A PROSTITUTE’S desperate fight for her life may have unmasked one of America’s most prolific serial killers.
The woman, known as Heather, answered her door to Neal Falls. He immediately pointed a gun at her, grabbed her throat and asked: “Live or die?”
He dragged her into the kitchen, where she reached out for a rake in a bid to fight him off.
As Falls put his gun down to stop her,
She told local reporters: “When he strangled me, he just wouldn’t let me get any air.
“I grabbed my rake and when he put the gun down to get the rake out of my hand I just grabbed it and shot behind me.”
Falls’ 9mm handgun was part of a chilling “kill kit” police discovered at the gruesome scene in Charleston, West Virginia.
The 45-year-old also had handcuffs, knives, axes, a sledgehammer, a bulletproof vest, shovels and bleach in his car boot.
But it was a Post-it note in his pocket that has led police to believe Falls is one of the country’s most-wanted killers.
The so-called “kill list” had the names, ages and phone numbers of six female sex workers who had advertised on Backpage.com — a personal ads site Falls used to arrange sexual liaisons, including the one with Heather.
The former security worker, who appeared to be living in his car, is now being investigated over his potential involvement in at least ten other killings and disappearances across eight states.
Police in Nevada linked Falls to the deaths of Lindsay Marie Harris, who went missing in Las Vegas in 2005, as well as Misty Marie Saens, Jodi Marie Brewer and Jessie Foster, who disappeared between 2003 and 2006.
Authorities in Ohio are looking into whether he could be connected to six dead women who were either drug addicts or sex workers.
The remains of four — Tameka Lynch, Shasta Himelrick, Timberley Claytor and Tiffany D Sayre — have been found, while Charlotte Trego and Wanda Lemons are still missing.
Five of the women were mums and the sixth was pregnant.
Police in Illinois, Kentucky, Texas, Oregon, California and New York are also comparing similar crimes involving dead or missing prostitutes.
Falls’ potential link to cases in New York has led users of amateur crime-solving websites to suggest he could be the Craigslist Ripper, responsible for murders around Long Island over two decades.
He is said to lure sex workers via global free ads site Craigslist, before butchering them and dumping their bodies near the beach.
If Falls is responsible for the murder of several prostitutes, Heather — who acted in self- defence and is not being charged — potentially saved the lives of the women on his kill list.
Steve Cooper, Charleston’s chief of detectives, told CBS News: “It’s likely that Falls is a serial killer.
“I believe Heather saved lives by shooting Falls, based on what he did to her and based on the items found in his car.”
Heather, who escaped to a neighbour’s house following her ordeal last month, later told a Charleston TV news channel: “I could tell he’d already done something, because he said he was going to prison for a long time.
“That’s when I knew he was going to kill me.”
Although Falls, from Springfield, Oregon, had no history of serious crime, he had been stopped for traffic-related offences and suspicious activity and interviewed or investigated in at least 20 states.
Police officers in Charleston are trying to track his travels before he arrived in the city.
However, it may prove difficult as the sleeping bag and pillow found in his car suggest he may not have had a permanent base. It is also believed Falls had an online alter-ego.
His mobile phone number has been linked to the Facebook profile of “BJ Ross”, where posts included a picture of a Barbie doll holding a knife above mutilated Ken dolls with the words: “Anyone else want a f***in’ sandwich?”
The number was also found on anti-prostitution websites, such as exposingjohns.com, which accuse “BJ Ross” of soliciting sex workers.
A Charleston woman inspired by Heather’s story has set up a page on fundraising site giveforward.com to help Heather move house. Laura Gandee’s total so far stands at £1,467.
She said: “Heather’s living basically at the scene where the vicious attack took place. As you can imagine, that’s pretty traumatising.”
Heather reportedly posted another ad on Backpage this week, but her media representative has not confirmed this.
The targeting of prostitutes is a pattern common to serial killers.
Gary Ridgway, also known as the Green River Killer, was convicted of murdering 49 sex workers in Washington but has since confessed to killing twice as many.
In 2003, when he originally owned up to his crimes, he said: “I also picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed.
“I knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing.
“I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.”
In the UK, three Bradford prostitutes were murdered by Stephen Griffiths, dubbed the “Crossbow Cannibal”, in 2010.
In 2006, Steve Wright killed five prostitutes in Ipswich.
Victims ‘work of Ripper’
THE Craigslist Ripper, also known as the Long Island Serial Killer, is believed to have murdered at least ten prostitutes in New York.
One potential victim was 24-year-old escort Shannan Gilbert, whose remains were found in December 2011, near to where she disappeared 18 months earlier.
During the search, ten other bodies were found. Four of them — sex workers who advertised on Craigslist — were wrapped in bags.
The others included women, a man dressed in female clothing and a baby believed to have been the daughter of one of the prostitutes.
Shannan was last seen running from a client’s house after responding to an ad.
Police believe her death isn’t linked to the others and that she drowned in marshland.
However, after her mum Mari’s pleas for more answers, an independent coroner examined Shannan’s remains and confirmed earlier this year that she may have been killed.
Mari said: “There’s no question in my mind. I believe it is connected.”
A further six dismembered bodies found on Long Island are being investigated by police.