The Sick Ripper

WEBVTT

1
00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:29.960
Let's begin this story by shedding some
light on the dark past of William Devon

2
00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:36.719
Howell born March twenty seventh, nineteen
seventy in Hampton, Virginia. Howell had

3
00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:41.240
a happy early childhood, but by
the age of twelve, Howell's mother became

4
00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:46.399
sick, and this started spiraling him
out of control. He was depressed and

5
00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:52.600
started drinking very young. He had
multiple incarcerations for drunk driving and began picking

6
00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:56.840
up sex workers in the middle of
the night. Even eventually, when he

7
00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:00.719
became married and had children, he
continued higher sex workers for their services.

8
00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:07.560
During this time, his view of
women became pretty binary. He only saw

9
00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:14.319
good girls like his mother and bad
girls like these sex workers, and seemingly

10
00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:17.959
because of this, he crossed the
line and jumped off into the deep end.

11
00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.719
In a gruesome spree that spanned two
thousand and three to two thousand seven,

12
00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:27.159
Howell claimed the lives of seven people. He saw each of his victims

13
00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:34.120
as helpless, at risk, and
vulnerable objects to be easily discarded. He

14
00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:38.200
never saw them as real human beings
who were loved or cared for. Majority

15
00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:44.519
of his victims came from either addiction
or street working, or both, which

16
00:01:44.519 --> 00:01:49.120
made him see them as worthless,
and that in particular seems to be a

17
00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:53.400
pattern in the minds of serial killers
who need a reason to go about their

18
00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.719
predatory ways. This was the same
emo of another serial killer I recently told

19
00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:02.959
you about in the construct Killer episode
of Samuel Little. Both of these men

20
00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:08.560
targeted women that they felt didn't matter
to society. They wouldn't be missed because

21
00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:13.479
they probably didn't have a family that
cared for them. In both cases,

22
00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:19.479
they were wrong. Melanie Ruth Camelini, a twenty nine year old single mother

23
00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:24.280
of two from Seymour, was the
Sick rippers first known victim. According to

24
00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:29.520
her family, she was known to
have a substance abuse problem and would disappear

25
00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:34.479
sporadically, and so when Melanie left
to work on the streets one evening and

26
00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:38.759
did not return the next day,
it didn't automatically raise any flags. However,

27
00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:45.319
instead of her usual disappearances, this
time she'd met Howell and couldn't escape.

28
00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:50.680
Howell assaulted her multiple times over the
course of twelve hours before strangling her

29
00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:54.000
and disposing of her body. Camelini
is the only victim Howell claims to have

30
00:02:54.080 --> 00:03:00.319
struggled with murdering and that was all
due to her being a mother. His

31
00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:06.039
spree continued after Melanie to Maryland Gonzalez, another mother with a drug problem who

32
00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:09.639
worked the streets. By his second
killing, Howell knew when he picked up

33
00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:15.080
Gonzalez one evening that he would be
killing her. Gonzalez disappeared on the evening

34
00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:21.479
of May fifteenth and was reported missing
by her mother thirteen days later. Like

35
00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:25.199
his first victim, Howell spent the
first twelve hours with her, assaulting her

36
00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:29.599
in the back of his van until
he was finished and disposed of her.

37
00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:36.120
After Gonzalez was Janice Roberts, a
forty four year old transgender woman. Roberts

38
00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.680
was last seen alive June eighteenth,
two thousand three, when she was seen

39
00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:45.400
getting to Howell's blue van in Weathersfield. Only a few days later, she

40
00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:51.800
was reported missing. Howel's routine was
consistent with each victim. He'd abduct them

41
00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:55.039
and one way or the other,
sexually assault them, and then dispose of

42
00:03:55.080 --> 00:04:01.319
their strangled body. Janice Roberts was
different, and Howell realized she was transgender.

43
00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:06.159
He didn't continue with the assault and
torture. He just ended her life

44
00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:12.800
right then and there. Nilsa Arismindi
was the fourth victim of the Sick Ripper.

