Hi there, it's Greg. We had podcast, want to thank all of you for your continuing support throughout the year podcast could not be what it is today without you. We also wanted to give you a heads up that we're taking a break for the holidays and we won't be back until after the new year. But since the season is all about giving, we do have something special lined up for the next two weeks. So be sure to tune in.

In the meantime, enjoy the season and we'll be back the first week of January with your regular programming. Have a happy and safe New Year. Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised this episode includes discussions of murder, rape and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Late in the evening of December 19th, 1971, 32 year old Robert Hanssen pulled into the parking lot of a 24 hour cafe.

He peered out of the frosty windshield of his blue Pontiac watching some of anchorages. Most sordid characters scurry in and out of the late night haunt.

Dancers on a break from the club, sex workers getting started for the night. And the men who like to ogle them were frequent patrons of the diner. It was the perfect place for Robert to find his next victim.

He watched as a beautiful young woman dashed out of the cafe to warm up her car. He glanced around the parking lot for the first time all night. It was empty. This was his moment.

Robert slid out of his Pontiac and made his way toward the front door of the cafe. He tucked himself out of sight, making sure the woman wouldn't see him as he walked back inside. From his vantage point, he watched her fiddling with the knobs on her dashboard.

He stood patiently, waiting for the right moment to strike. It was only a matter of time before she would be his. Hi, I'm Greg Polson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from podcast. Every episode we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're taking a look at Robert Hanssen, otherwise known as the Butcher Baker of Alaska. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone.

You can find episodes of Serial Killers and all other originals from podcast for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Today, we'll explore Robert's difficult adolescence, detailing how the rejection he faced as a young man caused a deep resentment towards the world and love women living in it.

Next time, we'll discuss Robert's career as the butcher baker of Alaska, a serial killer known for hunting his victims in the wild. We've got all that and more coming up.

Stay with us.

Upon hearing the phrase serial killer, most conjure an image of a monster, a twisted, evil creature who belongs in the dark corners of a horror movie, not working the sweets table at your churches bake sale.

But in real life, that's often where they are, because some serial killers are husbands and fathers, they contribute to their communities and spend their days at the office just like the rest of us.

At night, however, they sneak out of their homes to degrade, defile and murder.

But no one would ever know it because all anyone sees is the friendly face in the daylight. Someone who looks just like everyone else in their beginnings are often unremarkable, with little to indicate the horror to come.

Robert Hanssen had just such a beginning. Born in February of 1939 in Estherville, Iowa, his parents, Chris and Edna, owned and operated a small, successful bakery.

Chris was so confident in this operation that he decided to move his family out to California, where he felt his business would flourish. So in 1942, Chris, Edna and Robert traveled to the West Coast with dreams of wealth and prosperity.

Unfortunately, the bakery didn't take off like the Hansons hoped. After seven years of trying to get their business off the ground, Chris and Edna accepted that it was time to throw in the towel.

So when 1949, when Robert was 10, they returned to Iowa, settling in Pocahontas, a small town about 125 miles northwest of Des Moines. There, they opened another bakery and enjoyed the fruits of their modest but consistent business. While his parents adjusted well to the move, Robert found it rather difficult.

He was a shy child and the big moves during his formative years only encouraged him to retreat further into his shell. To make matters worse. He developed acne at an early age and spoke with a terrible stutter. His classmates were particularly cruel and taunted him constantly about his speech disorder.

Robert wanted desperately to defend himself, but his stutter made it almost impossible for him to speak, especially when he was worked up for years. He was forced to swallow his anger and remain silent, which only isolated him more.

Robert's father certainly didn't make things any better. He refused to acknowledge that his son needed help.

Chris was a devout Christian who believed that any hardship could be overcome with enough faith, discipline and determination, rather than sending Robert to speech therapy. He put him to work at the bakery.

Chris was confident that Robert would conquer his stutter through a healthy combination of sheer will and daily interaction with customers. The strategy was a colossal failure.

Robert simply didn't have the tools to address his speech disorder on his own. Now, in addition to feeling like an outcast at school, he felt like a disappointment to his father.

