The Butcher Baker: Alaska’s Most Dangerous Game

The Girl in the Handcuffs

Terror, panic, pure unadulterated fear. That was the look on the face of a young woman in the early morning of June 13th, 1983, as she ran for her life down the runway of Merrill Field in Anchorage, Alaska. Sweat dripping down her face in a mixture of exertion and fright, her bare feet aching with each step as they smack on the rough asphalt, her barely clothed body cold in the brisk Alaskan air, the handcuffs around her wrists digging painfully into her skin.

All the while, from behind her, she hears hurried footfalls…along with a voice. A voice filled with anger and panic as it calls out to her to stop…or else he’ll kill her.

Given what she’d been forced to endure over the last several hours, every synapse in her brain was screaming at her to keep going. If she stopped and went back, she was dead. If he ran her down and caught her, she was dead. No matter what she did, if she didn’t keep running as fast as she could, she would be dead.

And so that’s what she did. She ran and ran as fast as she could, eventually making it to Sixth Avenue. She proceeded to wave down a passing truck, driven by one Robert Yout. Seeing her in such a state, he stopped and asked her what was wrong.

She jumped into his passenger seat and screamed at him to drive, which he proceeded to do.

As Yout pulled away, our young runner finally turned to look out the window, still terrified that her pursuer was close by…but he was nowhere to be seen. Yout drove his new disheveled passenger to an establishment called the Mush Inn where he dropped her off. She leapt from the car and rushed inside, frantically asking the woman behind the desk to call her boyfriend at the Big Timber Motel. His job done, Yout pulled away to head off to work, but not before calling the police to inform them of what occurred and where they could find the poor woman.

Members of the Anchorage PD soon arrived where they were informed that their victim had called a taxi and headed to the Motel all on her own. Arriving there, they were taken to Room 110 where they were greeted at the door by our poor unfortunate protagonist. Barefoot and still handcuffed, this was 17-year-old Cindy Paulson, a local sex worker and dancer who had been working the streets of Anchorage for some time, even at such a young age. Managing to uncuff her, they clothed her, tried to calm her, and brought her downtown in an attempt to get the story behind the whole ordeal.

Once in a room with officers, one of them being Alaskan State Trooper Detective Glenn Flothe, and feeling a bit safer, Cindy manages to muster up the courage, and recounts the painful memories of the last 24 hours.

In the early morning hours of that day, Cindy was walking the streets, looking to find some work, a quick job to earn some much-needed cash. It was then that a car pulled up to her off the street. Behind the wheel was a thin, wiry man with red hair, large glasses, an acne scarred face, and a noticeable stutter.

Rolling down the window, he offered her $200 dollars for a blowjob, no more no less, to which she agreed. However, after getting into his car and in the middle of the act, her new mark whipped out a pair of handcuffs, cuffed one of her hands, and pulled out a gun, sticking it against her temple before she had time to react. Saying he would kill her if she didn’t do as he asked, he drove her back to his house at gunpoint, brought her inside, and took her down to his basement, also known as his trophy room.

Now I don’t mean trophies like ones you’d get for winning a contest or sporting event, no I mean trophies as in a room decorated almost entirely in the heads, bodies, and skins of many different wildlife he had killed, stuffed, and mounted. He was an avid hunter after all. If that wasn’t creepy enough, her abductor had a chain latched to the ceiling, dangling right in the middle of the room. He chained her up and proceeded to rape and torture poor Cindy for hours on end.

Once he was finished with his disgusting deeds, he told the violated and sobbing woman that he was tired and simply went into the other room to have a bit of a nap on the couch. Let’s step back a moment and just imagine that: this monster abducts and desecrates a woman, then decides to just casually catch a few Z’s as if nothing was wrong…talk about cold.

Then, waking up, this horrid piece of human waste unchains her and says that she shouldn’t worry, he likes her. He likes her so much that he’s going to take her up to his cabin for a while. There’s nothing to worry about, he’s taken plenty of girls up there before.

CINDY: “He just said, well, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ You know, ‘Everything is going to be OK. I’m not gonna hurt you.’ And then he actually told me about the other girls.”

FLOTHE: “What did he say about the other girls?”

CINDY: “That there were seven… that he had seven other girls there before. You see, when he said that, I knew he had killed them. What girl is gonna go and do this? You know, would let this man do this to them? Well, I knew he killed them. He said that he had seven other girls and that usually he keeps them about a week.”

FLOTHE: “How long was he gonna keep you?”

CINDY: “He said that… Well, he didn’t say. He told me that since he liked me so good he would take me to his cabin and make love to me one time. And then, we would be back, so I would be back by around 11 o’clock in the afternoon. And you know, I said, ‘OK, fine, that’s good.’ And I acted like I wanted to go.”

