Donald Leroy Evans: The Crimes of a Self-Proclaimed Serial Killer
Background and Criminal History
Donald Leroy Evans was born on July 5, 1957, in Watervliet, Michigan. A drifter with a lengthy criminal history, Evans became notorious after his 1991 arrest for the kidnapping and murder of a 10-year-old girl on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. What initially appeared to be the investigation of a single horrific crime quickly expanded when Evans began claiming that he had murdered dozens of people while traveling around the United States.
Before the murder case that brought him national attention, Evans had already demonstrated a history of sexual violence. In Texas, he was convicted of raping a woman in Galveston and received a 15-year prison sentence. He served approximately five years before being paroled in April 1991. After his release, he returned to the Galveston area and briefly worked at a motel, but parole authorities objected to a convicted sex offender holding a position that potentially gave him access to motel guests. Within months of his release, Evans was again on the move.
The 1985 Florida Murders
After Evans was arrested in 1991, investigators began comparing his numerous confessions with unsolved homicides around the country. Two Florida cases from 1985 attracted particular attention because Evans was reportedly able to describe details that investigators believed would have been difficult for an uninvolved person to know.
The strongest of those cases involved Ira Jean Smith, a 38-year-old woman killed in Fort Lauderdale. Smith was found dead on March 7, 1985, inside a motel room. Her body had been wrapped in a blanket and placed in a closet. Her death was initially associated with a possible drug overdose, but the case was later reconsidered as evidence increasingly pointed toward strangulation and homicide.
When detectives revisited the case following Evans's 1991 confessions, they discovered more than his claimed knowledge of the crime. Investigators determined that the motel room had been rented under an alias associated with Evans, and a fingerprint recovered from the room was linked to him. Fort Lauderdale authorities obtained a first-degree murder warrant against Evans in September 1991. Years later, on July 28, 1995, Evans pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Ira Jean Smith and received a life sentence.
Another Florida homicide linked to Evans was the death of Janet Marie Movich, a 38-year-old transient from Pennsylvania. Movich was killed in the Daytona Beach area in April 1985. Her body was discovered in a wooded area near U.S. Highway 1. Investigators determined that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Evans later claimed responsibility for her murder and reportedly supplied investigators with details consistent with the crime scene. Unlike the Smith case, however, Evans was never formally prosecuted for Movich's death.
The Murder of Beatrice Louise Routh
The crime that led directly to Evans's arrest occurred on August 1, 1991. Beatrice Louise Routh was 10 years old and was staying with her mother and other family members in the Gulfport, Mississippi, area. The group was experiencing homelessness and had been living in a van after staying in shelters and inexpensive motels.
That afternoon, the family stopped at Jones Park in Gulfport so the children could play. Evans encountered the family there and presented himself as a helpful stranger. He eventually persuaded Beatrice's mother to allow the child to accompany him on what was supposed to be an errand to obtain groceries. Beatrice left Jones Park with Evans in a Suzuki Samurai.
Instead of taking Beatrice to a nearby store and returning her to her family, Evans drove west along U.S. Highway 90. According to the account later established in court, Beatrice became concerned when Evans continued driving rather than stopping for groceries. Evans reassured her and continued through coastal Mississippi toward Louisiana. He stopped near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where he bought ice cream for the child and also purchased duct tape.
Evans eventually drove into St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, and stopped in an isolated wooded area. There, he restrained and sexually assaulted Beatrice. He then strangled the child with a rope. After killing her, Evans placed her body in the vehicle, drove back into Mississippi, and abandoned her remains in a wooded location in Pearl River County. He also disposed of her clothing nearby and attempted to change the appearance of the stolen vehicle he was using.
When Evans failed to return Beatrice to Jones Park, police were contacted. Investigators had an important advantage because a woman who had been with Beatrice's family had become suspicious of Evans and memorized the license plate number of his vehicle. Law enforcement agencies began tracing Evans through Louisiana and Mississippi.
Evans was arrested on August 5, 1991, in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, initially in connection with Beatrice's kidnapping. At that point investigators were still trying to determine whether the child might be alive. Following several days of questioning and discussions involving Evans, his attorney and investigators, Evans agreed to show authorities where Beatrice's body had been left.
On the night of August 10 and early morning of August 11, Evans accompanied investigators into Pearl River County and directed them to the location of Beatrice's remains. He subsequently confessed to kidnapping and murdering her. His statements became a central part of the prosecution against him.
Known and Attributed Victims
- Ira Jean Smith, 38 — March 7, 1985 — Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Smith was found dead inside a motel room, wrapped in a blanket and placed in a closet. Evans was linked to the room through physical evidence and information he provided investigators. He ultimately pleaded guilty to her first-degree murder in 1995 and received a life sentence.
- Janet Marie Movich, 38 — April 14, 1985 — Daytona Beach, Florida: Movich, a transient originally from Pennsylvania, was found dead in a wooded area near U.S. Highway 1. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Evans confessed to killing her and reportedly demonstrated knowledge of the crime, but he was never formally prosecuted for her murder.
