Robert Hayes (serial killer)

Last updated
Robert Hayes
RobertTyroneHayes.jpg
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office mug shot
Born
Robert Tyrone Hayes

(1982-03-12) March 12, 1982 (age 42)
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Other namesThe Daytona Beach Killer
Height6 ft 4 in (193 cm) [1]
Criminal penalty Life imprisonment
Details
Victims3 confirmed; 4–7+ suspected
Span of crimes
December 2005 –February 2006 (possibly until March 2016)
CountryUnited States
State(s) Florida
Date apprehended
September 15, 2019

Robert Tyrone Hayes (born March 12, 1982) is an American serial killer who has been convicted of three murders in the Daytona Beach, Florida, area between December 2005 and February 2006. [2] DNA tests have also linked him to a fourth murder committed in March 2016. In addition, he remains the prime suspect in the murder of another woman in December 2007.

Contents

The first three murders that were committed in Daytona Beach, Florida, garnered high media attention, and before Hayes' identification, the perpetrator was nicknamed The Daytona Beach Killer. [3] [4] [5] Investigators were not able to close in on a suspect in time. In December 2007, the murder of a woman in the same area caused a re-investigation to be brought forward, but again, Hayes remained elusive. [6] In December 2016, DNA tests on a woman found murdered in Palm Beach County in March 2016 matched DNA found on the original three murdered women. [7] [8]

On September 15, 2019, authorities charged Hayes with one count of first-degree murder based upon DNA tests. [9] On September 16, he was charged on three additional counts of first-degree murder. [10] [11] [12] Additional testing after his arrest confirmed the link. [12] Investigators had identified Hayes after identifying his family members through genetic genealogy, a tactic that has been used to solve numerous cold cases, most famously the Golden State Killer. [13] In February 2022, Hayes was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder and the following month was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. [2] [14]

Early life

Robert Tyrone Hayes was born on March 12, 1982, in West Palm Beach, Florida, the youngest of four children. [15] Growing up, Hayes' was raised primarily by his mother, as his father had been murdered shortly after his birth, and according to later reports Hayes received an uncertain amount of abuse as a child. [16] When he was young, presumably a teenager, he was molested by a family member of a similar age. He was described as chubby in his adolescence, resulting in Hayes often being bullied. [15]

Personality and education

Nicknamed "Squeaky" by friends and family, Hayes was described as someone who was always there for people, friendly with neighbors, outspoken, and recited poetry in Miami. [15] He was known by friends to have an active sex life, attending sex parties, suspected of inviting prostitutes over, and at point he invited a family member to a sex party. [15] He was also described as someone with a good sense of humor and a fun, positive attitude. [17] Hayes had a girlfriend in the 2000s, whom he had a child with.

Between 2000 and 2006, Hayes attended Bethune–Cookman College, now Bethune–Cookman University, studying criminal justice. [10] [1] He graduated with a degree in criminal justice. [18] He was known to be helpful to friends and acquaintances. Friends also explained Hayes had an interest in cooking, and attempted to start his own cooking business in Charlotte, North Carolina. [17]

Victims

Daytona Beach

2005–06 murders

The first known victim was 45-year-old Laquetta Mae Gunther, who was found in an alley on December 26, 2005. [19] She had been shot in the back of the head. DNA was recovered from the scene. [3] Laquetta had gone missing two days prior on Christmas Eve, when she was making dinner plans with her friend Stacey Dittmer. [6] When the time came, Laquetta never showed up. She was known to have worked as a prostitute. [6] The second victim was 34-year-old Julie Green, found January 14, 2006. She was also known to have worked as a prostitute. [4] She had also been shot in the back of the head. No DNA was recovered, but tire tracks were found. The tires were for a 2003 Taurus or Sable and in fact the exact tires were later found. [3]

Just over a month later, on February 24, 2006, police found the body of Iwana Patton, 35, on a dirt road. She had been shot, but not in the back of the head, and possibly had struggled with her killer. DNA was recovered, along with a shell casing that allowed police to identify the make and model of pistol used (.40-caliber Smith & Wesson Sigma Series VE). [3] Ballistics from recovered bullets and recovered DNA matched. [4] [5]

Authorities received an anonymous telephone call describing the location of Patton's body, but the caller was eventually identified and questioned, and is not a suspect in the killings. All three women are believed to have worked as sex workers in the Daytona Beach area. [4] Police believe the victims voluntarily accompanied their killer, possibly in a vehicle, and were subsequently murdered and dumped in the same area of Daytona Beach. The killer did not attempt to conceal the bodies.

