Pod Insights Crime, Conspiracy, Cults and Murder Ep. 100 | The Serial Killer Who Hunted Women For Sport | Robert Hanson About this episode He was a quiet baker in Alaska - but in the wilderness, Robert Hansen became something far more terrifying.
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Transcript 14,342 words · 5 speakers
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0:30 Speaker 01 How does a serial killer hide in plain sight for over a decade? Robert Hanson did it by being the last person anyone would ever suspect. He was a baker, he was a family man. He stammered when he talked, he went to church on Sundays. And police officers came into his shop every morning for coffee and doughnuts and knew him by name. All while he was hunting people for sport. This is the case of Robert Hanson. Crime, conspiracy, cults, serial killers, and murder. All things that I love to consume and I know you do too, you sick, twisted, beautiful, intellectually-minded freak. And today, we are talking about, I feel like, a lesser-known serial killer case.
1:12 Speaker 01 A lot of TV shows, episodes, even movies have been made roughly about this particular man, but a lot of people don't know that this monster is actually real. All of these movies are based off of someone who is actually real and who actually hurt real people. So without further ado, let's unbuckle our seatbelts, go Mach 5 down the highway, slam the brakes, and bust through the windshield into this serial killer case together.
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3:52 Speaker 01 and for sponsoring this video and supporting the channel. Let's get back to it. Robert Christian Hansen was born on February 15, 1939, in Estreville, Iowa, a small town in the northwest corner of the state with a population of around 6,000 to 7,000 people. Little town! So naturally, everyone just knew everyone. And in a place that's small, reputation meant everything. Secrets were rarely kept. And if you did have them, you kept them buried down deep. Now, Robert's father- was Christian Hansen, a Danish immigrant who came to America searching for a new life, a life grounded in flour and yeast. Because Christian owned and operated a bakery in town, a business he was proud of and intended
4:37 Speaker 01 to continue in the Hansen family for decades. And by all accounts, Christian was not a kind man, unfortunately. And people described Christian as overbearing, demanding, and sometimes just impossible to please. Sounds like my mother-in-law, Emma R. I'm just kidding, she's great. She's great. But Christian ran a household of discipline with no tolerance for weakness, a personality Christian kept at home and at work at the bakery. And Robert's mother, Edna Margaret Hansen, was an American-born woman who was second in command of the household. So the overall family dynamic was traditional, as most were during that time period, but almost to the point of oppression. Like, Christian's word at this point was "law."
5:22 Speaker 01 Because this was a very religious household, and those specific denomination details aren't entirely clear. What is clear is that the harsh treatment, the overall traditional upbringing, and that religious environment created a very rigid and rough world for young Robert to grow in. So Robert would learn early on not to show weakness or emotions, knowing his father would not approve. So between the small town, the demanding father, and the heavy labor of a family business, Robert Hansen did not have a good model of what love looked like. And overall, the children were just expected to listen, learn, obey, work, and "shut up" when they were told. Their lives were in the bakery, and the bakery wasn't just how the Hansons made money, it
6:07 Speaker 01 also defined their entire social identity in Astorville. The Hansons were the bakers, and it was their birthright. So from the earliest years, Robert was... Different. Let's say he was different. And this man, he's, he's, he's a bad, bad person. Monster of a man. Uh, but the kid had it rough, I'm not gonna lie. Because he was different, and not in a way that earned him any sympathy from his classmates. He was different in the way in which he had a stutter, a speech impediment that made every conversation humiliating. Because sentences were constantly coming out broken, and in a small town where social standing mattered, it simply wasn't really that charming.
6:51 Speaker 01 Because girls and boys were expected to hold their own in conversation, but Robert couldn't even get a word in. And that stutter would have been manageable on its own, but Robert was dealt a pretty rough hand, as I was saying. And on top of the stutter, he suffered from severe acne that absolutely ravaged his face. And this wasn't just normal teenage hormones, it left him with disfigurements. And the acne left permanent pockmarks and scarring that would last his whole life. And years later, Robert himself described his childhood as quote-unquote "one big pimple", which honestly is how I would describe him as a human being. Knowing who he is now, I feel bad for the little kid, but bah, I don't really care anymore.
7:35 Speaker 01 And you won't in about 10 minutes. But even in photographs from later years, it still showed his scarred face that was marked since childhood. And on top of that, he was also not as big as the other boys. He was slight and kind of had a skinny build. And on top of all that, he wore glasses. You know, nothing wrong with glasses, though. Nothing wrong with all of this stuff, to be perfectly clear. I'm just telling you how he was dealt a pretty rough hand as a kid. So by every measure, Robert was the classic outcast of 1950s America. But it wasn't just his appearance that held him back. There was another physical element, too. Because Robert was naturally left-handed, a witch. Just kidding.
8:18 Speaker 01 I think left-handed people are some of the coolest people to ever live. Except for this guy. But left-handed people at that time were seen actually as almost a disability that needed immediate So his parents would force him to write with his right hand, trying to fix the so-called problem. And according to later research, forcing a child to switch hands can cause further speech problems and significant psychological stress. And Robert would later claim exactly that, saying his stutter was getting worse because of the added pressure. So he sat at the very bottom of the social ladder in that small town. And girls didn't just find him unattractive, but they mocked him, laughing at his stutter
8:58 Speaker 01 and his acne and scarred face, just making it very clear the way that normal asshole teenagers do. But all in all, Robert was labeled as undesirable, and he was seen with outright disgust a lot of the time. And to add insult to injury, he had no one to lean on after the relentless teasing, because he had a few connections, but no one really close, and he didn't really let anyone in either. So he was just profoundly isolated, and living in a small town made that even more intolerable. So just a giant, let's just start making this stew. I think we have 50 ingredients in there already, the, uh, the serial killer stew.
9:41 Speaker 01 Bad, bad combo to start, I'm just gonna say that. But Christian Hansen, Robert's father, of course, didn't offer comfort, and Christian expected Robert to work, waking up before dawn from an early age to help with the bakery. So the bakery was just another place where failure wasn't an option. So Robert just desperately needed and wanted an escape, because the people around him mocked him and he couldn't rely on them. So he eventually found solace in just disappearing from society altogether, and going hunting, and going fishing, and practicing archery out in the woods and fields surrounding Estorville. And out there, Robert finally found something he was actually good at. He was patient.
10:23 Speaker 01 Robert could focus, stalk, and kill prey with precision, the qualities a successful hunter needed. And the best part was that the animals couldn't mock him out there. Out there, he was the hunter instead of- The prey, he was in control with no one that could bother him. But out there, Robert also had a lot of time to think. Time to think about the people who mocked him and the family that treated him as a tool instead of an actual son. So resentment was building inside Robert, invisible to those around him, just kept deep down inside. Poor kid was just bottling all this up.
11:03 Speaker 01 But with every laugh and every rejection and every mocking joke, he was nursing fantasies of revenge and planning to make them pay. Because he didn't want to be at the bottom of the food chain anymore. But he was still too young and didn't know exactly how he would act on it just yet. But the desire was there and it was growing. So years would go by and finally, Robert was old enough to enter high school, a place where most find their identity, make lifelong friends and shape themselves into who they want to be. For some, wasn't me, wasn't me, did not peak in high school, I'll tell you what, okay? And that's okay. But for Robert, it was another four years of hell.
11:45 Speaker 01 And he would attend Pocahontas High School in Pocahontas County, Iowa. And Robert participated in the usual activities like track and choir, but he was no standout. He never won races and never had a like solo performance. He just kind of made it by, always under the radar. But no matter how unremarkable he was, Robert was still targeted and bullied. And while everyone else was having normal teenage experiences, first dates, trips to the movies, you know, whatever else teenagers do nowadays, six, seven, first dates, trips to the movies, et cetera. Robert was pushed aside and forced to work at the bakery. And that work was relentless with early morning shifts through late nights, weekends and even holidays.
