Russell Ellwood, New Orleans USA (2 Viewers)

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Eat Shit And Die

★Filthy European★
Russell-Ellwood_mugshot.400x800.jpg
 

Eat Shit And Die

★Filthy European★
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Rape - Taxi driver
Number of victims: 1 -20 +
Date of murders: 1991 - 1997
Date of arrest: March 4, 1998
Date of birth: 1951
Victims profile: Women (prostitutes)
Method of murder: Strangulation
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Status: Sentenced to life in prison August 17, 1999
 

Eat Shit And Die

★Filthy European★
Once Accused Serial Killer Sentenced for Murder

August 18, 1999

HAHNVILLE, La. (AP) -- A former taxi driver once suspected of killing as many as 15 women was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for the only murder authorities could pin on him.

Russell Ellwood was convicted of murdering Cheryl Lewis, 30, who was one of 26 women, most of them prostitutes, found dead in swampy areas around New Orleans from 1991 through 1996.

At the time of Ellwood's arrest in 1997, authorities said they suspected him in as many as 15 killings, and Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee claimed authorities were searching for at least four other suspects.

But no other arrests or charges ever were made, despite four years of efforts by a task force made up of the FBI, New Orleans police and four sheriff's departments. A second murder charge against Ellwood was dismissed when prosecutors learned he had an alibi that put him in Ohio at the time of a woman's death.

Told prostitute he kills women

At one point, the FBI cut its ties to the task force and then began investigating its former leader, Lt. Sue Rushing of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department, who was accused of hiding or destroying evidence that helped convict Ellwood. The FBI said the probe was over but would not disclose details.

The task force is dissolved, and the sheriff's departments involved said they will re-examine the case only if new information is presented.

Most of the 26 victims were women with histories of drug abuse and prostitution. Some were transsexuals. Some were strangled, and others apparently died of drug overdoses.

An inmate who had served time with Ellwood, 48, told deputies that Ellwood had bragged about killing people and that he "enjoyed the fun of having sex with people who were not in control of their bodies."

And a prostitute testified that she sold drugs to Ellwood and got in his car. She said Ellwood suddenly became very angry and said to her: "You know what I do to bitches like you? I kill them."
 

NightMare

My gift to you, a Nightmare of terror
Kill 'dem bitches'! What a piece of work this guy was. I wonder if they will ever know how many women he really killed? If every killer in prison would tell the truth and let go with all their secrets, that would be a book I would love to read.
 

Eat Shit And Die

★Filthy European★
Kill 'dem bitches'! What a piece of work this guy was. I wonder if they will ever know how many women he really killed? If every killer in prison would tell the truth and let go with all their secrets, that would be a book I would love to read.

But unfortunately highly unlikely as once they are in the clink and everything they have ever owned or aquired has been stripped from them their memories are the only true possesion that they can never have taken from them, also the minute they admit to everything and put all their cards on the table is the moment they start to slip into the background as they havenothing left to bargain with, they relenquish any form of power they had retained, fact is 90% of phsycopaths are never gonna give up any form of control do theynot have too...

Also found this guy interesting as had never read or heard of him before thought others may not have any additional info would be appreciated.

Although werethey too I would love to read that book too :lulz:
 

NightMare

My gift to you, a Nightmare of terror
But unfortunately highly unlikely as once they are in the clink and everything they have ever owned or aquired has been stripped from them their memories are the only true possesion that they can never have taken from them, also the minute they admit to everything and put all their cards on the table is the moment they start to slip into the background as they havenothing left to bargain with, they relenquish any form of power they had retained, fact is 90% of phsycopaths are never gonna give up any form of control do theynot have too...

Also found this guy interesting as had never read or heard of him before thought others may not have any additional info would be appreciated.

Although werethey too I would love to read that book too :lulz:

So very true. I guess that is the only thing they can't take from you is your memories. It would be so interesting to know the "Entire" story of some of these guys. I think it was Gacey that drew the picture of himself as a clown in a wooded area but would never reveal why the picture was made or anything about the area, he took that one to the grave.
 

