154.Roger Reece KIBBE
A.K.A.: "I-5 Killer"
Classification: Serial killer
Characteristics: Rape
Number of victims: 7 +
Date of murders: 1977 / 1986 - 1987
Date of birth: 1941
Victims profile: Lou Ellen Burleigh, 21 / Lora Heedrick, 20 / Barbara Ann Scott, 29 / Stephanie Brown, 19 / Charmaine Sabrah, 26 / Katherine Kelly Quinones, 25 / Darcie Frackenpohl, 17
Method of murder: Strangulation
Location: California, USA
Status: Sentenced to six consecutive life sentences on November 4, 2009
Roger Kibbe was a middle-aged, hen-pecked husband with a lengthy record, including two stints in prison for non-violent crimes. In 1985 he began a serial killing spree that earned him the nickname “I-5 strangler.”
Kibbe stalked the freeways south of Sacramento late at night looking for young women with car trouble. After offering to help, they were abducted, driven to remote locations and strangled with their own clothing. Kibbe was suspected in four slayings, but evidence was slim.
After two pieces of microscopic evidence linked Kibbe to one of the killings, he was subsequently tried and convicted of one count of first-degree murder and sentenced to prison for 25 years. He will be eligible for parole in two years, but it is doubtful that he will be released, considering he is reported to be a suspect in other unsolved killings.
Roger Kibbe
Known as the I-I5 Killer in California in the mid 1980's, Roger Kibbe was tried and convicted on 2 counts of murder rape in Eldorado County. I know because I had to appear for the prosecution as a professional witness. The industrious type, he is also suspected of five more murder-rapes in Sacramento. District attorney Robert Drossel believes Kibbe could have been responsible for up to 38 murders.
Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers
I-5 Strangler Gets 6 Life Terms In Prison
Kibbe Avoids Death Penalty
KCRA.com
November 5, 2009
STOCKTON, Calif. -- The so-called I-5 Strangler was sentenced Thursday to six consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty to six Northern California killings in an effort to avoid the death penalty.
Roger Reece Kibbe, 70, is not eligible for parole.
Kibbe is currently serving 25 years to life in San Quentin State Prison for the 1987 murder of 17-year-old Darcie Frackenpohl, whose body was found in El Dorado County.
Kibbe received his nickname for committing some of his crimes along Interstate 5.
His earlier indictment in connection with six slayings that took place from 1977 to 1986 made him eligible for the death penalty.
Kibbe was accused in the indictment of killing the following victims:
Lou Ellen Burleigh, Sept. 11, 1977
Lora Heedrick of Modesto, April 21, 1986
Barbara Ann Scott, July 3, 1986
Stephanie Brown of Sacramento, July 15, 1986
Charmaine Sabrah of Sacramento, Aug. 17, 1986
Katherine Kelly Quinones, Nov. 5, 1986
Kibbe heard from the families of his victims in court on Thursday, some of whom called him a "monster" and "inhuman."
"Today, we're done with Roger Kibbe. So that's the best we could get," said Jo Allyn Brown, the mother of victim Stephanie Brown. "He's not coming out."
Carmen Anselmi, the mother of victim Charmaine Sabrah, said she forgives Kibbe.
"If God can forgive, why can't I?" Anselmi said. "I still have that hurt."
Anselmi said "I felt like I was sending her to her death, but it was too late," after she saw her daughter accept a ride from Kibbe 24 years ago. Their car had broken down along I-5, and Sabrah became one of his victims.
Kibbe never looked at the families of his victims, but he did offer a statement through his attorney Thursday.
"He's wracked with humiliating fear of why he did it," Jan Karowski said.
Kibbe also confessed to one other rape, but no murders.
"There's two missing girls from Modesto who disappeared from the same location where he said he picked that girl up," detective Vito Bertocchini said. "And I have a strong feeling that he did not release that girl."
Justice is served: The confessions of Roger Reece Kibbe
NapaValleyRegister.com
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Justice is famously blind, and it is often slow, but it is nonetheless rewarding to see it done.
In the past few weeks, prosecutors and investigators from four Northern California counties finally closed the book on six murders, two of which took place in Napa County. All six were committed by Roger Reece Kibbe, the so-called I-5 Strangler who was already in prison for murder when investigators evoked confessions of his additional crimes.
Kibbe admitted to the murders late last month, five in 1986 and one in 1977, and acknowledged raping his victims in five of those cases.
