Trial started in May of 2000. Resndiz continued riding the rails and committing murders across several states, with the ferocity of his attacks increasing with each stop. Resendiz had been crouching behind the electric box on the right before ambushing the young couple. That's when he took that weapon that he had, and he held it to my neck and he said, "Look how easily I could kill you." And I was like saying my last prayer. Heads beaten to a pulp. I deserve what I am getting.". She was later awarded $86,000 for aiding in his surrender, according to the Chicago Tribune. A Harris County sheriff's deputy confers with accused serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz at the start of his capital murder trial for the murder of Dr. Claudia Benton on May 8, 2000, in. Devon Anderson: And I had been waiting to see this guy. Criminal Minds Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. I would run down the hill of the front to our house across the fields. I'm still, you know, the same person I was" - it felt good. The FBI then obtained a federal warrant for Resndizs arrest in late May 1999, and formed a multi-agency task force to apprehend him. And he got that moniker just by the fact that most of his murders happened in and around railroad tracks and that that was a mode of transportation that he used to travel across the country. We knew that he was extremely violent. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Top Dems push Fox News to stop promoting "propaganda" about 2020 election. I feel like through helping others they're helping me. I had to deal with myself almost dying. My friend's still out there.". Angel Maturino Resendiz, left, confers with attorney Rudy Duarte. Don't give up. He stole jewelry and other items and gave them to his wife and mother, who lived in Rodeo, Durango, Mexico. Four days later, he's in a different state. He raped some of his female victims; however, rape was probably a secondary intent. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. At that point, I brought her in and set her down on the couch. And not that he cared, because I don't think he did. Heather Dunn Niemeier, Holly's sister: I began writing as a process of healing. We knew that we had forensic evidence, we had fingerprint evidence that linked to a particular suspect and both houses were in the near vicinity of railroad tracks. I fought him. Resndiz took sentimental items and also laid out the victims' driver's licenses to learn about their lives. He'd picked up the language on the road, and held forth in. Det. United States government records show that he had been deported to Mexico at least four times since first entering the U.S. in 1973. Maybe this is what I had been running from in all those dreams as a child - this horrific story that happened to my sister.". The broken eye socket, there was nothing they could do. Between nineteen eighty six and nineteen ninety nine percent is murdered. And after two years, we hadn't had anything of substance anyway, so we chased any lead. He also took jewelry, cash, valuables and other items and gave them to his wife in Mexico. Angel Resendiz Destiny Johnson Lafayette High School For nearly two years, a killer literally followed wheatfield Americas ra-lit dawn. But it was near railroad tracks. I mean, who knew? You know, "I really have a family that wants to see me again." So the volume was huge, and you just started piecing the things together. I realized, at that point, that he was going to rape me. Despite an appeal pending with the 5th U.S. Devon Anderson: I cannot imagine the amount of courage she had to marshal to come into that courtroom to walk in and face him. Holly Dunn: And I did keep saying to him, "My friend's still out there. [5], Resndiz killed at least 15 people[6] with rocks, a pickaxe, and other blunt objects, mainly in their homes. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. Like, we were looking at each other very confused. He'd looked at me. I knew he was there. Holly Dunn, Heather's sister: In late August 1997, I was a student at the University of Kentucky. His birth name was ngel Leoncio Reyes Recendis. Most of his victims were found covered with a blanket or otherwise obscured from immediate view. A Lexington couple was charged with Byers' murder, but according to authorities, Resndiz admitted to an FBI agent that he killed her. [citation needed], Prior to surrendering at the El Paso bridge, the U.S. Border Patrol had arrested Resndiz and deported him back to Mexico. Holly Dunn: I actually got involved in the penalty phase of the trial, so that's when they say whether he gets the death penalty or life in prison. Bludgeoned to death with the same shotgun used in the Morber killing. But ultimately it was determined his name was Angel Maturino Resendiz. FBI press conference: We are here to announce that Rafael Resendez Ramirez has been elevated to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. I think to get over my survivor's guilt that I had, I had to know that I lived my life not just for me and not just for Chris. Two weeks after the murders of the two women in Texas, Resendiz would move his killing grounds north. I was constantly running away from someone. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Top Dems push Fox News to stop promoting "propaganda" about 2020 election. He also described himself as half-man and half-angel and told psychiatrists he could not be executed because he did not believe he could die. But me, as a person, I'm eternal. Circuit Court of Appeals, Resndiz's death warrant was signed for the murder of Claudia Benton. It was between 1:00 and 2:00. Bludgeoned to death with a brick. numerous female homicides in Ciudad Jurez, TruTV Crime Library articles about Resndiz, The International Justice Project's biography of Resndiz, People magazine online article about Resndiz, Texas Execution Information Center article about Resndiz, The Crime Web's December timeline article that mentions Resndiz, Unspecified date in 1986, Bexar County, Texas: An unnamed homeless woman and her boyfriend, July 19, 1991, Lexington, Kentucky: Michael White, 33. Because he couldn't get - his arms were all tied up in his backpack. At the time, he had been tracked down to Mexico. Drew Carter, Texas Ranger: In December of 1998, a doctor was murdered in the Houston area. She had suffered both stab wounds and blunt trauma to the head. Holly Dunn's belt lies discarded along the railroad tracks in Lexington, Ky. Resendiz took Dunn's belt and used it to tie her hands behind her back. Manage Settings I felt that. What do you want? I just would love to know what he - what he thought when he found that out. The Railroad Killers innocuous five-foot, 190-pound appearance belied the monstrous acts hed committed. Video: "48 Hours" Live to Tell: The Railroad Killer. Being a survivor is one thing, but helping other survivors and knowing how to do that in a professional manner was another thing. Resndiz had many aliases but was chiefly known and sought after as Rafael Resendez-Ramirez. There were many mornings that I would wake up after a night of running all night in my dreams. And I went to a party with my boyfriend, Chris Maier, not far from campus. He had like this smug look on his face. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. He was not tried for any other crimes. Holly Dunn: To know that he was doing it again, that he was more violent, that he was killing more people. With his final words stating, I deserve what I am getting, the Railroad killer died by lethal injection on June 27, 2006. In 1997, I met Jacob Pendleton at the outdoor store that I was working at. Often the people were in bed asleep when he was getting 'em. Her attacker used it to tie her hands behind her back. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Drew Carter: The majority of his attacks were by surprise. There was nothing there. And I don't know if it was an ice pick, if it was a screwdriver, but he had it on Chris the whole time. And I think the - amount of pressure that was put on him, ultimately led to him to have to make a choice. A series of 16 podcasts released between October 2018 and February 2019 by British journalist Alex Hannaford and produced by Peter Sale for, "The Unbelievable Survival Story of Holly K Dunn" Episode 266, and "The Railroad Killer" Episode 268 of, This page was last edited on 15 January 2023, at 16:46. Resendiz was implicated in the Oct. 2, 1998, murder of Leafie Mason, 87, bludgeoned with an antique iron at her home in Hughes Springs, Texas. The evidence was overwhelming as to his guilt. You do not deserve this. U.S. Customs agents prepare to open a train car north of Laredo, Texas, on June 28, 1999. I ripped Chris' gag off of his mouth. Video: "48 Hours" Live to Tell: The Railroad Killer. To mark the 20-year anniversary of her survival, Holly Dunn has written a book due out in November 2017. Resndiz's sister, Manuela, had seen her brother's FBI's Most Wanted Poster and feared that her brother might kill someone else, or be killed by the FBI, so she contacted the police. Holly Dunn: I don't have things that I think about all the time. She was lying on her side and I put my head to her face and just held her. Money was sometimes left at the scene. Neil Patmore is a former police officer, and private investigator. ", On June 21, 2006, a Houston judge ruled that Resndiz was mentally competent to be executed. I'll be right in front of you. So I want to live for them. That really is probably the part that I try the hardest and can't forget. Nobody else could speak out against him in first person. In 1988, he spent some time living in St. Louis, where he worked for a temp agency. ngel Maturino Resndiz Alias The Railroad Killer The Railway Killer The Railcar Killer ngel Leoncio Reyes Recendis (birth name) Rafael Resendez-Ramirez Jose Mengele Several others Gender Male Birth Date August 1, 1959 Place of Birth Izcar de Matamoros, Puebla, Mexico Date of Death June 27, 2006 (aged 45) Place of Death He was transported by the Rangers back to Houston to face charges. And the pastor and his wife were murdered in their bed with a sledgehammer that was found in a tool room there at the house. You don't have to. [13] In 1999, former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox, wary of the controversy miring the many confessions and recantations by serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, remarked of Resndiz, "I hope they don't start pinning on him every crime that happens near a railroad track. And I mean, I was so close to fainting when I looked at him again that I mean - I don't know how I didn't. And Resndiz didnt spare Frederick, beating her to death, then sexually assaulting her afterward. Archived from the original on December 29, 2004. And, so, her face looked off. Resndiz's first known murder occurred in 1986 when he killed a homeless woman and her boyfriend. So by the time she took the stand, the jury had heard the gruesome details of all the other murders we had solved at that point. For me to be able to say, "You didn't destroy me." She would learn that her attacker was responsible for a multi-state killing spree. His mother, Virginia de Maturino. The two were walking along some railroad tracks when they were assaulted. Det. I was like, "Okay, well, you know, what's gonna