Eat Shit And Die

★Filthy European★
Found a few more article/reports on him...


February 24, 1999

Authorities in New Orleans say they'll drop one of two murder charges against Russell Ellwood. Investigators now say he could not have committed the crime. Though originally accused of killing seventeen women, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee said a continuing investigation revealed that Ellwood was in Ohio when Dolores Mack, 40, of Metairie, was murdered.

Ellwood will only be charged in the case of a 1993 murder where a woman's body was dumped in a canal in Hahnville.

Prosecutors have admitted they have no physical evidence to place Ellwood, now 48, at the crime scenes. Ellwood, in a telephone interview from jail, predicted that the second murder charge would also be dismissed. "It's obvious that these charges are fraudulent," Ellwood said. "This is the biggest railroad case ever in the state of Louisiana."
 

Eat Shit And Die

★Filthy European★
On March 2, 1998, Russell Ellwood was arrested in connection with to two of the 24+ killings. Ellwood, a former cab driver, is suspected in fifteen more murders. However, authorities still believe more than one suspect is responsible for the string of slayings. "We never thought, from the beginning, that this was the work of one person."

On November, 1998, sheriff's Lt. Sue Rushing, the leader of the serial killer task force targeting Ellwood, failed a lie detector test asking if she destroyed or lost receipts that could place Ellwood in Ohio with relatives when the two 1993 murders happened. The test also indicated Rushing was "not telling the truth" when she denied coaching a witness who claimed Ellwood showed her the two bodies in a canal 20 miles west of New Orleans.

The allegations were made by other task force members, prompting the FBI to investigate Rushing and the task force. Ellwood has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against task force investigators, asserting that police lied when they said he confessed under relentless interrogation. "It's clear they have deprived him of his right to a fair trial," said Maria Chaisson, one of Ellwood's lawyers. Prosecutors admit they have no physical evidence to put Ellwood where the bodies of Cheryl Lewis and Delores Mack were found Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, 1993. But they say Ellwood's own statements and other evidence they won't describe points to him as the killer.

Lewis drowned in the canal while under the influence of cocaine and amphetamines. Mack was found strangled and suffocated one-fifth of a mile away. Cocaine was also found in her blood.

A year later, Ellwood was at the remote crime scene in the middle of the night, hanging out in his taxi cab alongside the deserted state highway next to the canal. Questioned by two off-duty sheriff's deputies, Ellwood said he wanted to change the oil in his cab in a place where he wouldn't be caught dumping the dirty oil outside.

Because serial killers often return to the sites of their crimes, Ellwood became a suspect in 1997, two years after the task force was formed and a year after the last known victim was killed. When detectives first approached Ellwood in Florida last year, he was cooperative and told them he had "dreamed" the serial killer task force wanted to interview him.

Then an inmate in a Florida jail where Ellwood spent time on a cocaine conviction told investigators Ellwood had told him he enjoyed sex with people on drugs who were not in control of their bodies. Months later, after Ellwood went to Ohio to stay with relatives, he was questioned for days by police. It was then that Ellwood allegedly told Rushing and a former Cincinnati homicide detective that he dumped the body of a woman in water off a rural road.

Ellwood, in a telephone interview from the St. Charles Parish jail, at first denied his admission, then said anything he may have told police came only after he was badgered and promised a flight to New Orleans so he could meet with his longtime lawyer, Ross Scaccia. "My only thought was that if I can get to Mr. Scaccia, everything would be all right," Ellwood said. "I told the task force anything, almost anything, to get to Scaccia." Scaccia first represented Ellwood in a marijuana possession case three decades ago.

Ellwood, a serial loser, grew up in Massillon, Ohio, and moved to New Orleans 30 years after high school. He worked as a free-lance photographer then turned to driving a cab, Scaccia said. Ellwood had few friends, never had a girlfriend and constantly thought of get-rich-quick schemes that didn't work. He inherited $15,000 from his mother but lost it all investing in penny stocks. He slept in his cab when he couldn't afford a boarding house, Scaccia said.

