-23-2007, 11:06 PM

"Truck Driver Arraigned In Wilson Co. Slaying, Appears In Court"

Nashville WKRN
August 21, 2007, 2:21 pm

VIDEO of Mendenhall in Court

Suspected serial killer Bruce Mendenhall was in Wilson County courtroom Tuesday.

The 56-year-old truck driver from Albion, Illinois was arraigned and assigned a public defender.

A court date was also set for October 29 at 10 a.m.

Last week, Mendenhall was charged in the death of 48-year-old Symantha Winters whose body was found on June 6 in a trash can at the Pilot station on Murfreesboro Road in Lebanon, just off Interstate 40. ...

continued: "Truck Driver Arraigned In Wilson Co. Slaying, Appears In Court" (http://wkrn.com/nashville/news/truck-driver-arraigned-in-wilson-co-slaying-appears-in-court/113723.htm#top)

packy

08-24-2007, 08:57 PM

It does seem like this guy could have done a lot more. I hope they can get descriptions/pictures of the different trucks he drove over the years. I seem to remember that witness saw a diagonal type line on the van of the semi that was stopped behind Tammy Zwicki's car in IL.

odette

08-27-2007, 12:53 PM

Bruce Mendenhall Details

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Biography
Arrest
Victims

Bruce Mendenhall: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Mendenhall)

odette

08-27-2007, 01:16 PM

Mess in trucker's cab held clues in slayings

He is a suspect in six killings, 2 in Midstate

TENNESSEAN
By JENNIFER BROOKS,
TIM GHIANNI and
KATE HOWARD
Staff Writers

Published: Friday, 07/13/07

Bruce D. Mendenhall's mustard-yellow truck cab was a mess, his boss told him last week.

Mendenhall assured him he would clean it up.

Thursday afternoon, Nashville police peered into the same truck cab and found it spattered with what looked like blood. Mendenhall was arrested on the spot and within hours was the main suspect in an apparent string of serial killings in states along his truck route.

continued: Mess in trucker's cab held clues in slayings (http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20070713&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=707130430&SectionCat=NEWS&Template=printart)

odette

08-27-2007, 01:44 PM

Truck of serial killing suspect reveals evidence

By DAILY NEWS STAFF

8/6/2007 2:34:00 PM

Hundreds of pieces of evidence have been collected from the cab of a tractor-trailer truck driven by a former Crawford County man who may be a serial killer. ...

excerpt
"Mendenhall was charged with criminal homicide earlier this month after being questioned by police at the same north Nashville truck stop where Sara Nicole Hulbert, 25, was found dead with gunshot wounds in June. Police say he implicated himself in that case and at least five other similar slayings in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Indiana when they first interviewed him. He has refused to speak to police since then."

continued: Truck of serial killing suspect reveals evidence (http://www.robdailynews.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=3688&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&S=1)

Jadedblueeyes

08-29-2007, 09:38 PM

odette

08-29-2007, 10:51 PM

Family hopes case of woman missing 15 years might be solved

ABC7 Chicago
By John Garcia

August 29, 2007

Fifteen years ago, 21-year-old Tammy Zywicki disappeared. Her body was found, but her killer has never been charged.

On August 23, 1992, Zywicki was headed back to college in Iowa when her car broke down on I-80 near LaSalle. Her body was found 9 days later near a Missouri highway. She had been stabbed to death.

Her killer has never been found, but her family has not given up. "I didn't think we were gonna be 15 years down the road still talking about this," said Joanne Zywicki, mother.

Joanne Zywicki thinks about her daughter every day. She and her husband, Hank, believed their daughter's killer would have been brought to justice years ago. But despite descriptions from witnesses, investigators have never developed a suspect. ...

continued: Family hopes case of woman missing 15 years might be solved (http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5616950)

odette

09-09-2007, 01:03 AM

Accused killer’s boss says Mendenhall’s arrest has hurt business

LANDLINE
By Charlie Morasch, staff writer
September 7, 2007

Danny Davis started Quality Oak Products’ trucking division five years ago, betting that hard work and his experience as a driver would add a second revenue stream to his furniture business.

