Golden State Killer investigator finds squeezed tube of toothpaste as common link between 1980 cold case and two other murders
The gruesome 1980 murder at the Amana Holiday Inn in Williamsburg, Iowa — wherein two guests, Roger Atkison, 32, and Rose Burkert, 22, were found bludgeoned to death — is up for discussion once again, thanks to a recent documentary.
Atkison and Burkert had checked into the hotel, which is located off the I-80 at around 7.40 pm on September 12. They had driven down from St Joseph Missouri where Atkison lived with his wife Marcella.
Atkison and Burkert’s bodies were discovered by a housekeeper at the Inn. According to the friends and families of the pair, their deaths could be the result of an interpersonal crime given their secret affair. Both the families often blamed each other for what had happened to their loved ones. There had been no signs of forced entry or struggle. For the past 39 years, the murders remained unsolved.
Oxygen’s recent documentary titled ‘The DNA murder with Paul Holes’ showed how the case was reexamined by ‘Golden State Killer’ investigator Paul Holes (pictured above) along with crime scene investigator Yolanda McClary who was able to make a massive breakthrough in the case.
Roger Atkison and Rose Burkert’s bizarre crime scene
Both Atkison and Burkert were found lying face down on the bed and had also suffered from multiple blows to the head. The killer had chosen to cover up single mother Burkert’s body while leaving Atkison’s body exposed.
Two chairs had been pulled up to the side of the bed and had been angled at each other as if the killer had sat and watched the pair. Atkison’s wallet was found on the floor with its contents strewn everywhere. However, Burkert’s wallet remained intact and was untouched.
In the bathroom, investigators had found a bloody towel that contained unspecified male DNA. The most bizarre thing they found was a tube of toothpaste that had been squeezed into the bathtub.
Paul Holes findings
While looking at the case file, Holes noticed that there was a mention of another hotel-related murder, which had occurred 10 weeks before Atkison and Burkert was killed. Twenty-eight-year-old William Kyle was found bludgeoned to death while staying at the Sheraton Motor Inn in Galesburg, Illinois. The hotel was also located off a major highway, I-74.
Upon wanting to learn more about the murder of William Kyle, Holes met up with Galesburg Police Department Chief David Christensen and Sgt. Paul Vannaken who had revealed how a third hotel murder, which took place in 1970 had striking similarities to the murders of Kyle, Atkison, and Burkert.
Three different cases and their striking similarities
Like Atkison, Kyle had also been found face down on the side of the bed with the upper half of his body exposed. A chair had been pulled up to the bed beneath, which Kyle’s wallet was found. The contents of the wallet had been thrown around just like in Atkison’s case.
In a bizarre twist, a tube of toothpaste was found squeezed onto the carpet near Kyle’s body. The 1970 murder of 23-year-old Jack McDonald who was killed while staying at the Travel Inn Motel was also found slumped over the side of the bed while face-down. A tube of toothpaste had been squeezed into the toilet and McDonald’s wallet was missing.
Holes revealed, "Between Rose and Roger’s case, the Jack McDonald case ... and the William Kyle case, I believe you have the same offender".
Conclusion
The initial investigator retired Galesburg Police Department Lt. Robert Horton shared with Holes that he had consulted with a forensic psychiatrist in order to understand why the killer would squirt out toothpaste. Horton explained, "Some heroin addicts, that’s about the only the way they can satisfy themselves. If an addict experiences erectile dysfunction, then ejaculation simulation is the 'only way they can achieve sexual gratification'".
The authorities had suspected a vagrant and heroin addict Raymundo Esparza who had passed away in 1983. Many witnesses placed him at Amana Holiday Inn when Atkison and Burkert were killed. However, the case against Esparza was built on circumstantial evidence and he was not charged.
"The original Galesburg investigator told me something I had never heard before … Heroin addicts develop erectile dysfunction, and so they will squeeze toothpaste out as a form of ejaculation simulation. That matches Esparza," Holes added. He also urged an exhumation order for Esparza's remains in order to obtain a DNA sample that could be tested against the evidence picked up from the crime scenes. The Iowa County Sheriff’s Office is currently following up on the order.