Full Transcript for Serial Killer Documentary - Michael Ross

over 40 years to be given 36 00:02:40.990 --> 00:02:45.090 such a punishment. The decision to execute the serial killer 37 00:02:45.409 --> 00:02:50.030 sparked controversy, but his victims' families were just relieved to 38 00:02:50.069 --> 00:02:51.400 see justice served. 39 00:02:52.650 --> 00:02:54.870 Supporters on one side of the road, the others, they're 40 00:02:54.889 --> 00:02:57.509 driving down. You know, it's wrong to kill people. 41 00:02:57.669 --> 00:02:59.849 He deserves it. There was just so much give and 42 00:02:59.870 --> 00:03:00.449 take on it. 43 00:03:02.419 --> 00:03:04.539 I don't care what they would have done to him. 44 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:09.219 Either execute him or let him live the rest of 45 00:03:09.259 --> 00:03:10.419 his life in prison. 46 00:03:11.960 --> 00:03:16.650 Regardless of his fate, Michael Ross's senseless killings would haunt 47 00:03:16.710 --> 00:03:18.770 his victims' loved ones forever. 48 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:22.840 If he would have adjusted his radio and drove by her, 49 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:26.090 she'd be alive. If she turned around because she forgot 50 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:28.789 her purse at her boyfriend's house, she'd still be alive. 51 00:03:30.370 --> 00:03:32.449 That is what haunted me from the time I found 52 00:03:32.509 --> 00:03:34.770 out it was opportunistic killing. 53 00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:40.840 This killer's story begins on the 26th of July, 1959, 54 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:47.430 in the small town of Brooklyn, Connecticut. Much of what 55 00:03:47.469 --> 00:03:51.090 we know about Ross's childhood came from his own accounts. 56 00:03:51.889 --> 00:03:55.849 Michael Bruce Ross was the eldest of four children and 57 00:03:55.930 --> 00:03:58.310 didn't have the smoothest of upbringings. 58 00:03:59.409 --> 00:04:01.849 Ross was brought up on a chicken farm. 59 00:04:03.219 --> 00:04:05.319 He grew up in a home that, whether he realized 60 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:07.680 it or not, the parents weren't getting along. 61 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:13.360 Ross was raised in a relatively troubled family. His mother 62 00:04:13.379 --> 00:04:17.360 had some psychiatric issues and she left the family to 63 00:04:17.420 --> 00:04:19.939 go and be with an old flame. And as a result, 64 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:22.920 his father would find her, bring her back, and psychiatrically 65 00:04:22.980 --> 00:04:23.740 hospitalize her. 66 00:04:25.420 --> 00:04:29.560 Even when his mother returned from hospital, the family dynamic 67 00:04:29.939 --> 00:04:31.160 failed to improve. 68 00:04:32.220 --> 00:04:34.180 There were concerns that his mother and his father were, 69 00:04:34.220 --> 00:04:37.720 in some ways, whether intentional or not, emotionally abusive. 70 00:04:39.139 --> 00:04:43.170 She wasn't very affectionate. She didn't really bond very well 71 00:04:43.230 --> 00:04:43.970 with Ross. 72 00:04:45.389 --> 00:04:49.269 Mothers in and out of institutions, and I think he 73

00:04:49.310 --> 00:04:51.089 was beaten by his parents. 74 00:04:52.350 --> 00:04:55.399 At the age of eight, Ross was made to work 75 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:58.519 on the chicken farm. One of his jobs was to 76 00:04:58.899 --> 00:05:01.899 wring the necks of ill and deformed chicks. 77 00:05:03.660 --> 00:05:08.769 There's strong evidence that this environment was impacting on Ross. 78 00:05:09.410 --> 00:05:12.290 because he started to have some of the signs very 79 00:05:12.350 --> 00:05:16.029 young that we would associate with somebody whose mental health 80 00:05:16.089 --> 00:05:17.250 is getting problematic. 81 00:05:17.310 --> 00:05:21.389 It sounded like an absolute horrible upbringing. 82 00:05:21.829 --> 00:05:23.370 I think his family was so broken. 83 00:05:23.389 --> 00:05:27.250 So it's hardly surprising by the time he gets to 84 00:05:27.269 --> 00:05:31.319 the age of 12, he becomes violent himself. 85 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:37.459 As Ross reached puberty, his behavior took a dark and 86 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:38.540 sinister turn. 87 00:05:39.709 --> 00:05:42.490 Ross started to struggle with sexual deviance at. 88 00:05:42.430 --> 00:05:43.600 A very early age. 89 00:05:45.420 --> 00:05:51.399 He's caught molesting a young girl. His father responds really 90 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:54.579 badly to this and beats him and then takes him 91 00:05:54.620 --> 00:05:57.019 to the doctor, kind of saying, there's something wrong with you. 92 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:03.660 The doctor thinks there's something wrong, but he also says, well, 93 00:06:04.339 --> 00:06:06.800 this is nothing to worry about, really. 94 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:08.899 He's starting to go through puberty. 95 00:06:11.029 --> 00:06:14.970 Some of that behavior was frowned upon and looked at 96 00:06:15.290 --> 00:06:18.730 as deviant by his mother. So his mother would not 97 00:06:18.750 --> 00:06:21.540 approve of this behavior and she would shame him and 98 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:22.259 humiliate him. 99 00:06:24.459 --> 00:06:27.939 I think simply punishing him in a very stern physical 100 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:31.500 fashion was not going to be helpful. That kind of 101 00:06:31.540 --> 00:06:34.629 punishment isn't going to erase any kind of unusual sexual 102 00:06:34.670 --> 00:06:37.360 urges he's having. And then when seen by a professional 103 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:39.939 to simply say, in effect, there's nothing to worry about, 104 00:06:40.379 --> 00:06:43.620 I think also was not the proper way to address this. 105 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:49.670 Despite this worrying behavior, Ross was able to progress into 106 00:06:49.699 --> 00:06:54.750 a model student and graduated high school in 1977. He 107 00:06:54.810 --> 00:06:57.910 then set his sights on New York and got accepted 108 00:06:57.970 --> 00:07:02.990 into Cornell University to study agricultural science and economics. 109 00:07:03.990 --> 00:07:07.740 If you have that kind of opportunity, to