The two women who died in Napa County were Lou Ellen Burleigh of Walnut Creek, 21 at the time of her death in 1977, and Katherine Quinones of Sacramento, who was 25 when she died in 1986.
Given the enormity of Kibbe’s crimes, it is hard to draw meaningful lessons from this new twist, other than that jailers should throw away the key after returning Kibbe, 70, to his prison cell.
But there are a few. We should remember that many people, young women especially, remain vulnerable to those who would seek to harm them. It is important for young women to take precautions such as traveling with a companion or letting others know their whereabouts when meeting strangers or going to unfamiliar places.
We should also remember that the details of what we see and hear often matter a great deal in solving difficult cases. Kibbe was a sky diver who used the netting from his diving equipment to strangle a West Sacramento teen in the case that resulted in his first conviction, in 1991.
Over time, investigators from different counties noted the same material was used in some of Kibbe’s other crimes, most of which involved victims he met randomly and others he schemed to meet in isolated places.
It took more than 20 years to close most of these cases, and 32 to evoke a confession in the case of Burleigh, whose remains apparently are still where Kibbe left them, somewhere near Lake Berryessa.
Mike Frey, an investigator with the Napa County district attorney’s office, worked on these cases for several years, as did law enforcement officers from San Joaquin, Amador and Contra Costa counties. After Kibbe’s plea, he said, “On one hand, I’m happy for the families (of the victims), but I’ll always regret not being able to find Lou Ellen Burleigh’s remains. I’m hoping someday someone will stumble across something … I think her family deserves that."
I-5 Strangler Pleaded Guilty to 6 Killings
Allvoices.com
September 29, 2009
STOCKTON, Calif. -- The so-called I-5 Strangler has pleaded guilty to six Northern California killings as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty. Roger Reece Kibbe, 70, is set to be sentenced on Nov. 5. He faces six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The sentence hinges on whether or not Kibbe cooperates with investigators by providing key details about the slayings. "We don't know if he committed the other murders. If he says he did, then it'll be a good opportunity to solve some old crimes," deputy district attorney Kevin Mayo said.
Kibbe is currently serving 25 years to life in San Quentin State Prison for the 1987 murder of 17-year-old Darcie Frackenpohl, whose body was found in El Dorado County. Kibbe received his nickname for committing some of his crimes along Interstate 5. His earlier indictment in connection with six slayings that took place from 1977 to 1986 made him eligible for the death penalty. Kibbe was accused in the indictment of killing the following victims:
Lou Ellen Burleigh, Sept. 11, 1977
Lora Heedrick of Modesto, April 21, 1986
Barbara Ann Scott, July 3, 1986
Stephanie Brown of Sacramento, July 15, 1986
Charmaine Sabrah of Sacramento, Aug. 17, 1986
Katherine Kelly Quinones, Nov. 5, 1986
Gag order issued in case of alleged 'I-5 Strangler'
By Layla Bohm - News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Suspected "I-5 Strangler" Roger Reece Kibbe made his second court appearance Monday, where he saw the judge who will preside over his trial on allegations of killing six women.
San Joaquin County Superior Court judge Bernard J. Garber then promptly issued a gag order that he'd prepared as soon as he learned the case would land on his bench.
Kibbe, 68, said nothing as interim Public Defender Pete Fox asked Garber for more time than usual, "in view of the extremely voluminous nature of this case."
Garber scheduled a March 17 hearing on whether to seal a stack of transcripts from grand jury proceedings.
A grand jury indicted Kibbe on six counts of rape and murder in deaths ranging from 1977 to 1986. Approximately 80 witnesses testified before the grand jury, which convened in the last week of January and issued the indictment Feb. 25.
Kibbe did not enter a plea Monday to six counts of murder, which could make him eligible for the death penalty.
He is charged with killing Lou Ellen Burleigh, 21, of Walnut Creek, in 1977, and five other deaths in 1986: Lora Heedick, 20, of Modesto; Barbara Ann Scott; Stephanie Brown, 19, of Sacramento; Charmaine Sabrah, 26, of Sacramento; and Katherine Kelly Quinones, 25, of Sacramento.
According to a true-crime book about the case, as well as media accounts of Kibbe's 1991 trial on one murder charge, the I-5 Strangler targeted women along Interstate 5. Either they broke down and he stopped to help, or he faked car troubles of his own.
The bodies were then found dumped in rural areas, including Highway 12 west of Interstate 5, where Brown's body was discovered.
