Due to the graphic nature of this killers crimes listener discretion is advised. This episode include discussions of murder and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under thirteen just outside Albuquerque New Mexico, a Mesa rises over the Rio Grande Valley. It's a vast and sprawling desert once a sacred site for native Americans and wildlife. This high desert plateau was now littered with trash and tumble weeds and dotted with trailer parks. The Hudson and gives way to a man made oasis new subdivisions within by names like Paradise, hills these is the West Mesa on February. Second, two thousand nine Christine Roy Ass was making her way along one of its long desert roads taking her dog Roca for their regular walk. The

area had recently been levelled for a new neighbourhood and on this particular walk, Russia had been acting. Strangely, he snipped excessively at the same patch of ground, pulling Christine along ass. She moved towards the spot where Russia was pawing the dirt. She then watched as the dog uncovered a large bone. The bone didn't look like the animal bonds they sometimes found on their walks. It was too long Christine told a reporter quote: it didn't look normal. Our gut instinct told us, it wasn't supposed to be there and quote Christine snapped a photo of the bone and texted it to her sister, a local nurse. Soon, Christine sister confirmed a terrifying suspicion. It was a human femur bone Christine had just stumbled onto this

right of a shallow grave and with it one of the largest most heinous crime scenes in american history. Hi I'm Gregg pulsing. This is serial killers on the park network. Every Monday we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. We will examine the case of the West Mesa blown collector, a series Eleven unsolved murders were the victims, bones were all found. Buried on Albuquerque is now infamous West Mesa, I'm here with my co host Vanessa Richardson Pie, everyone at peace, cast. We are grateful for you are listeners. You allow us to do what we love. Let us know we're doing reach out on Facebook.

Instagram at par, cast and twitter at PAR cast network, and if you enjoy today's episode, the best way to help us is to leave a five star review wherever you listening. It really does help. We also now have merchandise had to park ass dot com, Slash March, more information on February. Second, two thousand nine. After Christine Ross and her dog Roca found a human femur bone in the west. Mesa desert Christine immediately contacted police the bone. She discovered was the first of many that authorities would find in the area. Investigators would take weeks excavating the Mesa eventually unearth the remains of eleven different women, most of whom were known Ex workers and drug users. The summit charities in their lifestyles and there remains had investigators alarmed the victim,

had all been buried between two thousand three and two thousand five in Albuquerque Mexico. The killer repeatedly targeted sex workers between the ages of fifteen and thirty. Two Willie murdered them, then buried their naked bodies and shallow graves in the expansive wasteland of the West Mesa. This was undoubtedly the work of a serial killer, a murderer who is since come to be known as the West Mesa bone, collector authorities of searching for the bone collector for a decade but chasing a phantom killer with a fifteen year head start is no easy task and harder still when the crime yields little evidence. There were no fingerprints, no witnesses and no dna at the scene other than the victims. Bones detectives were grasping at smoke. In this special one part episode, we will discuss the case of the West Mesa bone collector, including its

Levin victims potential suspects and where case stands today. The West Mesa case is probably the most famous unsolved murders pre in New Mexico, largely because it reveals a dark side of Albuquerque that many citizens had chosen to ignore Albuquerque is a sleepy southwestern city of half a million people, but the rate of violent crime. There was more than double the national average in the early two. Thousands much of that crime could be attributed to Albuquerque notorious WAR Zone Neighbourhood, a section of the city made up of housing projects and sex shops near the universe city of New Mexico frequented by sex workers and drug dealers. In the early two thousands

were started circulating in the war zone, that Albuquerque had its own jack, the ripper, a psychopath, prowling the streets and brutally murdering sex workers in two thousand for Cinema Elks, a sex worker who often worked in the war zone, heard a chilling story. She told friends that there was a dirty cop chopping off the heads of sex workers and burying them on the West Mesa soon after she disappeared almost like a doomed self prophecy. Five years later, Cinnamon monarchses remains were found, an identified buried in the grip of the West Mesa desert. As shocking as the idea of a modern jack, the ripper may be, it's not a new concept. Sex workers have historically been the targets of brutal crimes. Especially as victims of serial killers. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please,

