[Music] there's a way to make an entrance my destiny it was now a conspiracy of witches download today in the Pacific Northwest tragedy would forever bind three women who would never meet one disappeared just months before her wedding another vanished leaving two children behind a third survived to a night of Terror and spoke for the others she never knew the hunt for a serial killer LED FBI agents across country as they followed his deadly Trail [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign The Disappearance of young women triggered a search that spanned the Pacific Northwest even a massive media campaign failed to locate The Drifter who first charm then killed them as investigators followed his Trail he always stayed one step ahead I'm Jim calstrum former head of the FBI's New York office in a case that landed on the FBI's 10 most wanted list agents hoped that the one victim the killer spared would help put him behind bars March 28 1987. Laurent crowston left a party in the suburbs of Tacoma Washington at four in the morning he was looking forward to a day of fishing come with me Lauren's fiancee 22 year old Robin Smith decided to stay [Music] Robin assured laurenti be fine I love you too she would just get a ride home from someone she'd met at the party after fishing all day Saturday Lauren Fell Asleep exhausted he didn't wake up until early Sunday afternoon Robin he hadn't seen his fiancee Robin since the party two days earlier concerned the young man called Robin's mother hello yeah Edna Smith assumed her daughter was with Lauren now let me check just a minute Robin she checked to see if Robin was in her old bedroom [Music] I'd come in late without being heard Lauren told Edna not to worry okay I'll be there in a few maybe Robin had decided to spend the rest of the weekend at their friend's house about an hour later LaRon and Robin's brother arrived at the apartment do you have any choice with no sign of ramen her family decided to call police LaRon joined the Smiths at their house to wait for detectives from the Pierce County Sheriff's Office they were all worried Robin had never done anything like this before they described Robin as a happy young woman though quiet she worked long hours as a waitress saving most of her money to help pay for her upcoming wedding detective Terry Wilson and his partner initiated an investigation Smith it was unlike Robin to have just walked up and taken off she was engaged to get married she was close to her family and they finally she ever went any place her family was she usually told him where she's going to be at and so this was unlike her Lauren crowston told detectives about the last night he'd seen Robin early in the morning of March 28th Robin and LaRon hung out at a bar until it closed at 2 A.M some people they had met during the evening invited them to an after-hours party at their nearby apartment the place was rented by Elizabeth Glenn and Darren D O'Neal Ron and Robin were having such a good time they didn't want it to end the last place the Ron had seen Robin was at the party [Music] detective Wilson went to the duplex where the party had been held he found Elizabeth Glenn at home operated laurent's story and told the detective that she had intended to drive Robin home but as the night wore on her plans changed Darren seemed more interested in Robin so Elizabeth remained in the kitchen and flirted with a man named Mike perhota Elizabeth told the detective that she and prohoda had made plans to meet later at his apartment where they could be alone rohota left the party first to avoid arousing Darren's suspicions by Daybreak Darren D O'Neal hardly seemed to notice he was wrapped up telling Robin about his favorite author Louis Lamour who wrote stories about the Wild West O'Neill was unemployed and talked about living off the land like the Outdoorsman in lamour's books Elizabeth had heard it all before a little more at about 8 A.M she left the apartment to meet brahota [Music] he told O'Neil and Robin she was going out to buy more beer [Music] when she returned 24 hours later O'Neill and Robin were gone Elizabeth pointed out that she found several items missing from the apartment in searching the apartment we found that there was a television had been pulled out and the television electrical cord had been removed there was a couple of lamps from his girlfriend had told us that had extension cores on it these were missing some of a lot of his clothes were gone and she specifically mentioned that there was a blanket that also was missing from the house is this yours in a file box Wilson also found social security cards with several different aliases they included the unusual name of zebulun mccranahan when detective Wilson told his partner what he'd learned detective Walt's Stout immediately suspected Foul Play [Music] Robin was left alone with Karen O'Neill and something happened at that residence after that uh it would be speculation that maybe Darren tried to come onto her physically or sexually she may have rejected that or there was some something that happened there and I believe she was probably assaulted in that house detective's next question Dennis Morrison and Neil's friend and former employer Morrison said O'Neill had worked for him as a carpenter he said he had seen O'Neill just a few days