Ellwood helped police at first because he craved the attention of detectives who told him he could help them solve the case, Scaccia said. "He's just an unswift, lonely man who's always trying to be a success and has never succeeded at anything," Scaccia said.

Scaccia claims in the lawsuit that Rushing persuaded a key witness, Sharon Jones, to make up the story that Ellwood took her to the canal to smoke crack and see a "surprise." According to a police affidavit, Ellwood showed Jones one body in the canal with an arm and hand showing and another body that was almost submerged.

Ellwood and his lawyers maintain he was in Ohio at the time but say that receipts which could prove it were destroyed or concealed by Rushing. Ellwood was a meticulous record keeper; authorities tracked his activities for years through receipts. But 1993 receipts seized by police have a mysterious two-week gap in February, Chaisson said.

She theorizes police were desperate to prove they'd captured the serial killer. "They wanted to get a conviction," Chaisson said. "But whoever did this is certainly still out there."

Chaisson contends that a key prosecution witness, Ellwood's former girlfriend Sharon Jones, cannot be put on the stand now that the Mack charge has been dropped. Earlier, Jones testified that Ellwood took her to the swamps and showed her both bodies. "It would be illegal to put perjurious testimony on the stand," Chaisson said. "Our allegation for months has said she was coached and given gifts in order to give that testimony. The bottom line is that their entire case is based on the testimony of jailhouse snitches," she said, talking about two of Ellwood's fellow inmates who have testified that he confessed to them about killing some of the 26 people whose bodies were found across south Louisiana between 1991 and 1996.

On February 24, 1999, authorities announced they dropped one of two murder charges against Ellwood. Investigators now say he could not have committed the crime. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee said a continuing investigation revealed that Ellwood was in Ohio when Dolores Mack was murdered. Ellwood, in a telephone interview from jail, predicted that the second murder charge would also be dismissed. "It's obvious that these charges are fraudulent," he said. "This is the biggest railroad case ever in the state of Louisiana."

Chaisson thinks the remaining second-degree murder charge against Ellwood will be dropped. "But they need to face the fact that the evidence they have is insufficient to get a conviction," Chaisson said. At least one other well-known defense attorney agrees. "Any honest prosecutor would face the facts and drop this thing now unless he has some positive evidence," said Sam Dalton, former head of the Jefferson Parish Indigent Defender Board. "Unless the attorney general has the definitive DNA that would connect him definitively to the murder, the state cannot go forward. They cannot do it by testimony."

At the time of Ellwood's arrest in 1997, authorities said they suspected him in as many as 15 killings, and Jefferson Parish Sheriff Henry Lee claimed authorities were searching for at least four other suspects. But no other arrests or charges ever were made, despite four years of efforts by a task force made up of the FBI, New Orleans police and four sheriff's departments. A second murder charge against Ellwood was dismissed when prosecutors learned he had an alibi that put him in Ohio at the time of a woman's death.

At one point, the FBI cut its ties to the task force and then began investigating its former leader, Lt. Sue Rushing of the Jefferson Parish sheriff's department, who was accused of hiding or destroying evidence that helped convict Ellwood.

The task force is dissolved, and the sheriff's departments involved said they will re-examine the case only if new information is presented. Most of the 26 victims were women with histories of drug abuse and prostitution. Some were transsexuals. Some were strangled, and others apparently died of drug overdoses.

An inmate who had served time with Ellwood, 48, told deputies that Ellwood had bragged about killing people and that he "enjoyed the fun of having sex with people who were not in control of their bodies."

And a prostitute testified that she sold drugs to Ellwood and got in his car. She said Ellwood suddenly became very angry and said to her: "You know what I do to bitches like you? I kill them."
 

Eat Shit And Die

★Filthy European★
Russell Ellwood (8+) A former cab driver, Russell Ellwood was arrested on March 4, 1998, for two of 25 similar slayings in the New Orleans area. From 1991 to 1996 New Orleans police kept finding nude bodies in swamp lands around their city. Most were African-American, female, and prostitutes; some were men and some transsexuals. Some had been strangled, others apparently killed by drug overdoses. Ellwood is suspected in eight of these killings. Four more suspects -- including Victor Gant -- remain under investigation in connection with the remaining murders.

