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Suspected Truck Stop Serial Killer Ran for Mayor in Illinois
Saturday, July 14, 2007
ALBION, Ill. - Many people in this southern Illinois town thought Bruce
Mendenhall was loud, hot-tempered and a little peculiar, but they were still
stunned to hear police say he has confessed to killing six people.
"Everyone's in disbelief that we had an individual living here like this,"
Albion Mayor Ryan Hallam said Friday.
Mendenhall, a 56-year-old truck driver who once ran unsuccessfully for mayor
in Albion, was arrested Thursday in Nashville, Tenn., at the same interstate
truck stop where 25-year-old Sara Hulbert was found fatally shot two weeks
ago.
Mendenhall was charged with criminal homicide, and police said he confessed
to killing five other people in Tennessee, Indiana, Alabama and Georgia.
Illinois State Police were preparing to search Mendenhall's house Friday.
The small white house surrounded by cornfields had been roped off with
police tape since Thursday.
"We're looking for any items of evidence of first degree murder," state
police Lt. Tom Oliverio said.
Mendenhall's wife, Linda, was at her sister's house and left the room when a
reporter came to the door. "We just want the family to be left alone for
now," her sister Judy Kohler said.
A court-appointed attorney for Mendenhall, Jason Gichner, declined to
comment on the case.
A Nashville police detective recognized Mendenhall's rig and trailer from a
description of a truck that had been spotted at the truck stop shortly
before Hulbert's body was found, according to an affidavit filed Thursday by
a Nashville prosecutor.
When the detective approached Mendenhall he noticed blood inside the cab.
Nashville police say Mendenhall confessed, and then gave them details about
five other killings.
Local authorities said they were investigating whether Mendenhall was
responsible for a 48-year-old woman found June 6 who had been fatally shot
and stuffed into a trash can in Lebanon, Tenn.; a 43-year-old woman found
shot to death Feb. 22 at a Lake Station, Ind. truck stop; a 43-year-old
woman found dead Jan. 29 at a motel parking lot in Atlanta; and a
44-year-old woman shot to death July 1 in Birmingham, Ala.
Police in Indianapolis said they have not been able to match the information
Mendenhall gave to Nashville authorities to any unsolved killings.
Word of Mendenhall's arrest swept like wildfire through his tiny
southeastern Illinois hometown of Albion, which has only about 2,000
residents and is best known for its annual pork festival held just last
weekend.
The mayor said Mendenhall - married with two grown children - was "a little
different" from other people in town. He had a loud voice, but generally
kept to himself, aside from an unsuccessful campaign against a preacher for
the mayor's seat about a decade ago.
"He didn't mix well with the others around him, but we never had any
problems with him," Hallam said.
Mendenhall apparently ran for office because he was angry at the city for
ordering him to clear junked cars from his property, Albion Police Chief
Doyle Judge said.
"We've had a few encounters with him, but nothing of any great magnitude,"
Judge said, noting only one disruption over a traffic stop involving
Mendenhall's daughter.
"Otherwise, you didn't hear from him," said Judge, a 34-year veteran of law
enforcement in Edwards County, among the tiniest in Illinois, with about
6,000 residents. "He had some different concepts on things. He appeared to
be pretty easily upset, provoked, that kind of thing."
Mendenhall has no known criminal record, Sgt. Joe Murphy of the Illinois
State Police said Friday.
Neighbor Kiley Barnett, a 27-year-old stay-at-home mom, said she always
thought the entire family was weird, "especially him." She said they would
never wave hello when they drove past her mobile home.
"I've tried waving at him a hundred different times and nobody in the car
ever waved back," she said.
Suspected Truck Stop Serial Killer Ran for Mayor in Illinois
Saturday, July 14, 2007
ALBION, Ill. - Many people in this southern Illinois town thought Bruce
Mendenhall was loud, hot-tempered and a little peculiar, but they were still
stunned to hear police say he has confessed to killing six people.
"Everyone's in disbelief that we had an individual living here like this,"
Albion Mayor Ryan Hallam said Friday.
Mendenhall, a 56-year-old truck driver who once ran unsuccessfully for mayor
in Albion, was arrested Thursday in Nashville, Tenn., at the same interstate
truck stop where 25-year-old Sara Hulbert was found fatally shot two weeks
ago.
Mendenhall was charged with criminal homicide, and police said he confessed
to killing five other people in Tennessee, Indiana, Alabama and Georgia.
Illinois State Police were preparing to search Mendenhall's house Friday.
The small white house surrounded by cornfields had been roped off with
police tape since Thursday.
"We're looking for any items of evidence of first degree murder," state
police Lt. Tom Oliverio said.
Mendenhall's wife, Linda, was at her sister's house and left the room when a
reporter came to the door. "We just want the family to be left alone for
now," her sister Judy Kohler said.
A court-appointed attorney for Mendenhall, Jason Gichner, declined to
comment on the case.
A Nashville police detective recognized Mendenhall's rig and trailer from a
description of a truck that had been spotted at the truck stop shortly
before Hulbert's body was found, according to an affidavit filed Thursday by
a Nashville prosecutor.
When the detective approached Mendenhall he noticed blood inside the cab.
Nashville police say Mendenhall confessed, and then gave them details about
five other killings.
Local authorities said they were investigating whether Mendenhall was
responsible for a 48-year-old woman found June 6 who had been fatally shot
and stuffed into a trash can in Lebanon, Tenn.; a 43-year-old woman found
shot to death Feb. 22 at a Lake Station, Ind. truck stop; a 43-year-old
woman found dead Jan. 29 at a motel parking lot in Atlanta; and a
44-year-old woman shot to death July 1 in Birmingham, Ala.
Police in Indianapolis said they have not been able to match the information
Mendenhall gave to Nashville authorities to any unsolved killings.
Word of Mendenhall's arrest swept like wildfire through his tiny
southeastern Illinois hometown of Albion, which has only about 2,000
residents and is best known for its annual pork festival held just last
weekend.
The mayor said Mendenhall - married with two grown children - was "a little
different" from other people in town. He had a loud voice, but generally
kept to himself, aside from an unsuccessful campaign against a preacher for
the mayor's seat about a decade ago.
"He didn't mix well with the others around him, but we never had any
problems with him," Hallam said.
Mendenhall apparently ran for office because he was angry at the city for
ordering him to clear junked cars from his property, Albion Police Chief
Doyle Judge said.
"We've had a few encounters with him, but nothing of any great magnitude,"
Judge said, noting only one disruption over a traffic stop involving
Mendenhall's daughter.
"Otherwise, you didn't hear from him," said Judge, a 34-year veteran of law
enforcement in Edwards County, among the tiniest in Illinois, with about
6,000 residents. "He had some different concepts on things. He appeared to
be pretty easily upset, provoked, that kind of thing."
Mendenhall has no known criminal record, Sgt. Joe Murphy of the Illinois
State Police said Friday.
Neighbor Kiley Barnett, a 27-year-old stay-at-home mom, said she always
thought the entire family was weird, "especially him." She said they would
never wave hello when they drove past her mobile home.
"I've tried waving at him a hundred different times and nobody in the car
ever waved back," she said.
