Robert Hansen

Robert Christian Boes Hansen

Early life

Robert Hansen was born in

On December 7, 1960, Hansen was arrested for burning down a Pocahontas County school bus garage, as revenge for his unpopularity in high school.^[1] He served twenty months of a three-year prison sentence in Anamosa State Penitentiary.^[4] During his incarceration, he was diagnosed with manic depression with periodic schizophrenic episodes.^[9] The psychiatrist who made the diagnosis noted that Hansen had an "infantile personality" and was obsessed with getting back at people he felt had wronged him.^[9][10] Hansen's wife filed for divorce while he was incarcerated.

Over the next few years, Hansen was jailed several times for

Hansen is believed to have begun killing around 1972.[4] His modus operandi is believed to have been to stalk a woman to learn her habits, eventually picking her up in his car and forcing her at gunpoint to his home, where he would rape her; he may then have taken the woman to a secluded area and "hunted" her as if she were wild game before shooting or stabbing her.^[3] Some of the women Hansen murdered were exotic dancers or prostitutes, many were teenagers. It is believed by authorities that Hansen's first murder victim was 18-year-old Celia van Zanten. Van Zanten was kidnapped on December 22, 1971, and froze to death in the wilderness after escaping from her abductor; her body was discovered on December 25. The abduction occurred three days after Hansen committed his assault on the prostitute for which he was imprisoned. While there are some similarities between Hansen's modus operandi and Van Zanten's abduction, there is no conclusive evidence linking him to the attack and he himself denied involvement.^[15]

On June 13, 1983, Hansen offered 17-year-old Cindy Paulson $200 to perform oral sex; when she got into the car, he pulled out a gun and drove her to his home in Muldoon. There, he held her captive and proceeded to rape and torture her. She later told police that after Hansen chained her by the neck to a post in his basement, he took a nap on a nearby couch.^[16] When he awoke, he put her in his car and took her to Merrill Field airport, where he told her that he intended to "take her out to his cabin" (a shack in the Knik River area of the Matanuska-Susitna Valley accessible only by boat or bush plane). Paulson, crouched in the back seat of the car with her wrists cuffed in front of her body, saw a chance to escape when Hansen was busy loading the cockpit of his airplane, a Piper PA-18 Super Cub. While Hansen's back was turned, Paulson crawled out of the back seat, opened the driver's side door and ran toward nearby Sixth Avenue.^[17]

Paulson later told police that she had left her blue sneakers on the passenger side floor of the sedan's backseat as evidence that she had been in Hansen's car. Hansen panicked and chased her, but Paulson reached Sixth Avenue and managed to flag down a passing truck. The driver, Robert Yount, alarmed by Paulson's disheveled appearance, stopped and picked her up. He drove her to the Mush Inn, where she jumped out of the truck and ran inside. While she pleaded with the clerk to phone her boyfriend at the Big Timber Motel, Yount continued on to work, where he called the police to report the incident.

When Anchorage Police Department (APD) officers arrived at the Mush Inn, they were told that Paulson had taken a cab to the Big Timber Motel. APD officers arrived there and found Paulson in Room 110, still handcuffed and alone. She was taken to APD headquarters, where she described the perpetrator. Hansen, when questioned by APD officers, denied Paulson's accusation, stating that she was trying to cause trouble for him because he would not pay her extortion demands. This excuse became one Hansen used on other occasions, but although he had several prior run-ins with the law, Hansen's meek demeanor and humble occupation as a baker, along with an alibi from his friend John Henning, persuaded police not to consider him a serious suspect.

