Police: DNA links 5 women's slayings in Milwaukee/conviction & death

[MuffyBee]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090519/ap_on_re_us/us_serial_killer_milwaukee

Police: DNA links 5 women's slayings in Milwaukee
By JAMES A. CARLSON, Associated Press Writer James A. Carlson, Associated Press Writer   – Tue May 19, 1:54 am ET
MILWAUKEE – A person known only by DNA has killed five prostitutes over two decades in Milwaukee, the city where serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer once cruised gay bars for victims, police said Monday.

More than 20 DNA samples from other unsolved homicides of prostitutes are being re-sent to the state crime laboratory to check for possible links to the killer, police Chief Edward Flynn said at a news conference.

The first two victims linked by the killer's DNA died in October 1986, Flynn said. Another was killed in 1995, one in 1997 and the most recent in April 2007. He said all five were known prostitutes.

The killer's DNA was also found on the body of a 16-year-old female drug abuser slain in 1995. Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said police believe the man suspected in the five other slayings had sex with the 16-year-old and didn't kill her but knows who did.

Flynn said the unknown killer has never been arrested for a felony, which is Wisconsin's basis for those who must submit to DNA testing.

"He does not appear in any DNA database" checked by investigators, the chief said.

Flynn also said DNA tests showed the Milwaukee cases were not linked to murders of prostitutes that are part of active investigations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Mesa, Ariz.
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[Nut44x4]

List of homicides tied by DNA to unknown killer

May 19, 2009
Milwaukee police released a timeline of killings linked by DNA testing to an unknown assailant. Here are the dates, including background information from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel accounts:

1986

Oct. 10 -- Deborah L. Harris, 31. Strangled, found in a local river.

Oct. 11 -- Tanya L. Miller, 19. Strangled, found between a house and garage.

1995

April 24 -- Florence McCormick, 28. Found in the basement of a vacant home by workers doing repairs. The home was boarded up but had a broken window.

June 27 -- Sheila Farrior, 37. Strangled. The owner of a vacant residence went to inspect remodeling work when he discovered her body in a bedroom.

Aug. 30 -- Jessica Payne, 16. Runaway from South Milwaukee, found with her throat slashed behind a vacant house. (Police said the homicide does not fit the pattern of the others, although the suspect DNA was found on her and he is believed to have had sex with her before she was slain. But police said they believe they know who killed her and it was someone else.)

1997

June 20 -- Joyce Mims, 41. Strangled. Building renovators went to a vacant home to perform renovations and found her dead on the second floor. She was last seen by family members two days earlier walking from her home.

2007

April 27 -- Ouithreaun C. Stokes, 28. Strangled. Two citizens and city inspectors found Stokes dead after going to inspect a vacant, boarded up residence, which had been used as a rooming house previously.

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The Jessica Payne murder was in the news last January when a man convicted of her killing was released from prison because testing determined DNA found on her was not from him. A state appeals court ruled he deserved a new trial because of the DNA, which now has been linked to the other murders. It's not known if a new trial will be sought.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-serialkiller-time,0,6080147.story

[Nut44x4]

http://media.journalinteractive.com/images/SERIAL20G-1.jpg

[Nut44x4]

They made an arrest a while ago....

Judge orders 1 trial in Wisconsin serial killings
Posted at 10:39 AM on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009

MILWAUKEE -- A Wisconsin man accused of killing seven women will be tried for all their deaths at once instead of in seven separate trials as his defense attorney requested, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Walter E. Ellis, 49, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree murder charges in the deaths of the women from 1986 to 2007. A conviction would carry a mandatory life sentence, although a judge could decide whether to allow the possibility for parole.

Defense attorney Russell Jones had asked a judge to separate the cases. Separate trials usually favor defendants because prosecutors are more limited in their ability to provide evidence linking the cases. When they're lumped together, jurors can see all the evidence at once.

Judge Rebecca Dallet ruled the cases could be tried together because the deaths were similar in circumstance and location.

All seven victims were strangled, some with a rope or clothing. One was also stabbed. Police say all were prostitutes.

Jones had argued that the women were strangled in different enough manners to merit separate trials. He pointed out some were found indoors and some were outside. Some were dressed, while others were found nude.

He said only DNA evidence tied the cases together and it only proves Ellis had sex with the women - not that he killed them.

Jones also said the slayings occurred over too long a period of time - 21 years - with 10 years elapsing between the first and second cases.

Dallet said there were enough other factors to outweigh that argument, including the fact that some killings occurred within days or months of each other.

Jones said he was disappointed by Dallet's ruling, but "we will still be prepared to defend Mr. Ellis."

Assistant district attorney Norm Gahn called the judge's ruling "reasonable."

A handful of one victim's relatives hugged and laughed outside the courtroom after the hearing. Mansa Miller, 38, whose sister Tanya Miller was killed in 1986, said he was glad jurors would get to see all the evidence against Ellis in a single trial.

"This way a better picture gets painted," Miller said. "And it's the whole picture that needs to be looked at, not just the pieces."

Ellis is charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide for the deaths that occurred since 1992. He also faces two counts of first-degree murder for two deaths in 1986, the charges reflecting the law then. Other than their names, the charges are identical.

Jones has hinted that his defense will question whether Ellis can be considered the killer simply because his DNA was found on the women.

