Police: Rapist hid killing spree for decades

Associated Press Writer

updated 4:13 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2007

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - In his early 30s, fresh off his release from prison on rape charges, Timothy Krajcir enrolled in college to study psychology and the criminal justice system.

Like other students, Krajcir was seeking self-enlightenment, a detective said. But over the next six years, Krajcir murdered at least six women in two states, covering up his crimes in part by using what he learned at Southern Illinois University, authorities said.

"He said initially he was trying to figure himself out. But he failed, obviously," said James Smith, a Cape Girardeau police detective who helped link Krajcir to five homicides here dating back 30 years.

Krajcir, now 63, confessed to nine murders earlier this month, Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor Morley Swingle said. He pleaded guilty Monday in Illinois to the 1982 murder of classmate Deborah Sheppard and was charged later that day with five counts of murder and three counts of rape in Cape Girardeau.

Prosecutors are building cases in three other homicides Krajcir confessed to, which took place in states other than Missouri and Illinois, Swingle said. Police have released no details about those killings.

Public Defender Patricia Gross represented Krajcir in Sheppard's killing but would not comment Tuesday, according to her assistant. Krajcir doesn't have an attorney in Missouri, according to court filings.

Authorities eluded
Authorities say Krajcir is a rare specimen — smart enough to elude police during his crime spree, and apparently private enough to keep his deeds secret in the ensuing years. He eventually graduated from Southern Illinois with a degree in law enforcement.

"If he was studying criminal justice and law enforcement, he definitely would know what police were looking for and how to avoid detection," Smith said.

For decades, Krajcir sat in an Illinois prison on a rape charge, telling no one about the murders while detectives in different states struggled to close the cases, Smith said.

One important step Krajcir took to cover up his crimes was choosing a city to commit them where he did not live. While Krajcir attended classes just 45 miles northwest of town, detectives focused on local suspects in the killings of the five Cape Girardeau women, said former detective M.C. Hughs.

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