I-65 Serial Killer/Days Inn Murders

On January 2, 1990, an armed robbery and sexual assault occurred at the Days Inn just off I-65 in Columbus, Indiana. The victim survived. The offender’s modus operandi was very similar to the Days Inn murders. The Columbus Police Department released the Columbus Composite the following day. Within a year, the case was linked via DNA to I-65 Killer. On March 5, 1991, a Wanted Poster created forensic artist Kenneth O’Deen was released nationwide looking for the I-65 Serial Killer regarding the murders of Mary “Peggy” Gill and Jeanne Gilbert.

UPDATE: I-65 Serial Killer Identified

BREAKING: I-65 Serial Killer Identified– 03.28.2022

I-65 Serial Killer Press Conference Set for Tuesday– 04.01.2022

Columbus Sketch — The Columbus Composite

The black and white composite was created by a Columbus Police officer and the victim on the day of the sexual assault and was then circulated in the newspaper the following day.

Respected forensic artist Kenneth H. O’Deen was tasked to create the wanted poster of the I-65 Serial Killer *in color* with the Columbus survivor. The poster was released and first circulated nationwide via teletype on March 4, 1991, over a year after the attack. Rather than strive for perfect portrait, he accentuated the bright-lime green eyes, lazy right eye and the hair color & condition.

In 2010, DNA would link the Days Inn Murders to the 1987 murder of Vicki Heath at a Super 8 motel in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. This would mean the I-65 Killer started much earlier than previous thought.

In 2013, the I-65 Serial Killer’s DNA in CODIS would match DNA recovered from a 1991 sexual assault in Rochester, Minnesota. The victim’s description of the offender was nearly identical to the description provided by the victim in the Columbus assault in 1990.