Martha Bess Young, a 27-year-old white woman originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was found dead on May 2, 1987, in a ravine near Lake Elsinore, Riverside County, California. Her body was discovered fully nude and positioned in a spread-eagle manner, a disturbing hallmark that would later be associated with a series of murders in the region. According to the county coroner, she had been deceased for approximately three weeks before her body was found.
The autopsy revealed that she died from a lethal dose of amphetamines administered while she was being strangled.
Martha Bess Young had a history of drug use and prostitution, which tragically placed her among a vulnerable population targeted by a serial killer operating in Riverside County during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her death was one of several that shared chilling similarities—victims were often found nude or partially clothed, with signs of strangulation, drug use, and in some cases, mutilation. These patterns led investigators to suspect a serial killer was at large.
The man eventually linked to Martha Bess Young's murder and many others was William Lester Suff, also known as the 'Riverside Prostitute Killer' or the 'Lake Elsinore Killer.' Suff had a criminal history that included a prior conviction for infanticide and had been paroled in 1984. Between 1986 and 1991, he is believed to have murdered at least 13 women, though the number may be higher. His victims were primarily sex workers and drug users, and their bodies were often dumped in remote or industrial areas across Riverside County.
Suff was arrested in 1992 and later convicted of multiple counts of murder. In 1995, he was sentenced to death for his crimes. The case of Martha Bess Young, a 27-year-old white female, became one of the many tragic entries in the long list of victims attributed to Suff's brutal killing spree. Her death, like those of the other women, underscored the dangers faced by marginalized individuals and the devastating impact of unchecked violence in vulnerable communities.
