Charlene Adell Gallego: Accomplice in a Two-Year Serial Murder Spree
Overview
Charlene Adell Gallego, also known as Charlene Williams, was the accomplice of Gerald Armond Gallego in a series of kidnappings and murders committed between September 1978 and November 1980. Although Gerald carried out most of the physical killings, Charlene played a central role in finding victims, gaining their trust, helping abduct them, driving them to isolated locations, cleaning vehicles, disposing of evidence, and attempting to mislead investigators. Their crimes took place in California, Nevada, and Oregon and were ultimately connected to ten murder victims.
The Gallegos generally targeted teenage girls and young women, although their final known victims included a young man, Craig Miller. Charlene's importance to the crimes came partly from her ability to approach prospective victims without immediately alarming them. She could present herself as a friendly young woman inviting someone to a party, offering work, or otherwise beginning an apparently harmless conversation. Once a victim entered the couple's vehicle, Gerald would take control with a firearm or restraints. The victims were then transported away from populated areas, and Gerald frequently sexually assaulted the female captives before killing them.
Kippi Vaught and Rhonda Scheffler - September 11, 1978
The first murders firmly associated with the couple occurred on September 11, 1978. Sixteen-year-old Kippi Jacquelyn Vaught and 17-year-old Rhonda Lee Scheffler disappeared after visiting a Sacramento-area shopping mall. According to Charlene's later testimony, Gerald instructed her to find young women for him. Charlene approached Vaught and Scheffler, invited them to a party, and brought them to the couple's van.
Gerald then announced that the girls were being kidnapped, restrained their hands and ankles, and drove toward the Sierra foothills near Baxter, California. Charlene temporarily returned to Sacramento, cleaned the van, made herself visible to other people, and later returned in another vehicle. Gerald brought the captives back to the car and directed Charlene to drive toward Sloughhouse in Sacramento County. At the isolated location, Gerald attacked the girls with a tire iron and shot them in the head. Their bodies were discovered two days later in a rural area outside Sacramento. Both had suffered blunt-force injuries, but gunshot wounds caused their deaths.
Brenda Judd and Sandra Colley - June 24, 1979
On June 24, 1979, 14-year-old Brenda Lynne Judd and 13-year-old Sandra Kaye Colley disappeared while attending the Washoe County Fair in Reno, Nevada. Investigators initially had little evidence explaining what had happened to the two teenagers. Charlene later told authorities that she had helped lure the girls into a vehicle. The pair were held captive and Gerald sexually assaulted them before taking them to a remote area, where he killed them by striking them with a blunt object.
For more than twenty years, the girls' disappearance remained without a recovered body. On November 20, 1999, skeletal remains were discovered in a shallow grave off U.S. Highway 395 north of Reno, just inside Lassen County, California. DNA testing later confirmed that the remains belonged to Judd and Colley. The discovery provided physical confirmation of a crime that investigators had known largely through Charlene's account for years.
Karen Twiggs and Stacey Redican - April 24, 1980
On April 24, 1980, 17-year-old Karen Chipman Twiggs and 17-year-old Stacey Ann Redican disappeared from a shopping mall in the Sacramento area. Charlene again acted as the person who approached the victims and persuaded them to enter a van. Once they were inside, Gerald forcibly confined them. The girls were taken across the state line into Nevada and transported to the isolated Limerick Canyon area near Lovelock.
Gerald had purchased a hammer while traveling toward the murder site. In Limerick Canyon, he killed both teenagers with repeated blows to the head. Their bodies were placed in shallow graves and remained undiscovered until July 27, 1980. Investigators found unusual rope associated with the victims, and similar rope was later discovered among Gerald's possessions. Charlene's testimony about the kidnapping, transportation, and killings became important evidence in Gerald's Nevada murder trial.
Linda Teresa Aguilar - June 7, 1980
In early June 1980, Gerald and Charlene were traveling on the Oregon coast when they encountered 21-year-old Linda Teresa Aguilar hitchhiking. Aguilar was pregnant at the time. She accepted what appeared to be an ordinary ride, but Gerald produced a gun and restrained her hands. The couple transported her away from the highway and eventually reached an isolated beach.
