robert abel texas killing fields
In the sixties Abel was one of NASAs great young engineers, part of the team that was instrumental in designing the rocket that would put the Apollo astronauts into Earths orbit. hitType: 'event', Although Edward Bell has always been associated with the Texas Killing Fields murders, he was not featured in Netflix's series on the case. He suggested that Abel left the womens bodies on the pastureland because he knew theyd be ravaged by animals. Waco: American Apocalypse Doesnt Even Try. document.querySelector("#ads").addEventListener('click',function(){ He is the prime suspect in the murders of the four women found in the oil field, which is next to property he owns, and his name quickly surfaces whenever a teenager or a young woman disappears or is found dead in the area. Mosquito Hawks Are Flitting All Over Texas. Abel, however, remained wary: He told me he still worried that Miller would drink too much one night and try to kill him. The first one was of 23-year-old Heide Fye, who went missing on October 10, 1983, only to be discovered almost six months later. Abel told me his life had been ruinedthat he couldnt even go to the grocery store without someone treating him like he was a serial killer. Abel took an energetic part in solving the crimes, which only made him more suspicious. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function(event) { Why would a whole set of womens clothes be buried way out here? Miller said, turning off his machine. The League City police were so convinced he murdered those women and buried them, creating his own private graveyard, that they filed a court affidavit calling him a serial sexual offender who displayed the kind of rage and violent behavior often seen in serial killers. What has been dubbed the "Texas Killing Fields" is a 25-acre patch of land approximately one mile from I-45 in League City, a mid-size city located in Galveston County between Houston and Galveston. There was no evidence, in fact, that he had committed any crime. Stallings reportedly confessed to killing "Janet Doe". } But the fact was that he was one of the brightest people down there., In 1978, after 21 years of marriage, the Abels divorced. Abel died in 2005, when he was 65 years old, when he was hit by a train while traveling on a golf cart. More than 30 bodies have been found in the area between 1971 to 2006 leading to its very unceremonious moniker. hitType: 'event', . After all, it charts not just the way several women have wound up dead along Interstate 45 since the 1970s but [] hitType: 'event', }); One time she wrote about sports. He has received specialized training in homicide investigations and is familiar with the research conducted by the FBIs behavioral sciences unit in Quantico, which has been attempting to compile an accurate composite profile of the type of man who turns out to be a serial killer of women. Its doubtful the police can learn anything from the clothes, I said. A few days later I returned to League City. The majority of victims were girls and young women, aged between 12 and 25 years old. Once operated the Star Dust Trail Rides the address which was 3001 Calder in League city, right where the notorious "Killing Fields" victims where discovered. ), The only thing that Bittner found justifying the search warrant was a collection of newspaper articles found about the investigation into the League City murders and one long Houston Chronicle story detailing the life of a serial killer. When investigations into Millers missing body were being made, another corpse was found, who wasnt identified until years later as Audrey Lee Cook, a mechanic who was last seen alive in 1985. You wouldnt be intimidated by leaving those bodies in your own back yard., Since Bittners promotion to assistant police chief in April 1997, the new League City detective on the case, Marty Grant, has raised the money to put up a billboard along I-45 asking for help solving the murders, and he has had a small retention pond on the old oil field drained because of a single comment Abel made last year when Grant paid him a courtesy call to tell him he was now running the investigation. Her body was found under a bridge by the Trinity River near the Louisiana border. The League City killings appear to be the work of what the FBI literature calls an organized killer, someone who carefully plans his brutal acts. media-tech companies with hubs around the world. Nows Your Chance. Sometimes, at night, the wind would begin to blow, and the house would start to shift, and the bed in Lauras room would start to squeak, says Laura Smithers mother, Gaye, a gentle woman who sometimes swallows when she talks, trying to keep her voice in control. The medical examiner said she was between 22 and 30 years old and perhaps had been shot to death by a .22-caliber weapon. On the advice of another father whose daughter had been murdered in another town, Miller checked himself into the psychiatric unit of a hospital for ten days, promising when he left not to hurt Abel but vowing that he would keep pressuring him to confess. My throat suddenly went dry: Was I looking at a serial killers scrapbook? In the mini-documentary series, Netflix brings light to the Calder Road killings. Some refer to this stretch of the Gulf Freeway as a. One man brought his thirteen-year-old son. In 1984, the first of the four women were found, with the remains of Heidi Fye, 23, being spotted on the patch of land right next to where Laura Millers was found two years later. 