A criminal profile was made of the killer. Investigators theorized that the killer was likely a white male with a female companion in his life whom they resented. [20] It was believed the victims were the result of the killer letting out their frustration on them. The public had their own theories, believing the killer was involved in a certain line of work that was allowing them to not become suspected; some believed the killer was a truck driver, while others thought he was of military background or possibly a police officer. [20]

Numerous suspects were interviewed, including Hayes, because he had bought a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson weeks before the first murder. However, he was not thought to have been involved, and some believe the profile, which mentioned the killer to be white, might have been the reason he was not investigated further. [20]

Murder of Stacey Gage

The remains of Stacey Charlene Gage, 30, were found on January 2, 2008. She had been shot in the head. [3] Police believe she was killed December 11, 2007, when she left her house which she shared with her grandmother to buy a bag of ice. [21] Police have further stated that the circumstances surrounding the case are eerily similar to the three previous unsolved homicides. Unlike the first three victims, Gage did not have a criminal record involving prostitution. However, she did have a history of drug problems. The van Gage was driving the night she disappeared was later recovered in the parking lot of an apartment complex. [5] [21]

The Daytona Beach PD created a task force to the find the killer, who by that time was labeled by police and the media as "The Daytona Beach Killer". Four detectives were assigned to the case with input from agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. [22] The police used field DNA kits to take DNA samples from motorists fitting the profile of a white male with a girlfriend. The samples were taken to a lab to match with genetic material taken from the crime scenes. [23]

Palm Beach

Murder of Rachel Bey

On March 7, 2016, the naked body of 32-year-old Rachel Elizabeth Bey was found dead alongside a highway near Jupiter, Florida. An autopsy was performed on her body, which showed she had been strangled and badly beaten, and other evidence showed that Bey had fought her attacker. [7] DNA evidence of the perpetrator was found during the investigation. [8]

In December 2016, detectives involved with the investigation into Bey's murder were notified that the DNA found on Bey's body had matched to DNA samples taken from the original Daytona killings. [7]

Other possible victims

The Orlando Sentinel reported in 2010 that, "According to the FBI, the four killings are among 28 in Florida that are unsolved and connected to serial killings that the bureau suspects were committed by long-haul truckers. Those include 19 deaths along the Interstate 4 corridor between Tampa and Daytona Beach...", but it also noted that "all but one local law-enforcement agency denies any serial-killer cases on its books." [24]

Long Island serial killer

Between December 2010 and April 2011, the bodies of ten women were found buried under numerous beaches along Long Island, New York. All the women that were found had engaged in prostitution, similar to the killings in Daytona Beach. [26] This prompted theories to suggest both sets of murders could have been perpetrated by the same person, and some people also hinted a possible connection to the Eastbound Strangler, an Atlantic City killer that murdered four women in 2006. If it were to be true, then that meant an unidentified serial killer was responsible for up to 18 murders across the East Coast of the United States between 1996 and 2010.

Investigators have publicly stated however there was no evidence to suggest one person was behind all the murders, and other evidence that has been collected over the years has since ruled out this theory. [26] [27]

Identification and arrest

DNA collected from Daytona Beach Killer victims was run through a genetic database used by people trying to find long-lost relatives and a link to Hayes was established. Hayes was put under surveillance and police collected a used cigarette butt surreptitiously that linked him to the killings.