Still keeping her handcuffed, her kidnapper forced her into his car and started driving them up to Merrill Field. It was during this trip that Cindy decided what to do, she would have to bide her time and when given the chance, she would escape.

“I decided to wait till we get to the airport. And I was thinking, wow, we’re going to the airport. He said Merrill Air Field. And I was staying at the Big Timber, so I knew, you know, I’m getting the f*** out of there. So I just waited. Finally, I just was so scared, I just ran…”

Once they arrived at the Airfield, her captor drove up to the hangar where his plane, a Piper PA-18 Super Cub, was stored. Getting out of the car, he started loading up some supplies, one of which, Cindy noticed, was a large hunting rifle. Knowing at that point that she was dead should she be taken to the cabin, she made her move. As soon as her kidnapper’s back was turned, she moved to the back of the car, still handcuffed, hid her shoes as evidence of her being there, managed to open the door, and took off running, which is where we first found her.

The police were speechless, this was so much to take in, so many awful acts that this woman had to endure for several hours. Writing every detail down, they took her back to the Airfield to see if they could identify the plane. She guided them right to the hangar where the plane was still docked. She identified it instantly, and a nearby worker identified the car that had been parked out front of the hangar earlier in the day. It was then that they got a name, the owner of the plane and the car.

It’s now as the darkness begins to engulf us once more that things start to come into focus. It’s now that we truly can dive into the abyss and explore the evil who would become known as the most vicious, sadistic, sinister, and hands down the absolute worst serial killer in Alaskan history. The Butcher Baker, the Big Game Hunter. This is the tale…of Robert Hansen.

A Stuttering Start

Let’s rewind a bit and set our stage proper. Robert Christian Hansen was born in the small town of Estherville, Iowa, on February 15th, 1939, the eldest of two children of Danish parents, his mother Edna Margret Petersen and his father Christian Hansen. In 1942, the family moved to California, but it wouldn’t be for long as they returned to Iowa in 1949, settling in Pocahontas. Yes, there’s a town named after the famous Native American princess, it’s the only cool thing about the place.

With a population of only 1,867 as of 2020, it’s the very definition of small town.

At home, Robert’s life was difficult. His father was a rather domineering man and forced his young son to work in the family bakery, known as Pocahontas Home Bakery, even from an early age. Earlier we noted that Robert had a rather notable stutter, and it’s here we can thank dear old dad for that. Robert was always naturally left-handed, but for one reason or another, Christian forced him to do his work and other tasks with his right hand, and it’s because of this difficult mental switch that somehow some wires got crossed, resulting in a lifelong stutter.

He did have his hobbies though, things he enjoyed doing when not under his father’s abrasive thumb, namely hunting and archery. Hunting has always been a big part of Pocahontas, a widespread local pastime, so he picked it up pretty quick and fell in love with it, enjoying the quiet and solitude of the woods, the feeling of having the power to end a life in the palms of his hands.

Throughout his younger years, Robert was an outsider, a loner. He was painfully shy and awkward, his horrendous stutter not helping matters. He was ruthlessly bullied at school for his speech impediment, only furthering his need to keep quiet and to himself. On top of that, Robert was cursed with terrible acne that over the years scarred and pocked his face, only contributing to his shyness and further bullying from his peers. Hansen once even described his face during that time as “one giant pimple.”

Because of all this, he had more than a little trouble in the female department. All of the pretty girls he wished to get to know better wouldn’t give him the time of day and, while I think many people can sympathize especially during those awkward teen years, Robert internalized all of those negative feelings. He let it all boil and simmer as it slowly turned into an unadulterated hatred for women, especially those he considered attractive, and he would fantasize about things…things such as revenge and all the hideous and grim ways he could enact it. Much of this, you guessed it, went into his big game hunting, visualizing those he hated when he stalked and killed his prey in those quiet, lonely woods…as I said, it only gets worse.

Down the Dark and Bumpy Road

Come 1957, Robert was 18 years old, and he made the call to join the United States Army Reserve. He wanted to do something meaningful, he wanted to make something of his life and leave all his troubles behind him. He only served a year, but it seemed to do the trick…at least initially. Once his contract was up, he found work as a drill instructor in Pocahontas, and he even managed to get married to a nice young woman by the name of Carolyn Jean Willis that he met in town.

Things really were looking up…well until Robert’s hatred and petty insecurities bubbled up to the surface again. What truly started the process is anyone’s guess, but for one reason or another Hansen felt mistreated by those in his community, so much so that all the terrible memories of his youth came flooding back. He wanted payback…he wanted vengeance. Now he couldn’t go about and take it out on all those that wronged him, that would take too long.

No, he did the next best thing, and marked off a notch on the good old serial killer checklist.