Note Vanessa is not a licence psychologist your psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for the show. Thanks Greg, a two thousand eleven study by Purdue University researcher cannot quintet found that cereal murders in the. U S have declined in recent decades. Those that do occur disproportionately target women and particularly sex workers since nineteen eighty, five. Seventy percent of cereal murder victims have been women in their twenties and thirties, and nearly half of those victims were sex workers. Serial killers who target sex workers tend to amass a greater number of victims than those who target non sex workers and they generally get away with their crimes for longer periods of time. Stephen egg, a criminology professor at the University of Houston, Clear Lake in Texas and an FBI consultant calls these victims the less dead he says quote as

far as the public is concerned, there less alive because they tend to be the marginalized groups in society, drug addicts and sex workers. There's an attitude that permeates the press and the public that deuces pressure on police to solve the crime, at least initially until you ve got a number of victims and quote, and that is exactly what happened in the case of West Mesa murders in two thousand five. Four years before Christine ROS accidently discovered the first bone. One Albuquerque detective already noticed the early signs of a serial killer. Long before authorities took action. Idols Pat was Albuquerque Loan missing persons detective in her first few years on the job from two thousand five to two thousand seven, she began to notice a trend. Sixteen sex workers hoarded missing between the years two thousand three and two thousand six. They had simply

finished into thin air and nothing has been done and the all had eerily similar backgrounds. The missing women. Were between the ages of fifteen and thirty. Two, almost all of them were latina acts, but what struck detective Lopez, as particularly odd, was that they resemble each other in appearance, regardless of ethnicity, Almost all of the women were relatively young and petite with long dark, hair police I'd. His observations were nothing more than a list of missing street hustlers. They dismissed concerns out of hand. In fact, the loved ones of these sixteen missing women have claimed that authorities made no effort to find the women after they went missing. Instead, police told concerned relatives that the missing women were adults and had no obligation to stay in touch with their families, police reference, their high risk

styles as an explanation. These kinds of women often dropped off the map. Many were addicted to heroin and had multiple running with police either through drug use. Or sex work. As Joline Gutierrez Krueger of the Albuquerque Journal, wrote the disappearance of These women wasn't news to police, as they weren't a blonde hair blue eyed. All american college student inexplicably snow, judged from the nice part of town, but oil new better before her promotion to the missing persons department. She worked as a uniformed officer patrolling the war zone and specifically it sex workers she'd imposed as a sex workers, self and sting operations. She got to know these women personally and learn the network of women working the streets at the time of the disappearances she knew. Some of them were also police informants. Many were mothers, their families have grab them as spirited loving hopeful women

same families were left devastated by their disappearance. Ida have empathy for their struggles and felt called to help, despite the lack of port from her department IDA embarked on a small scale, one woman investigation for years she kept contact with the missing women's families gathered in for nation and leads and even took to the streets to interview other sex workers who may have known them. It's there that I'd heard this sinister gossip, repeated by cinnamon, Alex years before different women, told her that some of the women on her list had been murdered. Their bodies dumped in the desert, west of town but the Mesa was too large and area to launch a search based upon just a rumour and list so I'd his work was ignored for years. The case went nowhere, then,

on February. Second, two thousand nine detective Lopez's darkest suspicions were confirmed. Christine Ross called into the Albuquerque Police Department to report. The femur bones had stumbled across with her dog human remains were finally found on the West Mesa. Suddenly, the hay easy. Rumours floating around the war zone held much more weight that same night, police arrived on the scene and within weeks a huge task force of over forty investigators was assembled. Teams of excavators were stationed at the crime scene, populating the area with vans ten, lights and machinery they com, the West Mesa around the clock for remains it was a mammoth undertaking and quickly became one of the country's largest crime scenes. The area was equivalent to seventy five football

fields. The task was made even more difficult, as the previous development on the land had broken up and scattered the bones across the vast landscape investigators Doug down as far as fifteen feet and in some areas even hand sifted for evidence, the uncle bring up remains had to be done with the utmost care. Any piece of evidence found no matter how minuscule could lead them to the murderer. This we of the bodies discovered on the West Mesa held the people of Albuquerque wrapped four months. It exposed the city's dark underbelly wherein young women had been vanishing for years with almost no one paying attention and Albuquerque citizens were panicked,

especially those who lived in a new subdivisions recently built on the West Mesa virtually on top of the crime scene. It's in my back yard. Basically, so I'm in obeying a female and having to young children, it makes me nervous. I have people making jokes tell I made a sandbox at my back. Tat makes you my kit stomach ache to date and with the rising public alarm, police were under even more pressure to solve the case. The pace of the investigation became frantic and what was once a missing persons cold case quickly evolved into a feverish man hunt for it praise killer, it was the most horrific murder Albuquerque had ever seen, and the first cereal murder ever dealt with the case was dubbed Albuquerque. These crimes of the century. Within three months, the bones of eleven different victims and the unborn child of a victim who was four months pregnant or unearthed