On September 15, 2019, Palm Beach County officials arrested Hayes, 37, at his West Palm Beach home for the killing of Rachel Bey. He was charged with one count of first-degree murder, and was ordered to be held without bail. DNA found on Bey matched DNA recovered from Gunther and Green, two of the Daytona Beach Killer's victims and ballistics tests connect Hayes to the killing of Patton. [1] Hayes was transferred to Volusia County Jail, where he was charged with three additional counts of first-degree murder. [10] [11]

Trial

Prosecutors originally sought the death penalty for Hayes. [28] [29] Hayes's trial began February 11, 2022. [30] On February 22, 2022, Hayes was found guilty in the murders of Laquetta Gunther, Julie Green and Iwana Patton. [31] On March 2, 2022, Hayes was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without parole. [2] Hayes is now awaiting to be separately tried for the murder of Rachel Bey. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Ridgway</span> American serial killer (born 1949)

Gary Leon Ridgway is an American serial killer known as the Green River Killer. He was initially convicted of 48 separate murders committed between the early 1980s and late 1990s. As part of his plea bargain, another conviction was added, bringing the total number of convictions to 49, making him the second-most prolific serial killer in United States history according to confirmed murders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claremont serial killings</span> 1990s serial murders in Western Australia

The Claremont serial killings is the name given by the media to a case involving the disappearance of an Australian woman, aged 18, and the killings of two others, aged 23 and 27, in 1996–97. After attending night spots in Claremont, a wealthy western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, all three women disappeared in similar circumstances leading police to suspect that an unidentified serial killer was the offender. The case was described as the state's biggest, longest running, and most expensive investigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Stano</span> American serial killer (1951–1998)

Gerald Eugene Stano was an American convicted serial killer. Stano murdered at least 23 young women and girls, confessed to 41 murders, and the police say the number of his victims may be closer to 88.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Wilder</span> Australian serial killer (1945–1984)

Christopher Bernard Wilder, also known as the Beauty Queen Killer and the Snapshot Killer, was an Australian-American serial killer who abducted at least twelve young women and girls, killing eight of them during a six-week, cross-country crime spree in the United States in early 1984. Wilder's series of murders began in Florida on February 26, 1984, and continued across the country through Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nevada and California, with attempted abductions in Washington and New York. Wilder victimized attractive young women, most of whom he would entice by promising to take their pictures. After subduing them, he would torture and rape them before shooting, stabbing with a knife, or strangling them to death. Two or more of his victims were electrocuted using a makeshift electrical cord.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grim Sleeper</span> American serial killer (1952–2020)

Lonnie David Franklin Jr., better known by the nickname Grim Sleeper, was an American serial killer who was responsible for at least ten murders and one attempted murder in Los Angeles, California from 1984 to 2007. He was also convicted for rape and sexual violence. Franklin earned his nickname when he appeared to have taken a 14-year break from his crimes, from 1988 to 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Floyd Thomas Jr.</span> Convicted American serial killer

John Floyd Thomas Jr. is an American serial killer, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murders of seven women in the Los Angeles area during the 1970s and 1980s. Police suspect Thomas committed 10 to 15 more murders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Ray Bowles</span> American serial killer (1962–2019)

Gary Ray Bowles was an American serial killer who was executed in 2019 for the murders of six men in 1994. He is sometimes referred to as The I-95 Killer since most of his victims lived close to the Interstate 95 highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodney Alcala</span> American serial killer (1943–2021)

Rodney James Alcala was an American serial killer and convicted sex offender who was sentenced to death in California for five murders committed between 1977 and 1979. He also pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 25 years to life for two further murders committed in New York. He was also indicted for a murder in Wyoming, although the charges filed there were dropped. While Alcala has been conclusively linked to eight murders, the true number of victims remains unknown and could be as high as 130.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucious Boyd</span> American murderer on death row

Lucious Boyd is an American convicted murderer, rapist, and suspected serial killer who is currently on death row in Florida. Boyd was sentenced to death for the 1998 rape and murder of 21-year-old Dawnia Dacosta and is a suspect in at least ten other homicides and disappearances. He was acquitted of the 1993 murder of a man whom he claimed he stabbed in self-defense. He was profiled on Forensic Files.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilgo Beach serial killings</span> American serial killer case

