This week on ID an Evil Lives Here special follows the murderous exploits of Alvin ‘Bud’ Brown, who terrorized an area in southwest Portland, Oregon, during the 1980s.
Brown is thought to be responsible for the deaths of four women, and he managed to elude detectives for ten years.
In May 1981, 17-year-old Kimberly Stevens from southwest Portland began walking the ten blocks it took to reach her friend’s house, but she never arrived. Tragically, Kimberly’s body was subsequently found abandoned near a church; she had been raped and strangled to death.
Unfortunately, there were more victims to follow. Another 17-year-old, Melina Crist, disappeared from the Portland Community College Sylvania campus. And the same month, mother-of-two Norene Davis was called away from work and never returned; she was found raped and strangled the next day.
A short time later, another victim and mother, Sheila Burnett, also vanished without a trace. A cloud of fear descended over the southwest of Portland as people realized there was a predator in their midst.
The police had a suspect in mind; a local landscaper called Alvin ‘Bud’ Brown. Brown was a local boy who had gone to school at the same senior high as Kimberly, albeit a decade earlier. He was also a convicted rapist.
Detective Mike Hefley knew Brown from the neighborhood and had run into him a few times with his kids. Unfortunately, while Hefley and his colleagues were suspicious of Brown, he had been spotted in areas where the victims had been attacked; they just didn’t have the evidence to pursue him.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelA breakthrough finally came in the case ten years later, a woman was attacked on the I-5 Freeway and was thrown off an overpass. She was injured, but she survived the attack. The incident provided the police with enough evidence to arrest Brown.
Brown was arrested in his home on Thanksgiving 1991, much to the surprise of his wife, who had never suspected her husband of being a serial killer. With Brown in custody, the police took a DNA sample and found it matched the DNA recovered from Kimberly Stevens and Norene Davis.
In the meantime, the cops also located Sheila Burnett’s remains, which were hidden in a house that Brown had formerly rented. The remains of Melina Crist had been found two years previously.
As the police questioned Brown, he revealed himself to be a deranged lunatic who exhibited violent tendencies towards the officers. At one point, he told them he was just like Hannibal Lector and that Silence of the Lambs was his favorite movie.
Brown was never convicted of the murders, but he remained behind bars after been found guilty on other charges. He died in prison in 2002.
More from Evil Lives Here
Follow the links to read about more murderous villains profiled on Evil Lives Here.
Lauren Barnes was five months pregnant when she went to meet Eric Phan, the father of the child, to discuss the pregnancy. Phan responded by strangling the mother-to-be to death and burying her remains in a nearby national park on the outskirts of Oklahoma City.
Police Officer Mark Ganz was gunned down in front of his young nephew during a routine traffic stop in Manhattan Beach, Ca. The killer, Roger Brady, was uncovered in Washington state following another murder in Oregon.
My Husband the Serial Killer: Evil Lives Here airs at 8/9c on Investigation Discovery.