Detective Glenn Flothe of the

Flothe contacted Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent John Douglas and requested help with an offender profile based on the three recovered bodies. Douglas thought the killer would be an experienced hunter with low self-esteem, have a history of being rejected by women, and would feel compelled to keep "souvenirs" of his murders, such as a victim's jewelry. He also suggested that the assailant might stutter. Using this profile, Flothe investigated possible suspects until he reached Hansen, who fit the profile and owned a plane.^[19]

Supported by Paulson's testimony and Douglas' profile, Flothe and the APD secured a warrant to search Hansen's plane, vehicles and home. On October 27, 1983, investigators uncovered jewelry belonging to some of the missing women as well as an array of firearms in a corner hideaway of Hansen's attic, which included a .223-caliber Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle. Also found was an aeronautical chart with thirty-seven little "x" marks on it, hidden behind Hansen's headboard. Many of these marks matched sites where bodies had been found previously (others were discovered later at the locations marked on Hansen's murder map).

When confronted with the evidence found in his home, Hansen denied it as long as he could, but he eventually began to blame the women and tried to justify his actions. Eventually confessing to each item of evidence as it was presented to him, he admitted to a spree of attacks against Alaskan women starting in 1971. Hansen's earliest victims were girls or young women, usually between ages 16 and 19 and not prostitutes or exotic dancers, unlike some of the victims who led to his discovery.^[20]

Victims

Hansen is known to have raped and assaulted over thirty Alaskan women and to have murdered at least seventeen, ranging in age from 16 to 41, although based on evidence law enforcement suspect that Hansen killed at least twenty-one female victims.^[21] The following is a list of Hansen's known victims and several other additional women who have been mentioned as possible victims. Of these eighteen women, Hansen was only formally charged with the murders of four: Sherry Morrow, Joanna Messina,

