Not By Chance

By Alexyss Rubjerg

Fourteen Unsolved Murders Over Twenty Years, All With the Same Strange Circumstances

 

Beginning around 1996, there have been a series of murders—sometimes called the Smiley Face Murders for their vague association with a smiley face scrawled on a nearby wall—which share similar strange circumstances. The victims, all men, were last reported seen in a bar or other social situation. They disappeared for days or weeks. Then they were found in waterways in unnatural positions with lividity that did not match the coroner's cause of death, and nearly all had traces of the date rape drug GHB in their systems. Many were declared accidents. Most could not have been.

 

What happened to these men? Where had they been for days or weeks? How did they get the unexplainable injuries that were common across these cases? Was this the work of one killer or several? Why has no one been charged in any of these crimes?

Not By Chance studies fourteen of the most perplexing cases in this series of murders. It looks at the evidence, the circumstances, the victims, and considers the possible perpetrators. While still unsolved, there is one thing we know that ties them all together. These were not accidents.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Morbid Craft LLC
• Release date: Mar 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215818954

Alexyss Rubjerg

Alexyss is a 24-year-old true crime researcher and creator, who published her first book in 2020, "Not By Chance." With an insatiable passion for solving unsolved disappearances and murders, she is currently working on a series exploring some of the most perplexing cases in recent history. Although she holds a degree in Business, her heart lies in the field of Psychology, and she is currently pursuing a degree in the same. Her inquisitive nature and relentless dedication to the true-crime genre have earned her a reputation as a meticulous researcher who spends countless hours poring over case reports, talking to families of victims, and combing through every available piece of evidence. As a business owner, she is used to juggling multiple responsibilities and is no stranger to hard work. However, her true passion lies in bringing long-forgotten cases back to the public eye in the hopes of one day solving them. Her writing and true crime creations are a testament to her unwavering commitment to this goal. When she's not immersed in research and writing, you can find her exploring new places with her husband and two dogs or indulging in her other hobbies, such as watching documentaries and volunteering for various causes. With her tenacity, dedication, and drive, our author is a rising star in the true crime genre, and her future works promise to be nothing short of extraordinary.

Book preview

Not By Chance

Fourteen Unsolved Murders

Over Twenty Years

All With The Same Strange Circumstances

Alexyss Rubjerg

Not by Chance

Copyright © 2020 Alexyss Rubjerg

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher, except for short passages used in critical reviews.

Contents

Not By Chance

Contents

Not By Chance

Foreword

Chapter One: Thoughts on the Theory

Chapter Two: Types of Killers

Chapter Three: Happy Face Killer

The Victims & The Crimes

Chapter Four: Patrick McNeill

Chapter Five: Lawrence Andrews

Chapter Six: Nathan Kapfer

Chapter Seven: Brian Welzien

Chapter Eight: Chris Jenkins

Chapter Nine: Jared Dion

Chapter Ten: Adam Falcon

Chapter Eleven: Todd Geib

Chapter Twelve: Brian Shaffer

Chapter Thirteen: Lucas Homan

Chapter Fourteen: Tommy Booth

Chapter Fifteen: William Hurley

Chapter Sixteen: Nick Wilcox

Chapter Seventeen: Dakota James

Chapter Eighteen: Personality

Chapter Nineteen: Autopsy

Chapter Twenty: Toxicology

Foreword

This foreword is the last thing I am writing in this book, but it is the first thing presented because I feel it puts the entire work into perspective. It is here where I get to completely be myself with you. It is November 24, 2019, and I started on this writing journey almost exactly one year ago.

First, let me start off with a statement that might offend you. I firmly believe all those interested in true crime have somewhat of a psychopath inside of them. So yes, by simply picking up this book you have placed yourself in this category. I’m not suggesting that we all have the minds of serial killers or anything like that, or that we want to kill or be a criminal, but merely that we are closer to this than normal people in society. When I listen to true crime podcasts or watch true crime shows, the main question behind everyone’s interest is Why did the criminal do that? I think that as a society we have a masochistic fascination with things that are taboo and criminal. Obviously, I would never commit any of these crimes, but do I want to read all the gruesome details about them? Yes, I quite honestly do, more than I should probably admit. Reading about these crimes can lead us to develop some of the same tendencies that those committing the crimes may have. Once again, most of us are not criminals and do not wish to be, we simply wish to understand the mindset that these criminals are in. And to think like the criminal one must become the criminal.

