00:00:07
in the summer of
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1999 26-year-old John Eric Armstrong was
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honorably discharged from the US
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Navy he settled in Dearborn Heights
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Michigan with his wife and their new
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baby he was a nice neighbor a good
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friend a good father apparently
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according to his neighbors but Armstrong
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wasn't the loving family man that people
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believed him to be Armstrong was in my
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humble opinion the personification of
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evil Armstrong was using the services of
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sex workers many of whom he then
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brutally
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murdered he's killed multiple women it
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was natural to him only person that that
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type of Life saw that could be natural
00:00:53
to as a monster as more details emerged
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police realized that these murders went
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far beyond their local
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area you're talking Singapore Hong Kong
00:01:06
and all these exotic locals that his
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boat traveled to while he was in the
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Navy he's going to be one of the most
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prolific well-traveled serial killers in
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history John Eric Armstrong had gone
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Global and been unveiled as one of the
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world's most evil killers
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[Music]
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[Music]
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on April the 10th 2000 in Detroit
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Michigan police were alerted to an
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alarming Discovery the bodies of three
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sex workers have been found near some
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railway tracks in varying States of
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decomposition this was the work of a
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serial killer he didn't try and conceal
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his crimes he just discarded the bodies
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didn't try and hide him he just came
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back to visit and abuse and then move on
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to the next murder and dispose of that
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one and roll it down the hill and uh
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find another one with no leads the
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police were under pressure to find the
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unknown killer before he could strike
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again then a chance traffic stop and
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subsequent arrest of 26-year-old John
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Eric Armstrong led to more Revelations
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than they could ever have
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expected in the patrol car one of the
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patrol men could hear Armstrong in the
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back muttering something under his
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breath I'm glad it's over I'm glad you
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guys got
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me this killer Story begins on the
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Southeastern coast of America John Eric
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Armstrong was born on November mber the
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23rd
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1973 Armstrong was born and raised in
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Newburn North Carolina and by all
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accounts had a very normal upbringing
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very normal childhood I think the most
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important point in his early life was
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the death of a younger brother Michael
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who died of sudden infant death syndrome
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at barely 2 months old and this had an
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impact on the young John Eric Armstrong
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Armstrong was 5 years old at the time
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time and at 5 years
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old I'm not sure that children fully
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understand the concept of death and
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dying and perhaps how permanent it
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is so it's quite possible that it
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impacted him in a way that made him feel
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completely
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powerless he was so distraught over that
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that he deliberately rode his bicycle
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out in traffic almost like you know with
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the intention of joining his baby
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brother the loss of the baby had a major
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impact on Armstrong's
