Fort Bragg Army 1SG William Wright Murdered Wife Jennifer While Home on Leave from Deployment in Afghanistan; Died by Suicide in Jail While Awaiting Trial (June 29, 2002)

Forbidden: Dying for Love featured the Jennifer and William Wright 2002 homicide-suicide case on Investigation Discovery. ‘Onward, Christian Soldier’ highlighted the circumstances that lead to the murder of Jennifer Wright and the pain it inflicted on those who were left behind including their three sons. According to the show, William Wright was a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina with his wife and three children. MSgt Wright was routinely deployed after 9/11/2001 and as a result he was never home. Bill’s absence was hard on Jennifer and the marriage. She wanted Bill to leave the Army but the Army was his life; it’s what he was meant to do. While Bill was deployed in Afghanistan, he learned that Jennifer was telling people back home that he divorced her.

Bill was stunned to learn the news and was granted leave to go back stateside and deal with his family crisis. Bill learned Jennifer was having an affair with the pastor at church and she wanted a divorce. Instead of salvaging his marriage, Bill murdered Jennifer in the family home on June 29, 2002 and covered it up. When investigators questioned Bill about Jennifer’s murder, he broke down and told them everything. Bill admitted he hit his wife with a baseball bat and then strangled her to death. He then put her body in a garbage bag and buried her in some woods near Fort Bragg. In 2003, William Wright was in prison awaiting trial when he died by suicide in his jail cell. Jennifer and William’s sons expressed concern that the Army’s anti-malaria drugs negatively impacted their father’s health and was most likely the reason this tragedy occurred.

This domestic violence related homicide was one of five murders that occurred in a six week period at Fort Bragg in 2002. Rigoberto Nieves fatally shot his wife Teresa on June 11, 2002; Cedric Griffin fatally stabbed his wife Marilyn on July 9, 2002; Brandon Floyd fatally shot his wife Andrea on July 19, 2002; and military spouse Joan Shannon manipulated her daughter Elizabeth to shoot her step-father Major David Shannon on July 23, 2002 while he slept.

Source: ‘Onward, Christian Soldier’ Forbidden: Dying for Love

ID Go: While her husband serves in the army, a lonely married mother of three finds comfort in the arms of her church’s charismatic new minister. But danger looms in the form of a jealous love-rival that will stop at nothing to scare her away. -Onward, Christian Soldier, Forbidden: Dying for Love (S4,E4)

Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.

Related Links:
Fort Bragg Soldier Admits To Wife’s Murder
Wives’ slayings shock Army at Fort Bragg
Soldiers kill wives after serving in Afghanistan
Murders shake US military
A Base Rocked by Violence
A War at Home | People
Blood on the Home Front | Time
Death in the Ranks at Fort Bragg
4 Wives Slain in 6 Weeks at Ft. Bragg
Fort Bragg’s Deadly Summer | Vanity Fair (December 2002)
Rash of Wife Killings at Ft. Bragg Leaves the Base Wondering Why
Suicide In Fort Bragg Jail (March 24, 2003)
Special Forces Soldier Hangs Himself
Third Bragg soldier took malaria drug
Special Forces soldier charged in wife’s slaying hangs himself
What to Watch on Saturday: A Fayetteville murder on ID, new movies from Hallmark and Lifetime
Onward, Christian Soldier | Forbidden: Dying for Love | Investigation Discovery (S4,E4)
Onward, Christian Soldier | Forbidden: Dying for Love | Investigation Discovery (website)
Onward, Christian Soldier | Forbidden: Dying for Love | Investigation Discovery (Amazon)
Violent Crime, Non Combat Death and Suicide at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (US Army)
Death on the Home Front (2009)

Army Spouse Teresa Nieves Found Fatally Shot in North Carolina Home by Fort Bragg SFC Rigoberto Nieves in Murder-Suicide (June 11, 2002)

Take a stand against domestic violence

Two days after returning home from Afghanistan, Fort Bragg Army SFC Rigoberto Nieves shot and killed his wife Teresa Nieves after an argument on June 11, 2002 in their Fayetteville, North Carolina home; SFC Nieves then turned his .40-caliber service revolver on himself. This domestic violence related homicide was one of five murders that occurred in a six week period at Fort Bragg in 2002. William Wright admitted to murdering his wife Jennifer on June 29, 2002; Cedric Griffin murdered his wife Marilyn on July 9, 2002; Brandon Floyd murdered his wife Andrea on July 19, 2002; and military spouse Joan Shannon manipulated her daughter Elizabeth to shoot her step-father Major David Shannon on July 23, 2002 while he slept.