In 1960 at age 21, Hansen convinced a young employee from his father’s bakery to join him on a little drive. Pulling up to the Pocahontas County Board of Education school bus garage, he took his revenge for his unpopularity and years of torment by burning the whole garage and every bus inside to the ground. This brought a big sick smile to the face of old Bob; however, the kid did not feel the same way.

Soon after he went and confessed to the police, and Hansen was arrested. He was convicted of arson and sentenced to three years at Anamosa State Penitentiary, but he would only serve about 20 months before he was let out early.

While behind bars, he was diagnosed with manic depression aka bipolar disorder with periodic schizophrenic episodes. The psychiatrist who made the diagnosis noted that Hansen had an “infantile personality” and was obsessed with getting back at people he felt had wronged him. Just the kind of guy who you want walking the streets of society unsupervised, am I right? And on top of all of that, while he was away, his wife Carolyn divorced him, leaving him incarcerated, alone, and positively fuming.

Regardless he was released in 1962, though he would return to jail several times over the next few years, mostly due to petty theft. He still must have been doing something right though as in 1963 he would get married for a second time, this time to Darla Marie Henrichson, a devout Christian, with whom he sired two children.

The Great White North

In 1967, Robert said screw the continental US and moved with Darla and their kids up to chilly old Alaska, or as I like to call it, Canada’s oil-soaked hat. It was in Anchorage they settled and that brought up the question of what the family would do for money. Well by opening a bakery of course! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree it seems, and his time working in his father’s own bakery back in his younger years made Bob the Baker a pro at it.

He became well known in the town as a quiet man who made fantastic pastries from cookies and pies to donuts and cakes. Darla busied herself as well by tutoring children to make extra money, putting her Master’s Degree in Education to good use. And what would Robert do when he had some free time all alone to himself? Hunting, of course, setting several local hunting records in the process.

Now if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that this sounds like the fresh start Hansen really needed, literally as far away as he possibly could be from all his past troubles. Far away from the town that caused him so much grief, far away from the people that caused him so much pain, this was his chance to move on and have a good life with his family, a family that truly loved him. Sadly, the darkness doesn’t care about fresh starts or new attempts at happiness. The darkness waits, it lingers, and it chooses its moments to rise and fuck everything up.

The first cracks in the mask of Robert Hansen occurred in 1971…and unfortunately, they were a lot more than just cracks. First, he barged into the apartment of 18-year-old Susie Heppeard, kidnapping the young woman at gunpoint. She managed to escape, and he was arrested, but only served 3 months in prison after a grand jury found him guilty of assault with a deadly weapon.

Then only a few days later, he kidnapped and raped a topless dancer. He then proceeded to drop her off on the side of the road and told her to run, his Ruger-Mini 14 leveled directly at her head. She begged him to let her live, and he agreed to spare her, but only after she wrote down the names and addresses of her family, threatening their lives if she spoke to anyone about what happened.

Then in December of that year, he was arrested twice, the cracks growing bigger and bigger. The first arrest was for the abduction and attempted rape of a housewife. The second arrest was for raping a prostitute. In the first case, Hansen pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon in the offense involving the housewife, all while the rape charge against him was dropped all thanks to a plea bargain which saw him sentenced to 5 years…only to serve 6 months of said sentence before being placed in a work release program, only to shortly be released full stop into a halfway house.

Can you say, injustice?

Now at this point a sense of fearlessness began to build up in Hansen. He’d done all these crimes, both in Anchorage and back in Pocahontas, and he’d served almost no time for it, barely any sort of true punishment. He’d been emboldened by all this, made to feel unstoppable, like no one and nothing could touch him. That feeling only grew in 1976 when Hansen was once more arrested, this time for larceny for stealing a chainsaw from a local Fred Moyer store.

He was sentenced to 5 years once again…only for the courts to shortly commute his sentence and release him with time served…you literally can’t make this shit up.

As all this took place, Darla was none the wiser. She would go on to say she knew her husband was up to no good, but the worst she thought it could be was that he was unfaithful, that he’d pick up prostitutes in the middle of the night, along with verbally abusing her and their kids on a regular basis. How such a smart and capable woman could be so damned clueless is almost unnerving.

Was the mask that firmly in place that she had no idea? Was he that good at pretending to be a normal, nice, caring person that he not only had an entire town fooled, but the person closest to him on a daily basis as well? Apparently so, and it didn’t help that Darla and the children would regularly go to Arkansas where her family lived during the summer each year.

Unbeknownst to them and to everyone in Anchorage, including the police…the bodies had already begun to pile up. The darkness had won…and Anchorage had already begun to pay the hefty price.

Bones in the Snow

It was the late afternoon of September 12th, 1982, when the shadow over Anchorage fully began to take form. That night, two hunters and off duty cops were enjoying their time off, spending the day in the wilderness, hunting and hiking. As afternoon crept into dusk, the two men decided to set up camp for the night. Making their way to a safe location, they settled on the bank of the Knik River.

