Case No. S73
The Serial Killer 'Apache Joe'

The Brief

On 31 December 1991 the serial killer who would be dubbed Apache Joe by the media killed for the first time. The case was first investigated by Special Agent Walter Crondheim who used his political connections to keep him on the case for five years. Just when he believed he had made a breakthrough he was removed and replaced by a team headed up by Eric Vitrano and Nicole Lavin. Very little progress has been made from that day to this.

Jane Munroe was Apache Joe's tenth victim and the only one to survive. It was this ordeal that convinced her to join the FBI. Jane's obsession with bringing the killer to justice has done her no favours over the years, but now she is in the mid-west evidence response team she has the opportunity and the support to crack this case. A. Jack Eisenstein gave the team permission to investigate this case as long as it did not interfere with their existing case-load, and their involvement could never be proved.

The following is a summary of the information known to date as well as theories of Apache Joe's motivations and patterns. This investigation is ongoing.

Summary of Killings

Below is a summary of all the victims of Apache Joe along with dates and locations of the murders. Victims 36 to 40 (in red below) have not yet been attacked. The identity and location of victims 37 and 38 were predicted by the psychic Valerie Hudson. The dates of victims 36, 39 and 40 were calculated by the work of the Midwest evidence response team, notably Elise Steiger.

The Victims

All the victims share the following characteristic: They are female aged between 16 and 25 years from a well educated background (either professionals, college students or high achievers at school) and who have not yet had any children. None of his victims are black or Amerindian. All are abducted and (if Jane's case is representative) held for two days during which time they are repeatedly raped. After this period they are driven to another location where they are scalped with a flint-headed axe. Their throat is then slit.

All the victims are direct descendant of soldiers who fought in the battle at Fort Routt during the Texas-Mexico war (1835-36). Joe chooses the surname from the monument to the dead that can be found at Eagle Pass in Texas (where Fort Routt once stood). Four Texan regiments fought in the battle. Joe chooses a name from each regiment in turn and marks that particular descendent for murder. It is therefore possible to predict which regiment the next name is going to come from. After having killed all the descendants of the Texan and Mexican officers, Joe is working his way through through the rank and file, seemingly at random.

Potential Victims

With the help of psychic, Valerie Hudson and genealogist, Chris Walcott the mid-west team were able to narrow down Joe's potential victims in Round Rock, Temple and Eagle Pass. These potentials are:

Round Rock: Laura and Leena Dale, sixteen year old sisters living at the same address.

Temple: Melanie Deeson (20), Hannah Webber (18), Lydia Holmes (16), Hazel Abner (24), Lydia Abner (24). The latter two are couins, but they do not share an address.

Eagle Pass: Maria Holmes (17) and Liane Holmes (22) are sisters living at the same address, they are also cousins of Lydia Holmes from Temple. Also at risk are Suzie Vincent (16) and Rebecca Deeson (19).

The Locations

Apache Joe chooses his locations based on two criteria. Firstly they must be the site of an old Texas Ranger station. Secondly they must be at an intersection of three of the four major travel routes (air, rail, road or river). Thirty locations in Texas match this criteria, and Joe is determined to murder at all of them. When his tenth victim, Jane Munroe, escaped this spoilt his pattern. He determined to revisit Houston and all the locations before Jane so that he could have a clean sweep with no mishaps. This is how the evidence response team was able to predict that he would return to Roundrock and Temple. It has been guessed that the last murder will take place in Eagle Pass because, as the site of Fort Routt, it seems most appropriate. If Joe succeeds with his last murder it is unlikely the killings will stop. Joe will probably just change his pattern.

The Patterns

Special Agent Todd O'Connell of the team officially investigating this case believes that Apache Joe has a very firm notion of the patterns he intends to follow. However, sometimes his attention wanes and he misses a date. When this happens, Joe is so hung up on continuing the pattern that he is willing to wait up to a year to kill again. Todd hypothesised that Joe has some degree of autism. To further complicate matters Joe seems willing to start a new pattern when he is bored of an old one.

The patterns listed above were only readily apparent with the discovery of three victims that had not hitherto been associated with Apache Joe. These victims were Susan Lomax (found in Colorado City on 3 November 2000), Jeanette Simpson (reported missing on 30 June 1992; body never found) and Eve Adams (murdered in Roundrock on New Year's Eve 1991).

