09x25 - Silk Stalkings

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Narrator: a m*rder victim's son was the first to suspect

That his mother's death was the work of a serial k*ller.

Investigators hoped that cells found on a styrofoam cup, marks

On a water faucet, and the clues left on a secret videotape would

Reveal the true identity of a man who had eluded police for

Over a decade.

By , -year-old nancy ludwig found what she was

Looking for in life -- a husband who adored her and a career in

The airline business.

She had always wanted to be a flight attendant from when she

Was a young girl.

Very outgoing, spontaneous, adventuresome.

That's why she made such a good flight attendant.

Narrator: during one of her out-of-town trips, an airline

Employee called art ludwig with some bad news.

It was some woman explained to me that there had been a

Problem in detroit and I should get myself ready and get out to

The airport.

And they would meet me there and we would fly to detroit.

Narrator: nancy ludwig was found dead in her hotel room

Near the detroit airport.

She had been stabbed to death.

The evidence revealed she fought valiantly against her attacker.

She had such extreme defense wounds on her hands.

You just couldn't help getting a real feel for what she went

Through.

And that isn't really always the case at a crime scene.

Narrator: nancy's hands had been bound with twine.

This particular kind of twine is most frequently used in

Gardening and landscaping.

Narrator: biological evidence revealed that nancy had been

Sexually assaulted.

And there were signs the k*ller spent a considerable amount of

Time inside the hotel room.

We found a bloody washcloth by the basin.

And we could see that he had showered in the tub.

He could not have walked out of the hilton hotel in bloody

Clothing.

Narrator: one of the most unusual aspects of the crime was

That nancy's personal belongings were missing.

She arrived at the hotel with at least two suitcases and a

Purse.

All of her jewelry, her watch, earrings were all removed from

The room, including the trash can liner from the trash can.

Narrator: on the night of the m*rder, another guest at the

Hotel noticed a man carrying airline-type luggage to his car.

Right outside his window underneath a parking lot light

Was what appeared to be a monte carlo with somebody

Carrying toward an open trunk what looked to be northwest

Gear -- suitcases and whatnot.

Narrator: amazingly there were , monte carlo

Automobiles registered in the detroit area.

Every one of those , owners we ran lien to determine

Whether there were warrants or whether they had criminal

Records, and tried to eliminate it in that way.

Narrator: investigators learned that a hotel employee's

Boyfriend owned a monte carlo.

When questioned, the employee behaved suspiciously.

She was caught in a lie.

She claimed that a call had come in to nancy's room.

She claimed to have known nancy from previous trips.

Actually it was nancy's first trip into metro, so she couldn't

Possibly have known her from a previous trip.

There were no calls into her room.

Narrator: there appeared to be very little security at the

Hotel.

The way they assigned rooms to flight people, it was often

Done with keys just sitting there at the desk with names on

Little pieces of paper.

So you could come in and stand there and read names and rooms

That had been assigned.

So you knew who hadn't come in yet.

It was an absolute terrible system.

Outside doors were left open at night.

It was more convenient for the guests, but it certainly wasn't

Good security.

Narrator: investigators generated a list of potential

Suspects that included everyone who had access to the hotel.

We ultimately had a list of over , names.

On that list were , tips -- people who flew into metro

Airport the night that nancy ludwig did, people that

Flew out after nancy ludwig was k*lled, the , monte carlos.

Narrator: a police artist developed this sketch of the man

In the hotel's parking lot.

Investigators hoped it would narrow the list of , names

To one.

Narrator: shortly after his wife was brutally m*rder*d in

A detroit hotel room, art ludwig received a curious letter.

It was from a man who had read about nancy's m*rder in the

Newspaper and said her death sounded strikingly similar to

His own mother's m*rder five years earlier.

I read the letter, and, yes, it did seem like there was some

Similarities insofar they were both women about the same size,

Same appearance, so on and so forth.

Narrator: the victim was -year-old margarette eby, a

Music professor living in flint, michigan, about an hour's

Drive from detroit.

She was found stabbed to death in the bedroom of her home.

By looking at the crime scene photographs -- it was amazing.

The body was positioned almost the same way.

The wounds were almost the same.

Narrator: and security at her home was as lax as

Nancy ludwig's hotel.

The gatehouse where she stayed at this beautiful estate

Had its own entrance that was supposed to be gated, but the

Gate was usually open, no guard there.

Narrator: there were no signs of forced entry and no

Valuables were missing.

Margarette eby had a habit of leaving her doors unlocked and

Had no curtains on her windows.

