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11-year-old Ricky Stetson went for an evening run on a jogging trail in Portland, Maine.
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Witnesses recalled seeing the boy and a young man right behind him on a bicycle.
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The next day, Ricky Stetson's body was discovered in a nearby ravine. He had been murdered.
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[Applause] [Music] The killer left very few clues, but he left behind something he couldn't hide,
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his signature. [Music] 11-year-old Ricky Stetson and his family lived in a working-class section of
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Portland, Maine, a coastal city known primarily as a summer vacation destination.
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Around 8:00 p.m. on August 23rd, 1983, Ricky went for a short run along the biking and jogging path called Black
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Cove. He never returned home. His body was discovered the next day in a grassy area just off the jogging path.
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There was evidence, both externally and internally as I recall, of asphyxiation,
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that is of choking around the neck. And it appeared to the medical examiner as though he was he was choked manually
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and probably by a ligature. He had also been stabbed. The autopsy revealed that the boy had not been
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sexually assaulted, but there were bite wounds on various parts of his body. And the bite marks had been gouged with
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a knife. None of the forensic dentists had seen a case before in which there had been a bite mark with slashing and
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cutting through it as if to hide the bite mark. Uh and so that's what the law calls a
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signature crime. That is, it is done in a way that is very unique, that is very unusual,
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that the culprit, the perpetrator, is leaving, as it were, his signature uh on the crime.
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To Portland police, Ricky Stetson's murder appeared similar to a series of knifings that occurred 2 years earlier
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in the Oakdale section of the city. [Music] Michael Witham was just 9 years old when
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he had an encounter with the so-called Oakdale Slasher. There's a wooded lot
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between a couple of houses, which have a couple of paths, and I was called into the wooded lot
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by a guy who I didn't know at the time. He had asked me a few questions, my age,
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my name, where I lived. And after he had asked his questions, he said I could leave.
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As I turned to leave, he grabbed me and cut my throat. Witham got away, but the injury was just
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inches from being fatal and required 12 stitches to close. All Witham could say was the attacker
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was a white male in his late teens or early 20s. That description was similar to the one
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of the man seen riding his bicycle behind Ricky Stetson. [Music] For a full year, police searched for the
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killer and eventually they identified a suspect, 24-year-old Joseph Anderson. He
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was also a suspect in the attempted murder of a 9-year-old girl. But there was a problem.
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Police in Bellevue, Nebraska had a similar murder. A 13-year-old boy with stab wounds and
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markings identical to Ricky Stetson's. If the Nebraska murder was related to
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the Stetson case in Maine, Joseph Anderson wasn't the killer. A serial murderer was on the loose on a
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1,500-mile killing spree. In the fall of 1983, police in Bellevue, Nebraska were
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searching for a missing 13-year-old boy, Danny Joe Eberle. Danny Joe had been delivering newspapers
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early one Sunday morning when he mysteriously disappeared. He's partially through his paper route
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and now he's disappeared. And uh he wasn't with any of his playmates, any of his relatives, uh
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wasn't in any of the neighborhoods, and we knew something was terribly wrong
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right then. Danny Joe's bicycle was found in front of a home he delivered newspapers to,
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but there was no sign of a struggle and no sign of the boy. Danny's bicycle,
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his brother and sister and his mother and dad said his whole life was that bicycle. He That's why he delivered
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newspapers to buy accessories and to keep the bicycle shining. He was really proud of it.
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Police searched for Danny Joe Eberle across the state of Nebraska. His picture was seen on nightly
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television programs and in the newspapers. Three days later, investigators' worst fears were realized.
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Danny Joe Eberle's body was found on a desolate stretch of road 4 miles from
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his bicycle. He had been stabbed to death. The town's mayor, Joe Baldwin, personally delivered the news to the
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boy's mother. We broke the news to her and we were all crying, including the
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FBI guy. He was crying. He was crying and I was crying. The chief was crying. A very traumatic type thing to tell some
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woman your son is found and he's dead. It's the most traumatic thing I think
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I've ever done. Danny Joe Eberle's hands and feet were tied with rope and a star-shaped pattern
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had been cut into his chest, but there was no sign of sexual assault. Police turned to FBI behavioral analyst
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Robert Ressler for a psychological profile of the killer. We had a biter, an individual was
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compelled to bite his victims and then cutting the flesh away to deny that evidence to the police.
