United States of America

FAUTENBERRY
John Joseph

Active between 1990-1991 in 4 different US states

DID YOU KNOW...

Startling Fact

The family was abandoned by his father when Fautenberry was 2. At 24, he reconnected with his dad. They didn't get along, so Fautenberry moved in with his dad's ex-wife and began a 3 year affair.

Stupid Fact

After murdering Joseph William Darron Jr. on February 21, 1991, Fautenberry used the dead man's car and credit cards.

Travel Fact

The greatest distance Fautenberry travelled between victims was 2860 miles (4,603 km).

THE DISPATCH

The Beginning

John Joseph Fautenberry’s father abandoned his family when Fautenberry was 2 years old. His mother remarried 8 years later. His step-father adopted Fautenberry and his sister, but it wasn’t enough for Fautenberry. He spent years trying to reconnect with his father, and was always rejected. He became moody and dropped out of school.

Early Crimes

He committed “petty” car theft in his youth, and was put on probation. In 1986, Fautenberry robbed and beat his girlfriend. He used a gun to force her to withdraw money from her bank account, and sign over title to her truck. He was convicted in January, 1987 of misdemeanor assault and carrying a concealed weapon. He was placed on probation.

By April 1987, he connected with his birth father and began to live with him on a farm.

The two men did not get along, so Fautenberry moved in with his father’s ex-wife. They had a 3-year sexual relationship. Fautenberry tried to work as a truck driver, but was fired for poor performance.

The Murders

Don Ray Nutley

Fauteberry met Texas native Don Ray Nutley in an Oregon bar. They went target shooting, and Nutley was robbed and shot. After his arrest, Fautenberry admitted to robbing Nutley of $10,000 in cash.

On April 21, 1991, Nutley’s body was found near Mount Hood, Oregon. He was 47 years old. Fautenberry was not charged.

Gary Wayne Farmer

On February 1, 1991, Fautenberry met Tennessee trucker Gary Wayne Farmer at a truck stop. Fautenberry was broke, and stole a small amount of money and a watch. Fautenberry alleged Farmer came on to him, offering money for sex. Instead of sex, Fautenberry shot him in the head. Farmer was found still in his truck, 4 days later at the Pilot Truck Stop (now Pilot Travel Center) in Bloomsbury, Hunterdon County. He was 26 years old.

Joseph William Daron Jr.

On February 17, 1991, Joseph William Daron Jr. failed to report to work. Fautenberry had hitched a ride from the Cincinnati native. As he was exiting the truck, he shot Daron Jr. shot and killed with the same gun used to kill Farmer. He stole Daron Jr.’s car and Bible.

Daron Jr.’s car, a white Subaru, had been spotted after he went missing. His credit cards were used. His father and police believed he was dead, and the killer was using the car and cards. Daron Jr. was found on March 18, 1991 down an embankment of US Highway 52, outside Cincinnati. Daron Jr. was 45 years old.

Christine Ann(e) Guthrie

On February 26, 1991, Fautenberry met Portlander Christine Ann(e) Guthrie, a former bank teller, and they went to a motel together. It was the last time she was seen alive. Guthrie was found on a remote logging road near Timber, Oregon on April 1, 1991. She was 32 years old. Fautenberry’s only female victim, and Fautenberry was not charged.

Jefferson Frank Diffie

Fautenberry and Juneau resident Jefferson Frank “Gabby” Diffee headed to Diffee’s apartment overlooking Mendenhall Glacier on March 12. Diffee, a miner in Juneau, was stabbed to death. He was found inside his apartment on March 14, 1991. He was handcuffed, beaten and stabbed 17 times. Fautenberry had stolen his credit cards. He was 27. Diffee was Fautenberry’s last victim.

Indictments & Arrest

Fauteberry Indicted, Arrested

The same day Fautenberry murdered Diffee, he was indicted in abstentia by a Grand Jury in Claremont County, Ohio. The charges were grand theft and theft related to Daron Jr.’s credit cards. Fautenberry had been using Daron Jr.’s cards and identification around Oregon and Idaho. He had already been indicted for Guthrie’s kidnapping and aggravated murder in Portland.

Fautenberry is arrested in Juneau, Alaska on March 17, for the Oregon murder charge of Guthrie. Police considered him a suspect in the other murders. Murder charges against Fautenberry began to roll in as bodies are found.

Charges Pile Up

On March 26, the killer was charged with the murder of Farmer. Police had found Farmer’s watch and wallet among Fautenberry’s belongings. The next day, he was indicted for Daron’s murder. On March 29, he was indicted for the murder of Diffee.

In May, Fautenberry confessed to 4 murders in the media. He finally confessed to murdering Diffee on June 17, 1991.

Bodies Are Found

On April 1, Guthrie’s body was found near a remote logging road near Timber, Hillsboro County, Oregon. Fautenberry robbed her of credit cards and banking information, drove her to the site and shot her.