Dennis is going to take over and the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show.

Thanks, Greg. The relationship between stuttering and mental health has been widely studied by professionals across the world.

Statistically, people who stutter are at a higher risk of developing social anxiety disorder than people who speak without an impediment.

The DSM five notes that social anxiety disorder is a persistent and excessive fear of being humiliated, scrutinized or negatively evaluated in social situations.

Only around seven percent of the general population experience this disorder.

But among adults who stutter, that number jumps to 60 percent.

Dr Kylie Smith, a speech pathologist and behavioural therapist, asserts that young people who stutter develop pessimistic attitudes toward communication because of consistently negative social interactions.

The bullying Robert experienced at school, combined with his father's belief that he could simply will his stutter away, created the perfect storm. Over time, Robert's self-esteem diminished, his social anxiety disorder grew, and his anger at the world festered.

High school proved to be especially difficult for Robert as other kids started to date. Robert was acutely aware of his own romantic prospects or lack thereof.

The girls at school were particularly callous towards him, always rejecting any of his attempts at romance.

When he graduated in 1957, Robert was desperate to get out of Iowa. He immediately enlisted in the Army Reserve and reported to basic training in Fort Dix, New Jersey. When Robert and the rest of the recruits weren't training, they ventured out to explore the nearby cities. It was Robert's first taste of a more cosmopolitan life. It was also where he had his first sexual experience with a sex worker. Robert found it easy to approach sex workers. Not only were they nicer to him than girls his own age, he likely felt a sense of superiority while being with them.

As a result, his social anxiety seemed to disappear while he was with sex workers, and his stutter may have even improved.

He felt emboldened to ask sex workers to do things in bed that he would never ask of a girlfriend or wife. The warm embrace of these women bolstered Robert's confidence, and his first 18 months in the reserves flew by. In early 1959, 20 year old Robert returned home to Pocahontas, Iowa, on reserve status. He got an apartment of his own and resumed work at his father's bakery. During his spare time, he worked as a drill instructor for the Pocahontas Junior Police.

The junior police was a group of 8th through 11th grade boys who are trained in first aid, fire prevention and law enforcement. Robert loved being in charge of the boys and relished teaching them all he knew, especially when it came to weaponry. He also managed to find a girlfriend. Phoebe Padget was a year younger than Robert and the daughter of the town chiropractor. Phoebe wasn't considered conventionally attractive and often spent most of her time alone, just like Robert. The coupling made sense to everyone.

But even though Robert had his own place, steady work and a stable relationship, he still harbored resentment for the trauma he experienced growing up.

He began spending more time with the older kids from the Pocahontas junior police because he was in a position of power. He found it easy to talk to the boys who didn't intimidate him like people his own age. Robert frequently invited the teens over to his apartment to talk about guns, hunting and how much he hated both the school and the town.

Robert took a particular shine to one teen whose parents owned a jewelers near the bakery due to his association with Robert. This boy's taken strides to conceal his identity from the public, so we'll call him Max.

When Robert's father realized that his son was overworked, he decided to relieve him of some hours so that he could spend more time with the junior police. In turn, Chris hired 16 year old Max to take over some of Robert's duties.

Whenever Max manned the register, Robert would visit the bakery to vent about his life and childhood. Max thought Robert was a bit strange, but he enjoyed having the company.

One day, Robert surprised Max by telling him that he wanted to burn down the barn where all the school buses were kept just to see if he could get away with it. Max, who looked up to his older friend and mentor, agreed to help.

On December 7th, 1960, the pair set out Robert arranged for Max to meet him at the bakery that night, where they carried out some chores to establish an alibi. Then they hopped into Robert's car and drove over to the barn.

While Max operated as a lookout, Robert climbed a ladder inside the barn, poured several gallons of gasoline everywhere and ignited the fire. Then they hurried back to the bakery.

As soon as townspeople noticed the smoke, they called the fire department. Although firefighters arrived in record time, the barn burned down completely, taking all three school buses with it after they doused the last of the flames and allowed the charred remains of the barn to cool, the fire department began to pack up and leave.