earlier it was Saturday afternoon the day after the all night party O'Neill stopped by to ask for traveling money he said he was heading east over the Cascade Mountains Morrison had no cash to give him O'Neill was about to leave when Morrison realized he could write him a check he went to O'Neill's car to make the offer his friends seemed nervous and anxious to leave then a movement in the back of the car called Morrison's eye it looked like something was pushing against the back seat from inside the trunk O'Neill told him it was his dog he put it there to punish it Morrison described the car as a tan Chrysler with Montana tags authorities knew they were three days behind O'Neill by now he could be anywhere detectives continued to pursue the handful of O'Neill's known contacts in the area they called Gary Skinner the owner of another cabinet shop where O'Neill had worked part-time he told detectives he'd been looking for Darren O'Neill since his last day at work when Darren left he apparently took a hammer with him from the shop because it was missing and Mr Skinner couldn't account for it having been taken in any other way with no leads pointing to his whereabouts Pierce County detectives hoped O'Neill's past would provide some answers a background check revealed that the suspect was no stranger to trouble but Warren South Army had been in trouble in Colorado he had been been accused of sexual assault physical assault some of the all of his victims that we were aware of had been the females so a profile of him was starting to form that was looking for a person who is proxy a predatory in nature that's violent for sure Pierce County deputies entered everything they knew about Darren D O'Neal into the National Crime information database the ncic a listing of criminals and victims Nationwide they included his physical characteristics the description of his tattoos and the make and model of his car if O'Neill were picked up by any Police Department in the country Pierce County would be notified immediately detectives also help Robin's family launch a media campaign to locate the missing woman Robin's picture was posted all over the Tacoma Washington area along with O'Neill's [Music] the campaign began to generate leads O'Neill was spotted entering a local hospital alone on March 29th there was no security at the hospital but the ER nurses were nervous at this man's presence so they did call a couple of male employees of the hospital and Darren ultimately left without receiving any treatment for some scratches that were visible investigators believed Robin had inflicted the scratches on O'Neill's face when he attacked her the hospital staff told police that the scruffy man bore a teardrop tattoo at the corner of one eye as j-u-n-e were tattooed across the knuckles of one hand detectives learned that June was the name of O'Neill's ex-wife the media campaign continued to generate leads a highway flagman had seen O'Neill in his car at two different locations on March 30th two days after Robin's disappearance the first sighting was on a highway construction site east of Tacoma O'Neill was heading south when the flagman waved him through filter he also saw O'Neill a few hours later at a gas station off the same Highway he called police when he recognized the man's face from the newspaper to be sure the detective showed the flagman a photo lineup it included a mug shot of O'Neill alongside five others the flagman picked out O'Neill immediately [Music] but at a tan Chrysler with Montana tags on the afternoon of March 30th the same day the flagman had seen O'Neill [Music] it had been abandoned on the side of Interstate 5 about 50 miles north of Pierce County two days after Robin's disappearance [Music] unaware of the ongoing investigation the officer found nothing suspicious about the car he followed proper procedure by calling in the license plate in vehicle description Communications officer entered the tag number into a database the information should have triggered the ncic listing on O'Neil and his vehicle foreign [Music] she had mistakenly typed the abbreviation Mo for the state of Missouri instead of Mt for Montana the trooper on Highway 5 was still unaware that this was the very car Darren D O'Neal had been driving following Robin Smith's disappearance investigators best clue was about to be towed to the inbound lot on March 30th 1987 a Washington state trooper founded 10 Chrysler with Montana tags 50 miles east of Tacoma misinformed by his Communications officer the trooper was unaware that Darren D O'Neal the man wanted in connection with The Disappearance of Robin Smith had abandoned the car [Music] the vehicle was towed to an impound lot for future sale [Music] a few days later the local paper ran an article about Robin Smith's abduction story described O'Neill's car it sounded similar to a Chrysler the tow truck operator had recently impounded he checked the make model and license plate they matched he quickly notified police detectives ran a check of the Chrysler's vehicle ID number a man calling himself zebulun mccranahan was reported to have stolen it from an Idaho residence in 1986. Wilson immediately remembered the peculiar name from an ID card he'd found at O'Neill's home it was one of the suspect's aliases at Pierce County West Precinct garage detectives