United States of America

Honolulu
Strangler

Active from 1985-1986 in Honolulu, Hawaii

DID YOU KNOW...

Strength Fact

Purdy's husband said he wife was so big and strong it would have taken 2 men to kill her

Safety Fact

Honolulu installed 2-way radios on their buses as a result of the attacks

Suspect Fact

One suspect contacted police saying he had information from a psychic

THE DISPATCH

The Murders

Murder victim Vicki Gail Purdy
Vicki Gail Purdy

On May 29, 1985, Vicki Gail Purdy was dropped off near her car at the Shorebird Hotel by a cab driver. She was found at Keehi Lagoon with her hands bound behind her back. Her shoes were missing, and she had no personal effects on her. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Police thought she might have been dumped there.

Gary Purdy was a chief warrant officer with the 24th Aviation Battalion. At six feet tall and 165 pounds, he can handle his own. He told media Purdy she had once “knocked the —- out of me” during an argument. He believed it would have taken two people to nab her. Her car was found in the Shorebird Hotel parking lot. It had a new dent in it.

Her husband thought it might be related to Purdy’s job, an adult video rental store. It was rumoured 2 women had been stabbed to death years earlier at that location.

Murder victim Regina Sakamoto
Regina Sakamoto

Regina Sakamoto missed the bus to highschool, and had to take local transit. On January 14, 1986, she was seen waiting for the Waipahu bus. Her body was found the next day at Keehi Lagoon, a few feet off shore near an access road. She was partially nude. Her hands were bound, like the first victim, Purdy. She had been sexually assaulted.

Sakamoto was 17.

Murder victim Denise Hughes
Denise Hughes

Just two weeks after Sakamoto was killed, Denise Hughes was found raped, bound and strangled like the other victims. She was found along Moanalua Stream by 3 young fishermen on February 1, and identified February 6. She was clothed and wrapped in a blue tarp. Her hands were bound. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

Hughes and Sakamoto had been last been seen at a bus stop. Hughes and Purdy were both married to military men.

The Honolulu Strangler Task Force

On February 5, 1986 , the police established a 27-person task force to investigate the stranglings. On February 13, the City puts 2-way radios in its buses. This allows drivers to call for help should they see something. Four women had been abducted at bus stops, and two – Sakamoto and Hughes – had been murdered.

Murder victim Louise Medeiros
Louise J. Medeiros

The task force and radios cannot not help Louise J. Medeiros, who goes missing on March 26. Medeiros, who had lived with beach people at Makaha, was 3 months pregnant when she was murdered. She had returned home for the reading of her mother’s will the day before she disappeared. Medeiros was planning to catch a bus from the airport to her Waipahu apartment.

On April 2, 1986, Medeiros’s body is found near the Waikele Stream. She was spotted beneath a freeway overpass by road workers. Her hands were bound behind her back, and she was partially nude. 

Murder victim Linda Pesce
Linda Pesce

Linda Pesce was last seen by her roommate on April 29, 1986. Her light-blue Toyota was spotted near Heehi Lagoon with its emergency flashers on. In early May, Howard Andrew Gay, 43, contacted police. A psychic told him where the Pesce body was. He led police to Sand Island, but not to exactly where the body was.

On May 4, her body was found off a dirt road at Sand Island. Police immediately linked her to the previous slayings. Pesce’s hands were tied behind her back and she was partially covered by dirt and debris. A cement block had been placed on her back.

Previous women had been abducted at bus stops, and it is possible that Pesce had gone to a bus stop after her car broke down. It is also possible the killer caused a minor accident, as it appeared he did with Purdy. Witnesses said they saw a man and a van parked near her car.

She was the last victim of the “Honolulu Strangler”.

She was 36 years old.

Suspect Arrested and Released

The FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit released a profile of the Honolulu Strangler. He was described as Caucasian or mixed ancestry, about 30-40 years old. He drove a cargo van and lived or worked in the area between Sand Island and Waipahu. He was having relationship problems with a girlfriend or wife, they said. He would have no prior criminal charges. Police considered their suspect pool, and began to hone in on Gay.

