From December 1991 to August 1992, a serial killer tortured and murdered 12 women in Detroit and the neighboring city of Highland Park in Michigan. The bodies were primarily found in abandoned buildings after they had been assaulted and strangled to death. His motivation would later be revealed to be a hatred of prostitutes and women in general. This hatred stemmed from the abuse he had suffered as a child and from witnessing his mother work as a prostitute.
Early Life and Background
Benjamin Thomas Atkins, known as the Woodward Corridor Killer, was born on August 26, 1968, in Detroit, Michigan. His family lived in an impoverished section of the city, and both his parents abused drugs and alcohol. However, things got worse in 1970 when his father abandoned the family and his mother left him in an orphanage.
In the orphanage, Atkins was beaten by the other children, and at age 10, he was raped by a member of staff. After this event, he faced constant harassment from the other kids, and at age 15, he ran away to find his mother and older brother.
He found them and stayed with them until the mid-80s. While there, he realized that his mother earned money as a prostitute. Both he and his brother saw her conducting business with clients when she forced them to accompany her while she turned tricks. This would spark a hatred for prostitutes in Atkins that would manifest itself through vicious murders in later years.
Life on the Streets
After leaving his mother’s house, Atkins lived on the streets of Detroit. Without an education, he worked in low-skill and manual labor jobs and stayed in homeless shelters when he could find an available bed. During this period, his friends described him positively, except they noted that he became anti-social and spoke against women when under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
The Murders Begin
The first known victim of Benjamin Atkins would survive the ordeal. Darlene Saunders, a 35-year-old woman in Highland Park, Michigan, was assaulted and beaten in October 1991 after she entered an abandoned building with the soon-to-be killer to smoke crack. It is likely that other victims were attacked before Saunders but did not come forward.
First Fatal Victim
Thirty-year-old Debbie Ann Friday would not be so lucky. She went missing on December 8, 1991. Her body was found less than a week later on December 14. She had been abused and sexually assaulted before she was strangled.
Subsequent Victims
The next victim was found during that same month. On December 30, Bertha Gene Mason’s body was found in Detroit. The 26-year-old had been lured to an abandoned building and attacked. She too had been subjected to the same depraved acts as the prior victims before she was strangled.
The bodies began turning up back to back. On January 3, 1992, police were called to the scene of another murder. Patricia Cannon George was 36 when she died. Her body was found in Detroit in an abandoned building when crews came to demolish it. She was actually the first victim to be murdered but was in the vacant structure for months before being discovered.
There was a pause of just over three weeks before the next body was discovered. The remains of 39-year-old Vicki Truelove were discovered on January 25, 1992.
Police Questioning
Around this time, police brought Benjamin Atkins in for questioning regarding the murders, but they lacked enough evidence to charge him with the crimes and were forced to let him go.
Triple Murder at the Monterey Motel
The next crime scenes were back in Highland Park. Three victims were found on February 17 in an abandoned motel called the Monterey Motel by a man trying to strip plumbing parts from the building. They had been sexually assaulted like the prior victims, then strangled in three separate rooms:
- Thirty-four-year-old Valerie Trauth was found in room 68.
- Twenty-three-year-old Juanita Hardy was found in room 35.
- The third victim was found in room 18 and is still unidentified.
Continuing Murders
More than a month would pass before the next victim was discovered. The triple murders seemed to have satisfied Atkins’ appetite for death, but on April 9, 1992, 38-year-old Brenda Mitchell was found. She too had been abused and strangled in what was becoming a familiar MO to the investigators.
As if something had triggered the killer, he struck twice within a short period of time, and another body was found that month. On April 15, 1992, 43-year-old Victoria Beasley Brown was found strangled in Highland Park. She had a lethal level of cocaine in her system, which led to her death being labeled as an overdose initially.
There was a two-month-long pause in the murders that lasted until June 1992. On the 15th, the body of 40-year-old Joanne O’Rourke was found in Highland Park.
Final Victims
The final known victims of Atkins were found on August 21, 1992. Ocinena Waymer was only 22 years old, and Latonya Smith was only 29. Their bodies were found left in abandoned buildings in Highland Park.
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The Investigation
During this time, there was turmoil between the FBI and the city administration of Detroit. Despite this, the crimes were so heinous that a coalition was formed between the two to catch the killer. The task force was finally able to identify and arrest Atkins with the help of Darlene Saunders on August 21, 1992.
He was initially picked up for trespassing, but after 12 hours of interrogation, Benjamin Atkins admitted to the murders. He was able to describe each murder down to the very clothing his victims wore. Atkins also confessed to two murders that had not been connected to the series by police: those of Ocinena Waymer and Latonya Smith. Without this admission, it’s likely their bodies would have taken months, if not years, to be found.
Atkins said that his motivation was a hatred for women and prostitutes specifically. He would smoke crack with his victims and attack them, assaulting them sexually before strangling them to death.
Trial and Conviction
Benjamin Atkins went to trial in January 1994. Because there was no physical evidence connecting him to the crimes, Saunders’ testimony and Atkins’ confession were the primary pieces of evidence used against him in court.
Benjamin Atkins went to trial in January 1994. Because there was no physical evidence connecting him to the crimes, Saunders’ testimony and Atkins’ confession were the primary pieces of evidence used against him in court.
Death in Prison
Initially, Benjamin Atkins was sent to Charles Egeler Reception Center, but because of his cooperation, he was soon transferred to Duane Waters Hospital. He died there of an infection related to HIV on September 17, 1997, at 29 years old, after only four years in prison.
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