go to 110 00:07:07.779 --> 00:07:10.360 an Ivy League school and you're that bright. Some things 111 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:13.319 that I read that his IQ was like 155 or something. 112 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:15.550 So that's extraordinarily high. 113 00:07:16.089 --> 00:07:18.689 Just because he's smart and he can go to college 114 00:07:18.709 --> 00:07:23.110 didn't take away, I don't think, the underlying sociopathic behavior 115 00:07:23.149 --> 00:07:26.550 that he had displayed throughout his upbringing. 116 00:07:28.189 --> 00:07:33.269 Ross had several relationships with women whilst at university, and 117 00:07:33.329 --> 00:07:36.949 although he started off as the perfect student, his grades 118 00:07:37.029 --> 00:07:41.680 began to slip as his sexual impulses emerged once again. 119 00:07:42.699 --> 00:07:45.079 It appears that he had a very strong sex drive. 120 00:07:45.180 --> 00:07:47.740 One that would masturbate frequently with girlfriends, one that would 121 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:50.779 have sex maybe twice a day, and so on. Some 122 00:07:50.819 --> 00:07:53.339 of his girlfriends felt that he wanted sex more than 123 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:56.939 they would have liked. not only because of the unusual 124 00:07:57.009 --> 00:08:00.740 and qualitatively different nature of his sexual makeup, but also 125 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:03.279 because in addition to that, he had a very high 126 00:08:03.639 --> 00:08:06.860 sexual drive. 127 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:12.399 21-year-old Ross graduated from Cornell in 1981 and immediately found 128 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:14.629 work in his preferred profession. 129 00:08:15.730 --> 00:08:20.610 He graduated and got a job in Lewisburg. He's still 130 00:08:20.970 --> 00:08:24.149 trying to fit into the family business of egg manufacturing. 131 00:08:25.459 --> 00:08:29.540 Ross asked his college girlfriend to leave Cornell and move 132 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:34.179 out to North Carolina. However, she wasn't prepared to make 133 00:08:34.250 --> 00:08:34.639 the move. 134 00:08:36.230 --> 00:08:38.669 In one case, when they had an argument, she had 135 00:08:38.750 --> 00:08:41.490 pushed him and he slapped her. At that point, she said, 136 00:08:41.509 --> 00:08:42.309 if you ever do that again. 137 00:08:42.350 --> 00:08:48.370 It's over. In August 1981, his girlfriend says it's all over. 138 00:08:49.129 --> 00:08:49.700 That's enough. 139 00:08:50.659 --> 00:08:50.940 Ross. 140 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:55.740 probably upset at the destruction of what he hoped might 141 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:58.620 have been some kind of perfect relationship. 142 00:08:59.879 --> 00:09:04.539 Michael Ross's life was spiraling out of control. After the 143 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:08.759 breakup of his own relationship, his parents were soon divorced. 144 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:11.940 Ross's reaction was to lash out. 145 00:09:13.019 --> 00:09:16.779 On September 28th of 1981, Ross went on a road 146 00:09:16.830 --> 00:09:21.679 trip to Illinois and he abducted a woman. This is 147 00:09:21.700 --> 00:09:25.639 where we start to see Ross really display his hatred 148 00:09:25.700 --> 00:09:29.139 and his misogyny towards women. Something had gone wrong in 149 00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:31.620 his life, and he decided to take his rage out 150 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:32.620 on a complete stranger. 151 00:09:35.009 --> 00:09:39.169 He not only attacked her, grabbed her, he changed location. 152 00:09:39.250 --> 00:09:40.789 He dragged her into a wood. 153 00:09:41.590 --> 00:09:45.049 A neighbor heard the young woman screaming and called the police. 154 00:09:46.450 --> 00:09:49.879 As Ross fled the scene and the police escorted the 155 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:54.440 16-year-old back home, she spotted his vehicle that was parked 156 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:55.590 on the same street. 157 00:09:56.230 --> 00:10:01.100 She recognizes the vehicle, she recognizes Ross, and he's rapidly arrested. 158 00:10:02.539 --> 00:10:06.019 What he was effectively charged with was unlawful restraint, and 159 00:10:06.059 --> 00:10:11.080 he's only fined $ 500. 160 00:10:09.340 --> 00:10:15.100 He's treated incredibly leniently. He is treated as if, you know, 161 00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:18.919 boys will be boys. And that lenient sentence would have 162 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:21.899 given him the message that he can get away with this. 163 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:24.759 And at some level, he's not abnormal. 164 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:30.350 Despite the lesser punishment from the authorities, Ross was fired 165 00:10:30.450 --> 00:10:34.590 from his job. Nearly five months later, he found work 166 00:10:34.830 --> 00:10:38.769 at an egg farm in Croton, Ohio. But this fresh 167 00:10:38.830 --> 00:10:41.490 start was soon tainted once again. 168 00:10:42.460 --> 00:10:47.740 Ross spotted another young woman. He stalked her, followed her home, 169 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:51.620 knocked on her door and beat her repeatedly. 170 00:10:53.610 --> 00:10:56.090 Something must have spooked Ross in the middle of this 171 00:10:56.289 --> 00:10:59.789 horrible assault because he ran off and the woman was 172 00:10:59.830 --> 00:11:03.750 able to call the police. The police then located witnesses 173 00:11:03.830 --> 00:11:06.549 that had seen a man fitting Ross's description and were 174 00:11:06.649 --> 00:11:08.570 able to trace him back to his vehicle. 175 00:11:10.090 --> 00:11:13.299 Ross denied the attack. But of course, he couldn't in 176 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:18.009 the long run. She'd identified him. He stands trial and 177 00:11:18.070 --> 00:11:23.190 is indeed given six months in jail and a $ 1, 000 178 00:11:21.590 --> 00:11:22.950 fine for the attack. 179 00:11:24.750 --> 00:11:27.679 Ross has what we call maladaptive coping skills, and he 180 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:31.250 takes them to the next level. He's incapable of sitting 181 00:11:31.350 --> 00:11:35.080 with his

distressing emotions. And so for him, it's logical 182 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:39.360 to go ahead and commit crimes in order to make 183 00:11:39.419 --> 00:11:42.049 himself feel better, in order to make that pain and 184 00:11:42.090 --> 00:11:43.350 that distress go away. 185 00:11:45.110 --> 00:11:49.090 Ross's life was starting to fall apart as his sexually 186 00:11:49.190 --> 00:11:54.100 motivated attacks on young women were seemingly escalating with no 187 00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:59.559 signs of slowing down. Over in Connecticut, police also had 188 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:01.919 a lot on their plate when they received a call 189 00:12:03.179 --> 00:12:18.190 about a horrifying discovery. In June 1982, near Danielson, Connecticut, 190 00:12:18.210 --> 00:12:22.460 23-year-old Deborah Smith Taylor was driving home with her husband 191 00:12:22.789 --> 00:12:24.860 when their car ran out of gas. 192 00:12:26.460 --> 00:12:29.639 A state trooper drove the couple to a gas. 193 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:30.419 Station in Danielson. 194 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:33.320 While they were there, they got into an argument and 195 00:12:33.340 --> 00:12:35.720 Deborah decided she was going to make her own way home. 196 00:12:37.750 --> 00:12:41.789 The trooper saw Deborah walk across to a bandstand and 197 00:12:41.850 --> 00:12:45.370 accept a ride from a young man, but she'd never 198 00:12:45.429 --> 00:12:46.029 make it home. 199 00:12:47.289 --> 00:12:50.360 Her husband reported her missing, but the police had no 200 00:12:50.460 --> 00:12:51.220 leads on the case. 201 00:12:53.159 --> 00:12:57.840 Over four months later, on the 30th of October 1982, 202 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:02.480 Deborah's body was discovered in a wooded area near Brooklyn, Connecticut, 203 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:06.759 an area located close to a family-run chicken farm. 204 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:12.139 The body is found in a site quite close to 205 00:13:12.179 --> 00:13:16.120 where the Ross family used to dump chicken waste, chicken excrement. 