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parents shortly after his baby brother
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Mikey died in the crib his biological
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father left the
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family after his father left young
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Armstrong stayed in the family home with
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his
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mother towards the end of the the 1970s
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Armstrong started school and his
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classmates saw nothing unusual about him
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the people who went to school with him
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for instance his fellow students they
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saw him as just a normal kid he was a
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little quiet he seemed pretty Meek one
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person described him as aloof but really
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nothing unusual about his childhood
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nothing that would make someone ill it
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ease Armstrong felt that he was kind of
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an underachiever and uh being bullied uh
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and a lot of this Behavior impacted him
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psychologically we've got somebody whose
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whole identity is being formed around
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this victimhood this powerlessness this
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the world is against me and I think that
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internal anger rage revenge is more what
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drove him as he went into
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adulthood there was a strange incident
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in his life
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um at school he said one of his
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classmates a girl was trying to persuade
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him to have sex with her and he didn't
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want to and he locked himself into a
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bathroom and threatened to kill himself
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this led to a monthlong stay in a mental
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health
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facility so he obviously had issues with
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sex a simple pressure for sex is not
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going to put you into psychiatric care
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there's a lot more going on here at the
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age of 16 Armstrong felt that he was
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still still dealing with the negative
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impact of his brother's death and so he
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went for additional psychiatric
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counseling to seek psychiatric care at
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age 16 when he's just had care for
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another incident this is somebody who's
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really really struggling to function in
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the world by his late teens despite his
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problems Armstrong had managed to start
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a relationship with a girl but when his
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high school sweetheart left him for
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another boy Armstrong was
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devastated especially when he saw his
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love rival shower his ex-girlfriend with
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gifts Armstrong interpreted this as her
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prostituting herself for her affections
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in exchange for these gifts that this
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other new Suitor was providing her this
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guy sees women sex
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relationships transactional and even he
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said said that this was like she was a
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prostitute what an
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awful way to see
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relationships in April 1992 when
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Armstrong was 18 years old he signed up
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with a US
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Navy he joined the military which is I
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don't think an unusual thing for
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somebody like him who feels you know
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like he needs to be in a big gang
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because he feels like the world's
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against him and he needs control and he
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needs power Armstrong was assigned to
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the USS limits aircraft carrier then the
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largest sailing vessel in the world life
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of the nits it would be pretty exciting
00:07:45
it can go anywhere in the world and
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often did and Armstrong would have
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enjoyed that
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life he worked in the barber shop it was
