United States of America

HANSEN
Robert Christian

Active from possibly 1971 to 1983 in Alaska

DID YOU KNOW...

Book Fact

Almost 40 non-fiction books cover the Hansen murders

Story Fact

Hansen's crimes are similar to the plot of The Most Dangerous Game, a short story by Richard Connell

Weapon Fact

Hansen's favorite gun was a .223 Mini-14 rifle

THE DISPATCH

The Beginning

The details in this dispatch regarding the victims rely heavily on the book Fair Game, by Bernard Du Clos.

Robert Christian (Chris) Hansen was twice married and had children, and eventually ran a successful bakery in Anchorage, Alaska. He had learned his skills working for his father in the family bakery.

Early Crimes

Hansen also had a criminal record well before he began murdering women. He was convicted of “willfully and maliciously setting fire to and burning a motor vehicle” in Iowa in 1961. It was a Pocahontas County Board of Education school bus. He served 23 months in a reformatory and completed parole in a year. In late 1971 Hansen had attempted to abduct and rape a woman, and had sexually assaulted another. In 1972, he was convicted for assault with a dangerous weapon, with the sexual assault charges being dropped after a plea deal.

Hansen was sentenced to five years and it was recommended he receive psychiatric treatment. After six months he was placed on a work release program and then a year later, released on parole. Parole was terminated after about three years. He also had four minor traffic violations.

In a psychiatric report dated February 28, 1972, the doctor stated Hansen suffered from bipolar affective disorder – his impulses were poorly controlled – and said this was the cause of his criminal activity. A different doctor said, eight months later, that Hansen was sufficiently improved through therapy and should be released on parole.

The doctors had no idea what Hansen was really up to. Hansen murdered at least 17 women, often using his airplane to transport his victims into remote areas. He would then release the victim and then unsportingly “hunt” the defenseless woman as she fled her captor.

The Murders

Celia ''Beth'' van Zanten (suspected)

In the evening of December 22, 1971, Celia “Beth” Van Zanten left her family’s home to go to a nearby convenience store. Her family thought that, instead of returning home, Van Zanten had gone on to a babysitting job. She was reported missing the next day.

On December 25, two brothers were at the McHugh Creek Campgrounds, trying out their new Christmas cameras, when they spotted what they thought was a mannequin. Van Zanten was found with her hands tied behind her back. She had died of exposure after Hansen threw her, still alive, down a steep ravine. Evidence showed the 18-year-old had tried to climb back up the embankment, but because she was bound, she couldn’t make it.

Hansen would later deny killing van Zanten, as well as other women killed who were not working in the sex industry. Around the same time and location, a different serial killer, Gary Zieger, was active. Zieger was later shot to death, and his connection to Van Zanten was never confirmed. Hansen was never charged in her murder.

Her name is spelled incorrectly as van Zarten in some resources.

Megan Siobhan Emerick (Suspected)

Megan Siobhan Emerick was 17 when, on July 7, 1973, she did her laundry and then headed out of her home at the girl’s dormitory in the Seward Skills Centre (now the Alaska Vocation Technical Center). She has never been seen since. Emerick was reported missing on July 10, and her body has not been found. Hansen later denied having any hand in her disappearance and presumed death. Police think her body may be in or near Resurrection Bay.

Mary Kathleen Thill (suspected)

On July 5, 1975, Mary Kathleen Thill got a ride from friends from her home in Lowell Point into Seward. The 23-year-old disappeared. Hearing that she was missing, her husband returned home from a remote worksite to look for her. He offered a $1,000 reward that would go unclaimed. Hansen later denied any involvement in Thill’s disappearance. She remains missing and is presumed dead.

Hansen Pleads Guilty to Larceny

On November 3, 1976, Hansen tried to walk out of a department store in Anchorage with a chainsaw he did not pay for. He was caught and, because he had previous convictions, was charged with felony larceny instead of a shoplifting misdemeanor. A psychiatrist declared Hansen to be a “markedly disturbed man… [with] a highly potential psychotic or high schizophrenic scale.” Hansen pleaded guilty on January 19, 1977 and was freed on bail pending receiving psychiatric help.

He was eventually sentenced to 5 years, and after a series of appeals and missteps, was paroled without restrictions on August 31, 1978.