One of the men shook his head at the destruction as he wrapped a hose onto the side of a fire truck. It was Robert Hanssen as a volunteer firefighter. He had dutifully reported to the scene and attempted to put out the fire that he himself had started.

In the aftermath of the clear arson attack, authorities opened an investigation. However, Robert felt untouchable thanks to his carefully crafted alibi and his work with the fire department, perhaps feeling like he was free to carry on with life as normal, he proposed to his girlfriend, Phoebe.

Delighted, she said, yes. So as authorities searched for a lead, the happy couple started planning for their big day. Robert was relaxed. There were no loose ends to lead police to his door. Well, except one.

Coming up, Robert learns a valuable lesson about trust. Hi, listeners, it's Vanessa.

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Now back to the story. In March of 1961, 22 year old Robert Hanssen was busy planning his wedding to Phoebe Padgett. Three months earlier, he'd burned down the barn, housing the town's school buses as a way of getting back at the town of Pocahontas, Iowa. And while he was confident he'd gotten away with the arson, his 16 year old accomplice, Max, couldn't handle the guilt on March 29th.

Max placed a call to the police and told them everything. Relieved to finally unburden himself. He told the cops that the whole thing was Robert's idea. Who'd convinced him to participate? The police immediately charged Robert with arson.

The news outraged Robert's parents. They were convinced that Max was trying to frame their son and hired the best attorney they could find to represent him. Phoebe was also sure of Robert's innocence. But just in case the upcoming trial didn't go his way, the pair decided to get married sooner.

Three days after Robert's arrest, he and Phoebe married at the local Lutheran church. Before the ceremony, Phoebe made Robert swear to her that he didn't set the fire.

She warned him that she would divorce him if she ever learned he was guilty. Looking his bride in the eye, Robert lied and professed his innocence in spite of his insistence that he was being set up.

Robert pled guilty in order to avoid a trial where he might face a harsher punishment. In exchange, he was sentenced to three years in the Alamosa State Penitentiary. Even after the deal, his family still believed that he didn't commit the crime.

Soon after he arrived at the penitentiary, Robert began meeting regularly with the prison psychiatrist. Robert enjoyed the sessions and relished the chance to confess his crimes under the protection of doctor patient confidentiality, he said. I guess I burned down the bus barn because I hated the school with a divine passion. I would do whatever I could think of to get back at that monster school that did Bob Hansen a personal wrong.

It didn't take the psychiatrist long to see that Robert was obsessed with getting back at everyone who had ever hurt him. Because of this, he proclaimed that Robert suffered from an infantile personality.

According to a 2006 article by Dr. Lewis Hill. Those who have an infantile personality are people who have failed to mature in their attitudes, manners, techniques and aspirations. It's not that they regress into a childlike frame of mind as they get older. It's that they never progressed from it when they grew up. Like children, adults with infantile personalities have little tolerance for frustration and a desperate need to be loved. They also display a tendency to lean on visceral reactions instead of verbal communication to indicate when they're upset.

Dr. Hill asserts that this particular disorder flares up when the infantile person feels they have lost control over an individual or a circumstance. This loss of control forces them to reconcile with his or her own interpersonal inadequacies.

Control was something Robert relished. So what happened next was an unpleasant surprise. After six months with the prison psychiatrist, he was stunned to learn that their sessions were not, in fact protected by doctor patient confidentiality.

When Phoebe heard about her husband's confession, she promptly filed for divorce and as Robert Felt, has carefully cultivated life slipping through his hands, he was livid.

He immediately clammed up and refused to speak to the psychiatrist again. Then he got to work. Becoming a model prisoner, he filed records for the prison staff, wrote letters for inmates who couldn't read or write, and even offered religious counseling.

He also arranged for speech therapy treatment through the nearby University of Iowa, which greatly improved his ability to speak confidently after his next psychiatric workup in late 1962. He was given a glowing report. The authorities were confident that he had been rehabilitated.

