Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes,

listener discretion is advised.

This episode includes discussions of murder, animal abuse, and assault

that some people may find offensive.

We advise extreme caution for children under 13.

On a deathly cold December night in 1995, harsh winds rattled the walls of a train

trundling through Millersburg, Oregon.

39-year-old William Pettit Jr. nestled into his sleeping bag in the corner of the box car,

trying to retain as much warmth as he could.

Pettit was a transient, a freight hopper who snuck aboard train cars to travel between odd jobs.

He was headed north along the Southern Pacific Railroad, but he wasn't the only one.

His fellow traveler was a tall and gaunt man,

with lank, unwashed hair plastered to his head.

Tattoos featuring eerie

eerie mystical birds and exotic flowers intertwined along his muscular

arms.

As William drifted off to sleep, the stranger slowly stood up.

Scant moonlight leaked through the slats of the box-car wall, casting the man's jagged silhouette

over Williams' dozing form.

The stranger crept forward, quiet, approaching his prey like a jungle cat.

Then in a flash, he buried his steel-toed boot in William's face, breaking his

nose with a satisfying crack. Before his victim could cry out, the man grabbed a 2 by 4 and smacked him over the head.

...