Gary and Aaron discuss a series of murders that touched on their home town, Kansas City, Missouri.

The murders were conclusively linked after a St. Charles detective found all of the murders were committed with the same .22-caliber firearm. In addition, the victims were usually young women with long dark hair. With one exception, all the victims were alone when murdered. They were all shot in the back of the head. None of the victims had any signs of sexual assault and all the stores were robbed of a small amount of cash in the drawer.

April 8, 1992, Robin Fuldauer, Payless Shoe store manager, was killed in Indianapolis. She was alone in the store when she was murdered sometime between 1:30 and 2:00 p.m.

April 11, 1992, The only exception of the one victim where thesuspect killed Patricia Smith, 23 and the owner, 32-year-old Patricia Majors, of the La Bride d’Elegance bridal shop in Wichita. Normally, the owner was not in the store at this time.  As this was the only case involving multiple victims, investigators believe the killer was under the impression that there was only one woman in the store. The women had stayed past the normal waiting for a male customer to pick up a cummerbund. This actual customer arrived to pick up the cummerbund and encountered the I-70 killer. The I-70 killer let the man go, who immediately notified police once the killer left. He would later provide details for a composite sketch.

 

April 27, 1992 Another exception, Michael McCown, 40, was killed in his mother Sylvia’s ceramics store in Terre Haute, Indiana. Police think the killer believed McCown mistook him for a woman because of the store’s name and because McCown wore a ponytail.

On May 4, 24-year-old Nancy Kitzmiller was killed while working alone at Boot Village, a footwear shop in St. Charles, Missouri. She opened up the shop at noon and was found dead by customers at 2:30 p.m.

May 7, 1992, last confirmed murder was in Raytown, Missouri. The victim was 37-year-old Sarah Blessing who was working in her gift shop, Store of Many Colors. The murder occurred during the day, and the owner of the video store next to the Kitzmiller’s shop saw the killer enter the shop, heard a pop, and then saw him leave. He discovered Blessing’s body after checking to see what had occurred in the store. A clerk at a nearby grocery store also saw the suspect. He was last seen walking away north at 63rd and Woodson which is about 3 miles south of I-70. At 6:15 p.m., Sarah was in the store alone when a man wearing a gray sports coat, slacks, and dress shoes strolled across the large parking lot toward The Shop of Many Colors. He stood out to witnesses because most people drove to the popular strip mall and parked their vehicles near the stores they frequented. The suspect also reported walking east down 59th Street approximately 10 minutes later.  At that time, the stranger was about three miles south of I-70.

Based on witness testimonies, police strongly believe the murder weapon may have been an Intratec Scorpion pistol or an Erma Werke ET22 pistol.The Killer used .22 caliber CCI copper-clad lead bullets.The cartridges of the bullets had been polished with jeweler’s rouge.

Police ask all gun enthusiasts and gun dealers to notify them if they see an Erma Werke Model ET .22 or an Intratec Tec .22 or had one stolen in the early 1990s. The owner (or the killer) may have used corundum or red rouge for fire lapping of the weapon, or may have used corundum and rouge in grinding,