While Robert certainly displayed symptoms of an infantile personality, his effort to regain power over his reputation was calculated and executed with the intelligence of a very capable adult, his careful planning paid off.

A few months later, in May of 1963, 24 year old Robert was paroled for good behavior. He had served just over half of his three year sentence.

Robert opted to take his parole in Minnesota, where his parents now lived. When word got around Pocahontas that Robert had admitted to his crimes, Chris and Edna were humiliated. They sold their bakery and left for a fresh start in a new town, although they were devastated by Robert's criminal act.

Activity, his early release convinced them that their son had turned over a new leaf. They hired him to perform odd jobs around the resort they just purchased, and he spent the summer painting boats, building docks and guiding fishing parties around the lake that same summer.

Robert met a 20 year old woman named Darla Henriksen, who worked cleaning cabins at the resort. The two spent all of their free time roaming the grounds together and fell quickly in love.

Robert regaled Darlow with stories of his traumatic adolescence, playing out her sympathies and drawing her closer to him. At the end of the summer, he proposed, and she gave him a tentative yes. She was still a student at the University of Iowa and she wanted to finish her degree before they tied the knot.

So at the end of the summer, Darlow went back to college to study education, and Robert moved down to Chicago to take a course in cake decorating. But after a couple of months of long distance, the two realized that they couldn't be apart for much longer.

In the fall of 1963, Robert and Darla got married and moved into a trailer park in Bloomington, Minnesota. Darla transferred to the University of Minnesota to finish her degree, and Robert got a job as the foreman of a bakery. At first, Roberts seemed like an excellent employee, but at some point he started hiding items around the back of the shop, the staff discovered radios, small appliances and sporting goods tucked behind shelves and stashed under boxes. At first, they figured that these were items Robert couldn't keep at home because the trailer he and Darla shared was too small.

Eventually, Roberts colleague suspected that he was actually stealing the items and stashing them at work. One day, a fellow employee dragged their boss to where Robert's car was parked and pointed out two stolen bicycles lying on his back seat.

With the locks still on the wheels, Robert's boss decided not to bother him about it. They seemed to believe that Robert was a great worker with a lovely wife and a solid reputation. If he stole a radio or a couple of bikes, he must have had a good reason for it.

However, a couple of months later, that good opinion shifted. In the spring of 1965, the bakery owner got to work early and caught Robert redhanded as he rifled through the desk drawer where the cash was usually kept.

He fired Robert on the spot, but Robert couldn't care less. He already had a new job lined up at another bakery, which was likely why he felt bold enough to try and steal that day.

Unfortunately, Robert didn't last long at his new job either. He had a hard time controlling his apparent kleptomania, and it made him feel ashamed, possibly taking a cue from his parents. He decided the best way forward was to move cities and start over completely.

As an avid outdoorsman and an amateur hunter, Robert felt drawn to Alaska. So in 1967, when Darla finished her degree, Robert convinced her to move to Anchorage. He promised that they could escape his troubled past and begin a new life.

Together with that, 28 year old Robert and 24 year old Darla packed up and moved west, hoping a better future lay ahead.

Although it's traditionally difficult to find work in Alaska, Robert and Darla came equipped with very useful trades. Robert worked as a baker and cake decorator for the local Safeway bakery, and Dahla got a job teaching. For several years, the Hanssens were a picture of domestic bliss. Darla was a fixture at the Central Lutheran Church, and Robert made some of his first real friends after joining the Alaska State Archery Association in 1971, when Robert was 32.

He and Darla welcomed their first child, a baby girl, as their family expanded with the second child. They bought a house and Robert got a second job.

While Darla was overwhelmed balancing motherhood and teaching, Roberts seemed carefree when not at either of his two jobs. He spent most of his time hunting with friends or out on the town.

If Darla felt any inkling of resentment, she never showed it. She was more dedicated to her faith than anything else. To her, a good Lutheran wife was supposed to respect and obey her husband no matter what.

Her trust in Robert was so absolute that Darla never questioned where he went after work on weeknights.

