Further reading for Randall Lee Smith/ Harvey Glatman

Murder on the Appalachian Trail

Rope: The Twisted Life and Crimes of Harvey Glatman

Book mentioned by Georgia:

Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit

Dismal Creek, Va. friends Sean Farmer and Scott Johston had plans to meet for a camping and fishing trip. Scott after fishing all morning, drove his truck to just below the Appalachian trail to get some groceries and other supplies. On his way back he saw a dog walking along the trail that looked emaciated, so he stopped his truck. Along with the dog was a man, who as well looked filthy and scrawny, he was carrying a fishing rod and a bag and said he had just recently found the dog.

As the man explained to Scott that he had been unable to catch any fish, Scott reached into his cooler and gave the man some of his catch. Before driving away, he made the mistake of telling the man where he would making camp. Later that afternoon, as Scott was setting up his tent, the man and the dog came walking into the campsite.

The man introduced himself as Ricky Williams, and said that he had been in the woods for two weeks hunting turkeys with his uncle. Scott and Sean both doubted much of the story that the man was telling, but at the time didn’t hold it against him. They went on to cook some trout and offered some to Williams who gratefully ate it. Around 8:30, Smith got up, called to his dog and claimed to be leaving for his campsite.

The next thing Sean knew, there was a ringing in his head where he had been shot in the face. Scott had heard the bang, but didn’t see Williams pull the gun. Both men got up and started running, Sean not even realizing he had been shot in the face. Scott meanwhile, caught a bullet while trying to escape, he was shot in the neck but again, he just ran.

Sean managed to jump in his jeep and drive away, as he gunned it to the start of the dirt road, Scott jumped in the car. They made it to a nearby house and were able to get help.

The man that tried to murder the two friends, was Randall Lee Smith, a VA native who had murdered two Appalachian Trail hikers in 1981. When he returned from his prison stay for that crime, he was shunned by the town and made his way to the woods.

Smith had attempted to flee the campsite in the truck the two men left behind, he got in an accident and died of his injuries.

Then The Lonely Hearts Killer aka The Glamour Girl Slayer was covered. A man who would pose as a professional photographer to lure his victims in with the promise of a modeling career only to murder them.,

The link to his book can be found above.

Episode 125

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