and evidence technicians processed the Chrysler they hope to find some trace evidence linking O'Neill or Robin to the car while technicians searched the interior the detectives moved to the trunk we found a large quantity of dried blood detectives also found a blood-stained lavender jacket Mrs Smith later identified the Garment as Robins they also recovered teeth bone chips and a clump of hair O'Neill's fingerprints on empty beer cans pointed to his involvement if detective Wilson had held out some slim hope that Robin was still alive it was now gone [Music] we felt now that we probably had a homicide on our hands by the way the type of blood that was found in the trunk and the amount of what it was found and so we started focusing on Darren as a homicide suspect at this point in time the whole tone of the investigation started changing but to charge O'Neill with murder examiners at the Washington State forensics Lab First needed to confirm that the hair and bone fragments belong to Robin Smith Pierce County Sheriffs requested Robin's dental records and blood types sent to the lab but there was a problem Robin had not been to the dentist since childhood she also had never documented her blood type since a definitive match with known samples could not be made murder charges could not be filed as the hunt for suspected killer Darren D O'Neal ground to an abrupt halt 120 miles to the north detective Carlotta Jarrett of the Bellingham Washington Police Department was working on a similar case Wendy orgy the 28 year old single mother was reported missing when she failed to pick up her daughter Wendy had a date the evening of April 24 1987. she left her daughter with a child's grandmother when Wendy failed to return a call the grandmother drove over to her house to find the little girl's favorite pillow on Wendy's bed she found blood stains and called the police foreign detective Jared obtained a warrant to search the house Wendy's car a red Ford Torino was missing [Music] the front door to Wendy's house had been left unlocked her wallet and keys were missing in the bedroom detective Jarrett found evidence of a brutal attack there was bodily fluids in the bed and there was a great amount of pooled blood underneath that pillow which had seeped to the mattress below there was low to medium impact velocity blood spatters on a wall and there were also blood smears on the wall Bellingham Police retrieved the entire bit as evidence on the headboard they found more of Wendy's blood along with two blonde hairs that did not belong to the missing woman police also recovered an acrylic fingernail Wendy's friends told police that she had worn acrylic nails on her date with a man named Michael Johnson Wendy had met Johnson earlier that afternoon on her lunch break he was the new bartender at La Paloma restaurant detective Jarrett checked the restaurant for leads I contacted the owner to see if she'd filled out an employment application for Mr Johnson and the only thing she had was a placemat that he had written some information on she gave that place to Matt to me and we did and process it for fingerprints while the detective waited for results she visited a local Mission which the bartender had listed on the placemat as his residence detective Jared spoke to the desk clerk at the mission who remembered the day Johnson checked out seen Mr Johnson at the mission at 7 30 in the morning on the day after that Wendy he had had a date with him and at that time he was wearing black slacks a vest a white shirt and a tie and told him he was going to work he also said he had met a lady and he was going to move in with her this person also said that Mr Johnson was driving a red Torino and drove away in it previous to this point he'd had no vehicle on May 4th 1987 Jarrett received a phone call from police in Eugene Oregon [Music] they had found Wendy's car a red Ford Torino abandoned in the parking lot of a Tavern inside police recovered fingerprints that match the fingerprints found on the placemat a check through the automated fingerprint identification system revealed that the prints belonged to Darren D O'Neal the man wanted for the suspected murder of Robin Smith detective Jarrett contacted authorities in Pierce County 120 miles south of Bellingham they quickly realized there was striking similarities in both cases since we were convinced that Darren O'Neill was responsible for Robin Smith's death and we also felt that he was responsible for Wendy ahi's disappearance and possible death we felt that the rest of the people in the country were also at Great risk from Darren O'Neill Pierce County deputies called in the FBI to assist in the hunt former special agent Del oros of the FBI's Tacoma resident agency was assigned the case at that point we knew we were dealing with an individual who was extremely mobile and extremely dangerous he had the history of a violent sexual predator and now he had the current tag or label of a murderer since Wendy and Robin's bodies was still missing formal murder charges were not filed sexual assault charges against O'Neill were still pending in Colorado the FBI opened a federal case against The Fugitive for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution [Music] still O'Neill managed to stay one step ahead no one knew where the suspected serial