freeway phantom

The MPDC always thought they understood the Freeway Phantom. 

They saw him as an African American from one of Washington’s poorer black neighbourhoods. He was a loner, anti-social, and probably had psychological problems. Because Saint Elizabeth’s featured so prominently in the Freeway Phantom killings, perhaps he was a former patient.

He was a sexual deviant who hated women and had difficulty forming long-term relationships. He cruised the streets, selecting random victims to use to alleviate his sexual frustration and sense of alienation.

He killed because he feared capture and imprisonment, and the killings ceased because he was incarcerated on unrelated charges, died or moved away.

Only bad luck stopped the police from catching him.

Unfortunately, almost none of this is true; it is conjecture, guesswork and wishful thinking. Worse still, the police picture of the killer is flatly contradicted by the evidence.

When confronted by irrefutable evidence that the attacks were not random, the MPDC refused to accept it. Maths doesn’t lie: as the chances of randomly selecting four girls with Denise as their middle name is less than one in a million, it is a near certainty the killer deliberately targeted the girls. This refusal to acknowledge reality is not a small thing, as it shifted the focus of the investigation and wasted police resources.

Equally, there were clear signs the killer was playing games with the police. He dictated a note to one victim and had a second victim phone home. He removed the shoes of some of his victims and took them away, highlighting those instances where he left the victim’s shoes at the crime scene. Also, the killer attacked two distinct groups – children and young adults. The absence of a clearly delineated preference is unusual.

Moreover, as the killer selected his victims based on their middle names, why did the police investigation ignore the girls’ full names and their initials? 

The answer is obvious: the police preferred to chase a killer they understood. They might not know why some men find children sexually attractive, but lust is a motive they could understand. But what reason could a murderer have for killing someone with the middle name of Denise? 

Instead of finding out why the Freeway Phantom acted as he did, they pursued a motive and a killer they could comprehend – and that is the real reason the crimes are still unsolved. 

Sadly, police are not the only ones unwilling to think outside the box. Researchers and amateur sleuths often fall into the trap of ignoring the evidence to follow theories more in tune with their preconceived ideas. The solution to the crimes outlined on this website sounds like it comes from a B Grade movie. The reason for this is simple – the killer is amusing himself at the expense of the police and looks to literature and the cinema for inspiration.