As they began to unwind, they noticed something strange sticking out of the sand. Moving closer, they froze in horror as they quickly deduced exactly what it was: a skeletal human leg.

Leaving the site undisturbed, they informed the police the next morning and soon the area was swarming with cops. Digging into the sand, they managed to unearth an entire clothed female skeleton. Further examining the remains, it was determined that the woman had been killed by a shot to the back with a .223 caliber slug, the murder weapon believed to be a Ruger-Mini 14 .223 caliber rifle. Her face was also wrapped with elastic ace bandage, as if to blindfold her.

Another detail is that when the fatal wound was found, her clothes were untouched. This suggested that the victim was nude at the time of her death and that her killer had dressed her afterwards before burying her body.

It didn’t take long to determine the identity of the poor unfortunate soul. The police had come upon the body of Sherry Morrow, a 23-year-old waitress and dancer who worked at an establishment called The Wild Cherry. She’d been reported missing back on November 17th, 1981. Just a quick note, but in every article or video I’ve come across on this topic, if the story doesn’t start with the incident with Paulson at Merrill Field, they usually start here.

That’s because it’s with this discovery that the police realized that things were looking grim for their city: They had a serial killer on the loose.

Before the discovery of Sherry’s body, two more sets of remains had been unearthed. The first was a set of bones of an estimated 16 to 25-year-old woman discovered by construction workers in a shallow grave by Eklutna Lake Road on July 21st, 1980. She’d been stabbed to death. Nicknamed “Eklutna Annie,” the body was so degraded and ravaged by wildlife in the area that they weren’t able to identify her and I’m sad to inform everyone that she remains so to this day.

Truly an unfortunate set of circumstances, a young woman’s name lost to time, maybe forever.

The next body, also heavily decomposed, was found in a gravel pit several days later. This one was able to thankfully be identified as 24-year-old Joanna Messina who had been reported missing back on May 19th, 1980.

Things were quiet after that until the discovery of Sherry Morrow, and it wasn’t long until another body was found in the same area of the Knik River, once more along its banks in a shallow grave on September 2nd, 1983. This was the body of 30-year-old Paula Goulding, who had been reported missing April 25th, 1983. Like Sherry, she was shot in the back with the same type of gun, once more her clothes were untouched suggesting that she too was naked when she was killed, the murderer redressing her afterwards.

The police were on high alert, but they were no closer to finding the monster that was living in their midst, even when many of them went to his bakery every morning for donuts.

This was Robert’s MO, his way of murder. For years he lurked under the radar, hidden in plain sight. He would stalk the streets, driving up and down the roads of Anchorage looking for women to have his way with. They could be dancers, they could be sex workers, they could just be a random female that he didn’t like the look of, it didn’t really matter to him so long as he got what he wanted, his sick thrills, his petty immature need for revenge.

After he picked his target, he’d convince them to get into his car, where just as they were getting comfortable and putting on their seatbelt, he’d whip out the handcuffs and lock them in, at the same time pulling his gun and sticking it to their temple. One swift motion, Hansen would go on to describe it as muscle memory after doing it so often. He’d then take them back to his house and chain them in his trophy room, and that’s where his “revenge” would begin. He’d rape them, beat them, torture them, all while thinking back to the bullies of his past, the women who rejected and ridiculed him all those years ago.

And when he was done? Well, what happened next would all depend on his mood. Some women he’d return to Anchorage and simply let them go, believing (correctly for the most part sadly) that either they wouldn’t say anything or even if they did, no one would believe them. But for all the rest…that’s when the real fun would begin.

Unchaining them from his basement, Hansen would stuff them in his car and take them to the Airfield where he would proceed to fly them to his cabin in the Knik River area of the Matanuska Valley. Known to locals as the Mat-Su or The Valley, it’s an area in Southcentral Alaska south of the Alaska Range about 35 miles north of Anchorage, surrounded by mountains and covered in forests.

Once they arrived, he’d get himself ready, untie them, and tell them to run. Sometimes they were naked, sometimes they were blindfolded, but it didn’t matter to The Butcher Baker. Being the avid and experienced hunter that he was, he would stalk his prey for hours, at times even days.

At times he would simply watch them from a distance, unseen and unheard, watching them struggle and flee, filled with as close to primal fear as I believe any human being can reach. At times, he’d get close enough to slash them with his knife, not wounding them enough to kill them, but just enough to slow them down, as well as giving him a new blood trail to follow. Then, when he was satisfied, he’d take out his rifle, take aim, and put an end to their suffering, sometimes prolonging the agony with a nonfatal shot, only to listen to them struggle and scream before walking up to them and ending it all.

