The taunting killer with a weepy voice | Forensic Files

[Music] in the early eighties a series of savage attacks occurred in the twin city area
of Minnesota USA the victims were all women police struggled in the initial part of the investigation there was no
physical evidence left by the attacker and there were no witnesses [Music] but there was one person who wanted to
help the police the man responsible he called 9-1-1 after committing the attacks the tapes were released to the
public in the hopes that somebody would recognize the voice this is how he came to be known as the weeping voice killer
but was he just taunting the police what did he really want to be stopped [Music]
[Music] on the 31st of December 1980 University student Karen Potok was out celebrating
New Year's Eve with assisters on University Avenue in an area known as the Twin Cities in Minnesota USA the
city of st. Paul which is the state capital of Minnesota is on one side of University Avenue in the city of
Minneapolis which is the largest city in Minnesota is on the other side of University Avenue it was a nice cold
winter's night with temperatures below freezing after midnight ed struck Karen wandered out of the bar she was in with
her sisters she walked around the streets in the freezing cold all alone still drinking from a glass of champagne
she made her way up an alleyway which was deserted other than one car which drove past her a male driver was the
only person in the car he noticed that Karen didn't have a jacket and she looked freezing cold the male driver
stopped the car and told Karen to jump in he had the heater on and his car was nice and warm and he could give her a
ride to wherever she needed to go the lure of a nice warm car was too much to resist in mourning the following what's
this police responded to the call and found Karen Peetz after lying on the ground
near the railway tracks behind the Marburg manufacturing company on syndicate Street North st. Paul an area
that was completely deserted at night Karen was naked and had been viciously beaten with a tire iron her skull was
cracked open that she was alive Karen was rushed to hospital and treated she survived the attack but it was so
vicious it was deemed to be an attempted murder Karen was later questioned at length by police but she had no memory
of the attack itself and no memory of who was responsible no physical evidence was located to identify the attacker and
there were no witnesses at all with Karen unable to provide police with any information the case went cold very
quickly and nobody was arrested 18-year old Kimberly Compton was from the small town of pepin wisconsin with a
population of less than 1,000 people after graduating from high school Kimberly packed her bags and got on a
bus headed for Minnesota's capital city st. Paul like so many other small TN high school
graduates before and after her she couldn't wait to leave and start the next chapter of her life in the city on
the 3rd of June 1981 Kimberly stepped off her Greyhound bus in downtown st. Paul she called her
locker number 750 in the grating on bus depot where she placed both of her bags the first thing Kim Billy wanted to do
was to eat she was starving and she was in lark directly across the road from the bus there bo was Mickey's diner they
had a special on to barbecue beef and fries and that's what Kimberly ordered she sat down in a booth to eat and
sending a few booths away from her was a man also enjoying her mule he noticed Kimberly sitting alone and he walked
over and struck up a conversation with her Kimberly told him she'd only just arrived to the city and didn't know her
way around yet the man was only too happy to offer to drive Kimberly around and show her the sights of simple
Kimberly eagerly accepted she couldn't wait to explore the city and was happy that she had a local to help show her
around Kimberly and her new friend finished their meals and then left Mickey's diner together a few hours
later the following call was made to norm on one if finally I just catch somebody with
myself are you there police responded and found Kimberly Compton laying face down near an unfinished freeway just
south of San Paul there was the secluded area where you could catch a nice view of the Mississippi River the killer had
driven Kimberly there and then used the promise of that nice view to little Kimberly out of the car
she was then savagely attacked Kimberly was stabbed 61 times with an icepick and
was dead when police arrived Kimberly couldn't wait to graduate high school and leave the small town of
heaven behind her but only hours after leaving and arriving in some pool she had been brutally murdered
Kimberly had no identification on her but police found her Greyhound bus turbo locker key
they found a locker and her bags and that's how the initial identification was done the autopsy showed an
undigested meal in her stomach which is how police were able to piece together two movements they knew that Mickey's
