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he killed her. However, the writer left no details about who he/she was, and police were not able to follow up on an exact lead. In 1988, a television reporter named
Therman Mitchell received a letter addressed to him. The letter contained details about where Micki's body was, and the writer inviting Mitchell to show him where Micki's body was. Instead of meeting up with the anonymous sender, Mitchell aired a news story on the letter, pleading for the sender to come forward. That same year, Irvin and another woman moved to
255:, where Irvin got a job as a railroad worker. There, on March 30, Janet Huegerich filed a police report because Irvin had shot over her head multiple times. The resulting police confrontation ended with a police chase across multiple counties, with over 20 police officers in pursuit. After his eventual arrest, Irvin pleaded guilty to avoiding arrest and two weapons charges and was sentenced to five years probation.
214:, whom he had allegedly abducted outside a drug store in St. Joseph. He was arrested, but the charge was dropped after the girl refused to testify. Irvin met up with another young girl named Ruth West in 1974, and the two sparked a relationship, and at age 15, West delivered Irvin's baby. West would later describe their relationship as abusive, claiming Irvin was emotionally manipulative.
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Micki Jo West, and they used that to build up their case further. Over time, Irvin changed his mind and pleaded guilty to all three murders, offering details to where he buried West's body. During his sentencing, he said that in 1979, he took West to a cornfield in Kansas, where he proceeded to kill her and bury her body.
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to answer days of phone calls. A month later, on
October 29, 33-year-old Crystal Lynn Simmons also disappeared, last seen at downtown bar. During the investigation, investigators received a tip, saying that Simmons was last seen with a man named Marvin Lee Irvin, and to inspect his truck as evidence.
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On
September 11, 1986, exactly seven years since Micki's disappearance, an anonymous letter was found inside a Kansas City shopping mall. The letter, which was addressed to the St. Joseph police, contained details about the writer being with Marvin Irvin at the time of Micki's disappearance, claiming
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Marvin Lee Irvin was born on May 4, 1949, in St. Joseph. His family rented a three-story home, and they were friendly to neighbors, who recalled Irvin as a quiet but polite boy. Irvin graduated from
Highland High School, Highland, KS, and in 1970 joined the St. Joseph Police Department as an officer,
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Irvin returned to St. Joseph not long after. There, on
September 1, 1990, meat cutter 31-year-old Patricia Diane Rose visited a local bar named Brew's Blue Town to take a break from work and was due to return, but she never did. She was reported missing by her mother on September 17 after she failed
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While in jail awaiting charges, Irvin denied killing anybody. His brother openly believed this, accusing officials of setting-up Marvin, saying, "They want a guy for a lot of cases, I feel like the whole thing is kind of a set up." Detectives learned that Irvin was a suspect in the disappearance of
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They followed up on it and received a warrant to search his vehicle. They temporarily removed the seats and discovered a partially wet towel soaked in blood. Further tests on the blood proved it belonged to
Simmons, and Irvin was arrested. In November, skeletal remains of two women were found in a
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On
September 11, Micki Jo West was scheduled to show up to her job at a hospital, but she never arrived. Later that same day, Irvin and two friends broke into Ruth's motel room, dragged her and their son into a car, and drove them back to St. Joseph. When Micki was reported missing, Irvin became a
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and was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole. Irvin led investigators to a farm in Kansas where he said he disposed of West. Authorities prepared search dogs and a bulldozer to scour the area, but due to heavy rainfall, the search was delayed. Another search attempt was made on
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tests, but the tests were inconclusive. Ruth West filed for divorce from Irvin in
October after another domestic dispute, which resulted in Irvin chasing West barefoot across St. Joseph.
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Before Irvin's arrest, the case surrounding his first victim Micki Jo West was featured on season 1 episode 13 of the documentary television show
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October 11, but the search team was unable to find her body. As of 2022, West's body has yet to be found.
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447:"'It's Not Fair That He Gets To Live': Family Of Missing Woman Recalls Killer's Twisted Murders"
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307:. An updated episode after Irvin's arrest and conviction was featured in Season 4 episode 21.
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cornfield in Kansas, both were later positively identified as belonging to both women. An
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on both declared their cause of death as multiple blows to the head.
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210:. In April 1974 Irvin was accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in
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352:"Irvin pleads guilty to murders of 3 women, gets life in prison"
604:"Skeletal Remains Found in Field Were Those of Missing Woman"
478:"Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 4 Episode 21"
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Police search for local woman last seen three weeks ago
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Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Missouri
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243:suspect, and he was required to take multiple
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785:Serial killers who worked in law enforcement
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317:List of serial killers in the United States
632:"Irvin goes to prison; rain stalls search"
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177:(born May 4, 1949) is an American
163:Jefferson City Correctional Center
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725:1990 murders in the United States
720:1979 murders in the United States
419:"Murder suspect has violent past"
380:"Neighbors awaken to 'nightmare'"
770:People from St. Joseph, Missouri
665:News-Press & Gazette Company
637:News-Press & Gazette Company
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110:Life imprisonment without parole
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548:"Attorney calls for gag order"
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504:. September 22, 1990.
502:St. Joseph News-Press
455:. September 17, 2020
290:second-degree murder
187:St. Joseph, Missouri
100:Second degree murder
65:St. Joseph, Missouri
612:. November 16, 1990
584:. November 15, 1990
556:. November 16, 1990
528:. November 10, 1990
388:. November 16, 1990
286:first-degree murder
130:Span of crimes
95:First degree murder
668:. October 12, 1991
427:. December 6, 1990
304:Unsolved Mysteries
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640:. October 5, 1991
360:. October 4, 1991
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276:Confessions
181:and former
58:May 4, 1949
709:Categories
335:References
253:Ames, Iowa
229:California
201:Early life
97:(2 counts)
54:1949-05-04
245:polygraph
134:1979–1990
311:See also
208:resigned
153:Missouri
148:State(s)
270:autopsy
233:Ventura
139:Country
121:Victims
116:Details
38:mugshot
688:"IMDB"
452:Oxygen
218:Crimes
212:Kansas
67:, U.S.
297:Media
36:MODOC
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