Related Links:
Obituary: Teresa M. Hernandez Nieves (June 11, 2002)
Obituary: SFC Rigoberto B. Nieves (June 11, 2002)
Wives’ slayings shock Army at Fort Bragg
Series of Slayings Shakes Fort Bragg
Murders shake US military
A Base Rocked by Violence
A War at Home | People
Blood on the Home Front | Time
Death in the Ranks at Fort Bragg
4 Wives Slain in 6 Weeks at Ft. Bragg
Fort Bragg’s Deadly Summer | Vanity Fair (December 2002)
Spate of domestic killings hits U.S. military base
US army stunned by spate of murders at special forces’ base
Rash of Wife Killings at Ft. Bragg Leaves the Base Wondering Why
How GI Heroes Turned Homes into Killing Fields
After Combat Overseas, Many War Veterans Killing Others At Home, Then Themselves
Spouse slayings, suicides raise alarm at Fort Bragg
4 slain wives had tried to leave
4 Army wives who were slain sought divorce
Soldiers kill wives after serving in Afghanistan
Army fights domestic violence in soldiers’ homes at Fort Bragg
Army Wifes’ Slayings Spurs Review
Army re-evaluating counseling program after four wives killed
Army Behavior Experts to Probe Fort Bragg Killings
Army base to take a look at its counseling program
Third Bragg soldier took malaria drug
Deaths highlight military problem
War Torn | Part 1 | The New York Times (January 12, 2008)
Death on the Home Front (2009)
A Decade after Murder-Suicides, D-Day for “the Agent Orange of our Generation”
Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage (Book)
30 Domestic Abuse Cases in the Military That Ended in the Murder of Female Partners (2017)
Violent Crime, Non Combat Death and Suicide at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (US Army)

Fort Drum Army Pfc. Gary Kalinofski Died of a Non-Hostile Gunshot Wound at Camp Magrath While on a Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo (March 4, 2002)

US Army Seal

Army Pfc. Gary S. Kalinofski, 21, died of a gunshot wound at Camp Magrath near Pristina, Kosovo on March 4, 2002. The military casualty announcement confirmed the gunshot wound was not a result of engagement with hostile forces. Pfc. Kalinofski’s home of record was listed as Fayetteville, North Carolina. Pfc. Kalinofski served in Kosovo since November 2001 in a peacekeeping mission role on behalf of A Company, Task Force 1-32nd Infantry Regiment at Fort Drum, New York. According to the book Army Wives by Tanya Biank, the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) ruled that Pfc. Gary Kalinofski died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Gary was survived by his parents; his dad also served in the Army and was in Kosovo at the time Gary took his own life. The Army Wives author shared that Gary’s parents were interviewed by Army CID but they didn’t have any insight or knowledge to help Army CID understand why Gary chose to die by suicide.

Editor’s Note: There was no Department of Defense press release for the announcement of the death of Army casualty Pfc. Gary S. Kalinofski in Kosovo.

Related Links:
U.S. Soldier Shot In Kosovo
U.S. peacekeeper diesfrom gunshot wound
U.S. Peacekeeper Dies in Kosovo
U.S. soldier dies of wounds in Kosovo
KFOR unveils memorial to those who died serving as Kosovo peacekeepers

Die for Me: The Terrifying True Story of the Charles Ng & Leonard Lake Torture Murders by Don Lasseter | Book Review (May 1, 2000)

Read “Die for Me” by Don Lasseter while camping this past weekend.

Description: “They killed for thrills… It began with a shoplifting arrest. it led to a search of a remote California hamlet called Wilseyville that yielded six bodies, 45 pounds of burned bone fragments, and a child’s liver. Then, horror-struck investigators made the most chilling discovery of all: the videotape that showed what Charles Ng and Leonard Lake did to their handcuffed female victims before snuffing them out. Here is the the terrifying story of one of the most notorious serial killer teams in American history – a pair of maniacs whose orgy of sex crimes, torture, and murder took the lives of at least sixteen victims. From Charles Ng’s strange Hong Kong childhood to his twisted friendship with co-conspirator Leonard Lake, DIE FOR ME is the graphic portrait of two monsters who walked among us – Lake, who took his own life, and Ng, who will die by lethal injection.”

Here’s my thoughts:

This book was a tough read because both of these guys were manipulative. They lured their victims after gaining their trust. It was nauseating but an educational read. California spent millions of taxpayer dollars prosecuting one of them because the military made a fatal mistake.

Get your copy here…

Die for Me: The Terrifying True Story of the Charles Ng & Leonard Lake Torture Murders https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786011076/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Ka6vFbV8QWWJ9

Marine Corps Veteran Charles Ng Sentenced to Death for Role in Murdering 11 Californians with Fellow Veteran Leonard Lake; Lake Died By Suicide at Arrest (June 30, 1999): https://wp.me/p3XTUi-63f

These serial killers were featured on Pandora’s Box: Unleashing Evil “Dungeon of Dread” (S1,E1) on Investigation Discovery: https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/tv-shows/pandoras-box-unleashing-evil/full-episodes/dungeon-of-dread

Related Links:
On This Day in History: A Killing Spree by Dual Killers Leonard Lake & Charles Ng is Put to an End in California (June 2, 1985)
Marine Corps Veteran Charles Ng Sentenced to Death for Role in Murdering 11 Californians with Fellow Veteran Leonard Lake; Lake Died By Suicide at Arrest (June 30, 1999)
Dungeon of Dread | Pandora’s Box: Unleashing Evil | Investigation Discovery (YouTube)
Dungeon of Dread | Pandora’s Box: Unleashing Evil | Investigation Discovery (website)
Dungeon of Dread | Pandora’s Box: Unleashing Evil | Investigation Discovery (Amazon)
Die For Me: The Terrifying Story of Charles Ng/Leonard Lake Torture Murders by Don Lasseter

US Navy Tailhook Scandal (1991)

US Navy

The Tailhook scandal was a series of incidents where more than 100 U.S. Navy and United States Marine Corps aviation officers were alleged to have sexually assaulted 83 women and 7 men, or otherwise engaged in “improper and indecent” conduct at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada.[1] The events took place at the 35th Annual Tailhook Association Symposium from September 8 to 12, 1991. –Wikipedia

