CRIME HISTORY - Killer hunted women as wild game
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
October 23, 2009
Robert HansenOn this day, Oct. 23, in 1983, police arrested Robert Hansen, a serial killer who flew his victims to his Alaskan property and hunted them down.
Hansen, an Anchorage baker, was a world-class games hunter who owned his own airplane. When became bored targeting wild animals, he turned to young prostitutes.
Hansen typically kidnapped the women from city streets and flew them in his plane to his cabin in the wilderness. He'd then would strip them naked, release them into the wild and stalk them like animals. He killed them with hunting knives or a big-game rifle.
The deadly game ended when a 17-year-old captive escaped from Hansen, handcuffs still dangling from her wrist. Authorities searched his home and found 30 hidden weapons, mementos and maps marking the graves of his kill.
Hansen confessed to at least 17 murders and took investigators by helicopter to the grave sites. He was sentenced to 461 years and remains in prison. He is 70.
-- Scott McCabe