Pattern One: Joe kills every thirty days like clockwork.

Pattern Two: For reasons unknown Joe is two days late killing his eighth victim. He has broken his own pattern. Therefore he begins a new pattern - one that is much easier to keep. He now murders every month. He fails to murder his twentieth victim in July 1994; because he does not want to break his pattern Joe waits until the next July, and kills again in July 1995. This happens again two months later. He misses the kill in September 1995, and therefore doesn't kill again until September 1996.

Pattern Three: Joe's twenty-second murder in September 1996 marks the beginning of his third pattern. Now he kills every three months, and always on the day of the month that corresponds to the number of the month. The 12th of December, the 7th of July etc. This continues until he has done every month of the year.

Pattern Four: This is Joe's latest pattern. Starting with his thirty-fourth victim on 2 October 2000 Joe leaves 1 day and a number of months that increases geometrically. For example 1 day and 1 month between the 34th and 35th killings; 1 day and 2 months between the 35th and 36th killings; 1 day and 3 months between the 36th and 37th killings and so on.

The Facts

The battle at Fort Routt is at the heart of Apache Joe's motivation. In the battle the Indians helped the Mexican army get the better of the Texan garrison at the fort. However, once the Mexicans were victorious, the Indians slaughtered all the survivors. Joe is killing descendants of the men who fought this battle, and he is killing them in an Indian manner (scalping).

The battle itself and the position of the Texas Ranger Stations is not a widely known piece of information. In fact, there are very few places that one can come across the information (the Internet does not cut the mustard). Joe must have a comprehensive historical knowledge of the Texas Rangers. One such place he could have got this is the army base in Fort Worth that is home to the Rangers (the successors to the Texas Rangers). This base has a museum dedicated to the Texas Rangers. It has been hypothesised that Joe himself might be a Texas Ranger. Certainly, Jane remembers an attacker who was very strong and skilled in the martial arts. Apache Joe has an understanding of pressure points and can render a victim unconscious within moments.

The activities of Apache Joe is known to some degree by at least one person. This person has acted as a contact for the official Apache Joe investigation, and has been paid by that team for information. The contact always removes these payments in cash from an ATM at Fort Worth. However, the identity of the contact is unknown by evidence response.

Apache Joe is a nonsecreter. Law enforcement bodies have been able to find no DNA in his bodily fluids (such as semen). He became this way by being exposed to the same green mineral (possibly jade) that enchanced Benefict Oaxaca in Casper, Wyoming. It is possible he was exposed to this by Vitrano and Lavin (or their confederates) and that he was allowed to continue his killing.

On 12 December 2000, agents Vitrano and Lavin arrested a man called Constatine Perez whom they paraded as Apache Joe. This arrest was a means for them to close the case and get out of Texas (for reasons as yet undetermined). Although the mid-west team managed to rescue Todd O'Connell they were unable to save the life of Constantine. Vitrano's team arranged his murder (by Giles Case) so that the truth would never come out (see Outstanding Leads below).

Oustanding Leads

• The official Apache Joe investigation under Eric Vitrano was using this case as a cover to do something else. This is why they never tried to solve it. When they had to leave Texas they arrested a fake Apache Joe (Constantine Perez) and had him killed. What they were doing and why they were doing it is investigated in case 0018-GCF.
• Vitrano's team had access to high technology including ghostbuster-style weapons. There is more to discover here.
• The identity of Vitrano's contact must be discovered. How to go about this?
• Through the work of evidence response the potential victims of Apache Joe have been narrowed down to two four possible victims in Eagle Pass, two in Roundrock and five in Temple. Joe will strike one of these locations on 4 January 2001. This is the best opportunity to catch him yet.
• The team needs to form a strategy so Joe is apprehended by 4 January 2001, remembering that he will probably have abducted his victim in the days before hand. The east and west coast teams will assist in this matter.
• How as Apache Joe exposed to the green mineral?

Related Cases

• Case 0018-GCF: Investigation into the activities of Eric Vitrano's FBI team.
• Case CS1473-IND: Academy Final Year Assessment
• Case 0008-GCF: Golden Jade Triad.