This week on Horrible History, Emily reverts back to her old ways and covers another serial killer – this time Robert Hansen, “The Butcher Baker,” in Anchorage, Alaska. Then Rachel covers a listener recommendation and heads to Buenos Aires, Argentina to talk about Yiya Murano, also known as “The Poisoner of Monserrat.” Hopefully you’re horrified.
Content/Trigger Warnings: Gruesome violence, rape, sexual abuse
Transcript:
Emily 0:14
Hi, welcome to horrible history. I’m Emily Barlean.
Rachel 0:17
I’m Rachel Everett Lozon. How’s it going?
Emily 0:20
It’s going I am had a big yard project today. My dad and I were digging stumps out of the yard and receding the grass, pulling out a fence building a new fence. So it was kind of a crazy day. And there was one part of the yard where we, so to see the yard, we had to like, till up the top of the yard, you know. And so we found this one area where about a half of an inch under the grass? was a five inch layer of concrete, like a square area, just have concrete. And yes, logically, I know they probably like had a shed on it or like parked something there. But my brain immediately was like, I’m gonna find a dead body under here. I just know. But I didn’t sadly, I wasn’t part of a crime investigation today. Oh,
Rachel 1:19
nobody had to call the cops. Everything was fine. I don’t imagine the story!
Emily 1:25
Yeah. I mean, that’s true. But I had a really good story. It is a little disappointing that you said yeah, find a dead body because we do you know what I asked. They’re always like, assuming it’s the person that lives in the house that did it. So I would be like I just moved in. When would I have had time to have killed someone poured concrete? regrown grass over it, so I think it would have been okay,
Rachel 1:47
that’s what they want you to think.
Emily 1:49
been like, no way. You were gonna buy this house forever and sneaking into the back. Planting things. That seems you know, very sociopathic.
Rachel 2:00
Speaking of sociopathic, do you have a good story for us this week?
Emily 2:04
Oh, I do. Girl.
Rachel 2:06
Emily texted me like I’d go first. So I am fucking ready.
Emily 2:10
I’m going first today. Yeah. You know her last week. I was like, I think doing nothing but serial killers. I’m gonna do something lighter. Going back. I just can’t get you serial killers. I just can’t quit you!
Rachel 2:23
Why can’t I quit you?
Emily 2:25
You are exactly. So last week, I went to Edinburgh. I’m heading back to America this week. And it’s shocking. I know. But I’m going to a location that neither of us has been to visit. So unlike me, you’re not going to Boston. I’m not going to Boston. And I’m going somewhere that I’ve never been in person either. Oh, okay. Where I am going to Anchorage, Alaska. Have you been? I have not. I’ve never been to Alaska. I know. Neither of I’ve always kind of wanted to go like, do a little whalewatching. Enjoy the signing up for 24 hours a day or hate it probably more likely.
Rachel 3:08
My brother did go on an Alaskan cruise, like I don’t know, a decade ago with his wife. And he said it was amazing. just gorgeous.
Emily 3:19
Yeah. Yeah, our trip to Anchorage would be pretty legit. Like First of all, like you just said gorgeous. It’s like, amid the coastal Chugach mountains. So it actually doesn’t have that polar ice cap, frozen tundra vibe that you might expect. In fact, in the summer, it’s about 65 degrees all the time, which is kind of perfect, right? Yeah. And then the nice weather makes conditions super ideal for sightseeing or going on like Arctic bike adventures across the Prince William Sound, which is not named after Prince William, sadly, of England. It was originally named the sandwich sound after the Earl of Sandwich. Okay, like that. Right? I know. And then it got renamed to honor George the Third third son, Prince William Henry back in the 1700s. So
Rachel 4:14
Oh, him.
Emily 4:14
different guy. Oh, him. I know what a bet he didn’t have as nice of a balding head as Prince William and So another thing we could do would be skiing. We could go dog sledding, or we could do both simultaneously and go scheduling, which is cross country skiing while being towed by a dog.
Rachel 4:40
I’ll take a pass actually.
Emily 4:44
Maybe cross country skiing. I’ve never been skiing before. Believe it or not even though I live in Colorado. I’m just not that kind of coordinated. And now that I’m in my mid 30s, you might kind of well that’s the thing is it’s been so long. Now. That If I were to pay a couple $100 to go skiing or snowboarding, dude, that’s a lot of money to just fall on my ass all day. I used to ski my family used to go skiing every year and so I love skiing. Not a fan of cross country skiing though. Totally different than downhill skiing. cross country skiing is one where you just like right off it across the land. And it’s just like, why would I want to just pull myself out? I feel like I could do I’ve been snowshoeing, yeah, it just sounds really really painfully like exercise and I don’t like that. Okay. So if we did go skijoring we might see the towering mountains around, we might see moose. We might get to see Denali clear outside which would be amazing, very tall, tall mountain
Rachel 5:53
very tall as mountains are known to do
Emily 5:56
very well as they generally are. And then we get tired of being assigned in your sunburn. You know, to a pulp we can go inside I mean, low, low blow, you were taking a drink too. So you can even respond. So we could go inside go the anchorage museum. You know, I love a good museum. They have lots of super cool exhibitions and a planetarium love.
