50. The I -5 Killer

Title: The I -5 Killer

The I-5 Killer Randall Brent Woodfield seemed, on the surface, like everything America admired. A gifted athlete from Oregon, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1974 — only to be cut before the season and later arrested multiple times for indecent exposure, a pattern the NFL had quietly noted. Despite early warning signs, Woodfield drifted in and out of trouble throughout the late 1970s, until the winter of 1980–81, when a killing spree erupted along the Interstate 5 corridor from California through Oregon and Washington.

Over roughly four months, Woodfield committed a string of robberies, sexual assaults, and murders targeting women — often at fast food restaurants and rest stops along I-5. His victims were shot execution-style. Investigators eventually connected him to at least 14 murders, though some estimates run as high as 44. The break came when a survivor identified Woodfield by his distinctive physique — he often wore tape over his face — and investigators matched him through handwriting, physical evidence, and witness testimony.

Woodfield was arrested in March 1981. In 1981 he was convicted of the murder of Shari Hull and sentenced to life plus 165 years in the Oregon State Penitentiary. He was subsequently convicted on additional charges, adding decades more to his sentence. DNA evidence later linked him to several cold cases he was never charged with. He remains incarcerated today, his parole denied repeatedly. Ann Rule's definitive account of his crimes, The I-5 Killer, remains one of the most cited true crime books written about him.

Sources for Reference:

1 The I-5 Killer by Ann Rule (Amazon) (https://www.amazon.com/I-5-Killer-Ann-Rule/dp/0593441370) — the primary book-length account of Woodfield's life and crimes

2 The I-5 Killer — Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/239848.The_I_5_Killer)

3 Randall Woodfield: The 1-5 Serial Killer by Blake Simpson (Amazon Kindle) (https://www.amazon.com/Randall-Woodfield-1-5-Serial-Killer-ebook/dp/B0D5BWH841)

4 Randall Woodfield — Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Woodfield)

5 The I-5 Killer — Wakefield Books (https://wakefieldbooks.com/book/9780593441374)

6 The I-5 Killer — Bellingham Public Library (https://bellingham.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S150C585053)

7 The I-5 Killer — Chicago Public Library (https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S126C2398317)

8 The I-5 Killer — Glenview Public Library (https://glenviewpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S202C215696)

9 Randall Woodfield: The 1-5 Serial Killer — Apple Books (https://books.apple.com/us/book/randall-woodfield-the-1-5-serial-killer/id6503261153)

10 The I-5 Killer Revised Edition (Amazon) (https://www.amazon.com/I-5-Killer-Revised-Ann-Rule/dp/0451165594)

11 Oregon Department of Corrections — Inmate Records (https://doc.oregon.gov/)

12 FBI Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) — Cold Case DNA Matching (https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime/vicap)

13 Oregon State Archives — Court Records, State of Oregon v. Woodfield (https://sos.oregon.gov/archives)