The Honolulu Strangler and a community in fear | Forensic Files

[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website since the tourism boom of the 1950's the
Hawaiian Islands have been enticing tourists into their relaxed laid-back lifestyle from the early days
honeymooners and holiday makers would arrive in droves welcomed by smiling hula dancers with floral leis Hawaii's
made up of 132 islands with a total area of six and a half thousand square miles
the island of Oahu is home to the state's capital Honolulu and the famous Waikiki Beach it has a large port army
and naval bases and his home to Pearl Harbor in 1985 Oahu saw a huge influx of young adults migrate often for the army
or Navy and also due to the huge booming telecommunications companies that had expanded into Hawaii the central years
of that decade were an unusual period between the early eighties recession and the stock market crash of 87 and the
dark years that followed like the mainland and much of the developed world Hawaii was hit with high unemployment
and financial stress in the early eighties many hotels couldn't survive and some of the largest travel companies
were forced to close but during the mid 80s the economy shifted during this small
window there was a temporary period of new growth although there had been a significant decline in tourism since the
boom of the 50s and 60s in the year 1985 in 1986 ten and a half million people visited
the islands of Hawaii this boom period brought in huge Japanese investment and money started
rolling in the grand old hotels of the 50s and 60s were renovated and redeveloped and prime land was
subdivided for golf resorts in 1986 alone Japanese investors spent between one and two billion dollars on property
at the time the Bank of Hawaii considered the offshore investment tremendous as it was pouring in
much-needed dollars and was creating new hope for their island paradise the resort development boom of the
mid-80s helped slow the unemployment rate which had spiked a few years earlier but unemployment wasn't the only thing
that had sparked during this period Hawaii also saw an increase in violent crime rape and murder in particular the
Aloha State with its swaying palm trees a mysterious rich volcanic landscape was
about to change the laid-back paradise was about to experience a time of fear a time no one was prepared for
[Music] at age 25 Vicki Gail Purdy had settled into life in Mililani a small city in
the central part of Oahu half an hour's drive north west of Honolulu Vicki's husband Gary was an army officer in
helicopter pilot and Mililani it was close to wheeler Army Airfield so it was an easy choice to live there they'd been
married five years but had only been living in Hawaii for 16 months vicki was born in North Carolina but by
high school she was living in Georgia Vicki and Gary was 16 years old when they met they met when Vicki married
Gary's cousin but that marriage didn't work out and by high school graduation Vicki and Gary were an item
they married at age 20 bright as Gary was entering the army they had a trouble patch early on in their marriage but
they were able to work through it everyone who knew Vicki would say that although she was only 5 foot 5 and 130
pounds she was feisty and tough during one argument Gary said that she knocked the [ __ ] out of him he felt they had an
adventurous and sometimes tumultuous marriage but they were happy in Hawaii Vicki had always dreamt of living on the
islands and when the opportunity came up for Gary to work there there was no hesitation their problems were behind
them and they looked forward to their new life together but it turns out island life wasn't what Vicki thought it
would be Vicki was outgoing and - like life on the go and she struggled to adjust to
the more laid-back lifestyle but she managed to settle in and in mid 1985 she was working at while he WA adult video
store which had an adjoining adult bookstore and an adjoining family videos thought it was located just north of
Mililani into his right near wheeler Army Airfield freakin enjoyed visiting the famous
Waikiki Beach to go clubbing with friends she often caught the bus but on the evening of Wednesday May 29th 1985
she decided to drive she kissed Gary goodbye at 6 p.m. and walked out of the house wearing a yellow
jumpsuit with a red belt gary thought she was planning to return home about 9:00 p.m.