Joanna Messina

On May 19, 1980, Joanne Messina (AKA Bear Lady) was working in Seward when she went out for dinner with Hansen. Hansen later said everything was going well until she offered him sex for money. He drove her (and her dog) to a remote location by the Snow River where Hansen refused to pay and refused to free her. He hit her with a .22 revolver before shooting her twice and the dog once. He dragged Messina’s body to a nearby gravel pit and covered her with gravel. He threw the dog and Messina’s possessions into the woods and threw the gun into the Snow River. Her remains were discovered on July 8, 1980, ravaged by bears.

Roxanne Easland

Roxanne Easlund disappeared from Anchorage on June 28, 1980. She was reported missing on July 2. Her body has never been found.

"Eklutna Annie''

In the late fall of 1979, after a failed kidnapping and assault of sex worker Christie Hayes, Hansen met a woman in Anchorage. The woman, whose name Hansen never found out, became known as Eklutna Annie, named after the road her dead body was found on.

Hansen had picked up the woman for sex but pulled a gun on her and took her to a remote area. His pickup truck got mired in mud he convinced Eklutna Annie to help use the truck’s winch to free the vehicle. After the vehicle was freed, she fled toward the woods and swung a knife at Hansen after he chased and caught her. He took her knife and stabbed her with it. Hansen buried Eklutna Annie in a shallow grave.

Lisa Futrell

Lisa Futrell met Hansen at the Anchorage nightclub where she worked. The 41-year-old was missed by her two younger roommates when she failed to return home after her September 7, 1980 shift at the club. She was reported missing to the police.

On May 9, 1984, her body was found buried near a gravel pit south of the old Knik bridge.

Malai Larsen

Malai Larsen, 28, was a dancer who disappeared some time in June, 1981. She was reported missing July 10, 1981. Her body was found April 24, 1984 in a parking area down from the old Knik bridge on the Knik River.

Sherry D. Morrow

Sherry D. Morrow (aka Sherry Graves, aka Georgia), 23, was a dancer in Anchorage. On November 17, 1981, she told friends she was going to meet a photographer who promised to pay her $300 for nude photos. They never saw her again. Hansen had convinced Morrow to come with him, but soon blindfolded and handcuffed her, then drove to the Knik River. Hansen later said Morrow had become violent when he stopped the car near the river. He said he took his .223-caliber Mini-14 and sat down under a tree waiting for her to cool off. Somehow, despite have bandages over her eyes, she was able to exit the car and find him, where, he said, she began to kick and scream at him. Hansen shot her while she stood over him.

Hansen took an arrowhead necklace from her and buried her, and the shell casing, in a shallow grave. She was found on September 12, 1982.

Andrea Mona Altiery

Andrea Mona Altiery worked at an Anchorage nightclub and attracted the attention of many men. The 33-year-old worked under the name “Enchantment” but was nicknamed “Fish” by her friends. She often wore a custom-made necklace with a fish charm. On December 2, 1981, Altiery told her roommate she was headed to Boniface Mall for a shopping spree with an “older man”. She was never seen again.

According to Hansen, he met and kidnapped her, blindfolding and handcuffing her after threatening her with a gun. They drove to a service road off Palmer Highway, near the Knik River bridge. There, he removed her bindings and sexually assaulted her. When she fought back, he murdered her with a .22 Browning automatic pistol. He then stole Altiery’s necklace, weighted a duffel bag with gravel, tied it to the dead woman and threw her off the bridge and into the Knik River.

Sue Luna

Sue Luna had arrived in Anchorage in May of 1982 for work. She had family in the area and had hoped to spend a few weeks making money while her mother-in-law cared for her daughter. Luna willingly accepted an offer of $300 for a photo shoot with a nightclub customer. She meet the stranger – Hansen – in a diner parking lot on May 26, 1982.

Luna was reported missing the next day, but despite the disappearances of many dancers in the area, and her sister Bobbie posted flyers and ads offering a reward. Hansen anonymously called the reward tipline and said Luna and a Black man had left for Fairbanks. He asked to meet Bobbie, but she declined. Hansen was likely trying to gather information about the search, and to throw people off the trail.
Hansen had kidnapped and murdered Luna, burying her at the Knik River (grave site #2 east of Knik River bridge). She was found April 24, 1984.

