Dellmus Charles Colvin

Serial Killer

Dellmus Charles Colvin

Dellmus Charles Colvin is an American serial killer and former long-haul truck driver whose known crimes stretched from New Jersey to northwest Ohio. Born August 3, 1959, Colvin was ultimately connected to a series of women who were killed and abandoned in isolated industrial areas, roadside locations, vacant properties, and other places where their remains might go unnoticed. Five Ohio murders resulted in guilty pleas in 2006, he subsequently admitted involvement in a sixth Ohio death, and years later he pleaded guilty to the 1987 murder of Donna Lee White in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Many of the women Colvin targeted were involved in prostitution and were struggling with drug addiction or other difficult circumstances. Investigators concluded that he repeatedly exploited women whose disappearances he believed might receive less immediate attention. Several of the victims were strangled or suffocated, and a number of their bodies were wrapped in bedding before being abandoned. Because some victims were not discovered until weeks or months after they disappeared, the precise dates of death are not publicly established in every case.

The Victims

The dates below distinguish confirmed or reasonably established dates of death from dates on which remains were discovered. This is important in Colvin's case because several victims had been dead for substantial periods before their bodies were recovered, and some secondary accounts have incorrectly treated recovery dates as dates of death.

• Donna Lee White, 27 — September 15, 1987 — Atlantic City, New Jersey: White, a resident of Somers Point, was found dead on September 15, 1987, in a vacant lot or parking area near the former Garwood Mills property in Atlantic City. Colvin was associated with the case at the time, but an autopsy initially attributed White's death to acute cocaine intoxication. The investigation was eventually closed. More than two decades later, authorities reopened the case after learning about Colvin's Ohio murders. Colvin ultimately admitted that he strangled White and disposed of her body. He pleaded guilty to her murder in April 2011.
• Valerie Jones, 38 — exact date of death not publicly established; remains found January 6, 2000 — Toledo, Ohio: Jones's skeletal remains were discovered near the Ottawa River and the Hoffman Road landfill area in Toledo. Colvin later admitted responsibility for her death and described strangling her. Because her remains were already skeletal when found, publicly available contemporary accounts do not establish a reliable exact date on which she was killed.
• Dorothea Wetzel, 40 — exact date of death not publicly established; remains found August 5, 2000 — South Toledo, Ohio: Wetzel, who was also known by the surname Oviedo and reportedly used the nickname "Angel," was found near the bank of the Maumee River by a man walking his dog. Her remains had been wrapped in a blanket and left in an isolated location. Shortly after Colvin pleaded guilty to five other murders in October 2006, investigators announced that he had admitted involvement in Wetzel's death. Police said he described her death as involving an intended overdose. His admission made Wetzel the sixth Ohio woman publicly connected to him.
• Jacquelynn Thomas, 42 — September 1, 2000 — Bedford Township, Michigan: Colvin admitted killing Thomas on September 1, 2000. Her body was discovered the following day, September 2, near Smith and Telegraph roads in Bedford Township, Monroe County, Michigan, just north of the Ohio state line. Thomas was among the victims whose death Colvin admitted as part of the plea negotiations that spared him from a possible death sentence.
• Lily Summers, 43 — exact date of death not publicly established; body found April 8, 2002 — Lake Township, Wood County, Ohio: Summers, a mother of two, was discovered inside a large tractor-trailer behind B&B Repairs at 4400 Martin-Moline Road near Metcalf Field. Colvin later admitted responsibility for her killing. Investigators grouped her murder with the other Toledo-area cases because of similarities in the victims, methods of killing, and manner in which the bodies were concealed or discarded.
• Jackie Simpson, 33 — believed killed after disappearing in mid-January 2003; body found April 23, 2003 — Toledo, Ohio: Simpson, a mother of two, disappeared in approximately mid-January 2003 and remained missing for nearly three months. Her decomposed body was found beneath bushes near a tanning business at 4200 Creekside Avenue. Colvin later admitted killing her. He described smothering Simpson, and investigators found forensic evidence linking him to her. Because she disappeared months before her remains were discovered, April 23 should be regarded as the recovery date rather than her confirmed date of death.
• Melissa Weber, 37 — believed killed after disappearing in early February 2005; body found May 9, 2005 — Toledo, Ohio: Weber disappeared in early February 2005 after leaving a South Toledo residence. On May 9, her decomposed body was discovered beneath a couch at a vacant trucking terminal behind 1045 Matzinger Road. Her body had been wrapped in bedding. DNA evidence recovered during the investigation proved critical in connecting Colvin to the homicide. The exact day Weber was killed has not been reliably established in public records; May 9, 2005, is the date her body was discovered.

A Pattern Hidden Across Northwest Ohio

The similarities among the Toledo-area victims eventually became impossible for investigators to ignore. Women were disappearing from environments connected with street prostitution and drug use. Their bodies were later turning up in industrial districts, near waterways, behind businesses, beside roads, or in locations associated with trucks and commercial transportation. Several victims had been strangled or smothered. Bodies were sometimes wrapped in blankets, sheets, or comforters before being abandoned. Colvin's work as a truck driver gave him mobility, privacy, and access to locations far removed from residential neighborhoods. A tractor cab or trailer could provide a secluded environment, while highways and industrial areas supplied countless potential disposal locations. That mobility later created one of the most troubling questions surrounding the investigation: whether the known Ohio and New Jersey murders represented only a small portion of his crimes. ...

Confirmed Victims: (7)

Donna Lee White Age: (27), Date of Death: 1987-9-15

Dellmus Colvin - Wikipedia