Randall Woodfield | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Randall Brent Woodfield December 26, 1950 |
| Other names |
|
| Conviction(s) | Murder Attempted murder Second-degree robbery Sodomy Sexual assault |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment plus 99 years |
| Details | |
| Victims | 1 convicted, linked to 18, suspected to be involved in 44 |
Span of crimes | October 9, 1980 – February 15, 1981 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Oregon, California |
Date apprehended | March 7, 1981 |
| Imprisoned at | Oregon State Penitentiary |
|
American football career | |
| Personal information | |
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight: | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Newport (Oregon) |
| College: | Portland State |
| Position: | Wide receiver |
| NFL draft: | 1974 / round: 17 / pick: 428 |
| Career history | |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
Randall Brent Woodfield (born December 26, 1950) is an American serial killer, serial rapist, kidnapper, robber, burglar and former football player who was dubbed the I-5 Killer or the I-5 Bandit by the media due to the crimes he committed along the Interstate 5 corridor running through Washington, Oregon and California. Before his capture, Woodfield was suspected of multiple sexual assaults and murders. Though convicted in only one murder, he has been linked to a total of 18 murders and is suspected of having killed up to as many as 44 people.
A native of Oregon, Woodfield was the third child of a prominent Newport family. He began to exhibit abnormal behaviors during his teenage years and was arrested for indecent exposure while still in high school. An athlete for much of his life, Woodfield played as a wide receiver for the Portland State Vikings and was drafted by the National Football League in 1974 to play for the Green Bay Packers, but was cut from the team during training after a series of indecent exposure arrests.[citation needed]
In 1975, Woodfield began a string of robberies and sexual assaults on women in Portland, which he committed at knifepoint. Between 1980 and 1981, he committed multiple murders in cities along the I-5 corridor; his earliest-documented murder was that of Cherie Ayers, a former classmate whom he had known since childhood, in October 1980. After committing numerous violent crimes, Woodfield was arrested in March 1981, and convicted in June of the murder of Shari Hull and attempted murder of her co-worker, Beth Wilmot. He was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 90 years. In a subsequent trial, he was convicted of sodomy and improper use of a weapon in a sexual assault case, receiving 35 additional years to his sentence.
Woodfield has never confessed to any of the crimes of which he has been accused or convicted. Though he has only been convicted of one murder and one attempted murder, he has been linked via DNA and other methods to numerous unsolved homicides in the ensuing decades. Authorities have estimated his total number of killings to be as many as 44. CBS News named him one of the deadliest serial killers in American history.[1] He is currently incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary.
- ^ "America's Deadliest Serial Killers: Randall Woodfield". CBS News. Retrieved December 28, 2017.