In today's episode of the show, we explore the disturbing story of Kenneth McDuff, a murderer who was let out of prison, from death row, who went on to become one of the state's most disturbed serial killers. This story is shocking, unbelievable and incredibly infuriating. And you're listening to MURDER IN AMERICA. - Listen to our new show, "THE CONSPIRACY FILES"!: -Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5IY9nWD2MYDzlSYP48nRPl -Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/id1752719844 -Amazon/Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab1ade99-740c-46ae-8028-b2cf41eabf58/the-conspiracy-files -Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/PC:1001089101 -iHeart - https://iheart.com/podcast/186907423/ -PocketCast - https://pca.st/dpdyrcca -CastBox - https://castbox.fm/channel/id6193084?country=us - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the background and early crimes of Kenneth McDuff?
In last week's episode, we talked about a man named Kenneth Allen McDuff. He grew up in the small town of Rosebud, Texas. And from a young age, Kenneth started showing signs of being a troubled individual. He was a bully, always picking on people smaller than him. As he got older, he liked to rob small businesses.
And although there were no documented records of any assaults, he was known to brag about raping and killing women. His first known kill was actually a triple homicide in 1966 when he was just 20 years old. Kenneth and his accomplice, Roy Dale Green, came across three teenagers who were hanging out at their high school's baseball field. And by the end of the night,
All three teenagers were brutally murdered, but luckily their deaths were almost immediately solved. Kenneth's accomplice was so overwhelmed with guilt, he ended up confessing to the murders the very next day. And in last week's episode, we left off with their trials. Both Roy and Kenneth were convicted of the murders and Kenneth was even scheduled to be executed by the electric chair.
But as you'll learn in this episode, he would somehow be let back out into society. And unfortunately, following his release, he still had that insatiable need to kill. So this is part two of the story of Kenneth Allen McDuff. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America.
Following the murders of Luis Sullivan, Robert Brand, and Marcus Dunham, the state of Texas had scheduled Kenneth McDuff's execution for October 8, 1968. And as you can imagine, for the victim's family members, they were relieved to finally have justice.
Now, nothing would ever bring Louise, Robert, and Marcus back, but at least they knew that the monster who killed them would get the justice he deserved. Or so they thought. As you may know, the death penalty is not an easy process. And although the state of Texas executes far more people than any other state, there are still a lot of hurdles to jump through when it comes to appeals.
And Kenneth McDuff was appealing his verdict almost immediately after his trial. Because of this, his 1968 execution was postponed to 1969. Then it was postponed again to 1970. And after a few years in prison, he was pretty confident that he would never get put to death. After all, while he was there, none of the death row inmates he was with were executed.
In prison, Kenneth had earned the reputation of being a tough guy, the same reputation that he sought to have throughout his entire life. Kenneth was so aggressive in prison, they even let him serve as the block tender, which is essentially someone who runs their cell block. Now, this title is considered a privilege in prison. It means that inmates respect you and they fear you.
They listen to what you say. And it's typically only given to people who don't put up with anything. Now, by then, Kenneth had accepted the fact that he was going to live the rest of his life in prison. But by a string of luck, there was a Supreme Court case going on in 1972
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Chapter 2: How did the Supreme Court ruling affect Kenneth McDuff's death sentence?
Due to this, he had to be transferred to the Ramsey unit, which was specifically given to criminals who needed extra supervision. One of the assistant wardens would later say, quote, we consider McDuff to be extremely dangerous and a high escape risk, end quote. But even though he hadn't proven himself to be trustworthy, Kenneth McDuff would somehow get lucky.
That very same year, a Texas inmate named David Ruiz, who had been given a 25-year sentence for armed robbery, issued a handwritten lawsuit against the Texas Department of Corrections. David complained that the prisons were overcrowded, inmates didn't receive quality medical care, and they were constantly being brutalized by block tenders while prison guards turned a blind eye to the abuse.
