Disclaimer: The article contains mention of assault and murder. Reader discretion is advised.
True crime enthusiasts widely believe that Larry Hall is one of America’s most prolific serial killers. Although the court sentenced him for kidnapping a 15-year-old in 1993, authorities believe that, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he killed between 40 to 50 women.
Investigators came across Larry Hall following the 1993 disappearance of Jessica Roach, a teenager from Georgetown, Illinois. Reports suggest her last confirmed sighting was outside her home, where she rode her bicycle. Eight weeks later, officials discovered her lifeless body in a cornfield in Indiana. Roach’s case was not one of a kind because something similar had happened six months prior. 19-year-old Tricia Lynn Reitler was last seen on March 29, 1993. According to ATI, she never returned after leaving her dorm to buy some items from a store. To this day, Reitler’s parents aren’t aware of what happened to their daughter. They believe that somebody killed her on the day of her disappearance. However, officials say that she got abducted.
An investigation took place, and with the help of witnesses, the police traced Larry Hall’s car down and eventually arrested him. CNN reported that Hall confessed soon after, and the court found him guilty of kidnapping Jessica Roach in 1995. He received a life sentence without parole, and per the Federal Bureau of Prisons, he is currently at the FCI Butner Medium II.
The 2022 miniseries Black Bird showcased Jimmy Keene’s in-prison relationship with Larry Hall. Taron Egerton portrayed the former, while Paul Walter Hauser played the latter.
Larry Hall victims: What did the suspected American serial killer do?
When officials brought Larry Hall for questioning, the chief investigator for the Vermilion County Sheriff’s Office, Gary Miller, showed him a picture of Jessica Roach. Reports suggest that Hall flinched when Hall saw the teenager’s photo and acted like he didn’t want to see it. Furthermore, the accused stated he was unaware of the girl’s identity. According to CNN, Gary Miller recalled when he was interrogating Hall. He stated, “He immediately flinched. He turned to his right and put his hand up over his face like he didn’t want to see the picture. And he told me he didn’t think he’d ever seen that girl.”
Hall eventually confessed and gave gruesome details of his actions. He revealed that he abducted Jessica and forcefully put her in his van. He then removed her pants, raped her, took her to the woods, and killed her. Additionally, he said that he choked her from behind so that he couldn’t see the teenager’s face while she was struggling to breathe. He said, “I tied her up, but I can’t remember with what. I took her pants off. I laid her up against a tree and put a belt around her neck and she stopped breathing.”
Larry Hall also admitted to abusing many other girls and also identified Reitler from one of her pictures. Unfortunately, he soon recanted all his statements and said he only narrated his dreams. This confession/recantation cycle carried on for a long time, and the true extent of his criminal activity was never revealed.
