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Police seeking suspected serial killer; six Milwaukee women murdered over 21 years
By John Diedrich of the Journal Sentinel
Updated: May. 18, 2009 5:25 p.m.
Milwaukee police are looking for a serial killer suspected in the homicides of at least six Milwaukee women murdered over 21 years, the most recent in 2007, the police chief and district attorney said Monday.
The same DNA was found on two women in 1986, two in 1995, one in 1997 and one in April 2007, police said. Advanced DNA testing has allowed the cases to be linked.
Five of the victims were prostitutes and a sixth was involved in drug use and drug sales, Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said at a news conference.
The person whose DNA was found on all six victims is not in any known law enforcement database, Flynn said.
Authorities have DNA on all Wisconsin felons going back to roughly 1996, said District Attorney John Chisholm. All people convicted of certain sex assault crimes provided DNA starting in 1994, he said. A task force has been formed to find the suspect. It includes Milwaukee police, the district attorney's office, the state Department of Justice and the FBI.
The victims identified Monday include:
Deborah L. Harris, 31, was found on Oct. 10, 1986. According to Marv Balousek's book "101 Wisconsin Unsolved Mysteries," the body was found in the Menominee River about 100' east of the Ember Lane Bridge, tied with a clove hitch knot. .
Tanya L. Miller, 19, was found on Oct. 11, 1986, between a house and garage in the 2100 block of N. 28th St. She had been strangled. She was fully clothed but not wearing shoes. Because her socks were clean, police speculated that she had been killed elsewhere. She was last seen alive around 10:30 p.m. Oct. 10 talking with friends on a street corner. At the time, police speculated that Miller knew her killer.
Sheila Farrior, 37, a mother of five, was found June 27, 1995 in the bedroom of a vacant home on the 1400 block of W. Chambers St. by the building's owner, who went there to inspect remodeling work.
Jessica Payne, 16, ran away from home shortly before she would have started junior year at South Milwaukee High School. She was found Aug. 30, 1995 behind a vacant house at N. 7th and W. Chambers streets. Chaunte D. Ott was convicted of her homicide and sentenced to life in prison after a man told police Ott had confessed to killing Payne during an attempted robbery. In January, Ott was released from prison after DNA linked Payne's death with that of two other women.Payne's killing does not fit the profile of the others, police said.
Joyce Mims, 41, was found by workers renovating a vacant house on the 2900 block of N. 5th St. on June 20, 1997. She had been strangled. Mims was last seen by family members walking away from her home two days before her body was found. She had a son.
Ouithreaun Stokes, 28, was found by a city inspector and two other people on April 27, 2007 at a boarded-up building that had previously served as a rooming house. She was 28.
Anyone with information is asked to call Milwaukee police at (414) 935-1212.
The State Crime Lab is analyzing at least two dozen other DNA samples that could be linked to the suspected killer, they said.
More information will be posted as it become available.
By John Diedrich of the Journal Sentinel
Updated: May. 18, 2009 5:25 p.m.
Milwaukee police are looking for a serial killer suspected in the homicides of at least six Milwaukee women murdered over 21 years, the most recent in 2007, the police chief and district attorney said Monday.
The same DNA was found on two women in 1986, two in 1995, one in 1997 and one in April 2007, police said. Advanced DNA testing has allowed the cases to be linked.
Five of the victims were prostitutes and a sixth was involved in drug use and drug sales, Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said at a news conference.
The person whose DNA was found on all six victims is not in any known law enforcement database, Flynn said.
Authorities have DNA on all Wisconsin felons going back to roughly 1996, said District Attorney John Chisholm. All people convicted of certain sex assault crimes provided DNA starting in 1994, he said. A task force has been formed to find the suspect. It includes Milwaukee police, the district attorney's office, the state Department of Justice and the FBI.
The victims identified Monday include:
Deborah L. Harris, 31, was found on Oct. 10, 1986. According to Marv Balousek's book "101 Wisconsin Unsolved Mysteries," the body was found in the Menominee River about 100' east of the Ember Lane Bridge, tied with a clove hitch knot. .
Tanya L. Miller, 19, was found on Oct. 11, 1986, between a house and garage in the 2100 block of N. 28th St. She had been strangled. She was fully clothed but not wearing shoes. Because her socks were clean, police speculated that she had been killed elsewhere. She was last seen alive around 10:30 p.m. Oct. 10 talking with friends on a street corner. At the time, police speculated that Miller knew her killer.
Sheila Farrior, 37, a mother of five, was found June 27, 1995 in the bedroom of a vacant home on the 1400 block of W. Chambers St. by the building's owner, who went there to inspect remodeling work.
Jessica Payne, 16, ran away from home shortly before she would have started junior year at South Milwaukee High School. She was found Aug. 30, 1995 behind a vacant house at N. 7th and W. Chambers streets. Chaunte D. Ott was convicted of her homicide and sentenced to life in prison after a man told police Ott had confessed to killing Payne during an attempted robbery. In January, Ott was released from prison after DNA linked Payne's death with that of two other women.Payne's killing does not fit the profile of the others, police said.
Joyce Mims, 41, was found by workers renovating a vacant house on the 2900 block of N. 5th St. on June 20, 1997. She had been strangled. Mims was last seen by family members walking away from her home two days before her body was found. She had a son.
Ouithreaun Stokes, 28, was found by a city inspector and two other people on April 27, 2007 at a boarded-up building that had previously served as a rooming house. She was 28.
Anyone with information is asked to call Milwaukee police at (414) 935-1212.
The State Crime Lab is analyzing at least two dozen other DNA samples that could be linked to the suspected killer, they said.
More information will be posted as it become available.