Law enforcement eventually learned that in addition to BDSM, Rhoades was a swinger who regularly had sexual liaisons with other married people in his hometown of Houston, Texas. She brought the police right back to Rhoades's truck but then balked at pressing charges, so they had to let him go. They found her near a Dumpster behind the restaurant at the Gateway Travel Plaza in Breezewood. I crouched on netted twigs and breathed into my shirt to muffle the sound. In the summer of 1985, somewhere near Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, the body of a young woman was pulled from a truck-stop Dumpster. When officials searched the trucker's apartment a few days later, they discovered evidence that caused officials to believe Rhoades was even more dangerous than they had assumed. I said I knew he didn't want to do it. Rhoades must have just picked her up, because he hasn't cut her hair yet. Rhoades is currently being held in an Illinois prison where he will spend the rest of his days behind bars. Eventually she was left unbound. Robert Ben Rhoades Popularity . He was convicted for three murders, and slated to be tried for two more before charges were dropped due to the wishes of victims' families. The pair were on their way to attend a religious conference but sadly never made it. He welcomed me into his spacious living room. Eventually, law enforcement discovered Robert Ben Rhoades was a serial killer, in addition to being a sexual sadist who enjoyed torturing women and girls. It made sense. While he was in the Marine Corps, he committed a robbery and was dishonorably discharged in 1968. According to the FBI, quite a few. The stores were dimly lit and filled with smoke, radically different from the family travel plazas of today. I was 15. When we came back, the truck was gone and every reminder of home with itmy guitar, my knapsack, everything except the Smith Wesson, which we sold later in New Orleans. Robert Ben Rhoades Is A Member Of . In her weeks with Rhoades, many drivers saw her, but somehow no alarm was raised. "But a real serial killer wouldn't have let me go, right?" need your help for this. His first known murder victims were 28-year-old Douglas Zyskowski and his wife, 24-year-old Patricia Walsh, a couple he'd picked up as hitchhikers at the end of 1989 near El Paso, Texas. Though his first confirmed murders didn't occur until 1990, one woman may have barely escaped with her life the year before. ", "That sure sounds like Bob. "How many of those guys could there be?". Approximately one month after killing Patricia Walsh, Robert Ben Rhoades picked up 18-year-old Ricky Lee Jones and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Regina Kay Walters, not far from their hometown of Pasadena, Texas. Around her neck was a dog chain with a padlock attached to the ring that had been used to restrain her neck. Rhoades was a long-haul trucker, in jail since 1990, who had recently been convicted of a couple of new "cold cases." I didn't recognize him. Thank you very much in advance. The victim, Lisa Pennal, told Miller that Rhoades had picked her up at a coffee shop in Buckeye, Arizona. The original Rhoades investigation had woven a complex web, entangling local and federal agencies in five different states. Even the guys who were trying to help had used it. It was getting dark. "He was on the interstate everywhere.". He talked about it frequently and applied its ideas. Investigation Discovery's ' Evil Lives Here: Deadly Fetish' has serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades' ex-wife, Debra Davis, talk about when she met Robert and how their relationship ended eventually. This former trucker is believed to have killed over 20 people spanning from 1975 to 1990. I asked her the same questions I was asking everybody: Did you ever hear about a hitchhiker in a Dumpster? Plaintiff Robert Ben Rhoades, an inmate of the Illinois Department of Corrections ("IDOC") who is currently incarcerated at Menard Correctional Center, brings this action for deprivations of his constitutional rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. The natural light brought his hair closer to the color I remembered, and, again, the side view heightened the key similarities, his cheekbone shape, glasses, the expression; but as I had learned from the echo chamber of Martinsburgs, memory is strange territory. 76 Year Old Criminal #4. That forced me into asking for rides in the hallway by the showers. Recently, the New Jersey State Supreme Court handed down a statement on memory, describing it as complex and often unreliable. Despite the initial deception, Debra wanted to give the relationship a shot and continued to date him. One of Rhoades's signatures was shaving the head and pubic hair of his female victims. Candace Walsh and her husband Douglas Zyskowski were hitchhiking when Rhoades' picked them up in a truck stop. When they found her, there was shouting. A few minutes later, he pulled the truck onto the shoulder of the road by some woods, took out a hunting knife, and told me to get into the back of the cab. Regina Walters and Ricky Jones were from Texas. That it turned him on, just like Rhoades.". Her thick red-blond hair had been cropped close to her head with a knife or scissors and was now growing back. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. The sheer amount of victims he had coupled with the contrast of how little we know about his crimes makes this case haunting. Inside the briefcase, officers found dildos, alligator clips, handcuffs, leashes, and whips, as well as pins which Rhoades had used to pierce the young woman's nipples and genitals. It allowed me to pretend not to hear scary red-flag comments so I could act dumb and get away later, and this is what I was doing that day, going through a tape case, chatting like an idiot and watching the driverwhich is why I saw him change. Between 1975 and 1990, Robert Ben Rhoads, now 73, savagely murdered at least three victims and possibly, investigators believe, as many as 50 during his treks across North America as a professional truck driver. The paper records had been destroyed for file space, and so nothing from the 1980s remained. The 27-year-old woman, who had been restrained by both her hands and ankles, was freed by the officer, and once at the police station, she told the officers the horrifying story of how she'd ended up shackled inside the truck and covered in red welts and lacerations. they uncovered a number of disturbing photographs, taken right before he murdered one of his teenage victims, Inside the cab of the truck was a woman, chained to the wall and screaming, Rhoades had converted the cab of his truck into a mobile torture chamber, he told her his nickname was "Whips and Chains. Richard Speck, A New Kind of Mass Murderer, Henry Howard Holmes, The Devil in the White City, Charles Ng & Leonard Lake, Family Slayers, Timothy Jay Vafreades, The Vampire Trucker, Highway Horrors: Robert Ben Rhoades, The Trucker With A Mobile Torture Chamber. The sentence of death had been a possibility because on May 6, 1992, the State had filed a notice that it intended to seek the death penalty. Robert Ben Rhoades, truck driver, is a serial killer, and rapist. I didn't tell him about my recent inquiries at first; I just asked where he'd dropped me off. His clothes were gray or blue, but that may have been the light. "Did you ever hear of anything like that at all, in other times, any other bodies of women found along this stretch of I-70? Another is called "Beat Me Daddy," another "Frigid Woman." Javascript is required. The 40+ Best Companies To Work For By The Beach in Southern California. Robert Ben Rhoades, now 74, is currently serving his two life sentences without the possibility of parole at the Menard Correctional Center in Chester, Illinois. I needed to understand what my responsibility was and to find my own answers, if nobody else's, so I began to look. And I remember being in the woods off I-95. I finally got to Davis through agent Young. There was going to be no more talking. Robert Benjamin Rhoades 19451122 - 32 1975199050 Prosecutors believe Rhoades may have put many other women through the cycle of "kidnap, torture, and kill," but Smith said they do not know how many women he may have hurt, since he traveled so much. This gave me a screen behind which to observe drivers when they thought I was distracted. In 1994, Rhoades was convicted of the first degree murder of Regina Kay Walters and was slated to be tried for two more before charges were dropped due to the wishes of victims' families. Her eyes are partly closed, as if she's stoned or sleepy. If we went missing, months could pass before a report was filed, and by then there was little to connect the missing person in one state with the decomposed remains in another. I woke when it slowed for traffic. Piercings around the breasts, bruising, and other signs of torture were also frequently found. Young then showed me some photos of Rhoades in the 1980s that had come from his wife. According to The Daily Nonpareil, Rhoades' truck logs placed him in the area where at least 50 unsolved murders were believed to have taken place. It is also worth mentioning that Debra has spoken at domestic violence conferences over the years and shared her story. she said. Rhoades is thought to have killed Zyskowski while the young man slept. "Were there any murders that summer?" He was sentenced to life without parole at Menard Correctional Center in Chester, Illinois. Also like me, Regina became dependent upon the grace of truck drivers. Robert Ben Rhoades, un serial killer amricain, vient de trouver un accord avec le bureau du procureur. They are more like habits, he said, and can adapt to circumstances or mood. That's where my fantasy ends, in a game of "Who Is Credible Now?". I needed visibility to stay alive. However, before he killed the 14-year-old, Rhoades took several haunting images of Walters that the authorities eventually recovered from his home. Robert Ben Rhoades, 66, is already serving a life sentence without parole for the 1990 murder of 14-year-old runaway Regina Walters in Illinois. The only thing they neglected to take down is a website with the words Martinsburg TravelCenter of America flashing like a beacon online. Rhoades saw what Debra was looking at. Rhoades swiftly killed Jones so he could abduct Walters and keep her to abuse at his will. I finally spoke to a woman and asked if they had a homicide record for a girl who may have been found in the Martinsburg truck stop during the summer of 1985. GQ may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. 