POLICE IN THE US believe that a man killed when he allegedly attacked a sex worker may have been a serial killer.
Police in Charleston, West Virginia say that 45-year-old Neal Falls of Springfield, Oregon, could be connected to murders across the US.
A detective says the man killed had encounters with police in as many as 20 other states.
West Virginia authorities are trying to spread information to see if the 45-year-old Oregon man can be linked to unsolved deaths and disappearances in other areas.
Detective Steve Cooper says the encounters included being stopped, investigated or interviewed.
But authorities say, so far, no history of major crime has surfaced involving Neal Falls.
The woman, who has not been named, said he attacked her after they met through an online site.
The woman told a media interview:
“I could tell that he had already done something because he said that he was going to prison for a long time and that’s when I knew that he was going to kill me.
He just wouldn’t let me get any air and so I grabbed my rake, and when he laid the gun down to get the rake out of my hands, I shot him, I just grabbed the gun and shot behind me.
Cooper says police found items including axes, knives, handcuffs and a shovel in his car. Police say the Charleston woman grabbed his handgun and fired it back over her shoulder as he choked her on 18 July.
Police today released photos of a “kill kit” found in the boot of Falls’ car, with Det Cooper telling the Charleston Gazette-Mail that investigators were examining the unsolved murders of four prostitutes in Las Vegas, as well as the disappearance of six women in Chillicothe, Ohio. Four of those bodies have been recovered.
“We are releasing Mr. Falls’ name and photograph, as well as details about the incident. Our hope in doing so is that if there are any other victims of Mr Falls between here and Oregon that the information may be valuable to law enforcement.”
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