Vicki drove to a busy what keiki hotel the shorebird and parked her car in the hotel's garage her exact movements after
that are unknown she was supposed to meet up with friends and she called them around to 10:00 p.m. to confirm but she
never ended up meeting with them a taxi driver in Waikiki drove Vicki back to the shorebird hotel to collect her car
at the end of the night he dropped her off there around midnight around this time gary was at home
worried about Vicki and he called her pager over and over when she didn't return home Gary was frantic
the next morning he went to Waikiki to search for her he found her car still parked in the
garage of the shorebird hotel there was a new dent in the car but there was no sign of Vicki later that morning Vicki's
body was found on an embankment at the KA hewlet Geun a lagoon and boat harbor which sits right along the eastern side
of Honolulu Airport the road that hugs the lagoon at this location goes towards the runway known as a reef runway
because it runs straight into the water vicki was lying on the shoreline near the mouth of Moanalua stream still
dressed in her yellow jumpsuit her hands were bound behind her back a post-mortem
revealed she had been raped and strangled as part of their investigation police looked into her place of
employment at the adult video store the reason why this was of interest to them is because there had been a double
homicide six months earlier just before vicki started working there on December 16th 1984 the store's owner Carol Drake
and the manager Terry Lee was stabbed to death in the back office with money stolen cash receipts missing and another
envelope of cash dropped in the store police are certain there was a robbery homicide blood spatter indicated that
they were kneeling or sitting close to the floor when they were killed and if the bloodied knife was left at the scene
no one in the adjoining family video store or the adult bookstore heard anything that afternoon that case was
still unsolved and with Vicki now being found murdered after taking up employment in the video store it didn't
seem that far-fetched to think the murders could be related police closely examined both cases and
tried to establish a link but when it came down to it they were unable to find enough similarities no other woman
killed in the video store was sexually assaulted they weren't bound and they weren't
strangled both were attacked inside the workplace and both were killed with one stab wound deep
a totally different and though to Vicky's murder Vicky's husband Gary still worried there
could be a link to the video store but police felt the two cases were nothing more than a coincidence the
investigation continued but months went by without any leads or advances while that's on Gary had left Oahu saying he
would only return if someone was brought to justice he felt he had no reason to state without Vee by the beginning of
1986 Honolulu had seen no other signs that there was any danger in the community the murder of Vicky Purdy was
put down to a random act of violence the investigation was still open but police were no closer to catching the
killer seventeen-year-old Regina Sakamoto was a senior at Leilehua high school and was
planning to attend Hawaii Pacific University later that year she was shy but confident amongst though she knew
described as smart fun-loving and everybody's friend Regina was born in Kansas but moved to Hawaii after her mom
remarried by 1986 Regina's mother and her stepdad had separated and so she lived with her mum and brother in what
PAHO fifteen minutes south of Mililani where vicki least she was very close to her mother and her little brother Omar
who was only ten at the time on the morning of January 14th 1986 Regina was late for school she called her boyfriend
a quarter past 7:00 in the morning from a phone booth and told him she was going
to be late because she missed her bus she was seen by a witness at the phone booth near her bus stop in front of
diners diner in Waipahu but that was the last time anyone saw or heard from her her family raised the alarm when she
didn't return home from school that day they weren't aware at the time but she never actually made it to school at 10
a.m. the following morning a fisherman found Regina's body floating near the Diamondhead end of the reef runway at
Honolulu Airport less than one mile from where Vicki Purdy was found seven months
earlier Regina was naked from the waist down one of the investigators immediately noticed
the similarities in the deaths of both Regina and Vicki both women had their hands bound behind their backs and both
were raped both had ligature marks on their necks suggesting a rope or binding had been used and then removed both also
had petechial hemorrhaging on their eyes and eyelids which are tiny red pinprick
sized marks left behind after the pressure of strangulation despite these similarities and despite the fact that
their bodies were found less than one mile from each other there were police who dismissed the
connection to Vicki Purdy's murder they felt it was nothing more than a coincidence Vicki was a 25 year old
woman who had been out late clubbing and Regina was a 17 year old on her way to school that was enough for some
investigators to dismiss a connection but it didn't take long for them to change their minds 21 year old Denise
Renee Hughes had lived in Hawaii for five months she was originally from Everett in Washington State just north