The strategy worked. Davis’ company quickly grew to five trucks, until a shocking morning in mid-July when Nashville police arrested Quality Oak Products driver Bruce Mendenhall in connection to a string of unsolved prostitute killings near truck stops throughout the South and Midwest that made national headlines.

Mendenhall, 56, of Albion IL, has been charged with three counts of murder in connection with the slayings of Sara Nicole Hulbert, 25, in June in Nashville, 44-year-old Lucille “Gretna” Carter in Birmingham in early July and the June death of Symantha Winters, 48, in Lebanon, TN. Authorities continue to attempt to link Mendenhall to other prostitute killings.

Since the arrest, Mendenhall’s company-owned 2000 International – its bright yellow paint shown around the world following his arrest – has sat with other evidence collected by Nashville Police. Davis continues to make payments on the truck and recently cancelled its insurance.

Davis wonders if his business will survive the arrest and the national headlines it made for much of the summer.

Davis and other Quality Oak Products drivers are reminded of their former associate almost every day by other drivers, brokers and state troopers that mention Mendenhall’s arrest.

“It’s been harder to get loads because of the situation,” Davis said. “There’s been a few that find out who we are, then suddenly the load disappears.”

A Nashville detective noticed blood on the truck’s door and on Mendenhall’s thumb, and later found several sex toys, a gun, used condoms and a trash bag with a large quantity of blood in the cab.

Only days before the arrest, Davis had climbed into Mendenhall’s “messy” cab and he remembers telling the driver to clean up the “funky” odor. .....

CONTINUED
Accused killer’s boss says Mendenhall’s arrest has hurt business (http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2007/Sep07/090307/090707-02.htm)

odette

10-08-2007, 05:18 AM

Suspected serial killer could be linked to old Nashville murders

nashvillecitypaper.com - By Jared Allen - Monday, October 8, 2007

Metro Police believe “several” of their unsolved murder cases — cases that date back to the 1980s and 1990s — could be linked to Bruce Mendenhall, the suspected serial killer already believed to be responsible for at least a half-dozen truck stop murders of women, including two that occurred in Middle Tennessee this year.

At a press conference Thursday, Metro Police Detective Sgt. Pat Postiglione said the department’s investigation is leading them back some 20 years, to when Mendenhall, 56, of Albion, Ill. first became a truck driver.

Postiglione also said they believe it possible that Mendenhall may have been behind dozens of unsolved murders all across the country, including “several” unsolved murder cases in Nashville.

“[Metro Nashville police] have several. More than two or three,” Postiglione said. “We have unsolved cases that somehow fit the criteria.” .....

Article continues http://i24.tinypic.com/suuhch.gif
Suspected serial killer could be linked to old Nashville murders (http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=57115)

http://i21.tinypic.com/2zhjz1v.jpg
Metro Police Detective Sgt. Pat Postiglione says suspected serial killer
Bruce Mendenhall may be linked to other unsolved murders in Tennessee
as well as around the country. Josh Anderson/The City Paper

odette

10-10-2007, 05:00 AM

Police identify truck stop murder victim

wthr.com - Oct 10, 2007 05:27 PM

Indianapolis - Police believe a missing Indianapolis woman is the final victim of a serial killer.

Our partners at the Indianapolis Star say police found an identification card belonging to 31-year-old Carma Purpura in a truck driven by Bruce Mendenhall. The mother of two has been missing since July. .....

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7191938&nav=menu188_2

odette

10-10-2007, 05:10 AM

Blood may link woman, trucker

Indy resident last seen at truck stop in July

indystar.com - By Vic Ryckaert - October 10, 2007

An Indianapolis woman missing since July might be the victim of a man who has confessed to killing women in four states, police said.

