People Magazine Investigates: Surviving a Serial Killer- How was The Railroad Killer caught?

The fear of The Railroad Killer in the 1990s overtook the communities by the railroads as they kept an eye out for the bogeyman on loose. Angel Maturino Reséndiz, the Mexican drifter, had been on a killing spree by jumping freight trains and bludgeoning 23 innocent lives to death.

Unable to locate Reséndiz, who had been operating under various aliases, the Texas Rangers got in touch with Reséndiz's family, who cooperated with them to facilitate his surrender. The authorities collected the stolen goods and jewelry from his family, which served as the final piece in the puzzle and led to his surrender in El Paso, Texas, on July 13, 1999.

The latest episode of People Magazine Investigates: Surviving a Serial Killer, titled Surviving the Railroad Killer, airs on May 12, 2024, at 9 p.m. EST on Investigation Discovery and showcases the pursuit of The Railroad Killer. The official synopsis reads,

“A new romance between two college students derails when a sadist attacks them during a nighttime walk by the railroad tracks; only one of them lives, and she turns out to be the sole survivor of a serial murderer known as the Railroad Killer.”

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How many victims did Angel Maturino Reséndiz take?

According to The Houston Chronicle, Angel Reséndiz took his first victim in 1986 by killing a homeless Jane Doe at an abandoned farmhouse; he had met her at the homeless shelter. Once the investigations into the murders began, the FBI linked Reséndiz to at least 15 murders with similar circumstances.

The first notable victim was Michael White (22) who was bludgeoned to death and left in the yard of an abandoned home in San Antonio. However, a pattern of beating the victim to death could be detected when his next two victims, two teenage runaways from Woodstock named Jesse Howell (19) and Wendy Von Huben (16), were found dead in 1997.

The next victim was University of Kentucky student Christopher Maier (21) who was bludgeoned to death on August 29, 1997. At the same time, his girlfriend Holly Dunn (20) survived the r*pe and beating to serve as the key witness in The Railroad Killer's trial years later. As time passed, Reséndiz took more lives by the railroads, and the degree of brutality increased.

He r*ped and murdered the pediatric neurologist, Claudia Benton (39), in Texas in 1998, followed by the church-going Sirnic couple in 1999. The massacre continued with the lives of Fannie Whitney Byers (81), Leafie Mason (81), Noemi Dominguez (26), Josephine Konvicka (73), George Morber, Sr. (80), and Carolyn Frederick (52) leading to his arrest by the U.S. Border Patrol at the El Paso bridge.

Angel Reséndiz confessed to 23 murders in total during his trial. He was charged with nine out of the fifteen murders that the FBI had tracked back to him.

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How was The Railroad Killer caught?

The investigating authorities had connected the murders of Leafie Mason, Fannie Whitney Byers, and Claudia Benton as Reséndiz went on a killing spree from Texas to Georgia in 1998. The crime scenes looked similar and came with a clean set of the killer's palm prints and fingerprints, which were used to identify him, per The Los Angeles Times.

Reséndiz had briefly been in Rodeo, Mexico, for his daughter's birth in 1999. In May, he started his rendezvous with the church pastor and his wife, Rev. Norman Sirnic and Karen Sirnic. He was deported to Mexico shortly after, but he returned two days later, on June 4, to continue his killings, per the US Justice Department.

He killed Noemi Dominguez and Josephine Konvicka on the same day and with the same pickaxe. The trail of six murders in Texas and one in Kentucky had officers looking for him, and the Los Angeles Times identified The Railroad Killer as a Mexican drifter by the name of Rafael Resendez Ramirez on June 14, 1999.

Angel Maturino Reséndiz killed the father-daughter duo of George Morber, Sr., and Carolyn Frederick the next day in Gorham, Illinois, putting himself on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List, per The Los Angeles Times. He stole their truck and made his way to Mexico.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Angel Maturino Reséndiz surrendered himself to Texas Ranger Drew Carter on a bridge at the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas. He was by the side of his sister, two brothers, and a pastor. Fearing for his safety, Reséndiz’s sister helped Ranger Carter, for which she was awarded $86,000.

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Catch all the details of The Railroad Killer on a new People Magazine Investigates episode airing this Sunday at 9 p.m. EST on ID.