From the archives: St. Louis serial killer victims were 'less than human' to him, police say. Serial killer Maury Travis, who hanged himself in jail in 2002, is believed to have slain between 12 and 20 women. First published on July 9, 2014 / 10:13 AM. She said Travis specifically referred to a "serial killer.". Well, Maury Travis was serial killer who, police believe, murdered as many as 20 young women between 2000 and 2002. Included is the computer that Travis used to contact an Internet mapping service so he could pinpoint the location of one of his victims. Travis was named in a federal criminal complaint for the murders of two women. ", "He kept trying to redirect everything, every question, " Sachs said. MauryShow.com, official website of the syndicated television show, that explores compelling relationship and family issues. Travis, who hanged himself in his jail cell in 2002 before ever facing a trial, is suspected of killing at least 11 women, many of whom were prostitutes, in the St. Louis area but that number could be as high as 20, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported in 2002. "Initially, the landlord was not willing to let her break her lease but we talked with her and eventually the landlord agreed to rescind the lease," Cheryl Lovell, executive director of the St Louis Housing Authority, told ABC News. In one clip, he taunts one of the women by asking her if she wants to say something to her kids. "He wanted to be in control.". He would sometimes keep the women he kidnapped in his house for days where he would make them do drugs and physically abuse themuntil he eventually strangled them to death. The house was built in 1954 and it is 1,107 sq ft in size. The teenage girl killed Saturday during an attempted robbery in St. Charles was a sophomore at Liberty High School in O'Fallon, Missouri, a so. Imagine you accidentally move into a serial killer's house. The excerpts the police released to Primetime show Travis tormenting the women verbally, taunting them about their fate and haranguing some of them over how they had abandoned their children for crack. easy canvas painting with black background. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. The details of his hanging don't really point to suicide.) News 4 called Travis mother; she claims she told McGhaw about the homes dark past. Maury T. Travis. It might take 371 days for your mom to friend you on Facebook, LOL! Who in their right mind would forfeit such an asset? "Damned Internet!". Two months later, Travis wrote a three-page letter to Goldman from the Farmington Correctional Center. "To him, " Sachs said, "these women were less than human.". One scene showed him apparently strangling one of his victims to death. A year later, he pleads guilty to five counts each of robbery and armed criminal action. One exchange, with an unidentified victim, went as follows: Travis: You want to say something to your kids?Victim: I'm sorry.Travis: Who's raising your kids?Victim: Me, my mom and dad.Travis: You ain't raising s---, b----. He is from MO. Maury Travis's Net Worth: $1-5 Million. WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS BELOW Maury Troy Travis Maury's house in 2002 What the house looks like in 2018. Each time one of the investigators reached down to pet the animal, Travis stiffened and moved to the edge of his seat. said Chief Mokwa. While the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences doesn't offer an official Oscar ballot, you can find printable ones on sites like Etsy, which have a ton of printable 2023 Oscar ballots in . According to their nephew Maury Travis, the adjacent homes of the brothers Samuel and David shared a tennis . Fortunately, the St. Louis Housing Authority intervened in the matter, and Catrina was eventually allowed to leave. Although officials at St. Louis County Jail were told that he should be put on suicide watch, few precautions were taken. "[The child] looked over like she was scared. S T.  L O U I S, Jan. 9, 2003 -- When police in St. Louis searched the home of suspected serial killer Maury Travis last summer, they found a secret torture chamber in the basement, with bondage equipment, a stun gun and clippings about the slayings he was suspected of. Harrison's son, Zabray Harrison, said he often drank a couple of beers with Travis in front of their homes. Several students who attended McCluer at the same time said they cannot remember Travis. The woman told the station her landlord was unsympathetic. The dining room table that was featured in investigation photos. So, how much is Maury Travis worth at the age of 37 years old? All rights reserved. He was a serial killer who predominantly murdered prostitutes potentially as many as 17 in the St. Louis (Ferguson, Missouri) area around 2000-2002. And shes leasing that thing out! Some of the victims were discovered there, tied to a pole. If you've never heard of Maury Travis, you can watch the video above, or read this or this. 