Even if she had asked, Robert would have lied to her about his whereabouts. Most nights he drove to anchorages red light district and watched sex workers and dancers as they headed to and from work. It wasn't long before he reportedly started picking up women and paying them to perform oral sex on him in his car, something he would never ask Darla to do.

But on November 15th, 1971, it wasn't a dancer or a sex worker that caught Robert's eye. Susie Shepard was an 18 year old receptionist who drove through the red light district on her way home from work while stopped at a traffic light. She looked over and politely smiled at Roberts, sitting in the car next to her.

But Robert didn't take Susie's smile as a casual, friendly hello. He saw it as an invitation. When the signal changed, he let Susie pull in front and followed her home. He watched the teen let herself in and waited a few minutes since he had only been home for a few minutes when she heard the knock at her front door.

When she opened it, she thought she recognized the man on her doorstep. But she couldn't quite figure out from where.

Robert pretended to be looking for someone he knew, then made a clumsy attempt to start a conversation with Susie. He told her he was new to Anchorage and hadn't met many people yet. Then he asked her out on a date, creeped out and flustered. Susie told him no and gently closed the door in his face.

Robert stood outside Susie's apartment for a moment, seething. She had rejected him, just like all the girls he knew in high school. But he was older now. He was smarter. He had overcome his stutter, and he knew he deserved more respect than that.

So he made a plan to come back. He was going to make this pretty girl respect him, whatever the cost.

Coming up, Robert returns with one thing on his mind. Now back to the story.

In 1971, 32 year old Robert Hanssen misinterpreted a friendly smile from 18 year old Susie Shepard and followed her home. When she turned down his advances, he felt disrespected, which for some reason ignited an obsession in him.

He started watching suicide every day, figuring out her schedule a week after their first encounter. Robert sat idling in the parking lot of her apartment complex, nervously fidgeting with a revolver.

It was 5:00 in the morning about the time that Susie left for the day, and Robert waited with bated breath, keeping an eye on her door. Fifteen minutes went by before Robert saw Susie's car pull into the lot. She had just driven her roommate to work and was coming home to change.

Robert watched Susie walk through the lot, and before she could make it to her door, she confronted her, pointing a gun in her face. She screamed and he ordered her to shut up. She screamed again and he shook the revolver, hissing that he would blow her brains out if she made another sound.

Luckily, a neighbor had heard Susie's screams and poked her head out the window to ask if Susie was OK. When the woman got no response, she called the police. Then she yelled out her window again, letting Susie and her assailant know that the authorities were on their way before Robert could figure out what to do. A siren sounded nearby, and it seemed his decision was made for him. He slid the gun back into his pocket and walked into the nearby forest, leaving Susie and his car in the lot.

Two hours later, the police spotted Robert walking through the snow on the side of the road.

Robert tried to tell the officers that he had been driving and felt woozy. So he pulled over and took a walk to get some fresh air. They didn't believe him and threw him into the back of their squad car. When they got back to Susie's apartment complex, she confirmed that Robert was the man who'd threatened her.

Robert was taken to the Anchorage police headquarters to answer questions about the incident. During the interview, Robert Diploid, a strategy he had concocted during his 1962 stint in prison. It was a simple tactic. Robert pretended he didn't remember a thing, claiming that he often had memory blackouts. Then he adopted a mask of faux concern and said, if I was involved, I need help.

A preliminary hearing for the charge occurred shortly after his arrest. The prosecutor wanted Robert to be held with bail, but his defense attorney managed to get him released on his own recognizance. Part of the reason for this was Robert's ability to make himself into what he believed others wanted him to be because Robert was perceived as an upstanding member of the Anchorage community.

The judge allowed his release under the stipulation that he begins sessions with Dr. Ray Langdon, a psychiatrist. A trial was scheduled for the following January.

Robert immediately started seeing Dr. Langdon and at first he convinced the doctor that he did indeed suffer from random memory loss episodes. Dr. Langdon believed that Robert's criminal activity stemmed from his amnesia and that he may be completely dissociating during these events.