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said and then he had one or two other
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jobs on the boat and he had a good
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record by all counts aboard the boat um
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nothing really stood out at one point he
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was nicknamed baby doll he had this very
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childlike face this very innocent
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approach which didn't really make him
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like a look like a a grown-up man at
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all despite his youthful features
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Armstrong was over 6' tall with a large
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build it was while aboard the USS limits
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that Armstrong met the woman he would go
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on to marry
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after both being honorably discharged in
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1999 the couple moved to Michigan to
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start their married life and raise their
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first
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child and so they settled into a city in
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metro Detroit on the west side of Metro
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Detroit called Dearborn Heights and they
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lived with her parents for a
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while Armstrong started working for a
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chain of retail stores then later as a
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security guard and then refueling
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airplanes at Detroit Metropolitan
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Airport seems like Armstrong may not
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have been able to find his way um in at
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least vocationally in a career those
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around Armstrong just saw him as any
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other guy in the neighborhood one lady
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said I used to get a ride home with him
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or ride to work and and she said he was
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just the nicest guy he was a nice
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neighbor a good friend a good father
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apparently according to his
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neighbors and yet he had this completely
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other side this classic jaelan Hyde
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approach uh particularly to women Beyond
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this normal life appeared to be a facade
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and behind that facade Armstrong was
00:09:45
going out and engaging in activity like
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um having sex on a regular basis with
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sex workers he has got a bad
00:09:54
attitude misogynistic attitude towards
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women so I think we can to see where
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it's coming from with
00:10:03
him John Eric Armstrong wasn't the
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loving family man he was portraying to
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those around him he was living a double
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life filled with dark secrets one that
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would soon be exposed Armstrong's
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preferred haunt for picking up sex
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workers was in downtown Detroit around
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10 miles from his family
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home unfortunately prostitution has
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always thrived in Detroit and the area
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of Michigan Avenue has always been a hot
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spot for
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prostitution Kyle James casares was a
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child when his mom Kelly Jean Hood began
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working on the streets in the
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1990s Kelly started taking drugs
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following the death of her father and
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was trying to fund her addiction through
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sex work she was actually very close to
00:10:57
my grandfather and when he passed away
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she couldn't deal with the pain my
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mom before the drugs and even after the
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drugs one of the most kind-hearted
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person you could ever meet we were her
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world she made sure we had a good child
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at best she could giv what she
00:11:19
could it's you know a very common uh
00:11:22
motivation of sex workers is to um
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engage in prostitution to raise money to
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support their drug habit despite his
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young age Kyle worked out how his mom
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was earning the money to pay for her
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addiction I was with her all the time
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and I knew the people she hung out with
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and I would just see them around the