'This Whole Basement Was His Torture Chamber'. However, his pleas for leniency fell on deaf ears, and he was forced to serve another five years in prison before he was eventually released on parole. When the FBI and police tracked down suspected serial killer Maury Troy Travis, they didn't need bloodhounds, lab tests, fingerprints or other standard tools of criminal investigations. Admin. The car wash where Orlando Anderson was shot. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It was revealed that her landlord, who would not return the money or break the lease when confronted, was Travis' mother. February 1998-January 1999: He returns to prison for violating parole by possessing drugs. "Nothing, " he said. The house, it was revealed, was the very one used by 36-year-old Maury Travis, a man police say filmed himself torturing and murdering multiple women before his arrest in 2002. After viewing the tape, Police Chief Joe Mokwaordered that everyone who saw the footage had to undergo psychological counseling. Because Mauray Travis killed himself in jail before detectives could fully investigate his crimes, there's no way to know exactly how many women he killed. He apparently let some of the women leave at that point. Salary in 2022. Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). The most damning evidence was videotapes that searchers found secreted inside a wall. One of the drawings found in Maury Travis's home by detectives of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police. After murdering his victims, Travis typically dumped their bodies on the eastern outskirts of St. Louis. He was called "The Street Walker Strangler" and the "Videotape Killer." Investigators linked Maury Travis to the murders of 12 sex workers in the St. Louis area. She said no you signed a lease you need to stay there until the lease is up.. [7] Upon being approached by the local housing authority, the landlord subsequently agreed to rescind the lease.[8]. Oct. 25, 1965: Travis is born in St. Louis. On June 10th, 2002, Maury Troy Travis hanged himself in his cell. Travis Barker's ex-wife Shanna Moakler flaunted her wedding ring on Instagram over the weekend during a Q&A, 13 years after the couple divorced. Several times, as the full realization of what was happening struck him, Travis dropped his head. Salary in 2019. "I have known Mr. Travis and his family for a number of years and I feel he is deserving of special consideration in this matter, " Clay wrote. A lot of true crime and music but I throw in life stuff too for the times I need a greater understanding of why I'm like this. St. Louis should probably raze the house, but Im not sure thats going to happen either. March 28, 2002: An unidentified woman's skeleton is found in Columbia, Ill. Police now suspect Travis. He attached a computer-generated map to the letter, marked with an X where he said police would find a body. May 23, 2001: The body of Betty James, 46, is found in St. Louis. But throughout the nearly eight hours of questioning, police said, they never saw any remorse, any feelings of guilt. Prosecutors in St. Louis and the counties of St. Charles, St. Clair, Madison and Monroe were reviewing evidence against him for possible state charges. Serial Killer House in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. . So I get the need to get out as quickly as possible. On the one hand, I cant relate to what the mother of a serial killer (suspected or otherwise) must go through. Police who have viewed the entire tape say it shows Travis raping the women and penetrating them with foreign objects. Aletterwritten by Travis himselfthat tipped the authorities off to his whereabouts boasted of a 17thvictim, but authorities believe that he could have murdered up to 20 women in his home in suburban St. Louis. "I guess you never know what happens behind closed doors.". Staying in my cell and crying myself to sleep most every night will not help, but it's so very hard to believe this has happened to me. Under Review. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? "There are still a million questions, " Sachs said. All of his victims were prostitutes, he would take them back to his house, give them drugs to smoke, & have sex with them. Travis was named in a federal criminal complaint for the murders of two women. "He didn't appreciate it at all, " said Sachs, 42, a 22-year veteran of the St. Louis Police Department who had headed the investigation into the serial killings. He slid back and forth in his chair, sometimes pushing to the very edge of his seat and staring intently, almost defiantly, into the face of St. Louis police Sgt. He hung himself in jail in 2002 before officially confessing to any of the murders, however. You can set your cookie preferences below. County officials later admit taking few precautions against suicide. In one of the ads, the description says that it has a "spacious basement for entertaining!". This Google Street View image of 1001 Ford Drive in St. Louis was taken in June of 2022. TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. Travis Air Force Base, California's Fisher House I celebrated its grand re-opening after almost a year of interior renovations during a base ceremony Nov. 4, 2021. [2][5], In his letter to the newspaper, Travis wrote, "I'll tell you where many others are." They have