it took police a year to identify all the remains, and ultimately ten of the eleven victims identified had also been on detective IDA Lopez's list of sixteen missing sex workers as investigators continue to dig. They dough venture the victims past detectives interviewed two hundred women who were working the streets the same years as the victims. Through this workers who survived them, the police learned that the victims had largely been driven to sex work out of desperation and struggles with addiction most were being in and out of recovery, but actively working to better themselves. The first of the victims to be identified was twenty six year old, Victorian this who was last seen by her family in two thousand three. In the months before her disappearance, Victorie, had been living at home. Attempting to get clean she'd been working at a local, burger, joint and thinking about a career. As a nurse after Victoria

there was Julie, Neto, twenty three and the there of a little boy, Julie had fun into to drugs. At the age of nineteen and Julie's mother struggled repeatedly to get her daughter into treatment, Julie had been missing, since two thousand for the oldest victor was cinnamon, Alex thirty to the woman who spoke about the rumours that the killer, decapitated, women and bearing them on the West Mesa cinnamon was a veteran sex worker and friends with at least three of the other victims, including Victoria unduly Cinnamon, was also friends. With twenty two year old Michel Valdez been missing since two thousand five Michel was four months pregnant. At the time of her disappearance and behind a young son and daughter, look. I can't allow area was a twenty one year old mother who went missing in two thousand three votes: the Cairo marrow twenty seven was reported, Miss

on Valentine's day in two thousand for Doreen Marquez was twenty seven she'd been missing since two thousand three and was the mother of two young daughters. Virginia Cloven, twenty three missing since two thousand for was driven to the store It's after her boyfriend fell into a coma and they lost their home salon. Edwards fifteen was the youngest victim found a run away from it stir care in Oklahoma with no family or ties to New Mexico. She was the only I'm not on IDA, Lopez's original list of missing women. Twenty three year old Salazar disappeared in two thousand for after leaving a family party to go to the park with her younger cousin Evelyn left behind a young daughter, Evelyn's cousin fifteen year old, Jamie Marilla was the last body to be identified. It seemed him

possible that someone could get away with these eleven murders and remain undetected for years. Whoever the killer was. One thing was for certain: they were intelligent, organised and ruthless. In a moment how the West may suborn collector has managed to abate authorities to this day, I it's Gregg at I'm beyond excited to tell you about another fetching from power cast, therefore, legged full of love and oftentimes more like family than their nickname suggests. Dog tales tells the truth stories of heroic canines who have gone above and beyond their best friend duties. Every Monday, Don tales embarks on a new journey of courage, service and unwavering sacrifice by our most loyal companions. You'll hear tales of inspiration from all breeds of life like Buddy, the german shepherd the worlds,

First, seeing eye guide, dog or Huskies Baltic in Togo, the sled dogs, who made a lifesaving medical delivery from Anchorage to NOME each episode of dog tales, is as unique, ass the pumps themselves and sure to bring it closer to the furry friend in your life, so get ready to sit, stay and roll over with excitement for Parkhurst Endearing series. Doc tales, listen to dog tales, free on Spotify or wherever you get. Your podcast Hi it's Gregg and Vanessa, and we have some great news for all of our incredible cults listeners as it. Thank you for your wavering dedication and support. We re released eighty three episodes of serial killers from our back catalogue and are already in your feed and available to listen to right now. Do you have a favor from these episodes? I really like our exploration of Harold Shipman, otherwise known as doktor death. I also

loved our deep dive into the life and crimes of killer clown. John Wayne Gacy. What are your favorites? I liked her episodes on David quits also known Ass son of SAM. I was also really intrigue by ad camper, a disturbing Syria murderer with near genius level intellect whether Europe living some of your favorite episodes or hearing about these chilling murderers. For the first time these eighty Ray episodes are available right now plausible still releasing new episodes of serial killers every Monday get caught up on serial killers for free on Spotify or wherever you listened to podcast, enjoy, and thanks for listening now back to the story, though, police successfully identified the eleven known victims of the West Mesa bone collector in two thousand ten. The identity of the killer still had authorities mystified in one year. No witnesses had come

