Timothy Krajcir Pleads Guilty to Five Cape Girardeau Murders and Receives 13 Consecutive Life Sentences
The victims' families agreed to a deal that took the death penalty off the table. "Thank you for sparing my life," Krajcir told them.
Published
Three decades after a series of killings of women in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Timothy Krajcir admitted to them in court. On April 4, 2008, he pleaded guilty to five murders, seven sexual-assault counts and a robbery count, and was sentenced to 13 consecutive life terms.
Krajcir, 63, had confessed to killing Mary Parsh and her daughter Brenda Parsh and college student Sheila Cole in 1977, and Margie Call and Mildred Wallace in 1982. The victims' relatives agreed to the plea deal, which removed the death penalty from consideration, and they packed the courtroom along with a woman who survived a 1981 rape. "Thank you for sparing my life," Krajcir told them, adding that he did not know whether he could have been as generous in their place.
DNA from the 1982 killing of Deborah Sheppard, 23, in Carbondale, Illinois, had identified Krajcir 25 years after her death, and he was sentenced for her murder in December 2007. He has acknowledged killing nine women in Missouri, Illinois and Pennsylvania between 1977 and 1982. Margie Call's son said he took some comfort in knowing his mother had died "simply from being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Krajcir acknowledged killing nine women, but his convictions covered six: the five Cape Girardeau murders and the murder of Deborah Sheppard in Illinois.
Sources
- Serial killer gets 13 life terms, United Press International
- Serial Killer: The Two Lives of Timothy Krajcir, KFVS12
- Top 10 stories of 2007, Southeast Missourian
Related News
- December 10, 2007: Timothy Krajcir Gets 40 Years for a 1982 Carbondale Murder and Is Charged in Five Cape Girardeau Killings