Carma Purpura, a 31-year-old mother of two, was last seen July 11 at a Far-Southside truck stop. Police say she might be one of six women alleged serial killer Bruce Mendenhall claimed to have killed.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Detective Tom Tudor said he is waiting for tests to determine whether blood on clothing found in Mendenhall's truck came from Purpura. Tudor said police found her identification card in the truck. ....

http://i22.tinypic.com/2aionj5.jpg
Carma Purpura

Article continues
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071010/LOCAL18/710100459/1195/LOCAL18

odette

10-13-2007, 03:29 AM

Family, police hope DNA evidence resolves truck-stop murder case

wthr.com - Steve Jefferson/Eyewitness News - Oct 12, 2007

Metro homicide detectives are looking for answers from DNA in a death investigation. A self-proclaimed serial killer already charged in two deaths says he's responsible for a truck stop murder in Indiana. The victim is a mother of two not seen since July 2006.

Metro homicide detectives are investigating if Carma Purpura is a murder victim. Trucker Bruce Mendenhall claims he killed Purpura. Detectives will use DNA to prove or discount his statement.

"DNA has been taken from the parents that is going to be compared to clothing found in the suspects Mendenhall's truck," said Sgt. Matthew Mount, IMPD.

Purpura's family owns and operates an organic farm in Clayton. .....

Article Continues (http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=7196075&nav=menu188_2)

odette

10-26-2007, 05:22 AM

Suspected Serial Killer Pleads Not Guilty

newschannel5.com - Oct 25, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - An accused serial killer arrested in Nashville said he didn't kill a local woman.

On Wednesday, Bruce Mendenhall appeared in a Nashville courtroom. — continued: »

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=7261142

odette

10-26-2007, 05:24 AM

Serial-Killings Suspect Pleads Not Guilty In 1 Case

Police Still Checking Whether Man Involved In Indianapolis Slaying

theindychannel.com - October 24, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- An Illinois truck driver who police say confessed to killings in several states, including Indiana, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a Nashville homicide.

Police in July arrested Bruce Mendenhall and charged him with criminal homicide in the death of Sara Nicole Hulbert, 25. She had been found dead with gunshot wounds on June 26 at a truck stop along Interstate 24 in Nashville.

He pleaded not guilty in the case on Wednesday by video arraignment, his attorney Jason Gichner said. Gichner had no other comment on the proceedings. — continued: »

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/14415821/detail.html

odette

10-26-2007, 05:27 AM

Truck driver suspected in serial killings pleads not guilty

cbs2chicago.com - 25 Oct 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) An Illinois truck driver who police say confessed to killings in several states pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a Nashville murder.

In July police arrested Bruce Mendenhall of Albion, Ill., and charged him with criminal homicide in the death of Sara Nicole Hulbert, 25. She had been found dead with gunshot wounds on June 26 at a truck stop along Interstate 24 in Nashville. — continued: »

Excerpt: Police in Birmingham, Ala., have also filed murder charges against Mendenhall in the death of 44-year-old Lucille "Gretna'' Carter.

http://cbs2chicago.com/illinoiswire/22.0.html?type=local&state=IL&category=n&filename=IL--TruckStopSlayings.xml

odette

10-28-2007, 02:37 AM

"Suspended Interstate Serial Killer Pleads Not Guilty"

wkrn.com - October 24, 2007

Suspected truck-stop serial killer Bruce Mendenhall appeared in a Nashville courtroom Wednesday where he pled not guilty to killing 25-year-old Sarah Hulbert at a Nashville truck stop. — continued: »

http://i24.tinypic.com/11b5ac1.jpg

http://i23.tinypic.com/15f198k.gif »
http://wkrn.com/nashville/news/suspended-interstate-serial-killer-pleads-not-guilty/125285.htm

odette

08-27-2008, 04:18 AM

Accused serial killer charged with plotting to murder Metro detectives, witnesses (http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=62182)

odette

08-27-2008, 04:39 AM

. . . . . http://redkid.net/hostimage/images/x9ykva1dytax21w94ujl.jpg (http://redkid.net/hostimage/)