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neighborhood and what they were doing
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and I just connected the dots I was
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worried but it was nothing I can do she
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was a grown woman and she was my mother
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I felt like I needed protector all the
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time Kelly Jean Hood was one of many
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women selling sex in the Detroit area at
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the time Natasha olenich was also
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working in the same area I wasn't on the
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streets for the drugs I was in the
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streets for money fast money seeing nice
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cars clothes mink coats stuff like that
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and I don't know just I just fell in the
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Trap I always had jobs and everything I
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just wanted to do something to get
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quicker money and I did the nature of
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the industry mean means that sex workers
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often operate in secluded and dark areas
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making them extremely vulnerable to
00:12:37
Predators sex workers are at a huge risk
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of serious harm and homicide I mean
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mainly because of their
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accessibility sex workers are easy to
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get into a place on your own no
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questions asked and um because they want
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the money they'll they'll go with you to
00:13:01
a dark place where no one else is around
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it is a very Risky Business they're
00:13:06
living a very highrisk Life One Night in
00:13:10
August 1999 Natasha was working a shift
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on the usual streets unbeknown to the
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sex workers in the area there was a
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deadly predator on the loose and he was
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out that night looking for his next
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victim I was on 8 Mile Road he was in a
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Jeep and he circled one time then he
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circled again he pulled up and he asked
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me for you a date and I said yeah then I
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got in the
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truck he was
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big he was baldheaded at the
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time he was tall he wore
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glasses yep and you could he was a big
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guy he wasn't little I didn't feel
00:14:01
uncomfortable with him or anything you
00:14:03
know I wasn't nervous or
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nothing Natasha was staying in a motel
00:14:09
room close to the red light area so the
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pair headed
00:14:15
there he got inside the room and he just
00:14:18
was feeling uneasy he asked to use the
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bathroom he used the bathroom he came
00:14:22
out and he said I I just don't really
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feel right I gotta leave and he leaves
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she goes into her room
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a little while later there's a knock on
00:14:31
her door she opens the door it's that
00:14:34
guy I should have never opened the door
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I should have just said never mind but I
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didn't think he was going to come back
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opening the door to let the client back
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in turned out to be a decision that
00:14:46
Natasha would soon regret he came in
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then that's when he slammed my door and
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he was like don't scream don't yell cuz
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that's when he had the knife some sharp
00:14:55
big ones and I was like oh my God you
00:14:58
can have all my money money whatever my
00:15:00
whatever but the attacker wasn't
00:15:02
interested in taking Natasha's money he
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wanted to take her
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life he said he
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was going
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to kill me and I was like don't kill me
00:15:17
I got kids he came in with his knife at
00:15:20
me my neck my eyes my toes my fingers it
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just blood everywhere cuz he cutting me
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then I was on the bed like laying down
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he had his body on me and then he
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grabbed the telephone
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cord and wrapped it around my neck like
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five times and was like choking and the
00:15:45
asphixiation caused Natasha to pass
00:15:49
out when she regained Consciousness her
00:15:52
attacker was
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gone I went out to the ran out of the
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motel room and said I need need help I
00:15:59
need help I was almost this guy just
00:16:01
tried to kill me and then that's when
00:16:04
the police
00:16:05
came the police interviewed Natasha but
