AI Summary
5 min readIn June 1983, a seventeen-year-old sex worker named Cindy Paulson ran barefoot down a runway in Anchorage, Alaska, with a .357 Magnum pointed at her back. She had been handcuffed, raped, and chained to a pillar in a stranger's basement. The man chasing her was Robert Hansen, a soft-spoken baker with pockmarked skin who looked like someone's grandfather. Paulson's escape that morning set in motion the end of one of the most methodical serial killing sprees in American history—one that had been enabled not only by Hansen's cunning but by a society that looked the other way.
The Killer Next Door
Robert Hansen moved his family from Iowa to Anchorage in the 1960s, opened a bakery, and quickly became a beloved member of the community. He was known as "Bob the Baker," and local police regularly stopped by his shop for coffee and donuts. He was married with two children, attended church, and held world records in hunting—including a 1971 record for shooting a Dall sheep with a bow and arrow. He also had a pilot's license and owned several small planes, ostensibly for hunting trips into the Alaskan bush.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:16) **Cindy Paulson's Escape** - A 17-year-old sex worker runs for her life after being kidnapped, raped, and chained in a basement by a soft-spoken man who then tries to fly her to a remote cabin.
- 2 (07:50) **Hansen's Double Life in Anchorage** - Robert Hansen moves to Alaska, opens a bakery, gets a pilot's license, and becomes a respected community figure while the Trans-Alaska Pipeline boom creates a vice economy perfect for his crimes.
- 3 (12:32) **Early Warning Signs and Criminal Record** - Hansen's childhood trauma, psychiatric diagnoses, and three prior felony convictions for arson, kidnapping, and rape reveal an escalating pattern that authorities repeatedly failed to stop.
- 4 (16:54) **The "Madonna-Whore" Complex** - Hansen's statements reveal he viewed women as either saintly or debased, justifying his violence against those he deemed "unworthy."
- 5 (19:11) **The "Asshole Book" and Missed Warnings** - A sex worker victim identifies Hansen from police's "asshole book" and warns he is a "premeditated cold-blooded killer," but her testimony is ignored.
- 6 (23:57) **The Chainsaw Theft and Psychiatric Evaluation** - Hansen is arrested for stealing a chainsaw in 1976, leading to a psychological evaluation that reveals a "markedly disturbed man" with severe heterosexual conflicts and psychotic potential.
- 7 (27:52) **Flying as a Hunting Tool** - Hansen purchases planes despite being denied a pilot's license due to his lithium use, using aircraft to transport victims to remote wilderness where he hunts them.
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Show Notes
The Serial Killer Who Hunted Women | The Woman Who Stopped HimA chilling true crime story about a dangerous serial killer who terrorized women and the brave woman who helped bring his terrifying crimes to an end.In this episode, we explore the disturbing events behind one of the most haunting criminal cases, uncovering the investigation, the victims’ stories, the warning signs that were missed, and the courage of the person who stood against a predator.A dark journey into true crime, criminal psychology, and the determination it takes to stop someone who hides behind fear and deception.Listen until the end and discover the shocking details of the case, the investigation that exposed the truth, and the woman whose actions changed everything.⚠️ This episode contains themes of crime, violence, and disturbing real-life events. Listener discretion is advised.
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