Charles Sullivan: Bondage porn found in Arizona serial killer's PC prove links to three rape and murders, say cops
Investigators have reportedly uncovered new evidence that confirms the guilt of an Arizona man who stands accused in the rapes and murders of at least three women whose gagged, bound, and blindfolded bodies were found more than 40 years ago. Charles Gary Sullivan, a 73-year-old retired plumber and locksmith, has repeatedly professed his innocence in the years since he was first arrested and convicted in 2007 for false imprisonment but now finds himself cornered as evidence mounts against him.
Currently in jail for the second time, Sullivan was taken into custody by Washoe County Sheriff's deputies at his northern Arizona home in November 2019 on murder charges thanks to the efforts of cold-case detective Rick Bjelke, who noticed the similarities between his 2007 case and the 1979 death of 21-year-old Julia Woodward. Woodward's body was found on March 25, 1979, in a remote area approximately 15 miles north of Reno, according to the Union. She had been bludgeoned to death with a rock, and her eyes had been sealed shut with band-aids. Her legs had been zip-tied, her underwear was missing, and a piece of cloth had been used as a gag.
In 2015, Bjelke reviewed the evidence in the case after he was named to the newly-formed cold case unit and asked for additional forensic analysis of evidence taken from the scene. He also worked with the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services to examine biological evidence that had identified the 73-year-old as a suspect.
Combined with the information that Sullivan was last seen in California on February 1, 1979, which was around the time of Woodward's murder, investigators felt they had enough evidence to link him to the death and the Office of the Nevada Attorney General obtained a Grand Jury indictment against him. Sullivan has already pleaded not guilty but new evidence may undermine that stance further. KNXV-TV reported that Washoe County deputies along with the FBI and several Arizona agencies raided Sullivan's home along the Mogollon Rim last week and seized a computer with evidence that prosecutors believe point to his intent and motive.
Motions filed by Nevada state prosecutors say investigators discovered, "numerous searches for, and images of, pornographic bondage images, in which women are bound, gagged, and or blindfolded while engaged in sexual activity. In other words, the evidence relating to Defendant’s computer usage is exactly the type of evidence one would expect to find on the computer of a man who abducts, binds, blindfolds, gags, rapes, and kills women."
It's an allegation that stems from, not just Woodward's murder, but also that of 17-year-old Jeannie Smith, and the case of a 25-year-old Eureka, California, woman who successfully escaped from him after he zip-tied her and tried to sexually assault her at gunpoint. The latter case led to his arrest on September 15, 2007, and charges of kidnapping with a firearm, kidnap with the intent to commit forcible rape with a firearm and criminal threats with a firearm.
The victim testified at a trial that Sullivan had picked her up as she was hitchhiking on Highway 20 near the intersection with Interstate 80 in Nevada County, California. She said he offered to take her as far as Nevada City before offering to show her a vein of turquoise near Bowman Lake. When she agreed, he parked and they hiked down a path, which was when he came up behind her, grabbed her shoulder, and pointed a handgun at her head.
The 73-year-old then made her lie on the ground, handcuffed her, and zip-tied her wrists and ankles. She said he told her to not look at him and that "the only thing that’s going to be involved is sex. We’re just going to be out here for a few days having fun.” When he left to get a blanket from his van, she said she managed to cut through the zip ties on her ankles and fled, flagging down two men driving by on an ATV.
Both the men testified at the trial as well, telling the jury the victim was "very frantic, very scared,” had zip-ties and handcuffs on her wrists, and was shoeless. They said she told them a man was trying to kill her. Sullivan claimed the handcuffs belonged to the woman and she initiated the encounter, and ultimately, he was only found guilty of false imprisonment and making criminal threats and sentenced to three years and eight months in prison.
But her story helped investigators connect Sullivan to the murders of Woodward and Smith, though he has not yet been charged for the latter. A separate motion filed by prosecutors linking the newfound pornographic evidence to Woodward's death pointed out the similarities in the two women's cases. "The zipper to her jeans had been forcibly opened," they said. "Jeannie's clothes — as well as other cloth, tape and rope — were discovered within 30 feet of her skeletal remains... As was the case with Julie, Jeannie was missing her underwear and ID."
"Defendant is charged with murdering a young woman that he bound with zip ties, gagged with a piece of cloth, and blindfolded with medical bandages... evidence relating to the bondage pornography found on Defendant’s computer is clearly relevant to his intent and motive, which is probative of the identity of Julia Woodward’s killer."
Sullivan has also been linked to the disappearance of Linda Taylor, a third woman who went missing around the same time period but whose body was never found, but has not been charged in that case either. He is scheduled to go on trial for Woodward's murder in January 2021.