of Seattle Denise had gone on vacation to Hawaii and met a young sailor stationed at Pearl Harbor named Charles
they fell in love got married in Seattle and straight after the wedding moved to
Pearl City Oahu close to where Charles was stationed on board a ship in Pearl Harbor Pearl City is only a 15-minute
drive north from Honolulu Airport Denise had studied business Becky never and she
found a job in Hawaii relatively easily she'd been working as a secretary for three months at a telephone company long
distance USA incorporated in the short time she was there she was highly valued she always had a smile on her face no
matter what and she had already earned a raise she quickly made friends who she played sports and went shopping with she
was also part of a close-knit Christian group the niece's mum worried that she was too
young to get married and move away she also worried the Pearl City where the couple lived was too remote Denise
got the bus to and from work every day and her mother encouraged her to walk to the bus stop leaving only just enough
time for its arrival that way Denise wouldn't be waiting around too long On January 29th 1986 Denise and Charles
spend the evening together going out for a nice meal the next morning Denise got
ready for work putting on a blue dress Charles was already at work so she left home and headed for the bus stop as per
her usual routine only that day January 30th she didn't show up for work two days later on February 1st three
teenagers were crabbing along a drainage canal off Moanalua stream they came across something wrapped in blue plastic
sheeting floating near the shore it appeared to have been rolled down the embankment through the mud it was the
body of Denise use wearing the blue dress she had put on to go to work the day she disappeared
a combination of water and the elements meant that her body had begun the stages
of decomposition her hands were bound behind her back and she too had been raped and strangled
although Denise was found slightly upstream from the kie Lagoon there was no doubt that the three women had been
killed by the same person all three women had been found south of their homes in an area close to Honolulu
Airport along the water this time there could be no doubt the Honolulu Police Department admitted that a serial killer
was operating the head of the Honolulu Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division Maj Chester
Hughes announced that he had formed a task force to examine and investigate the three murders Hawaii was facing its
first ever serial killer who the media called the honolulu strangler the police were aware that the public was becoming
anxious but there was a fine line between warning them and setting off a panic alarm there was evidence collected
from the crime scenes and forensic evidence taken from the victims but at the time there wasn't much that could be
done with it DNA profiling was still over a year away so the main tests that could be done was blood type but this
was often of little value as determining the blood type usually just narrowed down a pool of suspects that you already
had it didn't generate new suspects in matching blood type alone gave you no basis for an arrest
in this case they didn't have any suspects there had been a seven-month break after the first murder of Vicky
Purdy but then Regina Sakamoto and Denise Hughes were killed within a very short space of time it was difficult to
determine when the killer would strike next but the police task force did everything
they could to be ready seven weeks went by without anything suspicious happening on March 26th 1986
25 year-old Louise maderos caught a plane from Honolulu to the island of Kauai where she grew up
and where her family still lived the trip was an important one she'd had some misunderstandings with her mother over
the years who had just passed away the ways traveled back to her own Island to be with family for the reading of her
mother's will she was three months pregnant at the time and she left her two young sons with her boyfriend's
family while she made the trip Louise had rebelled as a teenager and too left home at 16 moving to Allah who she got
into some trouble with the law before settling down she had a daughter who had been put into foster care and she was
working hard to get her back Louise had grown estranged to her family over the years but was able to bond with them
that day when Louise was preparing to head home after the reading of the will her sister suggested she wait until the
following day to fly back to Oahu so she wasn't getting the bus home to her apartment at night but Louise insisted
she'd be okay and she wanted to get back home to her kids she boarded the 7:40 p.m. mid Pacific flight back to Honolulu
Airport but she never made it home the belief was that Louise was abducted from the bus stop at Honolulu Airport police
didn't have high hopes of finding her they knew what they were facing three other women had been found raped and
strangled near the airport already and two of those three had disappeared from local bus stops they felt the odds of
finding the Weiser life were remote a week later on April 2nd 1986 road workers found the decomposing body of
Louise Medeiros she was wearing the same white blouse with red flowers that she had been wearing when she was on Kauai
Eve with her family her lower body was unclothed the waist had been raped strangled and her hands were bound
behind back she was lying beneath a freeway overpass which crosses over a stream