206 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:20.480 Police made their way to the Ross family farm and 207 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:25.509 interviewed Michael Ross's father and brother. They also interviewed other 208 00:13:25.590 --> 00:13:28.110 employees on the farm, but no one there knew of 209 00:13:28.169 --> 00:13:30.149 Deborah or knew what could have happened to her. 210 00:13:32.090 --> 00:13:34.070 And at that point, Michael Ross is still in jail 211 00:13:34.409 --> 00:13:35.450 for the attack in Ohio. 212 00:13:39.230 --> 00:13:43.590 Despite a promising lead, the case soon went cold. It 213 00:13:43.649 --> 00:13:47.190 joined a pile of other cold cases, one of which 214 00:13:47.230 --> 00:13:50.710 had begun nearly 10 months earlier in the same county. 215 00:13:53.049 --> 00:13:56.529 In January of 1982, a 17-year-old girl by the name 216 00:13:56.570 --> 00:13:59.769 of Tammy Williams was leaving her friend's apartment to make 217 00:13:59.850 --> 00:14:04.889 the three-mile walk home. When she never arrived home, her 218 00:14:04.950 --> 00:14:06.090 father reported her missing. 219 00:14:07.730 --> 00:14:12.580 Over 140 miles west of where Tammy Williams was last seen, 220 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:16.899 a young high school student in Montgomery, New York, had 221 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:22.080 also seemingly vanished in March, 1982. 222 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:26.059 A girl called Paula Pereira, who was age 16, left 223 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:30.399 school early because she said she wasn't feeling well. She 224 00:14:30.419 --> 00:14:35.200 wanted to go see her new boyfriend. Paula's mother reported 225 00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:38.429 her missing to the police. Her body wasn't found for 226 00:14:38.450 --> 00:14:39.230 a very long time. 227 00:14:40.769 --> 00:14:45.090 Meanwhile, after a reduced four-month stint in prison for assaulting 228 00:14:45.129 --> 00:14:50.029 a woman, 23-year-old Michael Ross's life appeared to be returning 229 00:14:50.509 --> 00:14:57.200 to normality. By May of 1983, he'd got a job 230 00:14:57.559 --> 00:15:00.940 at an insurance company in Norwich, Connecticut. 231 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:05.159 Ross's relationship, which had been on and off with a 232 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:08.289 girl throughout this period, One part of him was trying 233 00:15:08.309 --> 00:15:12.549 to create a natural life, normal life, and the other 234 00:15:12.590 --> 00:15:14.710 part of him knew that he wasn't. He wasn't in 235 00:15:14.789 --> 00:15:15.389 any way normal. 236 00:15:16.950 --> 00:15:20.820 He rented an apartment in Jewett City and he managed 237 00:15:20.860 --> 00:15:23.820 to have a girlfriend, but that relationship began to sour 238 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:24.460 pretty quickly. 239 00:15:27.769 --> 00:15:32.429 In November 1983, a young woman who also worked in 240 00:15:32.450 --> 00:15:37.019 the Norwich area had left her boyfriend's house to return home. 241 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:43.179 19-year-old Robin Stravinsky's family were eagerly waiting to hear if 242 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:46.399 she'd be coming to the family home for Thanksgiving. 243 00:15:47.460 --> 00:15:54.470 Robin was my middle sister's stepdaughter. Her and her half-sister 244 00:15:54.669 --> 00:15:56.970 moved in when I was in the second or third 245 00:15:57.009 --> 00:16:00.029 grade We grew up in the same neighborhood. 246 00:16:00.049 --> 00:16:02.230 We would bike ride. We'd go down to the lake. 247 00:16:02.289 --> 00:16:03.149 We'd go out in the boats. 248 00:16:03.750 --> 00:16:07.049 There was a constant flow of kids back and forth. 249 00:16:08.690 --> 00:16:12.090 Robin functioned more like an older sister. She was 18 250 00:16:12.090 --> 00:16:16.830 months older than me. She would look like just about 251 00:16:16.889 --> 00:16:22.250 any college athlete. She was naturally strong, as many of 252 00:16:22.269 --> 00:16:24.370 the boys in the neighborhood that

tried to cross her 253 00:16:24.690 --> 00:16:25.090 found out. 254 00:16:26.529 --> 00:16:30.210 After she left school, Robin had moved in with her boyfriend, 255 00:16:30.629 --> 00:16:34.330 but would still come back to visit the family regularly. 256 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:40.919 I was coming home that Tuesday or Wednesday morning, right 257 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:45.259 before Thanksgiving, and my last comment was, everybody coming home 258 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.220 for Thanksgiving, have you talked to Robin? 259 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:48.820 Is everybody coming back? 260 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:51.419 And the last thing my sister said to me about 261 00:16:51.539 --> 00:16:53.419 that was that she hadn't heard from Robin and the 262 00:16:53.460 --> 00:16:58.419 plans weren't set. My sister was concerned that she hadn't 263 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:01.639 responded and that maybe she was in trouble. There was 264 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:05.319 definitely some concern from not hearing from her. It was 265 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:10.309 probably about a week they lost communication with her. Somebody 266 00:17:10.349 --> 00:17:12.549 reported her missing. It could have been my sister or 267 00:17:12.589 --> 00:17:13.230 her boyfriend. 268 00:17:15.109 --> 00:17:20.289 On the 23rd of November, 1983, seven days after Robin 269 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:25.279 was reported missing, the Stavinsky family finally got the news 270 00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:27.059 that they'd been dreading. 271 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:32.000 The police called my sister and said, we think we 272 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:32.680 found Robin. 273 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:38.710 Robin's body is discovered by a jogger and she's partially clothed. 274 00:17:40.450 --> 00:17:42.950 They found her in the wooded area. She had been 275 00:17:43.190 --> 00:17:45.819 raped and murdered. and they have no clue as to 276 00:17:45.859 --> 00:17:50.180 who or why or anything like that. I'm 18 years old. 277 00:17:50.539 --> 00:17:53.539 I remember not being able to process it, and I 278 00:17:53.640 --> 00:17:58.049 just remember sitting in disbelief for five or ten minutes. 279 00:17:59.490 --> 00:18:04.549 After the Stavinsky family identified Robin's body, detectives were keen 280 00:18:04.589 --> 00:18:07.380 to find out who had done this to her. 281 00:18:08.099 --> 00:18:11.039 The first thing they did in this situation was They 282 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:14.420 investigated and talked to her boyfriend, and clearly he didn't 283 00:18:14.460 --> 00:18:15.069 do it, right? 284 00:18:15.140 --> 00:18:17.190 And so they found that. So, I mean, this thing 285 00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:18.609 went cold. 286 00:18:18.190 --> 00:18:20.910 As ice, like, quick. 287 00:18:22.309 --> 00:18:25.289 They were working behind the scenes and following up on things, 288 00:18:25.410 --> 00:18:26.690 but there was no leads. 289 00:18:26.750 --> 00:18:30.130 I mean, there was nothing. There was no media about it.

