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Convicted murderer and serial r*pist Reginald Kimbro was found guilty of killing two women in North Texas. Kimbro entered a guilty plea earlier this year, confessing to the April 2017 r*pes and killings of Molly Matheson, 22, and Megan Getrum, 36. The plea deal helped him dodge the death penalty. Instead, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The judgment, however, was met with criticism, especially from the victims' families, who also criticized law enforcement for their failure to punish Kimbro in the earlier years, given that several women had filed s*xual assault complaints against him. Moreover, it took five years to convict him after the murders, even when DNA and circumstantial evidence connected him directly to the cases.
The Reginald Kimbro case has made headlines over the years, and now NBC Dateline will have Josh Mankiewicz report on the case and his crimes in connection to the 2017 murders. The episode, titled Wreckage, airs on Friday, September 23, 2022, at 9:00 pm ET.
Read ahead to learn some key details about the Kimbro case.
Trigger Warning: mentions of sexual assault crimes.
Five crucial points about Reginald Kimbro's case
1) Reginald Kimbro had a history with victim Molly Matheson
Serial r*pist Reginald Kimbro had a history with Molly Matheson. The two first met during their time at the University of Arkansas, where they briefly dated. However, at the time of the murder, the two were not in contact.
Molly's mother, Tracy Matheson, reportedly found her body on the bathroom floor, showing indications that Kimbro had tried to get rid of any evidence. But he seemingly left behind crucial pieces of evidence that ultimately connected him to the murder. As per the official press release,
"She [Molly] had been beaten and strangled and Kimbro attempted to destroy evidence by washing her in the shower and washing a load of laundry where he left behind his underwear."
2) He attacked Megan Getrum about a week after murdering Molly
Sources state that Reginald Kimbro s*xually assaulted and strangled Megan Getrum, a 36-year-old Plano woman, approximately a week after Molly Matheson's murder, while detectives were investigating him. Getrum was attacked on April 14, 2017, while she was out for an evening walk in the neighborhood's Arbor Hills Nature Preserve. She was found dead in Lake Ray Hubbard a few days later.
Using DNA evidence, eyewitness testimonies, and identification, investigators were able to connect Kimbro to the crime. They also managed to place him in the Nature Preserve parking lot at the same time the victim was allegedly attacked.
3) Kimbro's ex-girlfriend claimed he liked to "strangle" her
Reginald Kimbro was previously accused of s*xual assault and faced charges involving four separate women between 2012 and 2014, essential information which was only released after the extensive investigations into the 2017 killings of Molly Matheson and Megan Getrum. However, authorities failed to take appropriate action against him at the time.
Multiple women came forward when news of the 2017 murders first surfaced. Women claimed that during their encounters, he strangled and r*ped them. In fact, one of his former girlfriends revealed that he would "strangle" her every time they had s*x. The woman in question would then push his hand away because he had "gone too far."
4) Kimbro would allegedly drug his victims
The four victims who came forward alleging that Reginald Kimbro had r*ped them, claimed he would first drug and strangle them before getting s*xually assaulting them. The women were also willing to testify against him in court before he entered a plea deal.
Prosecutor Allenna Bangs reportedly stated:
"Reginald Kimbro is a serial r*pist and a serial killer. He used his personality and charm to attract women or drugged them when that did not work. He talked his way out of case after case until his violence culminated in the deaths of Molly Matheson and Megan Getrum."
5) Reginald Kimbro's case sparked Molly Jane's law
Reginald Kimbro's offenses from 2012 to 2017 led to the ultimate reform of two state laws pertaining to s*xual assault survivors and information used to trace possible serial r*pists and killers.
To help the FBI detect serial attackers, Molly Jane's Law, which bears Matheson's name and was promoted by her parents' nonprofit group Project Beloved, mandates that police departments submit pertinent information into a national database.
As previously mentioned, NBC Dateline airs on Friday, September 23, 2022, at 9:00 pm ET.