That argument loses persuasiveness now that the cases will be tried together, said Janine Geske, a professor at Marquette University law school.

"If you only had one victim, that argument might be able to create reasonable doubt," Geske said. "But when you have a series, it makes it that much harder. You'd have to explain how his DNA ended up on all these women who later turned up dead."

Dallet ruled in favor of the defense on a separate issue, telling prosecutors they couldn't introduce evidence suggesting Ellis had a violent history. Prosecutors wanted jurors to hear allegations that Ellis choked and abused other women.

Those allegations weren't relevant enough to the homicide charges because the alleged victims survived and also because some had long-term relationships with Ellis, which the homicide victims apparently did not, Dallet said.

http://www.fresnobee.com/641/story/1759251.html

[Nut44x4]

Trial delayed for accused serial killer in Wis.

MILWAUKEE — The start date for the trial of a man accused of killing seven women over 21-years has been pushed back to Oct. 4 from May 3.

The Journal Sentinel reports the new trial date was set in a court hearing Friday in which the new defense attorney for 49-year-old Walter E. Ellis told the judge he needed more time to review the case.

Attorney Alejandro Lockwood told Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Rebecca F. Dallet that it was by far the biggest case he had ever handled.

Ellis' previous attorney was removed at Ellis' request.

Ellis has pleaded not guilty to first-degree intentional homicide or first-degree murder in the deaths of the women, who were killed between 1986 and 2007.

Investigators suspect they were prostitutes, but some of the victims' family members dispute that.

posted 4.9.10
http://gazettextra.com/weblogs/latest-news/2010/apr/09/trial-delayed-accused-serial-killer-wis/

[Nut44x4]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/walter-ellis-convicted-of-being-milwaukee-serial-killer/

Walter Ellis Convicted of Being Milwaukee Serial Killer
BY BARRY LEIBOWITZ
FEBRUARY 21, 2011 / 10:51 AM / CBS NEWS

(CBS/AP) MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man was convicted Friday in the deaths of seven women killed over 21 years, after he unexpectedly entered no contest pleas during a court hearing.

The plea means Walter Ellis, 50, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison, just as if he had pleaded guilty - but he did not admit his guilt.
Prosecutors say Ellis killed the seven women between 1986 and 2007.

All the victims were strangled, some with a rope or clothing. One was also stabbed. Investigators suspected all the victims were prostitutes, but some of the victims' family members dispute that judgment.
Judge Dennis Cimpl convicted Ellis on five counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree murder. He said he was satisfied Ellis understood that he was giving up his right to a trial, that he would be convicted and faced life in prison. The judge scheduled sentencing for Feb. 24.
Friday's development leads to the end of a drawn-out case in which Ellis initially pleaded not guilty, then indicated he would change his plea and then changed his mind after the victims' family members had gathered in court.
He unexpectedly entered the no contest plea during a motion hearing in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, where he appeared shackled and in a wheelchair.
Terry Williams, the brother of victim Joyce Mims who was killed in June 1997, said the phrasing of the no contest plea doesn't matter.
"His punishment is still going to be the same. As long as he's behind bars, he will not be able to harm anyone else," Williams said. "He got away for a while, but sooner or later you will be brought to justice."
Ellis wasn't arrested until Sept. 5, 2009, after the Milwaukee Police Department's cold case unit sifted through thousands of cases and tested the DNA of more than 100 people. Police began to focus on Ellis after his name surfaced in connection with a number of unsolved homicides, according to Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn.

[Nut44x4]

https://fox6now.com/2013/12/02/death-of-serial-killer-leaves-questions-unanswered/

Death of serial killer Walter Ellis leaves questions unanswered
POSTED 3:51 PM, DECEMBER 2, 2013

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A serial killer who eluded Milwaukee investigators for decades is dead. Walter Ellis died in a hospital near the South Dakota where he was serving multiple life sentences. Officials say Ellis died of natural causes.

Ellis' case involved the rapes and murders of Milwaukee women between 1986 and 2007. Some hoped he would talk more before he died.

Steven Spingola was a Milwaukee homicide detective who worked on two of the murders associated with Ellis.

"They were choked and they apparently went with him willingly up until the point the homicides occurred," said Spingola.

Ellis had been arrested twelve times for various offenses between 1981 and 1998. However, he wasn't pinned as being a serial killer until 2009. One reason Ellis got away with it at first...

"The victims were prostitutes. They had drugs in their system. They had multiple sources of DNA," said Spingola.

Ellis also eluded police because his DNA was missing from the state's data banks. It turns out Ellis got another inmate to submit DNA under Ellis' name.

Eventually Milwaukee police re-examined evidence that led them to Ellis. But that wasn't before two others, Chaunte Ott and William Avery, were convicted for two of the murders and later freed. Both are suing for wrongful convictions.

"Why he wanted to kill these women it'll go with him to his grave here. He would have been an interesting person if he would have decided to sit down like Bundy at the last minute if he knew he was dying and clear his soul, but nothing," said Spingola. "I just wonder about the other cases that he was mentioned in. There's at least five, maybe seven more that he's a good suspect in that we'll probably never know."

Ellis was serving life without parole in a South Dakota prison on a prisoner exchange program with Wisconsin. His cause of death is being investigated -- but he died at a Sioux Falls hospital. He apparently had diabetes.