Roger Kibbe

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Roger Kibbe
Roger Kibbe.jpg
Born
Roger Reece Kibbe

(1939-05-21)May 21, 1939
San Diego County, California, U.S.[1]
DiedFebruary 28, 2021(2021-02-28) (aged 81)
Ione, California, U.S.
Cause of deathHomicide by strangulation
NationalityAmerican
Other namesI-5 Strangler
OccupationFurniture salesman
Criminal statusDeceased
Conviction(s)Murder (March 18, 1991)
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment
Details
Victims8+

Roger Reece Kibbe (May 21, 1939 – February 28, 2021) was an American serial killer and rapist known as the "I-5 Strangler".[2][3] Kibbe found all but one of his victims on freeways around Sacramento, California. In 1991 he was sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment for the murder of Darcie Frackenpohl.[2][4]

Criminal investigation and incarceration[]

Kibbe was initially arrested in 1988. In 2003, he accompanied prosecutors and detectives to a dry creek he remembered to try to find the body of Lou Ellen Burleigh, whom he had killed in 1977. In 2007 a detective searched the area again. In 2009, Kibbe again returned to the site with detectives. Burleigh's body was not found, and a grand jury was convened.[3]

After a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty, on November 5, 2009, Kibbe was sentenced to an additional six life sentences, this time for the murders of Lora Heedick, Barbara Ann Scott, Stephanie Brown, Charmaine Sabrah, Katherine Kelly Quinones, and Lou Ellen Burleigh.[3]

In 2011, a detective returned to the Burleigh dump site on his own and found a bone in the creek. DNA testing proved it to be Burleigh's.[5][6][7] Burleigh had left her Walnut Creek, California, home in 1977 for a job interview, but never returned.[3]

Kibbe kidnapped his victims, tied them up with parachute rigging cord and silenced them with duct tape. He then proceeded to cut open their clothes in irregular shapes with scissors that had belonged to his mother. Sometimes he garroted his victims with the parachute cord with which he skydived.[8] Then, he raped them and strangled them to death.[9] Kibbe also cut off most of the hair of his victims to remove the duct tape before leaving the scene of the crime.[10]

Death[]

Kibbe died at approximately 12:40 a.m. on February 28, 2021, in Mule Creek State Prison.[11][12] An officer made the discovery; Kibbe's 40-year-old cellmate, Jason Budrow, was present at the scene, reportedly in a standing position when the body was found. On March 3, the Amador County Sheriff's Office released the results of Kibbe's autopsy report, showing that he had died from manual strangulation with the manner of death being homicide.[13]

Known victims[]

  • Louise Ellen Burleigh, age 21 – killed on September 11, 1977
  • Lora Heedick, 20 – killed on April 21, 1986
  • Barbara Ann Scott, 29 – killed on July 3, 1986
  • Stephanie Brown, 19 – killed on July 15, 1986
  • Charmaine Sabrah, 26 – killed on August 17, 1986
  • Katherine Kelly Quinones, 25 – killed on November 5, 1986
  • Karen Finch, 25 – killed on June 21, 1987
  • Darcie Frackenpohl, 17 – killed on September 17, 1987

In popular culture[]

Television[]

Kibbe's forensic evidence used in his conviction is reported on an episode of the series Forensic Files, "Knot for Everyone" (aired: October 1998).[14]

MSNBC released the documentary "Profiling Evil" where forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz interviews Kibbe in prison (aired: November 18, 2012). The interview was part of Kibbe's plea deal to avoid a death penalty.[15][16]

The series On the Case with Paula Zahn dedicated an episode on Kibbe's crimes titled "Deadly Offer". The episode aired on May 8, 2016. Series host Paula Zahn interviewed family members of the victims, detectives, criminalist, the prosecutor, and a forensic pathologist.[17][18]

Oxygen Network aired The Mark of a Killer: Pattern of Murder about the Kibbe case on February 17, 2019.[19]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Roger Reece Kibbe". California Birth Index. State of California Vital Records and Statistics. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Ramsland, Katherine (May 10, 1991). "Roger Reece Kibbe: The I-5 Strangler — The Strangler and the Court". truTV. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d "Admitted Serial Killer Helps Police Search for His 1st Victim". Daily Press. Virginia. Associated Press. October 3, 2009. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014.
  4. ^ "California IN BRIEF : SOUTH LAKE TAHOE : Man Sentenced in 'I-5 Strangler' Case". Los Angeles Times. May 12, 1991. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  5. ^ "'I-5 Strangler': Deputy tracks down remains of Lou Ellen Burleigh, slain by serial killer in 1977". Los Angeles Times. June 29, 2011. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  6. ^ "WCPD: Lou Ellen Burleigh's body found after 34-years". Claycord.com. June 27, 2011. Archived from the original on July 1, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  7. ^ Ramsland, Katherine. "Roger Reece Kibbe: The I-5 Strangler — New Developments". truTV. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012.
  8. ^ Ramsland, Katherine (May 10, 1991). "Roger Reece Kibbe: The I-5 Strangler — A Witness". truTV. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012.
  9. ^ Ramsland, Katherine (May 10, 1991). "Roger Reece Kibbe: The I-5 Strangler — Drug Money". truTV. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012.
  10. ^ Sabalow, Ryan (March 1, 2021). "'I-5 Strangler' Roger Kibbe, Sacramento-area serial killer and rapist, killed in prison". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  11. ^ "'I-5 Strangler' killed in prison; victims included Walnut Creek and Pittsburg women". The Mercury News. March 1, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  12. ^ "'I-5 Strangler' Roger Reece Kibbe Killed In State Prison Attack". KPIX. March 1, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  13. ^ Sabalow, Ryan. "California's 'I-5 Strangler' Roger Kibbe, found dead in his cell, was strangled, coroner says".
  14. ^ "Forensic Files: Knot For Everyone". TVmaze. October 1998. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018. In 1996 a woman named Stephanie Brown was driving some friends home to a foreign part of town. She took a wrong turn on Interstate 5 to get home and was later found dead in a flooded irrigation ditch.
  15. ^ "Profiling Evil | Dr. Park Dietz Interviews the I-5 Strangler". Park Dietz & Associates. 2012. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018. Under the terms of a plea agreement in which he was spared the death penalty, Kibbe agreed to speak to detectives and forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz and to show them where he had hidden the remains of one of his victims.
  16. ^ "Profiling Evil". MSNBC. November 12, 2012. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  17. ^ "Deadly Offer | On the Case with Paula Zahn". investigationdiscovery.com. Discovery Communications, LLC. May 8, 2016. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  18. ^ "On the Case With Paula Zahn – Season 7 Episode 8: "Deadly Offer"". TWC Central. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018. After coming to the aid of a stranded roommate, Stephanie Brown's car is found abandoned on the interstate and her body is later discovered floating in an irrigation ditch, the victim of sexual assault and murder.
  19. ^ "Mark of a Killer: Pattern of Murder (Season 1, Episode 4)". Oxygen Official Site. February 7, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2021.

Further reading[]

External links[]

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