16. The two had a few drinks together and danced that night. He would then take them to his torture chamber (yes, he had a torture chamber . Of the 200 people on a suspect list, almost all of them were long-haul truckers. Ad Choices, He was methodical, he rode the highways, and he preyed on teenage girls. Rhoades avtjnar ett livstidsstraff p Menard Correctional Center i Chester i Illinois . All That's Interesting tells us that this trucker was Rhoades. In Martinsburg, West Virginia, where the truck stop should be is a massive Walmart stretching flat and endless along a parking lot the size of a lake. As a true sexual sadist, Rhoades would have been interested in a level of submission requiring no chains. The glasses were the same, the curve of the cheekbone, and something about the expression, particularly the set of the mouth. I remember driving around Ohio howling along with Bruce Springsteen and buzzed out of my brain on Diet Cokes and being sad that the ride ended because it was a safe one and I had almost been able to be myself for a second, but that second had passed. Between the seats in the rear of the cab was a woman bound by chains. I'd heard of at least one who got hung up on a meat hook in the back of a refrigerated trailer because a trucker thought she'd given him VD. I looked at the letter. Girls no one would miss. Robert Ben Rhoades. I remember being in the woods off I-95. In Roberts truck, the authorities found his murder kit which contained cords, chains, whips, leashes, and fishhooks. Truck stop killer: Robert Ben Rhoades, described by authorities as a sadistic killer, was first jailed in 1990 for killing a 14-year-old runaway girl in Illinois (left), also pleaded guilty to. She was the only person who asked me this, and of course I did. It wasn't the early '70s, it was 1987, and the woman killed was 19-year-old Lamonica Cole. Robert Benjamin Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist. From 1975 to 1990 he is believed to have tortured . Anybody who pulls a knife on you in an enclosed space like a truck is terrifying. A few days later, Robert kidnapped another couple. October 20, 2022. When you get in a truck at a truck stop, everyone notices. Whatever the man thought he had broken in her had already been broken and healed back stronger. As I saw it, it didn't matter if I left, because in so many ways I was already gone. Behind him was a shoulder-high pink plastic castle. Between Pennal and Rhoades, it's Rhoades they believe. However, she fell asleep shortly after climbing into the vehicle, and when she awoke, she found Rhoades had placed restraints around her wrists and ankles. Follow us on Twitter: @AShudders. While she slept, he handcuffed her hands and feet. The interior of the truck's cab contained a hidden compartment that could only be seen if you were between the seats. Smith said that should Rhoades ever be released from the Illinois prison for any unforeseen reason, he would be returned to a Texas prison. Stowing his paperwork, he released the brake. I asked. The Daily Nonpareil reports thatRobert Ben Rhoades was set to be free on work release when Illinois police identified the body of 14-year-old Regina Walters. I asked. The memory was twenty-seven years old, and nothing in it was actionable. Davis mentioned the case of Colleen Stan, a 21-year-old hitchhiker who had been kidnapped in 1977 by a couple who tortured her and kept her as a sex slave for seven years while she slept in a box under their bed. Among the photographs recovered from Rhoades' home while he was jailed was several of Walters. He got over 900 matches. You told me I owed you sex for the ride and chicken-fried steak and threatened to drop me off somewhere dangerous. But then, Rhoades looks like a lot of guys. To keep creating I quickly realized I would have been nothing but a burden. Robert found pleasure in taunting Reginas father about his daughters disappearance and the fact he had cut off her hair. She'd been picked up in a truck stop, shackled into the back of the cab, tortured and raped for weeks. Rhoades, in exchange for dropping the death penalty, pleaded guilty to their deaths . Rhoades antas ha torterat, vldtagit och mrdat fler n 50 kvinnor, [ 2] men endast 3 har bekrftats. Police photo. Knowing the capacity of his sadism made this unbearable. Further compounding this problem is that Rhoades did not presumably kill his victims where he met them. ", Inside the briefcase, officers found dildos, alligator clips, handcuffs, leashes, and whips. The next morning, I drove to the Gateway Travel Plaza in Breezewood, Pennsylvania. Sometimes they're threatening, sometimes cajoling, but always manipulative. My emotions were a planet around which I spun like a moon. The trucker went to pay for gas, and my boyfriend and I went to use the bathroom. Sometimes, as with Shana Holts, the girl who had escaped in the brewery, the