00:16:09
her description of the attacker wasn't
00:16:12
enough on its
00:16:13
own it's very difficult for the police
00:16:15
to follow up on any kind of attack like
00:16:17
this um because there's so little to go
00:16:19
on about what who this person is and
00:16:22
after that happened I said just I got to
00:16:25
get out of this I had to get counseling
00:16:28
and stuff cuz I got diagnosed with
00:16:35
PTSD less than 4 months later on
00:16:38
December the 2nd
00:16:40
1999 another woman was targeted 31
00:16:44
year-old sex worker Monica Johnson was
00:16:47
driven to work on Michigan Avenue by her
00:16:50
boyfriend the couple parked up on a side
00:16:53
street just off the notorious red light
00:16:56
strip and he stayed in his car while she
00:16:59
walked down Michigan Avenue to do some
00:17:01
business and that's the last you ever
00:17:03
saw of her Monica had been picked up by
00:17:06
a man on Michigan Avenue and they'
00:17:09
driven away from the area to have their
00:17:11
sexual
00:17:12
encounter and it was just a short little
00:17:15
kind of secluded area a short little
00:17:18
service drive and they parked along
00:17:20
there near an alley and They carried out
00:17:23
a
00:17:23
transaction but then things took a dark
00:17:26
turn when the man Monica was with
00:17:29
attacked and strangled her a passer by
00:17:32
found her still alive hours later and
00:17:35
called for an ambulance and the
00:17:38
ambulance came and they picked her up
00:17:40
and they took her to the hospital but by
00:17:42
the time they got there she had died
00:17:45
with no eyewitnesses or CCTV of the
00:17:49
attack on Monica Johnson the police had
00:17:52
no leads and very little to progress
00:17:54
their
00:17:55
investigation nor had they identified
00:17:58
any suspect ects for the attacks on
00:18:00
several other sex workers in Detroit in
00:18:04
1999 Monica's killer was still on the
00:18:07
loose in Detroit and he could strike
00:18:09
again at any moment so when we get into
00:18:13
the beginning of 2000 the turn of the
00:18:18
Millennium he escalates really quite
00:18:21
quickly he cannot give up the compulsion
00:18:24
to have sex with sex workers and kill
00:18:27
them
00:18:29
39-year-old Wendy Jordan was known to
00:18:32
the police as a sex worker in the
00:18:34
Redlight area of Detroit on January the
00:18:38
1st 2000 Wendy got into the car of a man
00:18:42
who wanted to pay for her
00:18:45
Services he was on Warren Avenue in
00:18:48
Detroit and he picked Wendy up and he
00:18:51
took her to the side street that was
00:18:54
right next to a funeral home and they
00:18:56
parked in the parking lot of this
00:18:57
Funeral Home and they proceeded with
00:19:00
their transaction and then he killed her
00:19:03
and he drove with her in the Jeep a few
00:19:06
miles away and he pulled over and dumped
00:19:09
her over a bridge into the Rouge River
00:19:13
on Ann Arbor Trail and then he went home
00:19:18
Wendy's body had been left in Dearborn
00:19:20
Heights the home of John Eric Armstrong
00:19:24
and his family since leaving the Army
00:19:27
less than a year earlier and moving to
00:19:29
the area Armstrong had changed jobs a
00:19:32
number of times on January the 2nd 2000
00:19:36
Armstrong set off for work at a retail
00:19:40
store at some point in the morning
00:19:42
Armstrong reported feeling sick and told
00:19:45
his boss he had to leave work uh at
00:19:47
which time he drove away apparently on
00:19:49
his way home on his way home Armstrong
00:19:52
pulls over on the bridge over the Rouge
00:19:55
River and says he did that because he
00:19:58
felt so ill he was going to vomit over
00:20:00
the bridge Armstrong looked down at the
00:20:03
River Rouge below it's maybe at that
00:20:06
point 50 yards wide 6 8 ft deep at the
00:20:11
most um and it it it runs for Miles uh
00:20:16
but there's not a real strong current it
00:20:18
was January and uh it it was still
00:20:21
frozen and so he looks over the bridge
00:20:23
and he sees this woman it was the body
00:20:25
of Wendy Jordan who'd been left there
00:20:27
the previous day
00:20:29
Armstrong flagged down a passer by to
00:20:31
call the police I'm on the Rouge River
00:20:34
and there's a dead body in the river I
00:20:37
think she got raped she's naked got a
00:20:39
clo g off he phones him up and of
00:20:42
course the body's discovered it is
00:20:45
indeed Wendy Jordan the police arrived
00:20:47
at the scene and Armstrong told them
00:20:50
that he'd left work early because he was
00:20:52
feeling ill and had been driving home
00:20:55
but the police regarded and I quite
00:20:58
agree with them as most peculiar he just
00:21:01
happened to stop on the bridge and he
00:21:02
just happened to look over and he just
00:21:03
happened to see a body goodness me I
00:21:07
mean it almost defies belief doesn't it
00:21:09
to be
00:21:10
honest detectives wondered if there was
00:21:13
more to the Discovery than Armstrong had
00:21:16
told them but if he was involved in any
00:21:19
way why would he have alerted the
00:21:23
police he said he could see a body
00:21:26
floating in the river and it was all
00:21:29
innocent why would he do that there a
00:21:31
really it seems like it would go against
00:21:35
everything that you think that he would
00:21:37
do you would think that he would want to
00:21:40
get away with it you think he'd want to
00:21:42
stay under the radar based on the
00:21:45
unusual nature of Armstrong being in
00:21:48
that place at that time the police bring
00:21:49
him down for additional questioning to
00:21:51
the police station um during which he
00:21:54
maintains that he has no connection to
00:21:55
this person he didn't know who they are
00:21:57
why they were there and he stuck to his
00:21:59
story that he felt sick and left work I
00:22:04
over and then when I leave
00:22:07
over my I caught something I looked over
00:22:09
there she was it seems unusual that you
00:22:12
picked the exact
00:22:14
spot that that would leave you to be
00:22:16
looking over the edge where she was tell
00:22:18
you right now wasn't with her never saw
00:22:20
her never seen
00:22:24
her sorry not knowing anything
00:22:28
not knowing anything or is there maybe
00:22:31
some things
00:22:32
that you want to tell us but I didn't
00:22:35
know why she wasn't in Che with and you
00:22:37
just pulled up and you were going to
00:22:38
throw up and she was laying down there I
00:22:40
had to B it yeah yes I had to B it
00:22:43
Armstrong had placed himself directly
00:22:46
into the murdering quiry but with no
00:22:48
grounds to detain him police let him
00:22:50
leave his account of what happened had
00:22:53
raised their suspicions and they decided
00:22:55
to investigate Armstrong further
00:22:58
Dearborn Heights had him pegged and they
00:23:02
don't get a whole lot of homicides like
00:23:03
