Cold Cases · Spotify Studios

Island Investigation: The Honolulu Strangler

·46 min·3 clips

Redford’s girlfriend says the five murders matched each of their arguments.

1. Cold Cases covers the Honolulu Strangler murders in Honolulu and the investigation around Ka'ehi Lagoon. 2. Host Carter Roy narrates the case for Cold Cases, while detective Louis Souza and later Omar Sakamoto matter because they drive the investigation and the family search for answers. 3. The episode asks who the Honolulu Strangler was and why police missed a crucial piece of evidence for decades. 4. Vicky Purdy disappears after leaving the La Mariana Sailing Club, and police later find her body near Ka'ehi Lagoon with parachute cord binding her hands. 5. Regina Sakamoto is found a mile from Vicky’s location, and investigators note the same strangulation, partial nudity, and sideways cord tying. 6. Denise Hughes is found wrapped in blue plastic near the shoreline, adding a third killing with the same core pattern. 7. Linda Pesci’s abandoned Toyota on the side of a highway leads officers to Sand Island, where a can-collecting couple and Bill Redford both become important to the case. 8. Detective Souza and his team create a profile that points to a white man in his 30s or 40s, a white cargo van, and a possible airport connection. 9. The episode also revisits Helen Correa, whose 1984 disappearance from a bus stop and strangling in an irrigation ditch resemble the later murders. 10. Mayumi Goff’s remains are found near a freeway, but detectives initially separate her case from the Strangler pattern because of location and victim profile. 11. The most important forensic detail is the tiny amount of sperm found on some victims and the absence of normal levels on others. 12. Dr. Kanthi Dheeraj explains that the low sperm count suggests the offender may have had a vasectomy. 13. Redford’s ex-wife confirms that he did have a vasectomy, which makes the earlier profile much narrower. 14. Naomi’s account from La Mariana Sailing Club places Redford repeatedly asking for a ride home in his white cargo van. 15. Naomi says he became angry when she left with someone else, and she later identifies Redford from photos as the man she feared. 16. Carter Roy keeps the tone procedural, while the interviews and case-file details give the episode a methodical, investigative pace. 17. The narration mixes crime-scene detail, community reaction, and later cold-case reconstruction rather than a single interview format. 18. The pace is measured and chronological, with recurring references to police decisions, witness accounts, and forensic comparison. 19. Listeners interested in true-crime investigations and cold cases. 20. Listeners who want light entertainment without graphic crime details.

As heard by us

A sober Honolulu case study that turns a near-miss into a tightening investigation.

Cold Cases opens with Naomi sensing danger, then moves through a white cargo van, a shaken departure from the club, and Linda Pesci's disappearance into a case that only grows tighter.

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Why you'd press play

Press play for a Honolulu near-miss that widens into a police warning about a strangler.

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