Sean Patrick Goble

Overview

Sean Patrick Goble was a long-haul trucker who confessed to murders of women in Tennessee and was charged with a third in North Carolina. He picked up victims at gas and service stations along the interstate and dumped their bodies further down the road. Investigators in multiple states sought to question him about dozens of similar deaths that occurred along his truck routes. Many of the victims were prostitutes who were smothered or strangled.

On December 15, 1995, the 29-year-old trucker received two consecutive life terms in Tennessee for killings of two women.

Timeline

• January 30, 1995 — A clear thumbprint was recovered from a plastic Winn-Dixie grocery bag submitted for analysis; the prints were matched after being submitted to automated and federal fingerprint databases.
• February 19 — A woman’s body was found beside I-40 in North Carolina.
• March 19, 1995 — Rebecca Alice Hanes’s body was discovered beside I-81 in Tennessee.
• April 12, 1995 — Investigators moved in on Rocky Road Express to coordinate an arrest.
• April 13, 1995 — Federal, state and local authorities arrested Sean Patrick Goble when he pulled his 18-wheeler into its garage in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
• April 14, 1995 — After his arrest, Goble told police that he had killed Brenda Kay Hagy and dumped her body along Interstate 81 in Virginia, and that he had killed Alice Rebecca Hanes.
• May 9, 1995 — The Washington County Board of Supervisors recognized the members of the investigative team with commendations.

Background

Sean Patrick Goble described himself as a “lady’s man” and bragged to the police about his romantic exploits and “300-pound physique.” A neighbor called him a “scary kind of fellow.” Others described him as a sensitive, generous giant. He once told the police that his girlfriend beat him up.

Investigators sought to draw an accurate portrait of Goble as an enigmatic trucker whose black 18-wheeler had “The Wild One” emblazoned across the cab. In April 1995, the “Giant One” headline referred to the 300-pound suspect as a “gentle giant.”

The offence

Victim profile and method described

Goble picked up victims at gas and service stations along the interstate and dumped their bodies further down the road. Authorities said many victims were prostitutes. Investigators and police described deaths as smothering or strangling. Police also said he allegedly killed each victim after sex and dumped their bodies many miles away.

Authorities in at least seven other states wanted to question Goble about dozens of similar deaths along his truck routes.

Confessed Tennessee killings

Goble confessed to killing Brenda Kay Hagy, a 45-year-old from Bloomington, Indiana, at a service station in Tennessee in January 1995 and dumping her body along Interstate 81 in Virginia.

Goble also confessed to killing Alice Rebecca Hanes, a prostitute from Ohio, whose body was found beside I-81 in Tennessee on March 19. Police said a purse was allegedly found in Goble’s truck.

Goble was also described as admitting to suffocating or strangling Sherry Masur, whose body was found in Guilford County, North Carolina near I-40. He also was described as admitting suffocating three other women.

North Carolina death for which he would stand trial

Authorities in Guilford County, North Carolina said Goble told them he was involved in the death of a woman whose body was found along Interstate 40 in February. He would stand trial first in Greensboro in that case. The woman was not identified in the material.

Investigation

Homicide investigators from North Carolina and about 10 other states tried to draw an accurate portrait of Goble. Investigators fielded “104” calls about similar slayings and interviewed truck drivers and spoke with the victim’s families, spending hundreds of hours on the telephone.

Investigators from Washington County, Virginia became involved after an unknown woman’s body was found dumped just off exit 10 of I-81, just north of Bristol, Virginia. The finding was reported by a newspaper carrier calling from a convenience store, who said she thought it might be a mannequin. When Detective Kenneth L. Wilson received the call, he hurried to the scene and saw the partially clad body of a middle-aged woman who had been strangled and dumped in plain view. The right leg had been run over by a vehicle, and investigators said tire marks and the pattern outlined in blood suggested an 18-wheeler had been the culprit.

Wilson’s partner, Detective Ross Sheets, recalled an earlier episode of “Unsolved Mysteries” about a series of prostitute murders in the midwest and said the signs were similar, including a dead woman dumped along the highway, missing shoes, and missing panties. They said the perpetrator was known to be a truck driver and that witnesses had spoken of a black Peterbilt. The unknown trucker was identified by his CB “handle,” “going by Stargazer.”

Near the body, investigators found a pair of white jeans and a plastic Winn-Dixie grocery bag wedged between the jeans and the victim’s face. The victim’s clothing was described as light, unsuited to the weather in Virginia in January, and police speculated she was from outside the region. Examination of the jeans yielded a taxi cab receipt that led to a cab company in Gainesville, Florida.

