Roger Reece Kibbe

Serial Killer

Roger Reece Kibbe: The I-5 Strangler

Overview

Roger Reece Kibbe was an American serial killer and sexual predator known as the "I-5 Strangler." He hunted women in Northern California, frequently approaching victims near highways and then leaving their bodies in isolated areas along major travel corridors. His known crimes extended from 1977 through 1987, although investigators believed he may have been responsible for additional disappearances and murders. Kibbe was convicted of murdering seven women. He was first sentenced to prison for the 1987 murder of 17-year-old Darcie Renee Frackenpohl. Nearly two decades later, advances in forensic testing and a renewed investigation connected him to six additional killings. In 2009, Kibbe pleaded guilty to those murders in an agreement that spared him from the death penalty.

Method of Approaching Victims

Kibbe often searched for vulnerable women traveling alone, waiting near highways, experiencing automobile trouble, or working in areas where they could be approached without attracting immediate attention. He sometimes presented himself as a helpful stranger and offered transportation or assistance. In the case of Lou Ellen Burleigh, he used a fraudulent job opportunity to arrange a private meeting. Once Kibbe had isolated a victim, he used restraints, adhesive tape, cords, or clothing to control her. Investigators found that he frequently cut portions of the victims' clothing into unusual patterns and retained pieces of material or other personal items. These objects appeared to have served as trophies that allowed him to revisit the crimes afterward. Strangulation was Kibbe's primary method of killing. He sometimes constructed a ligature from parachute cord or used an article of the victim's clothing. Several victims were sexually assaulted before they were killed. Their bodies were then transported to rural roads, drainage ditches, wooded locations, or mountainous areas far from where they had initially encountered him. ...

Confirmed Victims: (8)

Lou Ellen Burleigh Age: (21), Date of Death: September 11, 1977

Roger Kibbe - Wikipedia