290 00:18:30.150 --> 00:18:32.049 There was no newspaper articles about it. 291 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:36.039 The thing that was the hardest early on was how 292 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:38.980 somebody that was part of your family and you cared 293 00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:40.779 about so much could be just kind of wiped off 294 00:18:40.819 --> 00:18:43.119 the earth with not a speck of evidence or any 295 00:18:43.220 --> 00:18:44.730 kind of suspect. 296 00:18:47.829 --> 00:18:51.549 Five months after the murder of Robin Stavinsky on the 297 00:18:51.730 --> 00:18:57.599 22nd of April, 1984, two schoolgirls from Griswold, Connecticut, were 298 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:04.269 planning a trip to Dewitt City. 14-year-olds April Brunei and 299 00:19:04.329 --> 00:19:05.200 Leslie Shelley. 300 00:19:06.829 --> 00:19:12.910 Leslie was born December 1st. She was an ordinary teenager, 301 00:19:14.150 --> 00:19:17.910 liked music, was just getting into boys. 302 00:19:19.970 --> 00:19:21.910 She was fairly good in school. 303 00:19:22.829 --> 00:19:26.170 April was in her first year of high and Leslie 304 00:19:26.210 --> 00:19:29.890 was in her eighth grade. And they used to catch 305 00:19:29.970 --> 00:19:33.690 the bus together and from there it just became a friendship. 306 00:19:34.450 --> 00:19:37.910 Either April was down our house or Leslie was up 307 00:19:38.049 --> 00:19:39.019 April's house. 308 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:43.880 The pair had even pretended to adopt each other as 309 00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:49.970 sisters using fake adoption papers. It wasn't uncommon for children 310 00:19:50.569 --> 00:19:52.880 at that time to be out on their own. 311 00:19:52.890 --> 00:19:54.700 It was safe. 312 00:19:55.700 --> 00:20:00.180 Even Jet City you would think was safe. There was 313 00:20:00.420 --> 00:20:04.420 very little crime. There was a lot of kids around. 314 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:10.319 I had gone to work. And as I was driving 315 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:13.089 up the hill, April was coming down to our house. 316 00:20:14.589 --> 00:20:17.890 April said that her mother was going to bring them 317 00:20:17.970 --> 00:20:23.650 down and pick them up. My husband at the time 318 00:20:23.769 --> 00:20:30.119 didn't realize that April's mother had a three- or four-month-old 319 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:33.819 baby and a four-year-old. 320 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:37.140 Son at home. So there was no way she was 321 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:38.319 going to pick them. 322 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:42.579 Up the girls had actually walked the three-mile journey to 323 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.960 Jewett City by themselves, despite what they'd told both of 324 00:20:47.019 --> 00:20:47.720 their parents. 325 00:20:49.579 --> 00:20:55.940 When I got home, I went into Leslie's room, and 326 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:57.529 of course she wasn't there. 327 00:20:58.849 --> 00:21:01.569 Les never had done anything like that before. 328 00:21:01.990 --> 00:21:05.349 Usually when they said they were going to go somewhere 329 00:21:05.549 --> 00:21:09.210 and come home, At, say, 9 o'clock, they were home 330 00:21:09.309 --> 00:21:10.269 at 9 o'clock. 331 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:15.400 That same evening, both of the girls' parents called the 332 00:21:15.460 --> 00:21:20.799 police to report their disappearances. But the police had no leads. 333 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:27.349 I couldn't imagine what was going on. Every rumor that 334 00:21:27.730 --> 00:21:32.670 April's mother and I decided to follow, it proved untrue. 335 00:21:35.369 --> 00:21:40.150 We also had a poster around Judd City that my 336 00:21:40.210 --> 00:21:44.779 husband had made up of April and Leslie's picture on it, 337 00:21:44.940 --> 00:21:45.859 and a reward. 338 00:21:47.450 --> 00:21:51.230 Just like in the case of Robin Stavinsky, the families 339 00:21:51.269 --> 00:21:54.099 were left in the dark about what could have happened 340 00:21:54.170 --> 00:21:58.319 to Leslie and April. Had the two 14-year-olds simply run 341 00:21:58.380 --> 00:22:01.660 away from home or was something more sinister going on? 342 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:04.920 It would take two months for the shocking truth to 343 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:08.940 finally be revealed, in which time even more teens across 344 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:22.900 Connecticut would vanish into thin air. On the 13th of June, 1984, 345 00:22:22.900 --> 00:22:26.720 less than two months after the disappearances of Leslie Shelley 346 00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:31.089 and April Brunet, another young woman in the Dewitt City 347 00:22:31.210 --> 00:22:33.150 area was reported missing. 348 00:22:34.130 --> 00:22:38.009 A 17-year-old girl named Wendy Barabo left a note indicating 349 00:22:38.069 --> 00:22:40.029 that she was going to walk down to the local 350 00:22:40.069 --> 00:22:44.980 grocery store. She was last seen around 4.30 in the 351 00:22:45.059 --> 00:22:50.700 afternoon walking on Route 12. When she didn't return home, 352 00:22:50.869 --> 00:22:53.450 her mother went out looking for her, and at 10.30 353 00:22:53.450 --> 00:22:55.670 in the evening, she reported her missing to the police. 354 00:22:58.309 --> 00:23:01.910 In the meantime, detectives were beginning to look for comparisons 355 00:23:02.029 --> 00:23:08.019 in previous missing persons cases across Connecticut, namely Tammy Williams 356 00:23:08.579 --> 00:23:09.940 and Deborah Smith-Taylor. 357 00:23:11.220 --> 00:23:13.400 These two girls had a lot of similarities. They had 358 00:23:13.420 --> 00:23:15.640 a similar build. They both had dark hair, and they 359 00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:17.690 were both last seen in Danielson, Connecticut. 360 00:23:19.140 --> 00:23:24.450 There are no obvious fingerprints on the victims. We haven't 361 00:23:24.490 --> 00:23:27.930 got some of the tools that we have now. We 362 00:23:27.990 --> 00:23:31.470 are talking about 1984, a very long time before CSI 363 00:23:31.529 -->

