Wayne Nance
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Wayne Nathan Nance (October 18, 1955September 4, 1986), known as The Missoula Mauler, was an American
serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
in the state of Montana. Nance was shot and killed while committing a
home invasion A home invasion, also called a hot prowl burglary, is a sub-type of burglary (or in some jurisdictions, a separately defined crime) in which an offender unlawfully enters into a building residence while the occupants are inside. The overarching ...
of a co-worker's residence; thus, Nance was never formally charged, tried, or convicted of any murder. Authorities reported that physical evidence linked Nance to several unsolved murders and crimes. Law enforcement believe Nance committed at least six homicides although it is strongly suspected that he may have had many more undiscovered victims. Before Nance's death and the discovery of his crimes, some of the murders were tentatively ascribed to
David Meirhofer David Gail Meirhofer (June 8, 1949 – September 29, 1974) was an American serial killer who confessed to four murders in rural Montana between 1967 and 1974 — three of them children. Meirhofer killed himself shortly after confessing, and was ne ...
.Ron Franscell (2022). ShadowMan: An Elusive Psycho Killer and the Birth of FBI Profiling. Berkely, ISBN 0593199278 A native Montanan and military veteran, Meirhofer confessed to four murders and then killed himself in custody in 1974, but authorities believed he may have committed additional crimes.


Criminal history


Early life

Wayne Nance was born on October 18, 1955, in
Clinton, Montana Clinton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is part of the 'Missoula, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The CDP was named for General Sir Henry Clinton. The population was 1,052 at the 2010 cens ...
to George Edwin Nance (August 20, 1928April 4, 2004), a long-haul truck driver, and Charlene Mae Nance ''née'' Mackie (February 2, 1936April 3, 1980), a waitress. Nance lived in a motor home outside of
Milltown, Montana Milltown is an unincorporated community in Missoula County, Montana, United States. Milltown is located along Interstate 90 and Montana Highway 200, east of downtown Missoula, on a hill overlooking the point where the Clark Fork and Big Blackfoot ...
, which is east of Missoula and was described by teachers and classmates as an academically-gifted yet eccentric individual who was also a juvenile delinquent. Friends claimed that during his adolescence, Nance frequently boasted of worshipping the devil and had even used a hot coat hanger to brand himself in satanic symbols. He also had bragged about wanting to commit a murder before he was 19-years-old. Nance graduated from Sentinel High School in 1974.


1970s

Nance is believed to have raped and murdered a 39-year-old woman named Donna Lorraine Pounds on April 11, 1974, in West Riverside, Montana. Pounds, who worked part-time at a Christian bookstore, had arrived home at 3:30 p.m., and is believed to have encountered Nance in the master bedroom. He was armed with her husbands’
.22 caliber .22 caliber, or 5.6 mm caliber, refers to a common firearms bore diameter of 0.22 inch (5.6 mm). Cartridges in this caliber include the very widely used .22 Long Rifle and .223 Remington / 5.56×45mm NATO. .22 inch is also a popular ...
Luger rifle The Pistole Parabellum—or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), commonly known as just Luger or Luger P08 is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The Luger was produced in several models and by several nations from 1898 ...
, with which he fired a warning shot at the bedroom wall. Nance was wearing
latex gloves Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosper ...
, one of which was found at the scene and carried with him a black gym bag, from which he produced a white clothesline, which was used to tie Pounds to her bed. Nance then raped her before forcing her downstairs into the basement, where, at point-blank range, he shot her five times in the back of her head. He then inserted the barrel of the gun into her vagina and left the property. Donna's husband, Harvey, arrived home at 6 p.m. and discovered that Pounds had been held captive in her basement, tied to a chair, and shot. Three eyewitnesses claimed they saw Nance, an acquaintance of the victim's teenage son, in the area about the time of Pounds' death that afternoon. One witness claimed they saw him in the garden of the Pounds residence and another said they saw him leaving the house with a black gym bag and heading in the direction of the Tamarack Trailer Park, where Nance lived with his parents. The Pounds' son had also shown Nance where his father had kept his gun and Nance was a regular at the house. When questioned by police, Nance admitted that he had not gone to school that day, but had stayed home, in order to work on a school project. He had been out in the area, he said, foraging for the materials that he needed. Insufficient evidence prevented Nance from being charged with her murder. Years later, police searched Nance's home and discovered evidence linking him to the Pounds murder. Nance served in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
from 1974 to 1977, and investigators later suspected he might have committed more crimes while traveling for his military service. On November 29, 1977, Nance received a general military discharge on the grounds of misconduct after he was found with stolen items, LSD,
Marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
and illegal butterfly knives.