feeding into the north end of the kie lagoon there is a link to a map of the lagoon in the show notes on the bottom
far left of the map you have the airport and the reef runway where the second victim regina Sakamoto's body was found
half way up on the left side of the lagoon is where vicki Purdy was filmed at the top end of the lagoon there are
two streams the stream heading Northwest as where Denise Hughes was found and it
now the fourth victim louise Medeiros was found at an overpass covering the stream heading in the same direction
Denise Hughes was found the horseshoe shape of the lagoon continues around towards a separate small island known as
Sand Island in the direction of downtown Honolulu and Waikiki Beach there's a road build over the lagoon which takes
you to Sand Island it's mainly used for industrial purposes with the islands water treatment plant located there but
it has some recreational space and is well known for its good fishing spots the four women had all been found at
fairly similar distances from each other in the lagoon but no one had been found
in the lower southeast part of the lagoon near Sand Island yet Denis uses mother Linda flew from Washington state
to Hawaii looking for answers shortly after arriving in Hawaii someone stole Linda's wallet which held
her most precious photos of Denise the wallet also held photos of her other daughter Dori who died two years earlier
in a car accident she was only 16 years old so in less than two years Linda had lost both her daughters relatives and
friends of Denise and Linda got together and came up with $7000 as a reward for anyone who brought forth information
that could lead to the conviction of the murderer Linda plastered the posters all around
Oahu the task force intensified after the murder of Louise Medeiros there was now no doubt that Hawaii's first known
serial killer was in their midst as they had zero experience with serial killers
the Honolulu Police Department requested a outside assistance they brought in an
FBI profiler and they also sought the help of Seattle's Green River task force a group which had been formed two years
earlier to investigate the Green River Killer major Luis Souza was assigned head of the task force going forward
they found a no link between the four victims none of them knew each other their only connection was that they were
killed by the same person the term serial killer was so new to the people of Hawaii that the press actually
gave explanations for its meanings in their papers according to will Hoover a journalist with the Honolulu
star-advertiser a source close to the investigation said this is what detectives have feared for
a long time in Hawaii Hawaii lags behind the mainland so we knew the weird stuff
was on the way major Chester Hughes gave a press conference where he confirmed there were
no suspects he said investigators believed that two or more of the victims may have accepted
a ride with the killer at a bus stop and he warned the women of Oahu to be on high alert
but many people on the island had no other form of transportation so they were forced to wait at bus stops in
order to get to work school or the shops the public warning stated don't accept rides with strangers if possible
traveling groups there are safety in numbers where the type of clothes and shoes they give you freedom of movement
don't burden yourself with too many packages if stopped by someone in a car asking directions or questions give your
answers from a safe distance never get too close to the car if your instinct tells you that you're being followed
trust your instinct as part of their operation the taskforce set up an undercover sting using police women who
posed as commuters around ket Lagoon and Honolulu Airport but no suspects were identified from this
on April 29th 1986 just over a month after the body of louise Medeiros was discovered 36 year
old Linda Pesci got into her light blue 1976 Toyota to drive home from work it was a good day for her as she just got
word she had been promoted she was a sales rep at McCoy teller page a telecom company located on the southeastern side
of ket Lagoon between downtown Honolulu and Waikiki Beach just like Denise Hughes Linda had only worked at that
particular telecom company for a matter of months Linda was from a working-class
background and grew up in Marin County in Northern California in her early 20s after studying psychology at the College
of Marina she hitchhiked across the country alone she was known as streetwise and tough
some would say a fighter she moved to Hawaii to work as a dancer and then moved to Guam to do the same she later
returned to Honolulu where she settled down had a daughter and two married she was happy and carefree a close friend of
Linda's said whatever her past was was hope assed everything changed with her daughter after eight years Linda
separated from her husband amicably and she and her daughter moved in with one of Linda's friends it was 6:30 p.m. on
April 29th when Linda got in her car at work and headed for the h1 freeway to get home only Linda didn't make it home
the next morning her housemate realized she wasn't there and raised the alarm police put an alert out across the radio
that a woman had gone missing in the description of Linda and her car was broadcast
Linda's housemate was alarmed that she hadn't returned home she said she would never go anywhere without her young