12:30 Speaker 01 And Christian, Robert's father, didn't feel that having a social life was worth anything when there was bread to bake and customers to serve. So those few escapes that Robert did find were primarily solitary ones. And he would continue to spend hours and hours outdoors when he could. Hunting and honing skills that would later hold a much darker purpose. And Robert would become an excellent shot and learn to move almost completely silently through the wilderness, making it easier to close in on prey. Because motionlessness and patience were key, and Robert had both. And he continued to obsess over revenge. The people who bullied him in junior high just got older and meaner in high school.
13:13 Speaker 01 And with no one to confide in but himself and the silent out in those woods, Robert was growing more and more resentful with every passing day. So in 1957, Robert Hanson graduated from Pocahontas High School, and his graduating class was small, and he was among the most forgettable members of it. No awards, no tearful goodbyes. Robert was just now 18 years old, scarred inside out, boiling with resentment and anger, and completely unprepared for adult life. But he was finally free of the restraints of high school, and now he needed to get away. So after graduation and set with his new freedom, Robert did what most people his age were doing. He joined the military.
13:56 Speaker 01 And he would enlist in the United States Army Reserve. And the service was short, only lasting about a year, but during basic training, Robert proved competent with firearms, adding military marksmanship training on top of his hunting skills. Scary. And again, Robert was no standout. But for maybe the first time since those solitary hours in the woods, Robert was in an environment where social awkwardness mattered zero. Because Robert only needed to follow orders and perform tasks. Because all soldiers were on the same level, and the old social hierarchy didn't exist. So Robert was on an even playing field, and he held his own.
14:36 Speaker 01 And it was around this period, either during the military or shortly after, where he would have his first spicy experience, if you will. And the details aren't entirely clear, but what is known is that those experiences likely involved ladies of the night. Because Robert's stutter and social difficulties made normal Relationships nearly impossible, and he would have to pay for what other men his age were experiencing freely in relationships. So after his reserve commitment ended, Robert returned to Iowa and the small town he had been desperate to escape. But he had nowhere else to go and no other real aspirations.
15:16 Speaker 01 So, there he was, back at the family bakery, trapped all over again. But he did find one new opportunity around this time. And Robert spent some time as an assistant drill instructor with the Pocahontas Junior Police, a youth civic program that trained young men in basic law enforcement principles. So it wasn't a full police academy necessarily, but it gave Robert a closer look at how law enforcement operated. Knowledge he would quietly file away for later. Scary again. And then, to everyone's utter shock, Robert did something unexpected. And in 1960, he would get married. And he would marry a young woman named Phoebe Paget in Pocahontas, the daughter of the
16:01 Speaker 01 town chiropractor. Because somehow, Robert convinced Phoebe to marry him. I don't know. Seems like there's someone out there for everyone. And for a brief moment, it seemed like he might finally have a normal life. But the marriage had trouble from the start, and it wouldn't last long. Because within just a few months, Robert's life would take a full 180, exposing the darkness he had been holding in all of those years. So on December 7th, 1960, Robert Hanson committed an act that would kickstart his criminal career. And Robert burned down a school bus garage in Pocahontas County, Iowa, his own hometown. Subtle. And this was not an accident or a prank gone wrong.
16:46 Speaker 01 It was deliberate, premeditated destruction of property owned by the Pocahontas County Board of Education. But he actually didn't act alone. And Robert convinced a teenager who worked at his father's bakery to help start the fire, just to... Role model this guy. But when investigators looked into it, the teenager immediately talked and identified Robert as the one who put it all together. And Robert would be swiftly arrested. And there's actually a bitter irony in the timing because at the time of the arson, Robert also had been serving as a volunteer firefighter. What the, what is, that's... That's fucked up. So, Robert may have been one of the first responders to the fire he had set.
17:31 Speaker 01 Which is, that's, that's, that's some crazy irony right there, I'll tell you what. But, he would be arrested and he would be convicted of arson and sentenced to three years in prison at Anamosa State Penitentiary, a medium-security facility in eastern Iowa. And it was during the time there that Robert underwent a psychiatric evaluation. And the results were revealing. Because according to the diagnosis, he had what they called, quote, "manic depression with periodic schizophrenic episodes," unquote. Which, in a more modern context, would most likely be classified as bipolar disorder with psychotic features. And this indicated Robert experienced severe mood swings that could sometimes break from reality.
18:14 Speaker 01 Not an excuse in my books, but interesting to know. But the evaluation didn't stop there. And psychiatrists also noted that Robert had what they described as in, quote, "infantile personality," unquote. Meaning Robert was emotionally immature, unable to handle frustration or rejection in healthy ways. With the lack of impulse control attributed to children. And most significantly, the psychiatrist observed Robert's deep obsession with getting back at people who wronged him. Just that constant burning plot of revenge. And after about 20 months into his three-year sentence, Robert was paroled in 1962. They just said, "Oh, there's a lot, there's, you know what? Now that we're looking at it, there's a ton wrong with him.
18:59 Speaker 01 He probably shouldn't be out on the streets. He could definitely hurt somebody. He's got deep-seated rage and he's very violent." But you know what?
19:08 Speaker 01 I say let him go make cupcakes, you know, I don't know. That's just what I think. I really like those, I really like those chocolate cupcakes he makes with his daddy. You know, different time, I tell you what. And Robert's first marriage was already over by this time and Phoebe had filed for divorce. God bless her. And Phoebe had gone on to marry a new man she barely knew. And within months, Robert had committed arson and been diagnosed with psychiatric problems. So Phoebe wandered out, naturally. And Robert was then released from animosa in 1962 and was back at square one. No wife, no job, branded as a felon and diagnosed with severe mental illness and didn't get any help, basically, just let to walk free, you know?
19:52 Speaker 01 And now Robert was even more resentful than before. What could go wrong, right? So the years following Robert's release from animosa were not pretty. And he would continue down a path of instability and criminal behavior. And he would become a drifter, unable to stay in one place or hold a job. And between the felony record, the stutter and the social difficulties, finding steady employment was borderline impossible. So Robert would try working in bakeries, possibly even his father's, but it never stuck. And because Robert couldn't hold a job, he turned to stealing. And he would be arrested multiple times throughout those years for petty theft. And it wasn't even really about economics.
20:37 Speaker 01 Robert was a kleptomaniac, stealing things he didn't even need because the impulse was psychological, not practical. And still, they didn't think, hmm, maybe we should get this guy a doctor. Maybe we should lock this guy up, maybe give him a couple of medications, you know? Maybe let him talk to an unbiased third party. Different time. It upsets me because that really could have saved a lot of women and we haven't even got into it yet, but it's just very frustrating to read about. But each arrest continued to add to an already rough criminal record. And each failed job just reinforced the feeling that Robert was an outsider who didn't fit into normal society, an outcast, just... like when he was a little boy.
21:19 Speaker 01 And then, unbelievably, Robert would meet someone new. And in 1963, a woman named Darla Henriksen caught Robert's eye. And Darla was from Pocahontas, so a local girl from Robert's hometown. Now, the details of how they met are scarce and somewhat mysterious. But something must have caught Darla's eye because later that same year, they got married. Now Darla was a devoutly religious woman. Maybe she believed she could pull Robert out of the darkness. But regardless, their relationship lasted over two decades. And Darla and Robert would eventually have two children. And she would stand by Robert through moves and career changes throughout the years.
22:02 Speaker 01 And Robert would continue to get in trouble with petty theft, continually being the troubled man he always was. But Darla would not leave. And eventually, in 1967, Robert and Darla packed up and moved to Alaska. Because Iowa had nothing but bad memories for Robert. The bullies, the rejections, the arson conviction, and the first failed marriages on top of all the other arrests that happened. So Robert was ready for a change of scenery, and Darla was along for the ride. And Alaska was known as the last frontier, a place where people could reinvent themselves and where their past didn't necessarily follow. And at the time, Robert Hanson was only 28 years old and ready to leave the world he
22:45 Speaker 01 knew behind for a second, third, maybe fourth chance. Because it didn't matter out there, according to Robert. Because he could be anyone he wanted to be. A baker, a family man, a churchcoer, a hunter. And no one had to know the true darkness Robert was carrying behind all those facades.