killer fled after he left Oregon [Music] and authorities still had no murder case unless they found the bodies of the missing women [Music] in May 1987 evidence pointed to the brutal slaying of two innocent women in Washington State [Music] the FBI and local police launched a media campaign to flush out suspected killer Darren D O'Neal dozens of Agents fanned out to investigate sightings all over the Pacific Northwest O'Neill was spotted hitchhiking at truck stops north and south of Seattle one trucker gave O'Neill a ride on May 23rd five he claimed his passenger thanked him for the ride because the cops were after him the trucker pulled off the highway a short time later and left O'Neill just a few miles outside the city special agent Del oros recalled that even as leads came in the hunt for The elusive killer did not get any easier the months immediately following The Disappearance of Robin Smith and Wendy Ahi were extremely frustrating because of O'Neill's change in facial appearance a change in weight people were consistently telling us that the pictures that we were showing of O'Neill were actually two different people well they weren't the FBI focused on places The Drifter might blend in because O'Neill was constantly on the Move agents questioned Travelers at local bus and train stations they hoped someone had spotted a meal and would remember his distinctive tattoos even when they found people who had seen the fugitive it was always too late O'Neill was comfortable in the ever-changing world of transients and Drifters where people could easily disappear forever it wasn't as though we were going to find Darren O'Neill at the local Ramada Inn and it forced us to take a hard look at the reality of having to search for him in places where he would blend in very very easily by way of example we looked in bus stops homeless shelters day labor camps he was certainly not anyone who was going to be holding a nine to five job which really did increase the difficulty in trying to find him as the pursuit went on through the subsequent months [Music] while agents and detectives continue to pursue hundreds of mostly false sightings detectives were called to the rural area surrounding Crystal Mountain just east of Washington State's Mount Rainier hikers had reported finding what appeared to be human remains the location was close to where a flagman had seen O'Neill's car about a month earlier not long after Robin Smith's disappearance just inside the Woodline officers spotted a Jawbone and a skull [Music] each item was carefully flagged before it was retrieved as Stout and Wilson surveyed the crime scene they wondered whether the remains were Robins investigators also found other bones scattered in the vicinity folded clothing was found hidden in the base of a nearby tree it matched the description of the outfit Robin had worn to the party they also recovered a wallet inside they found Robin Smith's driver's license investigators fanned out to cover a wide area their persistence paid off they found a claw hammer with markings similar to the one reported missing by one of O'Neill's former employers detectives also suspected it was the murder weapon the Pierce County Medical Examiner agreed a careful examination of the remains revealed that Robin had probably died as the result of blunt force trauma to the Head Darren D O'Neill was charged with first-degree murder once the remains of Robin Smith were found we certainly had the confirmation that a murder had occurred and by virtue of that murder the Washington Federal authorities then issued their own separate and second investigation they issued a another unlawful flight to avoid prosecution warrant for him the FBI was more determined than ever to get their hands on the man responsible for this heinous crime by June of 1987 the FBI had issued two Federal warrants for the arrest of suspected serial killer Darren D O'Neal still on the loose in the Pacific Northwest the remains of one woman had been recovered close to Mount Rainier the second woman was still missing and presumed dead since O'Neill was last known to be in Eugene Oregon special agent Michael Elsie of the FBI's Portland field office was called in knowing that he was a sexual predator I went and checked with the local police agencies with some of their sexual assault cases to see if his uh Mo fit any of or description or anything fit any of their pending cases special agent O'Donnell detective Smith hundreds of man hours but agents refused to Simply wait for another sighting or another victim dozens of Agents met with detectives in districts across the region to try to link O'Neill to outstanding sexual assault cases the search was complicated by the fact that O'Neill looked very different in each of his mug shots most often the agents left empty-handed sex crimes in Colorado frustrated and out of leads agents continue to Wade through hundreds of old Case Files with a dangerous predator on the prowl agents had to exhaust every possibility [Music] has he had done a dozen times before the agent compared O'Neill's picture to sketches of sexual predators one sketch stood out it bore a strong resemblance to The Fugitive a 14 year old girl named Heidi Lang had provided the drawing five months earlier when she filed rape charges against her unknown attacker from the police