1992
Tailhook: Scandal Time
Navy Secretary orders disciplinary action in Tailhook scandal
70 to Run the Navy’s Gauntlet for Involvement in Tailhook Scandal
Sexual-Harassment Scandal Rocks US Navy Into Reform
Tailhook finally permeates presidential consciousness
Two Navy Admirals Removed in Tailhook Scandal
Navy Secretary Orders Anti-Sexual Abuse Training — Action Follows Tailhook Scandal, New Incident At California Base
Witch Hunt In the Navy
Running a Gauntlet of Sexual Abuse: Sexual Harassment of Female Naval Personnel in the United States Navy (Californian Western Law)
Sexual scandal has US Navy chiefs all at sea: Revelations of misconduct have forced the entire military to examine how women are treated, says David Usborne in Washington

1993
The Gauntlet
Up To 150 In Tailhook Scandal Face Penalties An Investigator Is Expected To Present His Findings Friday. An Official Said It “Won’t Be A Pretty Picture.”
What Really Happened at Tailhook Convention : Scandal: The Pentagon report graphically describes how fraternity-style hi-jinks turned into hall of horrors.
Navy Vice Admiral Addresses Issue Of Tailhook Scandal
Navy Secretary Seeks Top Admiral’s Resignation in the Tailhook Scandal
Another flier cleared of assault in Navy’s Tailhook sex scandal
Three Navy admirals punished in Tailhook scandal

1994
Light Punishment For Admiral’s Son
Tailhook Plaintiff Wins Suit

1995
She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal
Review: ‘She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal’

1996
Tailhook Storm Still Is Raging: Denied Promotion, A Pilot Sued The Navy
Admiral, in Suicide Note, Apologized to ‘My Sailors’
Letter revealed Boorda wanted to avoid shame
The Murder of Admiral Jeremy Boorda
Navy Petty Officer Elise Makdessi Double Crossed & Murdered by Husband Eddie who Came Up with a Better Plan Yielding him $700,000 in Life Insurance
Navy Petty Officer Quincy Brown Murdered by Military Spouse Motivated to Kill by Wife’s $700,000 Life Insurance Policy
`Frontline’ Leaves Tailhook Questions Unanswered
Hilton lawyer argues for overturn of Tailhook award

1998
Navy boots male, female sailors for group sexual incident

2000
Navy Probes Alleged ‘Tailhook 2’ Groping

2001
Tailhook: The Dream and the Reality

2002
New York Times Insults Memory of Retired Naval Officer Killed in September 11th Terrorist Attack
New Information Undermines Lawsuit Intended to Silence CMR

2003
Retired admiral’s reputation healed after ’93 scandal
A Tale of Two Paula’s

2008
McCain Picks Tailhook Sexual Harassment Scandal Vet To Oversee Transition

2009
Lt. Comm. Alberta Jones, US Navy
Lt. Comm. Alberta Jones discusses the coverup of her sexual harassment case

2010
Navy Man Claims Aviator Call Signs Get Too Personal
Retired Navy Officer Robert Klosterman Shot his Wife Rebecca Because She ‘Ruined’ his Military Career, Then He Shot Himself

2011
Navy is reliving the ‘Tailhook’ scandal
Navy women see slow-but-steady rise in ranks
Lewd Videos Cost Navy Capt. His Command
Navy officer at center of racy-videos case to be relieved of command
Salty Dogs No More: Navy Cans Officers for Personal Failings
Where are the now? (Paula Coughlin)

2012
Military’s tough stance on sex abuse hailed
‘Tailhook’ cleaned up, but top Marine sees more work to stop sex assaults
Sexual Assaults Plague Military After Decades of Reform
Jacksonville resident in historic ‘Tailhook’ military scandal keeps pressure on sex assault issue
Lackland fallout: Rape victim turned whistleblower calls for congressional hearings
Tailhook Whistleblower Demands Congress Investigate Lackland Sexual Assaults
Tailhook whistle-blower calls for Lackland sex scandal hearing
Tailhook whistle-blower wants congressional hearing on Lackland

2013
The Feminist Assault on the Military
Revisiting the Military’s Tailhook Scandal
Retro Report: The Legacy of Tailhook
Legacy of the Tailhook Scandal | The New York Times
Senior US navy officers under investigation as bribery scandal widens
Navy scandal spans globe, climbs ranks
Adm. Frank Kelso, 79, tied to Tailhook scandal
Frank Kelso, 79, former top admiral who was mired in Tailhook scandal
Revisiting the Tailhook Sexual Assault Scandal

2014
Accused Navy pilot Gregory McWherter resigns as Tailhook Association president
Blue Angels’ former commander under investigation quits Tailhook post
Navy Times: Blue Angels report calls out fighter pilot culture
Tailhook victim criticizes ‘ludicrous’ sentence in Tuesday’s Nellis court-martial

2015
Sexism Snarks Assembly of Female Navy Aviators
The man who seduced the 7th fleet: Fat Leonard’s trail of corruption
Tailhook Scandal

2016
Guest column: Tailhook started huge changes
She’s Got Grit: A Conversation with Pioneer Navigator Linda Maloney
The 10 Most Shocking Military Scandals