forward and due to the age of the remains and the killers careful planning, there was virtually no forensic or dna evidence to go on giving the victims shared background of drug use and sex work in tandem with the location of the bones. Authorities began assembling a description of their suspect soon. Fbi profiles were brought into assist the FBI. Concluded that the killer was most likely a male age. Thirty, five to fifty working alone. The key would have also lived alone or was away from home for extended periods of time. They believed he would have had proved. Yes, smaller runs with the law and a history of hiring sex workers. It was a typical profile for a killer, and a description that literally fit hundreds of men in Albuquerque for the public. The details of the crimes are even hazy here. The victims causes of death

our unknown to anyone. Besides, the police authorities have chosen not to publicly reveal this information in order to use it as a sort of password that would allow them to weed out anonymous hipsters with false information. Anyone who calls in knowing the correct murder method is regarded as a lead item at source and taken seriously. Whether or not the victims were decapitated. Like the rumour cinnamon OX, had heard on the streets before her disappearance is unknown to the general public. Instead, their deaths were generically, labelled and presented to the public. As homicidal violence But while the details of the murders themselves are vague, one pattern of the bone collectors crimes, is strikingly clear. His victims, the bone collector, had a type which also act as a window into his psyche. In two thousand nine, the FBI

used a dichotomy classification of male serial killers that organised murderers into two major groups, those who were organised and those who were disorganized according Marie a K, Helene and other researchers, two thousand eleven article in the Journal of investigative psychology. This dichotomy includes four classifications. Most killers fall under visionary mission, oriented hedonistic and power control, oriented depending on the killer. There's often overlap in the case of the West Mesa bone, collector, the consistency and victims and their bodies location would classify him as organised killer. Like we previously mentioned all the victims were young women, almost all sex workers and mostly latina exe. This leads us to categorize the West Mesa bone collector further as a predominant Lee Mission oriented killer in his nineteen. Eighty four

article entitled profiles in terror. The cereal murderer, R M home, describes mission oriented killers as having a go to eliminate specific groups of people they deem unacceptable, whether they be of a certain ethnic group, religion or even the homeless, but sex workers and protect. There are very common victims of mission oriented killers. This type of murderer up it's on a sense of righteousness that they believe justifies their actions. They would consider sex workers to be immoral and corrupt and see themselves doing God's work or the work of another higher power to this type of killer, their crimes or a duty, not a pastime. However, the bone collector doesn't fit into

category perfectly many mission. Oriented killers are fanatically engaged in a political or religious quest to rid society of evil, but without further evidence. We cannot assume that the bone collector was any sort of organised fanatic, though he undoubtedly had a hatred for sex workers. His urge for murder could also have been entrenched in a desire for pleasure or control, both of which may lead us to define him as having overlapping tendencies as a hedonism, core power control oriented killer. This is a type of profile used for killers like the long island serial killer, Joe Rifkin, who admitted to FBI that he harboured sexual the seas involving strangulation for years and often wondered what it would be like to carry now in reality, when he was right to try Rifkin went where he could find Victor,

who were easily attainable yet kept low profiles. He went to the streets, so perhaps the bone collectors, motivation for kids, Sex workers lies in a much simpler explanation. They were easy targets, vulnerable and oftentimes, desperate once they disappeared. Few would take notice. In two thousand and eleven, with no substantial evidence, no witnesses and only a vague criminal profile, detective I'd alone, as in the team of investigators had no tangible leads on the West Mesa bone collector. So they asked themselves a question. What kind of man is capable of stocking, brutally, murdering and disposing of eleven or more women without any one being the wiser? They had more than a few ideas, please and compiling timelines for potential suspects to see if they aligned with the murders. They also execute

slew a search warrant, son, specific suspected perpetrators and conducted scores of interviews. Detectives looked into dozens of locals who had a recorded propensity towards violence against women. In two thousand nine police chief re shots told the Albuquerque Journal that suspects included sixty year old, Lou Fred Reynolds, a pimp who had recently died of natural causes, as well as members of Albuquerque, is well established, eighteenth street and lost p s gangs who used sexual curse as drug meals and later killed them. There is also included gangs whose initiation rituals required murdering women. They even entertain the idea that the murders were the work of hit men. They wondered if the hit men were working for politicians trying to cover their tracks, then there was wrong or when the only suspect, considered

outside of New Mexico Erwin was slightly built man who mostly kept to himself. He was a photographer Joplin Missouri, who frequently visited and die Commanded, the New Mexico State Fair, an event notoriously frequented by sex workers and Johns and held very near to the crime scene. Police rated in confiscated, hundreds of photos and documents from Irwines home and businesses in Missouri scouring for evidence, but ultimately they couldn't tie him. The murders Erwin later told reporters that he was devastated by the suspicion that he was the West Mesa killer for the next three years. Investigators follow deadened, leads and search desperately for evidence that wasn't there detective IDA Lopez had remained on the key