Recently I read a book called True Crime Addict by James Renner. In the first part of the book, he talked about going to his psychologist and taking the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. This is a standardized test within the psychology community that can be used to identify a number of different mental illnesses and disorders. Upon review of his test his psychologist told him his results closely resembled those of Ted Bundy. True to the title of his book, he is a true crime addict, which means he spends as much time as me and others looking into the minds of criminal psychopaths. As some have said before me, no one is good or evil, everyone has both sides to them, it is simply luck on which one gets pulled out more in your lifetime. For most of us that is the good side, at least relatively good; we aren’t going around killing people. But for others the evil side comes out more. True crime obsessed people are dangling in the middle, and even more so those who write or produce about true crime.

Two months after starting this writing journey I got diagnosed with Severe Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety. It has been very apparent that I have had depression for years but it never got as bad as it did when I started writing this. There is the possibility that other things were happening in my life that I did not give thought to, but I believe the main reason I started to worsen is that all of these cases are mostly forgotten by society and they all involve men around the same age as me. That puts things into a dark perspective of Would anyone care about me in five years if I died right now? This worsening depression did not stop once I was fully ensconced into writing; it continued to get worse as I went along.

A dose of 20mg a day is where most people start for the antidepressant I was prescribed, and I did that. As of right now I am on 120mg a day, the highest dose possible. Yeah, whoa! I even got that reaction from an ER nurse one night. I thought it was kind of funny that they would comment like that about a person with an obvious mental illness but it honestly didn’t affect my well-being. My boyfriend and I laughed about the nurse’s reaction later.

The cases in this book touched me even though they happened to the opposite gender and people who spent a lot of time socializing (not me at all). Even worse is that my boyfriend fits the perfect victim description of these men. Handsome, popular, fit, school oriented, and someone who does go out for social situations. Talk about anxiety when he goes out with friends. I don’t consider myself crazy but I will text him every half hour to make sure he’s not floating in the Milwaukee River. That reminds me, I forgot to mention we live in Milwaukee right across the street from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, where one of these cases happened, and possibly several more. As I am making final edits on this there is another University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student who was found in the Milwaukee River after disappearing from the dorms one night after taking LSD.

Obviously, I am not too great at self-care because the truth is that I kept writing this book, and I even want to write a companion book after this. I think that as a person who is interested in the stories of these men, it is my duty to bring attention to their lives and their deaths so that perhaps one day justice can be served. The effect of my mental illnesses on my life pales in comparison with the need I feel to publicize these stories. Therefore, that is exactly what I am going to do.

Another thing I wanted to share is that music would be how I escape feelings like these and get back into a good mindset, but as soon as I started studying murder and murderers, music went out the window. I began the writing process by listening to many Billy Joel and AC/DC songs while I worked, but as I finish this I am sitting in a completely silent apartment. You see, as I listened to these songs while writing, my mind associated the stories of these cases with the songs. Now when I turn on these songs in the car, at work, or just for fun, I begin to recall facts from these deaths. The phenomenon is alarming to say the least. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to remember the effects of decomposition on a body after four months while listening to Little Lover. It’s weird. I’m not promising that this book will ruin your favorite songs. I’ll give it a maybe.

This foreword is not intended to be a warning to you not read the book. I believe 100% you should dive into this book. I doubt these cases will affect you in the same way they have affected me. This book represents over a year of my life but it will only mean a few hours of yours. That is how it is supposed to be from author to reader. But if you can connect with me in even the smallest way at the beginning of this book, then perhaps you will trust my theories more.

Since I am proposing that serial killers are to blame for these murders, I want to also inform you before you begin to read that I am not someone who easily believes in things. I’ve never been convinced of religion or ghosts. I am on the fence with Bigfoot but that is 75% due to my dad’s view of how easy it would be for Bigfoot to hide. I am someone who needs scientific proof to be convinced about something.

That being said, these 14 cases are those I strongly believe have had the wrong cause of death listed in their autopsy reports. There is more than enough reasonable doubt in each case. And, in these cases, science is on the side of truth, not necessarily the medical examiners. Science will show why many of these could not have been accidental.

These are the stories of young men with a lot to offer society, yet who had their lives cut short. Many of these men were in college to better themselves. They were living their lives with friends, family, significant others... Then one night, they never returned. Back in October 2019, I had a little too much fun at a wedding (which I must state is the bartender’s fault for filling half the glass with tequila) and felt what it was like to be on the line between consciousness and blacking out from drinking. That is the state of mind a lot of these men were in when they disappeared, and perhaps when they died. If you’ve never been in that predicament, let me tell you it’s actually quite a blissful mindset, apart from the puking. It is a state of full relaxation, no worrying about finances, no worrying about work, a nice fog over your mind.

Obviously, I was not kidnapped and didn’t