Books:
Inside the Tailhook Scandal: A Naval Aviator’s Story
The Mother of All Hooks: The Story of the U. S. Navy’s Tailhook Scandal
Fall From Glory: The Men Who Sank the U.S. Navy
Tailhook ’91 and the US Navy (Duke University)

Victims:
Victim 7: Lieutenant (0-3) United States Navy/Female
Victim 9: Civilian/Female
Victim 11: Civilian/Female
Victim 19: Lieutenant (0-3)United States Navy Reserve/Female
Victim 37: Civilian/Female
Victim 38: Civilian/Female
Victim 50: Lieutenant (0-3) United States Navy/Female (Paula Coughlin)
Tailhook Male Victims


Military sexual assault is not a new phenomenon. A second look at the Tailhook scandal in 1991 reveals what happened then. And what it all means now. -NY Times

On This Day in History: A Killing Spree by Dual Killers Leonard Lake & Charles Ng is Put to an End in California (June 2, 1985)

Screen Shot 2017-07-10 at 9.17.23 PM
Charles Ng and Leonard Lake

Leonard Lake is arrested near San Francisco, California, ending one of the rare cases of serial killers working together. Lake and Charles Ng were responsible for a series of particularly brutal crimes against young women in California and the Pacific Northwest during the mid-1980s. Read more from On This Day in History here.

Oxygen premiered It Takes a Killer ‘Partners in Evil” and this episode highlighted the sadistic crimes committed by Marine veterans Charles Ng and Leonard Lake. In the early 1980s, the San Francisco bay area was under siege as more than twelve people vanished without a trace. Police would eventually learn that Ng and Lake were responsible for murdering them and so much more. What police uncovered during their investigation would prove invaluable in the prosecutor’s decision to pursue the death penalty. Charles Ng and Leonard Lake were psychopaths. 

In December 1982, Army veteran Donald Lake, 32, was living with his mother in San Francisco, California. At their surprise, his brother Leonard Lake stopped by on a road trip up north and asked Donald to tag along. Donald was described as a very nice, gentle man but Leonard treated Donald terribly when they were growing up and even referred to him as a leech in conversations with his ex-wife Claralyn Balazs. Donald is never seen again and his mother Gloria is concerned so she reports him missing. Leonard Lake is nowhere to be found but he resurfaced on New Years Day in 1983 to rent a room in a house in Golden Gate Park.

Four months later, Lake moved in with his buddy from his green beret days, Charles Gunnar of Morgan Hill. They had a lot in common as they both valued survival skills and the weaponry world. On May 22, 1983, Lake invited Gunnar to go on a road trip to Vegas or Tahoe for some much needed rest and relaxation after his divorce. Charles Gunnar decided to go in an effort to cope with his tough times; he left his two daughter’s with a babysitter. A couple days later, Charles Lake returned alone in Gunnar’s van and told the babysitter that Charles ran off with a woman. Charles Gunnar was never seen again.

On July 11, 1984, Donald Giulietti, 36, a radio personality from San Francisco, California was spending time in his apartment expecting a visitor. Donald was an openly gay man who lived with a man named Richard Carrazza. Giulietti placed a personal ad in a low key newspaper offering to give oral sex to straight men. That night a stranger knocked on the door and Giulietti assumed it was someone taking him up on his offer. As soon as Donald opens door, the man whips out pistol and shoots him in the head at close range. Carrazza runs from the back room into the study and finds Giulietti on the floor. Carrazza is immediately shot in the chest and left for dead. The shooter fled and Carrazza survived the attack. Richard Carazza called 911 and when the police questioned him, he was able to give a description of the shooter.

Richard Carrazza described being shot by a small Chinese man wearing prescription glasses. Police searched for an Asian suspect but came up empty. What no one knows is that the killer was already searching the classifieds for his next victim. On July 24, 1984 in San Francisco, California, Harvey Dubs, 29, was home with his wife Deborah, 33, and their 16 month old son Sean. Harvey worked for a printing company but on the side, he videotaped special events and rented out his equipment. There was an individual who responded to the ad and came to his home. The family was never seen again. The following morning, a neighbor went to check on them and found keys in the door and dirty dishes in the sink but no sign of the Dubs family.

When the police did house to house canvassing and questioned the neighbors, they reported seeing a small Asian man leaving the property. The suspect was seen carrying a large duffel bag and a large flight bag both stuffed full and he tossed the bags into the trunk of a car that was waiting. The Asian man gets into the front passenger seat of the car with the burly man with a beard and they speed away. Some witnesses in the neighborhood get a good description of the Asian man. No one could give a good description of the bearded man but an eye witness was able to draw a description of the Asian man.

In San Francisco, California on October 31, 1984, entrepreneur Paul Cosner, 39, was selling his 1980 Honda Prelude which he had recently advertised in the local newspaper. A burly bearded man took the car for a test drive and a couple days later called Paul to tell him that he would like to purchase the Honda from him. On November 2, 1984, Paul drove the car to meet the potential buyer and he was never seen again. When Cosner’s sister Sharon didn’t hear from him for 24 hours, she filed a missing person’s reports and a missing vehicle report. Sharon was relentless and maintained heavy pressure on the police but they really had no clues or suspects at this point.