Rachel 6:25
Yes,
Emily 6:26
I know. And they have the Smithsonian Arctic Study Center, where they have hundreds of Native Alaskan artifacts on display. And you can like listen to recordings of storytellers teach about Alaska as indigenous people, which would be very informative, very unsure moving very cool. We can also eat salmon and then more salmon and like a lot a lot of salmon because people love salmon. Yeah, and also it’s fucking Alaska. You know? So we can even catch our own because there’s this place called ship Creek and the locals just like go fishing for salmon. I’m sorry. Ship Creek. Ship Creek. Does David Ross work there? It ships creep in ships. Yeah, we’re going to ships Creek. We’re going fishing is David. Oh my god. Okay. I love that journey for us. I think ships Creek is like a surreal place because there’s these locals pulling like massive wild salmon out of this creek. And it’s like a block from the city. And they’re like office buildings. So kind of that’s cool. But like, let’s be honest, we’re not going to catch your own fish like we want it delivered to us on a plate with a glass of wine. So we would probably head over to 49th state Brewing Company because it has 360 degree views. So you can see the Cook Inlet, the Chugach mountains Denali and anchorages city skyline and you can watch the sunset that they say last often for several hours because of the whole like crazy daylight darkness situation because if we were there in the summer, it would be sunny for 19 and a half hours a day. Damn. Or and we for sure have to go in the summer. I am not. I’m not here for Alaska winters. I’m not there for total darkness. Like no thank you. No, no, no that cold. I can’t No. I am not into that either. So have you packed your bags? Because it sounds like so much fun to me. I’m ready to go. Let’s do it. But I don’t want to do a cruise because I went on a cruise one time. And I learned I don’t like the ocean on that cruise. So you don’t like the ocean when you’re on dry land? You don’t like the ocean when you’re on the ocean with no escape? Yeah, no escape. I don’t like okay, escape that one. No, I got when my family and I went on a cruise probably like 10 years ago. We left the Port of Miami in like sunset time. Right? So it’s like as it got dark. You know? It’s like oh, it’s nice, but you could still see the land as it got dark and then we woke up the next morning go up on the deck and it was just like all fuck nothing. You can’t see shit like part of me for some reason thought that I’d still be able to see like Far, far off the land. No. Nope. See in every direction. That’s that sucker stuff. You’d never know where the fuck? I wouldn’t know which way to swim. There. Sharks everywhere. sounds terrible. Yeah, that’s like a nightmare for me. I’m very scared to be down there. There’s he knows what’s down. That’s where the lizard people live. And I’m not for it.
Rachel 9:31
Crab people for sure.
Emily 9:32
Yeah, for sure. So is there anything else that like comes to your brain when you think about Alaska?
Rachel 9:41
I mean, Native people is probably what comes to my mind igloos.
Emily 9:46
Yeah, yeah. You know, well, the correct answer. No, just kidding. It was not a quiz.
Rachel 9:53
What should have come to your mind you should have thought of
Emily 9:58
is the trend Atlantic pipeline is like a super big part of Alaskan history and like day to day Alaskan life. And this is an 800 mile long steel pipe that began construction in 1974. And ended in 1977. And so we’re going to talk a little bit about that before I jump into my story, just because it is relevant. So I believe you, you’re so good at stories. So the creation of this like massive pipeline in the 70s, cause this insane economic boom, in the towns all up and down the pipeline route, wasn’t just an Alaska, you know, like went throughout the United States. And so all these people were construction workers coming up, like people working on the pipeline, flooding to the towns to help. And so unfortunately, that had its downside, residents of the towns affected saw this crazy population jump, and that comes with a spike in crime. And then there’s like over stress, public infrastructure and higher prices on homes and this influx of people who are not really familiar with Alaskan customs. And so to get a feel for how much this changed the economy, in Fairbanks, Alaska, they saw home prices go from $40,000, on average in 1974, to $80,000 in 1975. So double in a year, in a year. Yeah. And that’s because these pipeline workers were paid really high salaries at this time. And so then that cause non pipeline workers to want to make more money too, obviously. But the non pipeline businesses can’t keep up with the demand for those higher wages. So job turnover, super high, like one restaurant in the area had a turnover of more than 1,000%. Damn is no crazy. Yeah, I know. So. And on top of this, like many positions in the area, were filled by high school students, who of course, got promoted way above their experience level. And so they’re trying to meet that demand. So they ran High School in two shifts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. So students could still work eight hour day. Oh, my God, they were able to bring in all this money for their families, you know, yeah, but that’s a lot to put on the shoulders of a 1617 year old and that is not good service. I mean, we’ve all gone through the McDonald’s drive line those little so unless you’re chick fil a, or shipshape over chick fil a, but nowhere else. Yeah.
Rachel 12:36
What are they doing over there? It’s an a cult. It’s a lowkey cult. Right? It has to be there. So like that, or cocaine or some something, you know, like to motivate them?
Emily 12:47
Yeah, their pleasure. Anyways. So there was higher demand for goods and services. Like it said that waiting in line became a fact of life. There were shortages on everything. And what happens when you have money come into a town of surges and crime and illicit activities like money sort of volleyball, let’s just believe it right here now. And so there were a lot of women turning to sex work in Alaska during the creation of the pipeline. And unfortunately, it made Alaska the number one highest rate of rapes in the entire country. And it’s still in the top four, even today, which is just like, yeah, absurd and horrible.
Rachel 13:35
It is.
Emily 13:36
So I tell you all that to tell you, that’s a situation where dropping ourselves down and
Rachel 13:42
Mid-70 crazy.
Emily 13:45
Mid 70s, Alaska, lots of sex workers, lots of illicit like, activity is going on. And so the first date that I want to tell you about is not the first date of the story chronologically, but I’m going to start there anyways, because I’m really good. The day is September 2 1983, and state troopers are put on alert and sent to a crime scene. The body of 17 year old exotic dancer Paula Golding is found on the banks of the neck river by a road construction crew. So she’s been missing for five months, and shockingly, her remains are found right next to the remains of 23 year old exotic dancer Sherry Maura, Heather shell casings near the bodies as well. And the ballistics reports showed that they’ve been fired from the same high powered hunting rifle. From the looks of their wounds and the type of gun used, it became obvious. These women had not just been murdered. They had been hunted like wild animals out in the Alaskan wild All right, oh my god. So what they would soon realize was that the land of the midnight sun had a serial killer on its hands. And that serial killer was named Robert Hansen. And he’s often known as the butcher Baker because he owned a bakery. And he eventually confessed to killing 17 women in the Alaskan wilderness. And I am going to tell you that gruesome and terrifying story, and do my best to share a little bit about the 17 women who lost their lives in a really horrible way.
Rachel 15:34
This guy’s a dick
Emily 15:35
superdick super creepy.
Rachel 15:37
Yeah, yeah.