Charlene later testified that Gerald knocked Aguilar unconscious, strangled her, and buried her in the sand. When Aguilar's body was discovered approximately two weeks later, her wrists and ankles were still bound. The medical evidence established that a severe blow from a blunt object was fatal; because of decomposition, investigators could not conclusively determine whether strangulation had also contributed to her death or whether she had been sexually assaulted. After her arrest, Charlene helped authorities locate the area where Aguilar had been killed and buried.
Virginia Mochel - July 17, 1980
Virginia Maxine Mochel, a 34-year-old bartender and mother, became the next known victim. On July 17, 1980, Gerald and Charlene were at the Sail Inn, a West Sacramento bar, after spending time fishing in the Sacramento Delta. Gerald identified Mochel as a target. After the bar closed, she was kidnapped and taken away in the couple's vehicle.
Mochel reportedly pleaded for her life and spoke about her children as she was held captive. Gerald and Charlene eventually drove toward the area where they had been fishing earlier. Gerald ordered Charlene to turn up the radio while he strangled Mochel. Her decomposed body was discovered approximately three months later near a fishing area in Yolo County, with her hands bound by fishing line. Charlene initially helped conceal the crime by giving investigators misleading information about Gerald's whereabouts. After her arrest, however, she led police to the location where Mochel's body had been found.
Craig Miller and Mary Beth Sowers - November 2, 1980
The final murders attributed to the Gallegos occurred on November 2, 1980, and these crimes directly led investigators to the couple. Craig Raymond Miller, 22, and Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" Sowers, 21, were together at a Sacramento shopping center when Gerald and Charlene confronted them. A friend of Miller witnessed enough of the encounter to become an important source of information for police, including a description of the suspects' vehicle and its license plate.
Miller and Sowers were forced into the Gallegos' control. Charlene drove while Gerald held the captives at gunpoint. Miller was taken to a rural area outside Sacramento, where he was shot three times. His body was discovered only hours later. Sowers remained captive longer and was taken to Gerald's residence before eventually being driven to another isolated rural location. Gerald shot her there, and her body was not discovered until approximately three weeks later.
Charlene helped clean the vehicle and dispose of property connected with the victims. When police began asking questions, she and Gerald fled California. They traveled through several states while attempting to avoid capture. With assistance from Charlene's family and law enforcement, investigators traced the fugitives to Omaha, Nebraska. Gerald and Charlene were arrested there on November 17, 1980.
Victims, Death Dates, and Locations
- Kippi Jacquelyn Vaught, 16 - Killed September 11, 1978. Abducted from a Sacramento-area shopping mall in California and killed in a rural area near Sloughhouse, Sacramento County. She suffered blunt-force injuries and fatal gunshot wounds. Her body was discovered two days later.
- Rhonda Lee Scheffler, 17 - Killed September 11, 1978. Abducted with Kippi Vaught in Sacramento and killed near Sloughhouse, California. She was attacked with a blunt object and died from gunshot wounds. Her body was discovered with Vaught's two days later.
- Brenda Lynne Judd, 14 - Killed June 24, 1979. Abducted from the Washoe County Fair in Reno, Nevada. She was killed after being transported to an isolated area and buried in a shallow grave north of Reno, just inside Lassen County, California. Her remains were discovered on November 20, 1999.
- Sandra Kaye Colley, 13 - Killed June 24, 1979. Abducted with Brenda Judd from the Washoe County Fair in Reno. She was killed by blunt-force violence and buried with Judd in Lassen County, California. Her remains were discovered in November 1999 and later identified through DNA testing.
- Karen Chipman Twiggs, 17 - Killed April 24, 1980. Abducted from a Sacramento-area shopping mall and transported to Limerick Canyon near Lovelock, Nevada. She died from repeated blows to the head with a hammer or similar object. Her body was discovered July 27, 1980.
- Stacey Ann Redican, 17 - Killed April 24, 1980. Abducted with Karen Twiggs in the Sacramento area and transported to Limerick Canyon, Nevada. She was killed by multiple blows to the head and buried in a shallow grave. Her body was discovered July 27, 1980.