An Ohio native, Ellwood served time in Florida and Ohio on drug charges and probation violations. A long-time suspect, Ellwood agreed in January to return to Louisiana in an effort to clear his name and help solve the cases. Once he enterd the state, he was jailed on outstanding traffic charges.

Cheryl Lewis, one of the women Ellwood is charged with killing, drowned while under the influence of cocaine and amphetamines. Her body was found Feb. 20, 1993, in a swamp in Hahnville, just west of New Orleans. A day later and just one-fifth of a mile away, the other woman, Delores Mack, was found strangled and suffocated. Cocaine was in her blood too. A year later, Ellwood was found in the area in the middle of the night. He told an officer he was changing his car's oil and didn't want the Department of Environmental Quality to catch him.

On October 1997, Ellwood told a fellow jail inmate in Florida that he liked sex with men and women who were drugged into insensibility. Te convict told authorities that Ellwood boasted that "he enjoyed the fun of having sex with people who were not in control of their bodies... He said if they were high on cocaine or heroin, the heroin would put them in a state of mind as if they were paralyzed and he could take advantage."
 

Laurie T.

Lurker
I am so sorry that i have to admit this my Uncle is Russell Ellwood. His real Name is Russell Ellwood Hofacre. He dropped his last name Hofacre to Ellwood after my grandpa and him had a falling out and a very long separation. He Has a Brother and a sister whom is my mother. if you want any info on my Uncle contact me on fb. i have lots of letters and images from him in Angola,. I havent rewritten him in a very long time, just cuz he has paranoia and borderline personality disorder, We are planning on writing to him soon tho since it has been so long. The last letter we received from "Uncle Rusty" was to sent my son

and wanted my son to figure out mathamatical equations, i do know a few things about this case and i do know where all his posessions are located. i have many letters from him, alot of psycho babble. if you have any specifics you wanna know about his younger years please message me on fb FawnakaLaurie. But like i said i do not know if he did this or not . n my opinion from what i have read and what he has written me, i personally feel he did commit these murders. But that is my opinion. Non of his brothers,sisters, nieces or nephews have anything to do with him.my mom used to corrospond and send money to him years ago but she stopped cuz his letters and phone calls were just to psychotic for her to handle. But i do write occasionally and my son is sending him a letter soon. His Mom And Dad {my grandma and grandpa} have passed away .he has two true siblings and two half siblings whom have passed away. He also has 1 neice and one nephew. Just thought i would put this out there for ya in case any of ya wanna know about him before all this happened. He loved photography and was really good at it. And i remember he used to smoke clove cigerettes. I can still remember the smell.
 

Laurie T.

Lurker
But unfortunately highly unlikely as once they are in the clink and everything they have ever owned or aquired has been stripped from them their memories are the only true possesion that they can never have taken from them, also the minute they admit to everything and put all their cards on the table is the moment they start to slip into the background as they havenothing left to bargain with, they relenquish any form of power they had retained, fact is 90% of phsycopaths are never gonna give up any form of control do theynot have too...

Also found this guy interesting as had never read or heard of him before thought others may not have any additional info would be appreciated.

Although werethey too I would love to read that book too :lulz:
there isnt any books about him, he would never allow it.
 

Laurie T.

Lurker
Once Accused Serial Killer Sentenced for Murder

August 18, 1999

HAHNVILLE, La. (AP) -- A former taxi driver once suspected of killing as many as 15 women was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for the only murder authorities could pin on him.

Russell Ellwood was convicted of murdering Cheryl Lewis, 30, who was one of 26 women, most of them prostitutes, found dead in swampy areas around New Orleans from 1991 through 1996.

At the time of Ellwood's arrest in 1997, authorities said they suspected him in as many as 15 killings, and Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee claimed authorities were searching for at least four other suspects.

But no other arrests or charges ever were made, despite four years of efforts by a task force made up of the FBI, New Orleans police and four sheriff's departments. A second murder charge against Ellwood was dismissed when prosecutors learned he had an alibi that put him in Ohio at the time of a woman's death.

