Investigation Continues In The Death Of Four Prostitutes

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Terry Oleson was arrested for secretly videotaping a teenage girl.

Could Terry Oleson be the man responsible for the murders of four Atlantic City, N.J. prostitutes? His attorney, James Leonard, says Oleson is the main suspect. However, the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office has not publicly declared Oleson a suspect -- and a well-known prostitute in Atlantic City's may have stumbled upon a different suspect.

Cops say shortly after the bodies of four prostitutes were found, two different prostitutes in Atlantic City, Denise Hill and Melissa Bishop, identified Oleson as a strange man who had appeared in the city in November 2006 -- just before four Atlantic City prostitutes were found murdered. Denise Hill and Melissa Bishop say the man bragged to them about "killing some people."

Cops say Oleson, a 35-year-old handyman, was arrested after investigators searched his home and found secretly-recorded footage of an underage girl. Oleson was charged with invasion of privacy and was held in the Salem County Jail.

Cops say they interrogated Oleson about the killings of the prostitutes, whose bodies were found a short distance from the motel where he used to work and live. Police report they also removed several items from Oleson's home during the search. Despite all of this, Oleson has not been charged with the murders and denies any involvement, according to police.

And now, Denise Hill, one of the prostitutes who initially fingered Oleson as the suspect, is recanting her previous statements. She says the man she spent time with in November 2006 is not Oleson as she previously thought. When she originally identified Oleson, she says police showed her a photo and she thought it might be him. While Oleson was in jail on the separate charges, Hill spent the next several months confident that the killer was in police custody. 

But as she walked down the streets of Atlantic City on October 1, 2007, she says she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a familiar face -- the man who'd told her he had "killed some people" during their November 2006 encounter. That man wasn't Terry Oleson. She says she had identified the wrong man as the killer. The problem is, Hill doesn't know who the mysterious man is -- but she says she'd recognize him anywhere.

Meanwhile, Melissa Bishop was scheduled to appear in court to identify Oleson as a man who assaulted her in November 2006. Bishop claims during the assault, Oleson bragged that he had "killed some people." However, Bishop could not appear at the hearing because she was incarcerated on drug charges. The judge dismissed the charges. 

The new developments have people involved in this case wondering -- is Terry Oleson their man -- or does the mystery man Denise Hill ran into have something to do with the disturbing murders of the prostitutes?

Four Dead Bodies

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Atlantic City, N.J. is populated with casinos.

On November 20, 2006, two women walking along a dirt road in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. -- just west of Atlantic City -- stumbled upon the body of a woman. When police arrived and began searching the area for clues, they discovered another body -- then another, and another. By the time they'd combed through the crime scene, police had discovered the bodies of four women, all murder victims.

Investigators say each body was found face down in several inches of water in a ditch behind a strip of seedy motels, places notorious as hangouts for drug addicts and prostitutes.

The details of the crime scene are eerie. According to investigators, each body was dumped about 60 feet from the last, and all of their faces were positioned in the same peculiar way -- with their heads facing east, toward Atlantic City. All of the victims were wearing clothes on their bodies, but were all missing their shoes and socks. Medical examiners told police that the women were not killed at the same time, although it appears that they were all killed within a month of one another.

Investigators knew the first step in their investigation would be to identify the four women -- a potentially difficult task because the bodies were at various stages of decomposition when they were found. But fortunately, authorities were able to quickly learn the victims' names: Kim Raffo, 35, Tracy Ann Roberts, 23, Molly Jean Dilts, 20, and Barbara Breidor, 42. Police believe all four women were drug addicts and prostitutes.

Autopsies showed Tracy Roberts died of asphyxiation, and Kim Raffo was killed by ligature strangulation. The cause of death of Molly Dilts and Barbara Breidor have not yet been released.

The Work Of A Serial Killer?

While authorities are hesitant to say there's a serial killer on the loose, the similarity between the crimes is hard to ignore. And the word on the streets of Atlantic City is that it's only a matter of time before the killer strikes again.

Several prostitutes in the city have mentioned other street walkers who have gone missing. One woman, who calls herself "Sheri," told AMW producers that two prostitutes, "Heather" and "Peaches," haven't been seen for quite some time. Although these women could have left to try to get sober, may have picked up and moved to a different area, or could possibly have quit hooking altogether, there's growing concern that these missing women may have met the same fate as Kim, Molly, Tracy Ann, and Barbara.

Now, those who call the streets of Atlantic City home are sticking together more than ever. According to "Chocolate," who works the streets daily, the working girls aren't going to stop because of the murders. They know that each time they step onto the streets they're taking a big chance -- but the cycle of drugs and cash is powerful and keeps them going.

For now, these women are watching each other's backs and sharing what little information is out there about the murders. For them, it's about survival and creating a makeshift family on the streets.

As one girl on the street named "Yolanda" said, "Hopefully it don't take me to be next to realize that enough's enough. I just ask that you all keep us in prayer."

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Clockwise from top left: Tracy Ann Roberts, Molly Dilts, Barbara Breidor, and Kim Raffo.