Long Island Has A Serial Killer Problem: Prostitutes Only

Why So Many Serial Killers on Long Island?

Some towns and counties have cancer clusters. Others have high rates of traffic fatalities or foreclosures. In New York, Long Island has been grappling with its own disturbing demographic: Three serial killers who targeted the same type of victims have operated in the same tidy suburbs in the span of 22 years.

Since 1989, when the first victim was killed, the three have been active in Long Island’s two counties — Suffolk and Nassau — in apparently unrelated cases. Joel Rifkin, a 34-year-old unemployed landscaper from East Meadow, confessed to killing 17 women he said were prostitutes following his arrest in 1993. Robert Shulman, a 42-year-old postal worker from Hicksville, was convicted of killing five prostitutes after he was arrested in 1996. The third killer has yet to be apprehended, but the police know that he or she exists: the bodies of eight people — at least four of them female prostitutes — have been found in the thick brush near a Suffolk County beach since December.



It is a phenomenon that, though rare, has occurred elsewhere. Beginning in the early 1980s, at least five serial killers terrorized the South Los Angeles area, including Lonnie Franklin Jr., whom the police accused of being the so-called Grim Sleeper (he took a hiatus from 1988 to 2002).

Serial-killer experts and others offered a host of theories for the cluster phenomenon. Several said it was a fluke of geography. Still others said it was, in a sense, an illusion: Other cities and regions could have just as many or even more serial killers in their midst, but their patterns have not yet been detected by the police.

Scott Bonn, a serial-killer researcher and assistant professor of sociology at Drew University in New Jersey, said the explanation was simple. Because serial killers often prefer to live in densely populated areas — for easy access to potential victims — it is not a surprise that three of them who specialized in sex workers had turned up over two decades in a place with a population of 2.8 million. “The odds that you would have these three guys in rural Mississippi in that time period are far less likely than in a densely populated area like Long Island,” he said.

Fred Klein, the former Nassau County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Mr. Rifkin, said the frequency of Long Island’s serial killers was “just an anomaly.” The Rifkin and Shulman cases, it turns out, shared strange coincidences: Mr. Rifkin and Mr. Shulman lived a few miles from one another, and they committed some of their murders at the same time, though they did not appear to know one another.

Vernon J. Geberth, an author and former New York Police Department homicide commander who has analyzed more than 300 serial killings in the United States, said popular culture, not the locale, was to blame.

“I don’t think it’s strange at all,” Mr. Geberth said. “I think that people fail to realize that we have more serial murders today than ever before. We’ve taken the most reprehensible members of society and given them star status. We’ve raised a generation of psychopaths. As a result, we have an increase in serial murder.”

Long Island’s latest serial killer could have been not the third but the fourth in recent years, if the definition of “serial killer” was looser. In 1990, Allen Gormely, 37, a carpenter, confessed to killing prostitutes. Several experts define the serial killer as someone who kills three or more people on different occasions. Mr. Gormely was convicted of killing only two.

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Laptop of pimp Akeem Cruz targeted in probe of slain bodies dumped on Long Island beach


A Pimp of one of the slain Craigslist hookers dumped on an isolated Long Island beach is in the feds' cross hairs.

FBI agents sought a search warrant this week to troll through the laptop of Akeem Cruz, a Brooklyn pimp and cocaine dealer, according to records filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Cruz, also known as "Vybe" and "Mello," was one of the last people known to have seen 22-year-old Megan Waterman alive when he pimped her out at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge, L.I., around Memorial Day, according to her family and court records.

Waterman's remains, along with those of three other missing prostitutes, were found on Gilgo Beach in December. Suffolk cops have said they believe the slayings were the work of a serial killer.

Cruz is currently jailed in Maine on an unrelated drug charge.


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Sources: Daily Mail, Irish Central, MSNBC, NY Daily News, NY Post, NY Times, Youtube, Google Maps

Akeem Cruz: Does He Know The Long Island Serial Killer?

Akeem Cruz A Young Black-Puerto Rican Alleged Pimp/ Cocaine Dealer From Brooklyn, Is Now On The FBI's Hit List After It Was Discovered He Had Personal Ties With One Of The Long Island Serial Killer's Victims. As Usual "Our" American Criminal Justice System Chooses A Black Man To Be The Fall Guy. I Love Long Island (Suffolk Co.) & Hope They Find They Find The REAL Killer Soon! Real Soon!

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Laptop of pimp Akeem Cruz targeted in probe of slain bodies dumped on Long Island beach


A Pimp of one of the slain Craigslist hookers dumped on an isolated Long Island beach is in the feds' cross hairs.

