Unidentified man, M, Unknown, Unknown date in 1986, Bexar County, Texas: Supposedly the boyfriend of the previous victim. Reséndiz said that he shot and killed the woman for disrespecting him. They took a motorcycle trip together, bringing a gun along to fire for target practice. Reséndiz stated that he met the woman at a homeless shelter. 38-caliber weapon, with her body dumped in an abandoned farmhouse. Unidentified woman, F, Unknown, Unknown date in 1986: Bexar County, Texas: Shot four times with a. Most of his victims were found covered with a blanket or otherwise obscured from immediate view. He raped some of his female victims however, rape served as a secondary intent.
Some of the items that were removed from the homes were returned by his wife and mother after his surrender. Much of the jewelry was sold or melted down. He stole jewelry and other items and gave them to his wife and mother, who lived in Rodeo, Durango, Mexico. After each murder, he would linger in the homes for a while, mainly to eat he took sentimental items and laid out the victims’ driver’s licenses to learn about their lives. Reséndiz killed at least 15 people with rocks, a pickaxe, and other blunt objects, mainly in their homes. United States government records show that he had been deported to Mexico at least four times since first entering the U.S. He was born in Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla, Mexico.īy illegally jumping on and off trains within and across Mexico, Canada and the United States, generally crossing borders illegally, Reséndiz was able to evade authorities for a considerable time. One of his aliases, Ángel Reyes Reséndiz, was very close to the name Ángel Leoncio Reyes Recendis listed on his birth certificate. Reséndiz had many aliases but was chiefly known and sought after as Rafael Resendez-Ramirez. He was convicted of murder and was executed by lethal injection. 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. He became known as “The Railroad Killer” as most of his crimes were committed near railroads where he had jumped off the trains he was using to travel about the country.
With all of these people involved in the murders, it's shocking the operation went on for as many years as it did.Angel Maturino Reséndiz (Aug– June 27, 2006), also known as The Railroad Killer, The Railway Killer or The Railcar Killer, was a Mexican-American itinerant serial killer suspected in as many as 23 murders across the United States and Mexico during the 1990s. Jodie Elliott was a relative of Mark Haydon and also helped out with collecting money after the killings. Thomas Trevilyan was initially part of the gang as well, but later became a victim. Bunting's wife, Elizabeth Harvey, also assisted in at least one of the murders. In addition to these four main players, there were other accomplices. Mark Haydon also lived nearby and became friends with Bunting, and was eventually drawn into his circle of murders. Vlassakis would help with and suggest later killings. John Bunting, the one in charge, approached his neighbor, Robert Wagner, as a friend and eventually roped him into murder.īunting was married to Elizabeth Harvey, and through her, met her son, James Vlassakis. There was a ringleader who pushed for and arranged all the killings, and he enlisted not one, but three other people to regularly help with the crimes, as well as a few others. This was not at all the case for the Snowtown murders. Historically, prolific serial killers tend to work alone because it affords them a smaller chance of getting caught. Join us as Matty Matt tells part 1 of the snowtown murders. At the time of the arrest, Vlassakis lived in Bunting's home. Police later arrested and charged Bunting, Wagner, Vlassakis and Mark Haydon on for the murders. Two more bodies were found buried in the backyard of Bunting's house in Adelaide.
Prosecutors believe that the killers moved the bodies after they became aware of the ongoing police investigation. It is believed that the bodies had been held in several locations in South Australia before being moved to Snowtown in 1999. For this reason, the murders were dubbed the "bodies in barrels murders". It was police inquiries into Elizabeth Haydon's disappearance which eventually led them to Snowtown, and on, the remains of eight victims were found by the South Australian Police in six plastic barrels in a disused bank vault. Similarly, the death of Thomas Trevilyan in 1997 was initially treated as a suicide. Initially, the body of Clinton Trezise was found at Lower Light in 1994, although no connection to Bunting was made at this time.