Police: Ind. serial killer suspect used a cell phone cord

Authorities say the Indiana man suspected of killing seven women, and perhaps many more, told police he committed his last murder by strangling his victim with a cell phone cord.

Police say Darren Deon Vann acknowledged that he left Afrika Hardy, 19, dead in the bathtub of a Motel 6 in Hammond, Ind. last week, according to court documents. Vann had arranged to meet Hardy, who was a prostitute, through an online ad placed on a website called Chicagobackpage.com.
Hardy's killing triggered an investigation that led them to Vann, 43, who subsequently admitted to killing at least six other women whose bodies he discarded in abandoned houses in the city of Gary.
Investigators now are trying to sort out whether there are even more victims. Vann has told investigators that his killings go back some 20 years, according to Hammond Police.

Court documents detail the investigator's account of the murder of Hardy.
Police say that Vann — who used the screen name Big Boy Appetite — had originally arranged to meet Hardy — who used the screen name Octavia and Ms. Youngin — last Thursday, but cancelled, saying "he couldn't get a babysitter."
According to an associate of Hardy, who was a partner in the escort service with the victim, she received another call from him on Friday to arrange a meeting. Hardy texted her associate that Big Boy Appetite was in the room with her at 5:13 p.m. The associate called and texted Hardy, when it appeared the appointment was going beyond the typical allotted time.
The associate told police that she received a text back that did not make sense and made her suspicious. At that point, the associate and a male friend went to the hotel to check on Hardy. Together they entered the room and the female associate was the first to discover Hardy's body in the bathtub.

Juan Corona was convicted of the 1971 murders of 25 itinerant laborers in California, whose bodies were found in shallow graves in fruit orchards in Sutter County, Calif. He was sentenced to life in prison. He supplied workers to ranchers as a labor contractor and maintained a bunkhouse for the laborers. (Photo: AP)

The two "found Hardy's body in the bathtub and the water from the shower was running," according to an affidavit filed with the Lake County Superior Court. Inside the room, investigators also found a broken finger nail, a button from a shirt, and a torn condom wrapper.
The female associate, who police have said facilitated the meeting, provided them with a phone number she believed was used by Big Boy Appetite to arrange the meeting with Hardy. Police also spotted a dark color SUV in a hotel surveillance video that was parked not far from Hardy's room
Police obtained a search warrant of records for the cell phone used by Vann, which led them to a home in Gary, where they spotted an SUV matching the one in the hotel surveillance video. Investigators say the vehicle belonged to Vann's sister. A man in a dark jacket and sweatshirt was also spotted in the motel parking lot in that video.
Upon being told his rights, Vann quickly acknowledged that he had killed Hardy, saying he first choked her with his hands and then used a cord. Vann also told police that he moved Hardy's body to the bathtub and that he used white gloves during the slaying.
A search of the Vann's sisters vehicle also turned up a cell phone that the suspect acknowledged belonged to Hardy, a men's shirt with a missing button, and condoms that were the same style and brand as the wrapper that was on the floor. Police found a white glove inside the house as well and a jacket and hooded sweatshirt.
At a news conference on Monday, Hammond Police Chief John Dought said Vann, 43, told officers he had "messed up" in committing the latest killing and was surprised police tracked him down so quickly. Vann then went on to tell investigators the location of six women he said he killed and hid in abandoned homes in Gary.
Police in Austin, Texas, where Vann was convicted in 2009 for aggravated rape, as well as the Cook County Sheriff's Department in Illinois say they have begun to review cold cases to see if Vann could have connections to murders there.
In the Texas case, the victim told police she went to Vann's apartment, where he asked if she was a police officer, the Associated Press reported. After she told him no, he knocked her down, strangled her, hit her several times in the face and told her he could kill her. He then raped her.
Vann plead guilty to the 2007 incident and served five years in prison for the crime, according to Austin Police Department.
Doughty said Vann has suggested he's responsible for even more killings beyond the seven women, whose bodies were recovered over the weekend. Investigators are looking into killings that date back to the 1990s.
"It could go back as far as 20 years based on some statements we have, but that has yet to be corroborated," Doughty said.                                                                                                                
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