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John Hollenhorst ReportingA judge in Fillmore today granted a request by prosecutors and dismissed a murder count against a man suspected of being a serial killer. It's an unusual twist in a shocking case.
The purpose of this maneuver by prosecutors is to put Robert Ben Rhoades on trial in Texas for two murders instead of just one. Investigators believe the Utah case fits a pattern in which he roamed the highways, capturing women for his traveling torture chamber.
In 1990 Patricia Walsh and her husband hit the road in Texas. They were hitch-hiking to spread their Christian faith, according to the prosecutor.
Brent Berkley, Prosecutor: "They gave up all their worldly goods and were out walking around and preaching the gospel. and that's where they were picked up."
The truck driver who picked them up was allegedly Robert Ben Rhoades. Last year we interviewed Alva Busch who wrote a book about the suspected serial killer.
Alva Busch, Author of "Roadside Prey"': "Mr Rhoades is a very evil man, in the cab of that truck he had a torture chamber built into it."
Prosecutors say they have evidence to prove Rhoades killed the husband in Texas and then killed Patricia Walsh in Utah and dumped her body near I-15 in Millard County. She may have been tortured. Busch says that was Rhoades' obsession in other cases.
Alva Busch: "I spoke with two of the victims that escaped from him, and they basically told the same story of ongoing tortures that went on for days."
Utah prosecutors are now dropping charges so Texas can prosecute Rhoades for two murders, Walsh and her husband.
Brent Berkley, Prosecutor: "Their jurisdiction allows them to prosecute for a crime regardless of where it finished, as long as the crime started in Texas."
The maneuver will make it easier for victims' families.
Brent Berkley, Prosecutor: "Making sure that they don't have to go through this over and over again for however many years; it's going to take to do the case and then have go down and do the same thing in the state of Texas."
Rhoades is still in jail in Fillmore. He's expected to be transferred soon to Illinois where he's serving a life sentence. Then he'll be taken to Texas to stand trial.