David said that the Texas prisons were a violation of his constitutional rights. After eight long years, the case of Ruiz v. Estelle went before United States District Judge William Wayne Justice of Tyler. It would be the longest trial in the history of Texas, a total of 129 days. Ultimately, Judge Justice ruled in favor of the plaintiff.
from there there were a lot of changes in the state's prison system the court ruled that severe overcrowding in texas prisons was unconstitutional there were population caps in prisons and the state was forced to either build new prisons or release inmates early to meet the new limits
With this ruling, county jails were filling up with state prisoners waiting to be transferred to prisons that had no space. According to author Gary LaVerne in his book titled Bad Boy, the Texas Department of Corrections was instructed to parole prisoners to make space for new inmates. He stated, They were instructed to release 150 prisoners a day, 750 a week, 3,000 a month, 36,000 per year,
or nearly 75% of the population Judge Justice allowed to be housed in Texas prisons in 1987.
So with the overcrowding, the Texas prison system was releasing thousands of inmates back onto the streets. And at first, it was just inmates convicted for drug crimes or petty theft. But over time, they even started releasing violent criminals. And in 1976, after only serving 10 years, Kenneth McDuff was placed on the parole list.
That same year, his mother, Addie McDuff, began working hard to get her son's conviction overturned. Addy ended up hiring an attorney from Dallas named Gary Jackson. And Gary believed that Kenneth had been wrongfully convicted. He said that the true killer of the Broomstick murders was actually his accomplice, Roy Dale Green. So in 1979,
Gary Jackson typed up a 26-page letter to the chairman of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and he had a new story of what happened. According to Kenneth, on the night of the Broomstick murders, Roy came to him stating that he wanted to commit a robbery, but Kenneth was on parole, so he claimed he didn't want any part of it.
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Chapter 3: Why was Kenneth McDuff repeatedly granted parole despite his violent history?
Parnell and his brother Mike, both are marshals, and we've been friends ever since we was little bitty boys, and I called Parnell and told him, I said, Parnell, you're not going to believe this, but they've released Kenneth McDuff, and I don't know if it'll be three days, three weeks, three months, but
sooner or later the bodies of young girls young ladies or boys are going to start turning up when parnell heard this news there was silence on the other end of the line finally after several seconds he said have they gone crazy now these officers got to see the brutality of mcduff's crimes firsthand it was the case that would forever stick with them
Retired Sheriff Brady Pamplin was a Texas Ranger and a World War II vet before he served on the force for 30 years. He had seen the worst of the worst, but nothing was as sadistic and violent as McDuff's crimes. So to them, when they heard he was back on the streets, they were incredibly worried.
After his retirement, Brady Pamplin's son actually became the sheriff of Falls County, and they were determined to keep an eye on McDuff to make sure he didn't hurt anyone else. But Kenneth wasn't staying in one place for long. Life in Rosebud was not what Kenneth expected. By then, most of his family had families of their own and had moved away.
His older brother Lonnie, who was his closest sibling, had actually been murdered while he was in prison. Apparently, he was shot to death by the ex-husband of this girl he had been seeing. So after Kenneth's release, it seemed as if Rosebud was no longer serving him. But before moving, it's widely believed that he committed a crime in the nearby town of Temple, Texas.
Just three days after his release from prison, the body of 29-year-old Seraphia Parker was found beaten, strangled, and raped in a field in Temple, Texas, which is only about 20 minutes away from Rosebud. Now, Seraphia was a sex worker. And as you've seen throughout true crime stories, monsters like McDuff like to target these people because sadly, their murders don't get as much attention.
Now, McDuff was never charged with Serafia's murder, but it is widely believed that she was his victim. After 23 years in prison, he was itching to kill again, but he knew he had to be smart. Killing teenagers would surely put him right back where he came from. So this time he chose a victim that wouldn't garner a lot of attention. and it seemed to have worked in his favor.
Unlike his previous murders, the police never came looking for him. They never even questioned him. And this would be the beginning of a series of disturbing rapes and murders that would haunt Central Texas.
After that murder, McDuff moved around a lot. He couldn't seem to stay in one place. He moved to Temple, Cameron, Bellmead, Tyler, Dallas, and Rockdale. On October 17th, he was living in Rockdale with his sister, but almost immediately he started having problems with his brother-in-law. Apparently, Kenneth would just take their car whenever he wanted to. He also refused to get a job.