A true monster, the worst of the worst. We’ve seen many sadistic criminals on this channel, but the sheer demented depravity and dehumanization inflicted on these innocent, frightened women is nothing short of demonic, the acts of a true psychopath. A cold-blooded predator, always watching no matter how fast or how far you run.

At this time, I think it’s appropriate to inform everyone just what the second half of the title of this episode means. It’s in reference to The Most Dangerous Game, a short story published in 1929 by author and journalist Richard Connell. The story revolves around a savage Russian General who lures unsuspecting innocents to his remote deserted tropical island where he takes pleasure in hunting them for sport. Sound familiar? It’s not known for sure if Hansen was aware of the short story or not at the time of his crimes, but at this point, it probably doesn’t matter. Robert Hansen was playing his own Most Dangerous Game…but all games must come to an end eventually.

Closing In

And just like that, we’ve come full circle. We’re back with Detective Flothe and Cindy Paulson, and they now have a name in regards to the man who’d kidnapped and assaulted her all those hours prior. Racing over to Hansen’s house, officers caught him just as he himself was arriving home. The officers got out and asked if they could ask him a few questions.

Surprisingly, Robert said yes and invited them inside. The trophy room was just as Cindy had described it, minus the chain as Robert had hidden it before he and Cindy had left earlier in the day.

Sitting him down, they questioned him about everything Cindy had told them, which he vehemently denied. He said that he had never met the girl before in all his life, and if anything, she was simply trying to extort him for money. “You can’t rape a prostitute, can you?!” Oh sure Bob, you can’t rape a prostitute, and I’m Weird Al Yankovic.

Continuing to speak with the officers, Hansen stated that his family was vacationing over in Europe while he stayed behind to hunt and run the bakery. During the time Cindy alleged that he’s taken and abused her, Hansen said that he had been with friends at that time, hanging out and drinking, just a night with the guys as it were. When asked, Robert’s neighbor and friend John Henning covered for him, giving him an alibi for the time of the crime, obviously having no idea what he was actually doing by trying to help his buddy out against the police.

With a rock-solid alibi, along with his humble and quiet demeanor, plus the fact that he was well known and well liked in town as a good man and amazing baker, the police simply shrugged it off and went on their way. Cindy was disgusted and distraught, as is expected. Knowing what had happened to her, the fact the police were just writing it all off was unacceptable.

The fact that she was a prostitute did not sit well for many of the investigators, and they even asked her if she would be willing to take a lie-detector test in order to prove she was being truthful about the whole ordeal. Cindy refused outright, her trust in the police was already shaky at best given her past experiences and this was just the nail in the proverbial coffin. She refused to cooperate and thus the investigation stalled, for a bit anyway.

Detective Flothe wasn’t deterred though. He suspected that all the bodies they had found were all done by the same perpetrator, and he wouldn’t rest until he found out who it was. In his desperation, he reached out to and got the cooperation of one FBI Special Agent John Douglas. If that name sounds familiar, it’s his work that was adapted into the hit Netflix series Mindhunter, the main character Holden Ford played by Jonathan Groff being based off of him. He was brought in to create a profile of their killer based on all the information they had up to that point.

Going through all they had, Douglas put together a profile that sounds as though he had met Hansen and known the man for years. In Douglas’ opinion, the killer would be an experienced hunter with low self-esteem, have a history of being rejected by women, and would feel compelled to keep “souvenirs” of his murders, such as a victim’s jewelry. He also suggested that the assailant might stutter. He couldn’t have been more accurate if he tried, he might as well have said the killer wore glasses and had red hair!

Using this profile, Flothe went through suspect after suspect, person after person, until he arrived at one single conclusion: Robert Hansen. Using this profile and information, it was enough to get a warrant. Police surrounded Hansen’s house on October 27th, 1983, conducting the search as completely as possible.

While going through his house, investigators found several pieces of jewelry that were quickly identified as belonging to the victims, just as Douglas’ profile predicted. On top of that, while investigating his attic, multiple firearms were found hidden in the insolation, weapons matching those used in the murders.

But what about his alibi? Well, that was handled almost immediately. Seeing police tearing apart Robert’s house, the wife of John Henning came out to ask what all the hullabaloo was about. Upon being told the reason for the investigation, she was horrified. Right then and there, she denounced her husband’s story, calling bullshit and saying John and Robert hadn’t even seen each other that day, let alone spent time together. And just like that, the case was blown wide open once more.

All of that was enough to clinch things for Hansen, he was dead in the water, but there was one final thing left for the police to discover, and it would put everything into haunting perspective. Hidden behind the headboard of Robert and Darla’s bed was an aeronautical chart with little “x” marks all over it. I think we can practically feel the chill run through the room as police realized that a number of the locations marked with an “x” were locations where human remains had been found over the last few years. With that, Robert Hansen was finally arrested.

The Butcher Baker’s hunt…was finally over.

