The Killer Angels
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CONTENTS:
Terror Near the Tracks
Manhunt
Suspicious Angel
Surrender
Incarceration
Sentenced to Death
Bibliography
The Author
By the Same Author
Angel Maturino Resendez: The Railroad Killer
by Joe Geringer
Terror Near the Tracks
One of the more romantic elements of American folklore has been the criss-crossing rail system of this country Ð- steel rails carrying Americans to new territories across desert and mountain, through wheat fields and over great rivers. Carl Sandburg has flavored the mighty steam engine in elegant prose and Arlo Guthrie has made the roundhouse a sturdy emblem of Americas commerce.
But, even the most colorful dreams have their dark sides.
For nearly two years, a killer literally followed wheatfield Americas railroad tracks to slay unsuspecting victims before disappearing back into the pre-lit dawn. His modus operandi was always the same Ð- he struck near the rail lines he illegally rode, then stowed away on the next freight train to come his way. Always ahead of the law.
Angel Maturino Resendez, 39 years old, was apprehended early this month (July, 1999) after eluding state police for two years and slipping through a two-month FBI net until, after nine alleged murders, he was finally traced and captured by a determined Texas Ranger.
Known, for apparent reasons, as “The Railroad Killer,” Angel Resendez (who was known throughout much of the manhunt by the alias Rafael Ramirez) has been called “a man with a grudge,” “confused,” hostile” and “angry” by the police, the news media and psychiatrists. He is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who crossed the international