Larry Eyler

Larry Eyler, a.k.a. "The Highway Killer" or "The Interstate Killer" was an American hebephilic, ephebopholic serial killer and rapist

Background
Eyler was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, as the youngest of four children. His parent parents divorced while he was still young, which resulted in him having many stepfathers, who teased and abused him. In his senior year, Eyler dropped out of high school and earned him GED years later. Unknown to his friends and family, Eyler was a man struggling to cope with his homosexual tendencies, even going as far as to hate himself for being an homosexual. Sporadic enrollment in college between 1974 and 1978 left Eyler without a degree, he moved to Terre Haute that same year, and there, Eyler stabbed and attempted to kill a young man named Craig Long for no apparent reason, Eyler was subsequently arrested for the attack and pleaded guilty, being fined $43.

Murders, Arrest and Death
Four years after stabbing Long, Eyler stabbed another man, Jay Reynolds, but this time, he was successful in killing him. Reynolds' body was found on the outskirts of Lexington, Kentucky. Nine months later, Eyler strangled a youth named Delvoyd Baker and dumped his body on the roadside north of Indianapolis. Days later, Eyler stabbed Steven Crockett several times with four wounds in his head. A month later, the body of Robert Foley was discovered, he had been dumped outside Joliet. That same month, Eyler beat and attempted to kill Craig Townsend, but he escaped before Eyler could finish the job. Townsend was subsequently hospitalized but fled from the hospital before police could investigate his case. The body of John Johnson was found in a field outside Belshaw, Indiana. Three days later, he dumped the body of a double header named John Roach near Belleville. Another body was found shortly after. After murdering more victims, Eyler moved to Indianapolis in the summer of 1983 and became a member of a local gay community. Shortly after, people start to become suspicious of his behavior. A gay newspaper called The Works set up a hot-line and published a profile of the suspected serial killer. At that point, Eyler had already murdered two other victims.

On September, 30, a police officer saw Eyler's truck parked on the side of Interstate 65 and two men moving towards the woods, one of them being bound. When the officer approached them, he accused Eyler of making homosexual advances towards him. The officer investigated Eyler's truck, and there, he found surgical tape, nylon clothesline, and a hunting knife that was stained with blood. Days later, Eyler moved in with his secret love, John Dobrovolskis and his wife and children. Six more bodies were found days later. Eyler was considered the prime suspect in the murders, which shocked his family and resulted in his arrest. Later, police managed to contact Eyler's attempted victim, Craig Townsend, who identifies him as his attacker. Even more bodies are found, one of them being Daniel Bridges, who was dismembered and had parts of his body left inside trash bags, who were found by the janitor working where Eyler lived. Eyler was then arrested once again and put on trial; subsequently being found guilty of Bridges' murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection. Eyler eventually died from AIDS on March 6, 1994. Two after his death, Eyler’s attorney, Kathleen Zellner, holds a news conference to announce that Eyler signed a written confession that he killed 21 people, which could not be released until his death.

Modus Operandi
Larry Eyler killed across the American Midwest, targeting young male prostitutes, gays, and hitchhikers, choosing them at random while driving his Ford pickup truck. He would drug and bound them, and then stab, strangle or hack them to death, dumping their mutilated bodies in rural areas, and off of highways, hence his nickname. He would also take photographs of his victims as a way to recall the murders, which involved domination, control, humiliation and sadistic sexual violence.

Known Victims

 * Unspecified date in 1978: Craig Long, 19
 * 1982:
 * March 22: Jay Reynolds, 31
 * October 3: Delvoyd Baker, 14
 * October 23: Steven Crockett, 19
 * November 4: Craig Townsend, 21
 * November 6: Robert Foley
 * December 25: John Johnson, 25
 * December 28:
 * John Roach, 21
 * Steven Agan, 23
 * 1983
 * March 4: Edgar Underkofler, 27
 * April 8: Gustavo Herrera, 28
 * April 15: Ervin Dwayne Gibson, 16
 * May 9:
 * Jimmy T. Roberts, 18
 * Daniel Scott Mcneive, 21
 * July 7: John Doe #1
 * August 8: Ralph Calise, 28
 * September 30: Derrick Hansen, 18
 * October 15: John Doe #2
 * October 19: Four skeletons found
 * Michael Bouer, 22
 * John Barlett, 19
 * Two unnamed men
 * December 5: John Doe #3
 * December 7: Richaerd Wayne and John Doe #4
 * 1984
 * May 7: David M. Block, 22
 * August 21: Daniel "Danny" Bridges, 15

On Criminal Minds
Eyler may have some similiarities to Steven Fitzgerald. Both targeted homosexual men whom they would pick up on highways (although Steven stayed put in one location while Eyler was active in several U.S. states), were physically abused by father figures (although it was only implied that Steven was physically abused), and subsequently became angry at themselves for their homosexual tendencies.