X Marks the Spot

When put in the hot seat, Hansen denied that he had done anything wrong, that he had hurt anyone. He stuttered, looked nervous, made himself look small and defenseless, he tried to manipulate the police, but they weren’t having it. They confronted him with all the evidence, the weapons, the jewelry, Cindy’s testimony, and finally the map. With all of this staring him in the face, and the fact that his rock-solid alibi was no more than ground up sand at this point, Hansen buckled, and confessed.

He tried blaming the women, saying it was their fault for what he did, which sounds pretty standard for a pathetic man-child such as him. But in the end, it was all Hansen, and he confessed to a spree of attacks, abductions, rapes, and killings that went all the way back to 1971. And as for the remaining “x’s” on the map, they were indeed the locations where he had dumped the bodies of his victims. Writing down your crimes folks, and marking where to find the bodies, this guy just can’t seem to follow the rules.

There were 24 “x’s” in total, and Robert Hansen confessed to killing up to 17 women and raping up to 30 in that 12-year stint that ended with Cindy Paulson. He was sent to trial, and in the end, Hansen was sentenced to 461 years along with a life sentence. A bit overkill but for him, I’ll take it.

Prosecutor Frank Rothschild, when describing his transformation from a timid nerdy baker to the cold calculated monster while in the interrogation room stated that: “There’s a certain evil genius there. The person who had killed all these women. I guess these serial killer types tend to be smart in a way. If they were truly smart, they wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing. But they’re evil, they’re smart evil people.”

And then when pushed by the police on the abysmal things he had done and confronted with how much of a devil he was: “‘But all of the sudden, his neck turned all red, and his hair stood up on the back of his neck, and he transformed into the person who had killed all these women. Right in front of our eyes, he got really, really angry.’”

As part of a plea bargain for a reduced sentence and only being charged with four of the murders, Hansen agreed to help decode his map and lead the police to the locations of the bodies he’d buried. In all, 12 bodies of the 17 he claimed were found. And it’s here that we sadly meet the lost women that this deranged predator stole from this world.

Ceilia “Beth” Van Zanten, 17-years-old, is believed to be his first victim, though he denied it regardless of the “x” over where she was found. She went missing December 22nd, 1971, and was found frozen to death 3 days later. It’s believed Hansen chased her into the woods and managed to lose her and being barely clad in anything, she was lost to the blisteringly cold Alaskan night. Lost in the dark woods, terrified and alone, and slowly freezing to death, thinking of the monster out there hunting you and wishing for nothing more than to just go home…I couldn’t think of a more tragic end if I tried.

The next two suspected victims are Megan Siobhan Emerick, 17, and Mary Kathleen Thill, 23, who went missing on July 7th, 1973, and July 5th, 1975, respectively. Again, Hansen denied killing them, and their bodies have never been recovered, though it’s suspected he killed them thanks to his map.

Roxane Easland was 24 when she went missing on June 28th, 1980, and while her body was never found, Hansen claimed to have taken and killed her.

Lisa Futrell, 41, was his next victim, going missing on September 6th, 1980, and her body wouldn’t be recovered until May 9th, 1984, from a location south of Old Knik Bridge thanks to Hansen’s aid.

Andrea “Fish” Altiery was next. 22-years-old, she’d gone missing December 2nd, 1981, and Hansen claimed her as well even when her body was unable to be recovered.

Sue Luna was next, a 23-year-old who had gone missing May 26th, 1982, when she had been hunted like an animal in the cold only to be shot dead by Hansen. Her body was recovered April 24th, 1984.

An unidentified victim was provided by Hansen in April of 1984, but even he didn’t know her name, only that he’d taken her in the early 1980’s. She was given the name “Horseshoe Harriot” for some reason, but in an interesting twist, it was in October of last year that she was finally identified as 19-year-old Robin Pelkey. At last, this poor young soul has her name back, a small light in the darkness of this case.

DeLynn “Sugar” Frey was next on the list, a 20-year-old whose body was discovered August 20th, 1985, by a pilot testing new tires on the sandbar of the Knik River. She was linked to Hansen rather quickly and determined she was killed after Pelkey.

The last four victims were all identified and located with Hansen’s help between the 24th and 29th of April 1984. 25-year-old Malai Larsen, 22-year-old Teresa Watson, 24-year-old Angela Feddern, and 20-year-old Tamera “Tami” Pederson. All snatched off the street, all brutalized, all hunted, all killed, just so that a sad, pathetic little man with a gun could feel big for a little while.

There were sites that Hansen refused to give up and we’ll never know why, but of a possible 21 victims, the bodies of 12 were recovered and returned to their families to be buried with dignity, more than Hansen ever gave them. I suppose that’s as much closure and solace we’re going to get in that regard.

