Archive

Show more

True Crime Friday: The Honolulu Strangler


The Honolulu Strangler is an unidentified serial killer that operated in Hawaii from 1985 and 1986. He killed five women and is believed to have murder even more. He is also known as the Honolulu Rapist, but the moniker of the Honolulu Strangler is the more commonly used name.

The Macdonald Triad

The Macdonald Triad consists of sociopathy, homicide, and violent tendencies. Generally, serial killers will have at least one of the traits or all of them. The triad was introduced in 1963 by Dr. J.M. Macdonald in an article called The Threat to Kill. It was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, and he also submitted his doctoral thesis to the University of Otago in 1964 for peer review. The newly founded Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)Behavioral Science Unit team John Douglas, Robert Ressler and Ann Burgess claimed that evidence of childhood behavior and patterns will predict predatory behavior in adulthood.

The Victims of the Honolulu Strangler

  • Vicki Gail Purdy
  • Regina Sakamoto
  • Denise Hughes
  • Louise Medeiros
  • Linda Pesce

A Killer’s Profile by the FBI

The authorities established a twenty-seven-man serial killer task force in February of 1986 with the assistance of the FBI and the Green River Task Force. The Green River Task Force was formed to investigate prolific serial killer Gary Ridway. Ridway confessed to the murder of at least 48 women and girls but is suspected of murdering at least 90 people.

The killer's profile was that of an opportunist who attacked women who were vulnerable, such as at bus stops, the killer was not one who stalks his victims. He also likely lives or works in the attack areas. Neglect, Abuse and a Toxic home environment will sometimes create a murderer. The fantasies start early, sometimes at the age of five and generally takes a decade for the perpetrator to act on them.

The Suspect

The police set up roadblocks in the area where the bodies had been discovered. Witnesses said they had seen a light-colored van with a Caucasian man with one of the victims’ cars. Howard Gay was identified as a suspect in the murder of Pesce’s. He resembled a picture of a suspect the police had. His ex-wife and girlfriend stated Gay had weird sexual preferences. On nights that Gay argued with this wife the murders occurred. The suspect lived in Ewa Beach and worked as a mechanic at one of the air freight carriers along Lagoon Drive where bodies had been found. He failed a polygraph test but was eventually released due to lack of evidence.

Lady Justice

The authorities offered a $25,000 reward for information for the arrest of the serial killer. Months after the arrest of a suspect, a woman came forward and claimed she saw a man with an unnamed victim on the night of her murder. She successfully picked Gay out of a photo lineup. She did not want to be a witness because she thought he may have seen her. Howard Gay died in 2003. The families of the victims have been living without justice for the loved ones for decades.

References