daughter but police didn't immediately fear the worst there wasn't the first missing person report that had been
filed since the murders started previous reports had been made of missing women with fears they had fallen prey to the
Honolulu strangler only for them to turn up safe and well the fact Linda was driving her own car
and not taking a bus gave them hope that maybe the worst hadn't happened they remained vigilant and treated the
report seriously but they were initially hopeful that was until later that morning when they found Linda's car
pulled off to the side of the road on their Nimitz Highway leading to the h1 freeway 15 minutes drive from Linda's
work the location of Linda's car filled many of the investigators with a sense of dread it was found right at the
northeastern end of the kie Lagoon they realized Linda's car had most likely broken down as she recently had car
trouble her wallet and keys were missing from the vehicle and there was a bus stop less than half a mile away there's
a very real chance Linda had set off on foot to get the bus home this theory was
further cemented when they set up a roadblock at the site Linda's car was found stopping all motorists to ask if they
had seen Linda or her vehicle it was reported by more than one person that they saw Linda's car shortly after 7:00
p.m. the night she went missing about 30 minutes after she left work witnesses saw her car pulled over with its hazard
lights on in the exact spot police found it police called an immediate press conference and pleaded for the public's
assistance major Chester Hughes said from what we have developed so far we suspect foul play
we have a missing person that we don't feel right about and due to the past cases we're gearing up immediately on
this one he confirmed that it was their belief Linder attempted to walk to a nearby service station or to the nearby
bus stop there were actually two bus stops close by both only half a mile walk in either direction
further warnings also went out to the community criminologist Medlen urged people to be aware of their environment
to look out for friends and neighbors and to call the police immediately if they saw a stalled car she suggested
that if a woman was having car trouble quote put up the hood take the tire iron out of the trunk get back into the car
lock it and roll up the windows if someone approaches to help you should ask them to call the police
the key thing is to not leave the car she continued we have lost our innocence as a community obviously the women's
community is very upset the whole community is very upset it involves everybody's wives
everybody's girlfriends and everybody's daughters four days after Linda went missing may 3rd 1986 a 43 year old
mechanic from Ewa Beach on the southwest coast of the island walked into Honolulu
Police Department and said that a psychic and told him where to find Linda's body this was completely
unexpected and the out of the blue the mechanic had never been spoken to until now he said he had followed the
directions given to him by the psychic and went to sand island after looking around for a while he saw some bones or
a body he then told police he knew of Linda Pesci as she had tried to sell him a pager when police checked Linda's work
notebook they discovered his details inside that appeared Linda had written his name down the day she disappeared
after giving police his story the mechanic took them to Sand Island he showed them all over but stayed away
from one particular spot police moved their search to the spot where the mechanic was avoiding and it was there
that they found the body of Linda Pesci she was facedown covered with dirt and a
concrete block had been placed on top of her she was just off a dirt road in what
they referred to as an unimproved area one they didn't get much foot traffic she'd been raped and strangled police
started to keep a very close eye on the mechanic with five women dead at the hands of the Honolulu strangler and no
indication it was going to stop the entire state of Hawaii was nervous in Oahu self-defense classes were full and
stores were selling out of guns two days after Linda's body was discovered Honolulu police held a
community safety meeting for women officer Christine Gaylord held the first meeting at Waipahu library and others
were set to be hauled around the island Christine opened the meeting by asking what are you really afraid of the
answers the flew back were being killed dying and death the taskforce which by then had over 20 members working around
the clock received hundreds of calls offering all sorts of tips and theories they followed up every lead regardless
of how insignificant it seemed the community were reminded of past murders which had also gone unsolved
none of them were believed to have any connection to the current serial killings but they stirred up emotions
nonetheless the most recent of these other unsolved murders was July 6th 1985 a month after Vicky Purdy the first
known victim of the honolulu strangler was murdered 19 year old dance teacher diane suzuki disappeared from out the
front of the dance studio she worked at this is one of the other unsolved cases that many people in the community
thought was linked to the honolulu strangler but police were confident it was unrelated the person who abducted
dying in Suzuki did not fit the profile or method they looking at for the honolulu strangler they firmly believed
Dianne Suzuki was stalking in the lead up to her disappearance there were so adamant of this that they used evidence
