In the autumn of 1991, a 36-year-old woman named Patricia Cannon George became the first victim of a man who would come to be known as 'The Woodward Corridor Killer.' Her disappearance in December of that same year prompted a missing person report, but her fate would not be known until the following year.
On January 3, 1992, workers demolishing an abandoned house in Detroit made a grim discovery: the body of Patricia Cannon George.
An investigation into her death and the subsequent murders of other women in the area led police to Benjamin Atkins. After his arrest on rape charges in August 1992, Atkins confessed to the murders of eleven women, including Patricia.
During his interrogation, Atkins revealed his motive was a deep-seated hatred for women engaged in prostitution. He detailed how he would lure his victims to secluded or abandoned locations with offers of drugs and money for sexual services. Though he initially denied his involvement, he eventually confessed to the string of killings.
Benjamin Atkins was convicted for the murders of Patricia Cannon George and ten other women. In April 1994, he was sentenced to multiple life terms in prison. His time behind bars was cut short, however, as he died from AIDS in 1997.