Detroit does and so they dug into this
00:23:07
one and they hung on they followed him
00:23:09
around they even asked to search his car
00:23:12
which he consented to so they did a
00:23:13
forensic examination of his car which
00:23:15
they do tape lifts of they try to see if
00:23:18
has fingerprints or DNA or blood inside
00:23:20
the car and one of the officers happened
00:23:23
to notice in the search of the jeep that
00:23:26
he saw what he believed were little
00:23:30
specks or residue that were gold in
00:23:33
color that matched the shoes that Wendy
00:23:36
was wearing within the car there was
00:23:39
forensic evidence that Wendy Jordan had
00:23:40
been in it which pointed even more
00:23:42
conclusively to the fact that he'd not
00:23:44
only known her had her in the car and
00:23:47
thrown her out into the river they got a
00:23:49
warrant for his um blood and saliva and
00:23:52
they did DNA testing and then they did
00:23:54
DNA testing from Wendy's body conclusive
00:23:58
d DNA evidence could give the police
00:24:00
enough to link Armstrong to the murder
00:24:03
of Wendy Jordan but this wouldn't be a
00:24:05
quick process DNA really came onto the
00:24:09
criminal investigation scene in the late
00:24:11
80s so it was relatively new they didn't
00:24:15
have the technology that we have today
00:24:18
to both get DNA and analyze even a good
00:24:21
DNA sample it could take months for the
00:24:23
DNA results to come back the police
00:24:26
would have to wait for those before they
00:24:28
could take any further action against
00:24:31
Armstrong and the prosecutor ordered him
00:24:34
released until such time as they had the
00:24:36
results from the DNA Lab at this point
00:24:39
the police look at Armstrong and he's a
00:24:41
former military service member um who
00:24:43
got out of the service and got a decent
00:24:45
job and and settled with a wife and
00:24:47
family and so his daily life doesn't
00:24:50
seem to indicate you know a a killer it
00:24:53
would be an agonizing wait for
00:24:56
investigators meanwhile John Eric
00:24:58
Armstrong remained free to roam the
00:25:01
streets of Detroit 3 months after Wendy
00:25:04
Jordan's body was discovered 42-year-old
00:25:08
Willamina drain was on Michigan
00:25:11
Avenue she said she was trying to catch
00:25:13
a bus home and she was an older lady a
00:25:17
vehicle pulled up alongside her and the
00:25:19
man driving asked her if she needed a
00:25:22
lift and they start to travel along and
00:25:26
um she instructs him how to take her
00:25:28
home which was north of Michigan she
00:25:30
lived like off Joy Road and he traveled
00:25:33
North but he didn't make the turn he was
00:25:35
supposed to make and he um Turned
00:25:37
somewhere else and he pulled over and he
00:25:40
reached for her she sprays him with mace
00:25:43
and she's able to
00:25:49
escape 5 days later on April the 7th
00:25:52
2000 sex worker Devin Marcus survived an
00:25:56
attack and reported the in inent to the
00:25:59
police around the same time another sex
00:26:02
worker called Cynthia was attacked by a
00:26:05
man fitting the same description as the
00:26:07
other two
00:26:09
incidents he left her for dead but in
00:26:13
fact she wasn't dead she survived the
00:26:16
attacker was showing no signs of slowing
00:26:19
down we've got Willamina we've got Devon
00:26:21
we've got Cynthia who were attacked and
00:26:23
survived and he was escalating he was
00:26:25
definitely escalating I mean once he
00:26:26
kicked back into gear in midmar
00:26:28
he escalated boom boom boom boom on
00:26:32
April the 10th 2000 the police received
00:26:35
a phone
00:26:37
call somebody thought they saw a body on
00:26:40
the side of a railroad track as they
00:26:42
were passing through I was the
00:26:45
commanding officer of the violent crime
00:26:47
section of the Detroit Police Department
00:26:50
composed of the violent crime task force
00:26:53
The Fugitive apprehension team and the
00:26:56
crime analysis team of of uh the Detroit
00:26:59
Police Department every Monday morning
00:27:02
we would have a briefing while we were
00:27:05
in that
00:27:06
meeting the uh head of the homicide
00:27:10
division got a a message to call the
00:27:13
office Jerry Cliff passed the news on to
00:27:17
his colleague Dell Christian a team
00:27:19
leader on the violent crime task force
00:27:23
the commander from the Detroit Police
00:27:24
Department came through and say um hey
00:27:27
they found a body over by the railroad
00:27:29
tracks it's just a track that just goes
00:27:32
through it's a single track in that area
00:27:34
it's used by one of the passenger rails
00:27:36
and also Freight and a passenger on the
00:27:41
train that looked out the window and saw
00:27:43
the body told the conductor I think I
00:27:46
just saw a body on the track and the
00:27:48
conductor contacted the police
00:27:50
department not long after this report
00:27:53
came through to the police there was
00:27:55
more news to follow I say walk around
00:27:59
the area they discover a second body and
00:28:01
he came back and he said there's two
00:28:04
bodies at the
00:28:05
scand and they're in different states of
00:28:10
decomposition they walk around further
00:28:13
and unfortunately third body and so they
00:28:15
realize okay this is very bad these
00:28:19
three females were probably left here by
00:28:21
the same person with three dead bodies
00:28:24
found in the same location police had to
00:28:27
act fast to establish what had happened
00:28:29
to these women there was one victim she
00:28:32
was lying 10 to 15 yards uh away from
00:28:36
the tracks themselves on grass and
00:28:39
gravel uh but not concealed at all in in
00:28:43
brush or anything like that she had her
00:28:46
pants down around her ankles she had her
00:28:49
legs had been spread in a revealing
00:28:51
manner I guess you would say there was
00:28:54
uh what appeared to be tights of some
00:28:56
sort wrapped around her neck so you
00:28:58
could tell that she'd obviously been uh
00:29:00
been raped and and strangled as we
00:29:04
walked uh further uh would have been
00:29:07
North there was a lot of
00:29:10
brush and uh that's where the second and
00:29:13
the third bodies were found the bodies
00:29:16
weren't very well hidden so this isn't
00:29:18
this isn't somebody who's done what
00:29:20
they' done and they're leaving the scene
00:29:23
so we have to assume that the killer
00:29:26
knows these bodies will be found wants
00:29:29
them to be found in fact they want to
00:29:32
display what they've done to the
00:29:36
world the victims all had ligature marks
00:29:39
around their necks showing that they'd
00:29:42
been
00:29:43
strangled their bodies had also been
00:29:46
posed by their killer I don't think that
00:29:50
somebody who does that to women has got
00:29:55
great relationships with women uh