The Gilgo Beach serial killings were a series of murders spanning from the early 1990s until 2011. Many of the victims' remains were found over a period of months in 2010 and 2011 during a police search of the area along Ocean Parkway, near the remote beach town of Gilgo in Suffolk County, New York. The search was prompted by the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, who, like many of the known victims, worked as an escort and advertised on Craigslist. The perpetrator in the case is known as the Long Island Serial Killer, the Manorville Butcher, or the Craigslist Ripper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Naso</span> American serial killer on death row

Joseph Naso, also known as Crazy Joe or the Double Initial Killer, is an American serial killer and serial rapist sentenced to death for the murders of at least four women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CeCe Moore</span> American genetic genealogist (born 1969)

CeCe Moore is an American genetic genealogist who has been described as the country's foremost such entrepreneur. She has appeared on many TV shows and worked as a genetic genealogy researcher for others such as Finding Your Roots. She has reportedly helped law enforcement agencies in identifying suspects in over 300 cold cases using DNA and genetic genealogy. In May 2020, she began appearing in a prime time ABC television series called The Genetic Detective in which each episode recounts a cold case she helped solve. In addition to her television work, she is known for pioneering the genetic genealogy methodologies used by adoptees and others of unknown origin for identifying biological family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bittrolff</span> American murderer and suspected serial killer

John Bittrolff is an American convicted murderer and former suspect in the Gilgo Beach serial killings case. In July 2014, he was charged with the murders of Rita Tangredi and Colleen McNamee. He was also a suspect in the murder of a third woman, Sandra Costilla, prior to the capture of alleged serial killer Rex Heuermann. Bittrolff became a suspect in the unsolved murders after his brother, Timothy Bittrolff, was partially matched to DNA found on the bodies in 2013. Timothy Bittrolff submitted the sample after violating an unrelated order of protection, in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Little</span> American serial killer (1940–2020)

Samuel Little was an American serial killer of women who confessed to committing 93 murders between 1970 and 2005. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program has confirmed his involvement in at least 60 murders, the largest number of confirmed victims for any serial killer in American history. Little provided sketches for twenty-six of his victims although not all have been linked to known murders.

The Denver Prostitute Killer was an American serial killer responsible for the murder of at least 17 women and girls in Denver and its various suburbs between 1975 and 1995. In 2005, based upon results from DNA profiling, it was determined that the most likely killer was Billy Edwin Reid who was previously arrested and charged with the 1989 murder of Lannell Williams and Lisa Kelly. Reid was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for those specific murders. The killings were grouped together only in 2008 – until then, each of these crimes was considered to have been committed by different people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Harold Jones</span> Executed American serial killer

Jack Harold Jones Jr. was an American serial killer who murdered at least three women in Florida and Arkansas between 1983 and 1995. Convicted of two murders during his lifetime and executed in 2017, he was posthumously linked via DNA to the third murder, for which another man was imprisoned.

Alun Kyte, known as the Midlands Ripper, is an English double murderer, serial rapist, child rapist, paedophile and suspected serial killer. He was convicted in 2000 of the murders of two sex workers, 20-year-old Samo Paull and 30-year-old Tracey Turner, whom he killed in December 1993 and March 1994 respectively. After his conviction, investigators announced their suspicions that Kyte could have been behind a number of other unsolved murders of sex workers across Britain in the 1980s and 1990s. He was apprehended due to the ground-breaking investigations of a wider police inquiry named Operation Enigma, which was launched in 1996 in response to the murders of Paull, Turner and of a large number of other sex workers. Kyte was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years imprisonment for the murders of Paull and Turner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Patrick Goble</span> American serial killer

Sean Patrick Goble, known as The Interstate Killer, is an American serial killer. A former truck driver, Goble kidnapped and murdered at least four women in the Southern United States between 1994 and 1995. Since his arrest, authorities in ten other states have investigated him for numerous unsolved killings of women. While he was cleared in some of those cases, as of today, his true victim count remains unclear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Flowers</span> American serial killer (born 1974)

Norman Keith Flowers is an American serial killer who killed three women by beating and strangling them in their Las Vegas apartments from March to May 2005. DNA left at each crime scene eventually linked him to the killings and he was arrested. Flowers was tried in 2008 and convicted, receiving a life sentence without parole. He entered an alford plea for the remaining charges in 2011 and received two more life sentences.