The estate had a number of people who came on regularly to

Do work -- lawn-care people, electricians, painters.

Narrator: after her m*rder, investigators found a partial

Fingerprint on her bathroom faucet.

But it didn't match any known criminal offenders in the

Michigan database.

Investigators also found evidence of sexual as*ault.

But at the time, dna testing was still in its infancy.

In we weren't even online.

Our state was not doing dna testing.

Although it was beginning to be done in other places, there were

Only a few select laboratories that did it and it was a very,

Very expensive process.

Narrator: but by the time nancy ludwig was m*rder*d, dna

Testing was routine.

And to the surprise of investigators, dna testing

Proved what margarette eby's son knew instinctively -- that

The same man k*lled both women.

I thought we had our case solved.

He said, "well, the good news is we matched your case, the bad

News -- we still can't give you a suspect."

Narrator: the dna profile of their k*ller did not match any

Of the known criminal offenders in the national database.

The dna match didn't tell us who that person was.

That was our job -- to find him.

Narrator: but it wouldn't be easy.

Margarette eby's m*rder took place many years earlier.

And nancy ludwig was m*rder*d in detroit, over miles away from

Flint.

But investigators suspected that the k*ller drove a monte carlo

Automobile and had access to twine used by landscapers.

The hotel employee's boyfriend who owned the monte carlo had an

Alibi for the night of nancy ludwig's m*rder, and he

Was no longer considered a suspect.

Most of the times, K*llers are pretty stupid and we catch

Them for some pretty stupid reason.

He was very clever -- very clever and very thorough.

Narrator: as the years passed, all , leads in the

Case were tracked down in one way or another, and all were

Dead ends.

Margarette eby's family as well as nancy ludwig's were

Losing faith in the idea that the k*ller would be apprehended.

After years, I guess I thought we had done just about

Everything we could.

To this day it remains a mystery to me why...

Why it didn't work.

Narrator: after several years, the cold-case unit of the

Michigan state police decided to take a second look at the

Murders of margarette eby and nancy ludwig.

They thought that perhaps the original investigators might

Have missed something.

Dna testing revealed the same man k*lled both women.

But they had no idea to whom the dna belonged, so they

Concentrated on the partial fingerprint from the faucet in

Margarette eby's bathroom.

The crime lab was able to identify a small print on the

Faucet knob in the sink of that bathroom.

The faucet knob was actually taken off, taken back to the

Crime lab where the fingerprint was photographed, and the knob

Was stored as evidence.

Narrator: back in , flint police could only compare the

Prints to others in michigan, and the search turned up no

Matches.

But improvements in computer technology led to the creation

Of an automated fingerprint identification system that

Compares thousands of fingerprints in seconds.

When the print from the water faucet was placed into the new

Nationwide fingerprint database, the computer identified a

Matching print in florida.

It matched the right thumbprint of -year-old jeffrey gorton,

Who was now living in a suburb of flint, michigan.

He was a married man, wife and children, would appear from

All the outward signs to be perfectly normal, your next-door

Neighbor.

Narrator: gorton lived just a short distance from

Margarette eby and owned a gold monte carlo automobile like the

One a witness saw in the hotel parking lot on the night of

Nancy ludwig's m*rder.

And there was another surprise -- gorton worked for a

Water sprinkler company that serviced the sprinkler system in

Margarette eby's yard.

That same company had been to margarette eby's residence

Several days before her death in order for them to blow out the

Sprinkler lines for the season.

Narrator: but that could have easily explained why his

Fingerprint would have been inside eby's home.

You're working with metal sprinkler equipment, and maybe

There's a sharp edge and you slice your finger.

You come in, you wash your hands, you leave a bloody

Fingerprint.

It's not a reason to go to jail.

You haven't done anything.

You just left a bloody fingerprint.

Narrator: gorton's fingerprint was in the florida

Database because of numerous arrests for att*cks on women.

He actually had assaulted several of them by walking up

Behind them, knocking them physically to the ground, and

Attempting to remove their slips from them while they were on the

Ground.

Narrator: that's what happened to marie gagliano as

She unloaded groceries from her car.

He had a snarly look on his face.

He threw me down.

He grabbed me by my ankles and he started dragging me.

He dragged me about or feet.

I was screaming bloodcurdling screams.

He ripped my slip off and then he started running.

Narrator: after that as*ault, police found hundreds of pieces

Of women's underwear in his home.

This is a dangerous guy.

He's knocking women down, he's dragging them into bushes, he's

Stealing their clothes, he's breaking into their houses.

This is someone who's pretty much out of control.

