robert ben rhoades

October 20, 2022. ", "That sure sounds like Bob. You didn't do it.". "Well," said Lee, sitting back after I finished, "you're probably right. My mother was happy to pay for school. 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. 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, since he traveled so much. 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. There was no safe way for me to get it. He was not wearing flannel. What is known about him in the 1980s is murky. People Also Viewed . Jailed for kidnapping and assault, Rhoades had his house and truck combed over by investigators, who made some gruesome discoveries. As a 15-year-old, the author left home and became a hitchhiker, hopping from semi to semi on the interstate. Investigation Discoverys 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. 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. The driver reached the cab, swung up behind the wheel, and said we should get going. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. The trucker bought us chicken-fried steak, chatted amiably, and let us nap in the cab while he drove. He would then keep them alive, torturing and sexually assaulting them for weeks at a time before murdering them and disposing of their bodies. 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. She was the only person who asked me this, and of course I did. Once out on the road, though, he changed. Lisa Pennal's full statement, it turned out, had been destroyed for file space. He'd never heard the phrase. Rhoades had been arrested in early 1990 for a similar kidnapping in Houston, in which he kept an 18-year-old girl in the cab of his truck for two weeks, shaving her pubic hair . I remember a fuel island in the blue morning light and a driver with a white shirt that stood out like a flag, and taking the turn back east, then south, and a gray day just before a storm so pressurized my ears hurt. A few minutes later, I got up like nothing had happened. On the phone, agent Robert F. Lee was civil and to the point but not overtly warm. Just a few months after she left Robert, he was taken into custody for a kidnapping. She hid there until she was sure she heard his truck leave. 76 Year Old Criminal #4. she said. What put him away for life, though, was the rape and murder of Regina Walters, a 14-year-old girl from Pasadena, Texas. However, shortly after they accepted a ride from Rhoades, the middle-aged trucker shot Zyskowski and dumped the 28-year-old's corpse near a Texas highway. When I got to the part about the sudden switch in his behavior, she got excited. In his early life, Rhoades got into trouble from a young age, he was arrested for . The only thing they neglected to take down is a website with the words Martinsburg TravelCenter of America flashing like a beacon online. Six weeks later, though, we parted ways. Sure, serial killers ~killed~ people, but what did they actually do? You called and left a message a day or so after I dropped you off, saying I was going to read about a dead 17-year-old hitchhiker they found in a truck stop and that it wasn't you.". The time had come to do it anyway. Of the 200 people on a suspect list, almost all of them were long-haul truckers. She also claimed that Rhoades was bringing men into their home to act as her sex slaves. The more I learned about Rhoades, the more I saw parallels between us. To her shock and horror, she realized Rhoades had converted the cab of his truck into a mobile torture chamber, equipped with chains, shackles, and handcuffs to help him restrain his victims. Over time, I learned safer ways of getting rides by having truckers navigate the CB radio for me. She looks happy. Rhoades is thought to have killed Zyskowski while the young man slept. Candace however was not so lucky. She'd been picked up in a truck stop, shackled into the back of the cab, tortured and raped for weeks. The victim, Lisa Pennal, told Miller that Rhoades had picked her up at a coffee shop in Buckeye, Arizona. The body was found in 1990, but not identified until 1992. Despite the initial deception, Debra wanted to give the relationship a shot and continued to date him. Several months before Walters and Jones climbed aboard Rhoades' big rig,Patricia Walsh and Douglas Zyskowski had the misfortune of crossing paths with the killer. She was on a trip with her husband, Bob, the last she ever took in his truck. One game in the book is called "Courtroom." Like Regina, I also had a little journal and probably wrote something in it that night, because it was far too cold to sleep. Thank you very much in advance. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. He pulled the truck into a wooded area, took out a hunting knife, and told the girl to get into the bed of his truck. 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. His clothes were gray or blue, but that may have been the light. The arrest set off a chain of events that led to Robert being convicted for three murders and suspected of many more. Adhering to my rule (that the only safe truck was a moving truck) meant I woke when a truck took an exit. The picture was given to Young by Regina's mom. She looks like any other skinny kid just out of middle school. 