45
00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:16.720
On July thirty first, two thousand
and three, Arismindi was reported missing

46
00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:21.319
almost immediately. Her absence was of
high concern for her family, and it

47
00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:27.120
helped launch the police into action even
quicker. During the report, her sister

48
00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:30.639
said that she was a frequent drug
abuser and sex worker in the Weathersfield area,

49
00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:34.519
and drug abusers normally fell off the
radar when it came to the police

50
00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:39.800
following through with missing reports, but
because of her family, that wasn't the

51
00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:44.600
case this time around. The murder
of Arismindi wasn't one he had planned on.

52
00:04:45.079 --> 00:04:47.560
Howell had no plans on killing her
at first. It was only after

53
00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:53.920
her refusal to finish off a sexual
favor did he impulsively decide to dispose of

54
00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:58.600
her. It was quick and that
gave her no room to potentially escape,

55
00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:02.319
and the police were all over this
one. In his personal life, by

56
00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:06.319
this time, Howell's wife had petitioned
to have full custody of their children.

57
00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:13.120
The entire legal debate launched Howell deeper
into his own darkness, and at once

58
00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:17.800
he was more disassociated from his own
moral compass. His killings became more frequent.

59
00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:21.800
During a ten week frame in early
fall, he took the lives of

60
00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:27.839
Mary Jane Menard, Diane Cusack,
and Joy Villene Martinez, all of which

61
00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:31.240
happened in the back parking lot of
a McDonald's, located extremely close to his

62
00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:36.759
selected burial ground. All of his
victims struggled for hours against this monster with

63
00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:45.560
no conscience. For years, these
seven disappearances were just that disappearances. Yet

64
00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:49.759
the investigation into Howell's crimes finally reached
a breakthrough in two thousand and seven when

65
00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:55.680
police discovered the remains of three victims
buried in a shallow grave behind the shopping

66
00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:00.319
plaza off the Berlin Turnpike. They
found all the evidence they needed to put

67
00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:03.480
an end to what he was doing. A guy walking through the woods came

68
00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:08.959
across a skull. After a call
to the police, the entire area was

69
00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:13.360
blocked off for investigation. At first, they only found the evidence of those

70
00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:17.360
three bodies, all unidentified Jane does. In two thousand and nine, two

71
00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:21.720
New Britain detectives took two of the
skulls, Jane Doe number one and Jane

72
00:06:21.720 --> 00:06:28.240
Doe number two, to Quantico Virginia, A specialized unit there used the remains

73
00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:31.759
to create models of what they believed
the victims to look like. Once completed,

74
00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:36.199
the images were released in hopes of
a family member or friend recognizing the

75
00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:42.399
faces and coming forward. From this, Jane Doe number one was identified as

76
00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:47.560
Diane Cusack. Soon after Jane Doe
number two was identified as joy Velin Martinez.

77
00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:53.800
Police still believed Howell too have committed
more murders than just those, so

78
00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:58.240
they continued to search in that area
for more remains, but nothing came up.

79
00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:01.399
In a stroke of luck, Howell
had been charged in the disappearance of

80
00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:06.160
Arasmendi due to the seizing of his
van. Inside the van, they discovered

81
00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:11.519
DNA evidence linking him to her,
even though her body was yet to be

82
00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:15.959
found. He was sentenced to fifteen
years behind bars, and during this time

83
00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:20.360
he confessed to an inmate, Jonathan
Mills, about murdering Joyveling Martinez and six

84
00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:25.399
others. He bragged about it,
even going so far as drawing him a

85
00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:30.199
map of the shopping center and his
burial grounds behind it, marking the exact

86
00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:34.439
places where the victims were buried.
By now, it was twenty fourteen and

87
00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:39.600
the burial sights of the remaining victims
had been announced to the public, it

88
00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:44.800
only took a few weeks to positively
identify each one. The police put their

89
00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:48.800
case together one step at a time, going through rounds of evidence, interviews,

90
00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:55.279
and timelines in order to secure the
tightest case against William Devon Howell the

91
00:07:55.319 --> 00:08:01.279
Sick Ripper, and in two seventeen, a judge sentenced him to six consecutive

92
00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:07.800
life sentences after he pleaded guilty to
the murders of Cusack Martinez, Menard Gonzalez,

93
00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:13.399
Camelini, and Roberts. During his
sentencing, he cried and apologized for

94
00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:18.519
his monstrous ways. He went on
to beg for the death penalty, but

95
00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:22.560
his request was not honored. To
this day, he is still incarcerated and

96
00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:28.040
expressed remorse for his own predicament,
but no remorse for the victims and their

97
00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:41.720
families. That's ten Minute Murder for
today, brief and binge able true crime.