from the still unsolved case to help overhaul Hawaii's harassment laws which resulted in stalking and violations of
restraining orders being made Class C felonies which carried a 5-year maximum jail term on May 6 police held another
press conference where they released further information to the public witnesses who were stopped at the
roadblock where they found Linda's car reported seeing an unknown male person and a van parked nearby the night she
disappeared the van was described as a light-colored possibly a cargo carrying vehicle with
lettering on its rear windows an american-made model of the late 70s or early 80s an artist sketch of the van
was released and the man was described as Caucasian or mixed ancestry the FBI profile of the honolulu
strangler was also released at this press conference the profile was a Caucasian man in his late 30s or early
40s he may live or work in the area between sand island and Waipahu and targeted women near to where he lived or
worked he was an opportunist attacking women in vulnerable situations rather than stalking his victims he was
unlikely to already have a criminal record he would be familiar with the area where the crimes were committed and
again may live or work in the vicinity he may possibly be experiencing marital or relationship difficulties Douglas
Gibb the Honolulu Police Chief at the time went on to say at this press conference that physical evidence had
been recovered and was currently being tested but he refused to confirm what that evidence was the 43 year old
mechanic who approached police out of the blue and led them to Linda Pesci's body after claiming a psychic told him
where to find her we're still being closely watched around the clock the public were told that there were no
suspects but the mechanic fit the killer's profile in more than one instance he was 43 years old Caucasian
he lived at Ewa Beach which was right in the vicinity they suspected the killer lived based on the geography of where
the bodies were found he worked at an air cargo company near the airport on lagoon drive the road that runs along
the edge of ke lagoon he inserted himself in the investigation out of the blue claiming a psychic told him information
he took police to the body of Linda Pesci and had prior contact with her the mechanic also owned a VN that fit the
description of the one seen near Linda's car after police released the description of
the van to the public specifically mentioning and had lettering on its rear window undercover police watched the
mechanic scratch the company logo of flying tigers from the rear of his van he was shaping as a firm suspect and he
was taken in for questioning on May 9th 1986 six days after leading police to the body of Linda Pesci he attended the
police station voluntarily he agreed to be photographed and agreed to take part in a polygraph test which he failed he
was questioned for seven hours between 8:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. during which time he barely moved he sat with his
arms folded and head down police were confident they had the Honolulu strangler but there was no hard evidence
there was an entirely circumstantial case they had physical evidence semen had been sent for forensic testing but
the results didn't amount to anything that could be used to prove it was him testing showed that the semen had few or
no sperm which was possibly the result of a vasectomy as there was no DNA testing at the time all they could do
was test for blood type which they did but it was only useful in eliminating suspects it wasn't useful in this
investigation it was the most common blood type in the world so it didn't mean much that he matched it it just
meant he couldn't be eliminated at the conclusion of the interview Major Luis Souza confronted the mechanic directly
asking him if he murdered Linda Pesci he put his head down and said he didn't do
it Souza felt they had enough on the mechanic to place him under arrest and he instructed his detectives to do so
they're certain they would be able to break him but after the arrest an attorney called the station and asked to
speak to the mechanic she was organized by his girlfriend and she instructed him
to stop talking to the police immediately and he did from that point on he never
said another word because he stopped talking suzer and the detectives were forced to go to the prosecutor with what
they had hoping they would be given approval to charge the mechanic with murder but they won't
the prosecutor advised there was insufficient evidence if it went to trial they feared there was a good
chance the mechanic would be acquitted meaning they could never prosecute him again for those charges the mechanic was
allowed to walk out the front door when he left the police department around 2:00 p.m. that afternoon the mechanic
covered his face and head with his t-shirt local press were waiting for him he said the following as he was escorted
into a waiting car the police have released me that's all I know they've got plenty of good cause they're doing
their job someone asked if he knew Linda Pesci to which she replied I haven't talked to he then stopped himself before
continuing I don't even know what's really going on here I'll comment some other time police continued to follow
the mechanic and keep him under close surveillance or they tried to gather more evidence the mechanic was divorced
with a child but he had a new girlfriend he had moved to Honolulu from Alaska four years earlier in the early eighties
