On August 22, 2004, a
friend of Laura Lollar reported that he was concerned for her as he
had not seen her in three weeks. He said that, typically, he would
at least hear from Laura every three or four days. Her ex-husband
was also concerned about her absence as he, too, had been checking
for her at a few places but had not been able to find her nor anyone
who had recently seen or heard from her. Her ex-husband said that
he would normally see Laura at least once a week as he has their
three oldest children and she would see them regularly. On August
26, 2004, a missing persons report was filed.
On
January 26, 2005, the defendant spoke with detectives concerning
missing women and the death of Laura Lollar. Her picture was
produced by police and shown to the defendant. He acknowledged that
he remembered her and that she was one of those he had murdered and
whose body he had burned. He said that he picked her up on the
north end of Peoria near Madison and Spring streets. Bright told
detectives that he particularly remembered killing Laura Lollar
because she is the one he felt sorry about because, while he was
killing her, she was struggling and telling him that she had kids as
she was dying in front of him. He strangled her, he said, and then
burned her body and dumped the remains at the sites he described.
He believed and said to police that she was the second to last woman
he killed.
Laura Lollar
was 33 years old.
Linda
Neal
DOB: June 23, 1964
On September 25,
2004, he was dispatched to the 2500 block of King Road off
Wildlife Road, in rural Hopedale in Tazewell County, Illinois, on
a report of a deceased black female who had been found at the end
of King Road. She was lying in a grassy area to the right side of
a dirt road and within a few feet of a tree. When he arrived the
detective observed the lifeless body of a black female and she was
later identified as Linda Neal. She was unclothed and a corded
ligature, apparently a shoelace, was found around the upper
portion of her neck.
On September 26, 2004, she performed the autopsy of Linda Neal
which included the taking of vaginal swabs for to examine for
sexual assault and for a rape kit. She would testify that she
observed injuries to Ms. Neal's neck and that in her medical
opinion the cause of death for Linda Neal was asphyxia due to
strangulation with a ligature around her throat. She also
observed abrasions on other portions of Ms. Neal's body that would
be consistent with her being dragged while dead.
On November 11, 2004, he spoke with the defendant at the Peoria
County Sheriff's Department concerning a separate incident.
During the interview the defendant smoked two of his own
cigarettes. After the interview ended, the detective collected
both cigarette butts and each were submitted for scientific
testing for the presence of DNA.
From these cigarette butts, Debra Minton was able to obtain the
defendant's DNA profile. The defendant's DNA profile was compared
to the DNA profile from semen that had been lifted in the vaginal
swabs taken during the autopsy of Linda Neal. When examined, it
was found that the two samples were a match.
On January 26, 2005, the defendant spoke with the detective
concerning the murder of Linda Neal. The defendant stated that he
picked up Linda Neal in the parking lot of a furniture store by
Woody's Bar on the southern edge of Peoria. He asked her if she
wanted to party and he showed her the drugs which he had.
Eventually, he took her back to his house on Starr Court. Once
there, they consumed whiskey and cocaine and had sex. As he had
planned, he strangled her on the bed. He said she did not
struggle and he choked her throat until she was dead The
defendant said that his mother was home at the time so he was not
able to burn this body in the backyard without raising suspicion
so he, instead, carried the body to his vehicle, a Blazer SUV.
He remembered
that Linda Neal was the one that had the shoestring on her and
that he was pulling and dragging her body by this shoestring
because her hands were slick and he couldn't get a grip of her in
any other way. After he placed her in the Blazer, he took the
body to a place he referred as Pitzer's Cabin, but remarked that
he doesn't recall ever seeing an actual cabin. When he got to this
location he parked his vehicle on the top of a levy and he dragged
the body and left it by a tree.
The defendant
eventually directed detectives to this same area on King Road in
Tazewell County and confirmed this as the placement location for
the body of Linda Neal.
Linda Neal was
40 years old.
Sabrina Payne
DOB: February 4, 1967
On
July 27, 2003, he was called to a cornfield south of Augustin Road
at Mud Creek Bridge, Tremont Township in Tazewell County on the
report of a body being found. He responded to the scene and located
the body of a black female, later identified as Sabrina Payne. His
investigation found that Ms. Payne was last seen alive at her
residence on July 25, 2003, at approximately 4:00pm.
On
July 28, 2003, he performed the autopsy on Sabrina Payne. He would
testify that in his medical opinion the immediate cause of death
could not be determined with certainty.
