A Missouri Serial Killer You’ve Never Heard Of, Born in Hannibal

He was a cold-blooded killer who's chilling method of taking lives led to his demise on death row. But, he didn't begin his life that way. He's the serial killer from Missouri you've maybe never heard of and he was born in Hannibal way back in 1949.

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The story of Randy Greenawalt is a complicated one. According to Wikipedia, he was born in Hannibal, Missouri on February 24, 1949. Randy would eventually become a truck driver which would lead to his first murders in 1974. Randy Greenawalt was arrested and convicted of two murders. One was at a rest stop in Arkansas and the other life he took was in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The sinister premeditation of the killings of Randy Greenawalt was chilling. He would paint an "X" on the window of the vehicle of his victims prior to using his gun to end their lives. 

Randy Greenawalt was sentenced to 25 years to life for those two murders, but that was just the beginning of his reign of terror as he would later team up with fellow inmate Gary Tison. After they escaped the prison and hid at a campsite together, Wikipedia says that "they were noticed by 24-year-old Marine Sgt. John Lyons, who was driving along the highway with his 23-year-old wife Donnelda, 22-month-old son Christopher and 15-year-old niece Teresa-Jo Tyson." Randy Greenawalt proceeded to kill them all.

After he was captured, Randy Greenawalt was put to death by lethal injection on January 23, 1997. His death toll lies somewhere between 7 and 9 although there may be more as he killed at rest stops. As his crimes happened all over the country, most in Missouri have never heard of Randy Greenawalt even though his humble beginnings were in Hannibal.