98
00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:46.519
I'm Joe, I'm the host,
and thank you so much for taking

99
00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:50.200
the time to listen to the podcast
today. If you're new to Ten Minute

100
00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:54.200
Murder, welcome, make yourself comfortable
and make sure you subscribe wherever you like

101
00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:58.320
to listen to podcasts. I assume
it's wherever you're listening. Now hit subscribe

102
00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:03.000
and will make sure that you always
find the podcast easily. Plus it makes

103
00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:05.759
it simple to catch up on all
the back episodes. And a reminder if

104
00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:09.639
you only listen on YouTube, there
are a bunch of episodes on YouTube,

105
00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:13.840
but so many more on podcast listening
apps. All of the episodes are not

106
00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:16.639
posted there, so if you run
out of episodes you want to listen to

107
00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:20.399
more, go to Apple, Spotify, Audible, any of those places that

108
00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:24.759
have podcasts, and you'll find a
whole bunch more. Connect with ten minute

109
00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.000
Murder on social media and see the
pictures of what we talk about here on

110
00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:31.799
the podcast. Never gross and graphic
stuff though. If you like this episode,

111
00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:35.519
leave a rating and review any place
that that's possible, and your positive

112
00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:41.600
feedback is very much appreciated. Very
quickly, let's read an email question submitted

113
00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:43.279
to me if you'd like to,
by the way, email me a question

114
00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:48.000
or anything at all, literally anything. Joe at ten minute murder dot com

115
00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:52.399
is my email address. Hi Joe, my friends and I stumbled on your

116
00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:56.039
podcast and have been hooked ever since. We were wondering if you do an

117
00:09:56.039 --> 00:10:00.960
episode about the bedsit murders. It's
a very interesting case. I think others

118
00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.639
would think so too. Btw,
I'm one of the weirdos that used to

119
00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:07.679
ask what you like to drink while
doing episodes. I haven't asked in a

120
00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:11.000
while, So, Hey, Joe, what are you drinking? You're the

121
00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:16.080
best? Lisa Michelle and Michelle in
Wilmington's thank you for the email. Lisa,

122
00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:20.320
Michelle and Michelle in Wilmington. I
don't know what state that's in,

123
00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:24.000
North Carolina Delaware. Those are the
two that I know about. There could

124
00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.559
be another one that I'm not sure, but I really appreciate you taking the

125
00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:30.279
time to email. And I've been
sitting on this one for a little while

126
00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:35.840
because I've been taking time to look
up bedsit murders and how to approach that

127
00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:41.080
story. And the good news is
coming next the next episode should be that

128
00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:43.639
story. And I totally forgot that
people used to ask what I was drinking

129
00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:48.559
while doing this podcast. And yeah, I think you are the original person

130
00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:50.360
that started asking me, and then
more people ask me. But it was

131
00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:56.720
around the time when coke zeros that
used to be my favorite drink, they

132
00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:00.799
switched to red cans, and I
decided in a very petty move on my

133
00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:05.120
part not to buy the red cans, And then I realized that diet pepsi

134
00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:07.960
was usually like a dollar cheaper,
so I started buying diet pepsi. So

135
00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.639
that trend has continued to now.
I'm not drinking that right now, right

136
00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:16.240
this minute, I'm drinking a Canada
dry ginger ale zero sugar. And me

137
00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:20.000
and a friend of mine were talking
a few days ago about ginger rale.

138
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.519
I was talking about how much I
like just drinking ginger ale and he was

139
00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:28.200
like, that's not a drink,
that's an ingredient. You put ginger ale

140
00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.279
in things, And maybe that's true, but it's fine on its own.

141
00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:35.399
There's no caffeine in there. And
I do eventually need to go to sleep.

142
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.879
Okay, that's gonna do it.
That is today's ten minute Murder episode.

143
00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.399
Thank you so much for listening.