In San Francisco on January 18, 1985, Cliff Peranteau, 24, was at a local bar tossing back a few drinks with a co-worker. Cliff worked at a moving company and he shared with friends that he was going to work on Saturday. Cliff never showed up for the job but apparently was seen partying on Sunday after a 49er’s super bowl victory. He’s last seen by a bartender after winning a $400 bet. The bartender said he appeared to be going off to celebrate with an Asian friend. He was never seen again.

Investigators would learn that Peranteau’s Asian friend was his colleague Charles Ng who had been at the moving company for about four months. Charles was described as an odd character that Cliff Peranteau normally tried to avoid. Charles Ng wasn’t well-liked at the moving company because he had poor boundaries and said inappropriate things to others. Two weeks after Cliff’s disappearance, his boss received a short typed letter apparently from Cliff informing him that he had a new job. The writer also requested that Cliff’s last check be sent to an address in northeastern California near Wilseyville. The note wasn’t that far fetched until another moving company employee, Jeff Gerald, 25, went missing on February 23, 1985. Jeff got an offer to work with Charles Ng on a small moving job on the side. Jeff went to do the job and this was the last time he was seen.

In San Francisco on April 12, 1985, Kathleen Allen, 18, and her boyfriend Michael Carroll, 23, were spending time in a motel room where they were temporarily living. At 10 pm at night, Michael tells Kathleen that he has to do something and would be back in the morning. Michael never returned. A few days later Kathleen received a horrifying phone call at work. The caller told her that her boyfriend Michael may have been involved in a shooting. She immediately told her boss that she had to leave. She was last seen meeting a bearded man in the parking lot of the Safeway where she worked. Kathleen got into the car and was never seen again.

In April 1985, four more people vanished without a trace. Robert Scott Stapley, 26, lived in San Francisco but frequently took road trips to Wilseyville, California to spend time with friends. Scott Stapley stayed with Lonnie Bond and his live-in girlfriend Brenda O’Connor, and their 18 month old son. Lonnie and Brenda loved living in their cabin in the foothills of the Sierra-Nevada mountains. The only thing they don’t like was their neighbor. He was a burly, bearded man who they felt was extremely obnoxious, rude, and demented. This neighbor constantly fired weapons on his property and Brenda felt really uncomfortable with him because he would not stop asking her to pose naked for him. On April 19, 1985, Scott Stapley was present when Lonnie decided to confront his neighbor. Lonnie decided to deal with the problem once and for all, and none of them were ever seen again.

In San Francisco, California on June 2, 1985, two men entered a lumber yard to buy some building supplies. A burly bearded man and an Asian man with glasses decided they wanted a vice but were not going to pay for it. The Asian man swiped the $75 vice, exited the store, and placed the stolen vice into the trunk of a Honda Prelude in the parking lot. But the Asian man didn’t realize that an off duty police officer spotted him with the stolen merchandise and called in his description. The off-duty police officer approached the Asian man but he took off and disappeared. The officer searched the vehicle and found the stolen vice and a back pack, which contained a pistol with a silencer in it. Just then a stocky bearded man exited the lumber yard and approached the Honda Prelude.

The burly bearded man told the police officer that his name was Scott Stapler (the name of the man who vanished two months prior). He told the officer not to worry about the vice because he paid for it. The officer reminded him there was a gun with a silencer in the trunk of the car and placed the burly, bearded man under arrest. He was taken to the police station for questioning. Back at the station, investigators learned that everything the man was telling them was a lie. A background check on the Honda Prelude revealed that it was registered to Paul Cosner, who went missing months before. Then they learned the license plates belonged to Lonnie Bond, another person who went missing. As the officer confronted the man with this new evidence, the big burly bearded man began to cry and admitted his real name was Leonard Lake. And that his accomplice was Charles Ng.

At one point during the investigation, Lake asked the detectives for a glass of water and a pen and paper to write a letter to his ex-wife. Police uncuffed him expecting a full confession. After he got done writing the letter to his ex-wife, he reached up under his collar where he sewed a cyanide pill into the fabric and quickly shoved it down his throat. He fell onto the floor gagging and seizing. He was rushed to the hospital where he slipped into a coma and died a few days later. In June 1985, Leonard Lake suddenly killed himself with a cyanide pill taking his secrets to the grave with him. But he did leave behind a clue when he gave up the name of his sidekick Charles Ng who was now on the run. Leonard Lake had been on the run since April 1982 when the FBI raided his place on a stolen weapons tip.

Police wanted to know who Leonard Lake was. They learned he was born in San Francisco, California and was bright yet sadistic. He developed an infinity for pornography early on in his life. He apparently took nude photos of his sisters when they were young and used them to extort sexual favors. He joined the US Marine Corps in 1965 at age 19 and served two terms in Vietnam. In Da Nang in 1970, Leonard had a complete mental breakdown and was sent back to the United States. He was admitted to a psychiatric ward for two months and then discharged from the Marines upon his release. Lake spent the next eight years in a hippie commune. In the late summer of 1980, Leonard met his wife Claralyn Balazs and they married in 1981. They both had a love of making pornographic videos of themselves and enjoyed kinky sex.

After Leonard’s death in 1985, Claralyn was the critical piece to help police break the case wide open. Police investigated Leonard Lake and did a complete forensic search of the Honda Prelude in his possession. They found blood spatter in the car, bullet holes in the headliner, IDs of missing persons, and an electric bill with Claralyn’s address. On June 3, 1985, police manage to track down Claralyn. Claralyn told detectives that she and Leonard divorced in November 1982 but maintained a close relationship. She also mentioned to the police that her family owned property in Wilseyville but no one had been living there recently. Police were curious and Claralyn agreed to take them to the property on June 4, 1985. The police found what they could only describe as a compound for killing.