1980s

After his discharge from military service, Nance visited
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
in July 1978, where 15-year-old runaway Devonna Nelson went missing. On February 27, 1980, her badly decomposed body was discovered by the crew of a slow-moving freight train on a road bank close to the
Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
in the city of Missoula resting against a chain-link fence. Because of the condition of the body, her remains were not identified until February 16, 1985. She had no shoes or underwear and her dress was hitched up around her neck. Nelson had been stabbed in the chest. Prior to her identity being confirmed, she was dubbed "Betty Beavertail" after the nearby
Beavertail Hill State Park Beavertail Hill State Park is a public recreation area located on the Clark Fork River near Interstate 90, east of Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ; fla, label= Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhu ...
. Nance is suspected of killing Nelson, but has not been definitively linked to the crime. The body of Marcella Cheri "Marci" Bachmann, 16, was found in an advanced state of decomposition on December 24, 1984, by a wildlife photographer. The body had been buried in a shallow grave and her decomposed leg was protruding out of the frozen ground. Strong evidence indicates that Nance murdered Bachmann. Investigators found hair similar to Bachmann's in Nance's home. She had run away from Vancouver, Washington, due to conflict with her family members. She was killed by three gun shots to the head. Like Devonna Nelson, Bachmann was given a nickname before she was identified: "Debbie Deer Creek," after a nearby
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
. Bachmann was identified in 2006 through
DNA profiling DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding. DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...
. Her cremated remains were subsequently interred. Bachmann had been seen alive with Nance, who had "taken her in" after she was left by a trucker in the area. She used the alias name "Robin" and claimed to have been either native to Texas or had passed through the state. When asked by acquaintances about the whereabouts of "Robin", Nance would say "she's gone" and claimed that she had run off with a trucker or that he had put "her on a bus." Bachmann's grave was two miles from Nance's home. Nance claimed she had left the area on September 28, 1984, which was about the time she was killed. Her brother, Derek Bachmann, had been searching for Marcella since he was 21-years-old, along with a private investigator. He originally believed that she may have supported herself as a
prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
while away from home and may have become a victim of Gary Ridgway. Ridgway murdered at least 49 runaway children and prostitutes during the 1980s and 1990s. However, Marcella was never identified as one of his victims. When police conducted a search of Nance's home after his death, they found a series of photo-booth pictures of him and Bachmann. A strand of her hair was also found in Nance's truck. On September 11, 1985, the skeleton of Janet Lee Lucas, 23, was found in Missoula, Montana, with two
.32 caliber .32 caliber is a size of ammunition, fitted to firearms with a bore diameter of . .32 in caliber variations include: * .32 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol), a pistol cartridge * .32-40 Ballard, an American rifle cartridge * .32 H&R Magnum, a rimmed ...
bullets in her
skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...
, three miles away from where Bachmann had been found. Investigators believe she died between 1983 and 1985. Lucas' remains went unidentified until May 2021, and she was initially believed to be of Asian descent. Like the other Jane Does found near East Missoula, Lucas was given a name before she was identified, "Christy Crystal Creek". Based on examination, her age range was between 18-and-35-years-old. She was between 4 feet 10 and 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed between 90 and 110 pounds. Examination indicated that she most likely had a history of
smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...
and had many fillings in her teeth, as well as two root canals. She also had had oral surgery that used characteristically Asian dental techniques, involving the screwing of a dental post into the tooth. After genetic genealogy research was conducted after a successful DNA extraction, it was learned that Lucas originated from
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...
, having disappeared from Sandpoint, Idaho during the summer of 1983. It is unknown when or why she came to Montana. Nance has not been definitively linked to this murder, but he is the only suspect. Nance is also responsible for the December 12, 1985, murders of 34-year-old Michael Robert Shook and Teresa Lynn Shook, 32, in
Ravalli County, Montana Ravalli County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,174. Its county seat is Hamilton. Ravalli County is part of a north–south mountain valley bordered by the Sapphir ...
, who were tied up inside their home and stabbed to death. Nance, armed with a gun, walked into the household at 9 p.m. and introduced himself as "
Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
". He then demanded their money and fired off a shot, which hit Teresa in the leg. A
post-mortem An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any dis ...
examination would reveal that Nance had tried to dig the bullet out of her leg. This led to the belief that Nance had not intended to hit Teresa and was aiming to instead fire a warning shot. After shooting Teresa, Nance ordered and locked Michael and Teresa's four children into their shared bedroom. A physical altercation ensued in which Michael suffered a blow to the head. He was then tied up and stabbed in the chest with a butcher knife. Teresa was forced upstairs and tied to the bed; she was raped before being stabbed to death herself. Her body would be found clothed, apart from her underwear, with a pillow over her face. A neighbour saw a pickup truck, which matched the description of Nance's vehicle leaving the Shook's property. Two hours later, Nance returned, robbing the family of an elk statue, a stag handled hunting knife and a silver dollar collection before attempting to set fire to the home. The fire smouldered but did not catch, however, the intended ignition material released
cyanide gas Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an ...
into the airtight house, slowly gassing the children, trapped inside. The couple's four children survived the crime after they were rescued by neighbours. Items stolen from the Shook residence were later found in Nance's home and it was also determined that Nance had delivered a new couch to Mike and Teresa Shook at their house only days before their murders.