The cases were investigated by a task force of San Joaquin and Sacramento county investigators, though bodies were found in other counties.
Kibbe is serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the 1987 death of 17-year-old Darcie Frackenpoehl, who disappeared from Sacramento and whose body was found in El Dorado County.
Why the case is being prosecuted in San Joaquin County is not clear, and Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau said that was a matter of grand jury testimony, which is still under seal. He made the statement before Garber issued the gag order.
Garber has previously issued gag orders in high-profile cases. Among them is the murder trial of Sarah Dutra, a college student accused of helping give her boss, Larry McNabney, a lethal dose of horse tranquilizer and putting his body in a refrigerator inside his Woodbridge garage.
The gag order means that witnesses, along with attorneys in the case, are now barred from talking to the press. Such gag orders typically last through the end of a trial.
Prisoner accused of killing six women as 'I-5 Strangler'
Mar 8, 2008
STOCKTON, Calif. - A state prisoner suspected of being the "I-5 Strangler" could face the death penalty if he's convicted of six murders committed more than two decades ago along Interstate 5 in California's Central Valley.
Roger Reese Kibbe, 68, was arraigned in San Joaquin County Friday on charges he murdered five women in 1986 and a sixth woman in 1977.
He is currently serving a life term at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga for strangling a 17-year-old West Sacramento prostitute and leaving her naked body in the mountains south of Lake Tahoe in 1987.
Investigators have long said they suspected Kibbe in the other slayings.
El Dorado County prosecutors presented some of that evidence at his 1991 trial for Darcie Frackenpohl's murder. The runaway from Seattle was killed after she disappeared from a West Sacramento street frequented by prostitutes.
At the time, the state Department of Justice said fibers from nylon rope used by skydivers was among the microscopic evidence linking Kibbe to three of the other slayings. Witnesses alleged Kibbe, who was a skydiver, had a murder kit including handcuffs and scissors.
But prosecutors previously said the multiple jurisdictions where the crimes occurred and complications in state law made it difficult to press other charges. California law has since been changed to let one county prosecute crimes from several jurisdictions.
Only one of the victims' bodies was dumped in San Joaquin County, but investigators from Sacramento, Napa, Contra Costa and Amador counties all testified before the San Joaquin grand jury that indicted Kibbe Feb. 25.
He faces six counts of murder with special circumstances including rape, kidnapping and multiple murders that make him eligible for the death penalty.
Kibbe, a furniture maker whose brother was a police detective, has been portrayed on television crime shows and was the subject of a 1999 book by Bruce Henderson entitled "Trace Evidence: The Search for the I-5 Strangler."
Prosecutors released few details on the victims and would not comment.
According to the indictment and media accounts, Kibbe is charged with the murder of Lou Ellen Burleigh of Walnut Creek in 1977 and five other slayings in 1986:
- Stephanie Brown, 19, of Sacramento, was sexually assaulted, strangled, and her body dumped in a ditch. A crumpled map was found near her car parked along I-5.
- Charmaine Sabrah, 26, a mother of three from Sacramento, disappeared after her car broke down along I-5 and she drove off with a strange man who offered to help. Her strangled body was found three months later.
- Heedrick, 21, of Modesto, was last seen getting into a car. Her body was found along I-5 five months later.
- The other two victims are Katherine Kelly Quinones, 25 and Barbara Ann Scott, 29.
Kibbe, who has receding short white hair, is being held without bail for a court appearance Monday. He spoke briefly and barely audibly during Friday's arraignment, saying only that he wants an attorney appointed to represent him.
The Associated Press
Roger Reece Kibbe Is the I-5 Strangler
March 08th, 2008
Stockton, CA - Sometimes Lady Justice takes her time, but when she finally arrives, it’s always an entrance worth writing about. On Friday, a grand jury indicted Roger Reece Kibbe, 68, for the murders of Lou Ellen Burleigh, Lora Heedick, Barbara Ann Scott, Stephanie Brown, Charmaine Sabrah, and Katherine Kelly Quinones. Burleigh was killed in 1977, the other women were all dumped near Interstate 5 in California in 1986. Kibbe was already serving a prison term for the 1987 murder of Darcie Frankenpohl, a 17-year-old runaway from Seattle.
Kibbe had long been suspected of the other murders, but due to California law about county jurisdiction, it was impossible to try Kibbe for all the murders in all the counties. After the laws were changed, the cases were reopened, and a grand jury spent February hearing evidence in the serial murders. The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting all of the murders as one case, but is working with district attorneys in other counties where the victims were killed.
