That's me for the most part, just passin through.  I guess you  might be wondering why or at least how I got started in all of this.  Well, I have some time to kill (no pun intended).  The idea came to me a long time ago really.  They say that people like me start out small and work our way up, so to speak.  Not me, no, for me it was getting away with it.

Okay, maybe I did start out small.  Shoplifting, cars, booze from a liquor store.  Teenage stuff.  I had a bad habit of picking up strangers, hitchhikers, stranded people, you know the key was that they didn't know me from the man in the moon.  I'd offer a lift or what ever it was they needed and then, once I had them in the car with me I'd start.  Just to scare 'em, not really hurt them.

It was pretty cool until someone took down my plates and then turned me in.  I ask you, is it a crime to freak people out?  How can they sell tickets to horror movies then?  All I did was drive him out in the woods and stripped him, then tied his hands together with his belt.  I never hurt him a bit but they said that I'd kidnapped him.  How the hell can you kidnap someone who got in your car all on their own?   The only thing I made the guy do against his will was walk back out of the woods, well okay maybe the whole took his clothes thing but he didn't object when I told him to do it.

They put me in jail, well it was more like a hospital than a jail, it had bars and locks and guards though.   That's where I decided that I couldn't chance getting caught anymore.  Two ways to do that.  One is to just stop, the sane and obvious choice or two, never leave anyone alive including the victims.   I didn't want to quit and after the things that happened to me in that goddam jail I was determined to make my point. 

So I finally got out after a year and then I set out to make sure that anyone who met me would believe that I would never do anything like that again.   I think that's what got me looking in rest areas, Full of strangers.  People who had no local connection or any reason to think that this well lit and watched over place could possibly hold any danger.

I just pulled in and parked.  I could see that the place ran in cycles.  Sometimes it was as busy as a small town and others it was all but deserted.  See, I still didn't really have a plan.  I had no weapon, I had no scoouting done so I just wanted to see how hard it would be to fool someone in to getting in the car with me.  Turns out it can be pretty easy but you have to have some kind of extraordinary weather.  Too hot, too cold, raining, or windy.  Then, shelter is prime.  

So, I had to figure out how to do the job and make sure it was done.  Nobody will ever turn me in again.  I watch a lot of movies or at least I used to.  Old ones, scary ones in particular, but I read a lot of books too so I had a lot of ideas presented by them both.   I happened across a tale about Murder Inc.  and the hit men Pittsburgh Phil and Kid Twist.  The ice pick seemed to be such an elegant way to end a life.  I looked around for one but they just don't make them like they used to.  So I made my own.  It was pretty prison shank like but it was long enough and I took the time to put an edge on one side to make slicing the tissue inside their heads easy and positive.

Sorry, I have to go get my paycheck.  I'll be back later. 

There is always a lot discovered as the winter turns to spring in the remote mountainous west, especially on the less travelled roads.  As the snow and ice clears there are often accidents long since passed and the carcasses of large animals that come to light only when the warming temperatures lead to decay.  May approached the interior of north west Utah with the usual beginnings of green that will soon fade to a summer brown.  Highway workmen use those warming days to fix the potholes and the collapsing grades before the high desert becomes unbearable.

That this is so leads to a lot greusome discoveries.  The wildlife gets pretty hungry during the winter months and they feel little compunction toward the eating of the occasional fallen tramp.  The state workers pulled thier truck into the isolated rest area for a lunch break.  They knew of a section of guard rail down just past the ramp too so they were ready to look busy just in case.  They took their time eating and getting a little rest then rolled out of the area and down to the shoulder to repair the rail.

They saw the rusty old Ford before they saw what was left of the occupant.  Both were lying upside down on the rocky slope.  One was easily recognized, the other was not.  Mostly rags and bone were the remains of the lone person on that hillside.  It wasn't the first time for these guys, finding a long past accident and reporting it to the troopers.  The lead man pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.  

In a very few minutes a couple of bored state troopers crunched up on the gravel shoulder and climbed out of their cruiser.  One with a notebook and the other with a cheap digital camera.  They swung the dash mounted video camera in the direction of the wreck and started down to look things over.  "This one's been here a while" Trooper Collins spoke to his partner, "Is it on the list?"

"Don't know yet, didn't bring it down with me" answered trooper Dean.  "Any ideas about where the head went?"

"Looks like they pulled him apart, could be anywhere or gone for that matter" Collins replied and he began to poke around the tangled rags and dry weeds.  "Looks like he got thrown when the truck flipped over, no seat belt I guess."  He shook his head and then thought aloud, "I wonder where his head is?"