identified 12 of his victims as drug-addicted prostitutes whose bodies were dumped along city streets and country roads in the St. Louis area between March 2001 and May 2002. Other longtime neighbors said they have virtually no recollection of the boy. Travis (October 21, 1995 - February 16, 2009) was a male common chimpanzee who, as an animal actor, appeared in several television shows and commercials, including spots for Coca-Cola, as well as on television programs including The Maury Povich Show and The Man Show, which is disputed. Police believe Travis picked up prostitutes along a strip of Broadway just north of St. Louis that is riddled with crack houses and prostitution, then took them to his ranch-style home in Ferguson, a nearby suburb. Hooked on what he described as a $300-a-day cocaine habit, and short on cash, Travis robbed five shoe stores in north and west St. Louis County in an eight-day period in March 1988. ", Wucher called Travis' car his "pride and joy.". Police now believe she may have been Travis' first murder victim. As they talked, Travis' calico cat strolled through the room, moving from one visitor to the next. The authorities believe that Travis is responsible for murdering 1220 women during the early 2000s. At the sentencing hearing six months later, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Steven Goldman said letters of support seemed to indicate the crime spree was "an aberration in your character" resulting from the drug habit. The motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. Who is raising your kids? If you click that second link above, theres some fairly sordid stuff about him and his videotaping of some of the murders; the police chief in the area apparently ordered psychological counseling for anyone who hadeven watchedthe footage. Police believe he killed between 12 and 20 women, but in a letter Travis sent to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which helped lead police to him, the killer boasted of killing 17 women. He is believed to have killed two women: Alysia Greenwade, whose body was discovered April 1, 2001 in Illinois (after having been last seen in Missouri), and Betty James, whose body was discovered about two months later in Missouri (after having been last seen in Illinois). List of serial killers in the United States, List of serial killers by number of victims, "Internet Used to Find Man Charged in 2 of 10 Killings", "Virtual Trail Led to Serial Killer Suspect", "Murder Cop: A Profile of Vernon J. Geberth", "Catrina McGhaw: St. Louis woman finds out on TV she's renting serial killer Maury Travis' home", "Woman found serial killer lived home watching TV", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maury_Travis&oldid=1122117419, American people who died in prison custody, Crimes against sex workers in the United States, Serial killers who committed suicide in prison custody, Violence against women in the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 15 November 2022, at 23:17. Below, you will find the address and the GPS coordinates for this location. McGhaw was shocked to turn on the program and discover that her rented home was once a crime scene. Turns out the landlord is the killers mom. The property has been rented out multiple times in the past. It is situated at 1001 Ford Drive in the northwest of St. Louis, Missouri. DEAF VIDEO VLOGS. The latitude and longitude coordinates for the house are: To view directions on how to get there, you can use the Google Maps shortcut below: 1001 Ford DriveSt. "He said I would never understand, " Sachs said. He then begged the judge to give him another chance in society. When Catrina asked to be let out of the lease, Sandra refused, telling her she had to stay until it expired. June 1978: His parents, Michael V. and Sandra A. Travis, are divorced in St. Louis County. But, most chilling of all, they found a videotape containing footage of his crimes. This location belongs to the following categories: Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to see future locations. Maury had built several torture chambers in the basement of the house and kept corpses there. A neighbor in Ferguson described Maury Troy Travis as a quiet, respectful boy who sometimes mowed her lawn without being asked and showed her how to use an electric hedge trimmer. The bridge where Mallory Beach died in a boating accident. She remembers him as a student in her basic English class, for students who failed an earlier English course. For more information, please read our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Police have set up a separate, locked evidence room just to store and catalog items seized from Travis' home. May 15, 2001: The body of Teresa Wilson, 36, is found in West Alton. / CBS/AP. . The house, it was revealed, was the very one used by 36-year-old Maury Travis, a man police say filmed himself torturing and murdering multiple women before his arrest in 2002. Video tapes in which Travis tortured victims were also uncovered in a police investigation. Killer believed to have murdered 2-20 women and killed himself in jail after being arrested. A co-worker, Dave Wucher, remembers Travis counseling him on the dangers of drugs. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. "He always seemed so happy, so laid-back, " said the woman, who wanted her name withheld. You need to stay there until the lease is up,'" McGhaw said. While Travis claimed in a letter to have murdered 17 women, some authorities were doubtful;[1][2][3] others thought he may have murdered up to 20 women. April 4, 2001: A woman, 44, is found near death in East St. Louis but is never able to help police identify her attacker. "He said he was born like this. Sachs would sit with Travis in an interrogation room for the next three hours, until almost 2 p.m., trying somehow to work his way into Travis' mind, trying to understand what had made him who he was. By the time he died, Travis was charged on two federal kidnapping counts that could have carried a death penalty. He also served small stints in prison on drug-related charges. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. But, most chilling of all, they found a videotape containing footage of his crimes. 1.states that you cannot take any legal action against any real estate agent or broker for the failure to disclose to a buyer that the property is psychologically impacted and was the site of a homicide or other felony, or of a suicide. Name I don't know. A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. It shows an 8-foot-by-8-foot cell with two inner cells where Maury planned to keep women.. Travis hanged himself in jail on June 10, 2002. they asked. She claimed that the killer's mother, Sandra Travis, had rented the property to her without disclosing anything about its history. Maury Travis was a very, very disturbed man. Victims remains. He is from MO. At the time of the murders, he was a hotel waiter, and on parole for a 1989 robbery. Im baffled., Suspect charged in fatal shooting in downtown St. Louis, Former Sweetie Pies TV star Tim Norman gets two life sentences in nephews death, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol slams ump C.B. "He seemed very fond of her, " Sachs said. "There is still a lot to piece together.". During the 1990s, he worked at several restaurants. His mom knew what was going on that stupid b**** should have been in jail right behind him and the house torn to the ground. You ain't going home tomorrow. Then he would take them captive, binding them with ropes and handcuffs and covering their eyes with duct tape. This is the house where serial killer Maury Travis lived. The CEO of Norfolk Southern, the rail company responsible for the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment, has agreed to appear before a Senate committee next week. Victims remains. They did not discuss specifics, which included restraints that appeared stained with blood and the videotapes, which show at least one woman who was among those found dead. Travis was found hanging from a bed sheet tied to the air vent. This is a common trait among sadistic serial killers, as many of them get an "added kick" out of instilling fear in the community and seeing their "work" being reported on in the news. What did you do? Aug. 25, 2001: The body of Yvonne Crues, 50, is found in East St. Louis. - May 31, 2021 Maury Travis was a really agitated man. Info; Share Links; Added: Jul-8-2016. He had written a suicide note. McGhaw said she can't stop thinking about an incident with a 2-year-old relative who was playing in the basement near the pole where the victims had been tied up. Travis felt that what he was doing was so special that he filmed his first murder and kept the tape as a trophy among his possessions. A suspected gunman on Tuesday was charged in the fatal shooting of a man in downtown St. Louis one day earlier. ", Maury Travis Tortured 17 Women In His Home, Now His Mom Rents Out His Murder House, But like many serial killers, Travis wanted to be a known entity: it's likelythat Travis would still be adding to his list of victims if he hadnt sent a letter to a local paper to taunt the police. "He told me how to wax my car, how to take care of the engine. I don't give a f*ck. St. Charles County Jane Doe was a woman who was discovered near West Alton, Missouri on May 25, 2002. But during a one-hour shower break the one time of day the guard did not have a clear view of all of his cell Travis managed to hang himself in the back corner, using a thin rope he had braided from a torn-up sheet. [2] Although Travis appears to have acknowledged at least seventeen murders, the police believe his victim count could be as high as twenty. After that, she said, each time Travis came down into the shared basement, he would break into a hum or a song to let her know that he was coming. Police now suspect Travis in her murder. 