Andrew David Edwards: The Transient Serial Killer Who Murdered Across Three States
Background
Andrew David Edwards, born March 6, 1958, in Sunnyvale, California, is an American serial killer whose known crimes stretched across Oregon, California, and Colorado between 1987 and 1992. Edwards lived much of his adult life as a transient, traveling from place to place and frequently associating with other homeless or transient men. His victims were generally men he encountered while drinking, staying in homeless camps, or traveling along railroad routes.
Before adopting a transient lifestyle, Edwards reportedly attended Fremont High School and later Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon. He worked for a period as a bricklayer and had a girlfriend. Alcohol, however, became a serious and persistent problem in his life. Edwards reportedly entered alcohol-treatment programs repeatedly beginning when he was approximately 19 years old. By 1985, he had left his job and girlfriend and began living an increasingly nomadic existence.
The isolation of transient communities and Edwards's frequent movement between cities helped separate his crimes geographically. His first two known victims were killed in Portland, Oregon, but subsequent killings occurred hundreds of miles away in California and Colorado. It was not until Edwards himself began talking to authorities in 1993 that investigators were able to connect the murders to the same man.
The Murder of John Harold Schiermeister
Edwards's earliest known victim was John Harold Schiermeister, a transient man from Roseburg, Oregon. On October 5, 1987, Edwards and Schiermeister were drinking together in or around a railroad yard in Portland. According to the account Edwards later provided to investigators, an alcohol-fueled confrontation developed and Edwards attacked Schiermeister.
Schiermeister suffered a fatal blow to the head. Railroad employees discovered his body the following day, October 6, in a Burlington Northern Railroad yard in Portland. He was identified shortly afterward, but investigators initially had no clear suspect. The homicide remained unsolved for years.
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