Sexual harassment

During Nance's adulthood, he worked as a mover for the Conlin's Furniture department store where he was described by his employers and co-workers as an "average guy." However, several female customers had complained about harassing phone calls they had begun to receive after getting a delivery from the store and had singled out Nance as being the caller. He had also begun taking photos of his female colleagues. Wayne was also reported for using a
peephole A peephole, peekhole, spyhole, doorhole, magic eye, magic mirror or door viewer, is a small, round opening through a door from which a viewer on the inside of a dwelling may "peek" to see directly outside the door. The lenses are made and arr ...
which "he had found" and he blamed it on other members of staff. When questioned, these employees insisted it had been shown to them by Nance, not the other way around.


Final assault and death

On September 3, 1986, Nance attempted to murder husband and wife, Douglas "Doug" Wells and Kristen "Kris" Wells. Nance worked at the Wells' furniture moving company, and engaged Doug in conversation while they were in the front yard of his home at
midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...
. Doug had demanded to know what Nance was doing in the bushes outside of his property upon which Nance told him that he was passing by and had spotted someone lurking outside of the house. Nance asked if he could borrow a flashlight, and after Doug went with him inside, Nance struck Doug in the head, before tying up both him and Kris. Nance then stabbed Doug in the chest and left him to die in the basement. Nance forced Kris into the bedroom on the second floor to rape her. Although badly wounded, Doug managed to free himself and load one bullet in a rifle he had been repairing. Doug staggered up to the second floor where his wife was being assaulted in their bedroom. Nance and Doug engaged in further altercations, ending with Doug shooting and incapacitating Nance. Nance and the Wells' were rushed to a hospital, where Doug and Kris made full recoveries. Nance's injuries proved fatal, and he died the following day. After the incident with the Wells', authorities investigated Nance's background and other crimes, initially noting similarities between the Wells incident and the murders of Michael and Teresa Shook. Nance was also found to be in possession of a large collection of photographs of Kris in his
wallet A wallet is a flat case or pouch often used to carry small personal items such as paper currency, credit cards; identification documents such as driver's license, identification card, club card; photographs, transit pass, business cards and oth ...
. Some had been taken from the bushes along the route Kris would go for a jog. Others he had collated into a photo album, along with notes such as "I love you", "I am crazy about you" and "I want you to live with me."


See also

*
List of serial killers in the United States A serial killer is typically a person who kills three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder a ...


References


Cited works and further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nance, Wayne 1955 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American criminals American male criminals American murderers of children American rapists American serial killers Crime in Montana Deaths by firearm in Montana People from Missoula, Montana Serial killers from Montana United States Navy sailors Violence against men in the United States Violence against women in the United States