Investigators submitted the plastic bag for analysis and said it yielded a clear thumbprint, probably that of a man. They attempted to match the print against the database of 30 states that utilized AFIS, and when that failed, they submitted the bag to the FBI. A status check call from the FBI informed the investigators that no match had been found and that it could be up to a year to complete the search. Just 45 minutes later, another call informed them that the FBI had secured a match on the print.

The FBI told investigators the prints belonged to Sean Patrick Goble, who had been arrested in West Memphis, Arkansas in September, 1994 for reckless driving, resisting arrest, and creating a public disturbance with a prostitute.

Arrest

On April 13, 1995, federal, state and local authorities arrested 28-year-old Sean Patrick Goble when he pulled his 18-wheeler into its garage in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Investigators moved in on Rocky Road Express on April 12, 1995. Investigators coordinated with police from Tennessee, North Carolina, and the FBI to make the arrest. They told owners they would either open their files or be served with a search warrant. The owners complied and made records available. Company logs showed Goble to be in the area of each of the three murders.

Goble was due to return to the terminal later that night. Calling from South Boston, Virginia about 9 pm, Goble told dispatchers he might be a few days late because he had been offered a load of pine bark mulch going elsewhere, and dispatchers told him to forget the load and return to the home terminal. Investigators waited for Goble over the projected 2–3 hours and feared he had been tipped off or that he might already be killing another woman. At 8 am the following morning, Goble returned in the black Peterbilt and was taken into custody without incident after he walked into the dispatch office.

Investigators said Goble’s wrists were too large to be handcuffed, requiring multiple pairs to encircle his wrists. Investigator Kenneth L. Wilson accompanied Goble to the Winston-Salem, North Carolina police department where he was booked.

Trial

Goble was awaiting trial in Jefferson County, Tennessee in 1995 for the murder of Rebecca Hanes. He had also been charged with the murder of the two other women, Masur and Hagy.

The public defender appointed to represent Goble in the case was Edward C. Miller. Miller refused to make comment on the case or to allow Goble to be interviewed further.

Goble denied being the “Stargazer Killer,” saying some of those killings happened before he even became a trucker. Detectives Wilson and Sheets had their doubts about those assertions. Goble still had family in Illinois and was known to stop by in his rig to visit family members.

Goble was said to be charged in a separate case in North Carolina and would stand trial first in Greensboro in that case involving a woman whose body was found along Interstate 40 in February.

Sentencing

On December 15, 1995, Goble was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in Tennessee for the killings of two women.

Outcome

Goble had confessed to killings of multiple women. Authorities said he was linked to additional deaths and investigators in other states wanted to question him about dozens of similar slayings. The convictions and sentence described were for murders in Tennessee that resulted in two consecutive life terms.

Aftermath

Investigators from Washington County, Virginia received commendations from the Washington County Board of Supervisors at its May 9, 1995 meeting. The personnel recognized included: Supervisor of Investigators Kenneth Lee Wilson, Detective Ross Howard Sheets, Detective Charles Donald Hash, Investigator Curtis Blaine Tate, Jr., and Investigator Bobby Dean Arnold.

Other details

Identified North Carolina victim

A woman found dead in February near Interstate 40 was identified as Sherry Tew Mansur. She was 34 and had a record of prostitution arrests. Police identified her using fingerprints. Her last known address was Clearwater, and she was found in Guilford County near I-40. The material said Goble confessed to killing Mansur; Mansur had been unidentified at the time of discovery.

Identified Tennessee victims and additional details

Brenda Kay Hagy was described as 45 years old and from Bloomington, Indiana. Her body was found in Tennessee beside I-81.

Sherry Masur (listed as Sherry Tew Mansur in identification) was described as a native of Clearwater, Florida, and her body was found in Guilford County, North Carolina near I-40. The material said cocaine was found in her blood and she was strangled. Her rap sheet included a history of arrests for prostitution.

Rebecca Alice Hanes was described as 36 (or 36-year-old) and from Columbus, Ohio. Her body was found on March 19 beside I-81 in Tennessee. The material stated she had been run over by a tractor-trailer after being dumped and that she had a rap sheet for arrests for trespass at truckstops.

Evidence and investigative leads described

A pocketbook belonging to Rebecca Hanes was found inside Goble’s rig.

A taxi cab receipt was recovered from the jeans near the first discovered body and led to a cab company in Gainesville, Florida.

