Sean Patrick Goble

Sean Patrick Goble (born November 1, 1966), known as The Interstate Killer, is an American serial killer. A former truck driver, Goble kidnapped and murdered at least four women in the Southern United States between 1994 and 1995.[1] Since his arrest, authorities in ten other states have investigated him for numerous unsolved killings of women. While he was cleared in some of those cases, as of today, his true victim count remains unclear.[2]

Sean Patrick Goble
Goble in 1995
Born (1966-11-01) November 1, 1966
Asheboro, North Carolina, U.S.
Other names"The Interstate Killer"
Conviction(s)Tennessee
First degree murder (2 counts)
North Carolina
Second degree murder
Criminal penaltyTennessee
Life imprisonment
North Carolina
12 years imprisonment
Details
Victims4+
Span of crimes
1994 – 1995 (confirmed)
CountryUnited States
State(s)Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama
Date apprehended
April 13, 1995
Imprisoned atNortheast Correctional Complex

Early life

Goble was born on November 1, 1966, in Asheboro, North Carolina, the son of Kenneth and Erma Goble. His family moved to Illinois. The first major event to happen in his life occurred at age 6, when his father raped a 10-year-old girl during a home invasion in Rockford.[3] Young Sean was sitting in his dad's vehicle outside of the crime scene during the attack.[3] Kenneth was charged with the crime and was sentenced to serve four to 20-years in prison. He was released after four years. As for Sean, he, his mother and sister continued to live in Rockford where he attended Auburn High School.[3] In 1984, he dropped out during his senior year. Two years later, his father, who was now living in New Mexico, was charged with raping a 6-year-old there, for which he was sent back to prison, being released sometime in 1994.[3] Sean Goble joined the army and later got married, fathering a son. His marriage later fell apart and Sean moved to North Carolina in 1988, and began working as a truck driver in 1991.[4] At 225 pounds and 6-foot 3 inches, Goble described himself as a ladies man.[5]

Murders

Lisa Susan O'Rourke

Lisa Susan O'Rourke, 29, was a native of St. Louis, Missouri.[6] In January 1994, Goble picked up O'Rourke along Interstate 10 in either Louisiana or Mississippi. He and O'Rourke had sex before he strangled her to death, dumping her body under a bridge along Interstate 65 in Alabama.[7] Her body was found on January 23, and her death was initially ruled as hypothermia, but it was eventually ruled as murder.[8] Her identity was not revealed until April of that year, via fingerprinting.[6]

Brenda Kay Hagy

Brenda Kay Hagy, 45, was Goble's second known victim. A native of Bloomington, Indiana, Hagy had a history of criminal charges in her native state for trespassing into truck stops, areas that are hotspots for prostitution.[4] Hagy frequently moved across the east side of the country as a vagrant. She stayed at a homeless shelter in Gainesville, Florida on January 22, 1995. The next day she voyaged to Tennessee where, at a service station, she was abducted by Goble, who proceeded to rape and strangle her to death, breaking her neck in the process.[4] He later drove his truck all the way to Bristol, Virginia, where he left her body along an access road to Interstate 81. He ran over her legs while in the process of driving away.[9] The body was found later that day. An investigation was set up by police, who received numerous tips, the most promising being from a trucker who said he saw a semi parked along the same access road hours before Hagy's body was found.[9]

Sherry Tew Mansur

Sherry Tew Mansur, 34, had a history of arrests for prostitution from 1982 to 1994.[10] She was last seen alive by friends and family on January 31, 1995 while visiting her sister in Bowie, Maryland. She later left the home with her 2 year old niece, who (her niece) was located the following morning in Washington, DC. In Fredericksburg, Virginia, Goble picked up Ms. Mansur while driving his truck. According to Goble, the two had sex before he decided to strangle her to death.[11] He later dumped her body along Interstate 40, where it was found on February 19. When it was found, her identity could not be conclusively proven, so for the next few months, she was only known as "Jane Doe".[12]

Alice Rebecca Hanes

Alice Rebecca Hanes, 36, was a native of Columbus, Ohio.[13] She had been convicted of prostitution in the past. Her last location before her death was in Salina, Kansas, when she called from a truck stop along Interstate 70. From there, she hitchhiked to Tennessee, where Goble kidnapped her from a gas station and smothered her to death. He dumped her body along Interstate 81 in Virginia.[4]

Arrest, convictions and status

During the investigation, a plastic bag left behind at Hagy's murder contained the fingerprint of her killer. When submitted into a database, investigators got a hit when it matched to a print taken from Goble in September 1994 after an arrest for multiple misdemeanors.[14] From there he was arrested in Winston-Salem, North Carolina outside the Rocky Road Express, the trucking company he was then working for.[15] A search warrant was issued on his truck. In it police found a pocketbook that belonged to Hanes.[4] They also seized travel bags, pornographic magazines, and women's panties.[16] During an interrogation, Goble confessed to both murders, and admitted that he had killed a woman in North Carolina. Authorities figured out it was the Jane Doe and he was charged in her death.[17] When the woman was identified as Mansur, he was charged in her murder.[11]