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Chapter 4: What crimes did Kenneth McDuff commit after his release in 1989?
And so on December 18th, 1990, Kenneth McDuff was able to walk out of prison a free man for the third time.
And it seemed as if Kenneth knew, this time around, that he needed to get his act together. Because in the months after his release, he decided to enroll in classes at the Texas State Technical College in Waco. The classes were even paid for through his rehabilitation program. But as you're about to see, Kenneth McDuff was anything but rehabilitated.
While taking these classes, he often frequented Faulkner Street, which is an area in town where drug dealers and sex workers used to hang out. While there, Kenneth would usually buy some crack and then leave with the sex worker, taking her back to his dormitory on campus.
But according to people that knew him, his crack made him incredibly violent, and he often took that violence out on the sex workers. Soon enough, Kenneth began making a name for himself on Faulkner Street. Anytime the sex workers saw him driving up, the girls dreaded it. One girl, who went by the name Ducky, said that sex with Kenneth was a miserable experience.
She remembered her three-hour sex ordeals with him in which he would penetrate, quote, every hole in her body, end quote. And he apparently liked to humiliate women. He got off on degrading them. He would also force them to perform sexual acts that they weren't comfortable doing. To him, it didn't matter if they didn't like it. He was paying them.
Waco sex workers also said that Kenneth was known to make very strange remarks during sex. He would say things like, have you ever seen a set of balls like this on anybody? And interestingly, all of the girls said that he never got fully undressed during sex. He always opted to leave his boots on and there was very little intimate touching.
Instead, he enjoyed inflicting pain and anytime the girls resisted or told him to stop, he wouldn't. he would simply tell them, quote, it's only going to hurt for a little bit, end quote. Many of the sex workers said that they didn't even think Kenneth was able to climax. It seemed as if he faked a lot of his orgasms. Oh, and the girls he was with, they weren't allowed to orgasm.
The sex worker said that if they ever appeared to be enjoying the sex, Kenneth would get angry to him. The girls were simply there to please him, not the other way around. It was all about control for Kenneth McDuff. And soon enough, sex workers around Waco began to go missing.
Now, there's no telling the actual number of women that Kenneth murdered. When a sex worker was reported missing back then, the police department wasn't necessarily scrambling to solve the case. But the girls on Faulkner Street were very wary of Kenneth McDuff. He seemed to always be one of the last people to see these girls before they suddenly disappeared.
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Chapter 5: How did Kenneth McDuff's lifestyle and behavior change during his time at Texas State Technical College?
In the days after her disappearance, Barbara went to Faulkner Street and started asking questions. And soon enough, she learned that Gina was last seen with none other than Kenneth McDuff. To Barbara's horror, she also learned that another sex worker, Brenda Thompson, had also gone missing after being seen with him. Deep down, Barbara had this sinking feeling
that her daughter was no longer alive. Now she tried to go to the Waco police department with this information, but of course they didn't seem very interested. Barbara would later say, quote, I think they looked down on her, just another prostitute and dope user, end quote. Because of this, Barbara had to do some investigating of her own.
The sex workers on Faulkner Street told her that Kenneth was a student at the nearby technical school. They were also able to give her his address. So from there, she and her husband drove to the campus to speak with him. They ended up running into McDuff outside of his dorm and they confronted him, but immediately he got really defensive.
Barbara said that he threw his hands up in the air and started yelling, you better not try and pin this on me. But right then and there, Barbara said that she had this feeling wash over her. She knew that this man had killed her daughter.
Now, interestingly, Gina's cousin was also a sex worker on Faulkner Street, and she said that she knew exactly who Kenneth McDuff was.
One of them, he raped Becky and Bonnie, and he's a violent person, but he's never showed it with me.
Now, once again, Barbara pleaded with the police to help in her daughter's disappearance. She even mentioned that it wasn't just her daughter missing, but Brenda Thompson too. However, they weren't very concerned. To the police, Brenda and Gina got into cars with strangers every single night.