The police found the drivers license of Mike Carroll who disappeared with his girlfriend Kathleen Allen in 1985. They also found possessions of others who were missing including the Dubs family. Police found videotapes of women being tortured, signs of men being killed, and outside in the yard, police came across a tool shed that acted as a false front. There they found a large bunker where tortures had occurred and where Leonard Lake kept his sex slaves. Detectives unearthed Leonard Lake’s hide out and learned that he had this planned since he was a teenager. Lake read a book at age 17 called The Collector which was about a man who had a sex slave named Miranda. Lake became obsessed with a clear plan called Operation Miranda. He wanted to enslave young girls and these fantasies became a reality when Charles Ng entered his life.

The police found overwhelming evidence of Lake and Ng’s barbarism inside in the bunker. There were videotapes of Leonard Lake building the bunker. One tape labeled the M Ladies showed Ng and Lake raping, torturing, and abusing a number of women. Law enforcement didn’t know who any of the M Ladies were until weeks later when they discovered a mass grave on the Wilseyville property. Police found approximately 45 pounds of human remains scattered about the yard. They found many of the human remains of the missing people; they had been killed, burned, tortured, and dismembered. Among the remains, investigators found the IDs of Brenda O’Connor and Kathleen Allen.

Police recognized Kathleen Allen from the M Ladies videotape. Kathleen was selected by Lake as the perfect M Lady and was kept prisoner in his bunker. He treated her as a complete slave in every way. He forced her to dress up, have sex on demand, and pose for him. It took investigators weeks to go through the crime scene and as they do they discover more and more bodies. Then on July 8, 1985 they find two males stacked on top of each other in a make shift grave. They were identified as Lonnie Bond and Scott Stapley. Investigators knew Charles Ng played an integral part in all this and they wanted to find him.

In June and July 1985, investigators learned that Marine veterans Charles Ng and Leonard Lake murdered multiple people and dug them in a mass grave at the property in Wilseyville, California. At this point in the investigation, Leonard Lake had committed suicide and Charles Ng was on the run. Charles Ng was born in Hong Kong. His father was a strict disciplinarian who literally beat him with a cane. Ng didn’t really show any interest in school and was expelled from a number of them. He was described as anti-social and had a history of fire setting and stealing. Ng eventually ended up at Notre Dame University on a student visa but dropped out after getting in a hit and run accident.

Charles Ng joined the US Marine Corps in October 1979 as a means to pay restitution for his hit and run crime in Indiana. Ng told recruiters he was born in Indiana and nobody bothered to check his citizenship status. Ng was trained as a gunner in the Marine Corps and immersed himself in martial arts. Ng was obsessed with violence and boasted that he was born to fight in hand-to-hand combat. Ng said he would kill anyone that was foolish enough to fight him. In October 1981, Ng was court martialed for stealing weaponry from an armory and went Absent without Leave (AWOL).

Ng found out that Leonard Lake, another Marine, was managing a hotel in northern California. He flew to California and in December 1981 moved in with Leonard and his wife Claralyn. Lake was fourteen years his senior and acted as a father figure. They both shared a mutual love of weapons and sexual deviance. Lake realized that Ng was the perfect person to help him make his sexual fantasies become reality.

On July 6, 1985 in Calgary, Canada, Charles Ng attempted to steal food from a department store and got caught. He shot a security guard in the hand and was captured immediately. Charles Ng was charged with attempted murder and theft, and was jailed in the Canadian system. On December 18, 1985, Charles Ng went to court and was found not guilty on the attempted murder charge but guilty of assault and robbery. He was entenced to 4.5 years in an Edmonton prison. US officials petitioned to have him extradited back to America to stand trial. His deportation was held up in court until 1991.

Charles Ng is finally extradited to California to face charges for the horrific crimes he and Lake committed there. Ng didn’t actually go to trial for another seven years. In Santa Ana, California on September 14, 1988, Charles Ng’s murder trial proceeded in the Orange County Superior Court. Prosecutors argued that Ng and Lake stalked and targeted their victims, stole their money, then tortured and killed them. The trial lasts for 8 months. Some of the most compelling evidence came from dozens of cartoons drawn by Ng. The cartoons depicted women being tortured and abused and people being burnt. But the M Ladies videotapes were the prosecutions most disturbing evidence.

The M Ladies videotapes showed women who were tortured and sexually abused. Ng took the stand in his own defense and blamed everything on Lake. He denies any knowledge of the murders. He eventually admitted to being involved in the abduction of some of the women, and some of the rapes and tortures, but did not admit to killing anyone. In late February 1999, Charles Ng was convicted on 11 of 12 counts of murder. Four months later, he was sentenced to death. Investigators agree that both Leonard Lake and Charles Ng were both psychopaths but Leonard was the more dominant and goal oriented of the two. Ng went along with Lake’s plan because it allowed him to carry out his torturous and sexually deviant behaviors.

Source: Partners in Evil, It Takes a Killer, Oxygen

Investigation Discovery:

ID Go: When an off-duty police officer in San Francisco happens upon a minor theft at a lumberyard one Sunday afternoon, he unwittingly jumpstarts an investigation into one of California’s deadliest, most depraved serial killers: Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. -Dungeon of Dread, Pandora’s Box: Unleashing Evil (S1,E1)

Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.

