Todd Alan Reed

Serial Killer

Todd Alan Reed: The Forest Park Killer

Background and Early Criminal History

Todd Alan Reed, born Todd Alan Thomas on May 22, 1967, in Portland, Oregon, became known as the "Forest Park Killer" after three women were sexually assaulted, strangled and abandoned in Portland's Forest Park during the spring of 1999. Reed was convicted of three aggravated murders, but investigators also examined his possible involvement in two unresolved killings committed in Gresham, Oregon, in 1987. Reed displayed sexually dangerous behavior long before the Forest Park murders. By the age of fourteen, he had been classified as a sex offender and placed in a residential treatment program. Authorities did not consider him sufficiently dangerous to remain confined, and he eventually returned to the community. During the following years, he accumulated a criminal record that included burglary and a violent attack on a woman involved in prostitution. In that earlier assault, Reed attempted to strangle the victim, foreshadowing the method he later used in the Forest Park murders. Despite his history, Reed was able to present an outwardly ordinary appearance. He married Gail Bennett in 1988, became a father and held steady employment, including work for a Portland produce distributor. Coworkers reportedly viewed him as dependable and quiet. Beneath that appearance, however, Reed was familiar with Portland's West Burnside Street area, where homeless women and women engaged in street-level prostitution were especially vulnerable to violence.

The Forest Park Murders

In the spring of 1999, the bodies of three young women were discovered within a relatively small section of Forest Park, a large wooded area northwest of downtown Portland. Each victim had experienced homelessness or instability, and each had spent time around West Burnside Street. All three had been sexually assaulted and strangled before their bodies were concealed or discarded in the forest. The similarities were too strong for investigators to dismiss as coincidence. The victims were young, physically similar and connected to the same part of Portland. Their bodies were found within approximately one-quarter of a mile of one another. Detectives concluded that a single predator was selecting women whom he believed could disappear without immediately attracting widespread attention. ...

Confirmed Victims: (3)

Lilla Faye Moler Age: (28), Date of Death: 1999-04

Suspected Victims:

Jennifer Lynn Tchir Age: (15), Date of Death: 1987-07-03

Mindi Coleen Thomas Age: (12), Date of Death: 1987-10-24

Todd Alan Reed - Wikipedia