report her description of the crime sounded eerily similar to O'Neill's other assaults I'm looking at the photos of Mr O'Neill especially when he had a beard in the glasses I saw that there was quite a bit of resemblance between the two and and the method and mo were similar as well luckily he did not uh kill Miss slang as he had other subjects agent Elsie wanted to speak with Heidi Lang as soon as possible detective Carter arranged a meeting between the young girl and the FBI with her mother by her side she told the story from the beginning at around midnight on January 17 1987. two months before Robin Smith disappeared Heidi broke her mother's curfew and walked to the nearby convenience store to get a soda it was a tough part of town the young girl had walked it many times before but never this late at night [Music] as she crossed an overpass leading to the store a trucker called to her from his parked rig she ignored him and walked on [Music] it only took her a few minutes to get the soda then she started back home she walked as quickly as she could to get back before her mother knew she had left [Music] Heidi told investigators that as she approached the overpass the man and the truck were gone [Music] but on the other side of the overpass the trucker jumped out of the bushes and grabbed her he forced her down an embankment at knife point and shoved her into his semi parked at the side of the highway [Applause] years later Heidi recalls that she believed her young life was over the first thing I noticed is how dangerous he was I felt that he had every intention of killing me there there was no question in my mind he threw her into the sleeper compartment of his truck she was terrified with no idea where he might take her or what he might do he threatened to to make me a [ __ ] sell me to pimps he was gonna cut me open I I tried finding what what was going to keep from angering this man I had to behave like I was just holding conversation with him and at the same time learn what I could about him despite Heidi's best efforts the trucker climbed into the sleeper compartment and repeatedly raped the 14 year old for four hours he did not like to think of you as a woman that brought him to violence that brought him to violence I had to keep him talking mostly to keep his mind off other things and um I had I tried my best to give him the impression that I was insignificant and I was just there to be there with him and it wouldn't it wouldn't mean anything if he let me go [Music] [Applause] Heidi's insight and courage paid off after suffering hours of abuse her Tormentor Let Her Go [Music] she ran until she reached a truck stop she asked an employee for a ride home after all she'd been through Heidi bravely submitted to a rape test this provided investigators with samples of the rapist semen though no match could be made until the suspect was in custody look at these please when Heidi finished his story detective Carter showed her a number of photos of anneal and some similar looking men it was amazing that he was in it and I did see him and I picked him out I really did not expect to see him in them I I hadn't really heard anything since I had given the sketch seeing her attacker's face brought the memories flooding back but she never hesitated to press charges Heidi was determined to face her rapist and put him behind bars I think that she wanted to see that this person did not do that to anyone else ever again and uh so it showed very much strength in her character and especially at the age of 14 being able to be so descriptive um in the events that occurred the description of the subject in him that uh kind of got us through the path where we were agent Elsie called the Tacoma office they finally had a witness to testify against O'Neill but they still had to find him agent Del oros called FBI headquarters in Washington D.C to request additional assistance [Music] on June 18 1987 Darren D O'Neill's name was placed on the FBI's 10 most wanted list [Music] the case was now a priority for every FBI office in the country [Music] agents had to find O'Neill before he could strike again [Music] in June of 1987 suspected serial killer Darren D O'Neal was added to the FBI's 10 most wanted list hey here's what I want special agent Del oros was in charge of the case he convinced the FBI's fugitive publicity unit in Washington D.C that Darren D O'Neill fit the List's criteria the bureau's determination as to who goes on to the top 10 Wanted list is a function of a lot of different factors primarily it's the protection of the community secondarily it has to do with the ability of those individuals to be mobile to transport themselves across Interstate lines so effectively going from state to state with Nationwide publicity The Manhunt for O'Neill was relentless countless sightings were reported in several States [Music] O'Neill was most often spotted in bars and taverns in the northwest investigators followed up on dozens of leads only to find witnesses with vague descriptions of The Fugitive nobody knew of his whereabouts anything uh anything noticeable about his occurrence agents were left with little to go on so we had a long stretch of time when the the clues were drying up the leaves from other agents were not producing any form of immediate return we were going back