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Since the body was found so close to the road, Ressler suspected the killer was slightly built and not strong enough to
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carry the body very far. The location also told Ressler that the killer was inexperienced. And it was right off the
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side of the road, really uh would indicate to me that the killer was in in a little state of panic, uh wanted to
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get rid of the body, didn't want to be found with the body in the car, but but
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wasn't sophisticated or knowledgeable enough about the area to do it effectively. And uh it would indicate to
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me possibly that this may have been the uh first time that he had killed in this
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particular area. The rope used to bind Danny Joe Eberle was of particular interest to
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investigators and was sent to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. Special Agent Wayne Oaks conducted the
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analysis. I had never seen anyone like this, none of the other examiners in the laboratory who deal with ropes on a
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daily basis over a number of years had ever seen a rope like this. The outside of the rope was common white
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nylon, but the inner core was extremely unusual. There were 24 different types of fibers
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and 106 different colored yarns. There were polyesters, nylons, rayons, acrylics, polyethylenes, wools, and
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cottons, which is what made the rope unique. Oaks took the rope to the National Cordage Institute, a trade association
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of all rope manufacturers in the United States. Their technical experts had never seen a rope like this, either.
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Back in Bellevue, Nebraska, police were desperate to find the killer of Danny Joe Eberle and parents were warned to
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keep a close eye on their children. People are reluctant to let their children out to go sledding or skating
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or any of the normal activities. Children are watched over at shopping centers. The
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parents are keeping a very tight rein on their children for their safety. Despite the precautions, the unthinkable
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happened again. Another young boy, 12-year-old Christopher Walden, was abducted as he
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walked to school. It was about eight blocks from his house, uh again in Bellevue,
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and uh he was at a four-way stop when uh a young man came up and forced him into
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the car and drove off with him. In the subzero temperatures, police searched for Christopher Walden.
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Three days later, a group of pheasant hunters stumbled upon a snow-covered figure.
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Christopher Walden's frozen body was found in the same area as Danny Joe Eberle's.
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Like Danny Joe, Walden had been stabbed to death and he had the same star-shaped pattern
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etched on his body. Two sets of footprints led into the woods where Christopher Walden's body
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was discovered, but only one set of footprints left the scene, an indication the killer did not have an accomplice.
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The star-shaped pattern told investigators that this was the same individual who killed Danny Joe Eberle 3
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months earlier. Witnesses saw Christopher Walden with a young white male in his early 20s on the
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walkway near the school. From those descriptions, police created a composite drawing which was distributed to
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newspapers and local television stations. Robert Ressler refined his profile of the killer with information gathered
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from the second murder. I felt that the individual because of this need to be close to young males and
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having attraction for them that he would be involved in some sort of activities with youth. Uh soccer coach, baseball
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coach, uh Boy Scouts. Since the killer was using a knife to obscure the bite wounds, Ressler suspected that the
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killer read police and detective magazines because matching bite wounds to a dental impression is often
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discussed in these types of publications. Police talked to a woman who was walking
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her dog near the intersection at the time Christopher Walden was abducted. She thought she saw the abduction, but
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she wasn't entirely sure. So, police asked her to undergo hypnosis. Hypnosis can sometimes help a witness to
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recall details of an event they can't otherwise remember, but hypnotically enhanced recollections are usually not
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admissible in court. She underwent hypnosis. And something came out in the session
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and it was just driving her crazy. And it all came back to her. And that's when she realized that she had seen uh
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Christopher Walden being kidnapped. She said that Christopher Walden was with a man who was approximately the
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same height. [Music] The car leaving the scene was brown. The license number started with the letter R
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followed by a series of numbers. Sheriff Patrick Thomas issued a challenge to the killer during a news
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conference. And I think that the individual who's responsible for these acts
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is very sick, spineless, a coward, and uh I would urge him to call a minister or a priest
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or me. There was a lot of uh Monday morning quarterbacking from then on that uh maybe this shouldn't have been done or
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maybe uh whatever. But I felt that uh that I would see what he's made of because I knew that he was watching the
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press, he was watching TV. He was monitoring us as much as they do. That's part of their profile, that's
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part of their MO. And I figured that uh maybe he would make a mistake. And it worked.
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A local woman, Barbara Weaver, told friends that she had been praying for the capture of the serial murderer, and
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she did something else. In her prayers, she offered herself in any way possible to help find the
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killer. [Music] Barbara Weaver worked in a daycare center, and she usually arrived at work
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early to get her classroom ready. When she looked outside, she noticed a strange car in the parking lot.
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The driver was wearing a ski cap and looked similar to the composite drawings of the killer she saw on television.
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As she was writing down the license plate number, the man entered the classroom.
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Step back. He threatened the killer and pulled a knife. Mrs. Weaver ran past him and fled to the
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house next door, which belonged to the pastor of the church. From there, she called police.