Accused Serial Killer Faces More Charges - Indictment Says Bruce Mendenhall Sought To Have Detectives Killed (http://www.wsmv.com/news/17224312/detail.html)

odette

08-27-2008, 04:42 AM

Accused serial killer Mendenhall to face judge next week on new charges (http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2008/Aug08/081808/082108-03.htm)

odette

08-27-2008, 04:50 AM

Suspected serial killer charged in murder plots (http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080819/NEWS03/808190340/1017/NEWS01)

odette

08-29-2008, 12:54 AM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- One of the jail inmates who said an accused serial killer tried to hire him to kill witnesses said his life has been difficult since he's been labeled a snitch. ...

Witness Says He's Been Placed In Isolation (http://www.wsmv.com/news/17328716/detail.html)

odette

09-04-2008, 09:59 AM

By CHRIS ECHEGARAY • Staff Writer • September 4, 2008

Jailed trucker arraigned on murder plot charges

Serial killer suspect Bruce Mendenhall was arraigned this morning in Davidson County Criminal Court on his latest charges of plotting to kill the two detectives who arrested him and three witnesses in his murder case.

Mendenhall, 57, is charged with five counts of soliciting help in an alleged plot to kill homicide detectives Sgt. Pat Postiglione and Lee Freeman and the witnesses.

Mendenhall, already in jail while facing four murder charges, was arraigned by video in Judge Steve Dozier's courtroom. He entered a not guilty plea to the charges.

The Illinois truck driver targeted prostitutes at truck stops, including in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Indiana, authorities have said. He has been in jail since last July, charged with the June 2007 shooting death of Sara Hulbert, who was found at a North First Street truck stop.

Postiglione arrested Mendenhall at the truck stop. Blood evidence was found in the cab of Mendenhall's truck, police said.

This case on the charges of solicitation of first-degree murder was continued to Oct. 9. He is slated to go on trial for the other murder charges Jan. 26.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/NEWS03/809040402/1017/news01

odette

09-17-2008, 02:42 AM

By RACHEL STULTS • Staff Writer • September 16, 2008

Mendenhall linked to missing woman

Police have linked suspected serial killer Bruce Mendenhall to a Nashville woman who was reported missing in June 2007.

A sample of Latisha Yvonne Milliken’s DNA was matched to blood found in Mendenhall’s truck, said Don Aaron, a Metro police spokesman.

Milliken was 28 when she was reported missing on June 26, 2007, two months after her family had last heard from her.

The family reported her missing the same day Sara Hulbert’s body was found at a North First Street truck stop, Aaron said. Mendenhall, an Illinois truck driver, is charged in Hulbert’s death.

Milliken was last known to be homeless and living in the vicinity of Tent City, a makeshift camp off Hermitage Avenue for Nashville’s homeless. She had a history of prostitution offenses in Metro, Aaron said.

. . . . . http://i35.tinypic.com/5uh83l.jpg
. . . . . Latisha Milliken - (Metro Nashville Police Department)

Over the past few months, Metro police Sgt. Pat Postigilone and his team have been working with the Milliken family to find out what happened to her, Aaron said.

The family gave police an item that contained Milliken’s DNA and a positive match with blood found in the truck was made, he said.

Milliken is still considered a missing person but the investigation continues. She would be the seventh dead or missing woman linked to Mendenhall, Aaron said.

The trucker has been charged with murder in Tennessee, Alabama and Indiana. He is also a suspect in a homicide in Georgia, Aaron said.

Mendenhall, 57, is also charged with five counts of soliciting help in an alleged plot to kill homicide detectives Postiglione and Lee Freeman as well as three witnesses in the murder case.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080916/NEWS03/80916108

odette

09-17-2008, 02:45 AM

Blood Of Missing Woman Found In Bruce Mendenhall's Truck (http://www.wsmv.com/news/17489992/detail.html)

odette

09-17-2008, 02:52 AM

newschannel5.com

Another Death Linked To Suspected Interstate Serial Killer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Metro police have tied suspected interstate serial killer Bruce Mendenhall to another victim.

