Suspected Florida Serial Killer Arrested In Palm Beach
WEST PALM BEACH (CBSMiami/AP) - A man accused of killing a woman in Palm Beach County is also suspected in the deaths of at least three other women in Daytona Beach.
On Monday, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office announced the first-degree murder arrest of 32-year-old Robert Hayes.
Hayes is a suspect in the killing of 35-year-old Rachel Elizabeth Bey, of Riviera Beach. Authorities found her naked body near the Beeline Highway and Indiantown Road on March 7, 2016.
A judge denied bail for Hayes during a brief court hearing.
Hayes is also accused of killing at least three other women in Daytona Beach, Florida in 2005 and 2006.
"As you know, back in 2005, we had, in 2005, 2006, we had three killings. The one in 2005, Laquetta Gunther, was murdered. Had a gunshot wound to the head. In 2006, Julie Green was murdered in a similar fashion. Gunshot wound to the head. Also in 2006, Iwana Patterson was also murdered, the same motives. So, when you look at this, we knew we had a situation here that was probably the same person committing these crimes, we had a serial killer," said Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri during a Monday morning press conference.
Capri said DNA evidence linked Hayes to all of the murders.
"In March of 2016, Palm Beach County had a similar type of murder in their jurisdiction. So, they located male DNA on their case, and that came back to our suspect. So by which time, we started joining the investigation with Palm Beach County," he said.
Capri said they interviewed Hayes about 14 years ago but there was no evidence to charge him. He added that Hayes was a college student at the time.
Charges against Hayes in Daytona Beach are pending.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