They were also known to go on drug benders from time to time, so I guess they just assumed the girls would show back up. But unbeknownst to them, one of those missing girls was the same girl they saw tied up in that red pickup that sped away from the DUI checkpoint. Now, how they missed that connection, we still don't know. But once again, Kenneth McDuff was off the hook. For now.
Even though the police weren't on his tail, the sex workers on Faulkner Street were. By then, word had spread that he had likely murdered both Brenda and Gina, and the girls were warned to stay far away from him. But sure enough, It wouldn't take long for Kenneth to make his way back over to Faulkner Street to find another sex worker.
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Chapter 6: What was the nature of Kenneth McDuff's relationship with his accomplices?
He started following the young girls down the street, making vulgar comments about how hot they were. The friend that was with him said he was disgusted. And after that, he never spoke to Kenneth again. But there was one friend of Kenneth's during this time. that wasn't turned off by his vile behavior. And that was Hank Worley.
Kenneth had met Hank in the summer of 1991, months before he went on a frenzy murdering sex workers. But like his first accomplice, Roy Dell Green, Hank Worley was inspired by Kenneth. He would listen to him tell stories about raping women and beating people within an inch of their life, and he was fascinated. Kenneth and Hank would often drink beer together at dive bars around Belton and Temple.
Afterwards, the two would drive around town and Kenneth would point out all the good spots where they could hide a body. Now, like all the others before, Hank would later claim that he didn't think Kenneth was being serious. But soon enough, the two would be hiding a body together.
Which brings us to December 29th, 1991. It was supposed to be a happy time in Austin, Texas. It was cold out, Christmas had just passed, and usually around this time of the year, there's a joyful feeling in the air. but not this year. You see, a few weeks prior, on December 6th, 1991, a horrible tragedy had taken place in Austin, Texas.
It was the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders, which was the very first episode we ever covered here on Murder in America. Now, if you don't remember that case, it's about four teenagers Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, Jennifer Harbison, and her younger sister, Sarah Harbison. And in December of 1991, two of the girls were working at this yogurt shop in Austin, Texas.
The other two girls were simply keeping them company as they finished up their nightly duties. But before the night was over, smoke started billowing out of the building. When first responders finally arrived, they quickly put out the flames. And at first they thought it was just an accidental fire. Maybe someone had left on a stove.
But as they made their way through the building, they made a gruesome discovery. In the back room of the yogurt shop were the bodies of all four teenagers. And this was clearly no accident. The girls had been raped, murdered, and their bodies were set on fire.
Now, interestingly, witnesses would later come forward saying that shortly before the yogurt shop closed that night, two men were seen sitting at a table near the cash register. They weren't even eating yogurt. They were just quietly sitting there. But sadly, to this day, the yogurt shop murders are still unsolved. It's one of the biggest mysteries in all of Texas.
But in the week after the murders, the city of Austin was on edge. Someone had come into their community and took the lives of four innocent teenage girls. And it wouldn't be long until another girl's life was taken in Austin, Texas. And like with the yogurt shop murders, two men were responsible, Kenneth McDuff and Hank Worley. It was exactly 23 days after the Yogurt Shop murders.
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Chapter 7: What were the details of the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders and their connection to Kenneth McDuff?
She studied hard to become an accountant and dreamed of one day having a husband and children. By the age of 28, Colleen was independent and working at the Lower Colorado River Authority as a supervising accountant. She lived alone in an apartment off West Lake Drive and had a cat named Manu. She joined the Army Reserves for a short time, earning the rank of Specialist E-4.
However, she realized that that wasn't the life she wanted. so she processed out by the fall of 1991. But she wanted to stay in shape, so she became an avid jogger and golfer and regularly began working out at the Future Firm Fitness Center. Colleen was really enjoying her time in Austin. She hadn't been there very long, but the city was everything she had hoped for.
That is, until the yogurt shop murders. When her family heard the horrible news, they called Colleen and warned her to be safe, especially since the killer was still on the loose. And Colleen told them that she would, but little did she know, she was about to meet a similar fate.