Along with Tennessee and North Carolina, Goble was also investigated in killings in numerous other state.[2] A day after his arrest, he was investigated for the 1992 murder of 21-year-old Tammy Zywicki of Evesham, New Jersey.[18] For a brief period of time, Goble was investigated as a suspect for the serial killer known as Dr. No. He was later cleared of suspicion in those cases because, in some of the earlier killings, Goble was still in high school and later the army.[19]

Some murders that Goble was suspected of include multiple Jane Does found along highways between 1987 and 1995; the murder of Marcia Matthews in 1985; the murder of Shirly Dean Taylor in 1986; the murder of April Barnett in 1986; the murder of Anna Patterson in 1987; the murder of Kathryn Hill, aka Wendy Turner, in 1990; the murder of Cheryl Mason in 1991; the murder of Nona Cobb in 1992; and the murder of Margaret Goins in 1995.[2] Goble was ruled out in Cobb's murder due to DNA testing, and in 2022 a different man was arrested for her death.[20] Goble briefly stated that the murder of Hagy was unintentional, but that was disproved by investigators.[13] Goble pleaded guilty to killing Hagy and Hanes in Tennessee, for which he was imposed two life sentences. He was later extradited to North Carolina and pled guilty to the murder of Mansur, receiving an additional 14 years to his two life sentences.[21] Due to these convictions, Goble would be required to serve at least 103 years to be considered for parole.

Later that same month, Goble was indicted with O'Rourke's murder.[6] Goble was transferred to Baldwin County Correction Center to await trial for the murder. In April 1997, however, Alabama authorities decided to not prosecute him any further because of his current life sentences.[22] Goble later took back his confessions, but nevertheless stayed behind bars.[1] Goble is currently serving his sentence at Northeast Correctional Complex in Doe Valley, Tennessee.

Media

Goble's killing spree is detailed in the episode The Interstate Prowler in the TV series Main Street Mysteries.[23]

In 2003, the Discovery Channel TV show The New Detectives examined Goble in the episode titled "Blind Trust".

See also

References
  1. "'Interstate killer' retracts plea". The Durham Sun. May 29, 1996. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  2. Leslie Lloyd (April 16, 1995). "Authorities seek to question trucker for other murders". The Herald Sun. p. 9. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  3. Estes Thompson (April 19, 1995). "Trucker denies involvement in other highway killings". The Charlotte Observer. p. 4. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  4. Trish Wilson (April 19, 1995). "Suspect in serial killings tells cops he's a ladies' man". The News & Observer. p. 10. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  5. Trish Wilson (April 19, 1995). "Suspect in serial killings tells cops he's a ladies' man". The News & Observer. p. 1. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  6. "Prisoner indicted in slaying". Associated Press. April 11, 1996. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  7. "2 life sentences save Goble from Ala. trial". The Herald-Sun. Associated Press. April 4, 1997. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  8. "Woman Killed In South Lived In Fenton". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 27, 1997. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  9. Tim Whaley (January 27, 1995). "Woman found dead on road called 'drifter'". Johnson City Press. p. 5. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  10. "Murder victim identified, linked to suspected trucker". Associated Press. April 25, 1995. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  11. "Victim is ID'd in highway deaths linked to trucker". Associated Press. April 25, 1995. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  12. "N.C. may hold trucker in I-40 case". Associated Press. April 18, 1995. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  13. "Trucker says killing of woman unintentional". Associated Press. June 15, 1995. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  14. Ben Stocking & Trish Wilson (April 15, 1995). "Plastic bag led to interstate killing suspect". The News & Observer. p. 3. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  15. Betsy Kauffman (April 18, 1995). "Trucker confesses to third murder; extradition to E. Tennessee delayed". Knoxville News Sentinel. p. 1. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  16. Paul Nowell (April 22, 1995). "A 'scary kind of fellow' or just a big, sweet guy?". The Herald-Sun. Associated Press. p. 4. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  17. "Trucker admits 3rd murder". Associated Press. April 18, 1995. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  18. Mike Franolich (April 14, 1995). "Police may have new lead in killing of N.J. woman". Courier-Post. p. 5.
  19. "Killer Driver: Gentle Giant Or Wild One?". The New York Times. Associated Press. April 24, 1995.
  20. Michael Hewlett (April 9, 2022). "Cold case arrest testament to DNA technology". Statesville Record & Landmark. p. 5. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  21. Jeffrey McMenemy (April 6, 1996). "Serial killer pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder". The Chapel Hill Herald. p. 1. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  22. "Tennessee serial killer won't be tried in Alabama". Associated Press. April 5, 1997. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  23. IMDB
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