"So I pressed this button to find out what was going on. His grandmother, now passed away, forgave him. He also had a proclivity for wearing women's undergarments. "Get his good side," offers Marti Mackenzie, the publicist. Brevard has 24 unsolved murders. "The main thing is, I'm just like anybody else," he says. There was a large window from the ceiling to about waist high, so they could see his every move. Their horrifying crimes were finally uncovered when a witness saw Gore shoot and kill Lynn Elliott, a 17-year-old girl the cousins had kidnapped along with her friend, 14-year-old Regan Martin. They eventually fled to a wooded area where they hid for the night before Brevard County Sheriff's investigators found them near their Port St. John home on the chilly morning of Jan. 7, 1999. Knots In Misty Morses Bindings Provide Clue, Woman Found Dead And Bound In Florida River, Rope Found at Misty Morses Crime Scene Was Not From United States, Brevard County Sheriffs Office Agent Gary Harrell located the partially-clad body of a woman floating face down in the Indian River, . In January 1978, Bundy killed two Chi Omega sorority members, Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy, and injured two others after breaking into the group's house on Florida State University's campus.. [11][12], While sifting through the cases, a forensic ballistic examination confirmed that Gerry had been killed with a revolver belonging to Giles, and he was subsequently charged with her murder. That confirmation leashed Huck and the crime together. She was last seen at the Colonial Motel in Melbourne a few days before her body was found. He was on heavy medication. Email us attips@the-sun.co.ukor call 0207 782 4368 . One grocery store clerk called him at kome later. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Police are withholding a motive. Police have withheld possible motives. Other times it appears to happen in an instant. Police have found no motives. J.D. She was found nude, bludgeoned and tied to a burning bed in her home in April. Townson is already serving a life sentence for killing another woman in Brevard County. She was found strangled, wearing only a St. Christopher's necklace; her shirt and sweater were found near her remains. Mans best friend helped solve the case after Misty Morse was found dead in the Indian River. [16][17], Since then, Giles has been moved around various penitentiaries around the state. CBS . They learned Misty and Hucks relationship, which was marked by rocky times, had ended a year earlier, althoughHuck described their current status as friends with benefits to police. "That's all I need.". He was declared sane, and a trial date was scheduled for April 29, 1974. Her fully clothed body was found in a palmetto thicket, shot in the head, on December 10, 1973. A closer look revealed that it wasnt a marine mammal near the mangroves, but something even more disturbing:a human body. "It showed a picture of him, and he seemed trustworthy but kind of crestfallen. There was some scuttlebutt online about our case, said Cmdr. These factors helped rule out early persons of interest, including an ex-boyfriend, Teddy Underwood, and Bobby Cooper, a man who had a one-sided crush on Misty. I'm standing by the door and I'm pressing the button, and the guards come up and they slam the door open." Notorious murderers committed crimes in Florida Danny Rolling, Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos ORLANDO, Fla. - Florida has been plagued by many notorious serial murders. (This is the day after the first murders are believed to have taken place, but before the victims, are discovered. While Florida is known as a popular destination for spring breakers, retirees, and tourists from all around the world, its warm weather and beautiful beaches also seem to attract or produce some of the worst serial killers in America. Ed remembers their reaction: "Oh, it's a celebrity.". Both parents drank too much. So I kept on pressing the button because I wanted her to open the door. Remains of Tampa teen missing since 1980 identified as serial killer victim. Of course not, but what if he was? Her throat was cut while she was at a Cocoa hotel in February 1988. "That was real bad, because I couldn't walk," Ed says. Humphrey was chased and fell as he fled. Neither will police talk. Always," recalls Scott Bedesem, a friend since junior high school. He was found shot to death in his home in December 1987. They hoped that these hairscould help lead to the killer. It was going 60 mph at the time. In 1974, Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies discovered human bones tied up in the mangroves in an area known as Burnt Bridges off Florida's A1A highway. Earlier that summer, investigators learned, Ed had been kicked out of the Gatorwood apartment complex where two of the victims were killed. He was in a wheelchair for weeks. He had been shot six times in the torso. HE STROLLS INTO YAB YUM, A downtown coffee house, for a cup of hazelnut regular, the flavor of the day, and a book of matches. While not all of the. When he was arrested for hitting his grandmother and questioned by state agents, sources say, Ed spoke of someone named "John" and claimed to have knowledge of the Gainesville killings. 