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25:36 Speaker 01 And the 1964 Good Friday earthquake had destroyed parts of the region, and the city was still rebuilding. But just a year after the Hanson's arrived, in 1968... Large deposits of oil were discovered in the Prudhoe Bay, triggering one of the biggest economic booms in Alaskan history. And the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline through the 1970s would eventually transform Anchorage from a frontier outpost into a boomtown. But when the Hanson's first arrived, it was still just a small, cold, dark city of around 50,000 people, rough around the edges but full of work for those willing to put in the hours. So Robert got a job in something he was familiar with: baking.
26:18 Speaker 01 Because decades of forced labor under his father had perfected Robert's skills, even if he despised the work. So he would move between bakery jobs at first, building up a reputation and saving money. And eventually, he would save up enough to open his own bakery, located inside a mini mall in downtown Anchorage, a modest place that served coffee, donuts, and pastries to the working people of the city. And it became successful enough to support his family comfortably. And for the first time, Robert had found something in Alaska he had been searching for his entire life in Iowa: respect. His customers liked him. And although Robert was still a quiet man who struggled with his stutter, people saw
26:59 Speaker 01 Robert as a hard-working man instead of a cowering loser he was back in Iowa. So Robert was now Bob the Baker, a family man who attended church, raising two children with his wife Darla, never causing any trouble. But, Robert wasn't just known as the Quiet Baker. He also had a reputation for something else: hunting. And in Alaska, hunting isn't just a hobby, it's a way of life for a lot of people. And Robert went into this headfirst with an intensity that surprised people, because he hunted consistently and he was genuinely good at it. And he entered competitions, and he won those competitions for once in his life. And he even began setting records. And he was eventually documented in the Pope and Young Club's record books, one of
27:44 Speaker 01 the most prestigious bow hunting organizations in North America. And he would also take trophy animals, like doll sheep, moose, caribou, and bears. So he was living by all accounts what looked like a golden And then, Robert added another skill to the growing list, and he attained a pilot's license, though some sources suggest that the lithium prescription Robert was on may have disqualified Robert from a proper certification, meaning Robert could have been flying without it being legally granted. But he's just known for doing silly stuff like that, right? But either way, he purchased a Piper Super Cub, a small bush plane suitable for the Alaskan wilderness. And the plane gave him access to remote hunting grounds that most
28:25 Speaker 01 people just couldn't reach, and it would also serve as a much darker purpose later on. Now, the Hanson family eventually settled into a home on Old Harbor Road in Muldoon, a neighborhood on Anchorage's east side. And it was a modest home, but it was filled wall to wall with Robert's hunting trophies: mounted heads, antlers, and pelts covering the floors and walls. So to any visitor, it was the home of a successful hunter and outdoorsman. And Robert and Darla's two children attended church and participated in their community. So by every outward measure, the Hanson's were a normal and respectable family. And Robert Hanson had done it. He had reinvented himself into someone who wasn't the awkward loser from Estreville. He was the family man, the record-setting hunter,
29:10 Speaker 01 and the quiet baker. But deep below the good man was someone still full of anger, still resentful, still full of dark fantasies about getting revenge on the people who had wronged him. Those feelings had never gone away. And despite everything finally coming together for the better, Robert was still not happy. Because in Alaska, he would finally begin to act on the impulses he had been holding back for decades. So by the early 1970s, the respectable mask was already starting to slip, and Robert Hanson could not contain himself anymore. And in December of 1971, Robert cracked. And he cracked hard. And within just a single month, he was arrested twice for violent
29:55 Speaker 01 crimes against women, things that should have ended Robert's freedom right there and stopped everything that came after. And the first arrest was for the abduction of a housewife, where Robert attended- attempted to rape her. And details about the situation are limited due to both the era and protecting the victim's privacy. But what is known is that Robert threatened her with a weapon to force compliance. So Robert was caught and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. And then shortly after that first arrest, Robert would rape a lady of the night in a very similar pattern, forcing himself on women without any restraint, all within the same month. But instead of being put behind bars for decades, as you'd assume he would be for being a serial... You know what?
30:40 Speaker 01 Robert got what can be described as a frickin' slap on the wrist. Because Robert pleaded no contest to the assault with a deadly weapon charge in the housewife case, and the rape charge was dropped entirely as part of a plea bargain. And as for the lady of the night, no one believed her. Because the word of her against a successful local businessman was testimony against a brick wall. And the law took Robert's side. Now, he did receive a five-year prison sentence, but he only served about six months before being placed in a work release program and put into a halfway house, a facility designed to help inmates reintegrate back into society. And after just a short time, he returned right back to his normal life.
31:25 Speaker 01 Just like back in Iowa, they just said, "The cupcakes are good, let 'em out." You know? It's just incredibly messed up. And he got to go back to his community, his family, and his bakery like nothing ever happened. And for the next several years, it seemed like he had never learned his lesson. He wasn't getting in trouble for it by, by any means, in the way that he should be. So he would keep a lower profile and build up his bakery business and continue setting hunting records and play the family man. But he just couldn't help himself. And his kleptomania came roaring back in 1976, when Robert was arrested again for theft.
32:08 Speaker 01 And this time for trying to steal a chainsaw from a Fred Meyer store in Anchorage. Something he didn't need. This guy needs to be locked up. But this time, the police conducted a more thorough examination for once. And the following year, during sentencing proceedings, Robert was properly diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a court psychiatrist, consistent with the earlier manic depression diagnosis from prison. So he would be prescribed lithium and a mood stabilizer. And he was also sentenced yet again to five years for larceny. But Robert served nowhere close to that time before being released. And just like that, Robert was free again. So the system just kept failing again and again, and Robert just kept walking.
32:53 Speaker 01 And to truly understand Robert Hanson, you have to understand how he lived day to day. Because Robert wasn't just one man. He was two completely different people existing in the same body. By day, Robert was Bob the Baker. Robert woke up early. He got right to work at the shop in the downtown mini mall and served coffee and donuts and pastries, making small talk with customers despite his stutter. And Robert was always polite, unassuming, easy to forget. And police officers would sometimes come in for coffee and donuts, and a lot of them knew him by his name. And he was a happy, family man with two kids and his wife. And they would go to church regularly and took part of community activities.
33:36 Speaker 01 He looked to be a devoted businessman, husband, and father. But Robert was not a good man. He was living a double life. One that was embedded in Anchorage's underworld. And he would frequently visit Fourth Avenue, which by the late 1970s and early 1980s had transformed from a strip of dive bars into a corridor of strip clubs. And Robert wasn't there for the entertainment. He was a predator selecting prey. And he had developed a method, and it was consistent. He would approach women, usually dancers or ladies of the night, and offer them money. And the amount varied, but $300 was common.
34:19 Speaker 01 And that offer was framed as a photo shoot or modeling session, something that sounded legitimate and enough to not raise immediate suspicion, especially to women who already worked in entertainment. And the money was enough to tempt them, and usually, they would agree. But once a woman was in Robert's vehicle, his demeanor would change immediately. The easygoing man looking for models was suddenly pointing a weapon at them and snapping handcuffs around their wrists. And he would then sometimes take his victims back to his house on Old Harbor Road, usually when Darla and the kids were away. But he had also taken the steps to soundproof portions of his home, and once Robert had
35:00 Speaker 01 a victim secured in the basement, he would rape and torture them. Sometimes for hours at a time. But his true hunting grounds weren't just his home. They were the vast stretch of wilderness north of Anchorage. And he would not only kidnap these women, but he would load these women into his Piper Super Cub and fly them to remote locations completely beyond reach of any witnesses, far from roads, far from people. And Robert's favorite spot was the Nick River Valley, where Robert also owned a remote cabin. And once he had his victims out there, he would do something that set Robert apart from almost every other serial killer on record.
35:44 Speaker 01 Because Robert Hanson would release them and hunt them like prey. And the concept wasn't new, it was the premise of Richard Connell's 1924 story, The Most Dangerous Game, an idea that had inspired countless books and films since. But Robert Hanson lived it. And he would give his victims a head start, then pursue them through the wilderness with a hunting rifle, typically his Ruger Mini 14, chambered in 223 caliber. And unfortunately for these women, Robert was an exceptional hunter. The same patience, the same precision, the same silence that earned Robert records in bow hunting competitions.