The Indiana truck driver has already implicated himself in a half dozen murders.

Investigators suspect him of several others including the death of another woman in Nashville.

Metro detectives can thank DNA.

Police found the woman's blood and DNA in his truck.

Lois Lamb hasn't seen her granddaughter in 17 months.

"My granddaughter was a prostitute," she said.

But a grandmother's love is unconditional.

"You know, because there are so many who say, ‘Oh, she was just a prostitute.' She wasn't just a prostitute. She was my granddaughter," she said.

Latisha Milliken disappeared from the streets of Nashville in March 2007.

When police arrested Bruce Mendenhall last summer for killing prostitutes they took several samples of blood from his truck.

. . . . . http://i36.tinypic.com/2ep36a8.jpg

Now, a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report said Milliken's DNA was in the truck. The DNA came from blood on the upholstery of the driver's seat back.

"The DNA wouldn't have been there if she hadn't been there," she said.

Milliken is still missing so police had to build her DNA profile using samples from her 5-year-old son and her mother.

They also extracted her DNA from envelopes she licked and sealed and sent to her grandmother.

Now, her family is pretty convinced Mendenhall is the killer.

Lamb said she'd love to sit across the table from and look him in the eye.

"I'd ask him, ‘Did you kill my granddaughter? And if you did, where's she at?'" she said. "And God, God be with you."

With the addition of Milliken, police said they've tied Mendenhall to seven murders in four states.

Police said Mendenhall implicated himself in six of the murders during an interview after his arrest.

Investigators have not been able to talk to him about Milliken. Mendenhall has lawyers and apparently he's not talking.

Mendenhall has only been charged with four murders.

He is scheduled to go to trial for the murder of Sara Hulbert in January

VIDEO: Another Victim Tied To Suspected Interstate Serial Killer - @ link ...

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=9021572

odette

09-18-2008, 06:25 AM

Link - Missing woman linked to alleged serial killer (http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/sep/17/missing-woman-linked-to-alleged-serial-killer/)

odette

10-09-2008, 09:38 PM

Accused Serial Killer's Hit List Revealed

Asked Cellmates To Carry Out Murders, Prosecutors Say

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Thursday in court, for the first time, prosecutors revealed all five names on accused serial killer Bruce Mendenhall’s hit list.

The prosecution said Mendenhall asked two different cellmates to carry out two different sets of murders.

Prosecutors said Thursday they have proof Mendenhall asked Mike Jenkins to kill police detectives Pat Postiglione and Lee Freemen, the two main investigators in the case.

Continued @ Link ...

http://www.wsmv.com/news/17672656/detail.html

SaraSidle

10-09-2008, 09:49 PM

odette

10-11-2008, 05:09 AM

Police say Mendenhall concocted two death plots from behind bars

Continued @ Link ...

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2008/Oct08/100608/101008-11.htm

SaraSidle

10-11-2008, 09:47 PM

Police say Mendenhall concocted two death plots from behind bars

Continued @ Link ...

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2008/Oct08/100608/101008-11.htm

Excellent

odette

11-05-2008, 11:28 PM

CBS Show To Focus On Suspected Serial Killer Case

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - An episode of a CBS crime drama refers to a suspected serial murder case involving women in Tennessee.

Bruce Mendenhall is a long-haul truck driver accused of killing four Midstate women.

Police arrested Mendenhall of Illinois in Nashville last year. Police said he targeted women at truck stops, shot them and took so-called flesh trophies from the victims.

• Article Continued

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=9301600

odette

11-07-2008, 03:27 AM

Suspected Serial Killer Blames Self For Wife's Death

ALBION, Ill. - Metro police believe a Illinois truck driver maintained a secret double life as a family man in his hometown and as a serial killer on the road.