for almost a decade, tirelessly championing the West mace of victims and their families, but in two thousand fourteen, after years of work with no progress, Lopez moved out of state and retired after IDA, low pay, his retirement police continued to scour a wide range of suspects. They looked deep into their records, specifically searching for a dark history of violence against women, but no one seemed to match the depravity of the bone collectors profile. That is until two thousand and fifteen. When two names rose to the surface detectors felt Finally, in on the West Mesa bone collector and with the news detective item, Lopez left her short lived, retirement and returned to the case, they finally had viable suspects. Their names were Lorenzo Montoya and Joseph Blair.

Authorities had their eyes trained on Lorenzo Montoya since the beginning of the West may some murder case Montoya. A short powerfully built man with an equally powerful temper that he preferred to take out on women. According to girlfriend. Montoya was a domestic abuser who frequently beat her. She told authorities that he had done gross things to her, but didn't going too far detail, she went on to relay that Montoya had threatened quote to kill me and bury me in lime, end quote, and oddly specific strikingly similar to the fate of the West Mesa victims. However, Montoya history of violence did not stop. Their police also knew him to be extremely aggressive, with sex workers Lorenzo Montoya Fit the FBI profile for the West Mesa bone collector. Almost perfectly, he was an Albuquerque

and in his thirty's who lived alone and had a criminal history of hiring sex workers. Montoya, frequently cruised Albuquerque WAR Zone neighbourhood for women, his first sex work. Related arrest was in nineteen. Ninety eight when he picked up an undercover detective, posing ass. A sex worker Montoya offered her forty dollars and the detective took him to a motel room where he was promptly arrested, but this did little to deter him. Montoya continued soliciting sex and police kept him on their radar of Johns to watch. Just one year later, he was charged with sexually assaulting a sex worker in nineteen, ninety nine detectives watch Montoya ass. He picked up a twenty three year old woman and then followed his car

on a dark dead end road near the airport. What they witnessed was horrific as the encounter unfolded before them on toys. Behaviour suddenly took a dark turn. Montoya forced himself on the woman appearing to strangle her ass. He read. Turn officers intervened, catching Montoya in the act he was arrested and charged with sexual assault. When police a chilling detail, Montoya only two dollars in his wallet at the time he had never planned to pay the woman. The woman told police that she believed Montoya would kill her and that she could tell he enjoyed what he was doing, but she ultimately declined to testify in court and the case was dismay. This is a common occurrence in cases of sexual assault. According to cycle there best in sexual abuse, specialist Beverly angle, roughly seventy five percent of victims of sexual crimes don't report their abuse at all.

All women especially tend to avoid the harasser I or downplay the gravity of the situation or attempt to ignore, forget or endure the behaviour. The fear of the cap, sequences of confronting and abuser is also a major obstacle for many victims and in the case of the sex four Montoya attempted to assault. This was most likely twofold, testifying not only exposed her to potential retaliation from Montoya, but it also force. Or to admit being complicit in illegal sex work in her mind, testifying may have harmed her more than it could help, and so Montoya was free to roam the streets of Albuquerque, though police continue to keep intermittent surveillance on his activities. For years he continued to pick up. Sex workers Sometimes this encounters were perfectly typical, but his officers learned later others or not.

After discovering the remains on the West Mesa police are viewed a woman who was close with some of the victims. She told police that he had been choked and raped by Montoya after he picked her up in nineteen ninety five. She recalled what he said to her ass. She gasped for air quote, he told me you're lucky I was going to kill you end quote. As the years came and went, Montoya got bolder and bolder, and on one December night in two thousand six, he pushed his limits as far as they could go mad The chilling encounter that made Montoya police suspect number one now back to the story. In December. Two thousand six, almost three years before the West Mesa victims remains, were found. Nine year old, Lorenzo Montoya started a conversation.

In a chat room with nineteen year old Shoe Rica Hill, it was two a m and sure Rica was working with a service called candy shop, Escorts Monterrey, a message to her and they began chatting Montoya bided sure we could to his home a trailer park located west to the city. Where shall we go would dance for him? They agreed to meet the following evening. What happened next was the work of an incredibly organised killer of violent and or stated plan that change the course of the entire West Mesa murder case years before the first bones were found in the desert. Before sure weaker came over Montoya Drovers Rental car to his local Macy's. Department Store and made a seemingly normal purchase. A new comforter and a set of blankets He already had everything else. He needed later that night Sharif.