With Fautenberry’s directions, police began to find human bones the next day. Nutley’s teeth and bullet-pierced skull were found on April 21, 1991, near Zigzag, close to Mount Hood, Oregon.

The Killer Confesses But Denies Being Serial Killer

In mid-May, Fautenberry confessed to the murders of Nutley, Farmer, Daron and Guthrie, to a television station.

His confession was aired on TV on May 15, 1991. In June, he confessed to a newspaper to 2 more murders: Diffee and another man, Richard F. Combs.

However, another man was already in prison for the murder of the Combs, and prosecutors did not pursue the claim.

Fautenberry denied being a serial killer. He said he did not meet the FBI profile of a serial killer, claiming it was not sexual, ritualistic or torturous. However, he stabbed Diffee more than a dozen times, and stayed with him overnight. Fautenberry clearly only knows the incorrect pop culture definition of a serial killer, not the FBI definition. The FBI definition does not include cause or modus operandi.

The Trials

Fautenberry Guilty in Diffee's Death

On August 21, 1991, Fautenberry pleaded guilty to murdering Diffee, and was sentenced to 99 years. Charges for credit card theft and forgery were dismissed This was in Alaska, where there was no death penalty.

He was still facing extradition to Ohio. Ohio has the death penalty.

Fautenberry Sentenced in Daron Jr.'s Death

Ohio does have the death penalty. In Ohio, Fautenberry chose to go to trial before the judges in Hamilton County Common Pleas court. He pleaded no contest. He was found guilty of killing Daron Jr. on July 24, 1992. He was sentenced to 2 death sentences on September 16 for the crimes committed against Daron Jr.

Fautenberry Guilty in Farmer's Death

Fautenberry rejected the chance for a plea deal, and went to trial for killing Farmer. On the second day of jury selection, he changed his mind, and entered a guilty plea. Fautenberry was sentenced to life in prison. The term is to run concurrent to the 99-year sentence from Alaska, and in spite of the death sentence from Ohio.

Deferral of Charges

Prosecutors in Oregon did not pursue the charges against Fautenberry for the murders of Nutley and Guthrie. They deferred to Ohio which had the death penalty. It is up to prosecutors to decide to proceed to trial, or stay the charges. Proceeding to trial is costly and time consuming, but it is important for justice to be seen. They can defer to an earlier death penalty and “stay” the charges, or keep them available just in case.

It is possible that the findings in a trial in another state may be thrown out. For example, because of a problem with a jury member accessing social media during a trial. Without additional charges from another state, it would then be possible for a killer to go free. The stayed charges gives prosecutors a fall-back, just in case things go awry.

Various appeals, including an automatic appeal of the Ohio death sentence, failed.

Fautenberry’s Execution

Fautenberry Executed

Fautenberry is executed in Ohio by lethal injection.

SIMILAR SERIAL KILLERS

Joe Darling

Like Fautenberry, Joe Darling also travelled across the USA killing random strangers

Franklin Thompson
& Katie Hampton

Serial killers Thompson and Hampton also murdered someone on February 1, 1991

Francis Ngelo

Ngelo and Fautenberry were both born in Detroit, Michigan, USA

WHERE IT HAPPENED

A non-interactive map of where things happened

VIDEOS & PODCASTS

John Joseph Fautenberry was an American serial killer. A long-haul trucker, Fautenberry befriended and subsequently murdered five people across four states between 1990 and 1991, and after his arrest, confessed to an additional 1984 murder for which another man was convicted.

THE STATS

Murder Victims

Longest Sentence

Age When Killings Began

John Joseph Fautenberry in a Historical Timeline

Statistical Table for John Joseph Fautenberry

Killer Name	Fautenberry, John Joseph
Gender	M
Arrest Date	March 17, 1991
Sentence	99-year term for Diffee; Death sentence for Daron Jr.; 99-year term for Farmer
Birth Location	New London, Connecticut, USA
Birth Date	July 4, 1963
Death Date	July 14, 2009
Deceased	Yes
Executed	Yes
Cause of Death	lethal injection
Height	188
Head Injury	yes, childhood accident & military
School Grade	GED
Fired	yes
Job Types	truck driver
Labour Type	Blue
Killer Type	Criminal Enterprise (drugs/robbery), Wanderer
Drug Abuse	pot
Alcohol Abuse	beer
Psychology	self mutilation in 1985
comment1	Cross-country trucker; killed robbery victims
comment2	Confessed to a 1984 killing, but not charged
Total Dead Victims	5
Victims (Suspected)	2
Victims (Convicted)	3
Victim Gender	Various
Victim Race	White
Victim Age	26, 27, 32, 45, 47
Victim Type	Strangers
Abduction	Yes
Efficient	Yes
Previous Crimes	car theft
Prison Name	Southern Ohio Correctional Facility

Killer Rating

 5/5