David Bruce Morton

Santa Fe police were made aware of Morton in 1996 due to similarities between the way Kendall and Benoit were killed; both women had stab wounds to the back and neck. In 2003, Morton confessed to killing Benoit as well as Mulvaney, to which he subsequently pled guilty to in court.

Soon after being released, Morton left Santa Fe and moved to Amarillo, Texas. There, on May 4, 1990, Morton raped and murdered 22-year-old Kimberly "Kim" Kendall (né Call), a secretary and college student who lived near him. Her husband discovered the body, and Morton was arrested. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, and would not be linked to the other cases until years later.

Mulvaney's parents began a letter writing campaign to indict Morton under a grand jury. Eventually, enough signatures were submitted to bring Morton to trial in 1988. District Attorney Chet Walter spoke publicly and during the trial that there was not enough evidence to bring the case to court. In October 1988, the jury could not make a decision, with eleven jurors wanting to acquit while one other insisted on finding Morton guilty. In the end, the case was dismissed.

On June 28, 1984, 25-year-old Teri Lynn Mulvaney, a secretary at the Public Service Company of New Mexico, was raped and strangled in her apartment. When investigating suspects, police came across Morton, who was Mulvaney's neighbor. Morton was eventually arrested for drunk-driving, and his cellmate came forward to police saying that Morton had confessed to killing her. Despite this, prosecutors stated there was not enough evidence to charge Morton.

A 1978 Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School graduate, 22-year-old Janet Benoit, headed towards Phoenix, Arizona from Arvada, Colorado in November 1983. During her trip, she decided to make a stop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, making her way to the Comfort Inn. A female housekeeper later discovered Benoit’s body when she went into the room to do mandatory cleaning and saw Benoit lying face down with her head hanging off the end of the bed.

David Bruce Morton (born May 14, 1959) is an American serial killer and rapist who murdered at least three women in New Mexico and Texas between 1983 and 1990. Finally arrested shortly after the final murder, Morton confessed to his previous crimes when confronted with the evidence and is now serving two different life sentences in both states.