36:26 Speaker 01 All of it came to bear on his victims. And when Robert caught them, and he always caught them, he would shoot and bury their bodies in shells. ...graves, because the Alaskan wilderness was unfortunately a great hiding place for corpses, and Mother Nature never spilled her secrets. And afterward, he would just return back to his bakery, back to his family, and back to his church, as if nothing happened. And this is the pattern he would continue with every single one of his victims, starting with Celia Beth Van Zantin, who was 18 years old at the time of her abduction. But she was a young woman whose life was just starting.
37:09 Speaker 01 Beth came from a religious family, raised with strong Mormon values and close family ties. And Beth was a college student living in Anchorage, trying to build a future for herself. And unlike many of Hanson's other victims, Beth was not a lady of the night or entertainer. Beth was, by all accounts, just a normal student, which made Beth exactly the type of girl that Robert had resented and fantasized about harming since his adolescence. But Beth lived on Knick Avenue in Anchorage, in what should have been a safe neighborhood. But on the evening of December 22, 1971, Beth left home and walked toward a nearby supermarket just a few blocks away, a routine errand Beth had done countless times before.
37:52 Speaker 01 But Beth never reached the store. And Beth's disappearance was reported two days later on Christmas Eve. And then, Christmas Day, December 25, 1971, Beth's body was discovered at Chugok Steak Park. And the specific details of what Robert did to Beth were never documented, but what is known is that Beth was killed within days of her disappearance, suggesting Robert acted on impulse with no elaborate plan. So this is thought to be Robert's first murder. But he would never admit to Beth's murder, and technically, Beth's case was never officially closed with Robert as the confirmed perpetrator. Other suspects were investigated, but an X mark on Robert's aviation map lined up with
38:37 Speaker 01 the location where Beth's body was found, which is why investigators believe Robert was responsible. And we'll get to that map later, by the way. At this point in time, Robert was 32 years old, about four years into life in Alaska. And the bakery at this point was gaining success. And within weeks of Beth's death, Robert was also arrested for the housewife assault and the lady of the night assault. But as we already know, Robert served only six months and walked free. So it's pretty widely accepted that Robert did end Beth's life, but it is not fully confirmed. And the next victim was Megan Emmerich, a 17-year-old. And very little is known about Megan's background, partly because Megan was a minor and the
39:22 Speaker 01 details of Megan's disappearance are largely unknown. And Robert also never admitted to Megan's death. And the worst part of Megan's story, the most devastating detail, is that Megan's body was actually never found, not then and not now. And for Megan's family, there was never any closure and never any place to grieve and never any place to lay her to rest. And meanwhile, Robert was just working at the bakery and acting like everything was perfectly fine. So again, she is widely believed to be victim number two of Robert Hanson. And the next victim was Mary Kathleen Thill, a young woman between 22 and 23 years old.
40:04 Speaker 01 Now, Mary disappeared in July of 1975, and the specific circumstances of Mary's disappearance are unknown. And Mary was in Anchorage during the summer of 1975, during the oil pipeline boom, when thousands of new workers and families were flooding into Alaska, making it even easier for someone to vanish without a trace. And just like Megan Emmerich, before her, Mary Thill's body was never found. But again, her disappearance is linked to Robert as well. And the next victim would be known as Eklutna Annie, and this is a tragedy in and of itself because that is not her actual name. And over four decades later, her real name is still unknown, but based on her remains,
40:45 Speaker 01 investigators identified her as a white female, likely between 16 and 25 years old. And Robert told investigators later on that Annie was a lady of the night. of the night or dancer, though he admitted he wasn't entirely sure. And he also claimed she might have been from Kodiak, but investigators believe she originally came from California, but no missing persons report matched her description and she had no identification. So Annie was invisible in the system, which tragically made her a perfect target for Robert Hanson. And Robert would later claim that Annie was actually his first victim, though investigators believe that almost certainly wasn't true based off of the timeline.
41:27 Speaker 01 Because Robert said he picked Annie up in Anchorage before she realized, once they were in the car together, that she was in serious danger. And while she tried to escape, Robert stabbed Annie in the back before dumping her body in a wooded area about one mile south of Eklatna Lake Road, near a set of power lines in the Eklatna area, which is how she got her placeholder name. And her remains were found disturbed and partially consumed by wildlife in the area, making identification even more difficult. And there are still ongoing attempts to find Eklatna Annie's real identity using the same modern DNA techniques that have that have named other Jane Does in recent years, but so far, there's no match.
42:10 Speaker 01 And at this point in Robert's life, he was at the absolute height of his public life, respected by the community as a kind businessman and incredible hunter. Robert was about 40 years old at this point, and he was only just getting started. Because next would be Joanna Messina, a 24-year-old woman who had come to Alaska looking for work. Now Joanna had trained as a nurse, but was doing cannery work and odd jobs in the seaward area, a small port about 125 miles from Anchorage. Now Joanna told friends before she disappeared that she was meeting a man who had promised to take Joanna on a shopping spree, but Joanna didn't know this man's name, because this was a time when things just seemed safer, when an offer like that didn't automatically
42:55 Speaker 01 seem sinister. But Robert took Joanna to a remote location, but according to forensic evidence, Robert struck Joanna and then shot her with a 22 caliber weapon. And he would also kill Joanna's dog, which had been with Joanna at the time, before burying Joanna's body in a grave near Seward. And Joanna's body was discovered in July of 1980 in a gravel pit. And by the time investigators arrived, wildlife, including bears, had scavenged the remains. But despite the condition of the body, Joanna was identified through fingerprints, luckily. And after all that, Robert just went home to Anchorage and carried on as normal. But each time he took a victim, he would hunt them in some way or another.
43:39 Speaker 01 He would find them on the street or just walking out and about. And then he would take them, do whatever he wanted with them, and then hunt them down in the wilderness. And he would do this with the next victim, Roxanne Eastland. And at the time, she was 24 years old. Now Roxanne was last seen at the Budget Motel in Anchorage at the time of her disappearance on June 28, 1980. And very little is known about her life and the circumstances of Roxanne's abduction, or where Robert took her afterward. And there's very little known about Roxanne's actual life and the circumstances in how she was abducted, or where he took her precisely.
44:21 Speaker 01 But based on later investigation, it is widely believed she was also abducted and hunted down in the wilderness. And the next victim was Lisa, or Betty Futrell. And this would be the oldest known victim of Robert Hanson at 41 years old. Now Lisa worked in Anchorage's nightclub scene. And again, Lisa's life and disappearance and death weren't well documented. But Lisa was last seen on September 6, 1980. And her body was not found for four years after, discovered on May 9, 1984. And by this point, Robert was killing multiple women per year and remaining completely off the radar of law enforcement. And Robert's methods were evolving.
45:03 Speaker 01 Because instead of disposing of bodies on roadsides, Robert was bringing victims to more remote locations: the cabin and the hunting grounds, places where nature would do the work of concealing them. So the next victim would be Malia Larson, who was approximately 28 years old at the time of her disappearance, which investigators believe happened sometime in July of 1981. But beyond that, almost nothing is known. And Malia's body was found on April 24th, 1984, in a parking area near the old Kinnick Bridge. So Robert was now approaching a full decade of murders without anyone catching on, hiding the whole time behind the bakery counter, serving coffee and pastries to police officers.
