The Honolulu Strangler

Case background and investigation

The Honolulu Strangler, sometimes called the Honolulu Rapist, is the name given to an unidentified serial killer believed to have murdered five women on the Hawaiian island of Oahu between May 1985 and April 1986. Each victim was sexually assaulted and strangled, her hands bound behind her back, and her body left in a remote location such as the embankment at Keehi Lagoon, a stream bed, or Sand Island. The killings are the only widely recognized serial murder series in Hawaii's history and remain unsolved decades later. The similarities among the crimes — the binding of the hands, the sexual assault, the strangulation, and the disposal of bodies in isolated spots — quickly convinced investigators that a single predator was operating on Oahu, shattering the islands' image as a safe paradise.

The first victim was 25-year-old Vicki Gail Purdy, a military spouse who was last seen heading out for the evening in Waikiki in late May 1985 and was found the next day near Keehi Lagoon. Nearly eight months passed before the killer struck again. On January 14, 1986, 17-year-old Regina Sakamoto missed her bus to school in Waipahu and disappeared; her body was found near Keehi Lagoon. Days later, 21-year-old secretary Denise Hughes vanished on her commute and was recovered from Moanalua stream. In late March, 25-year-old Louise Medeiros, newly returned to Oahu, disappeared and was found near a Waikele stream. The rapid succession of killings in early 1986, after months of quiet, alarmed the public and prompted police to warn women against traveling alone near bus stops and the airport.

The fifth victim, 36-year-old Linda Pesce, disappeared on April 29, 1986, while heading to work, and her nude body was later found on Sand Island with her hands bound. Her killing prompted an intense manhunt. The Honolulu Police Department had already formed a roughly 27-member serial-killer task force in early February, working with the FBI and consulting the Green River task force from Washington State. Investigators noted that the victims tended to be vulnerable women taken near bus stops, the airport, or downtown, and theorized the offender lived or worked in the Waipahu or Sand Island areas.

In May 1986, police arrested a prime suspect, Howard Gay, after a tip; he failed a polygraph examination and was interrogated for hours but was released for lack of sufficient evidence, and a witness's later identification did not lead to charges. Gay died in 2003 without ever being prosecuted. After Linda Pesce's murder, the killings stopped as suddenly as they had begun. Investigators have speculated that the perpetrator died, was imprisoned for an unrelated offense, moved away, or was deterred by the intense police and media attention. Despite periodic reviews and the promise of modern DNA techniques, no one has ever been charged, and the identity of the Honolulu Strangler remains unknown.