During his incarceration, Robert made several prisons his home. First was the United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania until 1988 when he was returned to Alaska and briefly locked up at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau. His main home however was Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward, Alaska where he remained until May 2014, when he was transported to the Anchorage Correctional Complex for health reasons.

Robert Hansen, The Butcher Baker, The Big Game Hunter, died on August 21st, 2014, aged 75, at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage, due to natural causes from lingering health conditions. I believe I speak for everyone when I say…fuck ‘em.

End of the Hunt

And that, as they say, is that. Quite a disturbing and deranged tale if you ask me, and something right out of our worst nightmares. We’ve covered so many serial killers here in the past, and they’ve all been awful, but something about this case…it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

Just imagine being taken off the street and then abused sexually, physically, and mentally for hours. And then more likely than not, you’re stuffed into a plane, flown out into the middle of nowhere miles from home and any sort of rescue, and then told to run. You do everything you can, try to think of anything that could help you escape this monster…all the while he’s watching you, hunting you, stalking you from the bushes, the trees, the shadows.

The feeling of being hunted, the feeling of eyes on you at all times with no way to escape…only to lose it all in the end. It’s a waking nightmare in every sense of the word.

For 17 women, perhaps as many as 21, this was their final hours, their last moments. The feelings, the fear, I can’t even begin to fathom what they had to endure at the hands of what in the end amounted to a petty, vindictive, little man-child who never truly grew up and never managed to get over the hard times of his youth. Pathetic and immature, Robert Hansen took all of his frustration and hatred out on a group of women who didn’t even know him, hadn’t spoken to him, had absolutely nothing to do with him…and yet he took everything from them, all while getting his sick kicks prowling through the woods after them, knife and gun in hand, like they were nothing more than animals.

You’d think with a case like this, Hansen would be a much bigger name in the serial killer public archive, but it really isn’t. Not many people know the name Robert Hansen, The Butcher Baker, outside of Alaska that is. The main reason for it probably is because as part of his plea bargain, he didn’t want his name or the story in real detail to be covered in the press. So, his name really just slipped out of the public eye for a good long while…until 2013 that is.

That year, a film by the name of The Frozen Ground was released. A crime thriller, it’s based on the final act of Robert Hansen’s crimes, though a bit of dramatization is to be expected. Robert Hansen is portrayed by John Cusack, who pulls off the creepy casual vibe that the real Hansen gave off in real life. It also gives us good performances from Nicolas Cage as Detective Jack Halcombe (inspired by Glenn Flothe) and Vanessa Hudgens who played Cindy Paulson. Serial killer films usually range from terrible to pretty well done, and I’d say this recreation falls into the latter category, I’d recommend it.

Regardless, it was because of this movie that Hansen’s name was put out there in the public eye once again a year before his death. He’s still not as well-known as people like Bundy or Gacy, but honestly that is a good thing. The victims are those who we should be remembering, regardless of how fascinating and interesting a serial killer case can be.

Ceilia “Beth” Van Zanten, Megan Siobhan Emerick, Mary Kathleen Thill, Eklutna Annie, Joanna Messina, Roxane Easland, Lisa Futrell, Malai Larsen, Sherry Morrow, Andrea “Fish” Altiery, Sue Luna, Tamera “Tami” Pederson, Robin Pelkey, DeLynn “Sugar” Frey, Angela Feddern, Teresa Watson, Paula Goulding, and finally Cindy Paulson, the one who brought the authorities directly to Hansen’s doorstep. Rest in Peace, dear ladies. And to Cindy, I hope your days now are filled with peace and happiness after all the hardships you were dealt.

As for Hansen, as I said, fuck ‘em. All I see when I look at him is an empty, pathetic, worthless little man who never truly got to enjoy life as he clung desperately to his useless hatred and asinine thoughts of revenge. If there is a Hell, I think it’s safe to say that he is having quite a miserable time down below. And I’d like to think Lucifer has a sense of humor, so maybe he’s slowly being baked into hellfire cupcakes and brimstone donuts for all eternity. Hey, I can dream, can’t I?

Key Takeaways

• Cindy Paulson escaped from Robert Hansen at Merrill Field in Anchorage on June 13, 1983, leading police to identify him as her captor.
• Hansen, a baker and avid hunter, kidnapped, raped, and tortured women in his basement trophy room before flying some to his cabin to hunt them.
• FBI profiler John Douglas created an accurate psychological profile that helped identify Hansen as the serial killer.
• Police found victim jewelry, murder weapons, and an aeronautical chart with ‘x’ marks showing body dump locations in Hansen’s home.
• Hansen confessed to killing up to 17 women and raping up to 30 between 1971 and 1983; he died in prison in 2014.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Cindy Paulson and what happened to her on June 13, 1983?