00:23:34.759 or the Behavioral Science Unit or any indeed of the 364 00:23:34.779 --> 00:23:39.000 great innovations in tracing serial killers had happened. 365 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:43.539 That detective was then assigned to the Wendy Barabo case 366 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:45.700 before he had a chance to look further into it. 367 00:23:47.170 --> 00:23:51.460 After a two-day search to find Wendy Baribo, a fireman 368 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:54.599 discovered her body just a quarter of a mile away 369 00:23:54.700 --> 00:23:59.559 from her home in Lisbon, Connecticut. Detectives finally had a 370 00:23:59.640 --> 00:24:03.509 lead about what may have happened to the 17-year-old. 371 00:24:05.910 --> 00:24:08.789 A witness claimed that he had seen a car parked 372 00:24:08.869 --> 00:24:11.539 on the side of the road and a man following 373 00:24:11.710 --> 00:24:17.160 Wendy Baribo. He heard shouting between the two of them 374 00:24:17.220 --> 00:24:19.599 and thought nothing of it, assuming that they were just 375 00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:24.039 a couple arguing. But the next day, when he saw 376 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:26.480 Wendy Barabo on the news, he went to the police 377 00:24:26.549 --> 00:24:28.410 to give a description of the man and the car 378 00:24:28.450 --> 00:24:28.970 he had seen. 379 00:24:30.130 --> 00:24:33.609 They try and track down cars that look alike, and 380 00:24:33.630 --> 00:24:36.630 they come up with a list of cars, and they 381 00:24:36.690 --> 00:24:38.170 work methodically down it. 382 00:24:41.019 --> 00:24:46.000 After 13 days of gathering witness descriptions, detectives had a 383 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:48.420 profile for the potential killer. 384 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:52.930 The police are looking for an attacker who is probably 385 00:24:53.329 --> 00:24:54.569 white Caucasian. 386 00:24:55.910 --> 00:25:00.410 A six-foot-tall male with a medium build, clean-shaven and with 387 00:25:00.450 --> 00:25:00.930 dark hair. 388 00:25:02.250 --> 00:25:05.750 Probably in his late 20s or early 30s and drives 389 00:25:05.789 --> 00:25:06.750 a particular kind of car. 390 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:12.359 The detective asked the vehicle licensing department for a list 391 00:25:12.420 --> 00:25:16.079 of similar vehicles and their owners that live locally to 392 00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:18.099 Wendy in the town of Griswold. 393 00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:23.940 On that list was Michael Ross. The police turn up 394 00:25:24.009 --> 00:25:27.450 at the door of Michael Ross. When the first police 395 00:25:27.470 --> 00:25:30.490 officer goes to discuss the case with him, Ross is 396 00:25:30.869 --> 00:25:33.289 patently not a suspect. 397 00:25:34.660 --> 00:25:39.369 Ross's car didn't entirely match the description given by witnesses, 398 00:25:39.849 --> 00:25:44.470 and the composite drawings didn't include glasses, which Ross was wearing. 399 00:25:45.049 --> 00:25:48.690 Police were almost convinced this was not their man.

400 00:25:49.630 --> 00:25:55.779 Ross is not a suspect until Ross says to the detective, well, 401 00:25:56.099 --> 00:25:59.680 what if the man who was committing these crimes was 402 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:03.390 to say he was insane? does that mean he would 403 00:26:03.450 --> 00:26:07.579 escape the death penalty? And at that point, the detective 404 00:26:07.630 --> 00:26:11.099 realizes that Michael Ross is a great deal different from 405 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:12.119 the way he may appear. 406 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:16.539 When originally interviewed by one of the police officers, he 407 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:19.680 volunteered the fact that he'd had some other charges against 408 00:26:19.740 --> 00:26:21.619 him in the past, something at that point they had 409 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:25.519 not yet known about. The police officer had the sense 410 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:29.339 that maybe Mr. Ross was wanting to give him those clues. 411 00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:34.259 Conveniently, Ross was able to give very detailed accounts of 412 00:26:34.299 --> 00:26:37.609 his movements on the day that Wendy Baribo went missing, 413 00:26:38.230 --> 00:26:42.730 but couldn't remember what he did before or after that date. 414 00:26:43.650 --> 00:26:46.869 This would have set alarm bells ringing for detectives. And 415 00:26:46.930 --> 00:26:49.839 they asked him to go with them to the police headquarters. 416 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:54.380 When the officer said that for the sake of the victims, 417 00:26:54.460 --> 00:26:56.460 if he'd done this, it would be important that he 418 00:26:56.519 --> 00:26:58.960 acknowledge it. And at that point, he didn't ask for 419 00:26:58.980 --> 00:27:02.349 an attorney He simply waived his rights and confessed. 420 00:27:05.289 --> 00:27:10.920 The detectives couldn't believe their luck. They had little evidence 421 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:17.299 to suggest that unassuming 24-year-old Michael Ross was behind Wendy's murder. 422 00:27:18.700 --> 00:27:21.609 Here's a man who was confessing the very serious crimes 423 00:27:21.809 --> 00:27:24.630 under circumstances where it wasn't clear at that point that 424 00:27:24.650 --> 00:27:27.329 there was even much evidence against him that would be incriminating. 425 00:27:31.049 --> 00:27:35.420 Ross seemed to revel in reliving the crimes that he 426 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:40.000 had committed. He also had quite a narcissistic disposition and 427 00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:43.539 a large ego, which I suspect was one of the 428 00:27:43.619 --> 00:27:47.240 reasons that he was so willing to confess and willing 429 00:27:47.299 --> 00:27:50.440 to talk to the police officers about what he had done. 430 00:27:52.170 --> 00:27:54.670 There's a couple of reasons why this might happen. Now, 431 00:27:54.710 --> 00:27:59.730 with some serial killers, they're bragging. They just want to say, yeah, 432 00:27:59.769 --> 00:28:02.440 this is what I've done. I'm actually quite proud