happen is gonna happen. After waking up after the attack, Dunn walked barefoot over rocks and broken glass on the tracks to get to a house seeking help. I'm positive that he probably knocked me unconscious. And we had no information as to where he was. I thought she was going to die. Left viciously beaten by a large object and suffering multiple facial fractures, Dunn became the lone survivor of the Railroad Killer. In adulthood, he spent a total of 11 years in American prisons for crimes such as assault, auto theft, firearm possession, and burglary. Just do not look at him.". On 12/17/1998 during the night in Houston, Resendiz killed an adult Hispanic female by beating her to death with a statuette from the victim's home. Because there's no victim to stand in front of you to tell you what they experienced, what they went through. I mean he was a loner, he had a high price on his head and he had an entire nation, really two nations, looking for him. And, eventually, I asked my dad, I just said "Chris is dead, isn't he." And she collapsed on the couch. USA (Texas) Angel Maturino Resndiz (m) aged 46, Hispanic Mexican national Angel Maturino Resndiz is scheduled for execution on 27 June 2006. Heather reads: "Since as far back as I can remember, I've had the same dream. I deserve what I am getting." I don't want another case to prove up. Devon Anderson, Harris County Prosecutor: The sense of urgency was - it was unbelievable because people were dying. I get support through victims that come through Holly's House. Husband of woman murdered with an ax convicted 40 years after her death, How a tragic boating crash is connected to the family of Alex Murdaugh, Five deaths with a connection to Alex Murdaugh's family investigated, Never-before-seen photos and details about accused Idaho killer, the attack on Holly and her friend Chris Maier. A week later, her car was discovered abandoned on the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas. Craig Sorrell: Sometimes you don't always have the human picture, the actual human suffering. He supports the fact that true evil does exist in this world. Your brain works in amazing ways and it kind of sort of let me deal with each thing as I could. The electrical box Resndiz hid behind before attacking Maier and Dunn. Like, "What in the heck is happening?". Craig Sorrell: They were able, through fingerprint analysis, to have a suspect. And that was my chance. A drifter beaten to death with a piece of plywood in a rail yard. And there's three people in that ol' pickup truck. Raped, strangled, suffocated both manually and with duct tape, and buried in a shallow grave in. But three of the messages were from my dad. Aug. 29, 1997 Christopher Maier, a 21-year-old junior at the University of Kentucky, killed as he and his 23-year-old girlfriend, were taking a shortcut from one party to another. You do not deserve this. On June 21, 1999, he briefly became the 457th fugitive listed by the FBI on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list before surrendering to the Texas authorities on July 13, 1999. Devon Anderson: And I wish I could've seen his face when he heard that someone was living. ngel Maturino Resndiz, a Mexican drifter suspected of murdering at least eight people, is escorted into court. I don't deserve to cause you pain. At the time of his arrest, Resendiz was suspected in nine slayings near railroad tracks in Texas, Kentucky and Illinois. These and similar statements led Dr. Pablo Stewart, a bilingual psychiatrist who evaluated Resndiz on two occasions in 2006, to conclude that Resndiz was not then competent to be executed as "delusions had completely taken over thought processes". Maturino Resendiz is accused of being the so-called railroad killer, who . Dr. Claudia Benton, a 39-year-old Baylor College of Medicine physician, was found sexually assaulted, stabbed and beaten to death inside her Houston-area home located near railroad tracks on Dec. 17, 1998. Read excerpts of her book," Sole Survivor", Video: "48 Hours" Live to Tell: The Railroad Killer, First published on August 3, 2013 / 10:16 PM. Holly Dunn, Chris Maier's girlfriend, somehow managed to survive after being raped, stabbed, beaten and left for dead by Resendiz. Det. is een documentaire televisieserie geproduceerd door NHNZ die werd uitgezonden op Lifetime Movie Network. Resndiz was tried and sentenced to death for the Benton murder. Craig Sorrell: We received a lot of phone calls and a lot of tips, and we followed up on a lot of people who thought they had seen this person. When the last appeal was denied, he was put to death in June 2006. Knives put all the way through the body, that's how much force was used. Craig Sorrell: We were the last of the cases presented. I definitely think that there's parts of me that wanted to retreat away. We had split seconds in where - our attacker would go back up to the tracks and we were down in the grass. Norman J. Sirnic and his wife Karen Sirnic were bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer in the parsonage of the United Church of Christ. The FBI task force was stunned to find that ngel Maturino Resndiz had been rounded up and deported eight times in a mere 18 months most unbelievably on June 2, 1999, when state and federal warrants were out and intensive efforts were underway to catch him. The Terrifying True Story Of Railroad Killer ngel Maturino Resndiz. It was about the second night of classes. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. From what I've come to learn of Resendiz, he was an immigrant, transient, moved around, had done a lot of odd jobs migrant work. 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