Paul Ezra Rhoades

Serial Killer

Paul Ezra Rhoades: The 1987 Idaho Murder Spree

Background

Paul Ezra Rhoades was an American murderer convicted of killing three people during a violent crime spree in southeastern Idaho in 1987. The murders occurred within approximately three weeks and involved the abduction, robbery, and shooting of victims in and around Blackfoot and Idaho Falls. Because of the concentrated timing of the crimes, Rhoades has often been described as a spree killer, although he has also appeared on lists of suspected serial killers because investigators examined him in connection with several earlier, unsolved murders in neighboring states. Rhoades was born on January 18, 1957, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He experienced serious health problems during childhood, including polio, and later developed a long history of alcohol and drug abuse. By adulthood, he was heavily involved with methamphetamine and had accumulated a record of burglaries and thefts. Witnesses later reported seeing him loitering around convenience stores during the period immediately preceding the murders. The three confirmed killings shared important similarities. Each victim was shot with the same .38-caliber handgun, and two of the victims were employees working at convenience stores. Prosecutors portrayed Rhoades as a roaming predator who used robberies and abductions to gain control over his victims before taking their lives.

Confirmed Victims

• Stacy Dawn Baldwin, 21 February 28, 1987 Blackfoot, Idaho: Baldwin was working the overnight shift at the Red Mini Barn convenience store in Blackfoot. Her coworker left at approximately 11:00 p.m. on February 27, leaving Baldwin alone. When customers returned around midnight, Baldwin had disappeared, although her coat and automobile remained at the store. Approximately $249 was missing from the cash register. Her body was discovered later on the morning of February 28 near garbage dumpsters along an isolated road leading to an archery range northwest of Blackfoot. She had been shot three times. A pathologist determined that a bullet passing through her back and chest caused her death and that she may have remained alive for as long as an hour after receiving the fatal wound. Footprints found in the snow were consistent with Rhoades's unusually large boots, and a hair recovered from Baldwin's clothing was consistent with his hair. A watch resembling the one Baldwin had been wearing was later found in Rhoades's possession.
• Nolan Haddon, 20 March 17, 1987 Idaho Falls, Idaho: Haddon was working at Buck's convenience store in Idaho Falls when he was attacked during an early-morning robbery. He was found critically wounded inside the store's walk-in cooler after being shot. Haddon was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, but he died from his injuries later that day. The firearm evidence tied his shooting to the same .38-caliber handgun used in the murders of Baldwin and Susan Michelbacher. Rhoades ultimately entered a conditional guilty plea to second-degree murder and robbery while continuing to claim that he was innocent.
• Susan Michelbacher, 34 March 19-21, 1987 Idaho Falls and Bonneville County, Idaho: Michelbacher was a special-education teacher and the mother of two children. She disappeared on March 19 after leaving a supermarket parking lot in Idaho Falls. During the abduction, she was forced to visit two bank branches and cash checks totaling approximately $2,000. Her body was found on March 21 in a remote lava-rock area west of Idaho Falls. The precise time of her death was not publicly established, but investigators determined that she had been shot nine times after her abduction. Evidence also showed that she had been sexually assaulted or subjected to sexual contact around the time of her death. Rhoades was convicted of her kidnapping, robbery, rape, murder, and related firearm offenses. Shortly before his execution, he acknowledged responsibility for Michelbacher's death and apologized to her husband.

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Confirmed Victims: (3)

Stacy Dawn Baldwin Age: (21), Date of Death: 1987-02-28

Suspected Victims:

Lisa Ehlers Age: (25), Date of Death: 1984-06-21

Christine Gallegos Age: (18), Date of Death: 1985-05-15

Carla Maxwell Age: (20), Date of Death: 1986-04-25

Lisa Strong Age: (25), Date of Death: 1986-05-12

Paul Ezra Rhoades - Wikipedia