of it. 433 00:28:03.170 --> 00:28:06.609 For others, and Ross might fall more into this category, 434 00:28:07.250 --> 00:28:10.819 they're almost relieved that they've been caught because the compulsions 435 00:28:10.930 --> 00:28:15.440 and the killing is not necessarily easy for them to 436 00:28:15.500 --> 00:28:15.960 live with. 437 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:23.180 Incredibly, Michael Ross was only just getting started. Not only 438 00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:26.819 did the 24-year-old admit to the murder of Wendy Barryboe, 439 00:28:27.670 --> 00:28:32.599 But he also confessed to killing Tammy Williams, Deborah Smith Taylor, 440 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:39.140 Robin Stavinski, and the murder of 14-year-old friends, April Brunet 441 00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:40.599 and Leslie Shelley. 442 00:28:42.420 --> 00:28:45.700 Leslie and April, they encounter a man who offers them 443 00:28:45.740 --> 00:28:48.230 a lift to get home quickly. 444 00:28:50.529 --> 00:28:52.910 Ross had offered to drive April and Leslie to a 445 00:28:52.950 --> 00:28:56.029 gas station, but he passed the gas station and kept 446 00:28:56.109 --> 00:28:56.609 on driving. 447 00:28:58.430 --> 00:29:01.410 The first thing he does is he takes Leslie, ties 448 00:29:01.450 --> 00:29:03.130 her up and puts her in the trunk of the car. 449 00:29:04.309 --> 00:29:08.490 Then he attacks April and forces her into the well 450 00:29:08.509 --> 00:29:09.750 of the passenger seat of the car. 451 00:29:11.390 --> 00:29:14.390 After killing April, he took Leslie out of the trunk 452 00:29:14.630 --> 00:29:18.319 and strangled her. He put her body back in the 453 00:29:18.380 --> 00:29:20.980 trunk and began driving around looking for a place to 454 00:29:21.019 --> 00:29:22.460 dispose of their lifeless bodies. 455 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:27.950 Ross takes them back to Connecticut. and dumps them in 456 00:29:27.970 --> 00:29:28.410 a culvert. 457 00:29:31.579 --> 00:29:34.819 Ross told detectives where they could find the bodies of 458 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:39.849 the two teens. Investigators then had to break the tragic 459 00:29:39.869 --> 00:29:42.450 story news to April and Leslie's families. 460 00:29:43.849 --> 00:29:48.160 I was at work and my supervisor came up to 461 00:29:48.220 --> 00:29:51.579 the floor and told me that there was a detective 462 00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:53.640 downstairs that wanted. 463 00:29:53.319 --> 00:29:56.539 To talk to me. And that's when I found out 464 00:29:56.619 --> 00:30:03.980 about Leslie. It was horrible. It was just terrible. And 465 00:30:04.099 --> 00:30:07.190 I had got home. My husband got home a few 466 00:30:07.230 --> 00:30:08.130 minutes later. 467 00:30:08.990 --> 00:30:12.690 And then a different detective came down to question us. 468 00:30:13.089 --> 00:30:14.190 It was a nightmare. 469 00:30:16.130 --> 00:30:20.950 We were so busy with detectives that you didn't really 470 00:30:21.009 --> 00:30:23.170 have time to think. 471 00:30:23.450 --> 00:30:24.470 You really didn't. 472 00:30:25.170 --> 00:30:29.240 I couldn't believe it at first that somebody in this 473 00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:32.079 quiet town could do something like that. 474 00:30:33.380 --> 00:30:37.119 It wasn't just the Shelley and Brunet families that received 475 00:30:37.180 --> 00:30:42.849 the devastating news. Robin Stavinsky's loved ones finally found out 476 00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:45.750 what had happened to the 19-year-old athlete. 477 00:30:47.009 --> 00:30:47.789 They have a guy. 478 00:30:47.809 --> 00:30:51.289 They think he killed other women. Robin's not the only one, 479 00:30:51.789 --> 00:30:53.049 and it's going to be on the news tonight. 480 00:30:54.569 --> 00:30:58.569 We were elated. They found him. But the elation was 481 00:30:58.690 --> 00:31:02.690 short-lived because it was random. If he would have adjusted. 482 00:31:02.369 --> 00:31:05.069 His radio and drove by her, she'd be alive. If 483 00:31:05.150 --> 00:31:07.950 she turned around because she forgot her purse at her 484 00:31:07.970 --> 00:31:11.009 boyfriend's house, she'd still be alive. That is what haunted 485 00:31:11.049 --> 00:31:14.400 me from the time I found out it was opportunistic killing. 486 00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:16.099 There was no reason behind it. 487 00:31:18.859 --> 00:31:22.559 Michael Ross went into detail about how he spotted Robin 488 00:31:22.619 --> 00:31:25.819 walking home alone that evening and offered. 489 00:31:25.619 --> 00:31:30.609 Her a lift. Ross attacks her and she passes out. 490 00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:33.480 But she comes round and she begins to fight. 491 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:37.480 Ross tried to strangle her, but Robin was a strong woman. 492 00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:39.329 She was an athlete at school and she put up 493 00:31:39.369 --> 00:31:44.390 a fight. Unfortunately, Ross eventually overpowered her. 494 00:31:46.950 --> 00:31:50.430 She's dumped. As though she was no more than a 495 00:31:50.450 --> 00:31:51.190 piece of garbage. 496 00:31:56.339 --> 00:32:00.400 On the 29th of June, 1984, Ross was taken to 497 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:04.950 Norwich Superior Court by police after being charged with Wendy 498 00:32:05.009 --> 00:32:09.930 Baribo's murder and confessing to Robbins. Family members of the 499 00:32:09.990 --> 00:32:11.589 victims were at the hearing. 500 00:32:13.430 --> 00:32:15.259 As they marched him in and he was thin and 501 00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:17.680 had that glasses on and we were just like, you've 502 00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:19.740 got to be fucking kidding me. 503 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:20.799 He killed Robbins. 504 00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:23.759 Like, we were, I think most of us were in 505 00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:25.740 disbelief that Robin didn't kick the shit out of him, 506 00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:26.460 to be honest with you. 507 00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:28.559 She was a tough girl. 508 00:32:28.579 --> 00:32:32.549 He must have either got her

down or surprised her 509 00:32:32.630 --> 00:32:34.250 because he did not look like a strong guy to me. 510 00:32:35.910 --> 00:32:40.309 After his shocking confessions, detectives were able to charge Ross 511 00:32:40.390 --> 00:32:44.029 with not one, but six murders. But there was no 512 00:32:44.150 --> 00:32:49.390 time for jubilation. the prosecution had to prepare for one 513 00:32:49.430 --> 00:33:03.259 of the biggest murder trials in Connecticut's history. Michael Ross 514 00:33:03.319 --> 00:33:07.180 would have to face two separate court cases across two 515 00:33:07.319 --> 00:33:13.730 jurisdictions in Connecticut. The 26-year-old had a plan to avoid 516 00:33:13.809 --> 00:33:14.690 the death penalty. 517 00:33:16.099 --> 00:33:20.309 In November 1985, to the murders of Tammy and Deborah 518 00:33:20.349 --> 00:33:25.690 in Wyndham County in Connecticut, Ross pleads no contest and 519 00:33:25.730 --> 00:33:28.150 receives a sentence of 120 years. 520 00:33:28.150 --> 00:33:33.990 18 months after his conviction, Ross was back in court 521 00:33:34.089 --> 00:33:37.490 charged with four murders in the county of New London. 