Timothy Krajcir

Case record: Timothy Krajcir

Background

Timothy Krajcir was a convicted American serial killer from Allentown, Pennsylvania. He was born c. 1944.

He first entered the Illinois prison system in 1963 on a rape conviction. After a stint in the Navy, Krajcir spent most of his adult life behind bars for sex crimes, with a brief period of freedom in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was incarcerated from 1982.

Krajcir was arrested and charged in connection with the 1982 slaying of Deborah Sheppard. Jackson County court documents listed his address as the Big Muddy Correctional Center in Ina.

The Illinois Department of Corrections showed that Krajcir was taken into custody in August 1979 with an offense that listed him as a “sexually dangerous person.” After completing his Pennsylvania term in 1988, he was brought back to Illinois to resume serving the sentence and remained in that state's custody ever since.

A psychological profile was submitted to a Pennsylvania court in July 1983, and it described his childhood. The profile stated that he was raised by a single mother, that his father abandoned him at birth, that he moved at least a dozen times in his early childhood, and that he hated his mother. It described him during his teen years as shy and introverted by age 14, with voyeuristic habits, and it stated that he wore feminine clothing and fondled women in public. The profile also stated that a therapist had told him he acted out his anger towards his mother by committing violence against other women, and that following the rapes he had intense sexual fantasies about his victims.

In 1977, Krajcir was released from prison after serving time for rape when he enrolled at Southern Illinois University Carbondale as a condition of his parole. In 1981, he earned a degree in Administrative Justice with a minor in psychology.

Krajcir later received an EMT license and took classes in criminal justice administration at SIU, according to Cape Girardeau police chief Carl Kinnison.

Krajcir drove an ambulance and sometimes drove to Saint Francis Medical Center or Southeast Missouri Hospital. During that time, police said he sought victims in Cape Girardeau because he wanted to avoid committing crimes “in his own backyard.”

The offence

Krajcir confessed to killing over nine women, with five in Missouri and four others in Illinois and Pennsylvania.

In Cape Girardeau, he allegedly traveled to various towns that he had no connection to, stalked his victims, and then broke into their homes and waited for them to arrive. Victims were often found in their beds, bound, raped and shot in the head, with little evidence at the time to connect the murders together or to any one person.

Krajcir’s planned or agreed course in negotiations included the death penalty being removed from consideration in exchange for cooperation and information. Relatives of the victims agreed to the plea bargain in Missouri, which took the death penalty off the table.

Deborah Sheppard (1982 killing)

On April 8, 1982, a friend entered the South Graham Street apartment of Sheppard to find her naked body lying on her bedroom floor. Sheppard was a 23-year-old marketing senior from Olympia Fields, near Chicago.

Police reported that a telephone cord in the living room was cut and a window in Sheppard’s bedroom had been removed. Police initially said there were no signs of foul play or struggle, then attributed the murder to the person who entered her apartment that day. There were no details at that time as to the connection between Sheppard and Krajcir.

Court documents listed Krajcir’s address as the Big Muddy Correctional Center in Ina. At the time, the Illinois Department of Corrections showed that Krajcir was taken in to custody in August 1979 with an offense that listed him as a “sexually dangerous person.”

Krajcir was charged with four counts of murder for his alleged involvement in Sheppard’s slaying. Court documents claimed he “strangled Deborah Sheppard with his hands, thereby causing the death of Deborah Sheppard.” Another count stated Krajcir strangled Sheppard “while committing a forcible felony rape.”

Two autopsies were conducted after Sheppard’s death. The first showed Sheppard died of a pulmonary edema or fluid in the lungs. The second autopsy, which took place in Chicago, revealed compressions in Sheppard’s neck and back, indicating suffocation or strangulation.

Police said there were suspects at the time of Sheppard’s murder, although no arrests were made.

Sheppard was one of three Chicago-area women murdered in Carbondale during the early 1980s. Susan Schumake, a 21-year SIUC radio-television junior from Chicago Heights, was killed August 1981 in a grassy area near U.S. 51 and the railroad tracks. Joan Wetherall, 30, a former SIUC student from Elmhurst, was found June 1981 strangled and nude in an isolated area of Carbondale.

Both the Schumake and Wetherall murders had been solved. Two years after Wetherall’s murder, John Paul Phillips told a cellmate he killed Wetherall and two other women. Phillips was convicted of Wetherall’s murder and sentenced to death in 1986. While on death row, he died of a heart attack in 1993.

Police initially looked to Phillips in Schumake’s case. Phillips’ body was exhumed when DNA technology advanced and allowed police to compare DNA from Phillips’ femur to DNA from the murder scene; the DNA did not match.

Nearly 25 years after Schumake’s murder, more technological advances were made. Police linked DNA from a cigarette butt in the car of Daniel Woloson, of Michigan, to DNA from the murder scene of Schumake. Woloson was arrested in 2004, convicted in 2006, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Krajcir was sentenced on December 10, 2007 to 40 years in prison for the 1982 killing of Deborah Sheppard. On January 18, 2008, Krajcir pleaded guilty and was sentenced to another 40 years in prison for the 1978 killing of Marion resident Virginia Lee Witte. The new sentence was to be served consecutively with the 40-year sentence he received in December 2007.

