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Investigators ID now-deceased man behind killing of 3 women in 1980s

Unsolved Killings
Harry Edward Greenwell
Posted at 2:03 PM, Apr 05, 2022
and last updated 2022-04-05 14:03:05-04

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana State Police said on Tuesday that they have identified the man who raped and killed at least three motel clerks in Indiana and Kentucky in the late 1980s.

Police Sgt. Glen Fifield said they were able to identify the murderer as Harry Edward Greenwell, who died of cancer in January 2013, through a crime lab analysis from evidence collected at the crime scenes, the Associated Press reported.

The first victim, Vicki Lucille Heath, was raped and killed at the Super 8 Motel in Elizabethtown, Kentucky on Feb. 21, 1987.

According to the department, on March 3, 1989, Jeanne Gilbert and Margret Gill were killed while they worked at separate Days Inn along Interstate 65 in Indiana.

Police said Gilbert went missing while working as a night clerk at a Days Inn in Remington. Her body was later found near Brookston, Indiana.

Gill was slain while working at a Days Inn in Merrillville.

Both victims died from gunshot wounds, police said.

Another woman working in Columbus was sexually assaulted and robbed on Jan. 2, 1990, Sgt. Fifield said.

She was the only known victim who survived.

The FBI released the following timeline of events and information.

fbi timelines on 65 killer.jpg
FBI similarities.jpg

Investigators are working with law enforcement agencies across the country to determine if Greenwell was a suspect in any other cases.

On Tuesday, personnel from Indiana State Police, the FBI and Elizabethtown Police Department are scheduled to provide an update on the cold cases. Several other law enforcement agencies also attended.

Andrew Smith and Nikki DeMentri at WRTV first reported this story.