Cindy Paulson was a 17-year-old local sex worker and dancer in Anchorage, Alaska. On June 13, 1983, she was abducted by Robert Hansen after accepting $200 for a sexual act. He handcuffed her, held a gun to her temple, and took her to his basement ‘trophy room’ where he raped and tortured her for hours. He then planned to fly her to his cabin, but she escaped at Merrill Field while he was loading supplies, running barefoot and handcuffed until she flagged down a truck driven by Robert Yout.

What was Robert Hansen’s ‘trophy room’?

Robert Hansen’s trophy room was his basement, which was decorated almost entirely with the heads, bodies, and skins of wildlife he had killed, stuffed, and mounted. He was an avid hunter. The room also contained a chain latched to the ceiling where he would restrain his victims to rape and torture them.

What was Robert Hansen’s childhood like and how did it contribute to his later crimes?

Robert Hansen was born in Estherville, Iowa in 1939. His father was domineering and forced him to work in the family bakery from an early age. His father also forced the naturally left-handed Robert to use his right hand, which resulted in a lifelong stutter. He was ruthlessly bullied at school for his speech impediment and had severe acne that scarred his face.

Women rejected him, and he internalized this into hatred for women, especially attractive ones. He fantasized about revenge and began visualizing those he hated when hunting animals.

What was Robert Hansen’s criminal history before the murders?

In 1960, Hansen burned down a school bus garage and was sentenced to three years at Anamosa State Penitentiary, serving about 20 months. While incarcerated, he was diagnosed with manic depression (bipolar disorder) with periodic schizophrenic episodes. After release, he returned to jail several times for petty theft. In 1971 in Anchorage, he kidnapped 18-year-old Susie Heppeard (served 3 months), kidnapped and raped a topless dancer, abducted and attempted to rape a housewife, and raped a prostitute.

In 1976, he was arrested for stealing a chainsaw but was released with time served.

How did Robert Hansen hunt his victims?

Hansen would stalk the streets of Anchorage looking for women, then convince them to get into his car. He would handcuff them and hold a gun to their temple in one swift motion he described as muscle memory. He would take them to his house to rape and torture them in his trophy room. For some victims, he would then fly them in his Piper PA-18 Super Cub plane to his cabin in the Knik River area.

There, he would untie them and tell them to run, sometimes naked or blindfolded. He would stalk them for hours or days, sometimes slashing them with his knife to slow them down and create a blood trail, before finally shooting them with his rifle.

How was Robert Hansen finally caught?

After Cindy Paulson escaped and identified him, police questioned Hansen but were deterred by his alibi from friend John Henning. Detective Glenn Flothe sought help from FBI profiler John Douglas, who created an accurate profile of the killer. Using this profile, Flothe focused on Hansen. On October 27, 1983, police searched Hansen’s house and found jewelry belonging to victims and firearms matching the murder weapons hidden in his attic.

John Henning’s wife then revealed the alibi was false. Most critically, police found an aeronautical chart behind Hansen’s headboard with ‘x’ marks that corresponded to where bodies had been found.

How many victims did Robert Hansen confess to killing, and how many bodies were recovered?

Robert Hansen confessed to killing up to 17 women and raping up to 30 over a 12-year period. There were 24 ‘x’ marks on his aeronautical chart. As part of a plea bargain, he agreed to help decode his map and lead police to body locations. In all, 12 bodies of the 17 he claimed were found. Some victims he denied killing despite the ‘x’ marks, and some bodies were never recovered.

What was Robert Hansen’s sentence and when did he die?

Robert Hansen was sentenced to 461 years plus a life sentence. He was incarcerated at several prisons including USP Lewisburg in Pennsylvania, Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau, and primarily Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward, Alaska. In May 2014, he was moved to Anchorage Correctional Complex for health reasons. He died on August 21, 2014, at age 75, at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage from natural causes due to lingering health conditions.

What is the significance of the title ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ in relation to Robert Hansen?

The title references a 1929 short story by Richard Connell about a Russian General who lures people to a remote island to hunt them for sport. While it’s not known for certain if Hansen was aware of the story, his methods closely paralleled it—flying victims to remote wilderness and hunting them like animals. The article notes that Hansen was essentially playing his own ‘Most Dangerous Game.‘

What film was made about Robert Hansen’s crimes and who starred in it?

In 2013, a film called ‘The Frozen Ground’ was released, based on the final act of Hansen’s crimes. John Cusack portrayed Robert Hansen, Nicolas Cage played Detective Jack Halcombe (inspired by Glenn Flothe), and Vanessa Hudgens played Cindy Paulson. The film helped bring Hansen’s name back to public attention a year before his death, though he had previously kept a low profile as part of his plea bargain.

Sources

• Original Casual Criminalist video: The Butcher Baker: Alaska’s Most Dangerous Game
• Hero image source by IAEA Imagebank / openverse, by.

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