FL FL -Eugene McWatters- "The Salerno Strangler." convicted in 2006

The strangulation aspect of all three deaths, seems to tie them all together. I don't hear much about strangulation murders in my reading and seeing media coverage of murders in general.

Sounds like a neat freak who does not want to bloody his hands, with a heavy beating object, knife, or gun.

Do the park rangers carry guns in that area?

The article does not say if the victims were sexually molested. IF not, then strange indeed. I am guessing the killer must be built like a gorilla to have not used a weapon, yet perhaps he did have a weapon, just did not kill with one.

Wonder if killers who strangle, have some common mental problems that have been identified by psychiatrists?
 
the victims here...was there any common denominator regarding lifestyle?
 
From what I gathered from the the local news reports all 3 women were known to be often hanging out at night in this little stretch of area popular for drugs and prostitution.
Although I've not heard if any of the 3 were prostitutes it has been implied.
At the very least the simularities between them would be a life style or socio ecomic level that placed them in this area at not.. (even if innocently)

Also this morning there was a report of another body having been found.
This was a little further south and the news has not said there is a connection but IMO one will be made to this newest girl and the deaths of the other 3. As soon as I find a link for the latest one I will post it.
 
well if i'm going to be real here, hate to speak 'ill' of victims, but i suspected as much...not because they deserve it, but because they are the most vulnerable to being picked up. the average mommy isn't hanging out in such an area at night. the risks in drug/prostitution culture are great. predatory men find those areas easy pickings. the guy may be a local, or it may be more than one over time, transient types for which florida is noted.
 
Exactly DL...
I think the girls are all from harder lives and just easier targets.

For reasons I don't know yet the local LE believes the person is in the area and that these 3 are related in that the same person commited the crimes.
For clear reasons they are keeping tight lipped on this.

I'll post more as I find out.
 
Wow, another one???? Make sure to keep you and yours safe, Amra.
And please do keep us posted.
 
Good grief, another type of Jack the Ripper, he was doing the evening ladies in also.

Curious how old the NEW victim is, and if she was strangled also.
 
I have yet to learn anything about this last victim.
She may not be related to the first 3 as she was found further south.
I'll keep looking.
 
Found it...
Police are saying its not related yet she has a history like the other girls.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localn...uesday/south_county_04eca627209151bc0072.html













Excerpt from above link:

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has identified Lisa R. Merola, 37, as the victim, but did not release any details about how she died.



Investigators have used Merola's fingerprints to positively identify her.

Merola has lived in Palm Beach County for several years, according to investigators.

She has a criminal record that includes an arrest in April 2004 for solicitation for prostitution.

Investigators do not consider Merola's death to be linked to that of recent homicides in Martin County, in which three women where found strangled to death, Deischer said.

Two of the women were well-known prostitutes from the Port Salerno area. Palm Beach County sheriffs say they will share with Martin County deputies crime-scene information and are attempting to trace all possible leads.

"We have a lot of work to do," Deischer said.


______________________________________________________
Now this artcle actually states that two of the previous victims were prostitutes.
 
It would seem that IF IF they had to identify her by her fingerprints, that she must have been killed by other than strangling, could be wrong I guess.
 
Camper I think they used finger prints to identify her because she had not been reported missing.
 
So no purse, or id on her person? ER money, payment for service nahhhhhhh sure would not have any of that. Do WE know if she had been raped? IF not, another hmmm. I don't remember if Jack the Ripper raped his victims, no dna testing in those days though.

I am on the go today, later.
 
http://www1.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,1651,TCP_1028_2984892,00.html

The man believed to be responsible for the 3 strangulation deaths has been arrested.


JASON NUTTLE staff photographer

Eugene McWatters is walked out of the Martin County Sheriff's Office Wednesday after being arrested in connection with three murders in the Port Salerno area. The three women were murdered by strangulation and were all acquaintances of McWatters, according to Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder.

JASON NUTTLE staff photographer

Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder announces the arrest of Eugene McWatters. McWatters has cooperated with detectives and remains in the Martin County jail without bond.



McWatters



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RELATED STORIES
Excerpts from Sheriff Crowder's news conference
Leads few in Salerno strangler hunt

Killer likely shared victims' lifestyle

Woman found dead in woods


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REAL VIDEO
NewsChannel 5's Bryan Garner reports that Eugene McWatters, 26, was charged in connection with three murders in Port Salerno. (June 23, 2004)
REAL VIDEO
NewsChannel 5 video: Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder holds a news conference to name a suspect in three murders in Port Salerno. (June 23, 2004)


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WINDOWS MEDIA VIDEO
NewsChannel 5's Bryan Garner reports that Eugene McWatters, 26, was charged in connection with three murders in Port Salerno. (June 23, 2004)
WINDOWS MEDIA VIDEO
NewsChannel 5 video: Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder holds a news conference to name a suspect in three murders in Port Salerno. (June 23, 2004)

PRINT THIS STORY | E-MAIL THIS STORY

Man charged in Salerno stranglings
By Geoff Oldfather and Will Greenlee staff writers
June 23, 2004

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office has charged a man in connection with the three murders in Port Salerno.

The three victims were Jacquline Bradley, 43, a homeless woman and day laborer whose body was found March 31 in a canal in Golden Gate; Carrie Ann Caughey, 18, whose body was found June 3 on the bank of a lake in Port Salerno; and Christal Dawn Wiggins, 29, whose body was found near the same lake on June 7.
 
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/nov/28/145salerno-strangler-most-recent-serial-killer/

MARTIN COUNTY — Because his three victims — Jacqueline Bradley, 43, Christal Wiggins, 29, and Carrie Caughey, 18, all of the Port Salerno area — died by asphyxiation, Eugene Wayman McWatters Jr. earned the gruesome nickname "The Salerno Strangler."
On June 23, 2004, the 26-year-old McWatters was arrested on three counts of rape and first-degree murder. Convicted in 2006, McWatters, now 32, is on death row at the Union Correctional Institution at Raiford.
 
9878503_240X180.jpg

Eugene McWatters

September 28, 2006

Salerno Strangler Found Guilty in Women's Deaths

The state attorney said the reason McWatters killed the women was that he "lost it."
 

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