True Crime in the Great Outdoors
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Robert Hansen “Butcher Baker” - the Alaska Serial killer who hunted his victims in the wilderness
Revised September 2024
The Alaskan serial killer, Robert “Bob” Hansen, called the “Butcher Baker” killed at least 17 women and raped another 30 over 12 years in the 1970s and early 1980s.
He was a quiet-spoken husband and father with a bakery shop in Anchorage, Alaska, who set out to rid his city of female sex workers. Most of his victims were topless dancers and prostitutes who had come to Anchorage during the boom that came in the 1970s with the construction of the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
Hansen was a supposedly friendly neighborhood baker who turned hunter of women. His hatred of women can be traced back to his younger years when he was made fun of in school because of his stutter, small size, and because of his facial blemishes caused by acne.
He would abduct, rape, and torture his victims, then take them in his car or private plane and set them free in the Alaskan wilderness so he could hunt them down in a deranged game of cat and mouse using a Ruger Mini-14 and a knife. He then buried his victims' bodies in the wilderness and marked their graves with an 'x' on a map.
Hansen seemed to be the perfect, friendly geek who had a dark side and would use his tracking and hunting skills to deadly effect in the wilderness around Anchorage, murdering innocent women in the most appalling ways. The Butcher Baker was like something out of a horror movie. Unfortunately, this was not fiction.
Who was Robert Hansen - The “Butcher Baker”?
Robert Christian Hansen, known as Bob, was born on February 15, 1939, in Estherville, Iowa.
Throughout childhood and adolescence, Hansen was described as quiet and a loner. He had a complicated relationship with his overbearing father, who had emigrated from Denmark to the United States. He expected his son to work at the family bakery at 2 a.m., even on school days. Childhood acquaintance Mike Eichler said, "His dad was a big old mean guy. He was real hard on him."
Hansen found solitary refuge in the woods near his hometown. He became an accomplished hunter, tracking game like deer, and became skilled with both a rifle and a bow and arrow. He would later use these skills in a more sinister way.
In 1957, Hansen enlisted in the United States Army Reserve and served for one year before being discharged. He then worked as an assistant drill instructor at a police academy in Pocahontas, Iowa.
In 1960, Hansen got married, and on December 7, 1960, he was arrested for burning down a Pocahontas County Board of Education school bus garage as revenge for his unpopularity in high school. He served 20 months of a three-year prison sentence in Anamosa State Penitentiary. During his incarceration, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, “manic depression”, 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. His wife filed for divorce while he was in prison.
In 1962, he was released from prison and married another woman in 1963, Darla Marie Henrichson, a devout Christian. The couple had two children and moved to Anchorage in Alaska in 1967, where Hansen opened a bakery and enjoyed hunting in his free time. After the move to Anchorage, he was caught stealing a chainsaw from a hardware store and filing a fraudulent insurance claim to get the money to open his bakery.
Darla was a deeply religious woman who earned a Master’s Degree in Education and tutored children for income. She later said she knew Bob was up to no good, but she just thought his dirty secret was picking up hookers in the middle of the night before he opened the bakery.
The couple living somewhat separate lives. Darla and the children regularly went to Arkansas, where her family lived during the summer each year.
In Anchorage, he was well-liked by his neighbors and set several local hunting records.
Where is Anchorage, Alaska?
Anchorage is in the U.S. state of Alaska, on the West Coast of the United States and is Alaska's most populous city and contains nearly 40% of the state's population.
It is situated at the terminus of the Cook Inlet, on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north and the Turnagain Arm to the south. At 61 degrees north, it lies slightly farther north than Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and Saint Petersburg but not as far north as Reykjavík or Murmansk. It is northeast of the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island, and Cook Inlet, due north of the Kenai Peninsula, northwest of Prince William Sound and the Alaska Panhandle, and nearly due south of Denali.
The city's sea coast consists mainly of treacherous mudflats, and people are warned not to walk in this area because of extreme tidal changes and the very fine glacial silt. Unwary victims have stepped onto the solid-seeming silt revealed when the tide is out and become stuck in the mud.
In 1968, ARCO discovered oil in Prudhoe Bay on the Alaska North Slope, and the resulting oil boom spurred further growth in Anchorage. The city continued to grow in the 1980s.
The murders in Anchorage
Hansen began preying on women in 1971, four years after he moved to the city, mainly in the strip club area of 4th Avenue in Anchorage.
He kidnapped Susie Heppeard, 18, from her apartment in south Anchorage at gunpoint and was later charged with assault with a deadly weapon by a grand jury but served just three months in prison. During this time, Darla visited him in jail, kids in tow. She stayed with him, though he was verbally abusive to her and the children.