Tamara Joy "Tami'' Pederson

Tami Pederson travelled to Anchorage looking for work, and became a dancer at a nightclub. She eventually moved in with a boyfriend and settled into a steady way of life. The last her family heard from her was during a phone call on August 7, 1982. Her family eventually found the means to travel to Anchorage from Seattle, and after a search of the city, reported her missing to police. Her family, most significantly her stepfather, would spend a large amount of time and energy looking for her.

Pederson, like others before her, had been offered money to pose for photographs. And, like others before her, she was kidnapped and murdered by Hansen. Her body wasn’t found until after Hansen confessed and pointed to her body’s location on his infamous map. She was found near old the Knik Bridge on April 29, 1984.

Angela Lynn Feddern

Angela Lynn Feddern was 25 years old when she died. She was last seen on Fourth Avenue in Anchorage in February, 1983. She wasn’t reported missing until May. The owner/operator of a nightclub reported that Feddern, one of his dancers, had gone missing. Hansen kidnapped and murdered her. Feddern’s body was found on April 26, 1984 on a small lake near the larger Figure Eight Lake.

DeLynn Renee ''Sugar'' Frey

DeLynn Renee ”Sugar” Frey was last seen in March, 1983 but not immediately reported missing. Hansen kidnapped and murdered her. On August 20, 1985, her body was discovered on a Knik River sandbar and she was buried as a “Jane Doe” in an Anchorage cemetery. She was not identified until 1989, when an Alaska State Trooper identified jewellery from a casefile photograph.

In 1996, the Alaska Supreme Court denied a legal appeal by Frey’s mother, who had tried to sue the state of Alaska over the identification delay. Jean Hawks had been in contact with the Anchorage Police Department and Alaska State Troopers beginning in 1984. She told authorities she believed her daughter’s body had been the one found near the Knix River.

She told police her daughter had suffered a bone fracture in her right arm and that medical records from New Mexico might held with identifying Frey. Hawks said she suffered for years from both “intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress” by state authorities. The Courts denied her suit and appeal.

Teresa Watson

Teresa Watson, 22, was a dancer in Anchorage who was last seen on March 25, 1983. She told her roommate she was going to meet a man who would pay her $300 for an hour or two of companionship. Hansen kidnapped her and murdered her at Scenic Lake. The ground in the area was still frozen, and Hansen was unable to bury her. He left her where she had fallen. Her body was found on May 17, 1984.

Paula Goulding

Paula Goulding worked parttime as a dancer in Anchorage when she was offered money by Hansen. He picked her upon April 25, 1983 and kidnapped her. He drove her to his airplane, handcuffed her and forced her out of the plane at gunpoint. According to Hansen, after arriving at a remote location, she fought with him and tried to flee. He shot her to death with a .233 as she ran. She was found on September 2, 1983 buried in a shallow grave along the Knik River.

Robin Pelkey AKA 'Horseshoe Harriet''

Robin Pelkey was 19 years old when Hansen sexually assaulted and murdered her. She had been living on the streets of Anchorage when Hansen found her. Pelkey was found near Horseshoe Lake, but remained unidentified for 38 years. She had been referred to as “Horseshoe Harriet” and was buried in an Anchorage cemetery.

In 2014, her body was exhumed and DNA samples were taken in an attempt to determine her identity through familial/genetic genealogy. Police contacted her probable relatives who confirmed a woman named Robin Pelkey had lived in Anchorage and disappeared from there in 1983. Her body was found April 24, 1984. She was identified to the press on October 25, 2021.

Cindy Paulson (Survivor)

Cindy Paulson, 19, met Hansen on June 13, 1983. After agreeing to pay for sex, Hansen instead pulled a .357 Magnum on her and kidnapped her. She was taken to his home, bound and sexually assaulted before Hansen took her to the Merrill Field, where his airplane was.

Hansen left Paulson alone in his car while he began loading his plane, threatening to kill her if she ran away. She ran away, toward Fifth Avenue. There, she was picked up by a passing driver, Robert Yount. Yount took Paulson to a safe location and shortly after, called police.

At about the same time, a security guard at the Merrill Field noticed some suspicious activity and although he made no contact, he noted the license tag for Hansen’s car. Police located and interviewed Paulson about the attack.