Kibbe liked to abduct girls and women, rape them, assault them, do bad things to them, and then strangle them with their own clothes. He’d leave most of the bodies thrown out like trash along I-5, hence the catchy nickname. His victims are named in the indictment: Lou Ellen Burleigh was killed around September 15, 1977. Lora Heedick was killed on or around April 21, 1986. Next murdered was Barbara Ann Scott on July 3, 1986. Stephanie Brown was murdered on or about July 15, 1986. Charmaine Sabrah died at Kibbe’s hand around August 17, 1986, and Katherine Kelly Quinones was killed around about November 5, 1986.
The murder that got Kibbe put away was Darcie Frackenpohl. He was convicted in March 1991 for Darcie’s murder. The pretty blonde teenager was a prostitute in West Sacramento whose body was found dumped near Echo Summit, CA, in 1987. Kibbe got 25 years to life, and was coming up for parole when the other cases were reopened.
Thing is, it was well known that Kibbe was probably the guy behind these murders. He didn’t keep his mouth shut very well, and there were even books written in the 1990s naming him as the prime suspect. But the law can be complacent and have a short memory. With Kibbe behind bars for Darcie Frankenpohl’s murder, nobody outside the victims’ families were too worried about him - until they realized that Kibbe could very soon be up for parole.
If Kibbe is convicted of the murder charges with special circumstances, he would be eligible for the death penalty. The special circumstances are prior conviction for murder, the alleged commission of multiple murders, and murder accompanies by rape, kidnapping, and oral copulation.
Dreamindemon.com
I-5 Strangler tied to two more Sacramento slayings
By Bill Lindelof - The Sacramento Bee
Friday, March 7, 2008
Roger Reece Kibbe, dubbed by authorities as the I-5 Strangler, was arraigned Friday on six counts of murder in San Joaquin County, including two Sacramento victims.
Kibbe was convicted in 1991 of strangling a 17-year-old West Sacramento prostitute and leaving her nude body at Echo Summit. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the 1987 slaying.
In the new San Joaquin County indictment, he is accused of the murder of Lou Ellen Burleigh in 1977 and the deaths of Barbara Ann Scott, Stephanie Brown, Charmaine Sabrah, Katherine Kelly Quinones and Lora Heedrick -- all in 1986.
At the time of his 1991 conviction, authorities listed the deaths of Heedrick, Brown and Sabrah as-yet-unresolved I-5 Strangler slayings.
Sabrah, 26, of Sacramento was returning to Sacramento on Aug. 17, 1986, when her car broke down at Peltier Road and I-5. Leaving her mother with the automobile, Sabrah drove off in a two-seat sports car with a man who offered to help. The strangled body of the mother of three was found Nov. 9, 1986, near Highway 124 in Amador County.
Sacramento resident Brown, 19, was found the morning of June 15, 1986, in a ditch beside Highway 12 near Terminus Island. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted. A crumpled map was found alongside her car near Hood-Franklin Road and I-5.
Heedrick, 21, of Modesto was last seen April 20, 1986, in her hometown, when she got into a car headed toward Highway 99. Her body was found Sept. 6, 1986, near Highway 12 and Interstate 5.
Kibbe was indicted by a San Joaquin County grand jury. Because of that, the District Attorney's Office is constrained by law and is not able to discuss the details of the case or the evidence underlying the case, according to a press release.
As grand jury secrecy rules permit, the District Attorney's Office plans to hold a press conference. It is anticipated that the DA, law enforcement, and victims' family members will be present to answer questions, according to the release.
Kibbe was convicted in 1991 of first-degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Darcie Frackenpohl, a runaway from Seattle, whose body was found near Echo Summit three weeks after she disappeared from a West Sacramento "stroll" area frequented by prostitutes.
During the Frackenpohl trial, the judge allowed the prosecution to present an extraordinary amount of forensic evidence linking Kibbe to the strangulation slayings of other young women, most of whose bodies were found along Interstate 5.
Kibbe still faced the possibility of murder charges in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties after the Frackenpohl conviction.
Fibers and other microscopic evidence developed by state Department of Justice criminalist Faye Springer linked Kibbe to the deaths of Heedrick and the two Sacramento women, Brown and Sabrah.
At the time of the sentencing, San Joaquin County, Deputy District Attorney Eual Blansett said he hoped to one day file murder charges against Kibbe.