A few days after his release, he abducted and raped a topless dancer. He then pulled over in his car and told her to run while pointing his Ruger-Mini 14 at her. She begged Hansen not to kill her, and he agreed after making her write down the names and addresses of her family and threatening to hunt down and kill them if she spoke about what had happened.
In December 1971, Hansen was arrested twice: once for the abduction and attempted rape of a housewife and again for raping a prostitute. He pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon in the offense involving the housewife, and the rape charge involving the prostitute was dropped as part of a plea bargain. He was sentenced to five years in prison; after serving six months of his sentence, he was placed on a work release program and released to a halfway house.
Hansen became more selective with his victims over time, learning from experience to target sex workers and dancers because they were less likely to be reported missing and less likely to be believed by the authorities if they reported being raped or attacked. Many of the women were transients who came up to Alaska or runaways, and sometimes, they were linked to organized crime. Their families didn't know where they were.
On Christmas Day, 1971, the naked body of a female college student was found in a ravine near Kenai Peninsula.
The topless dancer came forward after hearing about the murder and identified Hansen to authorities. He was arrested but evaded justice when his friends and church minister backed him, saying the neighborhood baker was an upstanding community member.
In 1976, Hansen pleaded guilty to larceny after he was caught stealing a chainsaw from Fred Meyer, an Anchorage department store; he was sentenced to five years in prison and required to receive psychiatric treatment for his bipolar disorder. The Alaska Supreme Court reduced his sentence, and he was released with time served.
Between 1978 and 1983, four bodies were discovered in the area. The body of an unidentified woman who had been stabbed to death, thought to have been killed in November or December 1979, was found on Eklutna Road. Investigators named her Eklutna Annie. In May 1980, the body of Joanna Messina was found in a gravel pit. In September 1982, the body of Sherry Morrow was discovered buried near the Knik River, and Paula Goulding's body was found in the same area in 1983.
He took these victims to the basement of his home or took them in his private plane from Merrill Field Airport in Anchorage to his cabin in the Knik River area of the Matanuska Valley. He would return some women to Anchorage, where he let them go because they wouldn't be believed or wouldn't tell anyone. Other women he would set free along the Knik River and have them run, and Hansen would then stalk and hunt them with his gun and hunting knife.
After killing the women, he then buried their bodies in the wilderness and marked their graves on an aviation map with an 'X'. He would take trophies, such as jewelry and keep them in his basement.
The Cindy Paulson attack and escape
Cindy Paulson
On June 13, 1983, Bob Hansen offered sex worker Cindy Paulson, 17, $200 to perform oral sex. When she got into the car, he pulled a gun on her and drove her to his home. There he chained her neck to a post, then tortured and raped her.
He then slept on a nearby couch, put her in his car, and took her to Merrill Field airport. There, he told her he was taking her to his cabin in the Knik River area of the Matanuska Valley, which is accessible only by boat or plane.
Cindy was placed in the back seat of the car with her wrists handcuffed in front of her body. She saw a chance to escape when Hansen was busy loading the plane, and when his back was turned, she opened the driver's side door of the car and ran toward nearby Sixth Avenue. Hansen began chasing her. She managed to flag down a passing truck driven by Robert Yount.
He drove her to the Mush Inn, and she then pleaded with the clerk to phone her boyfriend at the Big Timber Motel. Yount continued to work, calling the police to report the incident.
Anchorage Police arrived at the Mush Inn, but Cindy had taken a cab to the Big Timber Motel. APD officers arrived at Room 110 of the Big Timber Motel and found her still handcuffed and alone, and she was taken to police headquarters. She described Hansen, his home and basement, the airport and the plane to the police. She was initially not taken seriously by cops because she was a young sex worker. However, the house was quickly identified as belonging to Bob Hansen.
When questioned by APD officers, Hansen denied Cindy’s accusations, saying she was just trying to cause trouble for him because he would not give her extra money. Hansen’s manner, along with an alibi from his friend John Henning, kept him from being considered as a serious suspect, and the case went cold.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent John Douglas requested help with a criminal psychological profile of the crimes that had been committed in the area based on the three recovered bodies. Douglas thought 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. Using this profile, Hansen was again in the frame.
Based on the FBI report and Cindy’s testimony, the police got a warrant to search Hansen's plane, home and vehicles.