The hill arrived at Montoya trailer with her boyfriend. Eighteen year old, Frederick Williams Williams Park his car near the trailer, while sharing who went inside and waited after an our Williams became concerned. What should have been? Maybe a thirty minute encounter at stretched out far longer than he anticipated Williams left. His car and brought his gun preparing for a fight but what he found was far more horrifying than what he imagined. As Williams approached, the trailer Montoya walked out dragging a blue blanket behind him. He struggled with the blankets, wait pulling it through the dirt and toward the open trunk of his car. That's when Williams real eyes what Montoya was dragging. It was shriek as body Williamson,

screaming at Montoya. What was he doing with Eureka? What did he do to her Williams demanded answers, but instead of responding, Montoya dropped, her body and ducked behind a nearby fence Williams pulled out a cell phone to call the police, but Montoya was frantic he needed to get to Williams before he led police to the scene. Montoya drew a gun, but Williams shot. First, Lorenzo Montoya, one of the west makes a bone collectors. A mere suspects died on the scene when police arrived, they found gruesome evidence of a methodical, killing, shriek hills, legs knees and arms were bound together by duct tape and cord and thick layers of duct tape Arap tightly around her neck, but the strand extent

nothing like a leash. It was a unique method of binding that gave investigators the impression that Montoya had either planned the kill extensively or perhaps used the tactic before in a trash bag. In the trunk of Montoya Rental, car police found an unrolled condom, a pillow case and Eureka belongings, including her cell phone lip clause and the crop jacket. She had worn into Montoya trailer inside the trailer investigators found hard core pornography. Multiple guns and rules of duct tape colluding one roll kept on his bedside table, but by far the most, disturbing items found there were his home made video tapes on the tapes, the camera is often hidden in a cabinet and Montoya Living room in one tape. The camera roles as to women who appear to be sex workers engaged in sex acts with Montoya. In another

Montoya is having sex with an unknown woman when the image suddenly goes black the following seen the cameras focused on Montoya as bedroom wall. The camera doesn't capture what's happening in the room, but the tapes audio does offscreen the camera records minutes of rustling, as well as a few very distinct, sounds trash bags being opened and tape being pulled from a role to materials explicitly used in the murder of Eureka Hill. Two investigators. These were undeniably the sounds of Lorenzo Montoya preparing to display was of a body police sent the video tapes to the FBI for enhancement, but they haven't been able to determine who the woman was or exactly what tat. I was doing my screen for years. The tapes sat gathering dust in the Albuquerque Police Department offices, but the suspicious

activity. They recorded sat fresh in the minds of detectives, and when investigators began, creating a list of suspects for the West Mesa killings, Montoya rose to the top and for more reasons than just the tapes, while comparing the time lines of the West Mesa murders with Lorenz among toys, investigators identified two major details that link Montoya closely to the identity of the bone. Collector first tactics noted that the sharp increase in missing women that had begun in two thousand three stopped almost entirely after Montoya death in two thousand and six a detail. They confirmed using satellite images of the West Mesa taken the same year. These image revealed a specific spot in the desert. That appeared to be the fresh grave of the last victim buried in two thousand five less than a year before Montoya was shot saddle

imaging, helped investigators immensely as they charted Maria's on the West Mesa or potential grave sites were created between two thousand and four and two thousand and six Albuquerque Police Chief, Ray Schultz, explain this method to the press in two thousand and nine we're having to take topographical satellite in aerial mapping. That was done five slash six and ten years ago, when do overlays with the existing terrain. The few hazy satellite images of the area showed tire trademarks that track throughout the West Mesa two different great sites where the bone collector buried his victim. But one satellite image held a shocking clue. Tire marks that lead from the great site to Lorenzo Montoya trailer Montoni lived less than three miles away from the crime scene to Arthur Kim Ross, Mosebach geographic profiling, serial killers, William