On the afternoon of December 29th, Hank Worley was visiting his sister's house in Killeen, Texas. And all of a sudden, Kenneth McDuff unexpectedly showed up and asked if he wanted to go to Austin for the evening. Kenneth had even promised him a fun night of cocaine and speed. According to him, Austin at the time was the speed capital of the world.
So Hank agreed to join him, but their night did not consist of drugs, but of something much darker. But that evening, the two got into Kenneth's car and headed to Austin. Along the way, they stopped to get some beer. And as they drank them, Kenneth bragged about kidnapping women and quote, using them up. He seemed to have been testing the waters for what he had planned for the evening.
Now, of course, he didn't have a victim picked out, but he was looking for one. He and Hank even drove around the University of Texas and Sixth Street, but no one seemed to have stuck out. However, eventually they would find their victim and it was none other than Colleen Reed.
Earlier that night, Colleen got into her Mazda and drove to downtown Austin to deposit a $200 check that her father had given her for Christmas. Then, from there, at around 9pm, she left to go to Whole Foods. At the store, she purchased a gallon of milk and a bottle of vitamins. From there, she planned to go back home, but at the last minute, she decided to make one last stop and go to a car wash.
The self-serve car wash was located on West 5th Street, and Colleen pulled into one of the stalls. But unbeknownst to her, a convicted killer just so happened to be driving by at that very moment.
When Kenneth saw Colleen washing her car at the car wash, he knew exactly what their night was going to entail. Immediately, he made a U-turn and drove back in the direction of the car wash. Hank would later say that Kenneth didn't tell him why he was stopping, but with no one around, Kenneth pulled into the stall directly next to Colleen.
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Chapter 8: How did Kenneth McDuff commit his final known murders and what led to his capture?
Like all of his previous victims, Melissa Ann Northup was a petite woman. She was less than 5 feet tall and weighed only 100 pounds. She was someone that Kenneth knew he could overpower. She had two children, a boy and a girl from a previous marriage, and she did everything she could to support them.
Although she didn't have a high school diploma, Melissa was a hard worker, but was forced to take menial jobs. While she was working as a cashier at Whataburger, she met another employee there named Aaron. The two dated for a short time, and they eventually got married on June 17, 1990. Together, the couple decided to leave Whataburger and looked into careers at convenience stores.
Melissa chose Circle K, and Aaron went to work for QuickPak. Aaron wanted to get into management, and by the summer of 1991, Melissa had joined him at the convenience store. She was hired at 4.50 an hour, and her duties consisted of running the cash register and doing janitorial tasks around the store.
According to author Gary LaVerne, Melissa wasn't crazy about her job and the lack of security in the store. Working the night shift from 11pm until 7am meant that she could possibly be exposed to robberies. But she believed that she wouldn't be able to find another decent job, so she sucked it up, at least for the time being.
Melissa Northrup knew exactly who Kenneth McDuff was. She had met him the previous year when her husband trained him as a cashier. But unbeknownst to them, the entire time Kenneth had worked there, he had been taking notes on how easy it would be to rob this place. There were no security cameras, the workers didn't carry guns, and they typically had a good amount of cash on hand.
The quick pack was also surrounded by wooded areas and vacant office buildings. It was kind of in the middle of nowhere. Even further, Kenneth noted how Melissa often worked the night shift all by herself and he was attracted to her. He even told one of his acquaintances at school that she was quote, a little short, damn good looking girl too.
So a year later, when Kenneth once again was having the overwhelming desire to kill, he decided that she would be his next victim. Now, earlier that night when Melissa's shift first started, her husband Aaron actually went to the store to visit her. And he did this pretty often. He knew how dangerous the job could be. So when he had some free time, he would come and keep her company.
But that morning at 1.30 a.m., Aaron decided to finally go home. When he pulled up to his house around 2 a.m., he called Melissa to let her know that he made it back. When she answered, Melissa complained about her job. She was tired of working so late and she wanted to find another job soon, especially because Melissa was actually two and a half months pregnant.
She and Aaron were so excited to start this new chapter of their lives and things would definitely start looking up once she found another job. Now, after talking on the phone for a few minutes, she and Aaron said their I love yous and hung up. However, Aaron had no idea that this would be the very last conversation ever have with his wife.
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