Emily 15:38
Let’s talk about it. Let’s do it. We’re ready. Let’s dive right in. So Robert Christian Hanson was born in 1939, in Iowa, to Edna and Christian Hanson. And he had a pretty miserable childhood. So his father, a baker by trade was super cool, super short tempered, didn’t show little robber very much affection or fatherly guidance or anything like that. But Robert still idolize the man and was like, I’m going to follow in his footsteps and become a baker. Hi. Unfortunately, Robert suffered from a debilitating stutter. And he of course went on to blame all of his future indiscretions on the negative effects that he had because of his stutter, which as we know, having a tough childhood having a stutter does not equal serial killer. That’s not a statement that we accept. But it does sound like he had a pretty short time like, he couldn’t communicate with his classmates. He’s painfully shy. He basically isolated himself because he was trying to avoid human contact. He’s skinny, His face is riddled with acne scars. So he’s like, constantly rejected by girls. And this basically, as they so often do, planted with him a deep seated resentment toward went ladies Don’t lie to me, because I’m awkward and uncomfortable, and I stutter, and I make them feel like I’m going to murder them. How dare they? Yeah. So he found an outlet for his feelings of sexual rejection through crime. Sure, yeah. As they do as one does, as one does. So first, smaller displays of power kleptomania. Then he started hunting that kind of became his solace for a while. So he was fascinated with guns and excited by the power that he felt when stocking and killing a living being I hate this guy. I know. I gave him this like feeling of control that he didn’t have in the other parts of his life. And so he finished high school and went to the army. So part of me was like, okay, trying to like get some of that like anger out in a constructive way. Maybe. But sure, he was discharged after here. And then he found work as like a drill sergeant at a police academy. And then he got married. But in December of 1960, he got arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for burning down the Pocahontas County Board of Education School Bus garage. What he’s like, fuck these school buses. I hated school.
Rachel 18:27
Why the buses?
Emily 18:28
I don’t know.
Rachel 18:29
Like, I mean, not to give him any ideas. Obviously, he’s dead. Yeah, I was gonna say he’s not alive anymore. Spoilers. But why not the school? Why are you taking it out on the transport?
Emily 18:42
I know do the school bus driver, like really offend you by telling you to sit in your seat and stop jumping around or something like, I don’t know. So weird. But he burned that fucker to the ground and they sent him to jail for it. And while he was in prison, he did get a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and schizophrenic episodes. And though he gained that diagnosis, he lost his wife who divorced him while he was incarcerated and was like, look out of here lucky lady. Yeah, you’re burning shit down. That’s a deal breaker for me. That’s all the red flags all of the every single one every single one. But he got out of prison met his second wife, Darla Marie Henrickson, Hanson, who he married in 1963. And who moved with him to Alaska in 1967, where they had two children Damn. in Anchorage, he fulfilled his goal of becoming a baker, and he ran his own bakery while Darla worked as a teacher. And life was like pretty good for the Hanson family. The business was pretty successful. They’re well respected in town. patrons of the bakery and neighbors, you know, saw him as quiet and reserved, but friendly and diala really is stood by her man. Anytime that he had skirmishes with the law, which happened quite a fucking bit darlin no run Darla run, like Darla loyalty is only good in certain situations like my loyalty to Starbucks. Yeah. And red wine outlay and Jerry’s.
Oh, yeah, yeah. Really, really, really, really
Rachel 20:24
Coke Zero. Fuck Pepsi. I said it oops.
Emily 20:30
Darla, no, no. So, couple things got caught stealing a chainsaw from a hardware store. She stood by his her man. Red Flag number one filed the fraudulent insurance claim to get the money to open his bakery stood by her man red flag number two. Exactly. There will be
Rachel 20:49
just gonna keep counting. Look,
Emily 20:51
when Hanson was not at the bakery, he spent his time hunting and became this highly skilled hunter because he had all these years of practice. And other hunters even were like, wow, Robert, you’re so great at hunting. We’re so impressed. That part’s not the red flag now if he Jacks it while hunting. Just saying just assume we could just assume if he gets off on killing a living thing, red flag number three, red flag number three. So he seemed to be living an ordinary life like ash. Police even came and sat in his bakery and ate doughnuts, which is editorial illustration from me, but I’m sure it’s right. And so Hey, now they had curlers. From 1967 to 1983 16 years, he flew so far under the radar that it’s scary. And it wasn’t until June 13 1983 when Cindy Paulson and anchorage sex worker was picked up half naked and handcuffed, hitchhiking and hysterical on an Alaskan highway. When police questioned her she described an abduction that seemed too horrific to be true. She’d been picked up in the car of a wirey scruffy man soliciting her for sex. And she said she was handcuffed to the vehicle, threatened with a revolver and then taken to the man’s home, where he chained her from the ceiling of his den, raped and tortured her repeatedly. And then from there, brought her to a small local airport, where she made her escape while he loaded up his plane. So when police took her to the airport, she identified none other than Robert Hansen’s plane, the friendly Baker from Anchorage. Oh, and they were like it seems impossible. You know, like how could it be that the security guard there corroborate her story miracles happen?
Rachel 22:59
Sorry. How could it be!