522 00:33:38.369 --> 00:33:42.109 For fairness, due to the amount of pre-trial publicity, the 523 00:33:42.170 --> 00:33:46.200 case was moved to Bridgeport County. And this time, it 524 00:33:46.259 --> 00:33:48.440 was the killer's life that was. 525 00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:53.859 On the line. In May 1987, Michael Ross stands trial 526 00:33:53.900 --> 00:33:57.279 for the murders of Wendy, Robin, and the two 14-year-olds, 527 00:33:57.740 --> 00:33:58.579 Leslie and April. 528 00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:03.420 Ross tried a different ploy for avoiding the death penalty. 529 00:34:04.109 --> 00:34:07.190 His defense asked for a verdict of not guilty by 530 00:34:07.319 --> 00:34:12.880 reason of insanity, but the tactic ultimately failed. On the 531 00:34:13.099 --> 00:34:17.380 5th of June, 1987, it took the jury just 86 532 00:34:17.380 --> 00:34:20.780 minutes to convict Michael Ross on all counts. 533 00:34:22.500 --> 00:34:26.820 Ross, of course, is serving 120 years. He's already been given. 534 00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:29.090 He's now confronting the death penalty. 535 00:34:30.690 --> 00:34:34.670 Connecticut law stated that if a defendant was found guilty 536 00:34:34.789 --> 00:34:38.389 of a capital felony, the jury must then decide whether 537 00:34:38.429 --> 00:34:40.409 to impose the death penalty. 538 00:34:41.809 --> 00:34:42.860 But there was a catch. 539 00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:48.739 If an individual had a psychiatric disorder, that was by 540 00:34:48.820 --> 00:34:53.019 statute in Connecticut supposed to mitigate against him getting the 541 00:34:53.059 --> 00:34:53.639 death penalty. 542 00:34:55.380 --> 00:34:58.800 The defense team had to rely on the testimonies of 543 00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:04.559 behavioral scientists to determine if Michael Ross had a mental disorder. 544 00:35:05.440 --> 00:35:08.820 One of those experts was Dr. Fred Berlin, who'd met 545 00:35:08.900 --> 00:35:11.739 and analyzed Ross on several occasions. 546 00:35:12.659 --> 00:35:14.539 I had had an interview with him in the prison 547 00:35:14.559 --> 00:35:18.289 where he'd been incarcerated at that time. My first impression 548 00:35:18.369 --> 00:35:20.690 was that if I didn't know about the nature of 549 00:35:20.730 --> 00:35:23.599 the crimes that he's committed, There was nothing in seeing 550 00:35:23.659 --> 00:35:26.699 him or in interacting with him that would have suggested 551 00:35:26.739 --> 00:35:28.949 to me that he was a particularly dangerous individual. 552 00:35:30.090 --> 00:35:34.210 Despite his meek appearance, Ross didn't hold back on the 553 00:35:34.269 --> 00:35:37.690 details of his brutal and sadistic crimes. 554 00:35:38.869 --> 00:35:41.050 It was also very clear in looking at that, we're 555 00:35:41.210 --> 00:35:44.530 likely talking about a serial killer who was acting in 556 00:35:44.610 --> 00:35:48.849 ways that included sexual involvements with his victims, and that 557 00:35:48.889 --> 00:35:53.420 individual has recurrent intense in which he is turned on 558 00:35:53.460 --> 00:35:56.849 sexy by the suffering, the degradation, the pain, even the 559 00:35:56.909 --> 00:35:58.610 death of another human being. 560 00:36:00.110 --> 00:36:00.809 I didn't have. 561 00:36:00.690 --> 00:36:04.230 Any doubt that he had the diagnosis of sexual sadism. 562 00:36:05.469 --> 00:36:10.380 The prosecution argued that Ross was a calculating killer who 563 00:36:10.500 --> 00:36:13.920 raped and strangled his victims for sexual pleasure. 564 00:36:14.980 --> 00:36:17.239 A lot of the times people have this misconception that 565 00:36:17.280 --> 00:36:21.900 strangulation is quick and easy. It's not. Strangulation takes a 566 00:36:21.940 --> 00:36:23.900 lot of rage. It takes a lot of force. It 567 00:36:23.940 --> 00:36:27.789 takes a lot of personal up-close contact with the victim. 568 00:36:28.190 --> 00:36:31.769 And so Ross really was the epitome of a psychopathic 569 00:36:31.829 --> 00:36:34.389 serial killer. And had he not been stopped, he would 570 00:36:34.429 --> 00:36:36.239 have kept on going. He admitted that himself. 571 00:36:39.099 --> 00:36:42.460 For the families of the victims, seeing their loved one's 572 00:36:42.579 --> 00:36:46.300 killer in the flesh brought up a mixture of emotions. 573 00:36:47.659 --> 00:36:51.400 Leslie Shelley's father was one of those in attendance. 574 00:36:52.599 --> 00:36:55.050 There was anger, there was sadness, there was all of that. 575 00:36:56.110 --> 00:37:03.989 I just remember Mr. Shelley painfully raging. As much pain 576 00:37:04.130 --> 00:37:06.150 as we were in, I don't think I've ever seen 577 00:37:06.210 --> 00:37:09.500 another man in as much pain. That stood out to me. 578 00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:15.059 On the 6th of July, 1987, the jury found Michael 579

00:37:15.139 --> 00:37:19.260 Ross to be deserving of the death penalty. But Ross's 580 00:37:19.300 --> 00:37:23.849 defense team appealed to the Supreme Court. And seven years later, 581 00:37:24.269 --> 00:37:27.889 they ruled that a critical error made by the prosecution 582 00:37:28.250 --> 00:37:32.550 should overturn his sentence, reducing it to life in prison. 583 00:37:33.690 --> 00:37:37.630 The prosecution was subsequently chastised because they'd held back the 584 00:37:37.670 --> 00:37:41.920 fact from the jury initially that even the government's evaluator 585 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:45.599 agreed that he had this kind of mental disorder. And 586 00:37:45.659 --> 00:37:47.599 so that's one of the reasons they had to have 587 00:37:47.639 --> 00:37:52.960 a second sentencing. Yes, he was having these cravings in 588 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:55.449 the same way a drug addict might have cravings, but 589 00:37:55.650 --> 00:37:57.550 could he have been able to control it? 590 00:37:58.849 --> 00:38:04.489 The second sentencing took place in April 2000. After five 591 00:38:04.550 --> 00:38:09.219 weeks of testimonies and nine days of deliberations, the jury 592 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:11.340 finally reached their verdict. 593 00:38:12.619 --> 00:38:15.920 The jury decided that they felt he could have controlled it, 594 00:38:15.940 --> 00:38:17.940 that he was criminally responsible. 595 00:38:19.619 --> 00:38:23.570 What happens is that jury confirms the death penalty that's 596 00:38:23.590 --> 00:38:27.409 been given in Bridgeport County. Ross finds himself on death row. 597 00:38:28.860 --> 00:38:33.480 Robin Stravinsky's uncle Morgan Hills couldn't attend the trial, but 598 00:38:33.519 --> 00:38:36.099 was eagerly awaiting the result at home. 599 00:38:36.119 --> 00:38:40.119 I don't think it was relief. 600 00:38:41.280 --> 00:38:43.940 I never recall anybody saying that when this guy dies 601 00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:46.920 or is executed or convicted, we can kind of start 602 00:38:46.940 --> 00:38:47.800 to get back to normal. 603 00:38:47.860 --> 00:38:48.860 There was no normal. 604 00:38:50.389 --> 00:38:55.409 Normal was being redefined every day from November 23rd on 605 00:38:55.449 --> 00:38:55.969 for everybody. 606 00:38:57.010 --> 00:39:01.070 Whilst in prison, Ross revealed in several interviews with a 607 00:39:01.150 --> 00:39:06.150 psychologist that his murderous rampage had actually started a lot 608 00:39:06.369 --> 00:39:11.949 earlier than originally thought, back in May 1981, during his 609 00:39:12.030 --> 00:39:14.190 time at Cornell University. 610 00:39:15.369 --> 00:39:20.889 A Vietnamese-born young woman called Zung Tu, she's 25, she's clever. 611 00:39:21.789 --> 00:39:26.429 She's absolutely marvelous, vivacious young woman. 612 00:39:27.909 --> 00:39:31.190 Zune was last seen leaving the camp. library, and her 613 00:39:31.230 --> 00:39:33.650 body was found in a stream next to a house 614 00:39:33.670