00:29:58
probably struggles in relationships with
00:30:00
them and feels an awful lot of
00:30:02
resentment towards women I mean the
00:30:05
misogyny of it just it's probably the
00:30:08
loudest message that you can get from
00:30:11
something like that it's wanting to
00:30:13
degrade and
00:30:15
humiliate the
00:30:17
victims this was a man taking pleasure
00:30:20
in killing and demeaning women once we
00:30:24
realize well we have a what what I call
00:30:26
a Dumping Ground for the bodies we knew
00:30:29
we had a Serial murderer we mobilized
00:30:31
pretty much everybody that we had didn't
00:30:34
take us long to realize that this guy
00:30:36
was was a very prolific killer and that
00:30:39
we needed to get him off the street as
00:30:41
soon as humanly possible before somebody
00:30:43
else died now you have multiple victims
00:30:46
you have future victims that may happen
00:30:48
unless you catch this person who they're
00:30:50
not going to stop killing until you
00:30:51
catch
00:30:54
them over 8 months in 1999 and 2000 a
00:30:59
Spate of attacks and murders had
00:31:01
happened in the Detroit area of Michigan
00:31:04
it was clear to police that a serial
00:31:06
killer was loose on the streets
00:31:09
attacking and murdering women at an
00:31:11
increasing rate detectives knew they
00:31:14
needed to act
00:31:16
fast now this UPS everything in the
00:31:19
police mind the investigation
00:31:21
immediately takes on a different tenor
00:31:24
this is obviously a Serial because you
00:31:27
could tell by looking at the three
00:31:28
bodies that they were in differing
00:31:29
states of decomposition and it's going
00:31:31
to be the only case we're going to be
00:31:33
dealing with for the next few days until
00:31:34
we get the bad guy the race to catch the
00:31:38
killer was on but with limited evidence
00:31:40
and no leads the investigators had
00:31:43
little to go on they needed to identify
00:31:46
the three women and work out a possible
00:31:48
connection between them in the hope that
00:31:51
it might lead the police to their
00:31:54
killer as we were able to identify the
00:31:56
victims we also found out that there had
00:31:59
been previous arrests for or encounters
00:32:02
with the law uh concerning prostitution
00:32:05
and and
00:32:07
whatnot one was called Robin Brown also
00:32:11
known as Nicole young one was Rosemary
00:32:15
felt and the last was called kelly
00:32:21
hood for Kelly Hood's son Kyle his worst
00:32:25
fears for his mother had come true
00:32:28
I heard my grandmother coming up the
00:32:30
stairs and the first thing she told me
00:32:31
before anybody she said Miko they found
00:32:34
your mom she's not here with us anymore
00:32:36
they found her she's she's gone then I
00:32:38
knew then that they she meant she was
00:32:41
dead she became addicted to drugs the
00:32:44
only way that she could support herself
00:32:46
after her family broke up was to work
00:32:47
the street she didn't become addicted
00:32:49
because she wanted to she wasn't working
00:32:51
the street because she wanted to she was
00:32:53
working the street to support a habit
00:32:54
that she had no control over
00:33:00
police had identified the victims were
00:33:03
all sex workers but specialist help
00:33:05
would be needed to track down their
00:33:08
killer FBI profilers got to work on
00:33:11
building a picture of the offender the
00:33:14
profile will come in look at all the
00:33:15
victims look at the victimology um what
00:33:18
commonalities among these victims among
00:33:19
the way they were posed among the way
00:33:21
they were killed um and maybe even if
00:33:24
you can figure out the way they met the
00:33:26
person that killed them
00:33:28
looking at the crime the FBI's
00:33:31
Behavioral Science unit suggested that
00:33:34
the crimes have been committed by white
00:33:36
man comparatively young 25 to
00:33:40
30 they told us you're looking at his
00:33:45
successes you need to look for a
00:33:47
failure and by that they meant somebody
00:33:50
got
00:33:51
away and if we could find that somebody
00:33:54
we would get a physical description
00:33:56
maybe a vehicle description so on and so
00:33:58
forth having identified the women as sex
00:34:01
workers police knew they needed to
00:34:03
interview women in the red light area in
00:34:06
the hope of getting much needed
00:34:10
information well from two or three of
00:34:13
the girls that were interviewed um they
00:34:15
mentioned that yes a guy tried to kill
00:34:17
me he was driving a Jeep another one
00:34:19
said that um he had a tiger tattoo on
00:34:22
his arm that he was a white male with
00:34:24
reddish hair another one said he had a
00:34:27
work shirt with the name Eric on it the
00:34:30
reports all seem to point to the same
00:34:33
offender so we realized that the next
00:34:35
thing that he would do is find another
00:34:36
victim in the hope of stopping the
00:34:38
killer in his tracks Detroit's violent
00:34:41
crime task force set up covert
00:34:43
surveillance on Michigan Avenue and the
00:34:46
surrounding streets now you have
00:34:49
potentially a predator hunting victims
00:34:52
through this area and you can't afford
00:34:53
to miss that we basically flooded the
00:34:55
area with surveillance Crews and uh
00:34:58
detectives in plink clothes not business
00:35:01
suits but you know jeans and jackets and
00:35:05
uh basically patrolled looking for
00:35:08
someone fitting his
00:35:10
description they didn't want the killer
00:35:13
to realize that the police were onto him
00:35:16
any suspicion they were looking for him
00:35:18
could scare the killer off and prevent
00:35:20
him from being
00:35:22
caught so during this time in this area
00:35:25
a an actual marked uniform patrol car
00:35:29
noticed a car with a guy in it that
00:35:31
might have matched the description of
00:35:33
the profile and so they do a routine car
00:35:36
stop so they can identify him get his
00:35:38
driver's license get his date of birth
00:35:40
run him through the system to see if
00:35:41
anybody's looking for him who is this
00:35:44
guy the driver of the vehicle was John
00:35:47
Eric Armstrong Dearborn Heights were
00:35:50
waiting for DNA results to establish a
00:35:53
link to the murder of Wendy Jordan but
00:35:56
Armstrong was unknown to to the offices
00:35:58
in neighboring
00:36:00
Detroit he said he was coming home from
00:36:02
work well his work was in the other
00:36:04
direction he lived in deborn Heights he
00:36:07
worked over in that direction he was a
00:36:10
long way from home based on the matching
00:36:12
description and Armstrong story not
00:36:15
adding up police arrested him for
00:36:17
further questioning but before they
00:36:19
could get to the station there was a
00:36:21
shock in stall for the
00:36:23
officers the officers that are driving
00:36:26