Related Links:
Charles Ng and Leonard Lake
Police Link 19 Missing, 3 Dead to Lake and Ng
Home Searched in Probe of Killings : Three Agencies Seize Items From Ex-Wife of Suspect Lake
Two more murder victims identified
CALIFORNIA ALBUM: Time Is Slow to Erase Stain of Grisly Killings : People in the Mother Lode town of Wilseyville would like to forget Charles Ng, Leonard Lake and a series of gruesome murders. But the outside world won’t let them.
Calaveras County Residents Still Haunted by ’85 Slayings
Ng Murder Trial Opens With Chilling Videos
Gruesome Video Opens Trial of Accused Mass Murderer N
Videos Continue in Ng Prosecution
Father of Serial Killer Ng Says He Severely Beat Son as Child
As Jury Meets to Decide His Fate, Ng Expects Death
Judge Orders Death Penalty for Ng in Mid-’80s Murders of 11 People
Charles Ng Has a Date With a Needle
Chilling Video Of Serial Killers Leonard Lake & Charles Ng With Their Victims
These Two Weren’t Just Sadistic Serial Killers — They Also Filmed Their Atrocities
Leonard Lake and Charles Ng: Psycho Serial Killer Undone by Shoplifting
Journey Into Evil | Serial Killers Leonard Lake & Charles Ng Documentary
The Boneyard: Serial Killers Leonard Lake & Charles Ng (Documentary)
It Takes a Killer ‘Partners in Evil’ (Oxygen)
Killing spree by dual killers is put to an end
Dungeon of Dread | Pandora’s Box: Unleashing Evil | Investigation Discovery (S1,E1)

Army Brigadier General Bobby Robinson Found Dead by Gunshot Wounds at Washington DC Home, Death Believed to be Suicide (1985)

US Army
BG Bobby Robinson, US Army

Related Links:
Army General’s Shotgun Death Believed Suicide
Army General Is Found Dead In Apparent Virginia Suicide
Gas Stockpile Detonates Residents` Nerves
Agencies Deny Man’s Charges of POWS, Chemical Arms, Murder in Southeast Asia
A History of Chemical Warfare by Coleman (2005)

Air Force TSgt Thomas Bunday Died By Suicide in Texas on Day of Arrest; Bunday Confessed to 5 Murders Near Eielson AFB, Alaska (March 15, 1983)

Thomas Bunday.jpg
TSgt Thomas Richard Bunday, U.S. Air Force (photo: Investigation Discovery)

Honoring the victims:

  1. Glinda Sodemann, 19, Fairbanks, Alaska (August 29, 1979)
  2. Doris Oehring, 11, North Pole, Alaska (June 13, 1980)
  3. Marlene Peters, 21, Tanana, Alaska (January 31, 1981)
  4. Wendy Wilson, 16, Eielson, Alaska (March 5, 1981)
  5. Lori King, 18, Fairbanks, Alaska (May 16, 1981)
  6. Cassandra Goodwin, 22, Henrietta, Texas (never admitted to homicide)

On June 13, 1980, 11-year-old Doris Oehring went missing from North Pole, Alaska; they found her bike in the ditch. Luckily, a witness saw a blue vehicle near the area where the bicycle was found and helped the police create a composite sketch; but no leads were generated. To make matters worse, this was the second known abduction in less than a year. Eight months earlier, on August 29, 1979, a boy hunting in the woods found the decomposing body of 19-year-old Glinda Sodemann; she had been strangled and shot. Nine months after Doris Oehring mysteriously went missing; 16-year-old Wendy Wilson disappeared; her friend last saw her talking to a man in a white truck. Wendy’s body was found three days later; she had been strangled and shot in the head as well. Police wondered if there was more than one predator. As the police scrambled to find leads, another body of a woman turned up dead near Eielson Air Force Base. The victim was identified as 21-year-old Marlene Peters; Marlene was strangled and shot in the head too.

The police were panicking because of the number of murders in one location, and then a fifth woman vanished. Troopers teamed up with military and civilian search teams to find the missing and then one day while soldiers were out hunting, they found the body of Lori King; she too was strangled and shot in the head. Unable to calculate the next move of the serial killer, state troopers tried another tactic. They staked out the killer’s dumping grounds within a 10 mile radius of Eielson AFB. And then the killings stopped. And then in November 1982, troopers received a call from Henrietta, Texas informing them a woman had been murdered in the same fashion as their suspected serial killer. Police worked with the military to see if they couldn’t narrow down the suspects based on who owned a blue car or white pick-up truck. And finally, the police came up with a name: Thomas Richard Bunday was a TSgt in the Air Force who transferred to Sheppard AFB shortly after the murder of the fifth victim in Alaska.

Alaska investigators learned Bunday owned a blue car and a white truck, and he was on the Air Force’s radar list because there were several complaints made about his inappropriate sexual remarks to women in the workplace. Alaska investigators also learned Bunday served in the military for fifteen years and was a married, father of two. On March 7, 1983, Alaska investigators talked to Bunday for three hours about everything but the murders and they did this for several days hoping he would confess; but he refused to talk. Bunday didn’t deny the crimes; but refused to confess. After a week of interrogation, the troopers obtained a search warrant to search Bunday’s property. They found a lot of incriminating evidence that directly tied him to the crime in Alaska but had to obtain an arrest warrant from Alaska. Alaska Troopers had no power to arrest outside of Alaska. The Governor offered a private leer jet to bring Bunday back to Alaska. The arrest was the next day but he failed to show up as promised.

