Lorenzo Jerome Gilyard

Serial Killer

Lorenzo Jerome Gilyard: The Kansas City Strangler

Lorenzo Jerome Gilyard Jr. is an American serial killer associated with a series of strangulation murders in Kansas City, Missouri, spanning from the late 1970s through the early 1990s. Investigators ultimately connected him to numerous murdered women through DNA evidence and similarities among the crimes. Although Gilyard was accused of killing at least thirteen women and girls, he was convicted in court of six murders. He was acquitted in one additional case, while several other killings attributed to him were not part of the trial that produced his convictions. Gilyard's victims were generally young women, ranging in age from their teens to their thirties. Many were involved in sex work or were otherwise living in circumstances that made them especially vulnerable. Their bodies were discovered throughout Kansas City in vacant lots, parks, abandoned buildings, parking areas, bushes, an abandoned vehicle, and other locations. Strangulation was the recurring cause of death. Because contemporary records sometimes establish when a victim was found rather than the precise hour or day she was killed, the dates below are identified as discovery dates when an exact time of death cannot be independently distinguished from the date the body was recovered.

Early Life and Criminal History

Lorenzo Jerome Gilyard Jr. was born on May 24, 1950, in Kansas City, Missouri. He spent much of his life in the Kansas City area and later worked for Deffenbaugh Disposal Service, a regional waste collection company. By the time investigators identified him as a suspected serial murderer, acquaintances described a man whose ordinary employment and family life stood in sharp contrast to the violent crimes prosecutors said he committed. Gilyard had encounters with the criminal justice system well before his arrest for murder. His record included burglary and violent offenses, and authorities had obtained a blood sample from him years before the serial-murder investigation finally focused on him. That preserved biological material would eventually become critically important as forensic DNA technology improved.

The Beginning of the Murder Series

The earliest killing later attributed to Gilyard occurred in 1977. Over the following sixteen years, women continued to be found strangled in and around Kansas City. At the time, investigators did not immediately recognize the deaths as the work of one offender. Several factors complicated the investigation. The crimes were spread across many years, the victims were found in different locations, and many of the women were involved in sex work. Cases involving vulnerable women were often investigated separately rather than immediately recognized as components of a single series. Eventually, forensic similarities and DNA evidence began connecting cases that had remained unsolved for years. Investigators concluded that a number of victims shared biological evidence associated with the same man. ...

Confirmed Victims: (6)

Catherine M. Barry Age: (34), Date of Death: March 14, 1986

Suspected Victims:

Stacie L. Swofford Age: (17), Date of Death: 1977-04-10

Gwendolyn Kizine Age: (15), Date of Death: 1980-01-23

Margaret J. Miller Age: (17), Date of Death: 1982-05-09

Debra Sue Blevins Age: (32), Date of Death: 1986-11-27

Angela Mayhew Age: (19), Date of Death: 1987-09-12

Connie Lynne Luther Age: (29), Date of Death: 1993-01-11

Helga Kruger Age: (26), Date of Death: 1989-02

Lorenzo Gilyard - Wikipedia