On January 26,
2005, they came into contact with the defendant at the Tazewell
County Jail in order to serve him with a search warrant for the yard
and residence located at 3418 Starr Court in Peoria, Illinois. The
defendant stated that the search would not be necessary and that he
would tell police everything. He was Mirandized, waived his rights,
and told the officers that he did it; that he killed eight girls,
that he had strangled all eight girls, and that it started with the
girl that was found in the cornfield by Tremont. (Sabrina Payne)
The defendant
stated that he picked her up on the south end of Peoria and took her
back to where he then lived on McClure Street in Peoria. The
defendant explained that he believed that she was ripping him off
and he lost control and the next thing he knew she was dead. He
placed her body into the front seat of his Blazer and drove to the
cornfield. Once there he dragged her out into the field by her feet
and threw some of her clothes into the creek. The defendant
eventually directed the detectives to the location where he had left
Ms. Payne's body, which was the same location where Ms. Payne's body
had been found in July 2003 by Det. Lower.
Sabrina Payne
was 36 years old.
Shaconda Thomas
DOB: November 23, 1971
On October 7, 2004, the grandmother of Shaconda Thomas came to the
Peoria Police Department to report that her granddaughter, who
lived with her, was missing. It was determined that Shaconda
Thomas had not been seen alive by others and had been missing
since the last week of August, 2004. No other valid leads or
information would surface to assist family or police in the
whereabouts of Shaconda Thomas.
On January 26, 2005, the defendant spoke with detectives
concerning the missing women and this list included Shaconda
Thomas. During this interview the defendant stated that he had
killed and then burned the bodies of all four of the missing women
listed by police and had gathered up each of their burned remains
and scattered them at various locations within Peoria County.
Bright described how he had dug a hole in his backyard and in the
hole he would start a fire which would serve as a pit for him to
throw the dead bodies into so that only bones and ashes would be
left.
When asked how
the four missing women had been killed, the defendant stated that
he had strangled them. Detectives produced a photograph of
Shaconda Thomas and showed it to the defendant who said that he
remembered her as one of those he killed.
Shaconda
Thomas was 32 years old.
Shirley Ann Trapp
DOB: June 6, 1959
On August 28, 2004,
the boyfriend of Shirley Trapp filed a missing persons report with
Peoria Police, indicating that he had not seen Shirley Trapp for
several days and that it was unlike her to remain out of contact
with him. Her family had also not seen her in about three days,
around August 25, 2004. They also reported that Ms. Trapp had
diabetes and needed continual medication to control her condition.
St. Francis pharmacy in Peoria was contacted in order to learn
whether or not Shirley had picked up her diabetic medication. She
had not.
On January 26, 2005,
the defendant spoke with detectives concerning the murder of
Shirley Ann Trapp. He indicated that he had picked her up on the
north end of Peoria but could not recall the specific place. He
took her back to his residence at 3418 West Starr Court. Once
there, he said they smoked crack cocaine and that they had sex.
The defendant said that he could tell that Shirley Trapp sensed
that something "was going to happen" and that she began to
struggle. He struck her hard in the head and then strangled her
around the throat. He told detectives that it was after this
incident when he had the idea to burn the bodies of the women he
murdered. He said he would build a fire and let it burn for hours
until there would remain very hot coals.
He said that he
carried this body from the house out to the fire and left it
burning for a day. The next day he shoveled the ashes into a
bucket and disposed of them elsewhere. He said the shovel would
have no evidence on it since he had cleaned it with water and a
scrub brush. He said he must have missed some bones because
detectives found some bone parts and remains in the yard.
Bright told
police that he dumped the remains of the women he burned in
several different locations and that one of the places was in the
backyard area of 630 South Anna Street in Bellevue. This was the
address of the defendant's grandmother. He pointed out for
detectives the area there where he had dumped remains. Consistent
with Bright's descriptions and locations, charred bones and
related pieces could be seen at the places where he took
detectives and these items were collected and analyzed.
On March 1, 2005, and thereafter, he conducted examinations of the
exhibits that were recovered during the processing of scenes
located at 3418 West Starr Court, Peoria, 630 South Anna Street in
Bellevue, and at 2317 North Willow in Norwood, all of these places
in the County of Peoria and State of Illinois. His examination
found numerous human skeletal remains and Mr. Davis was able to
determine that the minimum number of human beings in the array of
skeletal remains presented is three. This is based on the
presence of three separate fragments of the left maxilla found at
the Bellevue location. These 3 bone fragments had to come from
three separate human craniums. All of the human remains that were
submitted for analysis were specifically found to exhibit changes
in their color and structure as a result of a prolonged exposure
to intense fire.
Shirley Ann
Trapp was 45 years old.