Arrest & Trial

Hansen Indicted for Paulson Attack

A Grand Jury indicted Hansen for his attack on Paulson, on November 11, 1983 after his initial charge in June, 1983. He was indicted on five counts of first-degree misconduct involving weapons, and three counts of theft. He was held on $500,000 bail at the Cook Inlet Jail. Authorities suspected Hansen in the disappearances and murders of local sex workers, and announced by January 12, 1984, that maps of grave sites were found in his home. Officials said the maps marked four known locations of where they had found human remains, and said the map contained “numerous” other marks.

Hansen Pleads Guilty to Murders

Hansen was only formally charged with the murders of four: Sherry Morrow, Joanna Messina, “Eklutna Annie”, and Paula Goulding. He was also charged with the kidnapping and rape of Cindy Paulson, the original arrest charge. On Monday February 27, 1984, Hansen admitted murdering 17 women.

He confessed to all the murders as he pleaded guilty to the murders of Morrow, Messina, Golding and Eklutna Annie. He also pleaded guilty to rape, kidnapping, theft and weapons charges. He was immediately sentenced to 416 years and life in prison.

Hansen’s Death

Robert Hansen died on August 21, 2014 due to natural causes. His crimes have been the subject of more than a dozen TV shows and movies (including fictionalized accounts). These include The Frozen Ground (starring Nicolas Cage 2013), The Butcher Baker: Mind of a Monster (Investigation Discovery 2020) and Very Scary People “The Butcher Baker: Terror In The Wilderness part 1” and “The Butcher Baker: The Girls Who Got Away part 2” (Crime and Investigation S3, E3&E4, 2022).

WHERE IT HAPPENED

A copy of the map used by police to locate some of Hansen’s victims. Click image to enlarge.

BOOKS

Just a few of the almost 40 books (click here for a more comprehensive list) about or including Robert Hansen

Fair Game by Bernard DuClos

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (Aug. 9 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 318 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1491227354
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1491227350

Truth be told, Robert Hansen never butchered anyone. He did own a popular Anchorage bakery where he rolled doughnuts and decorated cakes. But yes, “Bad Bob Hansen” did go on a rampage assaulting and murdering dozens of women from 1971 to 1983. With an Anchorage police officer risking his career and FBI profiling assistance, Alaska State Troopers finally brought Hansen to justice.

First published by St. Martin’s Press and a Doubleday True Crime Book Club Selection in 1993, FAIR GAME details Robert Hansen’s 12-year tableau of violence that ended with his arrest and chilling confession. Importantly, FAIR GAME exposes the tortious judiciary bungles that enabled Robert Hansen’s aberrant hunt, and how the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office used a brief sentencing hearing to avoid putting Hansen on public trial, which would have revealed its blatant judicial neglects!

And FAIR GAME folds in compelling stories of Hansen’s victims, their families and survivors, many of whom were denied justice by the Anchorage DA’s egregious cover-up!

Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaskan Serial Killer by Walter Gilmour, Leland E. Hale

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media (Feb. 27 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 294 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1504049489
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1504049481

The horrific true story of serial kidnapper, rapist, and killer Robert Hansen’s reign of terror

As oil-boom money poured into Anchorage, Alaska the city quickly became a prime destination for the seedier elements of society: prostitutes, pimps, con men, and criminals of all breeds looking to cash in. However, something even worse lurked in their midst.

To all who knew him, Robert Hansen was a typical hardworking businessman, husband, and father. But hidden beneath the veneer of mild respectability was a monster whose depraved appetites could not be sated. From 1971 to 1983, Hansen was a human predator, stalking women on the edges of Anchorage society—women whose disappearances would cause scant outcry, but whose gruesome fates would shock the nation. After his arrest, Hansen confessed to seventeen brutal murders, though authorities suspect there were more than thirty victims.

Alaska State Trooper Walter Gilmour and writer Leland E. Hale tell the story of Hansen’s twisted depredations—from the dark urges that drove his madness to the women who died at his hand and finally to the authorities who captured and convicted the killer who came to be known as the “Butcher Baker.”

The Butcher Baker: The Search for Alaskan Serial Killer Robert Hansen by Reagan Martin

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (March 27 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 125 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1091788235
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1091788237

Beautiful Alaska–a peaceful, natural land where you know your neighbors and don’t have to lock your doors. For most people, it’s the perfect place to experience nature; for Robert Hansen, it was the perfect place for murder.