FBI agents sought a search warrant this week to troll through the laptop of Akeem Cruz, a Brooklyn pimp and cocaine dealer, according to records filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Cruz, also known as "Vybe" and "Mello," was one of the last people known to have seen 22-year-old Megan Waterman alive when he pimped her out at a Holiday Inn Express in Hauppauge, L.I., around Memorial Day, according to her family and court records.

Waterman's remains, along with those of three other missing prostitutes, were found on Gilgo Beach in December. Suffolk cops have said they believe the slayings were the work of a serial killer.

Cruz is currently jailed in Maine on an unrelated drug charge.


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Sources: Daily Mail, MSNBC, NY Daily News, NY Post, NY Times, Google Maps

Joran Van der Sloot: Possible Serial Killer & "Homicidal Maniac"

"Joran Van der Sloot Is A Homicidal Maniac" Says Private Investigator


He has looked into the eyes of alleged murderer Joran Van der Sloot, and what he saw gave him chills.

"This is a homicidal maniac," said private investigator Bo Dietl on CBS' "The Early Show" on Thursday. "I've met him. I looked in his eyes... We should be checking Interpol and the FBI should be checking where he's gone all over this world. You've got a serial killer here."

Brought in by the Holloway family, Dietl worked with the FBI during its sting to snare Van der Sloot for extortion, as well as attempt to gain evidence to prove he killed their 18-year-old daughter Natalee in 2005.

The private detective previously claimed the 22-year-old admitted to him he killed the Alabama high school student.

"He said he pushed Natalee Holloway, her head hit a rock," Dietl said.

Van der Sloot has made similar claims in the past, however. His most recent "admission" was caught on a hidden camera by a Dutch journalist in 2008.

The young man now faces murder charges again, this time in Peru, where he reportedly confessed to killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores, who was found dead in the Dutchman's hotel room in May.

The FBI took heat this week when it was reported the agency gave the Holloway suspect $25,000, which he then reportedly used to help fund his trip to South America.

However, investigators say that while they were working an extortion sting, their goal was to get a confession in the five-year-old crime that has so far gone unsolved.

"We were not trying to build a white collar extortion case. We were trying to solve the crime," the senior official told CBS News.

The FBI did not believe Van der Sloot was a serial killer, or planned to murder anyone, but assumed he would simply use the money to feed his poker-playing habit.

Regardless, officials were in no position to arrest Van der Sloot, because he was out of their jurisdiction and they did not have enough evidence.


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Sources: CNN, NY Daily News, Google Maps

Manhunt For WA. Police Serial Killer (Maurice Clemmons) Continues...Family Aiding Suspect

Manhunt for alleged cop killer continues. Police are still in pursuit of Maurice Clemmons, a former inmate suspected of gunning down four Washington state police officers Sunday. NBC's George Lewis reports.

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WA. Police Chief: "We will all miss them very much". Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar, flanked by city officials and numerous police officers, is emotional as he speaks to reporters about the shooting deaths of four of his officers.

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Washington State Police: Family helping cop-killings Suspect



Authorities believe the man sought in the slaying of four police officers is still alive and has been aided by a network of friends and family, a police spokesman said Monday night. Officers believe Maurice Clemmons was shot in the abdomen during the attack on the officers at a Parkland coffee shop, and had speculated he might have died.

But Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff, said investigators have questioned several people who had provided assistance to Clemmons since the Sunday morning shootings.

"We think his network of people helping him is running out." Troyer said. "He's probably on his own."

Police are also certain Clemmons, 37, was in a Seattle house on Sunday night, but was able to flee before police could contain the area. Police staked out the house overnight before SWAT team members determined early Monday that Clemmons wasn't there.

Clemmons has had access to handguns, rifles and shotguns, Troyer said.

"It's unfortunate he's been a step or two ahead of us."


Large Reward Offered

Monday morning's realization that the suspect had not been cornered after all prompted police to fan out across the city, looking for any sign of Clemmons. Authorities posted a $125,000 reward for information leading to his arrest in the Sunday morning shooting rampage.

The manhunt came as authorities in two states took heat for the fact that Clemmons was allowed to walk the streets despite a teenage crime spree in Arkansas that landed him an 108-year prison sentence. He was released early after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence.

"This guy should have never been on the street," said Brian D. Wurts, president of the police union in Lakewood, where all four slain officers worked. "Our elected officials need to find out why these people are out."