Krajcir pleaded guilty to the murder of five women in Cape Girardeau, to seven sexual assaults, and one robbery. He was then sentenced to an additional 13 consecutive life terms.

Krajcir thanked the families of five Missouri women for sparing his life while he was sentenced to 13 consecutive life terms.

Virginia Lee Witte (1978 killing)

Virginia Lee Witte, a 51-year-old mother of two, was found dead at her Marion home shortly after 1 p.m. on May 12, 1978 by her husband, David Witte. Police said she was stabbed, and they said she was sexually assaulted and strangled to death.

Krajcir faced two counts in Williamson County. The first count alleged he murdered Witte. The second charged him with killing her while committing another felony, that of forcible rape.

At his initial court appearance, State’s Attorney Charles Garnati waived the death penalty for the two murder counts Krajcir faced for the 1978 murder. Garnati said the state agreed to take the death penalty off the table because of Krajcir's cooperation in helping authorities solve the murder of Virginia L. Witte.

At the sentencing on January 18, 2008, Krajcir pleaded guilty to the 1978 killing of Virginia Lee Witte and was sentenced to another 40 years in prison served consecutively.

On January 19, 2008, it was stated that one of the two counts of murder Krajcir faced in the Witte killing was dismissed in exchange for the guilty plea. The dismissed count charged him with causing her death while committing the felony of rape.

With the guilty plea, Krajcir admitted to having strangled Witte with his bare hands May 12, 1978. The facts as read by Williamson County State's Attorney Charles Garnati included that Krajcir confessed December 11 to seeing Witte driving around her neighborhood and following her in his own vehicle; forcing his way into her house when she got home; sexually assaulting her before strangling her for several minutes; slashing her with a knife; then stabbing her several times with a second knife before putting his clothes on and leaving the house.

Physical evidence collected by police at the scene had been preserved and would have corroborated the confession at trial, and because of the guilty plea the physical evidence had not yet been submitted to the state crime lab for DNA testing.

Marion Police Department Detective Tina Morrow stated that the Witte family were shocked and said the Witte family reaction included that they “were excited but not quite sure what to expect,” and that they “were shocked.”

Morrow also said Witte's two sons were “very, very happy” when she called them to tell her the crime may be solved, and she stated that their mother “was a very neat, very classy lady. Good things need to be remembered about her.”

Marion police detective Tina Morrow stated that Witte's sons were not ready to talk to the media.

Joyce Tharp (1979 abduction and killing)

Krajcir faced burglary and kidnapping charges in Paducah, Kentucky, in connection with the 1979 abduction and killing of Joyce Tharp. Joyce Tharp was 29 years old. Authorities said she was abducted from her home in 1979 and killed in Southern Illinois before her body was brought back to Paducah.

A Kentucky prosecutor said he wouldn’t charge Krajcir in that killing because it appeared to have taken place in Illinois.

Investigation

DNA evidence was used to connect Krajcir to the Sheppard murder. It was described as leaving at the crime scene, which at the time was still considered new technology and not available.

After DNA proved a match that Krajcir killed Sheppard, Carbondale police continued to gather evidence. Cape Girardeau detective Tracy Lemonds compared profiles and details about a rape to the rape of Sheppard and described them as identical.

A DNA sample was obtained from the Wallace crime scene and preserved. A call from the crime lab in Jefferson City indicated a match; an analysis was described as a “cannot exclude match.”

Cape Girardeau detective Tracy Lemonds also received a call from a former evidence technician and reviewed a palm print lifted from Wallace’s home and compared it to a palm print taken from Krajcir.

Police said semen samples found at the scenes of the Call and Wallace murders were tested by the Missouri State Highway Patrol crime lab and failed to pinpoint a suspect because there was not enough usable genetic material to get a DNA profile.

Investigators described their profile work as including a police memorandum dated Aug. 30, 1977, that stated the killer had slain the mother and daughter in a revenge-type murder. The profile described an “obsessive compulsive personality and generally not deal well with other people,” and stated that parts matched Krajcir and parts did not.

Muhlenberg Township, Pa., police reopened Rupp's case several months earlier and resubmitted semen samples obtained from the victim's bedspread to a Pennsylvania State Police lab for testing. When the DNA evidence was entered into CODIS, the database of DNA from convicted felons, there was a “presumptive hit” linking the case to Krajcir.

During an interview at Big Muddy River Correctional Center in Ina, a fresh DNA sample from Krajcir was obtained by warrant for new testing because the state lab required a newer sample to obtain a definitive match.

Arrest and custody

Krajcir was arrested and charged with four counts of murder for the 1982 slaying of Deborah Sheppard. Jackson County State’s Attorney Michael Wepsiec filed a motion for an arrest warrant, and a judge granted that motion.

Krajcir was being held at the Tamms Correctional Facility / Tamms Correctional Center in Tamms, Illinois during the proceedings described. He remained at the supermax prison in Tamms, Ill., on a $1 million bond during the Witte case.

Court documents indicated no prior criminal history in Jackson County.