Between 1980 and 1983, Hansen went on a murderous rampage killing between 17 and 37 women in the Anchorage, Alaska area. Hansen, a small-business owner and pillar of the community, was also an avid hunter, and used young girls as prey when he decided he needed a more challenging hunt. This book is the gripping account of the hunt and eventual capture of an unlikely killer, who almost got away with it.

The Butcher Baker: Life of Serial Killer Robert Christian Hansen by Jack Smith

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st edition (Jan. 11 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1983784850
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1983784859

Robert Hansen, a baker from Alaska, hunted down his victims without mercy. He did the unthinkable, making hunting much more than a sport…

Robert Hansen dubbed the “Butcher Baker” killed at least 19 women. Taking the crime escalator to the top, Hansen went from petty thief and arsonist to rapist to serial killer over his lifetime, all while maintaining the facade of a shy and gentle family man. He was a baker in Anchorage, Alaska, a husband, and the father of two children. But there are at least 30 women who lived through the horror of being kidnapped, raped, and abused by Hansen—and at least 19 who did not survive their encounters with the hunter at all.

VIDEOS & PODCASTS

Videos and podcasts about Robert Hansen, serial killer

Morbid: Robert Hansen Pt. 2

Casefile True Crime Podcast: The Butcher Baker Pt. 1

Casefile True Crime Podcast: The Butcher Baker Pt. 2

Crime Junkie: The Butcher Baker of Alaska

THE STATS

Age at death

Confessed Victims

CM tall

100

Statistical table for Robert Christian Hansen

Killer Name	HANSEN, Robert Christian
Killer AKA	Butcher Baker, Alaska's Serial Killer
Gender	M
Arrest Date	October 27, 1983
Conviction Date	February 18, 1984
Sentence	461 years plus life term
Birth Location	Estherville, Iowa USA
Birth Date	February 15, 1939
Death Date	August 21, 2014
Deceased	Yes
Cause of Death	natural causes
Height	168
Physical Issue	Severe acne
Speech Issues	Stuttering
Head Injury	No
Suffer Physical Abuse	No
Suffer Physical Abuse	No
Psychological Abuse	Father strict, teased at school
Sexual Abuse	No
School Grade	12
School Degree	High school diploma
School Other	12
Caused Problems in School	Yes
Teased	Yes
Military Service	Yes
Military Service	Army Reserves
Worked in Police/Security	Volunteered as a drill instructor for junior police
Fired	No
Job Types	Worked in father's bakery when not serving his one weekend a month in Army Reserves
Employment Status	Owned bakery
Sexual Preference	Straight
Marital Status	Remarried
Number of Children	2
Killer Type	Sexual/Sadistic, Thrill killer, Organized, Territorial
Drug Abuse	No
Alcohol Abuse	No
Psychology	No
Institutionalized	No
Psych Diagnosis	Bipolar-effective disorder (diagnosis made by psychiatrist when Hansen was arrested for stealing a chainsaw) ; infantile; vengeful
Fire Setting	Yes
comment1	accurately profiled by FBI
comment2	killer's aviation map matched some body locations
comment3	https://the-line-up.com/unsolved-murder-did-alaskan-serial-killer-robert-hansen-kill-beth-van-zanten
comment4	https://militaryjusticeforall.com/tag/joanna-messina/
Total Dead Victims	17
Victims (Suspected)	13
Victims (Convicted)	4
Victims (Misc)	17
Victim Gender	F
Victim Race	Various
Victim Age	17(3), 20, 22, 23(3), 24(2), 28, 41
Victim Type 2	Prostitutes and topless dancers
Method of Killing	Shooting, knife
Weapon	Killer brought with him- rifle, 22 caliber pistol
Gun Type	.223 Mini-14 Rifle
Robbery	Yes
Sex Assault	Yes
Torture	Yes
Stalking	Yes
Efficient	Yes
Blindfold	Yes
Binding	Yes
Totem-Body	No
Totem-Other	Yes
Body - Left, Not Hidden	Yes
Body - Left, Buried	Yes
Body - Moved, Hidden	Yes
Body - Moved, Buried	Yes
Previous Crimes	Yes - set fire to school bus garage, caught stealing several times
Previous Prison Time	Yes - sentenced to 3 years in prison for fire, served only 20 months, sentenced to 5 years for stealing a chainsaw, served only 1 year

Killer Rating

 5/5

RESOURCES

Last updated on 5 October 2022 by E. Kelly Hemingway