32934, FL Housing Market Overview. It was repeated so authoritatively and so often that the term began to lose its inherent uncertainty. It happens too often, though less so now than when he first got out of prison. Ed looks out over the water, his face calm. Witnesses: -- Pauline Scandale, 82, of Indialantic. Name : ELEANOR SWIFT Location : 7801 Ridge Road, Seminole, Fl Date : 2/13/1987 Synopsis : This case is related to the murder of Opal Weil. Sentenced to death on Nov. 10, 1998. Brevard County is indeed home to a diversifying population. Based on the evidence on the body, authorities were looking for a local suspect with military background and access to a boat. Giles admitted that he had been prone to violence from the age of six, often playing games in which he imitated killing the other participant. "I don't know," he says. That was the start of it all. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. On June 26, 2014, the 24-year-old male suspect was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. I want to get married some day and have kids. Tuesday, Ivey responded. A television blared. His face smashed into the windshield, leaving deep wounds, and he broke his leg so badly doctors had to implant a steel rod running from his hip to his knee. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Clickheretouploadyours. Ed's bail, originally set at $10,250 was increased to $1 million - 100 to 200 times the scheduled rate for aggravated assault. "Should I smile? And Harris, when he confessed to then-investigatorPhil Williams,had no explanation why he staged the dead body in a demeaning manner. "I'd have taken a room full of him," says Bill Thomas, Ed's teacher in eighth grade. A top official in the case points out the murders were methodical and elaborately planned. Giles is currentlyBrevard County high security prison in Florida where he is serving life in prison for the murder of five women. He landed on a grassy shoulder and wasn't hurt badly, but he spent the next three months in a psychiatric ward. Eventually, Mistys four-legged present wouldcome back to bite Huck. They wish it known that the Ed they know is a kind and decent young man. It was also obvious that she had been murdered, said Harrell. "He has been persecuted. Police are withholding possible motives. The killer used a "razor sharp" instrument.) "I don't want people to read about me. The investigative records on the GainesviUe murders are filled with entries of Ed Humphrey scaring people in the final months before his arrest. Police believe the death was drug-related. (Pacific Photos) An overwhelming percentage of serial murders are men. Some of the unproven suspicions began picking up online after the body of a 21-year-old Matthew Robineau was discovered Feb. 12 in the Indian River Lagoon after a night out with friends in Downtown Melbourne. It was a nasty, turbulent, protracted parting that left Ed's mother--a devout Catholic--devastated. Her death sentence was vacated on 12/6/90. . His body was nearly nude, and he had been shot four times in the back of the head. On Thursday night it was Anthony Naiboa . And that goes directly to the point that Florida Tech's Angela Tenga -- assistant professor in the School of Arts and Communication -- made Thursday night during her lecture: "Serial Killers: Our Deepest Fears and Darkest Desires?". He remembers arriving home after midnight and awakening his grandmother. He talks about politics (he's a Perot man) and his reawakening social life (he just had his first date in two years). "VVhen he was not taking his lithium, he was a clearly diagnosed manic-depressive," Marti Mackenzie says. In 2020, according to an analysis of census data by Florida Today, 74% of Brevard County identified as white, an 11% drop from a decade earlier. A closer look revealed that it wasn't a marine mammal near the mangroves, but something even more disturbing: a human body. This earned him the ominous moniker of "The Beauty Queen Killer." Wilder's first victim was 20-year-old Rosario Gonzales, who was working at the Miami Grand Prix in which Wilder was a contestant. Due to chronic absenteeism and poor academic performance, he was forced to leave school at age 16, after which he mastered the trade of an electrician and began working. They wound up having a few drinks and getting in trouble with a security guard at a hotel bar. She had white duct tape around her mouth and eyes, all signs of a homicide. He's jaded, you know.". He was the one to call investigators. ", "Honestly, Marti," Ed says, "that plastic