In the winter of 1991, the body of 30-year-old Debbie Ann Friday, a female, was discovered in a vacant building in Highland Park, Michigan, on December 14th. She had been reported missing six days earlier, on December 8th. An investigation revealed that she had been raped and strangled to death.
Debbie Ann Friday was the first victim of a string of brutal murders committed by Benjamin Tony Atkins, who would come to be known as the Woodward Corridor Killer. Over the next nine months, Atkins would go on to murder ten other women in the Detroit and Highland Park areas. His victims were often women who were struggling with addiction or involved in prostitution, whom he would lure to abandoned buildings.
The reign of terror came to an end in August 1992 when Atkins was arrested on rape charges after being identified by a woman who had survived his attack. During a lengthy interrogation, Atkins confessed to the murders of eleven women, including Debbie Ann Friday. He claimed his motive was a deep-seated hatred of prostitution.
Atkins' trial revealed a troubled past, including being the victim of sexual abuse and witnessing his mother's involvement in prostitution. On May 11, 1994, Benjamin Tony Atkins was found guilty and sentenced to eleven life sentences for his crimes. He died in prison on September 17, 1997, due to complications from HIV.