diner was across the road from the bus depot and when they saw the special they had that night that Kimberly arrived in
TN match what was in his stomach they were able to piece her movements together they immediately interviewed
the staff of Mickey's diner and appealed for anybody who may have seen Kimberly to come forward but they couldn't find
any witnesses that progress the investigation any further there were no suspects no physical evidence the
investigation stalled but not before the killer made another call police released
the 9-1-1 call to the media it was hoped that somebody would recognize the voice
the media nicknamed him the weepy voice to killer the response was overwhelming everybody seemed to think the voice
matched somebody that they knew over a hundred names were provided to the police but unfortunately it all amounted
to nothing the release of the calls got them no closer to identifying a suspect and with no evidence and no witnesses
the case started getting colder and colder about nine months after the murder on
march 19th 1982 there was this news report from KSTP Eyewitness News police thought they may have had a breakthrough
luckily tonight st. Paul police are disappointed they thought they were close to solving one of the city's
murders but new information has sent the police back to square one in the murder
case of Kimberly Compton that information came to light when police took a rare step and open their files to
the media Lindsay strand has more on the story retired seat fall detective Earl Mills
returned to the force for one day this week to open the files of his seven-month investigation to the media
he said he was convinced information received four days after he retired last February answered the question of who
killed Kimberly Compton Mills believed it was Alan Lopez indicted for killing his parents and sister at their st. Paul
home last August found mentally incompetent to stand trial Lopez was sent to the state security hospital in
st. Peter where he committed suicide before police could talk to him but while barricaded inside his family's
house last summer he had confessed to killing Compton police however had ruled him out as a suspect because they linked
the Compton murder to another case they didn't believe Lopez could have committed the link was in taped
telephone calls to police Kimberly Compton's body was discovered last June along an unfinished portion of
35e only three and a half hours after she arrived in town by bus the report then plays the 9-1-1 voice
recordings relating the kimberly Compton's murder they then linked the case to the attempted murder of Karen
Poe Tech and play that 9-1-1 recording the news report then continues [Music] arriving at the location the caller
described police found Karen PO tak badly beaten but still alive police didn't think Lopez could have committed
the attack because they thought he was in the Anoka state hospital that night but just five weeks ago
Mills learned that Lopez was granted a pass to leave the hospital the day PO Tech was assaulted and that information
made him confident Lopez attacked both women based on the telephone calls we received his vicious nature with his
family the fact that he was not in an institution public institution at the time of the cases but information
obtained by the media and a new investigator on the case has shattered Mills theory one phone call to the
Ramsey County Jail determined that while Lopez may have been out of the state hospital the night that Kerr Tech was
attacked he was in the Ramsey County Jail the night Kimberly Compton was murdered clearly willing him out as a
suspect in the case and sending police back to square one in their investigation Police Chief William
McCutchen refused to comment directly on the quality of the investigation but said the quality of future
investigations should be improved by a recent departmental reorganization Lindsay strand channel 5 Eyewitness News
st. Paul and square one of the investigation is exactly where police remained as the months went on new cases
came in in Kimberly's case got less and less attention before it was eventually placed on the cold-case shelf where it
was barely touched on the 6th of August 1982 40 year-old Barbara Simons was having a night out at
the hexagon bar in Minneapolis Barbara was having fun up on the dance floor dancing and drinking with a man she had
just met that night at one point when she was ordering a drink she mentioned to the waitress that she hoped the man
she had met was a nice guy because he was going to give her a ride home later that night the waitress saw
them leaving the bar together and then another phone call was made to police later like I did the body of Barbara
salman's caught on the underbrush the anonym Bank men of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis the killer had tried to
dispose of her body in the river but the underbrush stopped that from happening Barbara had been stabbed around a
