A serial killer may have been killed by a potential victim, with police saying a brave sex worker in West Virginia just put an end to a predator who they believe murdered scores of women across three states.
A 45-year-old drifter named Neal Falls was killed last week after attempting to attack and strangle a West Virginia escort. The woman, who has asked that her identity not be revealed, said Falls came to her door after answering an online ad and asked her, “Live or die?”
Falls then began strangling the woman, and when she picked up a rake to fight back Falls was forced to set down his gun and attempt to fight her off. The woman then picked up the gun and fired a shot behind her, striking and killing Falls.
“When he strangled me, I grabbed my rake, and when he laid the gun down to get the rake out of my hands, I shot him,” the woman told CBS News . “I grabbed the gun and shot behind me.”
As investigators began to look into the incident it became clear that it was far from an isolated attack, and they now believe that a serial killer was killed. Police found what they described as a “kill kit” inside Falls’ car, including a machete, knives, shovel, a sledgehammer, bleach, and plastic bags. There was also a bulletproof vest and four sets of handcuffs along with a list of names of sex workers.
Falls was quickly connected to a series of unsolved murders in nearby Chillicothe, Ohio, where six prostitutes have gone missing in a little more than a year.
“The task force is diligently working this case and we will get a conclusion to it, hopefully sooner rather than later,” Chillicothe police chief Keith Washburn told Fox News .
“These women were someone’s daughter, mother, sister,” he said. “They did not deserve to die.”
But the connections did not end there. Investigators now believe Neal Falls could also be responsible for a series of murders that took place around Las Vegas between 2000 and 2008, where he lived at the time. He may also be responsible for killing sex workers in Illinois, Fox News reported.
Police now trying to see if Neal Falls may have killed elsewhere, asking potential other victims or anyone who recognizes the alleged serial killer killed last week to come forward.
[Photo via WCHS TV 8 ]