In 2007, Bruce Mendenhall was arrested at a Nashville truck stop. Police said he targeted women at truck stops, shot them and took so-called flesh trophies from the victims.

He was charged Mendenhall was charged with homicide in the shooting death of Sarah Hulbert. He was also charged with three other murders. And he is suspected of committing other homicides.

His wife recently passed away and some blame Mendenhall.

His daughter, Bryna Mendenhall told NewsChannel 5 that she still loves her father.

Mendenhall drove a truck for more than two decades from Albion, Ill., a small community known for soybeans and oil wells.

He hauled cargo across the country. But police said he also killed while on the road.

"I knew if I had had a camera on me it would have been like," said Edwards County Sheriff Darby Boewe, sitting with his mouth wide open. "Because I just couldn't believe it."

The southern Illinois sheriff remembers taking the call from Nashville that police had arrested Mendendall. He immediately contacted Mendenhall's family.

"We get there and they tell us he's arrested for killing somebody. I'm like there's no way. We thought they were pulling our leg," Bryna Mendenhall said.

She said the charges don't change her feelings toward her father.

"They could have 100 women's names and accuse him of all of them and it still wouldn't change my feelings or anything about him," said Bryna Mendenhall before showing family pictures.

In a few, her father isn't smiling.

She said he never showed violence toward her or her sister or their mother, Linda Mendenhall.

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She said her father placed her in time out in a corner.

"He didn't believe in spanking and stuff like that," she said.

After his arrest in 2007, detectives searched his truck where they confiscated a nightstick, three knives, sex toys, a used condom as well as black tape and a glass pipe.

Detectives also searched his home and searched the grounds looking for evidence such as bodies. They didn't find anything.

Located outside the city, the home was later demolished.

People who know Mendenhall said he craved privacy and wanted to be left alone. He lived with his two daughters and wife.

"She was used to dad being home every weekend. She was just as shocked and baffled as everybody else was," Bryna Mendenhall said.

Linda Mendenhall battled diabetes. Coupled with the stress of her husband's arrest, it may have been too much. The 56-year-old died in May.

Bryna Mendenhall said her father blames himself.

"That he wasn't here at home able to help with things and help take care of her," she said.

She visited him on Father's Day. He is being held at the Davidson County jail without bond.

She wondered if he might confess something to her, but he didn't.

"He was the same old dad. It didn't seem like anything really changed except him being on the other side of the glass window," she said.

Mendenhall is scheduled to go to trial in Nashville in January for Hulbert's murder.

He is also accused of trying to arrange the murders of the Metro homicide detectives working the case and three witnesses. He now faces additional charges for trying to arrange those hits from jail.

VIDEO @ LINK

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=9309105

odette

11-07-2008, 11:57 PM

Detective: Mendenhall Confessed To Killings

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - He's accused of killing at least seven women.

Suspected serial killer Bruce Mendenhall told police when he was arrested details about how the murders happened.

The Illinois truck driver apparently confessed to the Metro police detective he is now accused of trying to kill.

• Article Continued

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=9314895

odette

11-11-2008, 02:13 AM

Police say Mendenhall couldn’t explain blood, ‘trophy’

A Nashville, TN, detective said former truck driver Bruce Mendenhall couldn’t explain why he had a large quantity of blood in his truck cab, leading him to reportedly admit to taking it from an Indianapolis prostitute.

Mendenhall – an accused serial killer – has been in jail in Davidson County, TN, since July 2007 after being charged in the deaths of four women, including Sara Hulbert, Symantha Winters, Lucille “Gretna” Carter, and Carma Purpora. Police suspect his involvement in at least three other killings.

According to WTVF-TV, Nashville Det. Pat Postiglione said Mendenhall waived his rights and voluntarily told police about several murders after police asked him about a plastic bag full of blood.

At first, Mendenhall reportedly tried to say the blood came from a cut on his left leg, though police pointed out he had no scratches or scars.

