Gary Muehlberg.Photo: Missouri Department of Corrections/AP/Shutterstock
The women went missing from south St. Louis City, Mo., between the years of 1990 and 1991, and their bodies were discovered in Lincoln, St. Louis, and St. Charles counties, a news release reads.
TheSt. Louis Post-Dispatchreports the killings — and the victims — all shared similarities too striking to ignore: all were mothers who were found gagged and strangled with their faces covered up.
They all were reportedly known to frequent an area tied to prostitution.
And they were all were found “packaged” up.
According to thePost-Dispatch, two of the victims' bodies were stuffed into trash cans, while another was crammed into a wooden box. Another body was hidden between two mattresses.
The killings became known as the “Package Killer” slayings in reference to the concealment of their bodies.
The women’s cases went cold until 2008 when Weber revisited their murders. A 14-year investigation on her part helped crack the case.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
While Muehlberg, who is serving a life sentence for the unrelated murder of Kenneth “Doc” Atchison (also found stuffed in a box, but in the suspect’s basement, per the outlet), confessed to the slayings of Mihan, Pruitt and Little during a series of jailhouse interviews, it was in a subsequent, handwritten letter addressed to Det. Sgt. Weber, that he also admitted to killing Reitmeyer and a fifth unidentified victim, police revealed.
“Glad I can finally do (the) right thing… I must live with my past — the good and bad parts. No more running,” he wrote.
Citing prosecutors, the outlet reports Muehlberg was assured they would not seek the death penalty due to his ailing health in exchange for the full confessions.
source: people.com
