Edward Surratt

Serial Killer

Edward Surratt: The Interstate Murders of 1977 and 1978

Background

Edward Arthur Surratt was born on August 8, 1941, in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. He became a truck driver whose work carried him through Pennsylvania, Ohio, the Carolinas and other parts of the eastern United States. During 1977 and 1978, investigators in several jurisdictions began examining whether his travel routes corresponded with a disturbing series of home invasions, sexual assaults, disappearances and murders. Surratt has been convicted of murder, rape, burglary and violent assaults, although he was never prosecuted for most of the killings attributed to him. He later confessed to numerous murders in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but several of those admissions did not result in new trials because he was already serving multiple life sentences and additional prison terms totaling hundreds of years. Other crimes remain officially unsolved or are supported primarily by circumstantial evidence.

A Pattern of Home Invasions and Extreme Violence

The crimes associated with Surratt frequently involved isolated houses, married couples and attacks committed with firearms or blunt instruments. In several incidents, a male victim was killed while a female victim was assaulted, abducted or left missing. Investigators also noted that property was sometimes taken from the homes and later connected to Surratt or to vehicles he used. His status as a truck driver made the investigation especially difficult. Surratt could move rapidly between states and communities without attracting immediate attention. Crimes that appeared unrelated to local detectives sometimes shared important characteristics, including forced entry, the use of shotguns, attacks on couples and evidence that the assailant had traveled through the area shortly before or after the killings. ...

Confirmed Victims: (1)

Luther Langford Age: (66), Date of Death: 1978-06-01

Suspected Victims:

David A. Hamilton Age: (28), Date of Death: 1977-09-20

Linda June Hamilton Age: (28), Date of Death: 1977-09-20

Ranee Ann Gregor Age: (15), Date of Death: 1977-10-21

William Adams Jr. Age: (31)

Nancy Adams Age: (29), Date of Death: 1977-11-20

Richard Hyde , Date of Death: 1977-12-03

Donna Hyde , Date of Death: 1977-12-03

Guy Mills , Date of Death: 1977-12-31

Laura Mills , Date of Death: 1977-12-31

Joel Krueger , Date of Death: 1977-12-31

John Shelkons Age: (54), Date of Death: 1978-01-07

Survivors:

Catherine Shelkons

Edward Surratt - Wikipedia