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She writes down his license tag. That's first thing she did, sharp woman. And she went The fact of it is, you got
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to say, she went She saw the car, she said, "That looks like the car of this
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killer." Remember, this is all that's on everyone's mind. This is the biggest
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case they've ever had in Nebraska. Police tracked the license plate number to a 19-year-old enlisted man stationed
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at Offutt Air Force Base. His name was John Joubert. Joubert was a maintenance mechanic in
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the radar unit. He was also an Eagle Scout and was an assistant scout leader for a local troop.
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Joubert denied having anything to do with the two murders, but there was an interesting coincidence.
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Joubert had been living in Portland, Maine the year before at the time of Ricky Stetson's murder.
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When John Joubert was questioned about the murders of Danny Joe Eberle and Christopher Walden, he had little to say
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to investigators. But he fit the FBI's profile of the killer. He was 19 years old, slightly
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built, and an Eagle Scout who volunteered his time as an assistant scout leader of a local troop.
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Joubert read softcore pornography and detective magazines, which were found in his footlocker at the Air Force Base.
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But what police found in his automobile was of particular interest. On the right floorboard was a brown
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Caucasian head hair, which was sent to the FBI for analysis. Microscopic examination of the question
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hairs found from the vacuum sweepings in the vehicle with the known standards from the victim, they were the same
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microscopically. And I indicated in my report that the hairs in the vehicle were consistent head hairs from the
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victim, Danny Joe Eberle. Police also found a knife and a roll of tape. And in Joubert's automobile was a piece
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of rope. At first, it appeared to be common nylon rope similar to the type sold in
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thousands of retail outlets throughout the United States, but inside the rope was a surprise. The core of the rope was
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so unique with 106 different fibers in there. Every single one of those fibers was mounted on a glass microscope, and
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the generic class of fiber was identified to make sure they they were same color, composition, diameter, and
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cross-sectional shape. And to make sure that the acetates matched the acetates and the polyethylenes matched the
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polyethylenes. I found that they were identical in all respects microscopically, instrumentally,
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chemical tests, there were no differences between the two ropes. Joubert had no idea the rope was so
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rare. He said he had been given the rope years earlier in the Boy Scouts. When confronted with the evidence,
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Joubert confessed. He said, "Let me tell you about the second boy first because it's fresher in
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my mind." And uh we started questioning him and he told us and provided us with facts
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concerning uh the uh killings and the abduction of both boys that would only be known to the
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individual that had uh committed the crimes. Joubert also admitted that he was the
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Oak Dell Slasher and his attacks on people like Michael with them were practice for his subsequent killing
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spree. He also revealed that after killing Danny Joe Eberle, he walked into a McDonald's restaurant, washed the blood
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from his hands in the men's room, and ordered some breakfast. After the Christopher Walden murder,
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Joubert said he attended a Boy Scout meeting where he was an assistant troop leader. At that meeting, the troop
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discussed the abductions. >> Yeah, well, guys, you know, as long as you look out for each other, you have
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nothing to worry about. Okay? After 116 days in one of the most intensive manhunts in Nebraska history,
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police finally had their killer. And Portland, Maine had theirs as well. In Maine,
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Joubert was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Ricky Stetson. In Nebraska, for the murders of Danny
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Joe Eberle and Christopher Walden, Joubert was convicted and sentenced to death.
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I specifically asked him if he disliked the boys, and his statement was, "How
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could I dislike him? I didn't even know him." No one knows what drove John Joubert to
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kill. And I remember one day I said uh John, "If I let you out of jail today
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and just uh let you walk away from here, uh do you think you've learned now that
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you would never do that again?" And he says He thought for quite some time, and he says, "No.
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No," he says, "I don't think I could help myself." I says, "Do you mean you would go kill
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another little boy?" "Yeah, probably," he said. "Yeah, probably would."
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On July 17th, 1996, John Joubert was put to death in the electric chair. Joubert's presence is still felt to this
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day in the small town of Bell View. Former mayor Joe Baldwin regularly visits the victims' graves and remembers
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the 116 days when a serial killer stalked his community. Most horrible thing that ever happened
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in this city, you know, for to have young a young person like that, two young persons, and even three when he
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died to have their life taken away by a person like that. I think that is terrible. It it's you can't believe how
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traumatic it is when it happens. Just the other day in the grocery store, a lady said that she's just fearful of
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her little boy playing after dark. Uh that uh she remembers Joubert and she says, "I don't know how to instill
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in him that it may happen again." And uh I told her to hope and pray it never would happen again, but make sure
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she keeps an eye on her little boy. You just have to be careful. Children have to be very careful.
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There are people out there that prey on [Music] [Applause] [Music]