Raymond Lee Stewart

Raymond Lee Stewart was an American spree killer who murdered six people during the course of a week-long killing spree in Rockford, Illinois, and Benoit, Wisconsin. He was eventually executed for his crimes.

Background
Not much is known about Stewart's past. Born in 1952, he claimed to have had an abusive childhood. He lived in Rockford, Illinois, for a while, then relocated to North Carolina. In 1981, he returned to Rockford for the upcoming birth of his out-of-wedlock child. He had a criminal record for armed robberies of gas stations.

Killing Spree and Arrest
On the afternoon of January 27, 1981, Stewart entered Willie Fredd's Grocery Store, just two blocks from the Rockford motel where he was staying. He shot to death both Fredd, a fifty-four-year-old African-American, and his nephew, twenty-year-old Albert Pearson. Nothing valuable was taken from the store (with the exception of some cigarettes which were later found in his motel room). The next morning, Rockford gas station attendant Kevin Kaiser was found dead in the station's supply storage room. He had been shot four times, then again shot point-blank in the face (this last shot was fired after he was already dead). Again, nothing valuable was taken from the scene, while a witness identified a black male in his late twenties as a suspect. On January 29, another gas station attendant, Kenny Foust, was shot. He firstly survived, then died of his wounds at Rockford Memorial Hospital. This time, about $150 were taken from the station. Ballistics tests also indicated that the gun with which Foust was murdered was the same that killed Fredd and his nephew, resulting in the very first link between all these incidents. Rockford police soon formed a major case task force.

On February 2, Richard Boeck and Donald Rains, respectively the manager and a customer of a Benoit, Wisconsin, Radio Shack store, were found dead near the rear of the store. Witnesses identified a black male similar to the one spotted the day of the Kaiser shooting. As this, along with the similar circumstances of the crimes, implied the offender had crossed state lines, the FBI was consequently involved. John Douglas was called in to draft a suspect profile, which matched that of a man to whom the authorities were led thanks to witness descriptions: Raymond Lee Stewart. Stewart had, in the meanwhile, fled to his cousin's house in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was eventually arrested on February 21.

Trial and Execution
Stewart was charged with four counts of murder in Illinois and two in Wisconsin. During the trials, he showed resentment and contempt for both his victims and the system. He was found guilty of felony murder and sentenced to death. He later claimed that the murders were spurred by racial hatred, and demanded leniency because of his abusive childhood. While in jail, he attempted an escape but was recaptured two hours later.

On September 18, 1996, he was executed by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center, Illinois. His final words were: "Hello to everyone. May you all have peace because of this. May my victims' families have peace".

Modus Operandi
Stewart shot his victims with two .38 caliber revolvers: an RG 31 and a Smith & Wesson Model 60 Chief's Special.

Profile
John Douglas profiled the UNSUB as being a paranoid individual, because of the lack of a "logical motive" (monetary, personal, sexual...) to the crimes, which therefore made sense according to a strictly internal, non-objective logic. The offender would have been delusional, but still functional enough to drive and hold a menial job. He would have interacted with people around him, but they would have known he was "odd". Since both Paranoid, Paranoid Schizophrenics, as well as assassin-type personalities, surface in their mid-twenties, the offender would have much probably been in his mid-to-late twenties. Killers usually begin where they feel the highest comfort level, therefore, as his first two victims were black, and the second and third shootings occured in the early morning hours, the offender would have been African-American (a fact which also witness descriptions confirmed) who would have felt more comfortable in the darkness. The latter peculiarity would have been reflected also in his choice of dark-colored clothings and a dark-colored car. Also, he would have resided in the nearings of the Fredd Grocery Store. He would probably have felt the need for a police-like dog for protection, like a German sheperd or Dobermann pinscher (Stewart indeed had two Dobermanns). He would also have had a police radio scanner. He would have had a criminal record, consisting of assaultive behavior, reacting against authority figures, or institutionalization. Killing every person in each of the holdups suggested the offender would have been someone who "overcompensated" for everything.

Known Victims

 * Unknown dates and locations: several victimless armed robberies of gas stations
 * 1981:
 * January 27, Rockford Illinois:
 * Willie Fredd, 44
 * Albert Pearson, 20
 * January 28, Rockford, Illinois: Kevin Kaiser, 18
 * January 29, Rockford, Illinois: Kenny Foust
 * February 2, Benoit, Wisconsin:
 * Richard Boeck
 * Donald Rains