Yeah, I can’t find a double murder case that has the elements that we have here.
If we take away the incredibly unusual fact that he killed two victims at once, and just focus on the fact that he committed murder, then I can find similarities.
That’s how I’m approaching it, because I believe we are seeing a variation of the same thing.
As a model, I look at killers who target joggers on jogging trails. They tend to share a lot of traits with serial killers, even if they haven’t yet met the criteria for being one.
They see their victim, they make contact with their victim, they drag her off the trail, and commit their grotesque acts under the cover of trees and brush.
There is plenty of precedent for that particular MO.
I think this guy was looking to commit rape, and unfortunately found the girls.
The case I’ve come back to a million times (because it happened near me), is the Vanessa Marcotte murder.
Her killer had no previous criminal history, and simply came upon her jogging.
He pulled over, attacked her, dragged her into the woods, sexually assaulted her, and ultimately beat and strangled her to death.
It was a rural area, and everyone assumed that he must have had a reason to be there (he was likely from there).
Thanks to an accurate physical description (in part) from Parabon, and an alert state police officer who spotted a vehicle that matched one seen in the area, he was ultimately arrested.
It turned out that his delivery route went through that town, and although he was off work that day, he likely (my opinion) drove from his neighboring city to this area where he had previously seen joggers running.
He was probably hunting, and came across a target of opportunity.
I think that’s what we’re looking at here. He just killed two instead of the usual one.
Just because one part of the crime is particularly unusual, doesn’t mean that all of it is. That’s how I see it anyways.
So this is different, but likely the same.