Emily 23:02
Sometimes it’s a necessary song. Great. I love it. Oh, God. So this hero security guard not only corroborated her story, but also had taken down the license plate of the perpetrator and shocker the vehicle belong to Robert Hansen. Surprise, and so when they went to the address listed on the vehicle registration, the interior of the home match the description that she had given. And Frank Roth’s child, the detective on the case knew that they had Robert Hansen Cole on kidnapping and rape. But it all felt oddly familiar to police. Oh, so let’s travel the UK. Okay, back to 1971 12 years earlier, when Hansen committed his first murder, let’s back into it. So first murder again, we’re going backwards in time here. A little bit clumsy, hadn’t quite figured out his Mo. In fact, before his first murder, he unsuccessfully attempted to abduct 18 year old Susie Hepburn at gunpoint and was later charged with assault with a deadly weapon by a grand jury. Red Flag number three. That’s four. That’s four. Yeah. And then just days later abducted a topless dancer from downtown Anchorage, and took her to a cabin on Kenai Peninsula where he raped her number five. But also, if you’re doing this as a drinking game, this is your cue to stop because it’s Yeah, you’ll dial you’re gonna look we’re not promoting alcohol poisoning here. So just yeah, listen, drink some water. Yeah, be fine hydrate, hydrate. So he’s got Suzy Hubbard in literally the back of his truck. He’s driving back to Anchorage having just raped her and he gets an idea. He pulls over to the side of the road and he takes out his Ruger mini 14 and points it at the woman and tells her to run. Ah. But she begged him not to kill her, promised never to say a word. And after he had her write down the names and addresses of her family, and threatened that if she went to the authorities, he would hunt her and her family down and kill them all. He actually let her go. So weird, right? Crazy. Yes, sadly, on Christmas Day 1971 reports came out that the nude body of a female college student had been found in a ravine again, near Kenai Peninsula. And so Suzy was super convinced that it was her abductor and rapist who’d murdered this woman because it was like in the same area and everything. So she actually came forward then and told them her story. And she actually fucking identified Robert Hansen from a series of photos. And he was arrested and held on $50,000 bail. But Darcy, a number of Hansen’s well to do friends came forward as well as his church minister, and said, there’s no way that Hansen was guilty of this. He’s an upstanding member of the community. He owns a fucking Baker. He smells like sugar all the time. And listen, we all know nothing bad ever happens at church or five people who go to church never hope there’s never ever. Exactly. And on top of all this, well, he’s being accused by a topless dancer. Oh, who’s known to do drugs. Oh my god. So why would anyone ever believe her? Plus, did you hear she’s a lady. Did you hear she has a vagina. Wait on take time later. Your type around here. What was she wearing? That was she topless at the time of the rape? Oh, rockin No, Jess. Oh, unfortunately, this poor woman Susie is like can’t stand all the slander being thrown a round about her. And so she dropped the charges against him. She dropped the charges but they still were like, oh, okay, buddy. Like, you still need to go to prison for this because we know that you read that, you know, that kind of thing? Yeah, sentenced to five years in prison got out in three months. No, a TV only Baker in this house. Like why? why there’s no more crow nuts. It’s an emergency. There’s no more. We have to have to calm down, down. He also he got out so fast, because he was acting as the perfect inmate. Sure. And he really convinced the wardens. He was not a threat to society. And he went to his appointments with his psychiatrist and convince him that he was cured of his mental illness. There’s no ladies to rape in jail. So like, I’m good guys. He probably was a model citizen. Oh, you mean there’s no buddy, I can overpower and take advantage of here. Oh, okay. Well, then I guess I’ll be on my best behavior. I guess I’ll just read the Bible. And what do you know, they let him go. And God said, Let therapy crow nuts. Oh, my God, I’m so really, really unfortunate. There are a lot more instances like this with this guy. A lot of people like will refer to this whole 12 year period, you know, between 71 and 83, as the time when he murdered 17 women. But honestly, the majority of the murders actually happened in the latter part of the period of that timeframe. Because in the earlier part, he was mainly like picking up women driving them to the wilderness, raping them and then driving back to Anchorage and letting them go not only missed, like do we think that he was wanting to kill them and couldn’t get his nerve up? Or just hadn’t like elevated to that yet are escalated to that? Yep, I don’t know. But so for many, many years, that’s all he really did. Um, okay. Remember how I mentioned that he stole a chainsaw? Yes. So that’s, that’s next in this whole strange story like chronologically in 76 he was arrested for stealing a chainsaw. Because you can’t afford a chainsaw. I guess. I’ve all the things to steal that he’s like, Listen, I’m not murdering anybody. Remember? All of the things you could steal don’t steal something to murder with Come on, bro. Yeah, seriously. Again, sentenced to five years in prison but only served 16 months. Why? Because despite his criminal history, his reputation for being a good citizen. And the friendly neighborhood Baker got him released. They really like their baked goods in Anchorage, apparently. Look it up. He’s skinny and small and he has acne. He could hurt anybody. like fucking screech, like, damage.
Ah, he’s the nerd. No one’s gonna suspect him.
Rachel 30:21
Yeah, no nerds ever do evil things? None of them
Emily 30:25
none of us. I mean them. No. Okay. Then, between 1978 in 1983, women began disappearing from downtown anchorage at an alarming rate. And while a few did return, the vast majority did not. Robert Hansen had finally found his groove. So first, he purchased a Piper Super Cub, which is a small two person plane. And he would use that to fly the women he picked up from the Merrill field airport in Anchorage to his cabin in the nick river area of the mat and niska Valley. I have a question. Yeah. This fucker had to steal a chainsaw, but can afford a plane. All right.
Rachel 31:21
Okay. Just make sure I heard that right, because I’m like the fuck the logic, whereas it
Emily 31:27
just tells me that he was buying the chainsaw for something nefarious, right. Like, he didn’t want on on a receipt or something. So he like pants, the play?
Rachel 31:39
Is that a chainsaw in your pants or are you planning on murdering people later?
Emily 31:44
Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. So he has a plane. So he would take his victims to his home, his family home where his wife and two children live, where he kept his collection of guns and animal trophies and souvenirs from his victims share locked away in a soundproof basement, which was off bounds to his family. I forget what number red flags were on, but that’s one of them.