--> 00:39:36.230 that Ross was living in. But there wasn't enough evidence 615 00:39:36.269 --> 00:39:36.909 to indict him. 616 00:39:37.880 --> 00:39:43.380 In October 2001, Ross pled guilty to the March 1982 617 00:39:43.380 --> 00:39:47.360 murder of Paula Pereira and was sentenced to another eight 618 00:39:47.380 --> 00:39:52.269 to 25 years in prison. Although he confessed to killing 619 00:39:52.289 --> 00:39:56.099 Zung Nok Tu during his time at Cornell University, he 620 00:39:56.119 --> 00:40:01.800 was never prosecuted for her death. Prison warden Ann Kornoyer 621 00:40:02.119 --> 00:40:06.000 worked as Ross's counselor during his time at the Department 622 00:40:06.039 --> 00:40:07.840 of Correction in Connecticut. 623 00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:14.730 My first impression was that he was really arrogant. I 624 00:40:14.769 --> 00:40:20.349 don't ever think that Michael Ross felt... that he was 625 00:40:20.409 --> 00:40:23.570 like the other people on death row. I think he 626 00:40:23.670 --> 00:40:27.360 always felt that he was above them. He talked to 627 00:40:27.400 --> 00:40:31.139 me a little bit about remorse and hurting families, and 628 00:40:31.860 --> 00:40:34.360 I never got that to be a genuine statement from him. 629 00:40:34.420 --> 00:40:36.760 I felt like he was trying to manipulate me. 630 00:40:37.719 --> 00:40:42.610 Contrary to his previous appeals, Ross himself expressed his acceptance 631 00:40:42.849 --> 00:40:47.269 of the death penalty to the people evaluating him behind bars. 632 00:40:48.429 --> 00:40:48.739 Mr. 633 00:40:48.800 --> 00:40:51.480 Ross said that he did not want the families of 634 00:40:51.500 --> 00:40:54.179 the victims to go through that and decided not to 635 00:40:54.260 --> 00:40:55.860 appeal the death penalty. 636 00:40:56.619 --> 00:40:58.949 His attorneys wanted to say that he wasn't fit to 637 00:40:58.989 --> 00:41:01.710 make those decisions, and I don't agree. 638 00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:08.909 On the 13th of May, 2005, Michael Ross was executed 639 00:41:09.010 --> 00:41:13.650 by lethal injection at the age of 45. He was 640 00:41:13.730 --> 00:41:17.610 the last person in Connecticut to receive such a penalty 641 00:41:18.050 --> 00:41:22.750 after capital punishment was repealed in 2012. 642 00:41:22.750 --> 00:41:27.469 Michael kept his glasses on and his eyes closed. He 643 00:41:27.570 --> 00:41:32.889 never turned to look at any of us. That was 644 00:41:32.949 --> 00:41:33.610 the end of it. 645 00:41:36.659 --> 00:41:42.780 After Ross's execution, the Shelley family suffered further heartbreak. For 646 00:41:42.840 --> 00:41:46.880 Leslie's father, the loss of his beloved daughter was too 647 00:41:46.940 --> 00:41:47.980 great to bear. 648 00:41:48.960 --> 00:41:52.940 It changed my husband. He never really got over it. 649 00:41:53.760 --> 00:41:59.260 It was like he was isolating him and myself. from 650 00:41:59.360 --> 00:42:05.800 his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren. And then in 2010, 651 00:42:05.800 --> 00:42:11.969 he committed suicide. He never got over Leslie, and he 652 00:42:12.050 --> 00:42:15.849 always fights himself. He changed so much. 653 00:42:18.349 --> 00:42:21.539 Over the course of two years, Ross had murdered at 654 00:42:21.639 --> 00:42:25.889 least seven innocent women and girls. Even when he was 655 00:42:25.949 --> 00:42:30.809 behind bars, he claimed that his deviant urges couldn't be contained. 656 00:42:32.610 --> 00:42:34.889 He went on medication because he was afraid that even 657 00:42:34.929 --> 00:42:38.340 in prison, he would attack some of the female guards 658 00:42:38.360 --> 00:42:40.880 that were in there because of the cravings he was experiencing. 659 00:42:41.880 --> 00:42:43.900 He said that he would likely do the same to 660 00:42:43.940 --> 00:42:46.929 me if he had the opportunity. The fact that he 661 00:42:46.969 --> 00:42:49.429 thought about it, you know, it was a little unsettling 662 00:42:49.449 --> 00:42:49.690 for me. 663 00:42:50.739 --> 00:42:55.400 The execution of Michael Ross had left families with mixed emotions. 664 00:42:56.980 --> 00:42:59.780 There was even victims' families that didn't advocate for the 665 00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:03.550 death penalty. But for those who did, I think it 666 00:43:03.590 --> 00:43:08.590 did probably bring some sort of closure to their nightmare 667 00:43:08.630 --> 00:43:09.469 that they have to live. 668 00:43:11.409 --> 00:43:16.070 As far as trying to understand Michael, to this day, 669 00:43:16.090 --> 00:43:20.920 I don't hate him. but I don't like him neither 670 00:43:20.940 --> 00:43:22.940 for taking my daughter away. 671 00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:24.420 It's odd. 672 00:43:25.900 --> 00:43:29.219 Robin's loss left a gaping hole in a lot of people, 673 00:43:29.300 --> 00:43:32.090 just as you would imagine. You know, she had quite 674 00:43:32.110 --> 00:43:36.190 a large family that cared about her, and the loss 675 00:43:36.289 --> 00:43:40.610 was felt for many generations. I think he's your classic 676 00:43:40.809 --> 00:43:44.150 sexual predator and psychopath, and their body's telling him they 677 00:43:44.210 --> 00:43:46.630 have to kill, he has to kill, and Robin walked 678 00:43:46.670 --> 00:43:48.570 into his crosshairs. 679 00:43:51.170 --> 00:43:54.940 Ross was a savage and dangerous predator who would stop 680 00:43:54.980 --> 00:44:00.039 at nothing to fulfill his twisted carnal urges. He attacked 681 00:44:00.199 --> 00:44:04.179 numerous innocent young women and girls, over half of whom 682 00:44:04.280 --> 00:44:09.130 would never see the light of day again. The 45-year-old's 683 00:44:09.130 --> 00:44:13.030 2005 execution put an end to a life of sexual 684 00:44:13.110 --> 00:44:18.150 deviancy and undoubtedly makes Michael Ross one of the world's 685 00:44:18.210 --> 00:44:19.730 most evil killers.