Krajcir was being charged with four counts of murder for his alleged involvement in Sheppard’s slaying and the court file listed multiple copies of the counts, including one stamped in “Defendant’s Copy,” in red ink.

Trial and guilty pleas

On December 10, 2007, Krajcir pleaded guilty to the 1982 rape and murder of Deborah Sheppard and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Hours later, law enforcement announced Krajcir had confessed to a string of murders that included Cape Girardeau women and other slayings in another jurisdiction.

On January 18, 2008, Krajcir pleaded guilty and was sentenced to another 40 years in prison for the 1978 killing of Virginia Lee Witte. The new sentence was served consecutively with the 40-year sentence received in December 2007.

On April 4, 2008, Krajcir pleaded guilty to the murder of five women in Cape Girardeau, to seven sexual assaults, and one robbery. It was stated that relatives of the victims agreed to the plea bargain, which took the death penalty off the table.

Krajcir stated at sentencing:

"I don't know if I could have been so generous if I were in the same situation. Thank you for sparing my life."

Prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle described the approach:

"The next best thing to a confession is a provable lie,"

Swingle also was quoted saying:

"They all agreed they'd rather find out the truth about what happened than seek the death penalty and have him take it to his grave,"

At one point, a statement was attributed to Smith:

"It brought tears to my eyes,"
and a statement was attributed to Kinnison describing the analysis: "cannot exclude match."

A quote was attributed to Echols:

"At that point, nothing linked Krajcir to anything in Missouri,"
and a separate quote: "It's all very complicated, how this fits together,"

Another quote was attributed to Echols about being onto something:

"That's when we knew we were onto something,"

A quote was attributed to Echols about building a profile:

"Based on the way Sheppard was murdered, Echols developed a profile of the way Krajcir killed,"

A quote was attributed to Brown:

"I cannot think of anything we failed to do,"
and Brown also said: "As I entered the pearly gates, I was going to ask St. Peter who did those killings,"

A quote attributed to a prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle on negotiating was:

"He said, 'I have nothing to live for, I'll be in prison for the rest of my life, but I don't have a death wish either,'"

A statement was attributed to Broeking:

"Odds are that he will die in prison anyway, regardless of what happens now,"

Sentencing

On January 18, 2008, he was sentenced to another 40 years in prison for the 1978 killing of Virginia Lee Witte. The sentence was to be served consecutively with the December 2007 40-year sentence, with the effect described as 80 years behind bars.

On April 4, 2008, he pleaded guilty to the murder of five women in Cape Girardeau, to seven sexual assaults, and one robbery, and was sentenced to an additional 13 consecutive life terms.

It was stated that Krajcir was not expected to face death in Illinois.

Appeals

No appeals were described.

Outcome

Krajcir was sentenced to 13 consecutive life terms in Missouri on April 5, 2008, as described. It was also stated that he received a 40-year sentence in Illinois for a 1982 murder on December 10, 2007 and that he pleaded guilty and received a 40-year sentence for the 1978 murder of Virginia Lee Witte on January 18, 2008. He remained held in Illinois at Tamms Correctional Facility / Tamms Correctional Center.

Aftermath

Authorities continued to review other unsolved crimes potentially linked to Krajcir. News of Krajcir’s confession prompted calls from victims of long-ago crimes seeking connections.

Police and prosecutors indicated that law enforcement agencies in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and other jurisdictions sought information about cold cases potentially linked to Krajcir.

Known and suspected victims named

Mary Parsh (with mother Brenda Parsh), Brenda Parsh, Sheila Cole, Margie Call, Mildred Wallace, Deborah Sheppard, Virginia Lee Witte, Myrtle Rupp, Joyce Tharp, Margie Call, and Mildred Wallace, along with other victims mentioned in connection with Pennsylvania and Missouri investigations.

Other details

Krajcir was described as having long history of crime and sexual deviance.

An attempted rape in Pennsylvania was described as thwarted when the victims called the police. A document described that Krajcir threatened the victims and masturbated in front of them. He was linked to previous crimes and was charged with theft, receiving stolen property, reckless endangerment, indecent exposure, criminal trespass, aggravated assault, indecent assault, making terroristic threats, and firearms violations.

Before he was sentenced after that set of charges, Krajcir was injured while trying to escape Lehigh County Prison. It was stated that he and another inmate tied bed sheets together to form a rope; the other convict escaped; Krajcir slipped, injured himself, and was caught. He was sentenced for up to five years with a specific directive that prison officials be advised that he needed continuous psychotherapy and psychiatric treatment.

Lt. Paul Echols stated:

"He's a likeable person. You're sitting there talking to him, and you know all the evil that he's done in his life, but it's just hard to believe,"

Prison guards described Krajcir as an exceptional athlete and easy to get along with. A group of psychologists at Saint Francis Mental Health Clinic assisted detectives in creating a personality profile for the type of person suspected of committing the Parsh homicide.

A survivor of a 1981 rape spoke during the Missouri sentencing hearing.

Don Call, whose mother was strangled in 1982, said:

He gets some comfort from knowing that his mother died "simply from being in the wrong place at the wrong time."