Classification: Serial killer
Characteristics: Rape
Number of victims: 7 +
Date of murders: 1977 / 1986 - 1987
Date of birth: 1941
Victims profile: Lou Ellen Burleigh, 21 / Lora Heedrick, 20 / Barbara Ann Scott, 29 / Stephanie Brown, 19 / Charmaine Sabrah, 26 / Katherine Kelly Quinones, 25 / Darcie Frackenpohl, 17
Method of murder: Strangulation
Location: California, USA
Status: Sentenced to six consecutive life sentences on November 4, 2009
Roger Kibbe was a middle-aged, hen-pecked husband with a lengthy record, including two stints in prison for non-violent crimes. In 1985 he began a serial killing spree that earned him the nickname “I-5 strangler.”
Kibbe stalked the freeways south of Sacramento late at night looking for young women with car trouble. After offering to help, they were abducted, driven to remote locations and strangled with their own clothing. Kibbe was suspected in four slayings, but evidence was slim.
After two pieces of microscopic evidence linked Kibbe to one of the killings, he was subsequently tried and convicted of one count of first-degree murder and sentenced to prison for 25 years. He will be eligible for parole in two years, but it is doubtful that he will be released, considering he is reported to be a suspect in other unsolved killings.
Roger Kibbe
Known as the I-I5 Killer in California in the mid 1980's, Roger Kibbe was tried and convicted on 2 counts of murder rape in Eldorado County. I know because I had to appear for the prosecution as a professional witness. The industrious type, he is also suspected of five more murder-rapes in Sacramento. District attorney Robert Drossel believes Kibbe could have been responsible for up to 38 murders.
Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers
I-5 Strangler Gets 6 Life Terms In Prison
Kibbe Avoids Death Penalty
KCRA.com
November 5, 2009
STOCKTON, Calif. -- The so-called I-5 Strangler was sentenced Thursday to six consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty to six Northern California killings in an effort to avoid the death penalty.
Roger Reece Kibbe, 70, is not eligible for parole.
Kibbe is currently serving 25 years to life in San Quentin State Prison for the 1987 murder of 17-year-old Darcie Frackenpohl, whose body was found in El Dorado County.
Kibbe received his nickname for committing some of his crimes along Interstate 5.
His earlier indictment in connection with six slayings that took place from 1977 to 1986 made him eligible for the death penalty.
Kibbe was accused in the indictment of killing the following victims:
Lou Ellen Burleigh, Sept. 11, 1977
Lora Heedrick of Modesto, April 21, 1986
Barbara Ann Scott, July 3, 1986
Stephanie Brown of Sacramento, July 15, 1986
Charmaine Sabrah of Sacramento, Aug. 17, 1986
Katherine Kelly Quinones, Nov. 5, 1986
Kibbe heard from the families of his victims in court on Thursday, some of whom called him a "monster" and "inhuman."
"Today, we're done with Roger Kibbe. So that's the best we could get," said Jo Allyn Brown, the mother of victim Stephanie Brown. "He's not coming out."
Carmen Anselmi, the mother of victim Charmaine Sabrah, said she forgives Kibbe.
"If God can forgive, why can't I?" Anselmi said. "I still have that hurt."
Anselmi said "I felt like I was sending her to her death, but it was too late," after she saw her daughter accept a ride from Kibbe 24 years ago. Their car had broken down along I-5, and Sabrah became one of his victims.
Kibbe never looked at the families of his victims, but he did offer a statement through his attorney Thursday.
"He's wracked with humiliating fear of why he did it," Jan Karowski said.
Kibbe also confessed to one other rape, but no murders.
"There's two missing girls from Modesto who disappeared from the same location where he said he picked that girl up," detective Vito Bertocchini said. "And I have a strong feeling that he did not release that girl."
Justice is served: The confessions of Roger Reece Kibbe
NapaValleyRegister.com
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Justice is famously blind, and it is often slow, but it is nonetheless rewarding to see it done.
In the past few weeks, prosecutors and investigators from four Northern California counties finally closed the book on six murders, two of which took place in Napa County. All six were committed by Roger Reece Kibbe, the so-called I-5 Strangler who was already in prison for murder when investigators evoked confessions of his additional crimes.
Kibbe admitted to the murders late last month, five in 1986 and one in 1977, and acknowledged raping his victims in five of those cases.
