Interview with Bill Haynes, Part 4
Posted by Kristine Huntley on
Sep 3, 2009
Level 26ers,
Reading about serial killers is one thing, but can you imagine what it’s like to be in the same room as one? Or to testify against someone who has committed multiple murders? Bill Haynes did just that when he took the stand to testify against California’s “60 Slayer.” Read his account below…
Level 26: What serial killer did you testify against?
Haynes: Ivan Hill. He was known as the 60 Slayer--he was active along the 60, the Pomona freeway. It was the late 80s, pre-DNA and definitely before CODIS. It might even have been a little earlier. He was picking up prostitutes, and he'd have sex with them and then he'd strangle them. All the sudden, the crimes stopped. For the most part [when that happens], you know either the guy died or he's in jail for something else. Nobody knew, but behind the scenes he'd gotten picked up on an armed robbery. He was convicted on that and was in prison.
While he was in prison, DNA analysis evolved, CODIS came into being, all this legislation was passed that you can take reference samples from people that have been convicted of violent felonies. So he's about to get out of prison on this armed robbery charge, and they pulled up his reference sample. Also in the meantime all this grant money comes in for all these different law enforcement agencies to go back to old cases and start doing DNA analysis on evidence from old cases and entering that into CODIS.
So this guy is sitting in prison, all the while all this DNA evidence from these serial rape-murders he committed was sitting in CODIS now, waiting to hit on a reference sample. So he's about to get out prison, they send us a reference sample, [I] process that--and I had done some of the work on the work on old evidence from the old cases--so his reference sample gets processed, entered into CODIS, and all the sudden, bing, bing, bing. So I was one of the people that did the DNA work on the old evidence and went and testified against him.
Level 26: What was it like sitting across from him in the courtroom?
Haynes: Again, I think the best term is surreal. For me, that's my worst nightmare, to be in that courtroom as the defendant, knowing not only is my liberty at stake here, but my life. And you realize that, here I am sitting on the witness standing, giving all this damning testimony, and here's this serial killer looking at me, probably thinking, "I just need to get that guy to shut the hell up."
Level 26: Is he still on death row or has he been executed?
Haynes: That process takes so long, that I can't imagine that it's already happened. Immediate the appeals process kicks in. I testified against him two years. I can't imagine that that will happen for twenty years.
Tomorrow: Bill shares some of his most unusual cases. And don’t forget to check out the CSI Files interview with Bill about his writing career!
Reading about serial killers is one thing, but can you imagine what it’s like to be in the same room as one? Or to testify against someone who has committed multiple murders? Bill Haynes did just that when he took the stand to testify against California’s “60 Slayer.” Read his account below…
Level 26: What serial killer did you testify against?
Haynes: Ivan Hill. He was known as the 60 Slayer--he was active along the 60, the Pomona freeway. It was the late 80s, pre-DNA and definitely before CODIS. It might even have been a little earlier. He was picking up prostitutes, and he'd have sex with them and then he'd strangle them. All the sudden, the crimes stopped. For the most part [when that happens], you know either the guy died or he's in jail for something else. Nobody knew, but behind the scenes he'd gotten picked up on an armed robbery. He was convicted on that and was in prison.
While he was in prison, DNA analysis evolved, CODIS came into being, all this legislation was passed that you can take reference samples from people that have been convicted of violent felonies. So he's about to get out of prison on this armed robbery charge, and they pulled up his reference sample. Also in the meantime all this grant money comes in for all these different law enforcement agencies to go back to old cases and start doing DNA analysis on evidence from old cases and entering that into CODIS.
So this guy is sitting in prison, all the while all this DNA evidence from these serial rape-murders he committed was sitting in CODIS now, waiting to hit on a reference sample. So he's about to get out prison, they send us a reference sample, [I] process that--and I had done some of the work on the work on old evidence from the old cases--so his reference sample gets processed, entered into CODIS, and all the sudden, bing, bing, bing. So I was one of the people that did the DNA work on the old evidence and went and testified against him.
Level 26: What was it like sitting across from him in the courtroom?
Haynes: Again, I think the best term is surreal. For me, that's my worst nightmare, to be in that courtroom as the defendant, knowing not only is my liberty at stake here, but my life. And you realize that, here I am sitting on the witness standing, giving all this damning testimony, and here's this serial killer looking at me, probably thinking, "I just need to get that guy to shut the hell up."
Level 26: Is he still on death row or has he been executed?
Haynes: That process takes so long, that I can't imagine that it's already happened. Immediate the appeals process kicks in. I testified against him two years. I can't imagine that that will happen for twenty years.
Tomorrow: Bill shares some of his most unusual cases. And don’t forget to check out the CSI Files interview with Bill about his writing career!
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