Episode 028: Stalking

Hello hello my lurid lovelies, welcome back to TMD… So I was away on vacation earlier this year. It was my fella’s first time overseas and we went to Italy. Now, we had a dear friend staying at our house to watch over my husband’s menagerie because, as I’ve probably mentioned, I married Snow White. Children love him, animals flock to him, and I swear, a hummingbird once landed on him. My husband loves living things as much as I, well… let’s just say opposites do attract. So like I said, while we were gone, someone was staying at our house. I wasn’t in the country so I had a bit more freedom to post about where I was while I was there. Then I started thinking about it. Like, really thinking about it. You see, back home, here in the States, I don’t post on social media, personal or public, about where I am when I’m there - or heading there. That’s because I’ve experienced stalking, internet and otherwise, as well as some other creepy things. I’ve been made aware of the dangers connected to such behavior and, more troublesome than all that, I’ve been warned that violence can be the follow-up. I wondered how many other people have been subject to the same type of thing. My findings were not awesome. The prevalence is awful. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 15.2% of women and 5.7% of men in the United States have experienced stalking during their lifetime. (Source: CDC, 2019) The National Center for Victims of Crime estimates that 7.5 million people are stalked every year in the United States. (Source: National Center for Victims of Crime) But, of course, there is the thing that bothered me more than all that. Do you want to know the National Institute of Justice listed as the risk factors for being stalked? Allow me to share. The three biggest risk factors for being stalked include previous intimate partner violence, separation or divorce, and being female. (Source: National Institute of Justice, 2020) BEING FEMALE. Are you kidding me? I know being a female-presenting human being comes with risks. We learn things like “don’t walk by yourself at night” and “don’t drink anything you’re handed by someone other than the bartender” and “don’t post your location online.” Rather than letting this be a downer, we’re going to approach this topic with assertion. Social media has definitely changed things for stalkers and cyberstalking has become increasingly common. According to the Pew Research Center, 18% of internet users have experienced online harassment, and 8% have experienced stalking behaviors online. (Source: Pew Research Center, 2017) Now, please keep in mind that stalking is one of those crimes that is often underreported. That’s because victims are afraid of retaliation or being told by other people that what they’re experiencing isn’t really stalking, especially with internet stalking. So, because I love numbers, let’s just run through a few more statistics before we move onto the next thing. First of all, 40% of victims are stalked by current or former intimate partners, and 57% of those are stalked during the relationship. 74% of those stalked by a former intimate partner report violence and/or coercive control with 81% of women stalked by a husband or partner were also physically assaulted by that partner. The average length of partner stalking is 2.2 years (longer than the average of just over 1 year for non intimate partner cases). So, if you think this doesn’t affect you, you can just about guarantee it’s affected someone you know. Probably someone you care about. The fact of the matter is that stalking is not just creepy, it’s oftentimes a warning of greater risk. That ex might not just be deep-diving your online pics. Stalking increases the risk of intimate partner homicide by three times. 85% of attempted and 76% of completed homicide victims were stalked, but only a little more than half reported the stalking to the authorities. A lot of these statistics have come to me from the Stalking and Intimate Partner Violence Fact Sheet from Stalking Awareness, an organization intent on reducing violence connected to stalking by increasing awareness, obviously, and education for both women aka potential victims and law enforcement… because women and cops need a fact sheet so they can be aware of the very real risk. Once again, being a woman made the list of top risk factors. Obviously, thankfully, stalking doesn’t always end with homicide. Roughly a third of stalkers engage in physical violence against their victims, but other forms of intimidation are frequently used. Like threats of violence or brandishing weapons. Stalking, online or in-person, is a very real problem and if you don’t know that you’re probably a dude. No offense intended. I’m just leaning into the stats here. Just remember: The National Center for Victims of Crime reports that 76% of intimate partner femicide victims were stalked by their partners before being killed. (Source: National Center for Victims of Crime) Stalking behavior has been identified in 9 in 10 murders, according to an article by The Guardian. — Okay, let’s move away from numbers to talk about true crime. Now, funny enough, I’m not really that into true crime. Sure, I get caught up in the numbers or the news cycle and I have lots of friends who love a good Dateline session, but that’s just not me. Too real. The degradation of humanity I have to witness at Costco is too much for me. People, actual human beings, stealing parking spaces, refusing to take turns, people who don’t know hunger scrambling over one another for a tiny morsel of free sample. Nope. It’s depressing. True crime and Costco, two things that really bring me down. But we’re going to talk about the former because you can’t talk about stalking without talking about serial killers. The two often travel hand-in-hand. Let’s start with the most obvious example: The Night Stalker. Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Stalker, was a notorious serial killer who terrorized California during the mid-1980s. Eventually, he was caught and convicted of 13 murders, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries. Ramirez died in 2013 while on death row. He generally attacked women in the afternoon which I found a little strange because NIGHT. Stalker. He was also known as the Walk-In Killer and the Valley Intruder. The life of Richard Ramirez was a perfect storm of serial killer tendencies. Troubled childhood, abusive father, macabre interests, acquired military skills, occult fascination, satanism, drug use… Now, as an individual who is dedicated to the study of religions cross-culturally, I feel like I should point out that Satanists really got a bad rap in the 1980s, but that’s probably best left for another episode. Perhaps one Dana reads for you because this topic is of particular interest to her. Back to the Night Stalker and his heinous spree across Los Angeles county and the San Francisco Bay area. Unlike many others of his ilk, he used a wide array of different weapons