• Celia Beth van Zanten, then 18 years old, was at home with two of her three older brothers on December 22, 1971. The three of them shared a house on Knik Avenue in south
  Anchorage, close to Northern Lights Boulevard, with their older brother and cousin. Her parents resided in a different home in Anchorage. In the late evening, Beth left her house and walked a few blocks to the nearby BI-LO supermarket. The BI-LO closed at 9:00 p.m., and she left at 8:30. Between 8:45 and 9:00 p.m., a witness spotted Beth go to the BI-LO.^[22] At around 9:00 p.m., a neighbor claimed to have spotted her on Northern Lights Boulevard. She never reached the BI-LO. Her disappearance was reported two days later. On December 25, 1971, her body was discovered at Chugach State Park, close to Anchorage. Her chest had been sliced with a knife, and she had been bound and subjected to a sexual assault. She had been dumped, still alive, into a deep ravine before passing away from exposure. According to forensic evidence, she attempted to climb back up the slope but was unable to do so due to her bindings. Hansen has been accused of killing her because of an "x" on his aircraft map but he denied responsibility for both her death and other women's homicides who were not involved in prostitution.^[23]
• Megan Siobhan Emerick, then 17, vanished on July 7, 1973, in Seward, Alaska. She was last spotted leaving a dorm laundry room while attending the boarding school Seward Skill Center. She has not been seen or heard from since. Megan left behind all of her personal items, including her identification.^[24] Before contacting the police, her roommate conducted a three-day search for her. Hansen denied killing her to authorities, but he did admit he was in Seward on the day Megan vanished. Due to an "x" on his aircraft map in the Seward region, he is thought to be responsible. Apparently, Hansen admitted to a former inmate that he transported Megan to a cabin in the Seward region that was only reachable by boat, where he killed and buried her.^[25]
• On July 5, 1975 Mary Kathleen Thill, aged 22, disappeared from
  Trans-Alaska Pipeline and she lived on Lower Point Road. She was driven into town by a friend, who then dropped her off at a local bakery.^[26] Between 1:30 and 2:00 p.m., a different acquaintance saw her by a waterfall on Lowell Point Road. She has not been seen or heard from since. Hansen acknowledged being in Seward on the day Thill vanished but denied killing her. An "x" on his aviation chart in the vicinity of Resurrection Bay increased suspicions about him. Hansen admitted to killing her and discarding her body in Resurrection Bay, according to a former prisoner.^[27]
• The remains of
  prostitute, according to Hansen, who also claimed that she was his first murder victim.^[29] Despite his claim that Eklutna Annie might have come from Kodiak, Alaska, troopers think she might have arrived in Alaska via California. Her body had already been largely consumed by wildlife when it was found in a shallow grave near Eklutna Lake Road.^[30]
• Local
  .22 caliber revolver before shooting her twice and the dog once. He brought Messina's body to a gravel pit nearby and dumped gravel over her body. The dog and Messina's belongings were thrown into the woods, and the gun was thrown into the Snow River
  . On July 8, 1980, her severely decomposed body was found after it had been eviscerated by wildlife.
• On June 28, 1980, Roxane Easland, then 24 years old, vanished.[31] She had been residing at the Budget Motel on Spenard Road in Anchorage, Alaska, with her boyfriend for the previous two weeks. On that day, she was scheduled to meet an unnamed man downtown on 4th Avenue. She has not been seen or heard from since. Although Hansen admitted to killing her, her body was never discovered.^[32]
• At the nightclub she worked at in
  Anchorage, Lisa Futrell met and was subsequently kidnapped by Hansen on September 6, 1980. When the 41-year-old failed to return home following her September 7 shift at the club, her two younger housemates reported her missing. Her body was discovered on May 9, 1984, buried next to a gravel pit south of the former Knik Arm Bridge
  .
• Sherry Morrow, a 23-year-old
  Anchorage
  , on September 12, 1982. Morrow, who was reported missing a year earlier, was identified from the remains. She had received three gunshot wounds to the back, and cartridges discovered close to the body revealed that a .223 Ruger Mini-14 hunting rifle had been used to deliver the shots. An odd feature was that although the body was found fully clothed, there were no bullet holes in the clothing, suggesting that Sherry had been naked when shot, and had been redressed after death before being buried.
• At 11:00 p.m. on December 2, 1981, Andrea Mona "Fish" Altiery, 24, was last seen boarding a taxi to go to the Boniface Mall in Anchorage, Alaska. She intended to meet an unnamed male for a photo shoot and to perform exotic dances. She has not been seen or heard from since. When authorities searched Hansen's house, several of Altiery's possessions, including her fish necklace, were discovered. Hansen claimed that after he met her, he threatened her with a gun and abducted her, blindfolding and handcuffing her. Near the Knik Arm Bridge, they took a car to a service road off Palmer Highway. He unbound her there and abused her sexually. He killed her with a .22 Browning automatic pistol after she retaliated. He then stole Altiery's necklace, weighted a duffel bag with gravel, tied it to the dead woman and threw her off the bridge and into the Knik River. Her body was never found.^[33]
• Sue Luna, a 23-year-old
  exotic dancer, voluntarily agreed to a $300 photo shoot offer with a nightclub patron. On May 26, 1982, she met Hansen in a diner parking lot in Anchorage, Alaska. The following day, Luna was reported missing. Hansen had abducted and killed Luna then buried Luna in the Knik River
  . She was discovered on April 24, 1984. According to Hansen, he had her flee into the forest while “hunting” her like an animal while she was stripped naked. Luna had been shot to death.
• The partial skeletal remains of Robin Pelkey,[34] 19, were found on April 25, 1984, in Palmer, Alaska, close to Horseshoe Lake. It was determined that she had been stabbed and shot. It is unknown if this victim was involved in sex work. In October 2021, forensic genealogy was used to determine her identity, having been known by the moniker "Horseshoe Harriet" before she was identified. Early in the 1980s, Pelkey resided in Anchorage, Alaska, and she vanished on July 19, 1983.^[35]
• DeLynne "Sugar" Renee Frey, a 22-year-old former resident of Anchorage, Alaska, was last seen sometime in March 1983 but was not immediately reported missing. She was abducted and killed by Hansen. She was buried as "Jane Doe" in an Anchorage cemetery after her body was discovered on a Knik River sandbar by a pilot trying out new tires on August 20, 1985. It was not until 1989 that she was identified when an Alaska State Trooper recognised her jewelry in a case file photo.
• Paula Goulding, 30,
  Anchorage when, on April 25, 1983, Hansen offered her money before kidnapping her. He drove her to his aircraft, shackled her, and demanded she exit the aircraft^{[clarification needed]} under threat of being shot. Once they reached a remote spot, she fought with him and attempted to get away, according to Hansen. She fled, and he fired a .223 rifle at her, killing her. On September 2, 1983, she was discovered on the Knik River
  , buried in a shallow grave. She had been wounded in the back, but because her clothing was undamaged, it is possible that she was shot while still naked and then clothed before being buried.
• Cindy Paulson, 17, met Hansen on June 13, 1983, in
  Anchorage. After agreeing to pay for sex, Hansen instead pulled a .357 Magnum on her and kidnapped her. She was taken to his home, bound and sexually assaulted before Hansen took her to the Merrill Field, where his airplane was. Hansen left Paulson alone in his car while he began loading his plane, threatening to kill her if she ran away. She ran away toward Fifth Avenue. There, she was picked up by a passing driver, Robert Yount. Yount took Paulson to a safe location and shortly after, called police. At about the same time, a security guard at the Merrill Field
  noticed some suspicious activity and although he made no contact, he noted the license tag for Hansen's car. Police located and interviewed Paulson about the attack.
• On July 10, 1981, dancer Malai Larsen, aged 28, was reported missing from Anchorage, Alaska. On April 24, 1984, her body was discovered in a parking lot close to the Knik Arm Bridge.
• Dancer Teresa Watson, 22, was last seen in
  Anchorage
  on March 25, 1983. She informed her roommate that she was meeting a man who would give her $300 in exchange for an hour or two of company. At Scenic Lake, Hansen abducted her and killed her. Hansen was unable to bury her since the earth in the region was still frozen. He abandoned her where she had died. She was discovered on May 17, 1984.
• 24-year-old Angela Lynn Feddern was last seen on Fourth Avenue in
  Anchorage sometime in February 1983. She was not reported missing until May. The owner of a nightclub reported that Feddern, one of his dancers, had gone missing. Hansen had kidnapped and murdered her. Feddern's body was found on April 26, 1984, on a small lake near the larger Figure Eight Lake
  .
• 20-year-old Tamera "Tami" Pederson was a dancer at a nightclub in
  Anchorage
  . The last her family heard from her was during a phone call on August 7, 1982, when she claimed to have had been offered money to pose for photographs. She was kidnapped and murdered by Hansen. Her body was not found until Hansen confessed and pointed out its location on a map. On April 29, 1984, the body was recovered 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the Old Knik Bridge .