The Great Basin Murders is the name given to a series of murders of at least nine women committed between 1983 and 1997 across the states of Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and Idaho. It derives its name from the Great Basin geographical area, as most of the victims had their bodies dumped near interstate highways that transverse it.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Balogna, Patricio (September 16, 2019). "Daytona serial killings suspect studied criminal justice". Jacksonville.com . GateHouse Media. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "Daytona Beach serial killer spared death sentence by jury, sentenced to life in prison". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Daytona Beach Serial Killer". America's Most Wanted. 19 March 2011. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Michels, Scott (9 January 2008). "Is Serial Killer Stalking Daytona's Women?". Cuomo on the Case. ABC News. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Waddell, Lynn (10 January 2008). "A Serial Killer On the Loose?". Newsweek via The Daily Beast. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 "Decade after Daytona Beach serial killer leaves 4 women dead, cops still seek answers". Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 "DNA cold case: Suspected Florida serial killer charged in 2016 death, tied to 3 more". WFXT . Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  8. 1 2 Weber, Chuck (2019-11-21). "West Palm man now charged as serial killer; Local genealogy site helped police". WPEC. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  9. ↑ Man arrested in 2016 strangulation death is a 'serial killer' linked to at least three other Florida slayings, police say
  10. 1 2 3 "Suspected Serial Killer Booked In To Volusia County Jail". WNDB . Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  11. 1 2 Allbrittin, Deanna (16 September 2019). "Police: Man charged with murder in Palm Beach linked to Daytona Beach serial killer case". WFTV9. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  12. 1 2 Knowles, Hannah (September 16, 2019). "He's suspected in four women's deaths — and 'would have killed again,' sheriff says". Washington Post. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  13. ↑ "State pursuing death penalty against suspected serial killer indicted on 3 more murder charges". ABC News . Archived from the original on 2022-05-02.
  14. 1 2 "Florida college student serial killer sentenced to life in prison".
  15. 1 2 3 4 "FL v. Robert Hayes Penalty Phase Day 1 - Clifton Williams Jr. - Defendant's Cousin".
  16. ↑ Convicted Daytona Beach Serial Killer to Serve Three Consecutive Life Sentences Behind Bars: Judge
  17. 1 2 "FL v. Robert Hayes Penalty Phase Day 1 - Dr. Aneesah Farris - Victim Iwana Patton's Niece".
  18. ↑ "Daytona Beach police arrest suspected serial killer after 14 year spree". Law Enforcement Today. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  19. ↑ Suspect's Name in Daytona Beach's Serial Killer Case Released
  20. 1 2 3 "Profiling error reavealed?". The Des Moines Register . Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  21. 1 2 "A Serial Killer in Florida?". Newsweek . Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  22. ↑ "New victim revives old question of serial killer". Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  23. ↑ Police Swabbing Mouths During Traffic Stops In Serial Killer Hunt
  24. 1 2 3 Pacheco, Walter (12 January 2010). "Are 28 deaths the work of serial killers?". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  25. ↑ Killer rapist from Sanford gets life term
  26. 1 2 "The Dark Side of the Sunshine State".
  27. ↑ Andrea Canning; Josh Einiger; Richard Esposito; Emily Friedman; Jessica Hopper (April 13, 2011). "Long Island Serial Killer: Investigators to Use High-Tech Planes in Search for Bodies". abc News. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  28. ↑ Mccray, Sarah Wilson, Michael Springer, Q. (21 November 2019). "Suspected Daytona Beach serial killer indicted on 3 slayings; state to seek death penalty". WFTV. Retrieved 2020-12-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ↑ Cutway, Adrienne (2019-11-21). "Suspected serial killer indicted in deaths of Daytona Beach women". WKMG. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  30. ↑ "Trial begins for Robert Hayes, accused of killing 3 women in Daytona Beach 16 years ago". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  31. ↑ "Jury finds accused Daytona Beach serial killer Robert Hayes guilty on all 3 murder counts". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.