David Penton is a children serial killer and rapist who became the true “bogeyman” in the 80s as he moved through Texas abducting, sexually assaulting and murdering little girls.
A soldier and mechanic, his first known victim was his own son, in 1984, although the murder was involuntary. The baby was only 2 months old and he wouldn’t stop crying, so in a fit of rage, Penton shook him so hard he killed him. While he was out on bond for that crime, he became a fugitive.
Described as a man who could easily go by unnoticed, he traveled in a van he used for the abductions. His modus operandi was offering kids candy and his preferred method of killing was strangling.
In January 1985 he abducted Christi Meeks (5) while she was playing hide and seek outside her building. Her body was found three months later. Then came Christie Proctor (9) in February 1986 and Roxann Reyes (3) in November 1987. In between he tried abducting at least two other girls who escaped and described him to the police for a sketch.
However, it took authorities more than 15 years to charge him for the three murders mentioned above. At the time, Penton was already in jail in Ohio: he was convicted in 1992 for the 1988 abduction, rape and murder of Nydra Ross (9). While inside, he allegedly started boasting about having taken at least 50 children. It was his then cell mate who informed police in the mid 90s about Penton’s connection to the Texas’ cases. He was charged in 2003 and two years later Penton pleaded guilty to the murders to avoid the death penalty, which he would have got for sure in Texas.
Penton is currently serving a life sentence. In an interview he gave in 2007 he claimed innocence. Police are investigating him in connection to at least 20 unsolved child abductions and murders in the 80s.
