Daytona Beach serial killer set to strike again?

Clint Van Zandt • Profile • E-mail

Since Christmas 2005 an unknown serial killer has murdered three women in the Daytona Beach, Florida, area.  The media and the police speculate that he may kill again this month, noting that he killed in December, January, and February.  He may, unfortunately, feel the need to meet this terrible expectation.  The believed interval between the three known murders is 19 and 41 days, or an average of just over three weeks between homicides.  If this is any kind of pattern for the killer, he could be expected to strike again as soon as this week.

The three known victims are local women, who worked along Ridgewood Avenue. They may have abused drugs and worked as prostitutes or otherwise raised their victim profiles to put them at high risk.

The body of Laquetta Gunther, age 45, was discovered December 26, 2005, in a narrow alley between two buildings off Beach Street. Found in a fetal position, partially clothed, she had been shot in the head. Julie Green, 34, was found January 14, 2006, lying facedown in a ditch at a construction site off LPGA Boulevard.  Investigators have not revealed whether Green, like Gunther, was partially clothed. She had been shot. And, on the afternoon of February 24, shortly after 1 p.m., police were tipped by a man, calling from a pay phone, as to the whereabouts of the body of Iwana Patton.  Patton, 35, was found on a dirt road just off Williamson Boulevard. She, too, had been shot. Having identified the mystery caller who led investigators to the body, police no longer consider him a suspect.

Many questions arise about the unknown serial killer who has murdered these three women. But most vacationers and students arriving here for spring break, seeking the beautiful sand and sun of Daytona’s beaches, have no idea that this murderer may be out looking for his next victim. Will the killer strike again, and if so, will he seek his next victim from the ranks of crack addicts and streetwalkers? Or will he look for a new type of victim? Because at least two of his three known victims abused drugs and were prostitutes, other women with similar backgrounds would be an obvious choice for this killer. But, will he continue to seek victims living and functioning on the edge of society? They are easy victims for him. Or will he change his MO to frustrate police efforts to identify him?  These are just a few of the questions that profilers and investigators are racing to answer, before another woman is killed by this cold, faceless, relentless killer.

Many prostitutes choose to work on the street rather than as call girls. Some say this gives them the opportunity to meet and otherwise consider their “client” before they go off on a “date.” Others choose to work on the street because they can set their own hours or simply because they are so addicted to drugs or so sick that they cannot find employment with an escort service. One report theorizes that over 1,000,000 American women (and, we know, men and children, as well) have worked as prostitutes. While streetwalkers are believed to represent only 20% of the “working” prostitutes in this country, 70% report that they have been physically and sexually assaulted, some reporting such assaults on a weekly basis. At least 50,000 prostitutes are believed to be HIV positive, with some cities reporting that over half of all prostitutes test positive for HIV.

The person who murdered the three known victims is likely male, and probably older vs. younger. All three victims are believed to have met their killer on or near Ridgewood Avenue, a thoroughfare well known to local prostitutes and the “johns” that drive along the avenue looking for a date. The killer is acting out rage and anger, but he can control or otherwise hide his rage, at least until he gets control of his victim. He has shot all three women to death, at least two of whom were killed with an execution-like head shot. The killer's choice of weapons, probably a handgun, suggests that he needs such a threatening weapon to gain and maintain control of his female victims. He is probably not someone known to get into fistfights with men. These murders have gotten a lot of local media coverage and the killer likely feels empowered by this level of attention. As the media and the police speculate that he may kill again this month -- noting that he killed in December, January, and February -- he may, unfortunately, feel the need to meet this terrible expectation. 

We know that the bodies of the three known victims were found in the same part of town. Evidently the killer made no significant attempt to conceal the bodies.  This suggests that he simply wanted to separate himself from his victims, with no well thought-out or previously identified body disposal site that he could use to make identification of the victims more difficult for the authorities. As all three victims were shot, it would appear that the killer felt safe in discharging a firearm, perhaps multiple times, into the victims without being seen or heard. This further suggests that he could have killed the victims in a location different from where their bodies were found.

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