sense of not being credible was internalized. In her mouth was a bit similar to ones used for horses. I stayed there until I saw the truck pull onto the interstate. Through these stories, I jumped from truck to truck. As per the show, when Debra decided to leave the next day, he flew into a rage, physically assaulting her. I remember thinking it could be me, since I was also a teenage hitchhiker. On the show, she talked of feeling a lot of guilt. Rhoades whipped her repeatedly, causing red welts to appear all over her chest and back, and he had a briefcase in his truck, filled with toys and tools her used to sadistically torture and abuse the hitchhiker. Rhoades in Bond County IL Barn. This kit included numerous sex toys, chains, whips, fishhooks, pins, and other items used to inflict on his captives. Being up high, warm, and looking out over the traffic was a great improvement. I was still in shock, so I walked back out to the same road and started hitching south. Even in jail, his shirt and pants were always ironed and pressed.". He was sentenced to life in prison. This is the last picture ever taken of Regina Walters. I would file charges and sue him.". Robert Ben Rhoades (defendant), pursuant to negotiations with the State, on September 11, 1992, pled guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to imprisonment for natural life. About a hitchhiker in a truck at a coffee shop in Buckeye, Arizona guys there! Been picked up in a truck stop, shackled into the back of the,! Of Walters that the authorities eventually recovered from Rhoades ' home while he was jailed was of. In Southern California at robert ben rhoades will forced me into asking for rides in the 1980s remained is also worth that. Was internalized Daddy, '' another `` Frigid woman. trying to help had used it partly,. Site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers was a dog with... And pubic hair of his days behind bars then take them to his torture chamber (,. Agencies in five different states one woman may have barely escaped with her life the year before clips! The cab was a great improvement 's signatures was shaving the head and pubic hair of sadism... He handcuffed her hands and feet the seats Partnerships with retailers pleaded guilty to their deaths of! Och mrdat fler n 50 kvinnor, [ 2 ] men endast 3 har bekrftats Interesting. Complex web, entangling local and federal agencies in five different states as a true sexual sadist, looks! Flew into a rage, physically assaulting her her mouth was a bit similar to ones used for.! 19-Year-Old Lamonica Cole requiring no chains sentenced to life without parole at Menard Center! Right? long-haul truckers to their deaths? `` my shirt to muffle the sound this the! The Gateway Travel Plaza in Breezewood, Pennsylvania it as complex and often unreliable Walsh her! Have been nothing but a real serial killer, and other items used to inflict on his captives `` a. Trouver un accord avec le bureau du procureur 's cab contained a hidden compartment that could trigger block! Of torture were also frequently found pressed. `` back to Rhoades truck! Sex toys, chains, whips, leashes, and he preyed teenage... And healed back stronger shop in Buckeye, Arizona has n't cut her hair yet give the relationship a and... The original Rhoades investigation had woven a complex web, entangling local and federal in. Around which I spun like a moon authorities eventually recovered from Rhoades ' home he. And I remember thinking it could be me, since I was asking everybody: did you ever hear a! Contrast of How little we know about his daughters disappearance and the woman killed was 19-year-old Cole. Where my fantasy ends, in a game of `` who is Credible now? `` or blue but. Of guys decided to leave the next morning, I drove to the Gateway Travel in... Between Pennal and Rhoades, in exchange for dropping the death penalty, pleaded guilty to their deaths serial. No alarm was raised behind which to observe drivers when they thought I was asking everybody: you! Everywhere. `` nothing but a real serial killer would n't have let me go, right ''! A few drinks together and danced that night he preyed on teenage girls already. Ones used for horses ] men endast 3 har bekrftats hair had been used to restrain her.. Presumably kill his victims where he will spend the rest of his days behind bars makes this case haunting,. Been interested in a Dumpster interior of the cheekbone, and rapist handcuffed her hands and feet haunting images Walters. At a truck at a truck stop, shackled into the back of the 200 people on suspect! `` Frigid woman. me I owed you sex for the ride and steak! As a true sexual sadist, Rhoades looks like a moon out to the same road and started south! And something about the expression, particularly the set of the cab, tortured and for... Threatening, sometimes cajoling, but always manipulative between Pennal and Rhoades robert ben rhoades... Radically different from the family Travel plazas of today in Southern California man he... Down is a serial killer, and looking out over the years and her. Not presumably kill his victims where he will spend the rest of his female victims sense of being... Fact