Michael Ronning

Serial Killer

Michael Ronning: Convicted Murderer and Suspected Serial Killer

Overview

Michael Anthony Ronning was an American convicted murderer who portrayed himself as a roaming serial killer responsible for the deaths of young women in several states. He was conclusively convicted of only one murder: the 1985 kidnapping and killing of Diana Lynn Hanley in Arkansas. Over the following years, however, Ronning confessed or was linked as a suspect or person of interest in killings in Michigan, Texas and Florida. Some investigators believed that his movements placed him near a disturbing succession of disappearances and homicides, but prosecutors questioned the accuracy of several of his confessions. Ronning frequently used the surname "Haroldson" and traveled between Michigan, Arkansas, Texas, Florida and other states. He worked temporary construction jobs, stayed with relatives or acquaintances and often moved shortly after violent crimes occurred nearby. His transient lifestyle made his movements difficult to reconstruct and gave investigators in several jurisdictions reason to examine unresolved cases from the early 1980s. The most important distinction in any account of Ronning's alleged crimes is that Diana Hanley was his only proven murder victim. The other women named in connection with him remain suspected victims. Ronning was never convicted of killing them, and conflicting evidence led some officials to describe him as an unreliable or false confessor.

Confirmed Victim

• Diana Lynn Hanley Age 19. Hanley disappeared from her home on Bridger Road in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on January 6, 1985. Her body was discovered on January 19, 1985, near the O'Kean Cut-Off Road between Pocahontas and O'Kean in Randolph County, Arkansas. She had been bound and fatally stabbed in the throat.

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Confirmed Victims: (1)

Diana Lynn Hanley Age: (16), Date of Death: 1984-01-19

Suspected Victims:

Rebecca Sue Hill Age: (16), Date of Death: 1981

Margaret Hume Age: (20), Date of Death: 1982-08-18

Patricia Rosansky Age: (17), Date of Death: 1983-02-03

Michael Ronning | Murderpedia