Rachel 32:10
If there’s a room you’re not allowed in, and it’s fucking soundproof red flag
Emily 32:14
number one red flag. I mean, it’s like a flag the size of Texas people. Yeah, so in his family home, he had a room where he tortured people. He would tie his victims up, he would rape them for several hours. And then he would force them into his plane at gunpoint, fly them out to the river. And it was here. The Hansen’s fun, quote, unquote, really begin because he had the most power and control over them in the middle of nowhere, blindfolded and helpless, he would let them go and their desperation and that small glimmer of hope that they might survive, gave him that sick rush of pleasure. And I’m sure he watched them stumble and run clumsily in circles in the forest. And he would stock them with his gun and a knife. Like they were a caribou. It probably went on for several hours until the victim was totally exhausted, and knew that she wasn’t going to make it out alive. And then he would shoot her and bury the body in a shallow grave in the Alaskan tundra. And before he left her there, he would take a piece of jewelry, maybe a purse or driver’s license as a trophy. He would mark an X on his map, where the body was buried. Oh, dumb, just stupid, and then leave on his plane, go back home to Darla and kids. What did Darla think he was doing and his murder room slash random flight expeditions. She just hates jazz she fucking hates. And he’s like, I’m listening to my sounds. I love the jazz sounds. I got my riders on
Rachel 34:05
model airplanes. Yeah,
Emily 34:09
I don’t know. I always wonder that too. Like, how do these people not know something is going on?
Rachel 34:13
But yeah, maybe we’re just clingier than these waves because of my husband was just gone in a weird room for hours. I’d be like, what are you doing? Nothing. Actually, I wouldn’t be cleaning. I’d be like, are you gonna come help me with these damn kids?
Emily 34:28
What the hell also a man named Robert.
Rachel 34:33
Yeah, yeah, doesn’t have a soundproof room.
Emily 34:36
Thank God. Yeah. Unbeknownst to Hanson, the girl he picked up on June 13 1983, as I mentioned before his woman who had bring his murder spree to an end, so we’ll dive a little deeper into that story. 17 year old Cindy Paulson was working anchorages Fourth Avenue that night when a man pulled up an offer $200 for her services. He was then and he had acne scars and a stutter when he spoke. Okay, we know where this is going. It was Robert Hansen. And she didn’t really see anything threatening about him. So she got in the car. And as she shut the door, the man skillfully slipped handcuffs on her wrists and put a gun to her head. Oh, and then as he does, he drove her to his house on old harbor Avenue, forced her into the house, down into the basement. And as with previous victims, gagged, raped and tortured her for several hours. And then once he was finished, he put a chain around her neck, secured her to a wooden post, like an animal, and then lay down on the couch across from her and fell asleep. Because he was tired after all, that it’s, it’s not even like an animal.
Rachel 35:54
I mean, we’ve talked about this before, like, if I saw an animal chained to one post and called fucking animal Protective Services, yes, I would report that because that’s animal abuse to do that to a human person. Like, it’s, I don’t have words. It’s awful. It’s next level, just gross. It’s gross.
Emily 36:17
It’s gross. And so then in the morning, he put her in the car went to the airfield, preparing to fly her out to the river to the tundra to hunt her down. But it didn’t work out that way. Because in the morning, when he put her in the car and drove her to the Merrill airfield where his plane was, the area was deserted. She was sitting on the floor of the car’s backseat, her hands cuffed in front of her. And when he got out of the car, and left her inside to go prepare the plane, she was like,
Rachel 36:52
Fuck this.
Emily 36:53
I got fucking nothing to lose, like, yes. Anyway, anyways, so I might as well run. Sorry, chances escape, and she took it. What if that so she peered out the window, noticed he had his back to her. Look in his plane dicking around on the plane, he crawled into the driver’s seat, open the door and ran, and he didn’t notice. She was gone until it was too late. Talking slow clap. Amazing. Clap for Sunday. Seriously. So she’s handcuffed still? wearing only a shirt and underwear. Books. It makes it all the way to Sixth Avenue where she flags down and passing motorist. This man Richard yant drove her to a place called the mush in which I’m sorry, just like this
Rachel 37:41
sounds that come from that motel? Yeah, just yeah. Squishy like stepping in mud? Yeah, yeah.
Emily 37:51
just terrible. So yeah. So once she got safely inside, Richard actually continued on to the police station is like, you got like, I just picked up this handcuff terrified woman and dropped her at the mush place like it’s icky in there, but you should go find her. And they got to the mush and found out that she was like, Nah, I can’t stay somewhere where it’s called mush in. And so she had taken a cab to the big timber motel much better and different clientele, the client. And so they met her in one of the rooms and she of course, was still handcuffed, sobbing, hysterical. And so they removed the handcuffs and took her to the police station, where she provided a description of the man who had abducted her. And also described the room where she’d been held captive as having many animal trophies mounted on the wall. And she then directed authorities to Merrill field airport, identified her abductors playing the what he expected was registered to Hansen. So there’s like no chance this guy is going to get away now. Right? Well, you think you that he’s been let go?
Rachel 39:00
I’ve been burned before Emily.