him hear him muttering in the back back
00:36:27
seat under his breath and he's saying
00:36:30
kind of in a low voice um I'm just glad
00:36:32
it's over I'm glad you got me he was
00:36:35
taken straight down to the fifth floor
00:36:37
Police Headquarters and that's when the
00:36:39
interviews began as the officers talked
00:36:43
to Armstrong one of them leaned forward
00:36:45
and put his hand on top of
00:36:48
Armstrongs he says I just touched you he
00:36:51
says I left my DNA on your body simply
00:36:56
by laying my hand on yours
00:36:58
and that's when they began to explain to
00:37:01
him you know if if you had anything to
00:37:05
do with these
00:37:06
murders and you touch them in any way
00:37:09
we're going to be able to tell there is
00:37:11
absolutely no way that you're going to
00:37:13
plead that you didn't touch them if we
00:37:16
get this DNA analysis that proves that
00:37:18
you did and all of a sudden he just
00:37:20
started okay I did it I did it I did it
00:37:23
then he started making all of his
00:37:25
confessions and one right after another
00:37:27
a lot of confessions for several hours
00:37:30
John Eric Armstrong confessed to the
00:37:32
murders of the three women found at the
00:37:35
rail yard Nicole young Rosemary felt and
00:37:39
Kelly Jean Hood also during this time in
00:37:42
this confession he confessed to the
00:37:44
murder of Wendy Jordan uh off the Rouge
00:37:46
Bridge um he knew that he was a suspect
00:37:49
in that case um so it was time to uh
00:37:52
confess to that
00:37:58
but Armstrong's confessions had only
00:38:01
just begun he actually went through a a
00:38:06
list of a number of females that he had
00:38:10
murdered while he was on the uh USS
00:38:13
Nimitz aircraft carrier in multiple
00:38:16
foreign countries anytime he was on uh
00:38:20
Shor Le he would go ashore and quite
00:38:23
often he would find a prostitute and um
00:38:26
go through his te uh rape murder and you
00:38:31
know sometimes he would dispose of the
00:38:33
bodies and sometimes he would just leave
00:38:34
them you're talking Singapore you're
00:38:37
talking you know um Hong Kong and all
00:38:41
these exotic locals that his boat
00:38:44
traveled to while he was in the Navy at
00:38:46
this point FBI officials begin to
00:38:49
investigate Armstrong's claims of all
00:38:51
these other murders internationally
00:38:52
because if it is true he's going to be
00:38:54
one of the most prolific well-traveled
00:38:56
Sy killers in history and so they start
00:38:59
to look into all of these things um that
00:39:02
he's telling them in other jurisdictions
00:39:04
some of his descriptions aren't
00:39:06
definitive enough so when they look uh
00:39:08
the dates don't match up it could be
00:39:10
he's telling the truth he just didn't
00:39:11
give them enough
00:39:13
details in March 2001 27-year-old John
00:39:18
Eric Armstrong went on trial for the
00:39:21
murder of Wendy Jordan at the Frank
00:39:23
Murphy Hall of Justice in downtown
00:39:26
Detroit
00:39:28
to the surprise of those involved in the
00:39:31
investigation and despite his earlier
00:39:33
confessions Armstrong changed his story
00:39:37
by the time um he was brought up on
00:39:39
charges and things were proceeding
00:39:41
through the court system he was
00:39:43
maintaining his innocence during the
00:39:46
trial DNA and forensic evidence was
00:39:48
presented to the jury fibers from Wendy
00:39:51
Jordan's clothes had been found in
00:39:53
Armstrong's vehicle and the results of
00:39:56
the DNA taken by the Dearborn Heights
00:39:59
Police had come back the Seaman found
00:40:02
inside Wendy's body was John Eric
00:40:06
Armstrongs and so in the case of Wendy
00:40:08
Jordan his attorney one of the tactics
00:40:11
he tried was that okay um you got DNA
00:40:15
evidence and it's linked to my client to
00:40:17
Wendy Jordan so yeah they had sex that
00:40:19
night but it was consensual and when he
00:40:21
left her she was alive so somebody else
00:40:23
killed her the jury didn't believe this
00:40:26
excuse on the 3rd of April 2001 after a
00:40:30
twoe trial John Eric Armstrong was found
00:40:33
guilty of the first-degree murder of
00:40:35
Wendy Jordan and given a life
00:40:38
sentence on the 18th of June 2001 he was
00:40:43
also found guilty of the first-degree
00:40:45
murder of Kelly Jean hood and given
00:40:47
another life
00:40:49
sentence she was a wife a mother a
00:40:53
daughter and she was a human being that
00:40:55
deserved to live and deserve to come
00:40:58
back from her addiction if he didn't
00:41:00
take her life I know she would have came
00:41:02
around because everybody can overcome an
00:41:08
addiction on July the 4th 2001 Armstrong
00:41:13
pleaded guilty to the second deegree
00:41:15
murder of Robin Brown Rosemary felt and
00:41:18
Monica Johnson he was sentenced to an
00:41:21
additional 31 years Armstrong was never
00:41:24
charged with the attack on Natasha oen
00:41:27
Jack but she is certain he was the man
00:41:29
who attacked her in August
00:41:34
1999 he was wrong for doing what he he's
00:41:37
done and period I don't even know how
00:41:39
someone can just be at home with their
00:41:43
wife and killing women how could you
00:41:46
just go out and do that Armstrong was
00:41:50
taken to the G Robert Cotton
00:41:52
Correctional Facility in Michigan to
00:41:55
serve his sentence
00:41:57
other serial investigations and one of
00:41:59
the things that you learn when you're
00:42:01
doing that is serial criminals don't
00:42:03
just stop when and if they get back into
00:42:06
polite Society they're going to start up
00:42:07
all over again if he could he would
00:42:10
still be doing it if they let him out he
00:42:13
would do it again Armstrong was in
00:42:18
my humble opinion uh the
00:42:20
presentification of evil he had no
00:42:23
remorse whatsoever for what he was doing
00:42:25
he knew what he was doing was wrong he
00:42:27
knew he was Taking Lives he was a
00:42:30
manipulator um and he would do it until
00:42:33
we stopped him the lives that Armstrong
00:42:36
took before being caught will always be
00:42:39
remembered by their loved ones who bear
00:42:42
the pain to this
00:42:44
day my impression of John Eric Armstrong
00:42:47
he's just a monster he's killed multiple
00:42:48
women so it was natural to him only only
00:42:54
person that that type of lifestyle that
00:42:56
could be natural to as a monster plain
00:42:58
and
00:43:06
simple Armstrong killed five women in
00:43:09
Michigan and violently attacked many
00:43:12
more he also claims to have murdered
00:43:15
women all over the world when he was in
00:43:17
the Navy if true John Eric Armstrong is
00:43:21
one of the most globally prolific serial
00:43:24
killers to ever exist and will will
00:43:27
forever be known as one of the world's
00:43:30
most evil killers
00:43:33
[Music]