he had no prior criminal record in Alaska or Hawaii the mechanics neighbors described him as a hopeful friendly
gentleman who is kind and outgoing always willing to help people out if they needed anything police looked
further into Linda Pesci and why she had written the mechanic's name down in her
diary they found out she was responsible for pitching her company services to businesses in the Airport area the same
area where Flying Tigers was located the company the mechanic worked for detectives interviewed the mechanics
girlfriend as well as his ex-wife they both described him as a smooth talker who often turned a conversation on to
the topic of sex both women stated they had engaged in sexual activities with the mechanic
where they had their hands tied behind their backs the informants girlfriend also revealed
something new to investigators she explained that they've had some arguments lately she told police that
age of the murders had corresponded with the night they had argued and he had left the house but it still wasn't hard
evidence and the prosecutors felt the same way they couldn't charge him the couple of months later a woman came
forward who said she had seen a man standing with one of the victims on the night she was murdered it hasn't been
released publicly which victim the witness saw the man with she successfully picked the mechanic from a
photo lineup as the man she saw with the victim but she declined to testify she was worried the mechanic had seen her
and that he might come after her next the island of Oahu in the state of Hawaii didn't have a single case linked
to the Honolulu strangler again the task force continued the tale the mechanic day and night no matter where
he went after a while the mechanic left Hawaii and moved to the Midwest on the mainland the task force called the local
police department where he moved to and they continued to watch him but he never did anything at first while under
surveillance the mechanic was even followed to Europe twice by the FBI he was also followed from the Midwest to
the east coast and back to the Midwest when he resided there but they never got anything
he was never linked to any crime again and to no charges were ever laid for the murders of Vicki Purdy
Regina Sakamoto Denise Hughes louise Medeiros or linda perry the mechanic died in 2003 due to illness an autopsy
may have provided information regarding his DNA but it's unknown if one was conducted there is no information to say
whether his DNA was collected prior to his death there is no information to say whether the forensic evidence gathered
from 1986 is available for retesting today but in 2016 the Honolulu Police Department told the local Hawaiian TV
station KH o n2 that they were stepping up their efforts in reviewing cold cases
the full statement released by the Honolulu Police Department in 2016 read earlier this year
homicide detectives stepped up their efforts to review unsolved murder cases looking for untested evidence and any
evidence that should be retested using updated DNA technology Honolulu Police Department also created a database with
information that thoroughly documents which items of evidence have been tested and which items should be retested when
new technology becomes available the database will serve as a resource for both current and future investigators we
can't comment on open cases however because there is no statute of limitations for homicide the case will
remain open until a suspect has been identified we will piss you all leads whether it's from someone who has new
information or a new form of DNA testing we are committed to getting for victims and their families no matter
how long it takes [Music]

Case 62: The Honolulu Strangler

Since the tourism boom of the 1950's, the Hawaiian islands have been enticing tourists into their relaxed, laid-back lifestyle. From the early days, honeymooners and holidaymakers could arrive in droves, welcomed by smiling hula dancers with floral leis.

Hawaii is made up of 132 islands with a total area of six and a half thousand square miles. The Island of Oahu is home to the state’s Capital, Honolulu, and the famous Waikiki Beach. It has a large port, Army and Naval Bases and is home to Pearl Harbour.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anna Priestland Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

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Brief Summary

The episode details the Honolulu Strangler's murders in the 1980s, focusing on five victims and the investigation's challenges.

Key points

The Tourism Boom of Hawaii. Since the 1950s, Hawaii has attracted tourists with its laid-back lifestyle and beautiful islands.
The Rise of Violent Crime. The mid-80s brought a surge in violent crime to Hawaii, shocking the community.
Vicki Purdy's Mysterious Disappearance. Vicki Purdy vanished after a night out in Waikiki, leading to a frantic search.
The Serial Killer Emerges. The murders of three women revealed a serial killer was operating in Hawaii.
Public Safety Warning. Police warned women to be cautious and avoid accepting rides from strangers.
Linda Pesci's Disappearance. Linda Pesci goes missing after leaving work, sparking a community-wide search.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Hawaii was about to experience a time of fear.

2:53WatchNov 20, 2018

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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