Emily 39:02
I know. I know. They go to his house to question him and he may immediately denies it. And he even has fucking friends who are like no, no, he was with me at that time factors when she claimed to be abducted. And it almost looked like the word of the well respected family man and Baker. We’re going to hold more weight than that of the teenage sex worker with no friends are influenced by then. Bad as motherfucker FBI profile or john Douglas, what? granddaddy of criminal profiling. The man the myth, the legend, he interviewed Mason, he interviewed Bundy he interviewed Kemper. He decided to take a look at the information that the troopers have gathered about the other known victims that they’ve been finding and he developed a motherfucking criminal profile on this aspect. And it said the perpetrator will have low self esteem he will likely suffer from a speech impediment dun dun da What do you know? The description man? Exactly. So Rothschild who’s the detective in town, decides he’s going to do a little more than question, Robert Hanson. He gets a fuckin search warrant finally. So they go to his house, they find jewelry from several of the missing women. A rifle that matches the bullet casings. A map of the Alaskan Bush, with dozens, dozens of X marks all stored in the headboard of his bed. weird place to keep your trophies the bat that he shared with Darcy. Come on man, Darla, but yes, oh, sorry. Darla, damn it. Sorry, I lost you Darcy, but dirtier than I did. So dirty. So they bring him in. And they interrogated him and explained to him their plan. They say, hey, Rob, once the spring thaw happens, we’re going to get some tracking dogs. And we’re going to go check every single spot on this map. And we’re going to find those bodies and match them to your weapons. It’s going down, you know, and Ross, Charles said, quote, as I sat there watching him, there was a transformation that took place. That was amazing. His face got really red. And literally the hair on the back of his neck stood up. And that was when he changed to my eye from Bob the baker to Bob the serial killer. And all of a sudden, I’m looking at this guy thinking there’s the guy who killed all those people. Hmm, the jig was up and like they all do. He realized the jig was up and confessed. Good. So he confessed to killing Roxane eastland whose body was never found. Joanna Messina, Lisa futrell Sherry Morrow. Andrea Altieri Altieri, whose body was never found? Sue Luna, Paula Golding, mulighed Larson, Dylan Frey, Teresa Watson, Angela fettercairn, Tamra Peterson, and two women whose identity identities were never determined. But that became known as eklutna, Annie and horseshoe Harriet based on where their bodies were found. So there were three women that Hanson denied killing, but whose graves were marked on his aviation map. And so those three women were Celia van zanten, Megan, Americ, and Mary Phil, why did they do that? Like, why didn’t I already have you on like, 12? Other murders? Why, right? Just admit it all. Yeah. And so authorities actually assume that the actual number of kills is probably somewhere in the 30s. Oh, yeah. craziness. And so Robert Hansen, did not confess out of remorse for the 14 admitted murders and three additional murders that we know he did. He did confess and exchange for an easier time through the criminal process. He was only charged for four of the murders. And Alaska did not have the death penalty. So his big thing was he asked that his case be kept out of major media. And so they agreed and sentenced him to life plus 461 years, which he served a portion of, and then in 2014, died at the age of 75. In prison, I can reset Yeah. And that’s the story of Robert Hansen, the butcher Baker of Anchorage, Alaska, who killed at least 17 probably more women and one of the most horrific ways that I can think of
Rachel 44:06
great job. He’s not a super well known one. But Robert
Emily 44:09
I know then I never heard him. Yeah, yeah. It did remind me of that criminal minds. Episode.
Rachel 44:15
Yeah, of course. It did. The same one. Yeah. No, I’ve heard that case and a couple other podcasts and it always is like, just gross and slimy. It makes me feel like you’re on the outside in the inside. Yeah, there are certain killers that just obviously they’re all bad people who do bad things, but some of them are just douchebags like they just seem like they have the worst personalities. That’s how I felt when I did suck and Terrell starkweather just slimy, just a douche and Robert Hansen do stripes.
Emily 44:47
And the whole like, flew under the radar. went to jail multiple times was suspected of assaulting. It’s like how many of those women would still be alive if they would have just actually You fucking followed up on. You know, Suzy, when she was like, braided for turning him in how about Yeah, take her seriously, and maybe these other women would be alive as well. So
Rachel 45:13
these were little innocent white girls and sex workers or dancers. Yeah, it probably would have been. And hopefully that’s changing. And hopefully podcasts like this one and others that are doing doing the Lord’s work. are making a difference, you know? Yeah, I hope so. But, okay, so Emily, and I, actually today hit this milestone, we got 10,000 downloads. And I’ve been doing this Thank you. That means everything to us that we are not the only people listening to this podcast, and we have the absolute best listeners. And we recently got the sweetest Instagram dm from our listener delfina, who gave us not one, not two, but three very horrible reasons to go to Argentina. And I’ve never been to South America on the pod or in real life, and I don’t think Emily has either. So I’m stoked to go. Today, we are headed to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. And before I tell you about some of the things I’d want to do there, I need to preemptively apologize for the pronunciation of places and names in the story. I will do my best. Okay, so first, I’d want to check out the Recoleta Cemetery. I know what you’re thinking. It does not look like a cemetery. It’s a bunch of very ornate mausoleums. So it is a beautiful architecture and the possibility of ghosts which isn’t right, love that. I would definitely want to stop by the cafe tour Tony for a coffee. It is this beautiful restaurant that has been open since 1858. They have Tiffany glass ceilings, which makes me feel woozy as fuck and reminds me of john list. Oh yeah, we need to cover him at some point. The last up I’m putting on our podcast tour of when Osiris is that Yatra Cologne, which has been open since 1857. So it’s a theater, it has been restored completely and takes up a city block. So we could catch a show or take a guided tour. But either way we would be we would be taking in some beautiful old architecture with about a theater to like it’s always so ornate and just like makes me feel fancy just to be there. Yes, yeah. And Argentina. I mean, South America in general, like just we talk about Europe a lot having beautiful old buildings. But South America I think gets overlooked on a lot of you know, podcasts are true crime or travel but gorgeous. And I’ll put some pictures of some of these places but just fucking beautiful. So for sure we’d want to go there.
Emily 48:11
Yes.
Rachel 48:12
So of course delfina did not invite us to Argentina because of beauty though. It is beautiful. Today, we are going to talk about yiga Murano, have you heard of her? No. Okay. I used a few sources for this story, and most of them were in Spanish, and I relied heavily on Google Translate. So Oh, you’ve all done boards. Maria de las Mercedes bernadina. Boy, yeah, who is better known as Yamato was born in Korea, ttase, Argentina on May 20 1930. She had a pretty normal childhood. Her mother was a housewife and her father was a lieutenant colonel. Dr. Went to school to be a teacher but she never ended up teaching. She wanted that Mrs. degree if you know what I mean. She had her eyes on everything that sparkled and she loved the city of Buenos Aires. It was busy and beautiful and full of fancy rich dudes. Yeah, get a hit, Hit. Hit. Ok. Enter Antonio Rondo, a handsome lawyer who asked you to stay at home while he lavished her with expensive jewelry and designer clothes. How? Yeah. However, the couple apparently lived in a seedy apartment, which was not ideal for someone who is all about that boozy life. So yeah, wanted to keep up appearances. She started to spend money she didn’t have. After all, she had a reputation to uphold a shoe is not about to dress off the rack. Set No, no unacceptable. Unacceptable. In my mind. She’s like the original Real Housewives cast the housewives of Argentina. She loved to play cards and she would entertain her friends. And apparently she wasn’t a very good Gambler, but she was a pretty good hostess. And she made some killer dumplings. Come intended.