hundred times it was evident there was now a serial killer at work police traced Barbara's
movements on the night of her death and that eventually led them back to the hexagon bar into an interview with the
waitress who saw her dancing with an unknown man police showed the waitress several mug books in the hopes she would
be able to identify the man she saw Barbara with the waitress looked through over a hundred photos before the police
were unlocked she picked out the man she saw with Barbara this was a huge break in the
investigation police immediately organised for a surveillance team to closely follow their new suspect
soon after on the 20th of August 1982 nineteen year old prostitute Denise Williams was working the red-light
district of Minneapolis Denise had been a prostitute since she was 13 years old a car pulled up to Denise the male
driver started chatting to her and they came to an agreement the male offered her hundred dollars to have some fun but
he only had $40 on him at the time he promised to buy her the other sixty later Denise agreed and got into his car
they went back to his apartment in st. Paul where they had sex it was over very quickly and Denise started wondering if
the man was going to want more but he didn't and he offered to drive Denise back to her corner on the way back to
the red-light district the man veered off the main road and started taking some back streets the man said he was
taking a shortcut but the nay started to get uneasy she knew the area they knew this wasn't shocker
she started to look around for a weapon and was in luck when she spotted a bottle close by
Denise decided that if the man tried anything should whack him in the head with the bottle the man pulled into a
dark dead-end parking lot near Coolidge Avenue in Minneapolis there was no street lighting at all when
they stopped the man said to Denise ass grass or gas no one rides for free Denise tried to get out of the car but
the man grabbed their left arm and then stabbed her in the stomach with a screwdriver
Denise reacted by hitting him in the head with the glass bottle causing it to smash she hit him a few more times with
a broken bottle he started bleeding everywhere he was cut up pretty bad on the cheek head and hand but that didn't
stop him he kept trying to stab Denise over and over again she reacted by trying to punch kick and bite him she
fought as fiercely as she could Denise eventually managed to open the door and fell out onto the ground the male fell
on top of her Denise decided to change tactics and she stopped fighting altogether
she played dead she said I'm dying I'm dying and late completely still but they didn't work the man kept stabbing her
Denise scream for help and a nearby resident Douglas panting heard her screams he made it away outside and saw
the attacker on top of Denise still stabbing them punning ran up and grabbed him the attacker jumped up and then
immediately swung the screwdriver at painting painting ran away but the attacker gave chase
luckily painting was able to make his way back inside his unit and called the police the attacker gave up jumped back
into his car and drove off he was badly cut up an injured panting went back outside to help Denise
Denise had been stabbed 15 times she had wounds on her chest abdomen and head as
well as a punctured lung and a punctured liver she was rushed to hospital where she had emergency surgery despite being
badly hurt Denise survived the attack Denyce initially gave her name is Mary that shows aware there was a warrant out
for her arrest for a probation violation she also told the police she'd been hitchhiking when she was attacked but
the Nisa later came clean and told the truth that same night shortly after the attack
on Denis another call was made to master what's the problem [Music] paramedics were dispatched to the
address police were called as well there they found 37 year-old Paul Stefani the man picked out in the mug book by
the waitress at the hexagon bar the man who police had a surveillance operation on but earlier that night just before
making his way through the red-light district Stefani had lost the police tape leaving
him free to attack Denise Williams luckily she survived Stefani was arrested and Denis easily picked him out
as her attacker from the mug shots Stefani was charged with her attempted murder
Paul Stefania was born on the 8th of September 1944 and grew up in Austin Minnesota he was brought up in a deeply
religious household he had a history of psychiatric problems and one previous conviction for aggravated assault which
is why his photo was in the notebook he worked as a janitor and lived by himself
in March 1977 Stefani was fired from his job at the malmberg manufacturing clean
so he was familiar with the area where Karen Potok was attacked and was well aware how quiet and isolated the spot
would be at night police interviewed him about the attack on Karen pay attack and
