Kriti Mehrotra
While many believe Larry Hall has genuinely broken all bounds of what it means to be a killer, the truth is that despite serving a life sentence at the moment, he has never actually been convicted of murder. With this said, though, there’s absolutely no denying that he is, in fact, a criminal, a “serial confessor,” and even a “suspected serial killer,” as carefully examined in Apple TV+’s ‘Black Bird.’ So now, if you wish to learn the precise number of his alleged victims (suspected by the federal authorities) as well as the details concerning the same, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered.
A Trail of Terror: The Women Larry Hall is Linked To
Larry DeWayne Hall has often been referred to as one of the most prolific serial killers in United States history, and that’s because it’s believed he may have slain up to 40 women from 1980 to 1994. Whether it be Illinois, Wisconsin, or his homeland of Indiana or Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota, he ostensibly targeted at least a dozen different states to act out on his depraved, violent sexual urges. The sickening part, however, is not just the fact Larry might’ve begun his spree of abduction, rape, and murder as a high school junior but that he allegedly went after girls as young as 10.
According to reports, Larry is a viable suspect in the 1981 disappearances of both 14-year-old Dean “Deanie” Marie Peters of Michigan and 12-year-old Debra Jean Cole of Indiana. A man named James Douglas Frisbie was arrested in connection to the former case back in the summer of 2021, but it was only for perjury, and sadly the two girls remain missing to this day. 19-year-old still missing Jennifer Lee Schmidt (1985), 21-year-old Marcie Fuller Swinford (found strangled and sexually mutilated in 1985), and 18-year-old still missing Denise Pflum (1986) are supposedly his victims as well.
Then there was 27-year-old Eulalia Pholia Mylia Chavez (discovered in 1986 yet identified in 2002), 25-year-old still missing Kimberly Ann Thompson (1986), and 10-year-old Linda Weldy (1987). Larry reportedly also had a hand in 18-year-old still missing Diana Jane Braungardt’s disappearance (1987), 16-year-old still missing Wendy Louise Felton’s vanishing (1987), and a few Jane Does’ sexually motivated homicides. 19-year-old Paulette Webster (1988), 15-year-old Cynthia Louise Carmack (1988), 23-year-old Penny Dawn Lease (1989), and 26-year-old Lynn Ann Thompson (1989), all of whom have never been found, are believed to be his victims as well.
We should mention Larry himself has implied his involvement in Paulette’s case by once writing a letter to an author, within which he taunted, “If I did it, I would have put her in a river or in a field.” There are even the matters of 17-year-old Tracy Kroh (1989), 28-year-old Janet Rose Dolgae (1989), 18-year-old Berit Beck (her remains were recovered a month after she disappeared in 1990), and 29-year-old Julie Dalton Johnson (1990) that he has been linked to. 20-year-old Michelle Dewey (1991), 37-year-old Georgia Schreve (1991), and 18-year-old Holly Ann Anderson (1992) — whose bodies were quickly located — are also his purported victims.
Furthermore, Larry is a suspect in the Springfield Three case; in 2010, he confessed (and later recanted) to the 1992 murder of 20-year-old Laurie Depies; and he’s likely involved in 27-year-old Bridget Clodfelter’s 1992 vanishing. He even confessed to the 1993 homicide of 16-year-old Rayna Rison at one point, yet despite her birth control pills being in his possession, he apparently had no hand in it. Then there are the matters of 19-year-old still missing Tricia Reitler (1993), 15-year-old Jessica Roach (found weeks after she went missing in 1993), 18-year-old still missing Shaylene Farrell (1994), along with a few others he is said to be involved in.
Since several people had reported Larry’s van for driving around different areas in an attempt to pick up young girls in 1993 and 1994, officers investigating Jessica’s case managed to track him down. From there, the circumstantial evidence helped them ensure he was charged, tried, and convicted of kidnapping for purposes of sexual gratification as well as for transporting the teen from Illinois to Indiana. Because it was unclear exactly where she’d passed away, a murder charge could not be brought on, yet the cross-border aspect meant federal jurisdiction and thus a severe penalty— life in prison with no parole.
We should mention that most of Larry’s still missing supposed victims are thought to be under the ground’s surface since he grew up digging graves in a cemetery and ostensibly knew how to hide evidence. As for the ones who have been uncovered, they were sexually abused and almost always either strangled or stabbed to death.
Read More: Where is Serial Killer Larry Hall Now? Is He Still Alive?
