Honolulu Strangler
Encyclopedia
The Honolulu Strangler also known as the Serial Killer was Hawaii
’s first known serial killer
and responsible for the death of five women in Honolulu in 1985 and 1986. He was never caught.
in Waikīkī
on May 29, 1985 but failed to meet her friends. She was last seen by the taxi driver who drove her to the Shorebird Hotel at 12:00 am, apparently to retrieve her car, found in the hotel parking lot. The next morning her body was found in an embankment at Keehi Lagoon, wearing her yellow jumpsuit. Her hands were bound behind her back, and she had been raped and strangled. Her husband told police he suspected her death to be associated with her job, working at a pornographic film rental shop
, where two women were killed a year earlier.
.
for a telephone company
who commuted by bus and was active in her Christian church. She did not show up to work on January 30, and was found dead in Moanalua stream
by three young fishermen on February 1. Her decomposing body was clothed in a blue dress, wrapped in a blue tarp
, and with her hands bound. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Prompted by a third body, a serial killer taskforce was established on February 5.
to meet her extended family because of the death of her mother. Medeiros took a red-eye flight
back to Oahu on March 26 and told her family she would get home by bus from the airport. She disembarked the airplane and disappeared. Her decomposing body was found April 2 near Waikele stream by road workers
. She was wearing her blouse but her lower body was unclothed, and her hands were bound behind her back. Police set up sting operations using policewomen around Keehi Lagoon and the Honolulu International Airport
.
-H1
viaduct. Her roommate reported her missing April 30. A Caucasian man, 43, told police a psychic
told him a body was at Sand Island
. On May 3, the informant took police to an exact location, but was wrong. Police searched the island and found Pesce’s body. She was nude, her hands bound behind her back.
had established a 27-person serial killer taskforce on February 5 with help from the FBI
and the Green River
taskforce. The killer’s profile was of an opportunist who attacked women who were vulnerable, such as at bus stops, not one that stalks his victims. He also likely lives or works in the area of the attacks, Waipahu or Sand Island.
Police set up roadblocks at the time of the Pesce murder to question frequent commuters. Witnesses came forward saying they had seen a light colored van and a Caucasian or mixed-race
man with Pesce’s car.
Following the discovery of Pesce’s body police arrested the informant on May 9 as the primary suspect. The suspect’s ex-wife and girlfriend described him as a smooth talker. They also provided a potentially incriminating fetish
clue, as both recalled engaging in bondage
activity, allowing him to tie them up and have sex with their hands bound behind their back. His girlfriend related that on nights after they had fought, he would leave the house, and that these were the same nights as the murders. The suspect lived in Ewa Beach and worked as a mechanic at one of the air freight along Lagoon Drive. Between 8:00p.m. and 3:00a.m. the suspect was interrogated, failed a polygraph test and eventually released.
Police followed the suspect and a $25,000 reward for information was put out by private businesses. Two months after the arrest of the suspect a woman came forward and claimed she saw Pesce with a man on the night of her murder. She successfully picked the suspect out of a photo lineup as the man. She did not want to be a witness because she believed he saw her as well.
No further murders of that type were committed, the reward went unclaimed, the suspects moved to the mainland, and the case went cold.
In 2005 the suspect died in California or Tennessee.
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
’s first known serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
and responsible for the death of five women in Honolulu in 1985 and 1986. He was never caught.
Vicki Gail Purdy
The first victim was Vicki Gail Purdy, 25, a military spouse of Gary Purdy, an army helicopter pilot. She had left to go clubbingNightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
in Waikīkī
Waikiki
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the island of Oahu, in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach is the shoreline fronting Waikīkī....
on May 29, 1985 but failed to meet her friends. She was last seen by the taxi driver who drove her to the Shorebird Hotel at 12:00 am, apparently to retrieve her car, found in the hotel parking lot. The next morning her body was found in an embankment at Keehi Lagoon, wearing her yellow jumpsuit. Her hands were bound behind her back, and she had been raped and strangled. Her husband told police he suspected her death to be associated with her job, working at a pornographic film rental shop
Rental shop
A rental shop, also known as a video library, is a business that allows a consumer to temporarily obtain a reusable good or product for a specified period of time in exchange for payment, a process known as renting...
, where two women were killed a year earlier.
Regina Sakamoto
The second victim was Regina Sakamoto, 17, of Leilehua High School. She had missed her bus from Waipahu to school on January 14, 1986 and was last heard from by her boyfriend at 7:15 am when she called to tell him she would be late. On January 15 her body was found at Keehi Lagoon wearing her blue tank top and white sweatshirt but her lower body was unclothed. Her hands bound behind her back, she had been raped and strangled. This second case lead police to suspect the same killer as the first because of the same modus operandiModus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
.