It's unclear whether Robert was ever diagnosed with any mental or personality disorders, but his behavior and manipulation tactics suggest psychopathic tendencies. In the past, psychopaths have been known to manipulate their therapists and psychiatrists the same way they manipulate everyone else. Psychologists at Dalhousie University discovered that these professionals within the mental health and prison systems are no less immune to being fooled by psychopaths than the rest of us. Because psychopaths are so skilled at deception, it's extremely difficult to know when they're telling the truth.

They adopt masks of sanity and convince everyone around them that despite ample evidence to the contrary, they're actually perfectly fine. Psychologist Perpetua Neoh takes this one step further and asserts that psychopaths are particularly good at manipulating their therapists because they only partake in therapy for selfish reasons. They have no desire to actually examine their defects. They only want to make themselves look stable. Robert had already tricked his entire community of Anchorage into believing he was a stand up gentlemen, and he made his psychiatrist think that any time he behaved otherwise was due to circumstances beyond his control.

But in truth, Robert was more in control of his life than ever. His strategy to avoid consequences for his actions had worked particularly well, the best part about the tactic, however, was that it allowed him to keep his freedom. Robert wasn't stuck in a jail cell, reflecting on what he'd done to Susie. Instead, he was out in the red light district every night looking for his next victim. And in the early hours of December 19th, 1971, he found her.

Laura, as we'll call her, was an 18 year old sex worker who stopped by a 24 hour cafe for something to drink, she ordered a cup of tea, then told her waitress she was going to warm up her car in the parking lot before her drive home.

Outside, Laura braced herself against the wind, started her car and made her way back across the lot to the cafe before she got to the door. Roberts stopped her and tried to start a conversation. Laura was used to being accosted by strange men and brushed him off not once, but twice. After the second time, Robert got angry, he pulled a gun out of his pocket and shoved it into her back, forcing her into his Pontiac. Once they made it out of the city, Robert pulled over and used leather shoe laces to bind Laura's wrists behind her back, satisfied that she wasn't going anywhere.

He drove for a while longer, as he did.

He frequently glanced at Laura's breasts through her shirt, then pulled over again to ask if he could rip off her bra.

Considering the abduction, Laura was surprised by his politeness. She answered him honestly, telling him she didn't want him to because the bra was expensive, compromising.

He told her to take it off herself and to remove her other clothes along with it. He figured she was less likely to run away if she was naked, fearing for her life.

Laura complied.

Robert drove on for another 80 miles with his nude captive, laying on the backseat when he reached the Kenai Peninsula. He pulled into a motel. He threw a coat over Laura and forced her out of the car and into a room.

Once inside, he tied her to the bedpost and raped her.

Afterwards, Robert slept for an hour or so and then took Laura back out to the car and started driving back toward Anchorage. At first, Laura thought he would let her go once they got home. But suddenly Robert made a U-turn, steering his car into the wilderness.

After a while, the snow was so thick that the roads became impassable. Roberts stopped on the edge of a large snowbank, got out of the car and opened her door. Then he pointed his gun at Laura and told her to run. Terrified, Laura dropped to her knees and pleaded with her kidnapper. If he spared her life, she promised to never tell a soul what he did.

During Laura's impassioned plea, Robert wasn't looking at her.

He stared straight ahead into the trees alongside the road. After a minute, he pulled her up by the arm and shoved her back in the car. He told her that he'd seen something through the trees and was worried that we're being watched.

He drove back to Anchorage, dwelling on what he was going to do with Laura when they got back to the city, Laura reiterated her promise to never tell anyone what had happened.

She said she hated cops and she didn't trust them enough to find Robert anyway.

Finally, she suggested that he look at her license and take down her name and address as insurance. Robert liked this idea, but rather than keeping Laura's information, he wrote down her parents names. Instead, he told her that if she ever spoke up about him, he would kill her family. Then he let her go.

Laura stayed true to her word, sort of. As soon as Robert dropped her off, she called her father and her brothers and told them portions of what happened to her.

But she also made them swear that they wouldn't tell anyone about the incident.

