He offered women rides from Anchorage's red-light district. Some he flew home. Others he flew into the wilderness and hunted with a rifle.
Robert Hansen, known as the "Butcher Baker," was an Alaska serial killer convicted in 1984 of murdering four women, with investigators believing his actual victim count reached at least 17 over roughly a decade.
Early Life
Hansen was born in Iowa in 1939, bullied as a child for a stutter and severe acne, and raised by a strict father who kept him working long hours in the family bakery. He served in the Army Reserve and became a skilled marksman. After marrying young, he was convicted in 1961 of burning down a school bus garage and served a shortened prison sentence, during which he was diagnosed with what doctors at the time called an "infantile personality." He remarried, had two children, and moved the family to Anchorage in 1967, where he became a well-regarded amateur hunter, setting several records that were later voided after his conviction.
A Pattern That Escalated
Hansen served brief sentences over the years for a rape conviction and a theft charge, and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder, though he wasn't legally required to take his prescribed medication. He staged a burglary of his own home for insurance money, used it to open a bakery, and bought a bush plane in 1982 despite having been denied a pilot's license due to his medication. He later told investigators that starting in 1973, he began picking up sex workers from Anchorage's red-light district, flying them into the Alaskan wilderness, and sexually assaulting them — releasing those who complied, and hunting the rest with a rifle after stripping them and setting them loose in the wild. He took jewelry from his victims as trophies and marked burial locations on an aviation map.
A Survivor's Escape
In June 1983, a trucker spotted a young woman, Cindy Paulson, with a handcuff still on her wrist and gave her a ride to safety. She told police a man had handcuffed her at gunpoint, driven her to his home, raped and tortured her, then loaded her into his bush plane — she escaped while he was loading supplies for what she believed was a flight to her death. Paulson identified the plane's tail number, which led investigators to Hansen, but two friends gave him a false alibi and no charges were initially filed.
The Investigation Closes In
When another victim's body surfaced that September, Alaska investigators brought in the FBI, whose profiler correctly predicted the killer would have low self-esteem, hunting experience, a stutter, and a habit of taking souvenirs from victims. Hansen's alibi collapsed when his two friends admitted they'd lied. A search of his home, plane, and vehicles turned up the rifle used in the murders, jewelry and IDs belonging to victims, and the marked aviation map.
Confession and Sentencing
Facing overwhelming forensic evidence linking his rifle's shell casings to the murders, Hansen struck a plea deal: he confessed to killing four women whose bodies had been found and to abducting and raping Paulson, in exchange for serving his time in federal custody without media exposure. He led investigators to 17 burial sites in total, though he declined to discuss four additional suspected victims, reportedly because they weren't sex workers and he couldn't rationalize their deaths to himself. He was sentenced in February 1984 to life plus 461 years.
Death
Hansen died on August 21, 2014, at an Anchorage hospital, following declining health that had led to his transfer for medical care earlier that year. His case later inspired the 2013 film "The Frozen Ground," starring Nicolas Cage and John Cusack.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people did Robert Hansen actually kill?
He was convicted of four murders and led investigators to 17 burial sites, though he declined to confess to four additional suspected victims.
How was he finally caught?
A survivor, Cindy Paulson, escaped and identified his plane, and a subsequent search uncovered the murder weapon along with victims' belongings, leading to his confession.
Is Robert Hansen still alive?
No. He died in an Anchorage hospital in August 2014.