Boy, various a textiles when seeking victims. These styles greatly fluent the locations of the crime and where the body is altered, they disposed Lorenzo month. We as murder of Eureka Hill would be best described as an ambush attack, a method used in places where the killer has a great deal of control, for example, their place of work, a natural area there very familiar with even their own homes. In these places, a killer can manipulate the elements of the environment with the victim. None the wiser putting them murderer at a significant advantage for Montoya. That meant luring Shariah unto his turf under the presence of buying a dance and attacking her when she least expected. It is also very typical of serial killers to hide the bodies of their victims, someone close to home according to Maurice Godwin and David canter in their ninety. Ninety seven article entitled encounter and death the spatial behind

you're a view s serial killers with time, many murders begin to take more pride in their crimes and begin dumping bodies closer to their homes as their offences become more current and increasingly integrated into their daily lives, meaning that, if one toil was the West Mesa bone collector, he may have been killing for years before deciding to berries victims in the West Mesa. But despite her compelling evidence. It was not enough for investigators to charge Montoya with the murders, so they went one step further, conducting a search and extent of testing on Montoya trailer years after his death, but investing Yours found nothing conclusive, tying him to the bone collectors victims. It's tough to pin a murder on a dead man, but a lack of physical evidence. Wasn't the only think throwing detectives for loop, one toys timeline

send to perfect fit one woman, Anita Lopez's original list of sixteen missing sex workers vanished after on toys, death which prompted investigators to look into another. Suspect who shared Lorenzo Montoya as violent profile, but whose timelines distinctly matched that of all the victims. That suspect was Joseph Player, Joseph Blair was no stranger to Albuquerque Police and, like Lorenzo Montoya Blair, also fit the F B. I profile of the West Mesa bone collector at the time of the murders. He was a local Albuquerque man in his thirties, with a record of soliciting sex between ninety ninety and two thousand nine Blair wrapped up over one huh. Thirty separate run in with police, many of which occurred in areas frequented by the West Mesa victims in nineteen. Ninety seven Blair,

cruising down the main drag of the war zone neighbourhood when he called a woman over to his car and exposed himself later. When police searched his vehicle, they found ropes and electrical tape on the passenger seat in an interview with another sex worker who knew him. The woman said that blame took her to his home, where he attempted to tie her up against her will. However, she broke free beef. Or the encounter went further, but believe was known among Albuquerque authorities for much more than indecent exposure. He had a horrific record of sexual I am against young women unrelated to the West Mesa case. Act nations were filed against player, stating he repeatedly rape, a woman. He knew with a screwdriver when she was just for eighteen years old. However, the case was Lee: inexplicably dropped.

Two thousand nine. After the discovery of the remains on the West Mesa appeared in the news authorities. Most vital led came from one who knew play a well April. Gilan place. First, wife contacted police immediately upon hearing about the West Mesa murders and urged investigators to look into her ex husband closely, and they did in the weeks after his Ex wife TED detectives, tailed blame effort day he's as he appeared to stock sex workers. Slowly, circling the block in areas where the women were working. He approached no one, but detectives noted he appeared to be watching them closely. The stocking behaviour was highly suspicious. Two investigators Valea seem to be sticking out women observing their mood, but why these seem to be the preparations of an organised criminal, a major

characteristic in the profile of the West Mesa bone. Collector months later, investigators gained search warrants for players home where they collected a variety of jewelry and women's underwear. His current wife, Cheryl Bla told authorities that Leah enjoyed wearing women's underwear during sex and that their daughter had found women's underwear hidden in their shed additional blaze, wife and daughter had both found jewelry that did not belong to either of them in their home in two gaiters tested these items for matches with the victims dna, but will let's say if there were any conclusions like Lorens Montoya? The evidence found regarding Joseph Blaze, connection to the west. Mesa killings he's only circumstantial, however, a police fun a piece of physical evidence tying player more closely to the case during the expo nation of the remains of victim Virginia Cloven detectives found a plant tag. First, spearmint juniper tree

with further investigation. The tree was traced to a tree nursery that Joseph Blair had purchased from multiple times. This. A scrap of paper, though seemingly inconsequential, is a tangible led connecting player to the burial site and, as far as we know, it's the most concrete piece of evidence. Investigators have and about five years after remains, were discovered on the west. Mesa too cold case is reemerged, proving that Blair was capable of crimes. Far more sadistic than anything. Investigators had previously imagined in two thousand fourteen with improved technology. There was a breakthrough in an solved case of cereal rapes from the nineteen eightys. The case had been dubbed the MID school rapes, wherein the suspect would break into the homes of thirteen to fifteen year old girls who live near a local Albuquerque Middle School and rape them.