on his victims, from handguns to tire irons, even a machete and a claw hammer, but many of his victims were strangled to death. Following his conviction in 1989, Richard Ramirez never expressed remorse for his crimes and he died on death row while awaiting execution from complications of lymphoma. I gotta say, this guy didn't have a lot of positive influences in his early life. In fact, it's the total opposite. Skipping past the horrifying abuse inflicted by his father, we find Mike Valles, an older cousin, who was a decorated Green Beret in the Army. Now, cousin Mike had dabbled in rape and murder during his time served in the Vietnam War. And he took polaroids of his crimes that he was eager to share with his younger cousin. When Ramirez was only 15, he watched Mike shoot his second wife in the face during a domestic dispute. Unfortunately, Cousin Mike was found not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity, claiming post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in the military spurred the killing. He then spent several years in the Texas State Mental Hospital. Following the shooting, Ramirez moved in with his older sister and her husband. This brother-in-law was an "obsessive peeping tom" who decided to bring the kid along on his voyeuristic adventures. So not a great environment, sure, but we all contend for our own soul. Fact is, Ramirez was a monster, but The Night Stalker wasn’t the only serial killer who engaged in stalking. Ted Bundy, the BTK Killer, the Green River Killer, Son of Sam, Ken and Barbie Killers, the Dating Game Killer, and the Killer Clown, aka John Wayne Gacy, all stalked their victims and these are just a few examples. I know there are all sorts of podcasts that talk about Serial Killers and true crime. You are welcome to explore those further if it tickles your fancy. I’m just generally not that girl and this show is about deathcare and afterlife and ghosts and so on. I’m on the cute side of the macabre spectrum and that’s reflected in the things I choose to research for this show. But, before I leave you all today, let's talk about stalking of a location rather than an individual. Specifically, I'd like to talk about highways and truck stops. Over the past few decades, it's estimated that there have been at least 850 murders along the highways of America. More than 200 of those cases remain unsolved and more than 450 potential suspects have been identified. As of July 7, 2024, there are 25 long-haul truckers in prison for serial murders. The life of a trucker fits well with the wants of a serial killer. A nomadic lifestyle and long periods of isolation appeal to the anti-social or misanthropic tendencies of most serial killers. "The FBI launched the FBI Highway Serial Killings Initiative in 2004 after an Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation analyst noticed a trend of dead bodies being dumped along the Interstate 40 corridor spanning four states." According to an article by Luke Kenton. Former assistant director of the FBI, Frank Figliuzzi, wrote the book "Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers” about this shocking problem. According to Frank, “"It's no surprise that long-haul trucking is the number one profession of serial killers. No other job even comes close." Amongst the most notorious trucker-killers, we find The Redhead Killer who prowled the major highways in Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia. There's also the Happy Face Killer who got his name because he would send letters to taunt the police and always sign them with a happy face. Bad name for a guy who claims to have murdered more than 160 people even though he was only convicted of 8 murders. And, we can't forget the Truck Stop Killer, Robert Benjamin Rhoades, who is serving a life sentence for killing two teenagers, but is suspected of more than 50 other deaths between 1975 and 1990. It's important to note the obvious here. The trucking industry in America is huge with roughly $850 billion in revenue last year. Most truckers are good folks just looking to make an honest living. Frank Figliuzzi tries to emphasize this in his book, but he also suggests a more strident approach to hiring long-distance drivers in the form of background checks and better pay and benefits. Evading authorities might be easier if you can snag a victim in one jurisdiction, kill them in another, and dump their body in a third. Keith Hunter Jesperson, the Happy Face Killer, said, "I can put the body under my truck, drag it down I-80 and get rid of her identification, at least her facial features or fingerprints and so forth." The prevalence of highway serial killers is alarming. There are several books on the topic. First, we have Frank’s book, but there’s also “Killer on the Road' by Ginger Strand, Serial Killers on the Interstate by Lori Carangelo, Truckin for Murder by Frank Spellman, and a whole lot more. Plus the countless books that focus in individual killers rather than the underlying phenomena. I’m done with this topic for the time being. Except for maybe apologizing to my mother for ignoring her warnings about catching a few winks on long road trips. A little roadside respite was a former favorite and now I won’t be able to sleep at all knowing what I know. Great. Okay, what have we learned so far? Stalking needs to be taken seriously by both the victims and law enforcement. And while I still believe that most people are good people, we must be vigilant in case of a statistical anomaly. Thank you for tuning into this episode of the Mortician’s Daughter. We’re going to change gears for our next installment as we explore the darker side of Fairy Tales. That sounds right up my alley. Until then, stay safe out there, my darlings. References: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/apr/24/stalking-behaviour-murders-study-shows https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/fbi-trucker-serial-killer-book-b2559891.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4439130/Most-killers-stalk-victims-social-media-murder.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/world/americas/miriam-rodriguez-san-fernando.html https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/last-call-hbo-documentary-richard-rogers-serial-killer-nypd-queer-new-york-1234785156/amp/ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/podcast-host-killed-stalker-deep-seated-fear-safety-records-reveal-rcna74842 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/gracie-spinks-family-derbyshire-police-b2447717.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/gracie-spinks-inquest-stalker-police-b2438271.html https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article274291065.html https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/stalking-murder-dc-sylvia-matthews-southwest-michael-garrett-alleged-homicide/65-4dfabc18-d683-4d67-ba30-12755d65b115 https://www.stalkingawareness.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Stalking-IPV-Fact-Sheet.pdf