Robert Keppel - The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer

PRAISE FOR ROBERT D. KEPPEL AND THE RIVERMAN

[Keppel] knows more about identifying, tracking, and finally arresting and convicting serial killers than anyone else in the field.

Ann Rule, New York Times bestselling author of Heart Full of Lies

[A] page turner. The obvious excitement Bundy felt at the chance to recount his murderous career to Keppel sends chills down the spine. Keppel took Bundys intricate tale of homicidal insanity and turned it into a cogent and useful primer for law enforcement agencies trying to catch serial killers. It will be the standard for such investigations for years to come.

The Detroit News

One of the classic studies of criminology The Silence of the Lambs owes tons to the investigation of the mind and modus operandi of the serial killer conducted by Robert Keppel.

Time Out (U.K.)

Superb on many levels. Not only is Keppel a superlative detective, he is an excellent writer.

Daily Mail (U.K.)

The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as unsold and destroyed. Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this stripped book.

Certain names have been changed to protect the identity of various people involved in the cases covered in this book.

POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Copyright 1995, 2005 by Bob Keppel and William J. Birnes

Foreword copyright 1995 by Ann Rule

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First Pocket Books printing of this revised edition February 2004

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To David, may he never forget his last name

In the twenty years I have worked on serial murder investigations, I have been fortunate to have experienced the dedicated work ethic of the most effective homicide detectives in the world. Alleach in their own wayare special, all passed on their wisdom and encouraged me to write about my experiences. In no particular order, I am forever grateful to:

Detectives Roger Dunn, Kathleen McChesney, Kevin OShaughnessey, Jack Kidd, George Leaf, and Dave Reasor; Major Nick Mackie and Sgt. Bob Schmitz, King County Police; Investigator Mike Fisher, Pitkin County District Attorneys Office; Detective Jerry Thompson and Sergeant Ben Forbes, Salt Lake County Sheriffs Office; for their work in the Ted Bundy cases.

Sheriff Dave Reichert; Detectives Fabian Brooks, Tom Jensen, and Jim Doyon; Sergeants Bob Andrews, Rupe Lettich, and Frank Atchley; Lieutenants Jackson Beard and Daniel Nolan; and Captain Frank Adamson, whose work on the Green River Murders Task Force was unprecedented in murder investigation history. And Jeff Beard, King County Prosecuters office.

Captain Robbie Robertson, Michigan State Police (Michigan Child Murders); Sergeant Frank Salerno, Los Angeles Sheriffs Department (Hillside Strangler and Nightstalker cases); Sergeant Ray Biondi, Sacramento Sheriffs Department (the Gallegos Family and Richard Trenton Chase cases and author of the books All His Fathers Sins and The Vampire Killer); Chief Joe Kozenczak, Des Plaines Police (John Wayne Gacy cases and co-author of the book A Passing Acquaintance); Captain Robbie Hamerick, Georgia State Bureau of Investigation (Atlanta Child Killer cases); Detectives Marv Skeen and Dale Foote, Bellevue Police, and Larry Petersen, King County Police (George Russell murder cases); Detectives Billy Baughman and Duane Homan, Seattle Police (Morris Frampton murder cases); Sergeant Jim Sidebottom, Orange County Sheriffs Office, and Captain Lee Erickson, Oregon State Police (Randy Kraft murder cases), and Detective Bob Gebo, Seattle Police.

The efforts of the members of the FBIs National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime have been significant in the area of serial murder investigation. From VICAP were Terry Green, Ken Hanfland, Jim Howlett, Jim Bell, Eric Witzig, Winn Norman, Mike Cryan, and Greg Cooper. From the Behavioral Sciences Unit were John Douglas, Robert Ressler, Roy Hazelwood, and Bill Hagmaier.

Without the members of the Homicide Investigation and Tracking System (HITS), murder investigation would not be as effective in Washington State. The hard work and dedication of Bob LaMoria, Tamera Matheny, Tom Jones, Sally Coates, Joan Martin, Vicky Woods, Dick Steiner, Bo Bollinger, Frank Tennison, Gary Trent, Ken Hanfland, and Marv Skeen have set the guiding course for homicide investigation, and made my futuristic ideas a reality.

Three prominent authors are worthy of note for their inspiration: Steve Michaud, co-author with Hugh Aynesworth of The Only Living Witness and Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer, has given valuable consultation about his experiences with interviewing Ted Bundy in the months before Bundys execution and has encouraged me on numerous occasions to write this book.

Ann Rule, author of The Stranger Beside Me and true friend of law enforcement, has written numerous articles about my cases for detective magazines early in her career. I am thankful for her skillful technique in describing those investigations and her encouragement for this book.

The consummate homicide detective and author of the textbook Practical Homicide Investigation is Vernon Geberth. Vernon has taken his experiences with the New York City Police Department and converted them into the finest homicide investigation training sessions in the nation. For his devotion to telling it like it is and his motto, We work for God, I am forever grateful.

Thanks to Bob Evans of the King County Police, my first detective sergeant and one of the commanders of the Green River Murders Task Force, I realized that detective work could be fun. He encouraged me to document Teds conversations so other law enforcement officers could learn from my experiences.

A special place in my experiences is saved for Pierce Brooks (retired Captain, Los Angeles Police Department, and founder of VICAP), my mentor and good friend. His dedication to improving homicide investigation goes unmatched, and I will always be indebted to him for his insightful guidance and gracious encouragement.

With the expert assistance of Dr. John Berberich, clinical psychologist, and Dr. John Liebert, forensic psychiatrist, I was able to construct the Bundy interview strategies in such a way as to preserve my own mental well-being.

My course of study on murder solvability factors was made possible by the academic staff at the University of Washington: Ezra Stotland (society and justice), Charles Z. Smith (law), Joseph Weis (criminology), Herb Costner (sociology), Elizabeth Loftus (psychology), Daris Swindler (anthropology), Donald Reay (pathology), and Tom Morton (dentistry), all experts in their field.