45:47 Speaker 01 And more often than not, the cause of death was not known to these women because by the time that they were found, the Alaskan wilderness had taken over. So what was left of these poor women's bodies didn't leave a lot for investigators to go on. And that brings us to our next victim, Sherri Morrow, a 23-year-old exotic dancer working the same transient nightlife scene that Robert had been quietly exploiting for years. Now Sherri was known for wearing a distinctive arrowhead necklace, a piece of jewelry that would matter a great deal to investigators later on. Now Sherri disappeared on November 17th, 1981. And Sherri had told friends she was meeting a photographer who was interested in taking her pictures,
46:31 Speaker 01 offering Sherri $300 for some nude photos. And Sherri was excited about it. But that excitement didn't last long once Sherri was in Robert's car, because Robert had lured Sherri out to a remote area near the Kinnick River. And at some point during what became a hunt, Robert unclothed Sherri, and then shot her three times in the back with his Ruger Mini-14. And then he would dress her body before burying her in a shallow grave. And Sherri's body wouldn't be discovered until September 12th, 1982, when hunters walking along the banks of the river came across it. And near Sherri's body, investigators found a 223 caliber shell casing, and the ballistic evidence would eventually link this murder
47:16 Speaker 01 to the same weapon used in other killings. So that's how they would find out how he killed the other women. So police were now starting to believe there was a serial killer. killer operating in the Anchorage area. But with no leads, Robert just kept going. And his next victim would be Andrea Fish Alteri, a 22 to 24 year old woman known by her nickname Fish. And that nickname came from her signature piece of jewelry, a fish necklace that was as recognizable as Andrea's face to those who knew her. And Andrea was last seen on December 2nd, 1981. And when she got into a taxi headed to the Boniface Mall in Anchorage, she had told people she was meeting an unknown man for a photo shoot where she'd been paid
48:00 Speaker 01 to perform exotic dances, the same lure Robert always used. But Robert would abduct Andrea like the other women and kill her with a 22 caliber Browning Automatic Pistol. And then he would proceed to throw Andrea's body off of a bridge, and she would unfortunately never be found. And investigators would later find out that he absolutely abducted her because they would find that fish necklace somewhere in his possession. But we will get to that soon. I've been using Surfshark lately, and I genuinely can't believe I went without this for so long. And for those of you who don't know, Surfshark is basically a VPN, but it does way more than just that. I'm talking an email scam checker that tells you
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49:29 Speaker 01 to get four extra months off Surfshark VPN. The link and code are on screen right now, so go check. Thank you so much to Surfshark for sponsoring this video and supporting the channel, and let's get back to it. But Sue Luna would be next, and she was a 23-year-old and described by those who knew Sue as "too tender-hearted to housebreak her puppy." But Sue would disappear in May of 1982, and the specifics of what happened are largely lost in time, but as far as we know, Sue was one of the victims that Robert actually hunted as well. And he would take her to a remote location, release her, and then pursue her through the forest, and ultimately, kill her.
50:10 Speaker 01 Something Robert found just thoroughly and sickly enjoyable. And Sue's body would be found almost two years later, on April 24, 1984, near the Knecht River. And the next victim would be 20-year-old Tamara, or Tammy Peterson, a dancer in Anchorage. Now Tammy vanished in August of 1982, and her last known contact with anyone was a phone call in which Tammy mentioned she was meeting someone for, again, a photo shoot. That Robert abducted Tammy and he would kill her. And her body would be found on April 29, 1984, about 1 and 1/2 miles from the Knecht Bridge.
50:50 Speaker 01 Again, assumed to be kidnapped, let go, and pursued, and killed. And around this time, investigators were starting to connect some dots. And Sherry Morrow's body had been found in September of 1982, and the shell casings at both crime scenes were matching, so a task force was being discussed. But they still, at this point, had no suspects, so Robert continued. And Angela Federn would be 24 years old and worked as a dancer on 4th Avenue, near the heart of Anchorage's nightlife district, which was also Robert's primary hunting ground, as we know. And Angela would disappear around February of 1983, and wasn't reported missing for months.
51:32 Speaker 01 A tragically common outcome for women in that line of work. But her body would be found on April 26, 1984, at Figure 8 Lake. So by 1983, Robert had been killing for over a decade, and was 43. 3 years old, but 1983 was going to be a special year because even as Robert was still getting away with more murders, Robert's time was running out, thankfully. So Daylin Frey, known by her nickname Sugar, was 22 years old, and Daylin was last seen sometime in March of 1983 and wasn't reported missing right away, similar to some of the other girls. And Daylin's body was found on August 20th, 1985, on a Kanek River sandbar by a pilot
52:17 Speaker 01 who was out practicing landings with new tires. And Daylin was buried as a Jane Doe in Anchorage Cemetery, and it wasn't until 1989, four years after Daylin was found, that Daylin was finally identified. And only because of jewelry visible in a case file photograph. Now Theresa Watson was 22 years old, last seen in Anchorage on March 25th, 1983, and just before Theresa disappeared, she told her roommate she was going to meet a man that was going to pay her $300 for an hour or two of company. And Robert then took Theresa to the Kanai Peninsula and murdered her there. But this time, Robert was sloppy, and the ground was too frozen to dig properly, so
52:59 Speaker 01 Robert just left Theresa's body there to freeze and disappear into the snow. But Theresa's body would be found April 26th, 1984. So Robert was killing at an accelerated pace. Angela Federn, Daylin Frey, and Theresa Watson, all within just a few months. And this is what we see with a lot of serial killers, they just keep escalating and the cooldown period gets shorter and shorter as time goes on, more often than not. But Robert was driven by it, almost addicted to it at this point. But he was now on borrowed time, and in June 1983, things were about to change. So Paula Golding was 30 years old, and she was a dancer working clubs on 4th Avenue, just like many of Robert's victims.
53:44 Speaker 01 And Robert lured Paula on April 25th, 1983, and drove her to Merrill Field, where Robert kept his plane parked. And Robert then flew Paula out to a remote location in the wilderness. And that's where things went wrong for him. Because Paula fought back. And Paula broke free and ran, trying to disappear into the wilderness. And Robert, who was experienced with fleeing victims, would unfortunately shoot Paula in the back with his 223 rifle. And here's a detail investigators noted. When Paula's body was found, her clothes were undamaged, meaning Paula had fled well nude and Robert had again dressed her body afterward.
54:27 Speaker 01 But her body wouldn't be discovered until September 2nd, 1983, buried in a shallow grave on the banks of the Kanek River, almost exactly one year after Sherri Morrow's body had been found in the same area. And when ballistics tested the shell casings near Paula, they matched Sherri Morrow's. The same gun, the same killer, the same hunting grounds. So the discovery of Paula's body shifted everything. And investigators now understood they weren't dealing with a random string of murders. There was a serial killer methodically hunting young women. And the FBI was contacted and a formal task force was created. Finally. But investigators also had another piece of evidence sitting in their files they didn't yet realize was connected.
55:13 Speaker 01 The testimony of a 17-year-old girl named Cindy Paulson. But before we get to Cindy, we need to talk about the last known victim, who was only known as Horseshoe Harriet for over 37 years, named after the area near Horseshoe Lake where Robin's body was eventually found. But luckily, in October of 2021, genetic genealogy finally gave Robin a real name, Robin Pelkey. Now, Robin Pelkey was 19 years old, born in Colorado in 1963. And Robin had moved to Arkansas as a teenager and then relocated to Alaska in 1981, drawn in by the opportunities of the last frontier. And Robin was living in Anchorage during the period when Robert was on his worst murder spree.
55:58 Speaker 01 And no missing persons report was ever filed for Robin, another tragically common detail among Robert's victims. Robin was a young woman just starting to build a life with no deep roots in the community yet, and she would disappear at some point in 1983. But Robert would kidnap Robin from downtown Anchorage, and then he would fly Robin in the Piper Super Cub out to Horseshoe Lake, and he would then murder Robin, stabbing and shooting her before discarding of her body near the lake. And Robin's body would be found April 25th, 1984. And her remains would be buried as Jane Doe at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.
56:38 Speaker 01 And in 2014, Robin's DNA was run through the FBI's CODIS database with no results. But finally, like I said, in 2021, genetic genealogy cracked it, and Robin Pelkey finally got her name back. And the Alaska Department of Public Safety then purchased a new grave marker for Robin, replacing Jane Doe with Robin's actual name. So Robert's killing spree was getting worse and more frequent, and investigators were starting to piece things together now. But on June 13th, 1983, Robert would finally make a mistake. Robert picked up a girl named Cindy Paulson. Now Cindy Paulson was 17 years old in the summer of 1983, living in Anchorage with her mother and trying to survive in a city that was unforgiving for young girls on their own.