the murders of Kimberly Compton and Barbara Simons they showed him crime scene photos from
all three attacks so fine he looked at them and said you're not gonna pin those on me he denied any involvement in the
crimes and denied being the weepy voice killer along with the attempted murder of Denise Williams Stefani was charged
with the murder of Barbara Solomon's these attacks occurred in Minneapolis a different jurisdiction to the attacks on
Karen Potok and Kimberly Compton those happened in st. Paul stefani pled not guilty to the murder of
Barbara Salman's and the six-week trial commenced in February 1985 the prosecution case relied on matching the
9-1-1 calls made after Barbara Simon's attack and after Denise Williams attack to the voice of Stefani an audio
interview conducted with Stefani shortly after his arrest was used to try and make the match the experts have recalled
being concluded that the voice of Stefani was remarkably similar to the non LeMond calls but they could not
conclusively say they were an exact match that's when Stefani sister was called to the stand to testify she
listened to the 9-1-1 tapes she then bowed her head and said that she had no doubt those calls were made by her
brother after a six-week trial Stefani was eventually found guilty and sentenced to 40 years in jail for the
murder of Simons Stefani also pled not guilty to the attempted murder of Denise Williams that also went to trial but he
was eventually convicted and sentenced to 18 years in jail [Music] so with these results you're now
thinking that prosecutors in the jurisdiction of st. Paul would jump on board and get to work charging Stefani
for the attempted murder of Karen Potter and the murder of Kimberly Compton well you're wrong prosecutors say that
the voice evidence was not enough and they were unable to be Sewer conviction against the Fani for those attacks
instead they elected to leave them officially unsolved giving Karen and the family of Kimberly no closure
in 1997 twelve years later Stefani got in contact with the st. Paul police he had just been diagnosed with terminal
cancer and he wanted to talk to somebody and clear the slate st. Paul police with
Stefani in confessed to the attempted murder of another friend of your mother so if you want to make friends
and two detectives got a shock when Stefani confessed to another murder that it wasn't even on the radar for 33 year
old Kathleen greening was drowned in a bathtub at her home on the 21st of July 1992 only a few weeks before the murder
of Barbara salman's you say that you both get into the tub did you push your aunt there
we should get dollars you push your chest area to the lobby or up and shoulders mom you help your shoulders
stop folk dancer [Music] detectives fee on the cold case file for Kathleen greetings murder going through
the fall they found an address book belonging to her that had been taken as evidence in the book was a name Paul s
with the telephone number they match that telephone number to the one Stefani gave the night he was arrested for the
niece Williams attack it never came out what their relation was prior to the attack or why his number was in her
address book but finally justice had been done for Karen pay attack Kimberly Compton and
not Kathleen Greene II the prosecutor who secured the conviction for the murder of Barbara salman's doesn't
believe Stefani enjoyed or relished in committing murder he felt guilty for what he had done and wanted to be
stopped that's why he made the 9-1-1 calls but he couldn't stop himself and when he was eventually caught he
couldn't even admit to what he had done in Stefani's words killing saint debate the thing you were supposed to do that
was part of life until he actually did catch being stopped [Music] you

Case 15: The Weepy Voiced Killer

In the early 80’s a series of attacks occurred in the twin city area of Minnesota, USA. The victims were all women. Police struggled in the initial part of the investigation. There was no physical evidence, and there were no witnesses...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas

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Brief Summary

Paul Stefani, the Weepy Voice Killer, committed multiple brutal attacks in Minnesota during the early 1980s, leaving victims and families without closure.

Key points

The Weeping Voice Killer. A series of savage attacks in Minnesota leads to a chilling 9-1-1 call.
Kimberly Compton's Tragic Arrival. Just hours after arriving in St. Paul, Kimberly Compton is brutally murdered.
Denise Williams' Fight for Survival. Denise Williams survives a brutal attack, fighting back against her assailant.
Paul Stefani's Confession. Years later, Stefani confesses to multiple murders, shocking investigators.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What did he really want to be stopped?

0:49WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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