Howard Arthur Gay was a military man and was stationed at George Air Force Base (now closed) until his honourable discharge in 1985. He worked as a telephone lineman, delivery driver and mechanic.

Gay was arrested for the murder of Pesce on May 9, 1986. Pesce had written his name and number on a notepad in her office the day she disappeared. He was a potential customer. He drove a van for his company. His age and race were correctly profiled by the FBI. He was divorced and had no previous criminal record. He worked in the area.

Gay was quickly released, but kept under police surveillance for years. Gay told the media that police had “good cause” to arrest him, but said it was circumstantial. Gay died on November 2, 2003 at age 60.

Police believe the victims were all killed by the same man, but no charges have ever been laid.

SIMILAR SERIAL KILLERS

Frankford Slasher

Pennsylvania's Frankford Slasher is also an unknown serial killer

B1 Butcher

The B1 Butcher (Khomas Ripper) also had 5 victims

Texarkana Moonlight Murders

The Texarkana Moonlight Murders also had a prime suspect who was neither arrested nor charged

WHERE IT HAPPENED

A non-interactive map of where things happened

Map of victim locations for Honolulu Strangler

BOOKS

Books including The Honolulu Strangler

Cover of book Honolulu Homicide

Honolulu Homicide: Murder and Mayhem in Paradise by Gary A. Dias, Robbie Dingeman

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bess Pr Inc (Oct. 1 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 232 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1573061568

Includes the Honolulu Strangler

Retired homicide lieutenant Gary A. Dias and reporter Robbie Dingeman provide inside information about some of Oahu’s most disturbing crimes. Including the murders of State Representative Roland Kotani, police officer Troy Barboza, Diane Suzuki, Lisa Au and seven employees of the Xerox Corporation. In describing the circumstances surrounding domestic violence, sex crimes, serial killings, arson, child abductions, hostage taking and other crimes, Dias and Dingeman honor the victims and their families as they describe the responsibilities of the police, the courts and the media in investigating and reporting these crimes.

Cover of book Getting Away with Murder

Getting Away With Murder: 15 Chilling Cold Cases That Will Make You Think Twice About Going Outside (Cold Case Crime) by William Webb

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Minute Help, Inc. (July 30, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 196 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1629174624

Includes 1 chapter on the Honolulu Strangler

Despite a decline in the number of murders in the United States since the 1960s, thousands go unsolved each year.

As of 2013, the solve rate was at an all-time low at only 65 percent of the total committed.

The 15 murders profiled in this book were committed between 1958 and 2014. The oldest of the set involves the bizarre murder of Pearl Eaton, one of the famous Ziegfeld Follies Girls of the 1920s. From the beginning, the crime had no leads or suspects and remains among the coldest of the 15 unsolved crimes.

The most recent – the murder of four members of the McStay family found buried in the California desert in November 2013 – is under active investigation.

Honolulu Strangler Cold Case File

Daily Motion’s video on the Honolulu Strangler

Casefile Podcast: Case 62: The Honolulu Strangler 

Mom’s and Murder Podcast “The Honolulu Strangler”

THE STATS

Shortest number of days between victims
0
Number of days of reign of terror
300
Age of the youngest victim
0

Killer in a Historical Timeline

Honolulu Strangler in serial killer timeline

Statistical table for The Honolulu Strangler

Killer NameHonolulu Strangler
Killer AKAHonolulu Rapist
GenderM
Suspected OnlyYes
Sentence
StatusAlive or Unknown
Military ServicePossibly in the military given the locations and associations with military bases and people
Killer TypeSexual/Sadistic, Territorial
Total Dead Victims5
Victims (Suspected)5
Victim GenderF
Victim RaceWhite, Unknown
Victim Age17, 36
Victim TypeWaiting for a bus, married to military man
Method of KillingStrangulation
AbductionYes
RobberyYes
Sex AssaultYes
BindingYes
Washing/WaterYes
Body - Moved, HiddenYes

Killer Rating

0/5

RESOURCES