Police said they are not sure what prompted Clemmons to assassinate the officers as they worked on their laptop computers at the beginning of their shifts. He was described as increasingly erratic in the past few months and had been arrested earlier this year on charges that he punched a sheriff's deputy in the face.

Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told the Tacoma News-Tribune that Clemmons indicated the night before the shooting "that he was going to shoot police and watch the news."

Authorities said the gunman singled out the officers and spared employees and other customers at the coffee shop in a suburb about 35 miles south of Seattle. He then fled, but not before he was apparently shot in the torso by one of the dying officers.

Police later learned he may have been holed up at the house in Seattle. After an all-night siege in which they tried to get him out using loudspeakers, explosions and a robot sent into the house, a SWAT team stormed the place and discovered he was not there.

Police spent the rest of the day frantically chasing leads, visiting hundreds of locations as they followed up on tips, at one point cordoning off a park where people thought they saw Clemmons. They also alerted hospitals to be on the lookout for a man seeking treatment for gunshot wounds.

University of Washington officials alerted students by e-mail and text messages to an unconfirmed report that Clemmons might have gotten off a bus on or near the campus.

Investigators also examined the coffee shop for clues. Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Dave McDonald said that authorities found a handgun carried by the killer, along with a pickup truck belonging to the suspect with blood stains inside.

Killed were Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and Officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Greg Richards, 42.

Clemmons has an extensive violent criminal history from Arkansas.

On Sunday, Huckabee issued this statement on his Web site: "Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington state."

In seeking leniency from Huckabee, Clemmons wrote the parole board that he was a "misguided fool" when he committed the crimes and "learned through the school of hard knocks to appreciate and respect the rights of others."

Huckabee cited Clemmons' youth in granting the request. But Clemmons quickly reverted to his criminal past, violated his parole and was returned to prison. He was released again in 2004.

Clemmons was charged in Washington state earlier this year with assaulting a police officer and raping a child, and investigators in the sex case said he was motivated by visions that he was Jesus Christ and that the world was on the verge of the apocalypse. But he was released from jail after posting bail with the assistance of Jail Sucks Bail Bonds.


The world is going to end soon

Documents related to those charges indicate a volatile personality. In one instance, he is accused of punching a sheriff's deputy in the face. In another, he is accused of gathering his wife and young relatives and forcing them to undress.

"The whole time Clemmons kept saying things like trust him, the world is going to end soon, and that he was Jesus," a Pierce County sheriff's report said.

Neighbors said Clemmons had surveillance cameras installed along the bushes in front of his house, and had mostly kept his blinds shut since he was accused of throwing rocks through the windows of his neighbors' cars and houses earlier this year.

Neighbor Ken Dietiker said he initially thought Clemmons' cameras were there to prevent crime. "But now I'm starting to think he's just paranoid," he said.

Dietiker said he was frustrated to learn about Clemmons' record and releases from custody.

"There were all these indicators. Who didn't see them?" he asked. "That's what I want to know."

There was no indication of any connection between Sunday's killings and the Halloween night shooting of a Seattle Police Officer as he sat in his patrol car.

Authorities say the man charged with that shooting also firebombed four police vehicles in October as part of a "one-man war" against law enforcement. Christopher Monfort, 41, was arrested after being wounded in a firefight with police days after the Seattle shooting.



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Sources: MSNBC, Google Maps

SC Serial Killer Was NC Felon Released Early From Prison...Why Was He Released? Who's Responsible?

Charlotte Observer----

Patrick Tracy Burris, an N.C. felon with a lengthy arrest record, was the serial killer who slew five people in Cherokee County, S.C., last week, police said Monday night.

Burris, 41, was shot and killed Monday morning by Gaston County Police, who were responding to a predawn burglary call near Dallas, N.C. – about 40 miles northeast of Gaffney.

Ballistics tests showed his gun killed the five people near Gaffney, S.C., and investigators said he had items in his Ford Explorer that were taken from the home of his first victim.

“We have him. He's our serial killer,” said S.C. State Law Enforcement Division Deputy Director Neil Dolan. “He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird.”Police said his motive remained unknown.

In April, Burris was paroled from a medium security prison , after serving less than 8 years of a 10-year sentence for charges including felony breaking and entering, according to records from the N.C. Department of Corrections.

Less than two months later, on June 27, he killed peach farmer Kline Cash, then four others in the next 10 days, police said.

Burris has been charged at least 60 times, according to court records obtained by The Observer. Police said he has been arrested in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Florida.

