Yahoo Movies The Box: How Bruce Lindahl's murder spree was finally uncovered
Note: The following article contains discussion of sexual misconduct that some readers may find upsetting.
Bruce Lindahl's rape and murder spree is even bigger than Ted Bundy's – and yet he managed to evade capture by the police for years. Now he's being exposed in new Paramount+ series, The Box.
Eventually, it was his own deadly tendencies that proved his undoing. In a massive stroke of luck for dozens of potential future victims, he managed to kill himself accidentally while in the act of another murder.
But that proves little solace for his survivors, and the victims of the families whose lives he'd claimed – especially as it took more than 30 years for him to finally be pinned for the crimes he committed.
Despite his horrific crimes, Lindahl is someone who may even be unheard of among true crime aficionados, with mainly only Chicago residents knowing his name.
With the new documentary series, Detective Chris Loudon – a retired investigator who had been haunted by one of the murders – uses a box of unused evidence in the case to finally crack some of the cold cases Lindahl committed, finally allowing some rest and answers for those so badly affected.
Here's what we know about Bruce's crimes so far, the bizarre incident that meant he was finally stopped in his tracks, and the currently ongoing case to discover exactly how many people he raped and/or murdered.
How many people did Bruce Lindahl kill?
The number of people that were raped and/or killed at the hands of Lindahl has never been confirmed – with dozens of potential victims attached to his name in the time that he was active.
In total, more than 80 women were killed between the years of 1974 and 1981, in the suburban areas that Lindahl lived – most prominently DuPont County, Aurora, Lisle, Woodridge and Downers Grove. Lindahl currently a prime suspect in at least 12 of them, as well as nine rapes.
In 1974, 20-year-old Annette Lazar went to the police after being raped at gunpoint by Lindahl, who had lured her into a home under the pretence of selling her marijuana. However, as the house in question belonged to police officer Dave Torres, and she was a known drug addict to the police, they threw out her case and he was never charged.
Lazar is one of the many women speaking up about her experience in The Box. Torres later explained (via Chicago Tribune) he had befriended Lindahl as part of a skydiving group, and would party and hang out with him regularly.
There were multiple opportunities for Lindahl to be caught by police, and he was even arrested on occasion, only for the charges to be dropped due to lack of evidence or, in the case of 25-year-old Deborah Colliander, the victim went missing.
Deborah went to the police to report Lindahl raping her in June 1980, and he was arrested and charged for the attack. Officer Torres says his investigation into the case was the last time he spoke to Lindahl.
However, before the case went to court, Deborah went missing after leaving work and was never to be seen again. The absence of the key witness meant the entire case was dropped.
Her body was found in 1982, two years after her disappearance, and it was only after Lindahl's death that a man came forward to claim Lindahl had offered him money to kill her to stop her testifying against him. While he was never charged with her murder or rape, investigators believe the story to be true considering the clear motive.
Another opportunity was missed when police pulled Lindahl's car over to find a woman passed out with a head wound next to him. At the time he claimed to be taking her to hospital, but an ambulance was called to the scene instead. The woman later said she passed out after being given something by Lindahl at a party, but again, the investigation stalled and there was never an arrest made.
In 2020, thanks to the development of DNA profiling, Lindahl was finally connected to the rape and murder of 16-year-old Pamela Maurer, whose body was found laying on the side of a road in 1976. It took 44 years for the police to finally get this solid evidence that he'd killed her.
This breakthrough in the case allowed the police to open him up to the possibility of being connected to more unsolved investigations.
How did Bruce Lindahl die?
Bruce Lindahl died on April 4, 1981 at the age of 28 – while in the middle of another murder.
While in Naperville, Illinois, Lindahl befriended 18-year-old Charles Huber, playing bowling with him before inviting him to his girlfriend's house to drink. However, after arriving at the apartment, Lindahl attacked Huber, stabbing him a total of 28 times.
But during the frenzied attack, Huber fought back, and in the resulting tussle, Huber stabbed himself in the thigh, tearing through a femoral artery in the process. He bled out as a result of the injury, meaning that he died in minutes, collapsing next to the body of Huber.
Unfortunately, Huber didn't survive the attack either, and became Lindahl's last known victim.
After Lindahl's death, police located a box of photographs at his home. In the photographs, women were seen in states of various undress, and on occasion appear to have been drugged before the pictures were taken. Some of the photos contained pictures of underage girls in the same state of mistreatment.
The news report about his death sparked a new frenzy of phone calls from women who claimed to have been attacked by him in the years prior – either being threatened with a weapon or drugged before being raped. These investigations are ongoing.
Some of the women came forward to share their testimonies in The Box.
The Box is available to watch now on Paramount+, which comes free with Sky Cinema.
If you've been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information from Rape Crisis England and Wales, who work towards the elimination of all forms of sexual violence and sexual misconduct, on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland’s helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.
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