Mendenhall then confessed, the television station reported.

Bryna Mendenhall, Bruce Mendenhall’s daughter, told reporters that her father ignored prostitutes.

“He never had a negative thing to say about anyone who chose that lifestyle,” Bryna Mendenhall told WTVF. “Everybody knows stuff like that is in the truck stops. There’s people like that that will do that. Everybody knows that. Dad – he didn’t really pay attention to it.”

WTVF also reported that Mendenhall possessed a tattoo cut from one of his victims. Postiglione noted that Mendenhall mentioned the tattoo, saying ‘she had a good tattoo.’ ”

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2008/Nov08/111008/111008-07.htm

odette

11-15-2008, 05:51 AM

. . . . . http://i38.tinypic.com/5uz2s.jpg

Police ask: Are there others?

Similar slaying cases could help detectives

There could be more victims in a string of slayings of Las Vegas Valley prostitutes whose dismembered bodies were found along highways, a Las Vegas police detective said Friday.

Detective Larry Hanna implored law enforcement authorities in other jurisdictions to check for cases similar to those of four young women with ties to Las Vegas. The body parts of three of the women have been found off of highways in Las Vegas, California and Illinois, and a fourth woman who matches the descriptions of the others is missing.

Hanna said the women could have been slain by the same person, possibly a truck driver because of the proximity of the women to major highways.

"I'm not saying they're connected, I'm saying there's enough there that we in law enforcement need to work together and pay attention," he said.

"As my sergeant says, 'There are no coincidences in law enforcement.'"

The discovery of other cases could produce leads into the deaths of the women, Hanna said. Investigators have ruled out as suspects the women's boyfriends, who doubled as pimps, and have had precious few leads to pursue.

No suspects have been named, and the truck driver as serial killer remains a theory.

"It may not be a truck driver, who knows?" Hanna said. "It's someone who travels the roads."

The young women, ages 19 to 25 and working as valley prostitutes, disappeared between 2003 and 2006.

Authorities investigating their cases are going down a well-worn path of investigations into serial killer truck drivers, according to James Alan Fox, a professor at Northeastern University in Boston who has written several books on serial killers, including 2005's "Extreme Killing: Understanding Serial and Mass Murder."

Fox said there isn't anything in particular about truck drivers that would make them serial killers. They are just tougher to catch and have access to prostitutes, runaways and hitchhikers, he said.

"Their mobility aids them in evading apprehension," he said. "Plus, the places where they travel, highways and truck stops, give them easy access to targets."

The cases of truck drivers killing prostitutes are among the most difficult to solve, he said. Police rarely have crime scenes; they have dump sites. The list of potential suspects, which would include johns, is extensive. Witnesses to the crime, which could include other prostitutes, are usually unwilling to talk to police.

"There are so many cases of prostitute slayings that have been unsolved. Pick a state," Fox said.

Excerpt: "America's Most Wanted" is highlighting the cases of the four Las Vegas Valley women in a show set to air tonight.

• Jodi Brewer, 19, disappeared from Las Vegas in August 2003. Her torso was wrapped in plastic and a sheet and was found later that month in the desert near the Interstate 15 offramp to Cima Road, about 25 miles south of the Nevada-California border.

• Jessica Foster, 21, was last seen in North Las Vegas between late March and early April 2006, according to a Web site set up in her memory. She has not been found.

• Lindsay Harris, 21, disappeared from Henderson on May 4, 2005. Nineteen days later, her legs were found in a grassy area a few hundred yards off of Interstate 55, about 15 miles south of Springfield, Ill. Investigators didn't identify the remains until this year.

• Misty Saens, 25, was found by two bikers in the desert off of state Route 159, the road that leads to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Her partial remains were found wrapped in plastic and a cloth sheet on March 6, 2003, according to the Clark County coroner's office.

• Article Continued @ Link

http://www.lvrj.com/news/34511299.html