57:23 Speaker 01 And Cindy had turned to sex work to get by, dancing and working the Fourth Avenue Strip, the same stretch where Robert Hanson, as we know, had been quietly hunting his victims for years. And on the night of June 13th, 1983, Cindy crossed paths with Robert Hanson. And it was late in the evening when Robert pulled his car up to where Cindy was standing. And Robert himself was a small, unimposing man with glasses and a stutter who didn't immediately scream danger. And he would offer Cindy $200 for fellatio, just straightforward, to the point, and nothing Cindy hadn't heard before. So she agreed and got into his car. But as they pulled away, Robert reached for a large revolver and pointed the long barrel
58:06 Speaker 01 directly at Cindy's face. And before Cindy could react, handcuffs snapped around her wrists, and she immediately started to fight back. trying to pull away. But Cindy didn't struggle too hard. Terrified Robert would discharge the weapon by accident potentially, or on purpose. So Robert told Cindy that if she cooperated and didn't cause any problems, he wouldn't hurt her. It was an obvious lie, the same lie that Robert had told the other women who were now in shallow graves throughout the Alaskan wilderness. So Robert would drive Cindy to his home on Old Harbor Road in Muldoon. And Darla and the kids were away on a trip to Europe, so the house was completely empty, just Robert and Cindy.
58:48 Speaker 01 And once inside, Cindy took in every detail around her despite what she was experiencing. Mounted animal heads everywhere, antlers, stuffed caribou and goat heads, wolf skins, fish trophies, a hunter's den. And Cindy also noted a dead end sign visible from the street, bars on some windows and a station wagon in the driveway. So Robert then took Cindy to the basement, handcuffed her to a support beam and tied a rope around Cindy's neck secured to a coffee table, making sure she was completely immobilized. And that is when Robert would unfortunately SA and torture Cindy for hours, alternating between violence and telling Cindy that if she cooperated, everything would be fine.
59:32 Speaker 01 And at some point, Robert fell asleep on a nearby mattress, because Robert knew Cindy wasn't going anywhere, and he planned to finish the job in the morning, flying Cindy out to the wilderness, just like Robert had done with so many others. So in the early morning hours of June 14th, 1983, Robert woke up and loaded Cindy into the car, and she was still cuffed and she had no shoes, because Cindy had deliberately left her shoes on the floor of the car earlier, hoping they might serve as evidence if she didn't survive what was coming. Just an extremely strong, brave, smart woman. I just, ah, man, I can't even imagine what she was thinking during these moments.
1:00:13 Speaker 01 But Robert would drive Cindy to Merrill Field, the small airport on Anchorage's east side, where he kept his Piper Super Cub, because this was his routine, done multiple times before. He didn't really have a worry in the world. And they arrived around 5 a.m. And Robert parked the car and told Cindy to stay put and threatened that if she ran, he would kill her immediately. And then walked away from the car to begin prepping the plane to take off. And Cindy watched methodically as Robert moved away and seeing Robert only from the waist down as he circled the plane. So she would calculate the odds and she noticed the driver's side door was open.
1:00:54 Speaker 01 So Cindy would crawl from the backseat into the front seat and open the driver's side door and start to run. And Robert would spot Cindy almost immediately and yelled for her to stop, gun in hand. But Cindy was fast, running like her life depended on it, because it did. And Cindy didn't slow down and she didn't look back, she just ran. And she made it onto Sixth Avenue, a main road near the airfield. And then, as if by sheer fate, by miracle, a pickup truck appeared. And the driver saw a teenage girl running barefoot down the road at 5 a.m. with handcuffs on her wrists and immediately knew something was terribly wrong.
1:01:38 Speaker 01 So the driver pulled over and Cindy jumped in and told the driver to go. And Robert saw the witness and stopped pursuing Cindy, walking back to the plane. And the driver wanted to take her straight to the police station, but Cindy wasn't ready for that, because she was traumatized and exhausted and terrified. So she begged the driver to take her to the Mush Inn, a motel on Gamble Street where she knew some people staying there. So the driver dropped her off and then went directly to the police station himself to report what he had seen. And meanwhile, a security guard at Merrill Field had noticed a suspicious activity and noted down the car's license tag. And when police eventually got to Cindy, she herself would be the one to identify the
1:02:22 Speaker 01 plane, its make, its color, and its tail number, all from memory despite everything she had been through. So Cindy made her way from the Mush Inn to the nearby Big Timber Motel where Cindy had originally been Still handcuffed, by the way, and still barefoot. But she called her boyfriend to try to calm down. And it wasn't long before Anchorage Police Officer Greg Baker tracked Cindy down and found her in room 110 of the Big Timber Motel, still in handcuffs, still without shoes. And Cindy then told Officer Baker everything. And she described a small man with glasses and a stutter, and she described the car, the house, the animal trophies everywhere, the plane, and the airport.
1:03:05 Speaker 01 And Cindy mentioned the shoes, because she had left them deliberately so that when investigators looked, they would find them. And when investigators ran the plane's registration and matched the car description, everything pointed to the same man, Robert Hanson. So, Robert Hanson was brought in for questioning, and the allegations were naturally serious: kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder. And Robert sat across from Anchorage Police detectives and denied everything. Sure, Robert admitted he had been at Merrill Field that morning, and he was a pilot going about his business, but that girl? Robert had never seen Cindy Paulson before in his life!
1:03:46 Speaker 01 And Robert suggested Cindy was probably trying to shake Robert down for money or something, a lady of the night looking for a payday. And Robert had an alibi. Two friends, John Henning and John Sumrell, came forward and backed Robert up completely, equally as evil as Robert, by the way, claiming Robert had been with them on the night in question. So there was no way that Robert could have been picking up anyone on Fourth Avenue. But as we know, the alibi was completely fabricated. But investigators had to make a choice. On one side, a 17-year-old lady of the night with a horrifying story but a background that, to many people at the time, meant her word counted for less.
1:04:28 Speaker 01 And on the other side, a respected baker, a now 44-year-old man who loved his community and was known by the officers who came in for coffee. So investigators chose Robert's side, and no charges were filed, and Robert was released. The case was Essentially thrown out, and Cindy Paulson was sent back to the streets. And despite everything Cindy had survived, no one believed her and nothing was done. So Robert returned to his life as if absolutely nothing happened, because for Robert, nothing had changed. He was still a killer and he wasn't done. So Robert would go on to murder at least two or three more women in the weeks and months
1:05:10 Speaker 01 following Cindy's escape, including Robin Pelkey, who Robert killed just a few weeks later. But Cindy's story wasn't over, because someone else had read the report and felt deep in his gut that there was a pattern here, that someone was a man, and that someone was a man named Glenn Floth. Now Glenn was a sergeant with the Alaskan State Troopers, and by September of 1983, Glenn kept finding bodies. And he was assigned to a task force investigating a series of murders in and around Anchorage, Seward, and the Matanuska-Sasitna Valley. Every single victim was a woman, and most of them were dancers or ladies of the night from Anchorage's Fourth Avenue scene.
1:05:53 Speaker 01 The patterns were just undeniable, and the majority of these victims had been killed in or transported to the remote wilderness. And Eklutna Annie had been found in July of 1980, and then Joanna Messina, then Sherri Morrow in September of 1982, then Paula Golding on September 2nd, 1983, near the Kanek River. And the ballistics were clear. Sherri Morrow and Paula Golding had been killed with the same weapon, a 223 caliber rifle. Someone was doing this methodically and deliberately. This was the work of a serial killer. But Floth had no suspects, until he read the file on a young girl, until she had escaped from a man who handcuffed, raped, and tried to load her into a bush plane in the early hours of the morning.