Imprisonment and death

Once arrested, Hansen was charged with assault, kidnapping, multiple weapons offenses, theft and insurance fraud. The last charge was related to a claim filed with the insurance company over the alleged theft of some trophies; he used the proceeds to purchase his plane. At trial, he claimed he later recovered the trophies in his backyard but forgot to inform the insurer.

Hansen entered into a plea bargain after ballistics tests returned a match between bullets found at the crime scenes and Hansen's rifle. He pleaded guilty to the four homicides the police had evidence for (Morrow, Messina, Goulding, and

Eklutna Annie

) and provided details about his other victims in return for serving his sentence in a federal prison, along with no publicity in the press. Another condition of the plea bargain was his participation in deciphering the markings on his aviation map and locating his victims' bodies. Hansen confirmed the police theory of how the women were abducted, adding that he would sometimes let a potential victim go if she convinced him that she would not report him to police. He indicated that he began killing in the early 1970s.

Hansen showed investigators 17 grave sites in and around Southcentral Alaska, 12 of which were unknown to investigators. There remained marks on his map that he refused to give up, including three in Resurrection Bay, near Seward. Authorities suspect two of these marks are the graves of Mary Thill and Megan Emrick, whom Hansen has denied killing. The remains of 12 of a probable 21 to 37 victims were exhumed by the police and returned to their families.