Narrator: gorton served some prison time for these assaults

In florida before moving back to michigan.

Since both m*rder victims had been sexually assaulted and

Investigators had dna of the k*ller, they wanted to know

Whether it was gorton's dna.

So they put gorton under a -hour surveillance.

They followed him to a local roller-skating rink where he

Took his children.

Undercover officers watched gorton eat pizza and drink soda

From a styrofoam cup.

When gorton left, an officer rushed to the table, confiscated

Gorton's cup, and took it to the forensics lab.

The sample was tested immediately.

Dna is, like any other biological molecule, subject to

Degradation.

One of the things that will degrade dna a little bit faster

Is a fair amount of heat.

Narrator: there were more than enough epithelial cells on

The cup for testing.

But this caused problems.

The initial dna analysis on the cup was a profile that

Showed a mixture.

Narrator: meaning that more than one person had used the

Cup.

We had hoped that we would pick up dna just from the

Individual that drank out of the cup.

But there was some indications that there was dna from more

Than one person there.

Narrator: but pcr dna testing showed a strong association

Between the dna on the cup and the biological evidence from the

Two crime scenes.

And that was enough to get a search warrant for

Jeffrey gorton's home.

There investigators found hundreds of women's

Undergarments, panties, and hose.

They also found a disturbing videotape.

Narrator: when investigators searched jeffrey gorton's home,

They found women's lingerie everywhere -- in boxes, under

His mattress.

Many had labels with women's names and descriptions.

And they found a videotape which featured gorton modeling women's

Underwear as well as footage he took of women without their

Knowledge.

He was just very strange, very strange.

You kind of wondered what went wrong with him that made him

Behave like that.

Narrator: when police brought gorton in for questioning, they

Asked him what the penalty should be for m*rder.

Gorton became increasingly nervous when left alone.

Then the detectives asked him about his interest in stealing

Women's underwear.

Is there one particular item of clothing that you are fond

Of -- be it hose or bras or panties, sleepwear?

Is there any one particular item that you're attracted to?

Do you still feel those strong fetish desires to this day?

Narrator: gorton denied he had ever been inside

Margarette eby's home.

When he did, investigators confronted him with the

Fingerprint evidence.

Do you know where that fingerprint came from?

No.

It came from the bathroom of the upstairs bedroom where

Margarette eby was found.

Mm-hmm.

The house that you said you'd never been in.

So right now, jeff, there's no question that you're the person

That's responsible.

The question that needs to be answered is why and what can we

Do to help you?

Narrator: when gorton asked for a lawyer, the interview

Stopped, but not before they collected his dna sample.

Dna testing confirmed what the first test suggested -- that

Jeffrey gorton had sexually assaulted and presumably k*lled

Nancy ludwig and margarette eby.

During jury selection, jeffrey gorton showed particular

Interest in a juror who matched the physical description of the

Two m*rder victims.

He was staring at this woman.

The angle that she was sitting -- she's wearing a

Skirt.

He's just fixated on this woman and is just squirming in his

Seat.

It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen.

And I thought, "oh, this is gonna be a fun trial."

Narrator: prosecutors think gorton entered margarette eby's

Home through an unlocked door and waited for her.

When she returned from a dinner party, he att*cked.

[ Woman gasps ] after the m*rder, gorton washed

In the bathroom and removed most of the evidence but left behind

His right thumbprint on the water faucet.

Five years later, gorton struck again, this time in detroit.

Some think he had an obsession for flight attendants.

He went to a hotel near the airport, waited in the third

Floor stairwell, and saw nancy ludwig walking towards her room.

After the m*rder, he showered, changed his clothes, and stole

Nancy's belongings, possibly as a trophy.

Count one you did while in the perpetration or attempted

Perpetration of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.

Narrator: jeffrey gorton was tried and convicted for the

First-degree m*rder of both nancy ludwig and margarette eby.

He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

I'm afraid of him.

I'm glad he's locked up for the rest of his life.

He is the absolutely most frightening person that I've

Ever encountered because he was random, because he was so

Secretive, because he was so ordinary.

Narrator: author tom henderson wrote about this

Case in "blood justice," and thinks there are other victims.

My feeling is that someday somebody is gonna be running a

Dna sample that kicks up jeffrey gorton's name.

It may be more than one or two.

It might be quite a few.

It still took a fingerprint, or something very basic and

Maybe less high tech, if you want to call it that, than dna

Testing to solve the crime.

Without science and the new technology that's available,

Both these homicides would remain unsolved and probably

Remain unsolved forever.