They agreed, which was particularly difficult for Laura's father, who was an Anchorage police officer. He wanted Robert behind bars, but he also feared for the safety of his family. Plus, he was hesitant to reveal his daughter's occupation to his co-workers for fear that they would judge him or even arrest her.

Even though Robert displayed a good deal of trust that Laura would stay quiet, it seems like he still feared she would turn on him and he wasn't ready for that. Three days after he kidnapped Laura, he allegedly abducted an 18 year old woman will call Melody. Robert was never convicted of Melody's murder, but similarities between her case and Laura's make a strong argument for his involvement for our purposes will tell the story as we believe it most likely happened.

Melody was last seen about 9:00 p.m. on December 22nd, 1971, when she left her house to buy a soda. Her brother's assumed she had gone from the store to a babysitting job, so they didn't report Melody missing until the next day.

But Melody wasn't babysitting that night. Instead, she was abducted by Robert, who drove her 16 miles south to Macu Creek in Chugach State Park, just like he did to Laura.

Robert tied Melody's hands behind your back, stripped her from the waist down and sexually assaulted her. Then he slashed her chest with a knife. Whether this was part of the thrill for Robert or an attempt to keep Melody from escaping is unclear.

In any event, Melody managed to break free and started running across the frozen parkland. But the snow was about three feet deep and her feet were bare. Her hands were also bound together, making it very difficult for her to move.

She made it about fifty feet before she fell to her knees.

Desperate to live, Melody scrambled into the woods and took cover beneath a bush. Her heart raced listening to Robert's car, circling through the. Has he tried to find her, but eventually he gave up? Unfortunately, the temperature plummeted as Melody remained crouched in her hiding place, too terrified to move. Two days later, hunters discovered her body in the snow.

She had frozen to death. When the news got out about Melody's death, Robert wasn't worried no one had seen him pick her up and he was certain that the park was completely deserted that night. In his mind, it was probably better that he hadn't caught her the way she died and left more questions than answers.

So Robert went about his day to day life as normal, playing the role of doting father and husband, working at the bakery and attending church on Christmas. It was easy for him to act happy throughout the holidays.

He'd essentially gotten away with murder.

Laura, however, was not having a merry Christmas. She read about Melody's death in the papers and felt sure that the man who had abducted her was also responsible for Melody's death. Overcome with guilt, she went to her father for help and told him she wanted to tell the authorities everything.

So on December 27, 1971, Laura marched bravely into the Anchorage police headquarters to discuss what had happened to her, even though it meant revealing her job as a sex worker, which she knew brought shame upon her family. She believed that being honest was the right thing to do.

After telling the police about her kidnapping and assault, Laura identified Robert Hanssen from his mug shot.

Then she looked directly at the officers and said, I'm here because that guy is probably a premeditated, cold blooded killer. And if you've got a young girl who was killed around the same time and in the same area, then I believe it was Hanssen who killed her.

Given that Robert was still awaiting trial for the assault of Suzy Hebert, Laura's accusation was more than enough to charge him. So as Laura worked to give the detectives the evidence, they needed a squad car headed to Robert Hanssens House. They were ready to arrest the monster hiding in plain sight. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers.

We'll be back soon with Part two of Robert Hanssen story, where we'll explore the sadistic cat and mouse games played by the butcher baker of Alaska.

For more information on Robert Hanssen. Amongst the many sources we used, we found Fair Game by Bernado Duclos and Butcher Baker by Walter Gilmore and Leland E. Hale. Extremely helpful to our research.

You can find all episodes of serial killers and all other originals from podcast for free on Spotify. Will see you next time.

Have a killer week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from podcast executive producers include Max and Ron Cuddler Sound Design by Michael Motian with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden and Bruce Kaktovik. This episode of Serial Killers was written by L.A. Reid with writing assistants by Abigail Cannon, fact checking by Anya Bailey and research by Brian Peteris and Chelsea Wood. Serial Killers stars Greg Poulsen and Vanessa Richardson.

Listeners, there's no better time than right now to open your heart to the hit Spotify original from podcast Blind Dating every Wednesday. Find out if personality alone is enough to make a love connection. Follow blind dating, free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.