On October 27, 1983, investigators uncovered jewelry belonging to some of the missing women as well as several firearms in a corner hideaway of Hansen's attic. An aeronautical chart with little "x" marks was also found behind Hansen's headboard. Many of these marks matched sites where prior bodies had been found (others were discovered later).
The Arrest
Hansen was arrested and confronted with the new evidence found in his home. Eventually, confessing to each item of evidence as it was presented to him, he admitted to a spree of attacks against Alaskan women starting in 1971.
The victims of Bob Hansen
The victims of Bob Hansen
Bob Hansen showed authorities 17 grave sites on the map and confessed to 17 murders in total. Only 12 bodies were ever found. Many believe he killed more with 24 'x' marks on the map discovered in his home.
The victims of Hansen are believed to include:
Lisa Futrell (44) - Disappeared Sep. 6, 1980; body found May 9, 1984, just south of Old Knik Bridge.
Malai Larsen (28) - Disappeared between 1980 and 1983; body found April 24, 1984.
Sue Luna (23) - Disappeared May 26, 1982, Body Found April 24, 1984. She was stripped nude and forced to run through the forest while Hansen hunted, and she was eventually shot to death.
Tamera “Tami” Pederson (20) - Disappeared between 1980 and 1983; body found Apr. 29, 1984, 1.5 miles from Old Knik Bridge.
Angela Feddern (24) - Disappeared between 1980 and 1983; body found April 26, 1984, Figure Eight Lake.
Teresa Watson - Disappeared between 1980 – 1983; body found April 26, 1984.
DeLynn “Sugar” Frey (20) - Disappeared in April 1983; the body was found on August 20, 1985, by a pilot testing new tires on the sandbar of the Knik River.
Paula Goulding (17) - Disappeared April 25, 1983. The body was found on September 2, 1983, in a shallow grave on the bank of the Knik River. She had been shot in the back, but there were no bullet holes in her clothing, suggesting she had been shot while nude and then redressed before being buried.
Andrea 'Fish' Altiery (22) - Disappearred December 2, 1981. Hansen confessed to killing Fish, but her body was never found.
Sherry Morrow (23) - Disappeared November 17, 1981, Body Found September 12, 1982, in a shallow grave on the bank of the Knik River. She had been shot in the back, but there were no bullet holes in her clothing, indicating she had been shot while nude and then redressed before being buried.
Eklutna Annie (true identity unknown) (16–25) - Disappeared between November 1979 – June 1980. The body was found on July 21, 1980, in a shallow grave off Eklutna Lake Rd. Wild animals had partially eaten it, and the body had been stabbed in the back.
Joanna Messina (24) - Disappeared Early July 1980. Body Found, late July 1980, a badly decomposed body was found in a gravel pit.
Horseshoe Harriet (19-20) - Disappeared Late 1970s or early 1980s. Body found April 1984.
Roxanne Eastland (24) - Disappeared June 28, 1980. Hansen confessed to killing her, but her body was never found.
Cecilia “Beth” Van Zanten (17) - Disappeared December 22, 1971. Body found December 25, 1971. Hansen denied killing her but is suspected because of an "x" on his aviation map.
Megan Emerick (17) - Disappeared July 7, 1973. Hansen denied killing her but is suspected because of an "x" on his aviation map.
Mary Thill (22) - Disappeared July 5, 1975. Hansen denied killing her but is suspected because of an "x" on his aviation map.
He also confessed to raping 30 other women.
Hansen was only convicted of four murders, Eklutna Annie (not the real name), Sherry Morrow, Joanne Messina and Paula Goulding and sentenced to 461 years in prison plus life in 1984.
Prosecutor Frank Rothschild described him as an “evil genius”. He told how, during interrogation, Hansen transformed before his eyes from “a little nerdy guy” into “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 genius, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing. But they're evil, they're smart evil people.'
When pushed by the police, Hansen says, “'But all of a 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.'“
Aftermath
Hansen died August 21 2014, in Anchorage at the age of 75 from natural causes.
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Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hansen
https://qnewshub.com/entertainment/how-did-robert-hansens-wife-2-kids-have-no-idea-he-was-a-serial-killer/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8693993/Prosecutor-tells-Alaska-serial-killer-butcher-baker-killed-17-women-hunted-victims.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorage,_Alaska
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/robert-hansen-dead-alaska-s-butcher-baker-murderer-who-hunted-his-female-victims-dies-prison-natural-causes-9686672.html
https://mylifeofcrime.wordpress.com/tag/robert-hansen/
https://www.oxygen.com/mark-of-a-killer/crime-news/robert-hansen-butcher-baker-serial-killer-victims
Further viewing