Rodney Halbower

Rodney Lynn Halbower was extradited to California in January 2015, but the trial was repeatedly delayed. In 2016, Halbower was declared sane and filed a petition to refuse qualified legal assistance and lawyers, and a petition to represent himself at trial. A judge denied them, as a number of experts proved that he was too incompetent to appear before the court without a proper defense team. His trial began on August 20, 2018.

At the trial, Halbower refused to plead guilty and frequently argued with the judge and prosecutors. On September 18, 2018, Rodney Halbower was found guilty by the jury for the murders of Cascio and Baxter, and received two life sentences for each. Despite the fact there wasn't enough evidence to accuse him of Blackwell and Booth's killing, they are also believed to have been committed by Halbower. As of 2019, he is expecting extradition to Nevada, where Halbower is due to stand trial for the murder of Michelle Mitchell.

He was released from prison on parole in November 2013, but was immediately extradited to Oregon to serve his 15-year term for rape and attempted murder.

In 2013, Halbower began serving his sentence in Oregon, with a set release date of 2026. During his incarceration, a blood sample was taken from him for DNA testing, which, in September 2014, showed correspondence of his genotypic profile with the profile of the man who had left biological evidence on the corpses of Paula Baxter and Veronica Cascio. The study also showed that Halbower's DNA profile coincided with the one isolated from saliva on cigarette butts found near the body of Michelle Mitchell, who was killed in February 1976 in Reno, Nevada.

Halbower escaped again, stole a car and drove to Oregon, where he attacked a girl in Medford in Jackson County, raping and stabbing her several times. The victim survived and identified Halbower, who was arrested in early 1987 and convicted in March for rape and assault. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, but was extradited back to Nevada, so he could continue serving his life imprisonment term.

In 1980, mental patient Cathy Woods had been convicted of Mitchell's murder. In 2014, DNA testing proved her innocence. In 2015, Woods was released, after spending 35 years in prison. Rodney Halbower was extradited to California, where, in January 2015, he was charged with three of the murders, to which he pled not guilty.

Once recaptured, in September 1978, Halbower attempted to escape from Nevada State Maximum Security Prison, but was captured before clearing a final fence. He had managed to cut through three sets of bars: one on his cell, another on the tier outside the cell, and a third set of bars on the window of the Cellhouse. He was within 100 yards of freedom when a guard saw movement outside, and notified the guard in the tower. After shots were fired, Halbower surrendered, and was escorted back into the prison.

In June 1977, during a softball match in the territory near the Carson City prison, Halbower escaped. He was put on a wanted list and was recaptured in July 1977 while attempting to kidnap his 7-year-old daughter. Halbower was extradited to Nevada to serve his sentence for the rape charges. He was not tried for kidnapping his daughter, but he was convicted of fleeing from prison, for which he was later given a 6-year sentence.

On December 15, 1977, Halbower escaped from prison, climbing on the roof of one of the buildings along the wall, reaching the fence and escaping. The investigation revealed that the escape was possible due to improper performance of duties by the guards, who were subsequently subjected to disciplinary action.

On January 8, 1976, the body of 18-year-old Veronica Cascio was discovered in a creek on the grounds of the Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica. She had suffered about 30 stab wounds.

In 1975, he was paroled and left Michigan and moved to Nevada, settling in Reno. In December of that year, he attacked a girl, beating and raping her. Rodney was arrested, but released on bail and remained at large during the preliminary investigation, which ended in the spring of 1976. In May, his trial began, during which he was found guilty of assaulting the girl and received a sentence of life imprisonment.

In 1963, Halbower was released on parole, but quickly violated the conditions of his probation. Released the following year, Halbower was arrested for burglarizing a house. He escaped the country prison in September. A few days later, he was captured, convicted, and sentenced to five years imprisonment. Rodney was arrested again in 1970 for theft, of which he was convicted and sentenced to 4 years imprisonment. He escaped and was recaptured again.

Rodney Lynn Halbower (born June 27, 1948) is an American murderer and suspected serial killer. He is the prime suspect in the Gypsy Hill killings, a series of murders of young women in San Mateo County, California (and possibly Reno, Nevada), whose killer was named The San Mateo Slasher. In March 2014, based on DNA profiling, Halbower was named as a person of interest in the murders. By this time, Cathy Woods, a mental patient who was convicted for one of the victims' murders, was exonerated after 35 years behind bars. At the time of his identification, Halbower himself was imprisoned for 38 years in Oregon.

Rodney Halbower was born on June 27, 1948, in Wisconsin and grew up in Muskegon, Michigan. He reportedly began to show signs of anti-social behaviour as a child and gained a reputation as a bully. He was a frequent truant and was kicked out of school and sent to an institution for juvenile offenders after an arrest.