US/PA/Allentown - On the day he was sentenced for the killing of an SIU student, Timothy Krajcir was charged with murdering five Cape Girardeau women more than two decades ago.
Timothy Krajcir is accused of committing those murders between 1977 and 1982. Cape Girardeau officials announced the new charges just hours after Krajcir was sentenced for the murder of Deborah Sheppard.
Police say he’s responsible for the deaths of Mary and Brenda Parsh, Sheila Cole, Margie Call, and Mildred Wallace.
Carbondale and Cape Girardeau police worked together to crack the cold cases.
After Timothy Krajcir was charged with killing Deborah Sheppard, Carbondale officials submitted evidence taken from that scene to a Missouri crime lab.
It turned out to have a connection with one of the Cape Girardeau murders.
“We received word from the lab technician that there was a relatively strong DNA match from evidence seized at the Wallace scene to Timothy Krajcir” says Cape Girardeau Police Chief Carl Kinnison.
65 year-old Mildred Wallace was killed in her home on Williams Street.
Police had long believed that her death was linked to the murders of Mary and Brenda Parsh, Sheila Cole, and Margie Call.
“Krajcir immediately became our primary suspect in all 5 murders.”
In an interview with both Cape Girardeau and Carbondale officers, Krajcir confessed to the killings of the five women, and to raping an unidentified 34 year-old Cape Girardeau woman.
Family members of the victims gave the police who worked on this case a standing ovation saying this news comes as a great relief.
“We thought about Mom every day. There were only 2 of us and I’m the only one left. My brother died a year and a half ago, so he’s not here for this, but I’m sure he’s watching from somewhere” says Don Call, son of victim Margie Call.
The next step is for Krajcir to be extradited from Illinois to Missouri so he can face the new charges.
Officials say they will not seek the death penalty. That was part of a deal made with Krajcir to get more details on one of the murders.