07:13 PM CDT on Friday, July 21, 2006

By Karla Barguiarena and Vicente Arenas / 11 News

HPD news conference, part 1 | part 2 | Chau Nguyen's 11 News report

A man who charmed his victims before turning on them is still on the loose, but police hope a $20,000 reward will help them nab him.

The reward and intense investigation is a ray of hope for the family of one of the victims, Vanessa Lackey Franklin. Her body was found in February. The 45-year-old woman had been strangled and struck.

"We can't believe it because we identified the date that she was found when they showed the date and we thought February 15th. She's one of them," said Vanessa's sister, Vonda Lackey.

During a press conference Friday authorities revealed more about the possibility a serial killer may be in the Acres Home area.

"This is a guy who seems like a decent man, on his initial approach and can be quite engaging. And then he'll turn it off very quickly and the encounter becomes quite brutal," said Assistant Police Chief Vicki King. The officer said, "The surviving victims have all described that he becomes like a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

King said the suspect threatened his victims with a weapon, usually a knife, then either sexually assault them and or rob them.

HPD

HPD has released these composite sketches of the man believed to be a serial killer.

King joined Police Chief Harold Hurtt and community leaders in revealing new details on the case.

"This person needs to be caught and caught now," said State Rep. Sylvester Turner.

Chief Hurtt said the police department is setting up a command van in the neighborhood and putting extra officers on patrol by using overtime.

Hurtt praised the community for stepping up and taking action to help his officers catch the killer.

The latest victim's decomposed body was found in the woods behind the Parlay Cafe in the 5400 block of Rosslyn.

She has been identified as Lakita Stubblefield, 21, of 2717 Napoleon. Police say Stubblefield, who lived in Houston's Third Ward, suffered multiple stab wounds.

KHOU-TV

The most recent victim was found in the woods behind an Acres Home bar.

"This young lady had no vehicle. She had no cell phone. So, she was transported from the Third Ward area to the Acres Home area. So, obviously this guy has some ties to the Acres Home area to know to come from Third Ward to here," said an HPD homicide investigator.

It was Sharetta Trajan's children who found Stubblefield's body.

“At first, I thought it was a dog.  Then, when I got up closer and examined it more, and seen it was a body, it scared me,” she said.

Since January, the bodies of six women have been found in the area.

 “These deaths have some very striking similarities,” said an HPD detective.

All of the women were found outdoors in secluded areas, not far from each other.

HPDQ

The suspect has a scales of justice tattoo on his arm.

"It shows you that it's not in one particular area. This guy can venture out," said an HPD homicide investigator.

Investigators said the three who had been identified so far were known prostitutes.

Detectives hope that rings recovered from the victims will help identify them.

One thing police wanted to stress is that the killer may not be acting alone.

"We may have more than one suspect. So, what we're looking at and the group of women and bodies that we have found, may not be linked to one person. It may be more than one person," said Assistant Chief King.

Chief Harold Hurtt said that even with Houston’s officer crunch, a team has been set up that will focus on the deaths of the six women.

Investigators said they're working to eliminate or follow up on any lead that appears promising.

All of the victims linked to the killer so far have been black women.

“We believe he’s taking women from elsewhere and dumping their bodies here in Acres Home because he’s so familiar with this area,” said community activist Quanell X.

 The incident has terrified Trajan’s children.  “They slept with me last night for the first time.  They have never slept with me before,” she said.

Police said there may be more than one suspect. 

He's described as having a scale of justice tattooed on his left forearm, but police caution, since the crimes have been comitted at night, the tattoo may be something different.

"The suspect is dark complected and it may not be the scales of justice. It may be the zodiac libra sign, or it may be something that resembles that," said Assistant Chief King.

King said it appears women in high risk life styles are the main targets.

Bodies have also been found at the following locations:

•June 24: 8300 block of Sunnyhill

•April 2: 1900 block of Mansfield

•June 26: 2000 block of Del Norte

•Feb. 15: 4700 block of Kelley

•Jan. 19: block of Cebra

If you recognize the sketches or have any other information about any of these cases, please call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.