Emily 50:17
Killer.
Rachel 50:18
Oh really dumplings. Okay. Before I get too into yum muranos moniker, the poisoner of Montserrat’s
Emily 50:28
poison,
Rachel 50:29
I need to take a beat and talk about the political atmosphere of Argentina at the time. So, ironically, again, Emily and I great minds think alike, because I’m going to talk about from 1976 to 1982. When Argentina was in some turmoil, right, there’s latches on the economy. So actually, a de facto government took power, and their slogan was that of a national reorganization process. So there was inflation followed very quickly by devaluation. Basically, they were not great for the economy. There’s a lot of war. There’s a lot of fighting. It’s not usually good for the economy, at least not if you’re fighting it on your home turf. In 1979, the government had been overthrown. And Argentina was being led by militant forces, led by dictator Jorge Vidalia. So this means national debt, overall chaos. Not awesome for anybody. I couldn’t find a lot about this. And like I said, a lot of my sources were in Spanish, but apparently, Antonio left. Yeah, around this time. So she was extra hard up for money. So Antonio, was her husband, right? Okay, so say late 70s. And our girl, he got his 49 years old, and not really keeping up with her lavish lifestyle. So why not get into a little light fraud? She basically told a few of her friends that she could get them better interest rates than the banks could because remember, there was a lot of economic turmoil. And she was a really convincing liar. Read sociopath. Yeah. So she says that she knows Jorge by della, the dictator, because her father was such a high ranking military official. She’s a girl, do you want to be your own boss, let’s make your money work for you. All invested. And you just have to sit tight and look pretty and MLM if I’ve ever heard it. Okay, so now we have come to February 9 1979. Nailed akamba a friend and neighbor of yours comes over for dinner The next day, which happens to be my birthday, February 10. It’s, it’s cool in the 80s, not so much on this special day in 1989 nelda starts to feel sharp stomach pains and nausea. Now, I know how common This was in Argentina in the 70s. But the doctor is immediately like, Lucky been poisoned. And like I said, I use a lot of Google Translate for this. So I’m going to assume they meant food poisoning. Your doctor knew it was poison.
Emily 53:29
You are assuming Oh, my God.
Rachel 53:33
Yeah, so I’m assuming they were like, Oh, it’s probably food poisoning, because that is the only reason to explain. Well, why nilda? Back taiki as hell assert, and let’s see, take care of her. Yeah. And weirdly, shocker, nailed his condition got worse, and she fell into a coma and died on February 11. I’m so surprised. And Jenny mentioned that Noda was one of the people who Giga money chip. Oh, no. Interesting. So 15 days later, Layla formisano de ala. Another friend of you. Yes. died mysteriously. Weirdly. She had a package of homemade Joe at her house from me. Yeah. So yeah, Morocco. owed Layla money. I aren’t you surprised? No.
Emily 54:28
This is all shocking.
Rachel 54:30
I’m so good at stories. No pun intended all the puns intended. So many puns, all the puns and then on March 24 1979, which remember is only a month and a half. Now she’s laying them out like bing bang, boom. Yeah, it’s almost a spree. Yes, cousin, Carmen zoo. leymah del Giorgio de venturini. I’m so sorry. Anyone who’s been Spanish I clearly don’t fell down the stairs at the building in which she lived. Originally, this was thought to be cardiac arrest, but then some weird shit started to click. Firstly, the doorman at Carmen’s apartment said this sweet lady, who is Carmen’s cousin and she really is young Morocco came to visit her dying cousin, because she knew she was sick. You know, she had fallen down, carrying a packet full of pastries. And so she was just like, Hey, man, can I have the keys to Carmen’s apartment so that I can get her address book and notify her family and friends of her death? And then after she gets in there, she comes out right away yelling some drama, like oh, no, I’ve lost 30 friends in such a short time. Woe is me. Woe is me. Why should make it a fucking scene? Yeah, why ever make a scene? That’s the first. That’s the first rule of murder as I believe he’s about to tell us. What is it about the end of this podcast? everyone finds out? I’m a murder. We have alluded to this before regularly. The end of this podcast is when Emily kills me that
Emily 56:10
I love murder. I either want to be murdered or be a murderer. There is no in between no or have a murder podcast. Oh, that’s the gray area. That’s the middle of the Venn diagram that we’ve been trying to find. Thank God, I found it.
Rachel 56:26
Thank God saved your life. Ah, DSB out. Okay. And then Diana, Carmen stutter, saw that there was a promissory note of 20 million pesos missing from Carmen’s checkbook. Oh, and yeah, also have money to karma. Karma. Well, she had karma too. Yeah. Carmen. What a motherfucking. coincidence. Obviously, after all of this craziness, there was an autopsy performed for Carmen. And then on the first two victims, and guess what? Those pastries were filled with cyanide? She went she went bag. I mean, I guess I and I’m supposed to smell like almonds. So maybe it would work in pastry. You know, I’m not trying to give tips not trying to get tips. ironic that we’re both on like the same timeline. Weird time of economic what a turmoil and baked goods are involved. Yep. Yeah, brains are connected. Yeah, weirdly connected. So you guys arrested on April 27 1979. At our home on Mexico Street. All in all, she probably stole about $300,000 American. Yeah, had poisoned all of them with innocent seeming tea and pastries. She had also taken care of them when they were sick and gone to their funerals. And she was extra as fuck. She did that sociopathic thing where she cries without any tears. No worse. Yeah,
Emily 57:57
like why you’re what’s happening with your face? It looks but you’re not in a crime. Yeah. Do you still know? Nothing. Now? is it happening now?
