Tweet
July 25, 2006, 3:50PM
FBI joins in search for killer
Agency provides assistance to Houston police
By ROBERT CROWE
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
FBI agents have joined police in the hunt for a possible serial killer suspected in the deaths of six women in north Houston, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said Monday.
"I believe that when you have a crime of this magnitude, the loss of life and the allegations of being a serial killer, you need to muster all resources possible," said Jackson Lee,
D-Houston, a member of the subcommittee on crime and terrorism in the House Judiciary Committee.
Shauna Dunlap, an FBI spokeswoman, confirmed that federal agents will provide assistance to the Houston Police Department.
"We work with HPD very often," Dunlap said. "When the locals need assistance, we are here to help."
The body of the latest known homicide victim, Lakita Stubblefield, 21, was found Wednesday behind the Parlay Cafe at 5402 Rosslyn.
Memorial service
Jackson Lee joined Stubblefield's family and activists Sunday for a memorial in the Acres Homes area where the woman's body was found.
Police first noticed a pattern in the deaths in April after the body of Pamela Ann Goss was found in the 1900 block of Mansfield.
Investigators have said the victims have all been nude or partially clothed and hidden in wooded areas.
Some of the victims had a history of prostitution, prompting activists such as Quanell X to hit the streets looking for anyone who might have information.
An admitted prostitute told Quanell X that she may have had an encounter with the man, who police believe has a tattoo of the scales of justice on his forearm. The same man is also suspected in at least six sexual assaults.
The woman, who said she knew Stubblefield from the Third Ward, was working a street last week when the man drove up with a crack cocaine dealer, Quanell X told the Houston Chronicle.
'He started getting mean'
The suspect gave the woman drugs, but when he began acting strangely, she left him.
"She said at first he was real nice then he started getting mean," Quanell X said.
Once in the car with the man, he offered her crack cocaine. The woman became suspicious when the man took puffs of cocaine smoke but did not seem to inhale.
"At first she thought he might be a cop," Quanell X said.
The man tried to take her to a motel in southwest Houston, but the woman insisted upon a familiar motel in the Third Ward, where he displayed a tattoo depicting the scales of justice.
When his behavior became odd, she left with some of his money and did not return.
Many prostitutes are crack cocaine addicts, Quanell X said, which has led some drug dealers in the the Third Ward to believe the man is "luring women with the promise of drugs."
Quanell X said Stubblefield's family received tips from some of the woman's acquaintances about other women who might have talked to the man.
The prostitute was reluctant to discuss her alleged meeting with the man until activists brought Stubblefield's mother to plead for information.
[email protected]
