Body Hunter

To the people of Olney, Texas, 39-year-old Faryion Wardrip was an upright citizen-a happily married man, a valued employee, and a respected Sunday school teacher. But everyone in Olney would soon learn the chilling truth about the man they thought they knew.

HIS BRUTAL RAPE-MURDER SPREE

In January, 1999, investigators reviewing the files of three unsolved murders dating back 15 years came across information linking Wardrip to the attractive young female victims-Terry Sims, 20, who had been bound, raped and stabbed to death; Toni Gibbs, 23, who was found slashed and sexually assaulted in a deserted bus shell; and Ellen Blau, 21, who disappeared after working a night shift, her badly decomposed body found a month later.

THE MOUNTING BODY COUNT

Smart police work snared a sample of Wardrip's DNA, matching it with semen found in the Sims case. Wardrip confessed to the three murders, and one more-the strangulation death of Debra Taylor, 25-though it was Sims' murder that put him on Texas's death row and made him the prime suspect in 10 other similar unsolved murders in Fort Worth.

INCLUDES 16 PAGES OF PHOTOS!

THE SEX KILLER NEXT DOOR

To the people of Olney, Texas, 39-year-old Faryion Wardrip was an upright citizen-a happily married man, a valued employee, and a respected Sunday school teacher. But everyone in Olney would soon learn the chilling truth about the man they thought they knew.

HIS BRUTAL RAPE-MURDER SPREE

In January, 1999, investigators reviewing the files of three unsolved murders dating back 15 years came across information linking Wardrip to the attractive young female victims-Terry Sims, 20, who had been bound, raped and stabbed to death; Toni Gibbs, 23, who was found slashed and sexually assaulted in a deserted bus shell; and Ellen Blau, 21, who disappeared after working a night shift, her badly decomposed body found a month later.

THE MOUNTING BODY COUNT

Smart police work snared a sample of Wardrip's DNA, matching it with semen found in the Sims case. Wardrip confessed to the three murders, and one more-the strangulation death of Debra Taylor, 25-though it was Sims' murder that put him on Texas's death row and made him the prime suspect in 10 other similar unsolved murders in Fort Worth.

INCLUDES 16 PAGES OF PHOTOS!

Patricia Springer, author of seven true crime books, is a former North Texas newspaper reporter and radio news director, and is a Texas State News Network award winner. She has appeared on numerous television programs including the Learning Channel's Medical Detectives and Court TV's Forensic Files. Springer holds a Bachelor's degree in psychology from Texas Woman's University. She resides in Dallas, Texas.