Rachel 58:09
She pled not guilty to any of the charges, stating She didn’t even know how to bake couldn’t have been her. That’s what she said. I can’t pick. I can’t pick with these nails. If the oven doesn’t quit, cook, you must acquit. I don’t know. There’s nothing there. I’m too tired. But judging by any of that, and she was sent to prison that year in 79. But in 1980, don’t celebrate it. In 1980, Gaea was found passed out on the prison corridors, she had a fucking tumor. So she had it removed and she made a full recovery. And then in 1982, she found out that a judge on how Mercado had overturned her guilty verdict, and she was released immediately. Why? Because of her tumor. I don’t know. But fucking roller coaster in 1985, the Chamber of appeals found her guilty on all charges, again, that to jail and serve 10 years. Oh, my God. Yes. She was released in November 1995, because of some sort of two for one law that I had research. So that’s a report and I think because they were like, well, you, I think it’s kind of like double jeopardy, maybe but she was tried. And then she Anyway, she didn’t serve her full sentence. So she was let out. Um, after I think she was supposed to be there for life. And she got out after 10 years or 30 years. But my my Google Translate didn’t tell me I did my best. So let’s just say this woman has some metaphorical balls. She makes a TV appearance in 1998 on the mirtha la grande show, and it’s like, I’m doing great. I’m remarried. I’m happy as a clam. And then Then next day her husband comes on the show and it’s all I didn’t know she was a murderer. So I’m gonna go ahead and have this near.
Emily 1:00:10
He’s like, wait, why are you on the news? And she’s like, Oh, just to talk about my life. Why would they care about your life? Yeah, three people. Would you say killed three people?
Rachel 1:00:21
I didn’t Google them. mirtha lick Rancho but I’m imagining Ricki Lake or Maury or like, yeah, Jerry Springer in the 90s. When that is all the hype.
Emily 1:00:33
You are not the father.
Rachel 1:00:37
It’s like, so I married an axe murderer if that was so you married the poisoner, a monster rat.
Emily 1:00:46
How do you feel?
Rachel 1:00:47
Annulled.
Emily 1:00:50
single
Rachel 1:00:52
single. There it is. So yeah, Murano goes on to have big grandma energy, posing for pictures but telling people I don’t like to be fussed over. She worries one more time to an older blind gentleman, but she bragged to reporters and her older age about having over 200 lovers and 200 lovers at a time like that. That’s physically impossible. No, no, I mean, like all she’s like juggling all of them. throughout her life throughout her life. Yeah. Okay. Physically. At the same time we get brought
Emily 1:01:38
a line they just come through
Rachel 1:01:42
like the fucking Human Centipede, no. brainer. Don’t you put that evil on me? No, no, no. Okay. So she also wants told a reporter that she was not wearing any panties. Woman when she told me Oh, like 70s 80s She is old. When young Murano was asked how she wanted to be remembered, she said, like an elegant coconut. He had died in 2014. Her family did not believe her innocence, though she never admitted guilt. And her son wrote a book about her and what she called her a perverse murderer. Who she she died alone in a nursing home and was buried in an anonymous grave. Uh huh. That’s crazy. She also was died in 2014. Yeah, yeah, that’s when Rob same wavelength. And that is the horrible story of gal Toronto, the poisoner of monster at? Rice. Like,
Emily 1:02:46
honestly, the worst part of that story was the old lady telling a reporter she didn’t have any panties on.
Rachel 1:02:52
Yeah, thanks, delfina for making me find that great story, and I’ve never heard of it before. Short and sweet.
Emily 1:03:00
I love that. It’s like, I’d never ever heard of her before. And that girl was nuts. Like, not poisoning part. Like true sociopath, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah, no, just wait. I don’t even know her. I don’t even Yeah, she doesn’t even go here. Ah, man, and the whole thing where she came out of the dead woman’s apartment. Oh, I’ve lost three girls. They’re like,
Rachel 1:03:25
why do you give knowing people who are dying who happen to be owed money by you? That’s such a weird fucking coincidence. Yeah, I never understand that either. When it’s like somebody, it doesn’t sound like she ever lived in any kind of well. No, she was that person who would have all of the furs and the jewels and the bads but then lived in a shitty apartment. Yeah, she was presenting like she had a lot of money when really shouldn’t
Emily 1:03:52
Yeah, she sounds like a peach. Yeah,
Rachel 1:03:54
she I mean, big. fact that grandma energy kind of like Steven Tyler but he’s not a lady or murder. Anyhow,
Emily 1:04:02
Steven Tyler don’t say bad things about him.
Rachel 1:04:05
I also love Steven Tyler. But have you seen a recent picture of him because he gives up the grandma energy big grandma energy.
Emily 1:04:12
Like Caitlyn Jenner energy?
Rachel 1:04:14
Yeah, yeah. who apparently is running for fucking governor gross.
Emily 1:04:19
Yeah, I know. Listen, if Konya can’t win president and you’re probably not weird in love relationships. Well, that was awesome. And thank you, Davina. What a great, great recommendation if anyone else has some recommendations for us. Sending through on dm on Instagram we’re a horrible history pod. shoot us an email horrible history podcast@gmail.com send us a carrier pigeon whatever works best for you. Don’t know can you message us on Tick Tock? We’re on Tick Tock guys at horrible history pod. You can comment.
Rachel 1:04:58
I think you can send us a DM On Tick tock, I haven’t I don’t really know how to attack works yet. We’re doing our fucking best as we want to hear from you. That’s all I’m saying.
Emily 1:05:07
And yeah, write a review, which would be so helpful. Review star share, subscribe, all that good stuff. It really does make a difference and we’d really appreciate it.
Rachel 1:05:19
Yeah, yeah, we’re also on Patreon so immediately after this if you’re into lady poisoners. This week, it is my turn to do happy hour with horrible history which comes out every other week on Thursdays. Right after the main episode on Patreon. I am going to pour a glass of wine and talk to you guys about some more lady poisoners. So, listen to that. I have a few more. Yep. Yep. That girl is poiiiosonnnnn.. I promise I won’t sing.
Emily 1:05:50
That was a good one. Thank you. Thank you.
Rachel 1:05:53
And thanks so much for listening.
Emily 1:05:56
Hopefully, you’re horrified!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Sources:
Intro Music: “Creeper” – Oliver Lyu