1:06:38 Speaker 01 Everything Cindy Paulson described, the house, the hunting trophies, the soundproof basement, the plane, it was just too specific, too detailed, and too consistent to dismiss. So Floth pulled Robert Hanson's background, first guy yet, swear to God, and actually looked at his criminal record. The 1971 arrest for assault and rape, the psychiatric diagnosis, the petty theft arrests, the instability, the diagnoses. Robert Hanson was not the respectable citizen he pretended to be, and Floth was determined to prove it. So Glenn Floth knew he needed more help. What was happening in Anchorage was bigger than a small task force could handle alone. So he reached out to the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia,
1:07:23 Speaker 01 a unit known for pioneering the field of criminal profiling. And the FBI sent Special Agent John E. Douglas, one of the founding fathers of criminal profiling and a man who would go on to inspire characters in countless books and films about serial killers. Now, John Douglas and his team reviewed everything Glenn provided: crime scene evidence, autopsy reports, shell casings, burial locations, and victim profiles. And then they built a psychological portrait of the killer. The profile described someone with low self-esteem and a history of being rejected by women, someone who was an experienced hunter with access to a bush plane, and specifically and unusually, someone with a stutter or speech impediment. I shit you not. They profiled that. The little girl
1:08:08 Speaker 01 that watched Criminal Minds and me is just... It's crazy that that is actually real. This, like, the profiling thing is actually real and it really works. It's mind-blowing, and I respect the shit out of it. So Glenn then compared the profile to everything he knew about Robert Hanson. And the match was nearly perfect. Hanson was all these things, and his documented stutter alone was remarkably specific, as I just said. But fitting a profile wasn't enough to get a search warrant, as we know, and Glenn needed to dismantle Robert's alibi first. So Glenn knew he had his man, but he couldn't just point and say guilty. Glenn needed the evidence to back it up. So in late September of 1983, he conducted a detailed interview with Cindy Poulsen. And unlike the Anchorage police detectives
1:08:53 Speaker 01 who had dismissed Cindy before, Glenn approached Cindy as a credible witness whose testimony actually mattered. And the interview was extensive. And Cindy walked through every single detail: the car, the handcuffs, the gun, the house. The basement, the trophies, the plane. And Cindy's account was so precise and so consistent and so thorough that Glenn had absolutely zero doubt Cindy was telling the truth. And Glenn then turned to John Henning and John Sumral, the two men who had provided Robert's alibi. And Glenn didn't approach gently, let's just say that. He made it clear that providing a false alibi in a murder investigation was a serious crime and that both men could be charged with perjury. And that got their attention pretty fast.
1:09:35 Speaker 01 And both men immediately dropped the act and admitted they had lied. And both said Robert had asked them to cover for him. And both said they thought they were just helping a friend avoid an awkward situation with a lady of the night. And they had no idea Robert might be connected to actual murders. Yeah, okay, whatever, dude. So with the alibi recanted, Robert's story completely collapsed. And on top of that, the forensic evidence, the 223 shell casings near Sherry Morrow and Paula, pointed to a specific weapon, likely a Ruger Mini-14. So if investigators could find that rifle inside Robert's home, they'd have a direct physical link to the murders. But they needed a warrant.
1:10:14 Speaker 01 And the application Glenn put together was extraordinary, running over 48 pages. So Glenn included Robert's full criminal history, going all the way back to the 1960 arson and forward. Just building the most comprehensive possible picture of one man's entire dangerous history. And the judge reviewed it and approved the warrant immediately. And on October 27th, 1983, the hunt for the hunter was about to end. So at 8:00 a.m. on October 27th, 1983, Robert Hanson was arrested at his bakery, transporting him to the Alaska State Trooper Station for questioning. And while that was happening, a separate team of investigators entered Robert's home on Old Harbor Road and began to search.
1:10:58 Speaker 01 And the team had a warrant to search for weapons, jewelry, and anything that would connect Robert to the murdered women. And they found exactly what they were looking for. The hunting trophies were immediately obvious. It's consistent with Cindy Poulsen's descriptions, but the investigators weren't looking for taxidermy. searched methodically, checking under floorboards, looking inside hidden compartments, examining every possible space where evidence could be concealed. And in the attic, hidden under the insulation, they found jewelry. Cheaper jewelry, the kind that women working the nightclub scene might wear to dress up. And as investigators examined the pieces, the descriptions started matching. An arrowhead necklace, matching the description of Sheri Morrow.
1:11:42 Speaker 01 A fish-shaped necklace, matching the description of Andrea Fish Alteri. These weren't random stolen items, these were trophies from victims. And along with the jewelry, they found firearms hidden in the attic. And at the center of the collection was the Ruger Mini-14, chambered in 223. And that rifle was sent immediately to the ballistics lab, and the results came back quickly. The same gun that killed Sheri Morrow and Paula Golding. But the most chilling discovery was still to come. Because hidden behind the headboard of the bed Robert shared with Darla was an aviation map of the Anchorage area. And at first glance, it looked completely normal, but at a closer look, revealed something
1:12:27 Speaker 01 horrifying. Thirty-seven X marks dotted all across the map, near Horseshoe Lake, near Kanik River, and scattered out into the wilderness in every single direction. And two of the marks lined up perfectly with where Sheri Morrow and Paula Golding had been found. And a third matched where Joanna Messina's body had been discovered in 1980. So the evidence was just overwhelming. And the jewelry, the map, the rifle, the ballistics, Robert's mask was gone. And now investigators had to make Robert talk. So while the search of Robert's home was underway, he was sitting in an interview room at the Alaska State Trooper Station, waiting for questioning. And Glenn had been preparing for this moment for months at this point.
1:13:11 Speaker 01 And the room was carefully staged, following guidance from the FBI's behavioral experts. And maps of the Kanik River areas were hung up on the walls. And photographs of grave sites were displayed alongside pictures of the actual victims. And files- And folders stacked the desk visibly labeled with names, victims' names, friends' names, families' names. They were playing a crazy psychological game with Robert, alright? So Robert was placed alone in the room and left to sit in silence, to think, to get uncomfortable. And Robert's reaction was not that of an innocent man surrounded by evidence of murders he didn't commit. He wasn't panicked or confused. He studied the
1:13:54 Speaker 01 information around the room with what appeared to be a genuine interest. And then Glenn and Sergeant Daryl Galleon entered and began the interrogation. And for four hours, Robert maintained innocence. He was just a humble baker, a kind family man, a respected businessman. He couldn't possibly have hurt anyone. In five hours, he was still denying everything, stuttering through denial. Meanwhile, across town, the ballistics lab had confirmed what investigators already suspected. Robert's Ruger Mini 14 was the murder weapon. And prosecutors Frank Rothschild and Victor Crumb then joined the interrogation and laid everything on the table. The matching bullets, the trophy jewelry, the map with the X marks. They told
1:14:39 Speaker 01 Robert they could do this the easy way or the hard way. And come spring, when the snow melted, they'd bring the dogs out to every single mark on the map, build case after case and drag Robert through potentially 17 separate murder trials, each one more humiliating in public than the last. And Darla, Robert's children, Robert's friends, every member of the Anchorage community, all of them would know exactly what Robert Hanson had done. And then, something happened. And Frank Rothschild would later describe it. "Robert's neck turned red. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. And the mild-mannered baker disappeared. And for a moment, the real Robert Hanson was visible, boiling
1:15:23 Speaker 01 over with anger. And then, Robert broke. And he admitted to killing 17 women. And he admitted to raping at least 30 others without killing them." And Robert described
1:15:36 Speaker 01 The methods, the lure, the handcuffs, the plane, the remote locations, the hunting. And he spoke about these killings with a disturbing emotional detachment. At one point telling investigators his plan had been to make that year's summertime project kidnapping, essaying, and killing women, describing murdering human beings as a seasonal hobby. And his reasoning for some of the killings was that the victims fought back and their panic just set them off. And if they tried to escape, he had to kill them. It was their fault. In Robert's twisted logic, if they cooperated, they were good girls and he would return them alive. But the ones who fought back got what they deserved, according to Robert.
1:16:20 Speaker 01 And what investigators couldn't reconcile were the X marks, because there were 37 on the map and Robert had only confessed to 17 murders. But he wouldn't speak to the additional marks. And those marks remain unexplained to this day. And it's widely believed they represent more victims than Robert ever confessed to. The true number may never be known. But with Robert's confession in hand and overwhelming physical evidence, prosecutors had a decision to make. They could take him to trial. They had strong cases on at least four murders, Sheri Morrow, Paula Golding, Joanna Messina, and Eklutna Annie, because they had jewelry, they had the ballistics, and they had Robert's confession on tape.