A plastic bag near the first discovered body yielded a clear thumbprint, which investigators said they later matched to Goble after AFIS and FBI database searches.

In a search of Goble’s home near Asheboro, North Carolina, investigators discovered a collection of women’s shoes and panties. Investigators believed these items could have been taken from the possessions of his dead victims.

Statements and quotations

Investigator Kenneth L. Wilson’s report was associated with a narrative in which he saw the partially clad body of a middle-aged woman who had been strangled and dumped in plain view, and whose right leg had been run over by a vehicle.

A police investigator who asked not to be identified said: “is very fond of his power over women, he loves his women.”

The investigator also said: “He's very proud of his physique, I'm serious. He thinks women go for him.”

The investigator said: “He said, 'I'm going to do my time in Tennessee and get this behind me so I can get on with my life,' ” and continued: “I don't think he thinks much of these gals he's choking. He was thinking he was going to get out and drive a truck again.”

Lisa Hill, a 30-year-old mother of three, said: “Whenever he was off the road, he would come to my house. Park that truck right up in front. He was gentle. He was like a big bear. If I was crying, he was right there holding me. He didn't mistreat anybody.”

Wanda Moore said: “He's called me many times out on the road and stuff crying,” and: “Sometimes he'd say it was his grandma that was sick. Other times he wouldn't say why he was upset. Other times he'd say something wasn't right and he just wanted to talk.”

The ex-wife was described as having been contacted and refusing to make comment, saying: “I'm not saying nothing.”

Prior history and family background described

As of 1995, the material said Goble’s father, Kenneth Goble, was serving an 18-year stretch for raping a 6-year-old girl in New Mexico.

The material said Goble’s father had been sentenced to 4 years in prison for the rape of a 10-year-old girl when Goble was living in Rockport, Illinois at the age of 6.

The material said Goble dropped out of high school before his senior year and entered the Army. It also said Goble was married for a short time and had a 10-year-old son who did not know the identity of his father.

The material said Goble became a truck driver in 1992.

A check of Goble’s police record showed minor traffic infractions, charges for possession of a small amount of cocaine and drug paraphernalia in Cumberland County, North Carolina in 1991, and charges in 1989 and 1992 with passing bad checks.

Other alleged victims listed

The material listed a partial recounting of additional names of women who had been murdered or had gone missing in similar circumstances, including: an unidentified woman age about 18 last seen at a Burlington, NC truckstop in 1990; Cheryl Mason, a prostitute whose body was found in Guilford County, NC in 1991; Nona Cobb whose body was found along I-77 near an on ramp in Surry County, NC near Elkin, NC; and an unidentified woman whose body was found in western Guilford County, NC on February 19, 1995.

It also listed Tennessee: an unidentified woman found along I-81 in Greene County, Tennessee whose body was badly beaten about the head; Margaret Sue Goins, 26, of Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, found in Sullivan County, Tennessee along I-81 near the Tri-Cities Airport and run over by a tractor-trailer; and Rebecca Alice Hanes, 36 from Columbus, Ohio.

It listed Ohio: an unidentified woman age 20–25 found along I-75 in Miami County, Ohio; Marcia K. (Pepper) Matthews, age 25, body found June 12, 1985 along I-71 in Richmond County, Ohio; Shirley Dean Taylor, age 26, body found July 20, 1986 on Route 224 in Medina County, Ohio; April Barnett, age 19, found December 4, 1986 along I-71 in Ashland County, Ohio; an unidentified woman age 20–25 found August 10, 1987 along I-70 in Montgomery County, Ohio; Anna Marie Patterson, aka Cindy Lawson, aka Jenny Morrison, age 27, found March 23, 1987 near I-71 in Warren County, Ohio; an unidentified woman age 25–35 found April 19, 1990 near junction of I-70 and SR 37, Licking County, Ohio; and Kathryn Hill, aka Wendy Turner, found November 5, 1990 near I-280 (Toledo area) in Wood County, Ohio.

The material urged that anyone with knowledge of the identity of unidentified females or other information related to named individuals contact local law enforcement organizations or those mentioned in the list.

Evidence of suspected trophy collection

The material stated investigators feared the collection of women’s shoes and panties represented a trophy collection from Goble’s criminal past, but it still associated that fear with the search findings.

Numbers and labels used for investigation framing

The material described the “total of unsolved murders” escalating to 3 in a scant 2 months and said investigators fielded “104” calls about similar slayings. It also referred to Goble as the “Stargazer killer,” with the CB “handle” “Stargazer.”