Hansen was sentenced to 461 years in prison without the possibility of parole. He was first imprisoned at the

natural causes related to lingering health conditions.^[4]

In popular culture

Films

• Naked Fear (2007), about a serial killer who hunts naked abducted women in the remote wilderness of New Mexico, is loosely based on Robert Hansen.
• In The Frozen Ground (2013), John Cusack portrayed Hansen opposite Nicolas Cage as Sergeant Jack Halcombe (a character based on Glenn Flothe) and Vanessa Hudgens as victim-survivor Cindy Paulson.^[37]

Documentaries

• The FBI Files episode "Hunter's Game" (1999) depicts Hansen's murderous rampage.
• Crime Stories featured a full 2007 episode of the case.^{[citation needed}
  ]
• The Alaska: Ice Cold Killers episode "Hunting Humans" (January 25, 2012) on Investigation Discovery^[38] covered the Hansen case.
• Hidden City season 1, episode 12 ("Anchorage: Robert Hansen's Most Dangerous Game, the Legend of Blackjack Sturges, Eskimo Hu"; airdate February 21, 2012) on the Travel Channel covered the Hansen case.^[39]
• Mark of a Killer season 2, episode 6 "Hunted to Death" on Oxygen^[40] covered the Hansen case.
• The Butcher Baker: Mind of a Monster aired on September 2, 2020, on Investigation Discovery.
• Very Scary People season 3 episodes 3 and 4, "The Butcher Baker: Terror In The Wilderness part 1" and "The Butcher Baker: The Girls Who Got Away part 2", on
  Crime and Investigation
  aired June 5, 2022.
• World’s Most Evil Killers series 7, episode 2 on Sky Crime tells Hansen’s story.

TV series

• "Mind Hunters" and "The Woods", two 2005 episodes of the CBS TV series Cold Case, were inspired by Hansen's crimes.
• In
  Criminal Minds, season 5
  , episode 21 ("Exit Wounds"; airdate May 12, 2010), Hansen is referred to by name.
• Hansen's crimes inspired
  Hunting Ground
  "; airdate February 22, 2012), which depicts a serial killer who hunts women like wild game before killing them.
• Kurt Caldwell, known as the Runaway Killer, played by Clancy Brown in Dexter: New Blood was loosely based on Hansen.^[41]
• Two 2014 episodes of Silent Witness, series 17, 5 & 6, "In a Lonely Place" depict a serial killer who abducts rapes and then kills women by hunting them in a remote forest area.

Other

• The case was covered in two parts on September 25, 2021, and October 2, 2021
  Casefile True Crime Podcast
• The case was covered in two parts on February 6, 2019, and February 13, 2019,^[43] by Morbid: A True Crime Podcast
• In 2023, the electronic industrial band SKYND released a song titled, and about, Robert Hansen^[44]

See also

• List of serial killers by number of victims
• List of serial killers in the United States