and to the same people consistently reinterviewing the family friends we were reaching out as far as going to Prior instructors prior employers looking for some type of clue that would tell us or show us a pattern of his activity and his Mobility across the country [Music] seven months later on February 3rd 1988 agents discovered that O'Neill had made his way to Lakeland Florida [Music] he was spotted by a Lakeland police officer conducting what appeared to be a drug deal and aware that O'Neill was wanted for murder O'Neill noticed the cop but did nothing the officer turned his car around to investigate [Music] when the cruiser pulled past the stopped car O'Neil pulled up and asked for directions pretending he was lost the officer asked him to pull over dead O'Neill took off the officer followed calling in the Louisiana tags on O'Neill's car as he drove O'Neill tried to lose him zigzagging through the streets of Lakeland when their car jumped at Curb the suspect ran away the officer pursued on foot and eventually caught them all O'Neill was extradited to Louisiana when police learned the car he'd been driving his reported stolen from that state when asked O'Neill told police his name was zon Mayu [Music] clerk who was working knives compared the Fingerprints of the individual that she knew as Jean Mayu to the list of fingerprints associated with FBI top 10 wanted fugitives and found that the individual that she knew a jean-mayu was the individual that we knew as Darren O'Neill [Music] O'Neill was extradited to Washington State to face charges but State prosecutors knew their cases were weak since Wendy alky's body was never recovered O'Neill could not be charged with her murder the Robin Smith case was Stronger but lacked definitive forensic identification go to prove Beyond a reasonable doubt that the body found in the woods was Robin Smith's [Music] despite the evidentiary obstacles prosecutors moved ahead with the Robin Smith case in 1980 -87 you remember they would take their chances with a jury O'Neill and his attorney would never let the case get that far in a Pierce County court on January 4th 1989 O'Neill pled guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of Robin Smith detective Wilson knew there was an ulterior motive behind the plea the court system and the state of Washington at that time was if a person was convicted of first-degree murder but there was a loophole in there if you pled guilty to the charge the most you was the maximum time you got was 333 months the family of Robin Smith was devastated even without parole O'Neill would be free will before the end of his Natural Life foreign The Killers still face charges in Portland Oregon for the kidnapping and rape of 14 year old Heidi Lang if convicted O'Neill would be put away for life but prosecutors had a problem [Music] Deputy District Attorney Charles Sparks recalls that the rape kid Heidi had provided at the time of her assault would not be admissible for a comparison with O'Neill there was a sexual assault kit that included vaginal swabs that were taken and that had molded because of the way these things were stored back then and it was not usable and DNA evidence would have been very helpful but we just didn't have it on May 16 1990 as O'Neill's trial began prosecutors knew their only chance was to put Heidi on the witness stand to face her attacker [Music] it would be traumatic for her but it was their best hope for putting O'Neill behind bars for good so it was very difficult for me to to testify at the trial it was even more difficult to look at him face to face I was very frightening very scary experience first of all at this point I had promised this man that I wouldn't tell anybody what happened and this is a man who had no qualms about going after anybody even just a girl walking down the street in the middle of the night I knew I had to put him away or I was as good as dead that's the way I view it today point to that man Heidi pointed out the man who had kidnapped and raped her sitting sullenly just a few yards in front of her her testimony was enough to convict O'Neill the jury found him guilty on all 16 counts of kidnapping and rape Under Oregon law he was sentenced to 135 years in prison Darren D O'Neal is serving his first sentence of 27 years at a Washington State Penitentiary he will then be transferred to Oregon to spend the rest of his life Behind Bars once he was convicted I was able to put put a lot of this in the past I was able to put it away and did I that was most important to me that's the most I don't think I would have ever gotten over this if we hadn't put him away for agent oros though he has since left the FBI to serve as Deputy district attorney in Sacramento California the case remains fresh in his mind up to this very day I still have a wanted flyer for Darren O'Neill hanging in my office here at the District Attorney's office he um even on the wall is a constant reminder of the dangers that face each and every one of us as we go out on the street I'm particularly aware of the fact that he represents a significant danger to the women in society he's an individual that was a cold calculated murder and he only he reaffirms for me that I'm in a profession that matters and that every day when I go into court I'm there to make a difference foreign [Music]