Reginald Perkins: A Serial Killer Linked to Murders in Ohio and Texas
Early Life and Criminal Background
Reginald Perkins was born on April 29, 1955, in Woodruff County, Arkansas. He spent part of his youth in Texas before moving to Cleveland, Ohio, during the 1970s. He worked in several occupations, including as a laborer, plumber and truck driver. Behind this ordinary appearance, however, Perkins developed a lengthy history of sexual violence, threats and suspected murder.
Perkins frequently targeted women or girls who were connected to him through relatives, romantic relationships or his neighborhood. His known and suspected murder victims were generally strangled, and several were killed after they or members of their families became aware of his sexual crimes. Investigators later viewed this pattern as evidence that Perkins used murder both to dominate victims and to silence people who could expose him.
Sexual Assaults in Cleveland
On April 4, 1980, Perkins sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl inside an abandoned house on Cleveland's East Side. The child was reportedly a friend of his younger sister. This attack became one of the offenses for which he was later convicted.
On December 13, 1980, Perkins attempted to sexually assault another 12-year-old girl. She was the daughter of one of his neighbors. The assault was interrupted before he completed it, but Perkins allegedly threatened to kill anyone who discovered what he had attempted to do.
The second girl's mother, Jerry Dean Thomas, subsequently learned about the attack. Thomas was found strangled in her home several weeks later. Her killing became one of three Cleveland murders in which Perkins was considered the principal suspect, although he was never prosecuted for those deaths.
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