- Beatrice Louise Routh, 10 — August 1, 1991 — Gulfport, Mississippi / St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana: Beatrice was abducted from Jones Park in Gulfport after Evans claimed he was taking her to obtain groceries. He drove her into Louisiana, sexually assaulted and strangled her in a secluded area of St. Tammany Parish, and transported her body back to Mississippi. Her remains were recovered in Pearl River County after Evans led investigators to the location.
Claims of Dozens of Additional Murders
After his arrest, Evans transformed the investigation into a national story by claiming that Beatrice Routh was only one of a remarkable number of victims. His total changed as he continued talking with investigators. At various times he claimed responsibility for more than 60 and eventually more than 70 murders. He described killings that supposedly occurred across approximately 20 or more states, including Florida, Texas, Arizona, Alabama, California, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky and the Carolinas.
Evans claimed that many of his victims had been encountered at highway rest areas, public parks and other locations frequented by travelers or people living transient lifestyles. The assertions prompted law enforcement agencies throughout the country to compare his statements against old homicide and missing-person cases. The FBI became involved, and investigators traveled with Evans in attempts to locate victims he claimed to have buried.
One highly publicized search took place in Arizona after Evans claimed that several victims were buried in the desert. Despite extensive searching, investigators failed to locate the bodies he described. Similar difficulties occurred with other supposed victims. Evans eventually admitted that he had deliberately misled authorities during portions of the investigation, seriously damaging the credibility of his enormous claimed victim count.
Nevertheless, investigators could not dismiss everything Evans said. His information concerning the Florida murders of Ira Jean Smith and Janet Movich corresponded closely enough with the actual cases to receive serious attention. Smith's murder was supported by physical evidence and resulted in a guilty plea. Movich's homicide was also strongly linked to him through his confession and reported knowledge of the crime, although no prosecution followed. Consequently, the frequently repeated claim that Evans killed 60 or 70 people should not be treated as an established fact. The overwhelming majority of those alleged murders were never substantiated.
Trial and Death Sentence
Evans pleaded guilty in federal court on August 19, 1991, to kidnapping Beatrice Routh. On October 24, 1991, he received a federal life sentence for the kidnapping. Mississippi authorities separately prosecuted him for Beatrice's murder and sexual assaults.
His Mississippi capital-murder trial was held in September 1993. Prosecutors relied on witness testimony, forensic evidence and Evans's own detailed statements. His defense did not seriously dispute that he had killed Beatrice but challenged legal aspects of the kidnapping-based capital murder charge. The jury rejected the defense arguments. Evans was convicted of capital murder and two counts of sexual battery and, on September 18, 1993, was sentenced to death, with additional prison sentences imposed for the sexual-battery convictions.
Escape From Jail
Before his murder trial, Evans added another chapter to his criminal history by escaping from the Harrison County Jail in June 1993. The escape was short-lived. Authorities launched a search, and Evans was recaptured not far from the jail. The incident complicated preparations for his upcoming capital trial but did not prevent the prosecution from proceeding later that year.
The Florida Conviction
Even after receiving a Mississippi death sentence, Evans still faced the unresolved Fort Lauderdale case involving Ira Jean Smith. Florida authorities pursued the prosecution, which became increasingly contentious as Evans adopted openly white-supremacist beliefs and repeatedly disrupted legal proceedings.
On July 28, 1995, Evans ended the Florida murder case by pleading guilty to first-degree murder in Smith's death. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated battery arising from an assault on a law-enforcement officer. The murder plea resulted in another life sentence. By then Evans was already under both a federal life sentence and a Mississippi death sentence.
Death on Mississippi's Death Row
Donald Leroy Evans never reached an execution chamber. On January 5, 1999, while incarcerated on death row at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, Evans was fatally stabbed by fellow death-row prisoner Jimmie Mack. Evans was 41 years old.
His death left unanswered questions concerning the full scope of his criminal activity. Evans unquestionably murdered Beatrice Louise Routh and pleaded guilty to murdering Ira Jean Smith. Investigators also linked him closely to Janet Marie Movich's homicide. Beyond those cases, his extraordinary claims remain a combination of suspicion, unresolved investigative leads and admitted deception. His assertions that he had killed more than 60 or 70 people generated an enormous multistate investigation, but authorities never established a victim count approaching those numbers.
Legacy of the Investigation
The Donald Leroy Evans investigation became a warning about the difficulties authorities face when a confessed serial killer claims responsibility for numerous unsolved crimes. Investigators were obligated to consider the possibility that Evans was telling the truth, particularly because some of his statements contained genuine information about unsolved Florida homicides. At the same time, his willingness to fabricate stories and intentionally send investigators on fruitless searches made it impossible to accept his confessions without independent evidence.
Ultimately, Evans remains associated with three known or strongly attributed homicide victims between 1985 and 1991: Ira Jean Smith, Janet Marie Movich and Beatrice Louise Routh. The documented cases demonstrate a pattern of targeting vulnerable victims, sexual violence and strangulation. His much larger claimed death toll, however, was never verified, and the true number of people he killed remains unknown.
