Warren Leslie Forrest

Serial Killer

Warren Leslie Forrest: Murders, Attacks, and the Clark County Cold Cases

Warren Leslie Forrest is an American convicted murderer and serial killer whose crimes centered on Clark County, Washington, during the early 1970s. Born on June 29, 1949, in Vancouver, Washington, Forrest was an Army veteran and later worked for the Clark County Parks Department. That employment gave him familiarity with isolated parks, wooded roads, and recreation areas around Battle Ground, Camas, Tukes Mountain, Lacamas Lake, and Dole Valley. Investigators eventually noticed that many of the places associated with his known and suspected victims were remote areas with which a parks employee could have been familiar. Forrest has been convicted of murdering two women, Krista Kay Blake and Martha Morrison, and authorities have investigated him in connection with several other disappearances and homicides dating from 1971 through 1974.

Pattern of Abduction and Violence

Forrest frequently used a light-blue Ford van when approaching young women and teenage girls. His known attacks involved gaining access to a victim, driving her to an isolated location, restraining her, and subjecting her to extreme physical and sexual violence. Evidence from the cases also revealed his use of rope or twine and, in at least one attack, an air-powered dart gun. The similarities between the locations, methods, victims, and vehicle eventually caused investigators to examine a number of previously separate disappearances and murders as potentially connected crimes. One of the clearest examples occurred on July 17, 1974. Fifteen-year-old Norma Jean Countryman was picked up near Ridgefield, Washington, by Forrest in his blue van. Once she was inside, Forrest threatened her with a knife and drove her approximately 13 miles to the Tukes Mountain area near Battle Ground. He assaulted her, restrained her with twine, and left her tied in the woods. Countryman managed to work herself free and escape during the night. She survived and later identified Forrest as the man who had abducted her. The importance of the location became even clearer two years later, when the remains of Krista Kay Blake were discovered only a short distance from the area where Countryman had been restrained.

The October 1974 Attack and Forrest's Arrest

On October 1, 1974, Forrest approached a 20-year-old woman in Portland, Oregon. He reportedly presented himself as someone looking for a woman to pose for photographs and persuaded her to enter his van. The encounter became an abduction. Forrest took her first to the Washington Park area of Portland and later transported her across the state line to the wooded Lacamas Lake area near Camas, Washington. He sexually assaulted her and attacked her with an air-powered dart gun. He also strangled and stabbed her before leaving her in the secluded area, apparently believing she would die. The woman survived. After regaining consciousness, she eventually reached a road and obtained help. Her description of her attacker, the blue van, and other details provided investigators with a strong lead. Police determined that Forrest owned a vehicle matching her account and arrested him on October 2, 1974. Evidence seized during the investigation, including the dart gun, would become important again more than four decades later in the murder case of Martha Morrison. Forrest was ultimately committed to Western State Hospital after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in proceedings arising from the 1974 attack. ...

Confirmed Victims: (2)

Krista Kay Blake Age: (20), Date of Death: 1974-07-11

Suspected Victims:

Jamie Rochelle Grissim Age: (16), Date of Death: 1971-12-07

Barbara Ann Derry Age: (18), Date of Death: 1972-02-11

Diane Sue Gilchrist Age: (14), Date of Death: 1974-05-29

Gloria Nadine Knutson Age: (19), Date of Death: 1974-05-31

Carol Louise Valenzuela Age: (18), Date of Death: 1974-08-02

Survivors:

Norma Countryman Age: (15), Date of Attack: 1974-07-17

Daria Wightman Age: (20), Date of Attack: 1974-10-01

Warren Forrest - Wikipedia