Unfortunately, Thomas Bunday slipped past surveillance on his motorcycle. Instead of meeting with the Alaska investigators again, Bunday instead killed himself. Police learned Bunday died by suicide after he crossed the center line and slammed into a truck at a 100 mph. Police were really hoping they would get more information from him before he died. They wanted to know where Doris’ body was so they could give the family closure. In August 1986, three years after Bunday died, Doris’ skull was found in a remote section of Eielson Air Force Base. It was later learned that Bunday’s job in the Air Force most likely allowed him to view his dump sites via surveillance cameras and relive his sadistic behavior. Bunday was most likely watching investigators at the crime scene. Alaska state investigators are convinced that Thomas Richard Bunday was responsible for the five murders in Alaska. And they believe Bunday denied the murder in Texas to avoid the death penalty before opting instead to kill himself on March 15, 1983.

Source: North Pole Slay Ride, Ice Cold Killers, Investigation Discovery

“From 1979 to 1981, Thomas Richard Bunday, a technical sergeant who was stationed at the Eilson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska, murdered four women and an 11-year-old girl. With the help of a psychological profile provided by the FBI and a description from an eyewitness, the authorities were eventually able to close in on Bunday. By the time police identified Bunday as their prime suspect, however, he had already been transferred to another base near Wichita Falls, Texas.

When officials from Alaska traveled to Texas to interview Bunday, he admitted to the killings, but the officers didn’t have the jurisdiction to arrest him. The police from Alaska scrambled to get a warrant, and when they went to apprehend Bunday, his wife informed the officials that he had taken off on his motorcycle. Tragically, the officers learned that on March 16, 1983, just hours after they’d obtained an arrest warrant, Bunday drove his motorcycle into the path of an oncoming truck, ending his life.”

Learn more at Ranker.

Investigation Discovery:

Ice Cold Killers: North Pole Slay Ride from Stephanie Kovac on Vimeo.

The tiny town of North Pole, Alaska is a quiet, safe haven best known for Santa Claus. But when the bodies of young women begin turning up one by one, investigators slowly piece together the clues and discover the unlikeliest of killers. -North Pole Slay Ride, Ice Cold Killers (S1,E4)

Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.

Related Links:
Thomas Richard Bunday | Murderpedia
Bunday A Suspect in Murder Cases (1983)
Murder suspect killed in crash (1983)
Man Confesses to Five Slayings
Serial Killer: Thomas Richard Bunday | Bonnies Blog of Crime
Murder at 40 Below: True Crime Stories from Alaska by Tom Brennan (excerpt)
Murder at 40 Below: True Crime Stories from Alaska by Tom Brennan (Amazon)
10 Ice Cold Killers From Alaska That Will Make You Fear The Last Frontier
Ice Cold Killers: North Pole Slay Ride | Vimeo
North Pole Slay Ride | Ice Cold Killers | Investigation Discovery (S1,E4)
North Pole Slay Ride | Ice Cold Killers | Investigation Discovery (website)
North Pole Slay Ride | Ice Cold Killers | Investigation Discovery (Amazon)
Ice Cold Killers Premiered ‘North Pole Slay Ride’ on ID: Five Women Found Murdered Near Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska (January 1, 2013)

Holloman Air Force Base Airman Rudy Victor Disappeared; Remains Found in Montana in 1982 Match Rudy Victor’s DNA (June 15, 1974)

Screen Shot 2017-06-24 at 8.00.24 PM
A1C Rudy Victor, US Air Force

Officials with Holloman Air Force Base say that a 43-year-old cold case involving an AWOL Airman has come to a close after investigators were able to match DNA and dental records to remains found in the Montana wilderness in 1982 to the missing airman. Airman First Class Rudy Redd Victor, 20, from Shiprock, NM was assigned to Holloman Air Force Base in 1974 when he was awarded leave to visit family in Arizona and Colorado.

Witness reports indicate the last location of Victor was near the Wolf Creek Rest area in Lewis and Clark County, Montana. Shortly thereafter, Victor went missing and he was categorized as AWOL by the U.S. Air Force after he failed to return to duty in June 1974…According to the Lewis and Clark Sheriff’s Office and Lewis and Clark County Coroner, Airman Victor’s death was most likely due to suicide [on or about June 15, 1974].

Read more: El Paso Proud

Related Links:
Obituary: Rudy Redd Victor
Montana “Cold Case” remains identified as an AF member
Remains in 43-year-old Montana ‘cold case’ ID’d as Holloman Airman
Holloman Airman who vanished identified 43 years later in Montana
Missing airman ID’d as remains found in Wolf Creek canyon in 1980s
Remains identified as those of missing Holloman Airman, 43-year-old cold case solved
From cold case to case closed: Remains in Montana solve decades-old mystery
Officials determine remains found in Wolf Creek in ’80s belonged to missing airman
Missing airman’s remains identified — 43 years after he went missing
Officials ID remains of airman who vanished in Montana
Remains ID’d of US airman who vanished in Montana in 1974
Remains of Shiprock airman identified in Montana cold case
Montana Cold Case Solved Through NamUs Hit