Ronald Gray

Serial Killer

Ronald Gray: The Fort Bragg Serial Killer

Background

Ronald Adrin Gray was a United States Army soldier who became one of the most notorious military criminals in modern American history. While stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Gray committed a series of murders, rapes, kidnappings, robberies, and violent assaults in the Fayetteville and Fort Bragg area during 1986 and early 1987. Four women were murdered, and another woman survived an attack that prosecutors described as an attempted premeditated murder. Gray's crimes were eventually prosecuted in both North Carolina civilian court and the United States military justice system. At the time of the crimes, Gray was a young Army specialist serving at Fort Bragg. His victims included civilians as well as female soldiers. The attacks were separated by months in some cases and only days in others. Investigators ultimately connected Gray to the crimes through physical evidence, witness identification, evidence recovered from vehicles and crime scenes, and statements he made during the civilian criminal proceedings.

Victims and Dates

• Linda Jean Coats — April 27, 1986 — Fayetteville, North Carolina. Coats was a Campbell University student and ROTC participant. She was killed at her residence in the Fayetteville area. She had been sexually assaulted and suffered a fatal gunshot wound. Gray later pleaded guilty in North Carolina civilian court to second-degree murder in connection with her death.
• Tammy Cofer Wilson — December 11, 1986 — Fayetteville, North Carolina. Wilson, 18, was abducted from her home in the Bonnie Doone area of Fayetteville. She was sexually assaulted and killed, and her body was discovered in a wooded area nearby. Gray later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in her case as part of his civilian prosecution.
• Private Laura Lee Vickery-Clay — December 15, 1986 — Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Vickery-Clay, an 18-year-old Army private, disappeared from the Fort Bragg area on December 15. Her body was not recovered until January 1987, when it was discovered in a wooded area on the military installation. Evidence showed that she had been sexually assaulted, beaten, and shot four times. Evidence associated with her automobile and the firearm used in the killing connected Gray to the crime.
• Private Mary Ann Lang Nameth — January 3, 1987 — Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Nameth survived Gray's attack and therefore is not one of his murder victims. Gray attacked her in her barracks, sexually assaulted and robbed her, and repeatedly stabbed her in the neck and side. Her injuries included damage to her trachea and a collapsed or punctured lung. After Gray's arrest received media coverage, Nameth recognized his photograph and identified him as the man who had attacked her.
• Kimberly Ann Ruggles — January 6, 1987 — Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Ruggles, 23, was a civilian taxi driver working in the Fayetteville area. She was dispatched to pick up a passenger named "Ron" on the evening of January 6. Military police discovered her abandoned taxi near a wooded portion of Fort Bragg during the early hours of January 7. Her body was found nearby. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten, and stabbed multiple times. Physical evidence recovered from the taxi, Gray's possession, and the crime scene helped establish his connection to her murder.

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Confirmed Victims: (4)

Linda Coats Age: (24), Date of Death: April 27, 1986

Survivors:

Maryann Lang Nameth Age: (19), Date of Attack: January 3, 1987

Ronald Gray - Wikipedia