In one case, a dna sample was obtained from a rape test kit, but was inconclusive at the time of the crimes in the nineteen eightys, but in two thousand and ten the test was re run. The result Joseph Blair was the mid school rapist in June of two miles and fifteen. Fifty eight year old, Joseph Blair was sentenced to ninety years in prison and in addition to being found, guilty of cereal rapes committed decades prior another crime from blast past came back to haunt him in a breakthroughs had linked Blair to yet another closed case. Modern, a research found a potential match between blaze, DNA and the DNA and on the inner waistband of sex worker murdered in nineteen. Eighty five at the time of the murder Blair, was never charged

in fact, another man went to prison for the crime and was later acquitted in two thousand six, though Blake was considered, hi possibility, suspect in the cold case the dna of and was not entirely conclusive and charges against player were never filed. However, the probability of his involvement proved detectives. What they had already suspect blade could be more than just a rapist. He could be a killer disk, I'm so similar to that of the West Mesa bone. Collector rocketed Blair to the top of detectives list of suspects. Is currently serving a sentence for the MID school rape case. His former attorney John Mccall CALL maintains that blade had nothing to do with the West Mesa. Murders regard This Blair reportedly has a fascination with the West Mesa case that belie his lawyers assertions when detectives interviewed blade.

Former cellmate, he recalled blade, told him he new many of the victims. He even paid them for sex offices reported that the cellmate relayed that blame spoke poorly of some of the identified victims, calling them trashy blade had told him that he had even hit one of the victims when she tried to take his money. However, despite this and the seemingly strong circumstantial evidence, nothing concrete, linked Blair to the victim, they were at a loss staring at a list of leads, as Baroness West Mesa itself. In two thousand and fifteen best gaiters confirmed, the Joseph Blair and Lorenzo Montoya have not been ruled out as suspects, but the case was at a standstill. A reward of up to one hundred thousand dollars had been offered for information leading to the arrest of the killer, but this only

lead police to be flooded with false confessions and prank calls now almost a decade after unearthing, the victims remains no major updates have been reported, however, the Albuquerque Police pledge the case will not be shelved until a prosecutable suspect can be presented, but, as the years have passed, the once forty member task force, a police on the case, has dwindled to only one full time. Investigator detective Mark Mary. Marianne admits that cases get colder as time goes on, but the passage of time can also be a great help to an investigation. Mary told reporters that a witness that may have been too scared to talk at the time of the incident because of their personal said

waken may be more willing to talk at a later date. Mary believes the key to solving the West Mesa case lies in the war zone that seedy strip of the city, the victims frequented. He hopes the women working in the streets between two thousand one and two thousand five will come from forward with new information. Meanwhile, the victims families have looked for closure elsewhere, as the bulldozers in swarms of authorities have moved on from the scene. All that remains is a small, makeshift memorial. Stuffed animal flowers, voted and photos of the victims line a brick wall in front of the Mesa. The ravaged lands

behind. It is almost symbolic of the violence against those being memorialize Danville. Does the Father of Victim Michel Valdez still wait patiently to catch his daughters killer years after the case grew cold, he's told reporters quote we'll get our justice, maybe not here on earth, but will get our justice and quote. Detective Lopez has once again retired after further years of committed work, but continues to keep it contact with the victims. Families. Today, the whereabouts of the seven other missing women on Lopez's original list are still unknown. The West Mesa is vast and police acknowledged that there may be other victims still buried there or perhaps buried at a different grave site entirely, though the West MACE, a murder case, may have faded from headlines

It remains deep in the cities consciousness and until new information is brought forward were left with few answers and far too many questions did the bone. Collector, die with Lorenzo Montoya in two thousand six. Is it Joseph Blair sitting behind bars or is the West Mesa bone collector still out there somewhere, stalking another hunting ground in another state feeling the earth with fresh graves thanks again for turning into serial killers, we'll be back Monday. With a new episode, you can find more episode of serial killers, as well as all of park, ass, other pod casts on Apple podcast, Spotify Sticker Google play Cast box tune in or your favorite podcast directory.

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Piero and Paul Mauler additional production assistance by Freddy Beckley and Maggie admire serial killers is written by Alex Garland and stars. Gregg pulsing and then Sir Richardson dont forget to check out par, casts original series dog tales. Every Monday dog tales shares inspirational, true stories of loyalty, courage and sacrifice by some of the most heroic canines in history. No mystery Noma, Cobb, all heart search for dog tales in the spot. If I am and listen free today Remember. There are eighty three episodes a serial killers from the summer of two thousand seventeen through early two thousand nineteen that are available to you right now. Parkhurst Actually released over seven hundred episodes from the back catalogue of sixteen different shows, including cults, haunted places fiend

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