Paul Michael Stephani

Overview

Paul Michael Stephani was a prison inmate known as the "weepy-voiced killer" for tearful phone calls taunting police in the 1980s. He later confessed to committing three murders, two of them previously unsolved. In a taped confession given after contacting investigators while in prison, Stephani said he wanted to confess and apologize to the victims' families before he died from cancer.

Background

Stephani grew up in Austin, Minnesota, where his stepfather worked as a meatpacker.

He had melanoma and told investigators he had been told he had less than a year to live.

The offence

Stephani’s killings described in the case included the following victims:

Karen Potack was beaten savagely on the head with a tire iron after leaving a New Year’s Eve party; she survived.

Kimberly Compton, 18, was stabbed 61 times with an ice pick south of St. Paul on June 3, 1981.

Kathleen Greening, 33, was drowned in her bathtub in her home on July 21, 1982.

Barbara Simons, 40, was stabbed more than 100 times in Minneapolis.

Denise Williams was stabbed several times with a screwdriver after she accepted a ride from Stephani. Williams survived and later clobbered Stephani on the head with a soft drink bottle during the attack.

Stephani also confessed to attacking a 20-year-old woman who was found stabbed and badly beaten, but still alive, along railroad tracks in St. Paul after leaving a New Year's party on Jan. 1, 1981.

Investigation

The serial killer contacted police so often that investigators felt there was an excellent opportunity someone would recognize his voice on the phone calls. On several occasions media broadcast stations aired recordings of the phone calls from the Weepy-Voice Killer.

Police received over 150 calls from the public, but the recordings were so short and distorted with emotion that they failed to provide the identity of the murderer.

Several times Stephani’s phone calls were traced by emergency operators, once to a bar near a bus station depot and once to a downtown phone booth. When police arrived, he was gone.

During Stephani’s trial in the Simons murder case, Stephani’s ex-wife, sister, and a woman who lived with him testified that they believed the hysterical caller revealing the attacks was Stephani. Those observations were not enough to identify Stephani as the Weepy-Voice Killer since the hysterical crying distorted the voice.

Stephani’s confession in prison almost 20 years after the first slaying allowed police to officially link the slayings and the telephonic communiqués.

Arrest

Stephani was finally arrested when he called for medical help and authorities recognized his voice.

In the end, he was connected to the Williams attack through the chain of events that began on August 21, 1982, when a 21-year-old woman named Denise Williams was picked up by Stephani and stabbed several times with a screwdriver. During the attack, Williams clobbered Stephani on the head with a soft drink bottle. After he returned home to his apartment, he noticed he was bleeding badly and sought medical help, which linked him to the Williams attack. Routine investigative work then connected Stephani to the murder of Simons.

Trial

Stephani was convicted of killing Simons and assaulting Williams.

In the Simons murder case, the testimony included Stephani’s ex-wife, sister, and a woman who lived with him, each of whom testified that they believed the hysterical caller revealing the attacks was Stephani.

Sentencing

Stephani was convicted of stabbing Barbara Simons more than 100 times in Minneapolis in 1982, and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Stephani also received an additional sentence: he was sentenced to 18 years for stabbing Denise Williams of Minneapolis with a screwdriver in his car in 1982.

Appeals

No appeals or appeal outcomes were stated.

Outcome

Two of Stephani’s murders were previously unsolved before he contacted police from prison in 1997 and confessed to them.

He was convicted and sentenced for the Simons murder and the assault on Williams, and his later prison confession officially linked him to the additional killings and the telephonic communiqués.

Aftermath

Stephani contacted investigators in 1997 while in prison, and investigators recorded his taped confessions. He expressed a wish to confess and apologize to the victims' families before he died from cancer.

Timeline

• Jan. 1, 1981 — After leaving a New Year’s party, Stephani attacked a 20-year-old woman who was found stabbed and badly beaten but still alive along railroad tracks in St. Paul.
• June 3, 1981 — Kimberly Compton, 18, was stabbed 61 times with an ice pick south of St. Paul.
• July 21, 1982 — Kathleen Greening, 33, was drowned in her bathtub in her home.
• 1982 (specific date not given) — Barbara Simons, 40, was stabbed more than 100 times in Minneapolis; Stephani was convicted of that killing and sentenced to 40 years in prison in 1983.
• August 21, 1982 — Denise Williams, 21, was picked up by Stephani, stabbed several times with a screwdriver, clobbered on the head with a soft drink bottle, and the chain of events led Stephani to seek medical help and be linked by his voice.
• 1983 — Stephani was sentenced to 40 years in prison in one count.
• June 6, 1981 — Stephani called to say newspaper accounts of some of the murders were inaccurate.
• June 11, 1981 — In a whimpering, barely coherent voice, Stephani cried: "I’m sorry for what I did to Compton".
• December 20, 1997 — Stephani told investigators he wanted to confess and apologize to the victims' families before he died from cancer; he had melanoma and had been told he had less than a year to live.

Other details

Stephani’s descriptions and quotes from the phone calls included the following verbatim statements:

• After leaving a New Year’s party incident, Stephani telephoned police at 3 a.m. to report the attack and asked police to hurry to railroad tracks, then said:

  "There is a girl hurt there"

• After stabbing Compton on June 3, 1981, Stephani contacted police and said:

  "God damn, will you find me? I just stabbed somebody with an ice pick. I can’t stop myself. I keep killing somebody"

• Two days later, Stephani called police to say he was sorry for stabbing Compton and would turn himself in.

• On June 6, Stephani called to say newspaper accounts of some of the murders were inaccurate.

• On June 11, Stephani cried:

  "I’m sorry for what I did to Compton"

• Stephani’s call after Simons’s death included:

  "Please don’t talk. Listen. I’m sorry I killed that girl. I stabbed her 40 times. Kimberly Compton was the first one over in St. Paul"

Stephani’s prison-taped confessions included specific killings he said he committed:

• He said he killed Kathy Greening, 33, who was found drowned in her Lauderdale bathtub in 1982.
• He said he killed Kimberly Compton, 18, stabbed with an ice pick within hours of stepping off a bus in St. Paul in 1981.
• He confessed to attacking a 20-year-old woman found stabbed and badly beaten but still alive along railroad tracks in St. 1, 1981.
• He admitted killing Barbara Simons and was convicted for stabbing her more than 100 times in Minneapolis in 1982.

The case description listed three victims and stated the method as stabbing women age 18–33 in random attacks, with the date range given as 1981–82. It also stated that Stephani was convicted of stabbing Simons and assaulting Williams, and that his prison confessions allowed police to officially link the slayings and telephonic communiqués.