Denise Hughes
The third victim was Denise Hughes, 21, a secretarySecretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
for a telephone company
Telephone company
A telephone company is a service provider of telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies...
who commuted by bus and was active in her Christian church. She did not show up to work on January 30, and was found dead in Moanalua stream
Moanalua
Moanalua is a valley, a stream, an ahupuaa, and a residential neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. The valley extends inland from behind Āliapaakai crater to the crest of the Koʻolau Range....
by three young fishermen on February 1. Her decomposing body was clothed in a blue dress, wrapped in a blue tarp
Tarpaulin
A tarpaulin, colloquially tarp, is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with urethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp may be known as a...
, and with her hands bound. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Prompted by a third body, a serial killer taskforce was established on February 5.
Louise Medeiros
The fourth victim was Louise Medeiros, 25. She lived in Waipahu but had gone to KauaiKauai
Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...
to meet her extended family because of the death of her mother. Medeiros took a red-eye flight
Red-eye flight
A red-eye flight is any flight departing late at night and arriving early the next morning. The term red-eye derives from the fatigue symptom of having red eyes, which can be caused or aggravated by late-night travel....
back to Oahu on March 26 and told her family she would get home by bus from the airport. She disembarked the airplane and disappeared. Her decomposing body was found April 2 near Waikele stream by road workers
Roadworks
Roadworks occur when part of the road, or in rare cases, the entire road, has to be occupied for work relating to the road, most often in the case of road surface repairs...
. She was wearing her blouse but her lower body was unclothed, and her hands were bound behind her back. Police set up sting operations using policewomen around Keehi Lagoon and the Honolulu International Airport
Honolulu International Airport
Honolulu International Airport is the principal aviation gateway of the City & County of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii and is identified as one of the busiest airports in the United States, with traffic now exceeding 21 million passengers a year and rising.It is located in the Honolulu...
.
Linda Pesce
The fifth and last known victim of the Honolulu Strangler was Linda Pesce, 36. According to her roommate she left home on April 29 for work that evening. At 7:00 pm, 30 minutes later, her car was parked on the side of the NimitzHawaii Route 92
Route 92 is a major east–west highway on the island of Oahu which begins at exit 15 off Interstate H-1 in Honolulu and ends east of the Ala Wai Canal crossing in Waikiki. The western portion, west of Richards Street, is also known as the Nimitz Highway...
-H1
Interstate H-1
Interstate H-1 is the busiest Interstate Highway in Hawaii, United States, located on the island of O‘ahu. Despite the number, this is an east–west highway—the 'H'-series numbering reflects the order in which routes were funded and built. H-1 goes from Route 93 in Kapolei to Route 72 in...
viaduct. Her roommate reported her missing April 30. A Caucasian man, 43, told police a psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
told him a body was at Sand Island
Sand Island (Hawaii)
Sand Island, formerly known as Quarantine Island, is a small island within the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. The island lies at the entrance to Honolulu Harbor.-History:...
. On May 3, the informant took police to an exact location, but was wrong. Police searched the island and found Pesce’s body. She was nude, her hands bound behind her back.
Investigation
The Honolulu Police DepartmentHonolulu Police Department
The Honolulu Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawai'i, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu CDP....
had established a 27-person serial killer taskforce on February 5 with help from the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and the Green River
Gary Ridgway
Gary Leon Ridgway is an American serial killer known as the Green River Killer. He murdered numerous women in Washington during the 1980s and 1990s, earning his nickname when the first five victims were found in the Green River. He strangled them, usually with his arm but sometimes using ligatures...
taskforce. The killer’s profile was of an opportunist who attacked women who were vulnerable, such as at bus stops, not one that stalks his victims. He also likely lives or works in the area of the attacks, Waipahu or Sand Island.
Police set up roadblocks at the time of the Pesce murder to question frequent commuters. Witnesses came forward saying they had seen a light colored van and a Caucasian or mixed-race
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
man with Pesce’s car.
Following the discovery of Pesce’s body police arrested the informant on May 9 as the primary suspect. The suspect’s ex-wife and girlfriend described him as a smooth talker. They also provided a potentially incriminating fetish
Sexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
clue, as both recalled engaging in bondage
Bondage (sexual)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...
activity, allowing him to tie them up and have sex with their hands bound behind their back. His girlfriend related that on nights after they had fought, he would leave the house, and that these were the same nights as the murders. The suspect lived in Ewa Beach and worked as a mechanic at one of the air freight along Lagoon Drive. Between 8:00p.m. and 3:00a.m. the suspect was interrogated, failed a polygraph test and eventually released.
Police followed the suspect and a $25,000 reward for information was put out by private businesses. Two months after the arrest of the suspect a woman came forward and claimed she saw Pesce with a man on the night of her murder. She successfully picked the suspect out of a photo lineup as the man. She did not want to be a witness because she believed he saw her as well.
No further murders of that type were committed, the reward went unclaimed, the suspects moved to the mainland, and the case went cold.
In 2005 the suspect died in California or Tennessee.