The two women who died in Napa County were Lou Ellen Burleigh of Walnut Creek, 21 at the time of her death in 1977, and Katherine Quinones of Sacramento, who was 25 when she died in 1986.
Given the enormity of Kibbe’s crimes, it is hard to draw meaningful lessons from this new twist, other than that jailers should throw away the key after returning Kibbe, 70, to his prison cell.
But there are a few. We should remember that many people, young women especially, remain vulnerable to those who would seek to harm them. It is important for young women to take precautions such as traveling with a companion or letting others know their whereabouts when meeting strangers or going to unfamiliar places.
We should also remember that the details of what we see and hear often matter a great deal in solving difficult cases. Kibbe was a sky diver who used the netting from his diving equipment to strangle a West Sacramento teen in the case that resulted in his first conviction, in 1991.
Over time, investigators from different counties noted the same material was used in some of Kibbe’s other crimes, most of which involved victims he met randomly and others he schemed to meet in isolated places.
It took more than 20 years to close most of these cases, and 32 to evoke a confession in the case of Burleigh, whose remains apparently are still where Kibbe left them, somewhere near Lake Berryessa.
Mike Frey, an investigator with the Napa County district attorney’s office, worked on these cases for several years, as did law enforcement officers from San Joaquin, Amador and Contra Costa counties. After Kibbe’s plea, he said, “On one hand, I’m happy for the families (of the victims), but I’ll always regret not being able to find Lou Ellen Burleigh’s remains. I’m hoping someday someone will stumble across something … I think her family deserves that."
I-5 Strangler Pleaded Guilty to 6 Killings
Allvoices.com
September 29, 2009
STOCKTON, Calif. -- The so-called I-5 Strangler has pleaded guilty to six Northern California killings as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty. Roger Reece Kibbe, 70, is set to be sentenced on Nov. 5. He faces six consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The sentence hinges on whether or not Kibbe cooperates with investigators by providing key details about the slayings. "We don't know if he committed the other murders. If he says he did, then it'll be a good opportunity to solve some old crimes," deputy district attorney Kevin Mayo said.
Kibbe is currently serving 25 years to life in San Quentin State Prison for the 1987 murder of 17-year-old Darcie Frackenpohl, whose body was found in El Dorado County. Kibbe received his nickname for committing some of his crimes along Interstate 5. His earlier indictment in connection with six slayings that took place from 1977 to 1986 made him eligible for the death penalty. Kibbe was accused in the indictment of killing the following victims:
Lou Ellen Burleigh, Sept. 11, 1977
Lora Heedrick of Modesto, April 21, 1986
Barbara Ann Scott, July 3, 1986
Stephanie Brown of Sacramento, July 15, 1986
Charmaine Sabrah of Sacramento, Aug. 17, 1986
Katherine Kelly Quinones, Nov. 5, 1986
Gag order issued in case of alleged 'I-5 Strangler'
By Layla Bohm - News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Suspected "I-5 Strangler" Roger Reece Kibbe made his second court appearance Monday, where he saw the judge who will preside over his trial on allegations of killing six women.
San Joaquin County Superior Court judge Bernard J. Garber then promptly issued a gag order that he'd prepared as soon as he learned the case would land on his bench.
Kibbe, 68, said nothing as interim Public Defender Pete Fox asked Garber for more time than usual, "in view of the extremely voluminous nature of this case."
Garber scheduled a March 17 hearing on whether to seal a stack of transcripts from grand jury proceedings.
A grand jury indicted Kibbe on six counts of rape and murder in deaths ranging from 1977 to 1986. Approximately 80 witnesses testified before the grand jury, which convened in the last week of January and issued the indictment Feb. 25.
Kibbe did not enter a plea Monday to six counts of murder, which could make him eligible for the death penalty.
He is charged with killing Lou Ellen Burleigh, 21, of Walnut Creek, in 1977, and five other deaths in 1986: Lora Heedick, 20, of Modesto; Barbara Ann Scott; Stephanie Brown, 19, of Sacramento; Charmaine Sabrah, 26, of Sacramento; and Katherine Kelly Quinones, 25, of Sacramento.
According to a true-crime book about the case, as well as media accounts of Kibbe's 1991 trial on one murder charge, the I-5 Strangler targeted women along Interstate 5. Either they broke down and he stopped to help, or he faked car troubles of his own.
The bodies were then found dumped in rural areas, including Highway 12 west of Interstate 5, where Brown's body was discovered.