Told prostitute he kills women

At one point, the FBI cut its ties to the task force and then began investigating its former leader, Lt. Sue Rushing of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department, who was accused of hiding or destroying evidence that helped convict Ellwood. The FBI said the probe was over but would not disclose details.

The task force is dissolved, and the sheriff's departments involved said they will re-examine the case only if new information is presented.

Most of the 26 victims were women with histories of drug abuse and prostitution. Some were transsexuals. Some were strangled, and others apparently died of drug overdoses.

An inmate who had served time with Ellwood, 48, told deputies that Ellwood had bragged about killing people and that he "enjoyed the fun of having sex with people who were not in control of their bodies."

And a prostitute testified that she sold drugs to Ellwood and got in his car. She said Ellwood suddenly became very angry and said to her: "You know what I do to bitches like you? I kill them."
,
He was always a little off, never went straight or did everything that was in the norm.
 

Eat Shit And Die

★Filthy European★
I am so sorry that i have to admit this my Uncle is Russell Ellwood. His real Name is Russell Ellwood Hofacre. He dropped his last name Hofacre to Ellwood after my grandpa and him had a falling out and a very long separation. He Has a Brother and a sister whom is my mother. if you want any info on my Uncle contact me on fb. i have lots of letters and images from him in Angola,. I havent rewritten him in a very long time, just cuz he has paranoia and borderline personality disorder, We are planning on writing to him soon tho since it has been so long. The last letter we received from "Uncle Rusty" was to sent my son

and wanted my son to figure out mathamatical equations, i do know a few things about this case and i do know where all his posessions are located. i have many letters from him, alot of psycho babble. if you have any specifics you wanna know about his younger years please message me on fb FawnakaLaurie. But like i said i do not know if he did this or not . n my opinion from what i have read and what he has written me, i personally feel he did commit these murders. But that is my opinion. Non of his brothers,sisters, nieces or nephews have anything to do with him.my mom used to corrospond and send money to him years ago but she stopped cuz his letters and phone calls were just to psychotic for her to handle. But i do write occasionally and my son is sending him a letter soon. His Mom And Dad {my grandma and grandpa} have passed away .he has two true siblings and two half siblings whom have passed away. He also has 1 neice and one nephew. Just thought i would put this out there for ya in case any of ya wanna know about him before all this happened. He loved photography and was really good at it. And i remember he used to smoke clove cigerettes. I can still remember the smell.


You have nothing to be sorry for, you are not responsible for the actions of your uncle, hes a sick puppy.

Why would we have to go to FB to see the letters? could you not post them here?
 

Laurie T.

Lurker
Found a few more article/reports on him...


February 24, 1999

Authorities in New Orleans say they'll drop one of two murder charges against Russell Ellwood. Investigators now say he could not have committed the crime. Though originally accused of killing seventeen women, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee said a continuing investigation revealed that Ellwood was in Ohio when Dolores Mack, 40, of Metairie, was murdered.

Ellwood will only be charged in the case of a 1993 murder where a woman's body was dumped in a canal in Hahnville.

Prosecutors have admitted they have no physical evidence to place Ellwood, now 48, at the crime scenes. Ellwood, in a telephone interview from jail, predicted that the second murder charge would also be dismissed. "It's obvious that these charges are fraudulent," Ellwood said. "This is the biggest railroad case ever in the state of Louisiana."
 

Laurie T.

Lurker
You have nothing to be sorry for, you are not responsible for the actions of your uncle, hes a sick puppy.

Why would we have to go to FB to see the letters? could you not post them here?
you wouldnt have to go to fb to read them they arent even on there yet. i have them all packed away in my closet. i just thought if any of you would like to read his letter and see his most recent picture i could post them on here. May take me a day or so to get them all sorted , they are all messed up ,writing on top of writing and just lots of babbling. But if you all are interested give me till tues to get them all in order. just let me know.
 

Eat Shit And Die

★Filthy European★
They would be very graciously received i have been studying serial killers and multiple murderers for over 15 years, it would be a rare insight into the way his mind works, if you would do that i would be extremely grateful.
 
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