1 of 2 Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, says he hopes his lawsuit will lead to developments in his daughter's slaying. In the 1999 Texas Monthly feature, Robert Abel was painted as the lead suspect. Its hard to gauge whos telling the truth. Mosquito Hawks Are Flitting All Over Texas. Just because no hard evidence was found during the search of his home doesnt mean hes exonerated., Not everyone working on the case is convinced that Abel is guilty. Lawmen think the retired NASA engineer could be responsible for the deaths or disappearances of several young women who lived in the coastal plain between Houston and Galveston. However, detectives reportedly suspected Robert only because of his proximity to the crime scene and his alleged aggressive personality experts had determined he was a perfect fit for the profile of a serial killer. Its time to try to live out the rest of my life in peace, he says. ga('ads.send', { Although he refused to take a police-administered polygraph test about the killing fields murdershe said he didnt trust the League City Police Department as long as Bittner was on the payrollhe did take two lie detector tests conducted by private examiners, who say he passed. The 25-acre patch of land in League City along Interstate Highway 45, between Houston and Galveston, is known as The Texas Killing Fields. Apocalypse Sow: Can Anything Stop the Feral Hog Invasion? McCarthy used his speech in NYC to slam President Joe Biden for doing "nothing" to address the nation's financial crisis. Mom, I love you, reads a note on the nightstand in Krystal Jean Bakers bedroom in Texas City. According to one FBI report, an organized killer is in the bright-superior intelligence range and, therefore, potentially a skilled imposterin other words, hes able to fit into everyday society without drawing any suspicion. As long as Pat Bittner and these other police departments have that FBI profile, theyre going to do anything they can to make me fit it.. However, he was never arrested because there was never enough evidence to incriminate him. Because they were placed within a thousand feet of each other, a private investigator who has studied the scene many times thinks the killer created a walking path for himself to visually inspect his trophies one by one. Indeed, many police detectives and FBI agents are convinced that this is the personal graveyard of a vicious serial killer. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. "My life has been destroyed; my reputation ruined I didn't kill any of those girls. More than 30 victims have been found since the 1970s and the land is infamously known as the Texas Killing Fields.. . Sales hit $250,000 in 1991, he says. Father whose daughter was murdered three decades ago believes he has finally found her killer, Maine woman shot and killed by longtime partner in murder-suicide 3 years after her parents died the same way. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), } If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. The four killings remain shrouded in mystery and ex-Nasa engineer Robert Abel was also among the suspects accused. On the other hand, detectives continued to carry out their usual investigative procedure, which included a thorough search of his ranch, house, as well as vehicles. },false) And there were other occasions when I felt as if Abel talked a little too much about the allegations against him. pg.acq.push(function() { Willie Payne, a respected private investigator hired by some of the parents to help locate their missing daughters, says he cant imagine that Abel would have been dumb enough to leave three of the girls lying within yards of his property line. But Bittner has an answer for that too. Notifications can be turned off anytime from browser settings. 