A prosecutor has disclosed how notorious Alaska serial killer Robert Hansen, known as the ‘Butcher Baker’, operated like a hunter to select his victims. Hansen, a baker by trade, abducted, raped and tortured at least 17 women over 12 years in the 1970s and 1980s, often targeting dancers and sex workers. He would then release them in the Alaskan wilderness to stalk and shoot them as prey.
Frank Rothschild, the prosecutor who helped convict Hansen in 1984, spoke in a new documentary about the killer’s methods. Rothschild described Hansen as an ‘evil genius’ and noted how he transformed during interrogation from a ‘nerdy guy’ into a cold-blooded murderer. Hansen confessed to 17 murders and 30 rapes, but his map marked 24 potential grave sites, with only 12 bodies recovered.
Rothschild played ‘good cop’ to a colleague’s ‘bad cop’ to extract confessions. He explained that serial killers often engage in ‘game playing’ to beat the system. Hansen would confess to cases where evidence was strong but stop when he felt he could withhold other crimes, believing he could still outsmart authorities.
Investigators found ballistics linking Hansen to murders, a map of victims’ graves, and jewellery taken as trophies. One escaped victim identified his home and plane. Hansen was sentenced to 461 years plus life for four murders.