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Krajicek, David J. (August 30, 2014). "Robert (Bob the Baker) Hansen blamed his tortured adolescence for the rape and murder of dozens of women in Alaska in 1970's". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
2. ^ Iowa State Department of Health, Birth Certificate: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSG4-LSHL-6?cc=2527591
3. ^ ^{a b c} Shedlock, Jerzy (June 27, 2014). "'Butcher Baker' Robert Hansen moved to Anchorage for medical treatment". Alaska Dispatch. Archived from the original on June 27, 2014.
4. ^
   Nash Holdings
   . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
5. ^ Ancestry.com
6. ^ Ancestry.com Iowa, US Births (series) 1880–1904, 1921–1944 and delayed births (series)
7. ^ McLaughlin, Emily; Donnally, Megan; Draper, Carrie; Duncan, Jennifer (December 10, 2020). "Robert Hansen" (PDF). Radford University. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
8. ISBN 978-0-312-92905-3
   .
9. ^
   ISBN 9781578332236
   .
10. ^ ^{a b} Lundberg, Murray (February 11, 2000). "Robert Hansen: A Serial Killer In Alaska". Explore North. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
11. ^ Tidemann, Michael (August 22, 2014). "Estherville-born serial killer dies". Estherville Daily News. Estherville, Iowa: Estherville Publications, Inc. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
12. ^ Serena, Katie (March 9, 2018). "Robert Hansen, the Serial Killer Who Hunted His Victims Like Animals". allthatisinteresting.com. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
13. ^ Hansen v. State. Justia. August 11, 1978. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
14. ^ "Slayer in Alaska was Jailed in Other Cases, Judge Notes". The New York Times. February 29, 1984. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
15. ^ Hale, Leland (December 7, 2017). "Did Alaskan Serial Killer Robert Hansen Kill Beth van Zanten?". the-line-up.com. The Lineup. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
16. ^ DuClos, p. 38
17. ^ DuClos, p. 40
18. ^ DuClos, p. 241
19. ^ DuClos, p. 230
20. ^ Andrews, Laurel; Hopkins, Kyle (August 22, 2014). "Serial killer Hansen dies; "World is better without him", trooper says". Anchorage Daily News.
21. ^ Lohr, David. "Hunting Humans". crimelibrary.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
22. ^ "Unsolved Murder: Did Alaskan Serial Killer Robert Hansen Kill Beth van Zanten?". December 7, 2017.
23. ^ "The Lonesome Death of Beth van Zanten: Disappearance". July 31, 2018.
24. ^ "The Charley Project: Megan Siobhan Emerick".
25. ^ "346DFAK - Megan Siobhan Emerick".
26. ^ "The Charley Project: Mary Kathleen Thill".
27. ^ "4259DFAK - Mary Kathleen Thill".
28. ^ "NamUs UP # 10217". namus.gov. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
29. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
    .
30. ^ "Anchorage Alaska Jane Doe July 1980". canyouidentifyme.org. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
31. ^ "3612DFAK - Roxane Easland".
32. ^ "The Charley Project: Roxane Easland".
33. ^ "The Charley Project: Andrea Mona Altiery".
34. ^ "Colorado Woman Robin Pelkey Identified As Alaska Serial Killer's Victim". CBS Broadcasting Inc. October 25, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
35. ^ "DNA Match IDs Alaska Serial Killer's Victim After 37 Years". The Los Angeles Times. October 22, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
36. ISBN 978-1-852-86484-2
    .
37. ^ Staskiewics, Keith (August 5, 2011). "Serial Killer on the Big Screen". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
38. ^ "Alaska: Ice Cold Killers episode 'Hunting Humans'". IMDb. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
39. ^ "Anchorage: Robert Hansen's Most Dangerous Game, the Legend of Blackjack Sturges, Eskimo Hu". TVGuide. February 21, 2012.
40. ^ "The Mark of a Killer (2019– ) Hunted to Death". IMDb. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
41. ^ Reynolds, Scott (December 7, 2021). "Runaway". Dexter: New Blood Wrap-Up Podcast (Podcast). No. 11. Showtime. Event occurs at 28:51. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
42. ^ "Case 190: The Butcher Baker (Part 1)". Casefile: True Crime Podcast. September 25, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
43. ^ "Episode 43: Robert Hansen Part 1". Sticher:Morbid:A True Crime Podcast. June 22, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2019.,
44. ^ "SKYND have released a new single about "one of the most evil serial killers in American history"". Kerrang!. August 7, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2023.

Further reading

• Du Clos, Bernard (1993). Fair Game. St. Martin's Paperbacks.
  ISBN 978-0-312-92905-3
  .
• Gilmour, Walter; Hale, Leland E. (1991). Butcher, Baker: A True Account of a Serial Murder. Onyx Book.
  ISBN 978-0-451-40276-9
  .
• Martin, Reagan (July 9, 2013). Hunted on Ice: The Search for Alaskan Serial Killer Robert Hansen. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. pp. 116 pages.
  ISBN 978-1490959061
  .

External links

• "Serial Killer Series: Article 7: Robert Hansen". Gather.com. August 7, 2007. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012.
• Lundburg, Murry. "Robert Hansen: A Serial Killer in Alaska". ExploreNorth.
• Doogan, Sean (March 19, 2014). "Municipality has buyer for beleaguered Big Timber Motel". Alaska Dispatch. Archived from the original on May 7, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2014.