Tamara
Walls
DOB: January 27, 1975
On September 22, 2004, a sister of Tamara Walls came to the Peoria
Police Department and reported that Tamara had been missing for
approximately three weeks. It was reported that Tamara had not
been one to go that long without checking in, and no one in the
family had heard from her for the previous three weeks.
On
January 26, 2005, the defendant spoke to them about the murder of
Tamara Walls. The defendant stated that he picked her up around
the Harrison Homes area of Peoria, Illinois, and drove her to his
residence on Starr Court. There they smoked crack, drank whiskey
and had sex. While having sex he began to strangle her and she
struggled and scratched his face. He overpowered her and choked
her until she was dead. Once she was dead he carried her body from
the house into the back yard. There, he set fire to the body in
a burn pile.
Detectives
produced a photograph of Tamara Walls and showed it to the
defendant. He identified her as the person he had murdered and
burned. He said he remembered her because when he returned to the
burning body he found that it had not completely burned and so he
had to light the fire again. He remembered her name, he said,
because Tamara Walls had her driver's license in her possession
and he burned the license along with her body.
The defendant
then directed detectives to several dump sites, one being located
behind 2317 N. Willow Road in Norwood, Illinois The defendant
told police that he would dump remains of burned human bodies here
and at another location after returning home in the daylight and
finding remains that he missed or dropped when he made the initial
dumps. Burnt remains were clearly visible at this location. The
scene was secured and processed in painstaking detail by police
and forensics teams with all pieces tagged and packaged and each
location plotted.
From 01/27/05-01/29/05, these men led the processing of several
locations for the presence of human remains, including the
location identified by the defendant at 2317 Willow Road in
Norwood. At this location were found human remains including a
portion of a human mandible (or jawbone) with a 2.5 mm hole in the
bone, indicating prior orthopedic intervention.
-
Dr. George Kottemann-DDS
-
Forensic Odontologist
On August 2, 2005, he reviewed the antemortem dental records of
Tamara Walls and made a forensic comparison with the human
mandible bone recovered at the Willow Road dump site. Dental
records confirmed that Ms. Walls had undergone a previous surgical
procedure of the jaw resulting in the attachment of a
reconstruction bar to the left side of her mandible and that it
contained a screw attachment and opening consistent with that made
by a dental instrument. After review, it is determined within a
reasonable degree of dental and forensic certainty that the
mandible bone segment found at the Willow Road site is that of
Tamara Walls.
Tamara Walls
was 29 years old.
Barbara Williams
DOB: January 30, 1968 (36)
On February
5, 2004, he was dispatched to the 4800 Block of North Valley View
Road in Edwards, IL on the report of a female body lying on the
side of the road. He responded to the scene and found the body of
Barbara Williams face down in the snow, partially clothed, with
her feet still on the roadway. Marks on her clothing and on her
arms indicated that she may have been dragged from one place to
another. However, no signs of drag marks at the scene indicated
the death took place at a different location and the body of Ms.
Williams was dumped at this location. Ms. Williams was last seen
alive the night before, February 4, 2004, between 9:00 pm - 10:00
pm.
On February 6, 2004, she performed the autopsy of Barbara Williams.
Dr. Hnilica would testify that she found several antemortem
injuries including a contusion on the right side of her face by
her eye, a contusion and abrasion on her left shoulder, and an
abrasion on her left wrist. She found several postmortem injuries
including a dislocated left wrist, abrasions on her left arm, and
lacerations and contusions to her left hand. She further observed
scrapes, likely drag marks, on her left arm, both heels, and on
her clothing.
In her medical
opinion, Dr. Hnilica would state that Ms. Williams died of cocaine
toxicity in that cocaine, its products and metabolites were found
in her body at levels determined to be toxic. No signs of asphyxia
or strangulation were evident.
On January 26, 2005, the defendant spoke with these detectives
concerning the death of Barbara Williams. Although he did not
remember what she looked like he did remember the incident of
killing Barbara Williams by the location where he dumped the body.
The defendant
stated that she was the second girl he killed. He picked her up
on the south end of Peoria, Illinois. He took her back to his
house at 3418 W. Starr Ct. in Peoria. He stated that they were
doing crack cocaine which he had provided. He stated that he
found her attempting to steal his money and that he punched her in
the throat and she started choking. Then, in the defendant's words,
he said he "just lost control.". After she was dead, he then took
her to the North Valley View Road location. He said he did not
know why he dumped her there but that he just wanted to get rid of
the body. He later directed detectives to this location. He
stated that after this incident he knew he was going to kill the
girls when he picked them up. The defendant, in his words, said
he "was hunting."
Barbara
Williams was 36 years old.
Peoriacountystatesattorney.org