surgery didn't do that great of a job.". In 1993, a grand jury indicted Walls for the murder of 47-year . Ed's co-worker at the Humane Society, Nancy Breslin, says people sometimes look warily at Ed and say things like: Who's that guy you've got working back there? He was killed in an apparently random shooting while riding with a friend in west Cocoa in March 1986. Humphrey reportedly had been in the surf shop "raising hell" with the female patrons, making general threats, saying they didn't know how many people he had killd, and that he would cut their hearts out. A jogger running along James Road in west Cocoa in September 1987 saw Bradbury's nude body in a water-filled ditch. While the city with highest number of murders period? Brevard County Sheriff's Office > Commands & Services > Criminal Investigative Services > Homicide Unit > Unsolved Homicides Unsolved Homicides If you have information about any of these cases call the Brevard County Sheriff's Office at (321) 633-8413 or contact CRIMELINE at 1- (800)-423-TIPS. After being cleared, Cooper gave investigators an essential lead:He said Brent Huck, a 28-year-old charter boat captain with some Naval background, might have information about Misty. I'd stay up two or three days in a row with no sleep and even then I'd have to drink beer to calm down. Walls received a sentence of life in prison for the murder of Alger and for the killings of three others he would later confess to. It's dangerousnot to fear them or be repulsed. They think, 'Well, there's a good chance he did it because he's on TV.' Before that other bodies turned up in the river with the last three months, including a West Melbourne man and another in Titusville. Discount stores, supermarkets, a slew of fast-food joints --a lot of places where he applied didn't bother to call, though Ed knew they were hiring. -- Danny O'Brien, 43, of Melbourne. She is a savvy and persistent woman who tenaciously guards Humphrey's contact with the media. They've never even talked to you. State law allows for his or her identity to remain anonymous. Following his arrest, he fully admitted his guilt and was sentenced to several life imprisonment terms in 1974. His stabbed body was found on the beach there in November 1984. JULY 14,1990,1609 HOURS: INDIALANtic police receive a reported trespass at the Crawford Surf Shop, on AlA and 5th Street. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. By the time the Melbourne case involving Robineau was reported by police, speculation began to run rampant that something odd was happening with the multiple deaths, authorities said. For other inquiries, Contact Us. -- Lynn Kay Desantis, 40, of Melbourne. Would you like to meet him?". It appeared that plastic bags from Publix Supermarket had been used to help submerge the body. According to his testimony, he began to make his first attempts to attack girls in 1969, after dropping out of school, but was unsuccessful. "It's hard to say what was inside my head. There were no bullet, stabbing, or defensive wounds, either. He got out once a week--in leg chains and handcuffs--when his lawyer came, and twice a week to take a shower. Carlton, a neighbor . Don Lykkebak, Ed's attorney, says, "He was a medical patient at the time who was not being treated. There are a few random cases of women with a genteel knack for poisoning, but serial murdering "black widows" are a small club indeed. Margaret Allen, 45, was convicted last September of killing and torturing the housekeeper in 2005 who accused her of stealing $2,000. Does that make him a serial killer? Meanwhile, Lykkebak hopes eventually to get Ed's record wiped clean of a felony --a move that would require a governor's pardon. Shortly after the killings, Rolling was arrested in the nearby city of Ocala for robbing a grocery store, and police learned he was wanted for a triple murder in his home state of Louisiana, leading them to suspect he might have killed the students in Gainesville. And it got worse as more people came forward. Ed Humphrey and his 79-year-old grandmother had been fighting again. He only escaped the death penalty by confessing to the murders. In 1972, he married 17-year-old Leslie Jo Ann, who gave birth to a daughter in July 1973. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. In 11, they have leads, a few suspects and insufficient evidence to make an arrest. To learn more about the case, watch One Deadly Mistake, airing Saturdays at 7/6con Oxygen, or stream episodes on Oxygen.com. Twitter: @JDGallop. He achieved some success in this field, but soon lost interest in studying as a whole. We also have a serial killers collection - for the truly edgy crowd. "I think Ed could have done something like this," he told them. In October 1979, Giles escaped with two other prisoners. September 1, 2021 / 6:58 AM / CBS News. The neighborhood boy reported the shooting to the police, enabling the authorities to rescue Martin, nude and bound, from the attic of Gore's parents' home. Peter Krocka/Shutterstock. Dont forget to follow him on Twitter, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Though circumstantial, the evidence pointing towardHuck as the killer was compelling enough to have a dive team comb the river in his waterfront backyard. The victims were the parents of Heather Wendorf, a friend of Ferrell's.. Hammack had been with the Brevard County Sheriff's Offfice for less than a year, but he'd been to the plantation-style Indialantic house at least five times before. Two weeks after Mistys body was pulled from the river, officials went to Hucks home, where they were greeted by a black dog whose coat was the same color as the hairs on the duct tape used to bind Misty. If we accept that these killers are not human but actually monsters then I guess I can understand the fascination. The case received worldwide attention at the time . And an odd thing happened: Agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement showed up and began questioning him about the murders. It would take two years for that to, change,thanks to a breakthrough case in California that used. The time frame is precise in his mind. Posted April 11, 2017, Contact Torres at 321-242-3684 or at jtorres@floridatoday.com. He'd seen interviews with his new neighbors on the evening news, and they had said they were afraid of Ed Humphrey. Giles's background was an ordinary one - hewas one of four children from a stable family who enjoyed a perfectly happy, loving childhood with no abuse. The deputy put Humphrey in the back of his patrol car. The investigation has cost more than $5 million, taken over 130,000 man-hours, amassed 1,500 pieces of evidence and involved more than 6,600 investigative leads. Bernard Eugene Giles (born April 9, 1953) is an American serial killer and rapist who killed five girls and women in Titusville, Florida between September and November 1973. There is muffled conversation by a table of three-piece suits, who glance over suspiciously at Ed. Human remains were found in the yard . ", He pauses. [3], Nancy Gerry, 18, disappeared on September 26, 1973. "No offense." A task force of police agencies in Gainesville, searching for the killer who had mutilated five college. "Ed--everywhere he went he caused a scene," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The metamorphosis seemed to happen in a matter of days. She had disappeared June 6, 1983, while vacationing in Cocoa Beach. Instead, he got 62 hours of community service at the local Humane Society--which liked him so much it hired him afterward. Officials were able to usefingerprints to identify thevictim as 22-year-old Misty Morse, who lived about 20 miles from where her body was discovered, though. According to Lt. Tod Goodyear of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office identified the mother as Tonya Thomas, 33. But months passed and Humphrey was never charged with the crimes, the Alachua County grand jury deciding that there was no case against him. Instead, more than a year later, the grand jury indicted Danny Rolling, a Louisiana drifter also charged in the attempted murder of his father. Browse 74 homes for sale in 32934, FL. It was shortly after midnight on Thursday when Misty stopped and asked her mother how she looked. Both women were found murdered in their bedrooms. Alarm bells rang for detectives. There was a toilet, a sink and a military mattress on the floor. We study them with abnormal psychology, they have antisocial personality disorder, they use poison, and all too often rape, and mutilation, are associated with serial killers. She had been shot in the head. Unable to withstand the moral pressure, shortly before the opening of the trial, Giles made a plea bargain with the investigators. At this moment he would be home in Indialantic studying for a science test--and hoping, unrealistically, that people would just forget Ed Humphrey. The most famous victims connected to suspected serial killer Antonio Angles died in 1992: That, reported La Vanguardia, is when Antonia Gomez, Miriam Garcia, and Desiree Hernandez were attacked, raped, and killed while on their way to a high school party in the Alcasser region of Spain. There was enormous pressure on Gainesville police, on state investigators, on prosecutors, to find the killer and put him behind bars. "Of course you do.". Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Anyone else--they would have dropped the charges or maybe given him one year's probation. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. On July 23, 2000, in Merritt Island, Florida, a local judge thought he spotted a lifeless manatee floating in the waterway behind his home. "I thought it was totally unfair," Ed says. The nude body of David Spears, a 43-year-old construction worker, was found June 1, 1990, in Citrus County. That's who you are?! ", A police officer told state investigators that 10 days before the killings Ed claimed he was going to Gainesville to "cut up some women.". "And, like, they point in my face telling me, 'Don't do that again, man. Officials call Willy Suarez Maceo, 25, a serial killer. A serial killer, cunning and profoundly evil, was on the loose. Investigators did quickly notice a potential clue: black hairs in the duct tape that didnt belong to the victim, who hadauburn tresses. In Florida, the serial killer Danny Rolling, and the female serial killer Aileen Wuornos. And I said, 'Holy sh--.' He paced off the measurements--about 10 feet wide and 10 feet long. They went to police, where they provided a description of their attacker's appearance, his car, and even his name, which they had glimpsed in a book while riding in his car. When I got a job, .when I got good grades in school, they weren't calling me. John Torres talk with fans about his award-winning podcast, Murder on the Space Coast. -- James Robert Luckadoo, 33, of Cocoa Beach. -- John Hamilton, 59, of Cocoa. Unlike other well-known serial killers, Knowles followed no pattern. The murders happened around 4:30 a.m. in Port St. John, Fla. As dawn broke on Oct. 28, 2020, investigators in Hernando County, Florida, began searching a cluttered six-acre property belonging to the Mansfield family. Bundy was tried in Miami in 1979. (Edis Catholic.). To do so, he claims, would jeopardize the prosecution. Huck maintains his innocence and insists it was Misty's other ex-boyfriend who actually murdered her. "Ed's a good friend. As they spoke, Misty got a phone call that was so brief investigators theorized it was a call to say Im here from the person who picked Misty up. THERE IS A FORTRESS of friends surrounding Ed Humphrey now. Officer Steven Smith responds. I'm not able to make. This little fracas could have sent him back to prison. She was found dead in her home in May. "It's just a negative," he says. Even Ed's best friend at the time, Eric Bedesem (Scott's brother), had doubts. I was like, God, I can't handle this.". The murders occurred over several days, which made them all the more terrifying. -- Julie Backstrom, 29, of Cocoa. -- Nancy K. Brown, 25, of Rantoul, Ill. And Ed Humphrey is still a free man with a lingering cloud over his head: suspect. A Florida jury has found serial killer Robert Hayes guilty of slaying three women while he was majoring in criminal justice at college, prosecutors said. When the discussion turned to a human anatomy class that McGrath was taking, McGrath said, Ed asked her what it was like to cut up bodies and if she ever took skin or body parts home to "mess around with it.". Whatever the case, you may want to consider reading on before that Spring Break trip to Daytona. Dont forget to follow him on Twitter @johnalbertorres or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FTjohntorres. You know I'll never, ever get over it completely. Marc Claycomb of the Melbourne Police Department. The victims fiercely resisted, which caused Giles to draw his gun to shoot them, but his pistol malfunctioned and misfired, and the girls managed to escape. He was tall, good-looking, athletic, polite. There was enormous pressure on Gainesville police, on state investigators, on prosecutors, to find the killer and put him behind bars. Much of the internet speculation was bandied about on a number of Facebook-connected crime watch pages. Then, when Ed was about 13, his grandfather died. He also decapitated her and posed the head on a bookshelf. "I've got feelings, too, and that stuff really hurt me. Ed said. Now he works six days a week, attends community college and wants to become an X-ray technician. His wife found their daughter playing with a purse that did not belong to her. We pay forvideostoo. One day in April 1988--after Ed had dropped out of school for a while and gone to live with his brother, George, in Gainesville--the two were taking a drive to the beach to talk about Ed moving home. She had white duct tape around her mouth and eyes, all signs of a homicide. But that's pretty much how I feel.". Kelly McClory, 24, had joined the kennel staff last October. Her remains were found dumped in Canaveral Groves in March 1984. For several years, the whole family lived with Ed's maternal grandparents. Again, why are we obsessed with serial killers? -- Amanda Griffin. Dave Farley, a senior patrol leader, remembers hiking the Appalachian Trail with Ed, his assistant. That would be Opa Locka with 66.7 murders per 100,000 people. BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. For weeks a slew of seemingly mysterious deaths - from a suspected suicide found on the banks of a scenic riverside neighborhood to a body found lying in the middle of a roadway in a residential area of Port St. John - have turned up across Brevard. She knew hmm only as Ed--a nice guy, hard worker, easy to get along with.