1:17:02 Speaker 01 But trial, or possibly 17 separate trials, would be lengthy, expensive, and deeply traumatic with each family having to testify. And Cindy Poulsen, who had survived, would have to take the stand and relive everything all over again. And there was also the problem of the bodies, because Robert had confessed to 17 murders, but only a handful of victims had actually been found. And the families of women like Sue, and Teresa, and Angela, and others had no idea where their loved ones were even buried. And only Robert knew where those women were. And if prosecutors wanted that information, if those families were ever going to have any sort of closure, they would have to make a deal. So District Attorney Victor Crum-
1:17:46 Speaker 01 offered Robert a plea bargain. In exchange for a full confession and Robert's cooperation in locating the remaining victims' remains, he would face formal charges on only four murders of Sherri, Joanna, Paula, and Ek Lutna, plus the kidnapping and rape of Cindy Paulson. And all other charges would be dismissed. And Robert would also be allowed to serve his sentence in a federal prison outside of Alaska, away from the state prison population where Robert feared for his safety. Shut up! And there would be limited publicity. No press conferences, no perp walks, no media circus. So he would be spared the public humiliation. And Robert took the plea deal.
1:18:28 Speaker 01 As part of the agreement, he was taken out to the wilderness to help locate burial sites. And on a winter day following his confession, Robert was escorted to the Anchorage International Airport, loaded into a military helicopter, and flown out to sites marked on his map. And at each location, Robert pointed out the spot from memory, now buried under the snow. And investigators marked every site for further excavation. And by the end of that day, Robert had revealed the locations of 20 previously unknown grave sites. And over the following months, investigators returned to those sites and recovered seven bodies. Sue Luna at the Kanik River on April 24, 1984.
1:19:10 Speaker 01 Malai Larson at the parking area near the Old Kanik Bridge, also April 24. Robin Pelkey, still known as Horseshoe Harriet at the time, near Horseshoe Lake on April 25. Terry Watson on the Kanai Peninsula on April 26. Angela Federn on Figure Eight Lake on April 26. Tammy Peterson, one and a half miles from the Old Kanik Bridge on April 29. And Lisa Futrell, south of the Old Kanik Bridge on May 9. But not every body was recovered. Megan Emmerich, Mary Phil, Roxanne Eastland, and Andrea Fish Alterie were never found, and they still have not been found. So on February 18, 1984, Robert Hanson stood in front of the Anchorage courtroom and
1:19:55 Speaker 01 pleaded guilty, four counts of first degree murder with Sherri Morrow, Joanna Messina, Paula Golding, and Et Glutna Annie, plus the kidnapping and S.A. of Cindy Paulson. And all other charges were dismissed per the plea agreement. And a couple of weeks later, on February 27, 1984, attorneys, law enforcement, the press, and the friends and family of the victims packed into the courtroom as Superior Court Judge Ralph E. Moody took his place at the head of the room. And prosecutor Victor Crum announced that Robert Hanson had admitted to a string of serial murders, and people were brought to tears. And Cindy Paulson, the young woman who escaped, was the reason any of this had happened, ran out of the courtroom sobbing.
1:20:39 Speaker 01 And District Attorney Frank Rothschild addressed the judge directly, and his words have become one of the most memorable statements from any serial killer case in Alaskan history, saying, quote, "Your Honor, before you sits a monster, an extreme aberration of a human being. A man who has walked among us for 17 years, serving us donuts, Danish, and hot coffee, all with a pleasant smile. Mellow, mild-mannered, bespectacled Bob the Baker. A family man, a man so cunning, so clever, that his friends and acquaintances are in shock at what he now admits before this court. Not even his wife of 20 years had any idea of his dark, evil side.
1:21:21 Speaker 01 His crimes numb the mind, hearing him tell of his crimes, which we did that last week for 10 to 12 hours, sapped the body of energy. It sapped the spirit." Unquote. Rothschild's wanted the maximum possible sentence. Because Alaska had no death penalty, Rothschild asked for life without parole on the first murder count. 99 years on each of the remaining three murder counts, and 30 years for the S.A., which totaled to a sentence of life plus 461 years. It deserved. Robert's defense attorney, Dewey, had the simplest job in the room, saying, quote, "Your Honor, it's my client's wish and desire that nothing further be said on his behalf at this proceeding by his
1:22:06 Speaker 01 And that concludes my remarks. Unquote. And Judge Ralph Moody then asked Robert directly if there was anything Robert wanted to say. Robert had nothing to say. No apology, no remorse, no plea for mercy. Judge Moody was visibly horrified, standing, quote, "I cannot think of a bigger indictment of society than we have here." Unquote. And specifically noting that Robert had been arrested multiple times over the past 12 years on charges that should have kept Robert locked up for decades. But instead, Robert had walked free again and again, and the systemic failure was a direct reason so many women were dead. And Judge Moody sentenced Robert Hanson accordingly.
1:22:48 Speaker 01 So as part of the plea agreement, Robert had requested to serve his sentence in federal prison outside of Alaska, worried about what would happen to him in a state prison where inmates would know who Robert was and what he had done. And his request was granted, and he was sent first to the United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. But Robert had trouble fitting in there. Now, because of his stutter.
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1:23:41 Speaker 01 This time, but because the inmates knew what Robert had done, because apparently he just didn't think that news could travel at all, because he's an idiot. So he would be transferred to Minnesota, where he would spend the next several years. And eventually, in May of 1988, Robert was transferred back to Alaska. And he went first to Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau, where, in a grim footnote, escape materials were later discovered in Robert's cell, and then to the newly opened Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward, a maximum-security facility that would be Robert's home for the next two and ...half decades. And inside Spring Creek, Robert kept an extremely low profile. And he was compliant with staff, avoided disciplinary issues, participated in various
1:24:26 Speaker 01 jobs and educational programs within the facility, and rarely spoke about his crimes. And he also never apologized, because he still believed the women deserved what had happened to them. By 2014, Robert's health was failing rapidly. And he was 75 years old at this point, and the decades were starting to catch up. And in May of 2014, Robert was transferred from Spring Creek to Anchorage Correctional Complex for Medical Care. And then, the day before Robert died, he was transferred once more, and this time to the Alaska Regional Hospital, where Robert Christian Hansen died on August 21st, 2014,
1:25:05 Speaker 01 at approximately 1:30 a.m. of natural causes. And he had served only 30 years of a sentence of life plus 461 years. And Glenn, the man who had finally caught Robert, issued a statement saying, quote, "On this day, we should only remember his many victims and all of their families. And my heart goes out to all of them. As far as Hansen is concerned, this world is better without him," unquote. And Frank Rothschild, the prosecutor, said nothing at all, and I don't blame him. But Robert Hansen died quietly, without drama, and without remorse. But this isn't a story of a man who murdered this. These were real people
1:25:47 Speaker 01 with families and long lives ahead of them. Celia Beth Van Zet, Megan Emmerich, Mary Thill, the women we still know only as Eklutna Annie, Joanna Messina, Roxanne Eastland, Lisa Betty Futrell, Malai Larson, Sheri Moro, Andrea Fish Alteri, Sue Luna, Tammy Peterson, Angela Fettern, Delin Sugar Frey, Teresa Watson, Paula Golding, Robin Pelkey, and possibly others whose names we will never know. But the Robert Hansen case shows what can happen when society measures the credibility of a victim based on how their life looks compared to someone else's.
1:26:26 Speaker 01 Which is so incredibly heartbreaking and unfortunate because all human beings matter. Different backgrounds may exist, but those backgrounds shouldn't push aside a victim just because they weren't dealt a better hand. Everyone who makes a claim deserves to be taken seriously and heard because the alternative we saw play out in Alaska for over a decade is 17 women in shallow graves and a killer who kept baking bread in the morning like nothing happened. Serial killers aren't going away, but neither is the truth. And sometimes the truth is a girl running down Sixth Avenue at 5:00 in the morning, barefoot and handcuffed.
1:27:08 Speaker 01 And sometimes it just takes one person willing to actually listen. But that is that for the Robert Hanson case. I say, good riddance, he's dead. And I hope he's living life in hell somewhere because he deserves it. But that is it for this episode. Let me know what other cases you want me to deep dive into. I always read the comments and until next time, I will see you beautiful face. Please stay safe out there. All right. Bye.
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