“At some point the criminal justice system will have to explain why this man is on the streets,” said SLED Director Reggie Lloyd, as he waved a paper copy of Burris' arrest record for cameras at a Monday night press conference.

Police said they don't know why Burris was in Cherokee County, and whether he had any connection to his victims. Before going to prison in 2001, Burris lived in Eden and Reidsville in Rockingham County, north of Greensboro. Police found Burris because of an ordinary burglary call.

Michael Valentine was asleep in his home on Dallas-Spencer Mountain Road near Dallas when his dog woke him. He walked into his living room and saw headlights in the driveway of an abandoned house across the street. Valentine said he noticed the vehicle was a Ford Explorer – the same type investigators believed the killer was driving. It was about 2:40 a.m.

He watched as several people in the SUV sat in the car. He couldn't tell who it was, so he phoned police because he knew the house didn't have electricity and he was concerned about burglars.

A police officer arrived and two others followed several minutes later, he said. Valentine told The Observer that two of the people were Mark Stamey, 35, and his sister Sharon Stamey, 31.

Because of the stillness of the night and the closeness of the homes, Valentine could hear voices and the crackle of police radios, he said.

The Stameys told the officers that they had lived in the house and were there to collect some items. Valentine, who had gone outside to see what has happening, said the Stameys got out of the car, along with a third man.

“His head was down, and it was dark, and he was stumbling around drunk,” he said of the Burris. “He said something like, ‘You got booby traps around here.' ”

The Stameys and the man went into the house, Valentine said, and the police followed.

Police say they asked the three people in the Ford Explorer for identification, and that Burris gave false identification. Gaston County police say they eventually got Burris' correct name and discovered he was wanted by Lincoln County authorities for a parole violation.

Valentine heard someone say, “Put it down.”

“Shortly after that I heard a pop and then I heard four more, and then I heard them say, ‘officer has been shot,' ” Valentine said.

Police later said that as they tried to take Burris into custody, the man fired and hit Gaston County officer J.K. Shaw in the leg. Police say they fired back, killing the man. The officer was treated and released from Gaston Memorial Hospital on Monday.

Police declined to say why the Stameys were with Burris. They only said they believe Burris killed alone.

After a day of forensic work, SLED towed the Ford Explorer from the home about 6:30 p.m. Police said that in addition to being the same color as the suspect's SUV, the Explorer had distinctive markings that a witness from the Gaffney area had described. Police hadn't previously disclosed the distinctive markings.

Sharon Stamey was released from Swannanoa Correctional Center for Women in April, where she had served a six-month sentence for trespassing and possession of drugs such as valium and Xanax. She had also been convicted of larceny of a motor vehicle in 2008 and in 2007 was convicted of drug possession.

She is scheduled to be in N.C. District Court in Gastonia today on a felony charge of conspiracy to sell cocaine.

Sharon and Mark Stamey told WCNC, The Observer's news partner, that they met Burris about 2 1/2 weeks ago. The Stameys said they had been “partying” with Burris, and they came to the house to sleep.

The killings began June 27 about 10 miles from Gaffney, a town known to travelers for the Peachoid, a water tower shaped like a giant peach near Interstate 85.

Cash, 63, was found shot in his home on Battleground Road in northwest Cherokee County. Police said he appeared to have been robbed.

On Wednesday, Hazel Linder, 83, and her daughter Gena Linder Parker, 50, were found bound and shot in their home on Buck Shoals Road. They also lived in northwest Cherokee County, about 4 miles from the first victim. The sheriff's office hadn't said whether anything was stolen.

Stephen Tyler, 48, was shot and killed in his furniture and appliance store Thursday, near downtown Gaffney. One of his daughters, 15-year-old Abby, was also shot. She died two days later.

The killings terrorized the area, and residents stockpiled guns and ammunition. A task force of more than 200 investigators worked around the clock chasing down leads.

Residents of the small county – population 54,000 – were puzzled because they assumed someone would recognize him from the police sketch.


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Sources: Charlotte Observer, Google Maps

SC Serial Killer Shot Dead By NC Police

MSNBC----

(South Carolina investigators are looking for a possible link between the serial killer suspected of five murders in Gaffney and a man who was shot to death by police Monday during an attempted burglary in nearby Gastonia. NBC's Brian Williams reports.)

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GAFFNEY, S.C. - The serial killer who terrorized a South Carolina community by shooting five people to death before police killed him Monday was a career criminal paroled just two months ago, authorities said.

