Darrell Keith Rich

Darrell Keith Rich (February 14, 1955 – March 15, 2000), known as The Hilltop Rapist, was an American serial killer who murdered three women and an 11-year-old girl in Redding, California between June and August 1978.

Rich was born on February 14, 1955, in California.

He was adopted into a family where his mother was domineering.

She looked after other children as a job, which caused Rich to resent her.

He performed poorly in grammar school and was held back a grade.

As such, he was referred to the school psychologist, who was concerned that Rich could become violent in the future; however, he received no treatment.

At age 15, he showed suicidal behavior after his parents divorced.

Rich then began living with his mother in Southern California but later returned to Northern California to live with his father.

He was suspended from school for fighting.

At age 17, Rich went hunting after a fight with his girlfriend and shot himself in the chest, attempting suicide.

He also shot over a police car in an attempt at suicide by cop.

A psychiatric evaluation determined Rich was suicidal and needed immediate treatment; however, he rejected offers for therapy.

In the following years, Rich continued to get in trouble and was arrested for DUI and road rage.

He also attacked another person with a tire iron.

On June 13, 1978, Rich abducted a 25-year-old woman as she walked across a bridge in Redding, California.

He took her down a hill and tried to force oral sex on her.

When she refused, he hit her repeatedly in the head and fractured her skull.

He left her for dead, but she was found alive twelve hours later.

On June 19, Rich abducted a 21-year-old woman, forced her into his car, and drove her to an isolated area where he raped her.

The woman convinced Rich to spare her life when she told him she had an infant child.

He let her go and later bragged to friends about how easy it was to attack women.

He proceeded to kidnap and rape a 14-year-old girl on June 25, letting her go afterward.

On July 4, Rich attacked two women on the same day in separate incidents.

The first was a 19-year-old woman who he raped and then let go.

The second was 19-year-old Anette Fay Edwards, who was walking home from a firework display celebrating Independence Day when Rich abducted her.

He raped and then killed her by crushing her skull.

Her body was found down an embankment three days later, approximately two miles from her apartment.

An autopsy revealed severe injuries to her head.

The cause of death was determined as skull fractures inflicted by blunt force.

Rich abducted a 15-year-old girl in Redding riding her bicycle two weeks later.

He then raped her and let her go.

His second murder was carried out on August 2, when he abducted 17-year-old Patricia Ann Moore.

He raped her and then killed her by crushing her head and strangling her.

Her body was found two weeks later at a dump.

An autopsy revealed severe injuries to her head, and several of her teeth had been broken.

The cause of death was determined as head wounds caused by blunt force trauma.

His third murder victim was 27-year-old Linda Diane Slavik, a mother.

On August 6, Rich abducted Slavik from a bar and took her to the same dump where he had left Moore's body.

After showing Slavik the body, he raped her and then killed her by shooting her with a .22-caliber pistol as she begged for her life.

He was sentenced to death in California in 1981 for two of the murders and was executed in 2000 at San Quentin State Prison by lethal injection.