Free The Ivy League Killer by Katherine Ramsland Page B

to remove her clothes and lie facedown. Starting to cry, Paula obeyed him. She was old enough to know what he wanted and she hoped it would be finished quickly. She prayed that all he had in mind was rape.

    Paula Perrera
Victim
    Paula felt his weight press down on top of her. He groaned and worked at penetrating her. She kept crying, but he seemed indifferent to her pain as he violated her. She could hardly catch her breath. Then it was over. He withdrew, hurting her in the process. She wanted to scream, but his hand was over her mouth. Then she felt his hands go around her throat. She struggled, but he was strong. She couldn’t breathe. She choked. Paula hadn’t expected this. He was
killing
her. She thought of the people she loved. Would they find her out here in the weeds? Eventually the pain receded, and then nothing mattered. The killer placed her body next to a stone wall. Then he went home. Soon he was ready again.
    In April, he talked his way into the Ohio home of a pregnant woman he’d just followed. He told her he worked at a farm nearby and his car had broken down. He wanted to use her phone, so she let him in. He reached for her throat, but she was a police officer, experienced in self-defense. She blocked him, so he fled, but a parking ticket led the police to him. Under arrest again, he bailed himself out and returned to Connecticut. There the court forced him to undergo an assessment at the Brooklyn Learning Clinic. He’d have to come back to Ohio for his court date, he knew, but in the meantime, he’d entertain himself somewhere else.
    www.crimescape.com

Chapter 4: These Cases Are Connected
    James Taylor never imagined that when he said good-bye to his wife Debra on the evening of June 15, it was for the last time. Around midnight, they’d run out of gas near Danielson, Connecticut, which had caused an argument. Unsure where a gas station might be, they’d decided to split up, each going in a different direction.
    Debra walked along the side of the unlit road, hoping she could find a ride, and ended up in a park in town. She sat down. She just wanted to go home. A man pulled over. He was slender, looked quite young, and wore glasses. He sold insurance, he said. He asked if she needed help. He seemed friendly enough, and there was nothing sinister about him. Debra said that she’d like a ride home. He agreed to take her and opened the car door.
    When James made his way back to the car, he filled the gas tank and then drove along the way that he believed Debra had gone. He kept his eyes on the side of the road, but he didn’t see her. He didn’t know she was already dead. Finally, he reported her missing and returned home to Jewett City, as the police organized an extensive search of the area. Debra didn’t call. She didn’t show up at home. Over the next four months, James was in agony. He knew that something terrible had happened to her.
    After he strangled Debra Taylor, the killer promised himself that he would not harm anyone else ever again. No matter how good it felt to rape and strangle a girl, no matter how it soothed his obsessive, raging sexual demands, he
had
to stop.

    Debra Taylor
Victim
    Detective Malchik soon heard about the Debra Taylor case. The woman had disappeared just five miles from where Tammy Williams had apparently been abducted. The location raised a red flag. When Malchik read Debra’s description, he realized how much she resembled Tammy in size and appearance. Both had been small and attractive, and both had walked along roadways alone. He thought there might be a link, so he asked to take charge of the Taylor case, or at least to be included in the unfolding investigation. His supervisor saw no link, so the request was denied.
    Malchik wasn’t deterred. When no one was looking, he grabbed the file and took it home to study on his own time. The more he read, the more he was certain there was a connection from both cases to a single offender—possibly a serial killer.