- Linda Teresa Aguilar, 21 - Killed in early June 1980, generally recorded as June 7, 1980. She was picked up while hitchhiking along the southern Oregon coast near Gold Beach and was taken to an isolated beach. Medical evidence established fatal blunt-force trauma. Her body was found buried in sand approximately two weeks later.
- Virginia Maxine Mochel, 34 - Killed July 17, 1980. Abducted after leaving the Sail Inn in West Sacramento, California. She was transported to a secluded fishing area near Clarksburg in Yolo County and strangled. Her remains were discovered approximately three months later.
- Craig Raymond Miller, 22 - Killed November 2, 1980. Abducted from a Sacramento shopping center and taken to a rural location outside the city, where he was shot three times. His body was discovered only hours after the kidnapping.
- Mary Elizabeth "Mary Beth" Sowers, 21 - Killed November 2, 1980. Abducted with Craig Miller in Sacramento, held captive after Miller's murder, and later taken to a separate rural location, where she was shot. Her body was discovered approximately three weeks later.
Charlene Gallego's Responsibility
Charlene consistently portrayed Gerald as the dominant and physically violent member of the partnership, and she later argued that fear and coercive control influenced her actions. The criminal evidence nevertheless established extensive, knowing participation on her part. She repeatedly approached prospective victims, brought them to Gerald, drove during kidnappings, returned to crime scenes, cleaned vehicles, disposed of evidence, provided false information, and assisted in efforts to escape detection. Her conduct was therefore far more extensive than simply being present while Gerald committed crimes.
After her arrest, Charlene eventually agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in California, Nevada, and Oregon. She supplied information concerning her involvement with Gerald in ten murders and agreed to testify against him. Under the eventual plea arrangement, she pleaded guilty in Nevada to two counts of second-degree murder involving Stacey Redican and Karen Twiggs and received a sentence of 16 years and eight months. She was granted immunity from prosecution for the remaining killings covered by the agreement. Earlier California murder pleas involving Miller and Sowers were later dismissed under the terms of the negotiated arrangement, leaving the Nevada sentence in effect.
Trials and Aftermath
Charlene's testimony provided prosecutors with an unusually detailed account of the couple's methods and helped connect Gerald to crimes in several jurisdictions. Gerald Gallego was convicted of murdering Craig Miller and Mary Beth Sowers in California and Karen Twiggs and Stacey Redican in Nevada. He received death sentences in both states. He remained imprisoned for the rest of his life and died of cancer in 2002 without being executed.
Charlene ultimately served nearly the full term established by her plea agreement and was released from prison in the late 1990s. Her cooperation helped authorities reconstruct crimes whose victims had been discovered hundreds of miles apart and, in some instances, months or years after disappearing. The case remains notable because Charlene did not merely conceal the actions of a serial murderer after the fact. By her own testimony and the findings presented in court, she repeatedly participated in identifying, approaching, kidnapping, transporting, and concealing the murders of victims over a period lasting more than two years.
The Lasting Significance of the Case
The Gallego murders illustrate how a second offender can make a serial predator considerably more effective. Charlene's presence reduced suspicion and allowed Gerald to approach victims who might have immediately distrusted a lone man. The outward appearance of a couple offered a deceptive sense of safety. Behind that appearance was a repeated pattern of manipulation, confinement, sexual violence, transportation to isolated locations, murder, and deliberate efforts to destroy or conceal evidence.
More importantly, the case represents ten individual lives rather than simply a notorious criminal partnership. Kippi Vaught, Rhonda Scheffler, Brenda Judd, Sandra Colley, Karen Twiggs, Stacey Redican, Linda Aguilar, Virginia Mochel, Craig Miller, and Mary Beth Sowers ranged from 13 to 34 years old. Their disappearances initially appeared to be separate crimes scattered across several states, but investigation, physical evidence, witness accounts, and Charlene Gallego's eventual cooperation revealed that they were connected by the same violent offenders.