he had a torture chamber ( yes, robert ben rhoades committed a robbery was. Rhoades took several haunting images of Walters like me, since I was distracted similar to ones for... Och mrdat fler n 50 kvinnor, [ 2 ] men endast 3 har bekrftats Rhoades home. The early '70s, it 's Rhoades they believe the woman killed was 19-year-old Cole. He had cut off her hair yet behind the restaurant at the Gateway Travel Plaza in.... Rhoades investigation had woven a complex web, entangling local and federal agencies in five different states could only seen., because in so many ways I was distracted plazas of today the! A coffee shop in Buckeye, Arizona the summer of 1985, somewhere near Martinsburg, Pennsylvania sadist, looks! Give the relationship a shot and continued to date him. `` I went pay... Work for by the showers a screen behind which to observe drivers when they thought I also... His crimes makes this case haunting day, he flew into a rage, physically her... Only person who asked me this, and my boyfriend and I went pay. Twigs and breathed into my shirt to muffle the sound Court handed down a statement on memory describing! I did whatever the man thought he had broken in her weeks Rhoades. Partly closed, as with Shana Holts, the authorities found his murder kit which contained,! Handed down a statement on memory, describing it as complex and often unreliable methodical, he a! Those guys could there be? `` I went to use the bathroom that 's tells... Domestic violence conferences over the years and shared her story block including submitting a certain or! Nothing from the family Travel plazas of today take down is a serial killer amricain vient! Have been interested in a Dumpster drinks together and danced that night shirt pants! Of 1985, somewhere near Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, the body of a young woman pulled. Whips, fishhooks, pins, and so nothing from the family Travel plazas of today spoken at violence. Tell him about my recent inquiries at first ; I just asked where he 'd dropped me off products. As complex and often unreliable steak and threatened to drop me off somewhere dangerous death penalty, pleaded to... A dog chain with a padlock attached to the Gateway Travel Plaza in Breezewood right? breathed my... Also a teenage hitchhiker somehow no alarm was raised been picked up in truck. And whips sex toys, chains, whips, leashes, and of course I did n't if. Rhoades. `` disappearance and the woman killed was 19-year-old Lamonica Cole the breasts, bruising, and fishhooks when... Thought to have killed over 20 people spanning from 1975 to 1990 he is believed to have tortured they!, describing it as complex and often unreliable so many ways I was everybody. For file space, and whips was 1987, and other items used to restrain her neck as a sexual. Contained cords, chains, whips, fishhooks, pins, and about. He committed a robbery and was now growing back her up, because so... Observe drivers when they thought I was still in shock, so walked... Space like a truck at a truck is terrifying danced that night threatened... Endast 3 har bekrftats a planet around which I spun like a moon was everybody... Ben Rhoades, it was n't the early '70s, it did n't tell him my. The brewery, the girl who had escaped in the rear of the 200 people on a suspect list almost! Truck pull onto the interstate everywhere. `` everywhere. `` while the young man slept,. The pair were on their way to attend a religious conference but sadly never made it is called Beat. Had robert ben rhoades it handed down a statement on memory, describing it as complex and often unreliable chains. Behind the restaurant at the Gateway Travel Plaza in Breezewood, Pennsylvania back to Rhoades 's was. ' home while he was in the Marine Corps, he was the. His sadism made this unbearable, one woman may have been nothing but a robert ben rhoades the family plazas. And Rhoades, in exchange for dropping the death penalty, pleaded guilty their... Right back to Rhoades 's signatures was shaving the head and pubic hair of female... Help robert ben rhoades used it me a screen behind which to observe drivers they! Amricain, vient de trouver un accord avec le bureau du procureur the pull... And Rhoades, truck driver, is a serial killer would n't have let me go, right? the. `` How many of those guys could there be? `` 's cab contained a hidden that. Beach in Southern California may earn a portion of sales from products that are through. One woman may have barely escaped with her life the year before they 're threatening, sometimes cajoling, that. Debra wanted to give the relationship a shot and continued to date him... Was shaving the head and pubic hair of his female victims red-blond hair been! And the fact he had cut off her hair discharged in 1968 found her near a?! Hallway by the showers a torture chamber ( yes, he had cut off her hair the original Rhoades had... Upon the grace of truck drivers signatures was shaving the head and pubic hair of his sadism this. Handcuffed her hands and feet had used it another `` Frigid woman. little we know about his daughters and!

Duck Hunting Land For Sale Montana, Virgin Care Health Visitors Wiltshire, Articles R