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. It doesn't matter what he says. While he was in the Marine Corps, he committed a robbery and was dishonorably discharged in 1968. Now the whole Martinsburg truck stop had been swallowed by a Walmart Supercenter. I lived in that gap. If you didn't, I had no memory of them at all. Robert Ben Rhoades. On my way out, I destroyed every single picture of me over the age of 12 so that there would be nothing to give to the police. It's actually from a Halloween party in Houston where he went as a "slave," led on a chain by his wife, who was dressed as a dominatrix. As I saw it, it didn't matter if I left, because in so many ways I was already gone. Rhoades, dressed for a Halloween party, was an active member of the S&M scene in Houston. Rhoades. There was talk of me going to live with my dad in Virginia, where I had traditionally spent my summers. Among the photographs recovered from Rhoades' home while he was jailed was several of Walters. Debra Davis and Rhoades met in the early '80s at a Houston bar called Chipkikkers. Murder Victim. He was given two life sentences inTexas without the possibility of parole. She had been strangled at Breezewood. The outlet reports that Rhoades had filled the rest of the sleeper of the cab with various pieces of "BDSM equipment and pain-implementation devices." There was that one girl. Whatever the man thought he had broken in her had already been broken and healed back stronger. 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. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. And they're right. 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. Everything I expected from Bob Lee changed in that moment. He was involved in the BDSM and swinger scene in his hometown of Houston. When he was caught, he said that he had been "doing this" for fifteen years, which would put the onset of his murders back into the 1970s. Debra said she looked about 18 or 19 and desperate. By then, though, I had been kicked out of two schools for absences and was cutting myself regularly. Robert remained a free man and continued to attack and kill more victims. Sadly, while the remains of both Zyskowski and Walsh were discovered shortly after they were murdered, it took years for both of them to be identified and returned to their families. While not all fifty cases have been tied to Rhoades yet and Rhoades himself has admitted to only three murders, the FBI has strong reason to believe that at his peak he was killing one to three women a month. As a true sexual sadist, Rhoades would have been interested in a level of submission requiring no chains. Robert Ben Rhoades at one of his swingers clubs in Houston TX 1985. Robert Benjamin Rhoades (born November 22, 1945), also known as The Truck Stop Killer, is an American serial killer and rapist. On Monday, Rhoades pleaded guilty and was charged with two counts of capital murder in Sutton County, Tex. 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 is also worth mentioning that Debra has spoken at domestic violence conferences over the years and shared her story. Rhoades avtjnar ett livstidsstraff p Menard Correctional Center i Chester i Illinois . In the summer of 1985, somewhere near Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, the body of a young woman was pulled from a truck-stop Dumpster. Rhoades was from Texas. Ricky Lee Jones body has never been found. "Her body was found months later so she was probably kept alive for a while," Smith said. We have many Unlike those of other young women on the road, my story was now recognizable. Rickys remains were never located. One of Rhoades's signatures was shaving the head and pubic hair of his female victims. Mark Young said Rhoades likes to feel like an expert and that I should ask him to "educate" me, so while writing my letter I used permissive language, saying I wanted him "to teach me what I did right and what I did wrong" when I was traveling. Douglas remains were identified in 1992. I woke when it slowed for traffic. Rhoades' attorneys did not respond to requests for comment from ABCNews.com. Girls no one would miss. You were not under his control. Another prostitute had been grabbed there as well, in 2006, but was found farther down the road with her throat slit. Rhoades is currently serving life sentences in Illinois for three murders. After she was rescued from Robert Ben Rhoades's vehicle, the woman told law enforcement that she had met the middle-aged husband and father at a truck stop, and he had agreed to give her a ride to her destination. The trucker went to pay for gas, and my boyfriend and I went to use the bathroom. The FBI theorized Robert had killed at least three women per month. Just a few months after she left Robert, he was taken into custody for a kidnapping. braums salad dressing nutrition, in the footsteps of crazy horse lesson plans, Ways of getting rides robert ben rhoades having truckers navigate the CB radio for me Courtroom. grabbed as... Is currently serving life sentences in Illinois for three murders as a true sexual sadist Rhoades. Well, '' said Lee, sitting back after I finished, `` you 're probably right one in... And said we should get going the possibility of parole trouble from a age! Truck leave an exit certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data I went pay... Domestic violence conferences over the years and shared her story told Miller that Rhoades was men. People, but that may have been the light for a kidnapping later... 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