Patrick Burris, 41, was shot to death by officers investigating a burglary complaint at a home in Gastonia, N.C., 30 miles from where the killing spree started June 27. Bullets in his gun matched those that killed residents in and around Gaffney over six days last week, said State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd.

Investigators did not have an address for Burris. While evidence left no doubt he was the killer, they still had no idea why he did it.

"He was unpredictable. He was scary. He was weird," said SLED Deputy Director Neil Dolan.

Long rap sheet:

Burris had a long rap sheet filled with charges such as larceny, forgery and breaking and entering from states across the Southeast, including Florida, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. He had been paroled from a North Carolina prison in April after serving nearly eight years.

"Look at this," Lloyd said, waiving a stapled copy of Burris' criminal record. "This is like 25 pages. At some point the criminal justice system is going to need to explain why this suspect was out on the street."

Gaffney farmer Sam Howell, 61, was among dozens of people from Cherokee County who came to the news conference where authorities identified Burris.

"My prayers were answered. He got what he deserved," Howell said. "He scared the hell out of everyone. I guess we can feel better but we've lost some of our innocence."

The mystery ended in Gastonia early Monday after a couple called police to report a suspicious sport utility vehicle in their neighborhood.

Mike and Terri Valentine were on edge because the Gaffney serial killer was just a short drive away.

They watched two people who sometimes visit the neighboring home get out of the vehicle, followed by a third man who matched the description of the killer: tall, heavyset, unshaven and wearing a baseball cap. The man appeared to be very drunk, Mike Valentine said.

When officers went inside, Terri Valentine said she heard someone yell "put it down" and heard a gunshot.

Then "bam, bam, bam, bam. Next thing I know, all of Gaston County was here," she said.

Gaston County police said the other two people were in custody, but did not indicate whether they were facing charges.

Five fatal shootings over six days
The Gaffney killings happened in a 10-mile area over six days. A peach farmer was killed June 27, an 83-year-old woman and her daughter were found bound and shot four days later, and the next day a father and his teen daughter were shot in their family's furniture store.

The investigation isn't over, and Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said investigators will trace the suspect's recent activities and trying to figure out if he has killed other people in other places.

"Now we have someone we can focus on," Blanton said.


He said he hopes the arrest calms the fears of 54,000 people in the county 50 miles west of Charlotte, N.C., known for its peach orchards and mills.

"We feel the victims' pain," Blanton said. "This isn't over. We're just changing gears."

The shootings all occurred within about 10 miles of each other in Cherokee County, a community of 54,000 people set amid peach orchards and farms.


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Sources: MSNBC, Huffington Post, Google Maps

Serial Killer Has South Carolina Citizens On Edge...5th Victim Has Died

MSNBC----

(Law enforcement officials in South Carolina are looking for a suspected serial killer who they believe may be responsible for at least five deaths.)

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GAFFNEY, S.C. - A teenage girl shot while helping her father in their family's small furniture and appliance store died Saturday, becoming the fifth victim of a suspected serial killer terrorizing a small South Carolina community, authorities said.

Abby Tyler, 15, died about 11:15 a.m. at a Spartanburg hospital after fighting for her life for two days, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said.

Tyler was wounded and her father was killed Thursday as they worked to close the Tyler Home Center near downtown Gaffney.

County Sheriff Bill Blanton said investigators believe the killings are linked and the search is on for a suspected male serial killer. An 83-year-old mother and her daughter were shot to death Wednesday, and a 63-year-old peach farmer was found dead at his home a week ago.

Blanton said all the victims were shot, but he would not say how the deaths were linked. The shootings all occurred within about 10 miles of each other in Cherokee County, a rural community of 54,000 people set amid peach orchards and farms some 50 miles west of Charlotte, N.C.

Killings have terrorized community:

The spree had alarmed residents canceling Independence Day holiday plans and arming themselves. The sheriff has warned door-to-door salesmen to stop knocking and anyone who breaks down on the county's rural roads to wait instead of walking to a house for help because he worries "people are going to start shooting at shadows."

The killings began a week ago Saturday when the wife of 63-year-old peach farmer Kline Cash found him dead in their home. Then last Wednesday, relatives found 83-year-old Hazel Linder and her 50-year-old daughter, Gena Linder Parker, bound and shot to death in a separate shooting at Linder's home.

Dozens of local, state and federal investigators were assigned to the case when the killings were linked. But a day later, the killer struck again, less than a half-mile from the sheriff's office serving as the headquarters for the investigation, killing 48-year-old Stephen Tyler and his daughter.

"We're knee-deep in the investigation," Blanton

said Sunday. "There's fear and concern here and there should be concern."