2023 The Context Of Things. In the early 2000s, Maury Travis lured sex workersfrom the St. Louis area into his home tovideo tapehimself torturing and abusingthem. He never admitted anything, they said, but he never denied anything either. Heres where the story gets a lot weirder, 12 years after Travis himself committed suicide: his mother, Sandra, is still the owner of the home where the torturing occurred. WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS BELOW Maury Troy Travis Maury's house in 2002 What the house looks like in 2018. Authorities were able to identify the bodies of 12 of Travis' victims, all sex workers whose remains began turning up on desolate roads outside of St. Louis in the early aughts. It shows an 8-foot-by-8-foot cell with two inner cells where Maury planned to keep women. Now their boss is ordering them to get counseling to help deal with what they saw. Videotapes, discovered in the basement of his home, show him with bound victims. Detectives in the St. Louis Police Department are looking for any information that could help them find more of Maury Travis' victims. E-mail Primetime. We have estimated Maury Travis's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets. Maury Travis was a serial killer who was active in St Louis, Missouri, from 2001 to 2002. Published Apr 12, 2021. Yes, Travis said, he had paid for prostitutes. Please!!!". After police caught up with this sadistic killer, his mother turnedone of the all time creepiest serial killer murder basements into an apartment meant for the set of a horror film. This letter, allegedly by serial killer Maury Travis, was sent to St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Bill Smith after Smith wrote about a prostitute who was found murdered and speculation that a serial killer was at work. Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife and son, Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed last month, doctor says, White supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes kicked out of CPAC, Tom Sizemore, actor known for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Heat," dies at 61, Biden team readies new advisory panel ahead of expected reelection bid, At least 10 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, House Democrats unhappy with White House handling of D.C.'s new criminal code. LouisMissouriMO 63135United States. He is charged with two federal counts of kidnapping and taken to the St. Louis County Jail. 8 court search results for people named "Maury Travis" in the United States. First kill was 19 years old. Serial Killer Maury Travis's Murder House Rented The house in Ferguson, MO where a woman that was renting the home learned from a TV documentary that it was used as a torture chamber by suspected serial killer, Maury Travis, who killed between 12 and 20 women. Alan Shaw will appear before the . S T.  L O U I S, Jan. 9, 2003 --, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. "They'll give you nightmares," he told ABCNEWS' Primetime. He was popular for being a Criminal. A local agent said murders, suicides and violent crimes are not things that landlords are required to disclose to potential renters. He is from Missouri. Instead, he seemed more interested in finding out how they had tracked him down. As a grown-up, he transformed his basement into a torture chamber where he murdered at least 17 women while recording their video, their pain, and ultimate death. From May to October 2001, four other women were tortured and strangled: Teresa Wilson, Verona Thompson, Yvonne Crues and Brenda Beasley. Part of HuffPost Crime. ", "He said he had friends who knew about bodies getting dumped." "The condition here are excruciatingly tormenting to say the least. Menu March 1988: While home from college, he holds up five shoe stores in St. Louis County. "Who are these other women and where are they?" Maury Troy Travis (October 25, 1965 - June 10, 2002) was an American serial killer. "You know what we found in your basement, " police told him. A picture of Maury Travis Source: UGC Maury Travis was an American serial killer. 1985: Travis graduates from McCluer High School. Maury Travis Self (archive footage) James McClain Undetermined Re-enactment Role Joe Peck Detective Bob Martin Allen Strange Undetermined Re-enactment Role Director Michael Jordan All cast & crew Production, box office & more at IMDbPro Storyline Edit After being sentenced to 15 years in prison, he wrote a letter to the judge and pleaded with him to reduce his sentence. I was shocked that he was living in Ferguson at the time, and I went on line to get his address, and was shocked to see your blog post. At one point, Travis picked up the cat and sat it next to him, out of reach of the investigators. A detective on the case told ABC News,"He claims he killed 17 women. Why raze down the house? "She said, 'No, you signed a lease. The basement pole where some of the victims were tied up. "It may be weeks before we know more, " said Capt. Records in the Ferguson-Florissant School District show he was enrolled in 1981 as a ninth-grader at Ferguson Junior High School. You are right the house should be razed and the property could be used in a productive way for the community. Franklin Home. Travis was paroled after five years and three months behind bars for the robberies, working in the prison's janitorial and food service areas. Maury Troy Travis (October 25, 1965 June 10, 2002) was an American serial killer. Also, most known serial killers have been white, while Travis was African-American. "I am not going back.".