The Weepy Voiced Killer (Part 1)

October 10, 2023

The First 911 Call

Caller: “Yes, please. This is an emergency. Please send a squad to Pierce Butler Road. Malmberg Manufacturing Company, machine shop. Please send an ambulance too. There’s a girl hurt there!”

Dispatcher: “Can you tell me what happened to her?”

Caller: “Just hurry! There’s, uh, she’s laying on the ground in the back by the… by the railroad tracks. Hurry!”

Dispatcher: “What’s the address?”

Caller: “I don’t know!”

Dispatcher: “Who are you?”

*Call ends*

 

 

Karen Potack

 

  • Police arrived to find a young woman lying outside in the snow, beaten nearly to death
  • First responding officers said the extent of her injuries was the worst they’d ever seen
  • Her skull was split open and her brain was visible
  • Bludgeoned with a tire iron at least 10 times
  • Somehow she survived
  • She couldn’t remember anything about her attacker
  • The last thing she remembered was being at a New Year’s Eve party
  • Not much out there about her other than that she was American Indian, 20, and a college student

 

The Case Goes Cold

June 3, 1981

 

“God damn, will you find me? I just stabbed somebody with an icepick. I can’t stop myself. I keep killing somebody.

Real or a Prank Call?

  • The dispatcher initially thought it could be a “sick prank”
  • Unfortunately, it was no prank
  • That same day (1), 3 teenage boys came across a bloodied body near a freeway construction site in St. Paul
  • They realized that the call wasn’t a prank because it had accurately identified the murder weapon
  • She had been stabbed 61 times with an icepick
  • The body was identified as Kimberly Compton
    • 18
    • Recent college graduate
    • Had just moved from Wisconsin to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) for a job
    • Had literally arrived on the bus an hour and half before she was killed
    • Last seen at Mickey’s Diner in Minneapolis where waitresses remembered her coming in and being approached by a man
    • She told the man she was new to the area and he offered to take her on a tour of the city
    • She accepted and they left the diner together

 

Another Call

Let’s break it down:

“Don’t talk, just listen. I’m sorry for what I did to Compton, I couldn’t help it. I don’t know why I had to stab her. I am so upset about it. I keep getting drunk every day, but I can’t believe I did it, it’s like a big dream. I can’t think of being locked up, if I get locked up I’ll kill myself. I’d rather kill myself than get locked up. I’ll try not to kill anyone else.

A Lead?

  • Police were able to trace the call to a payphone at a bus station
  • By the time police got there the caller was already gone
  • The next day, the newspaper got a call from the perpetrator correcting them on details they had printed about the case
  • Despite his inability to keep his mouth shut, police still had no idea who the mystery caller was and he became dubbed the “weepy voiced killer”

 

Connecting the Calls

  • Since the caller had such a distinctive voice, investigators decided to listen to the station’s backlog of recorded calls and were able to make the link to the call made after the attack on Karen Potack
  • A portion of the phone calls were released to the public in an attempt to find someone that could help identify the voice
  • It was a long shot and unfortunately didn’t result in any new leads

 

A Confession

Only 2 months after Kimberly’s death, in August of 1981, a confession was made. Alan Lopez was holding his family hostage and during negotiations, he confessed to Kimberly’s murder.

 

It turned out he had a history of mental illness and assault. He ended up taking his own life and the calls stopped.

 

The End?

 

 

 

Sources Accessed October 2023:

He Called 911 Four Times Confessing to Murder, But They Couldn’t Track Them: https://medium.com/p/50f8444ec429

Paul Michael Stephani, The ‘Weepy-Voiced Killer’ Who Confessed His Murders In A Series Of Chilling Phone Calls: https://allthatsinteresting.com/weepy-voiced-killer

‘Will You Find Me?’ The ‘Weepy Voiced Killer’ Asked Police While Reporting His Own Murders: https://www.oxygen.com/mark-of-a-killer/crime-news/weepy-voiced-killer-paul-michael-stephani-report-murders

The ‘Weepy-Voiced Killer’ terrorized Minnesota in the 1980s, until one woman took him down: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/the-weepy-voiced-killer-terrorized-minnesota-in-the-1980s-until-one-woman-took-him-down?auth0Authentication=true

Paul Michael Stephani: https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Paul_Michael_Stephani

Weepy Voiced Killer: The Serial Murder Spree of Paul Michael Stephani: https://the-line-up.com/weepy-voiced-killer-paul-michael-stephani

St Paul Serial Killer: https://frankweberauthor.com/blog/st-paul-serial-killer

‘Mark of a Killer:’ 6 Most Disturbing Details About Weepy-Voiced Killer Murders: https://www.thewrap.com/mark-of-a-killer-6-disturbing-details-weepy-voiced-killer-murders/

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