Investigators have released a sketch of the suspect, saying he is in his 40s, with salt and pepper hair, about 6-foot-2, and roughly 200 pounds. They think he is driving a silver 1991-1994 Ford Explorer.

"Gaffney Strangler" killed four women in 1968:

The last time the town was this threatened like this was 1968, when the "Gaffney Strangler" killed four women over 10 days and vowed to kill more. The town banded together, despite racial prejudice, to find the man who was killing white and black women.

The strangler, Lee Roy Martin, called the editor of a local newspaper on Feb. 8, 1968, and told him where to find the bodies of two women he'd dumped in the woods. He threatened to kill even more women until he was "shot down like the dog I am."

People started to comb the community for clues, which led to Martin's arrest. He was convicted of four murders and sentenced to four life terms. In 1972, he was stabbed to death in his cell.


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Sources: MSNBC, Huffington Post, WCNC, Google Maps

SC Has A Serial Killer On The Loose....Where's Gov. Sanford?

Huffington Post----

GAFFNEY, S.C. — Terrified residents canceled Fourth of July plans and holed up in their homes Friday as investigators hunted a serial killer believed to have shot four people to death.

Tanya Phillips had been looking forward to a backyard barbecue at her brother's house but instead planned to stay home with her doors locked.

"I'm not taking any chances," said Phillips, 32, a mother of two who works in a day-care center. "I'll go out during the day, but not at night. I just don't feel safe."

Plenty of evidence links the killings, though officials have not yet determined how the victims are connected or if they knew whoever shot them, said Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton.

"Yes, we have a serial killer," he said at a news conference in this rural community 50 miles south of Charlotte, N.C.

So far, all investigators have to go on is a sketch of a suspect and a description of a possible getaway vehicle, though police would not say who provided that information.

The latest victims were found in their family's small furniture and appliance shop near downtown Gaffney around closing time Thursday. Stephen Tyler, 45, was killed, and his 15-year-old daughter was shot and seriously injured. Tyler's wife, his older daughter and an employee found them in Tyler Home Center, County Coroner Dennis Fowler said.

A day earlier and about seven miles away, family members found the bodies of 83-year-old Hazel Linder and her 50-year-old daughter, Gena Linder Parker, bound and shot in Linder's home. Blanton would not say if Tyler and his daughter were also bound.

The killing spree began last Saturday about 10 miles from Tyler Home Center, where peach farmer Kline Cash, 63, was found shot in his living room. Blanton said the killer may have first spoken with Cash's wife about buying hay. She left and came home a few hours later to find her husband's body. Investigators said it appears he was robbed, but they have not determined if anything was taken in the other killings.

Cherokee County, home to about 54,000 people, had just six homicides in all of 2008, and half that the year before.

Residents have "their guard up and their gun handy," said state Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, who recalled the area being terrorized once before, in the 1960s, by a serial killer dubbed the Gaffney Strangler. Otherwise, Gaffney is most famous for a giant water tank shaped like a peach that can be seen from Interstate 85.

"There is no greater fear than the fear of the unknown and nobody knows. You can cut the tension with a knife," Peeler said. "People are locking their doors, even in broad daylight."

The Fourth of July is a busy weekend, with thousands of people expected to attend fireworks displays in several communities.

"You want to live a normal life," Phillips said as she stood outside a grocery store. "But you just can't."

Every available police officer will work the weekend, Blanton said, acknowledging that there is "real fear in the county." He urged people to take precautions such as going out in groups and calling 911 if their cars break down and they are stuck on the side of the road.

"If someone breaks into my house, I'm armed and ready," said Mike Daniels, 53, a retired Army sergeant. "And I won't hesitate to shoot first and ask questions later."

Hazel Smith, 47, said neighbors feel vulnerable.

"If he killed once, he'll kill again," she said sitting on the front porch with her friends. "Tonight, I'm going to stay inside and pray, pray a little harder that he gets caught."

The latest shootings happened less than a half-mile from the sheriff's office, where at least 30 investigators were already working on the case. Blanton said a profiler has suggested Tyler and his daughter might have been shot to taunt investigators, but he said his only concern is solving the case.

"We had a 15-year-old girl shot; he killed an 83-year-old woman," Blanton said. "The good people of this community don't deserve that."

The sheriff reminded people they have a right to protect themselves and advised salesmen and others to avoid knocking on strangers' doors with so many on heightened alert.

"People are going to start shooting at shadows," Blanton said.


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Sources: Huffington Post, MSNBC, Google Maps