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The former NASA scientist who also owns the fields, forcefully involved himself in solving the crimes which, for many people involved, only served to heighten the suspicion surrounding him. investigators have flown over the site in helicopters and brought in cadaver dogs to look for bodies. Then finally, in 1993, nine years after Laura's disappearance, an unlikely suspect emerged: Robert Abel, a retired NASA engineer. His name was Robert Abel, and he was so eager to assist the police the day the fourth body was found that he helped them clear brush in the area and let them use fourteen of his horses and his backhoe free of charge. Thats all I want to do., Abel is aware that the police and the FBI have studied every inch of his life. Confessed killer details murder of Texas Killing Fields victim - February 16, 2016; What Are The Texas Killing Fields? By conducting lengthy interviews with many such killers already behind bars, the agents have come up with a list of common denominators seen in the killers childhood, in their behavior as adults, and in the way they carry out their crimes. If I have to, Ill dig up every inch of this property to find some new evidence, Miller told me. Abel led many of the trail rides himself over the property and through his leased land. Why wouldnt I be? he asked me. "Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields" is about the victims and the suspects of the famous killings that happened in Texas, mainly around a stretch of I-45 in the late 80s. Texas Across the River; Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The; Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (2003) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The; Texas Killing Fields; Texas Rangers (2001) Texas - Doc Snyder hlt die Welt in Atem; Thale; Thank You For Smoking; Thank You For Your Service; That Man from Rio (L'homme de Rio) Im not saying Robert was the perfect man, the woman said. Perhaps we were following the very walking path that the killer had once used to inspect his trophies. Abel was a retired NASA engineer, who was linked to the disappearance and deaths of many young women. A few minutes later two dogs began barking at the same spot by a tree. Gomez added that the murderer was in all likelihood preoccupied with the media accounts of the crimes and perhaps had kept newspaper articles about them; he also could possess jewelry or clothing from the dead women to serve as his trophies. Gomez gave Bittner a list of other characteristics about the killer, including superior attitude, multiple sex partners, a history of cruelty to animals, usually described as a troublemaker, and will act out his anger. Bittner was intrigued: Gomez could have been describing Abel. The suspect is Mark Roland Stallings, 34, who worked on the Calder Road property that came to be known as the "killing fields" after the bodies of four young women were found buried on the. In League City some mothers backpedal when they see him in the grocery store. It remains unclear if Abel had taken his own life. Most people whose remains were found in the land were little girls or adult women, all between the ages 12 to 25. The Star Dust Trail Rides business once owned by Abel encircles the Killings Fields. Over the years, various suspects have come and gone. He has been interviewed by detectives from neighboring towns. She became known as Janet Doe until she could be named in 2019 as Donna Gonsoulin Prudhomme, according to Oxygen. But Abel became furious and very defensive. Abel to kill? Netflix is now streaming a three-part docuseries on the murders, titledCrime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields. The building pictured in the back belonged to Robert Abel. The oil field where the four women were found is located next to the property and land that Abel owned in League City. I wanted him to know that I would never forget what he had done, says Miller, who several times a week had been driving out to the site where Lauras body had been found, standing before a wooden cross he had erected there in her memory. In2005, he stopped his golf cart on the railroad tracks and waited for a train to slam into him. Speech, Jim Jordan's Crime Hearing Takes Surprising Turns, China's 'Artificial Sun' Smashes Nuclear Fusion Record, Putin Issues Ominous Warning About How Russian Navy Could be Deployed, Who Is Ralph Yarl? In fact, Bittner is a bright young man who grew up in Ohio, received a degree in criminal justice from Michigan State University, and moved to Texas to be a police officerhardly the stereotype of the tobacco-chewing small-town lawman. Family devastated as mom and unborn baby tragically die after 'unexpected' medical emergency, Was Beckett Rex edited out of 'American Idol' Season 21? document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ Paula also said that she had seen several photos of nude women in his desk drawer at the house, and that Abel not only owned handguns but also carried one with him during the later months of 1991. He grieved until the day he succumbed to cancer. However, there was no evidence linking him to the crime, according to The. LEAGUE CITY -- A Texas prison inmate has confessed to killing as many as six women in Fort Bend and Galveston counties, including some at the infamous site here known as the "killing . 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