The cases were investigated by a task force of San Joaquin and Sacramento county investigators, though bodies were found in other counties.
Kibbe is serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the 1987 death of 17-year-old Darcie Frackenpoehl, who disappeared from Sacramento and whose body was found in El Dorado County.
Why the case is being prosecuted in San Joaquin County is not clear, and Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau said that was a matter of grand jury testimony, which is still under seal. He made the statement before Garber issued the gag order.
Garber has previously issued gag orders in high-profile cases. Among them is the murder trial of Sarah Dutra, a college student accused of helping give her boss, Larry McNabney, a lethal dose of horse tranquilizer and putting his body in a refrigerator inside his Woodbridge garage.
The gag order means that witnesses, along with attorneys in the case, are now barred from talking to the press. Such gag orders typically last through the end of a trial.
Prisoner accused of killing six women as 'I-5 Strangler'
Mar 8, 2008
STOCKTON, Calif. - A state prisoner suspected of being the "I-5 Strangler" could face the death penalty if he's convicted of six murders committed more than two decades ago along Interstate 5 in California's Central Valley.
Roger Reese Kibbe, 68, was arraigned in San Joaquin County Friday on charges he murdered five women in 1986 and a sixth woman in 1977.
He is currently serving a life term at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga for strangling a 17-year-old West Sacramento prostitute and leaving her naked body in the mountains south of Lake Tahoe in 1987.
Investigators have long said they suspected Kibbe in the other slayings.
El Dorado County prosecutors presented some of that evidence at his 1991 trial for Darcie Frackenpohl's murder. The runaway from Seattle was killed after she disappeared from a West Sacramento street frequented by prostitutes.
At the time, the state Department of Justice said fibers from nylon rope used by skydivers was among the microscopic evidence linking Kibbe to three of the other slayings. Witnesses alleged Kibbe, who was a skydiver, had a murder kit including handcuffs and scissors.
But prosecutors previously said the multiple jurisdictions where the crimes occurred and complications in state law made it difficult to press other charges. California law has since been changed to let one county prosecute crimes from several jurisdictions.
Only one of the victims' bodies was dumped in San Joaquin County, but investigators from Sacramento, Napa, Contra Costa and Amador counties all testified before the San Joaquin grand jury that indicted Kibbe Feb. 25.
He faces six counts of murder with special circumstances including rape, kidnapping and multiple murders that make him eligible for the death penalty.
Kibbe, a furniture maker whose brother was a police detective, has been portrayed on television crime shows and was the subject of a 1999 book by Bruce Henderson entitled "Trace Evidence: The Search for the I-5 Strangler."
Prosecutors released few details on the victims and would not comment.
According to the indictment and media accounts, Kibbe is charged with the murder of Lou Ellen Burleigh of Walnut Creek in 1977 and five other slayings in 1986:
- Stephanie Brown, 19, of Sacramento, was sexually assaulted, strangled, and her body dumped in a ditch. A crumpled map was found near her car parked along I-5.
- Charmaine Sabrah, 26, a mother of three from Sacramento, disappeared after her car broke down along I-5 and she drove off with a strange man who offered to help. Her strangled body was found three months later.
- Heedrick, 21, of Modesto, was last seen getting into a car. Her body was found along I-5 five months later.
- The other two victims are Katherine Kelly Quinones, 25 and Barbara Ann Scott, 29.
Kibbe, who has receding short white hair, is being held without bail for a court appearance Monday. He spoke briefly and barely audibly during Friday's arraignment, saying only that he wants an attorney appointed to represent him.
The Associated Press
Roger Reece Kibbe Is the I-5 Strangler
March 08th, 2008
Stockton, CA - Sometimes Lady Justice takes her time, but when she finally arrives, it’s always an entrance worth writing about. On Friday, a grand jury indicted Roger Reece Kibbe, 68, for the murders of Lou Ellen Burleigh, Lora Heedick, Barbara Ann Scott, Stephanie Brown, Charmaine Sabrah, and Katherine Kelly Quinones. Burleigh was killed in 1977, the other women were all dumped near Interstate 5 in California in 1986. Kibbe was already serving a prison term for the 1987 murder of Darcie Frankenpohl, a 17-year-old runaway from Seattle.
Kibbe had long been suspected of the other murders, but due to California law about county jurisdiction, it was impossible to try Kibbe for all the murders in all the counties. After the laws were changed, the cases were reopened, and a grand jury spent February hearing evidence in the serial murders. The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting all of the murders as one case, but is working with district attorneys in other counties where the victims were killed.
Kibbe liked to abduct girls and women, rape them, assault them, do bad things to them, and then strangle them with their own clothes. He’d leave most of the bodies thrown out like trash along I-5, hence the catchy nickname. His victims are named in the indictment: Lou Ellen Burleigh was killed around September 15, 1977. Lora Heedick was killed on or around April 21, 1986. Next murdered was Barbara Ann Scott on July 3, 1986. Stephanie Brown was murdered on or about July 15, 1986. Charmaine Sabrah died at Kibbe’s hand around August 17, 1986, and Katherine Kelly Quinones was killed around about November 5, 1986.
The murder that got Kibbe put away was Darcie Frackenpohl. He was convicted in March 1991 for Darcie’s murder. The pretty blonde teenager was a prostitute in West Sacramento whose body was found dumped near Echo Summit, CA, in 1987. Kibbe got 25 years to life, and was coming up for parole when the other cases were reopened.
Thing is, it was well known that Kibbe was probably the guy behind these murders. He didn’t keep his mouth shut very well, and there were even books written in the 1990s naming him as the prime suspect. But the law can be complacent and have a short memory. With Kibbe behind bars for Darcie Frankenpohl’s murder, nobody outside the victims’ families were too worried about him - until they realized that Kibbe could very soon be up for parole.
If Kibbe is convicted of the murder charges with special circumstances, he would be eligible for the death penalty. The special circumstances are prior conviction for murder, the alleged commission of multiple murders, and murder accompanies by rape, kidnapping, and oral copulation.
Dreamindemon.com
I-5 Strangler tied to two more Sacramento slayings
By Bill Lindelof - The Sacramento Bee
Friday, March 7, 2008
Roger Reece Kibbe, dubbed by authorities as the I-5 Strangler, was arraigned Friday on six counts of murder in San Joaquin County, including two Sacramento victims.
Kibbe was convicted in 1991 of strangling a 17-year-old West Sacramento prostitute and leaving her nude body at Echo Summit. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the 1987 slaying.
In the new San Joaquin County indictment, he is accused of the murder of Lou Ellen Burleigh in 1977 and the deaths of Barbara Ann Scott, Stephanie Brown, Charmaine Sabrah, Katherine Kelly Quinones and Lora Heedrick -- all in 1986.
At the time of his 1991 conviction, authorities listed the deaths of Heedrick, Brown and Sabrah as-yet-unresolved I-5 Strangler slayings.
Sabrah, 26, of Sacramento was returning to Sacramento on Aug. 17, 1986, when her car broke down at Peltier Road and I-5. Leaving her mother with the automobile, Sabrah drove off in a two-seat sports car with a man who offered to help. The strangled body of the mother of three was found Nov. 9, 1986, near Highway 124 in Amador County.
Sacramento resident Brown, 19, was found the morning of June 15, 1986, in a ditch beside Highway 12 near Terminus Island. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted. A crumpled map was found alongside her car near Hood-Franklin Road and I-5.
Heedrick, 21, of Modesto was last seen April 20, 1986, in her hometown, when she got into a car headed toward Highway 99. Her body was found Sept. 6, 1986, near Highway 12 and Interstate 5.
Kibbe was indicted by a San Joaquin County grand jury. Because of that, the District Attorney's Office is constrained by law and is not able to discuss the details of the case or the evidence underlying the case, according to a press release.
As grand jury secrecy rules permit, the District Attorney's Office plans to hold a press conference. It is anticipated that the DA, law enforcement, and victims' family members will be present to answer questions, according to the release.
Kibbe was convicted in 1991 of first-degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Darcie Frackenpohl, a runaway from Seattle, whose body was found near Echo Summit three weeks after she disappeared from a West Sacramento "stroll" area frequented by prostitutes.
During the Frackenpohl trial, the judge allowed the prosecution to present an extraordinary amount of forensic evidence linking Kibbe to the strangulation slayings of other young women, most of whose bodies were found along Interstate 5.
Kibbe still faced the possibility of murder charges in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties after the Frackenpohl conviction.
Fibers and other microscopic evidence developed by state Department of Justice criminalist Faye Springer linked Kibbe to the deaths of Heedrick and the two Sacramento women, Brown and Sabrah.
At the time of the sentencing, San Joaquin County, Deputy District Attorney Eual Blansett said he hoped to one day file murder charges against Kibbe.
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