Pennell argued for the death penalty in front of this five-person court, which granted his wishes. In the meantime, another woman,Margaret Lynn Finner, a 27-year-old mom trying to secretly make ends meet with sex work, also vanished off Route 40. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. On the rainy night of Nov. 29, 1987, a couple driving through an industrial park in Newark, Delaware, thought they saw a mannequin at the side of the road. Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. I was very new, very keen. Showing all 0 items Jump to: Certification; Certification. near this town 15 miles north of Dover. maintaining that he was determined to be Steven Brian Pennell 2 (Podcast Episode 2023) Parents Guide and Certifications from around the world. Her bravery and guile resulted in a prime suspect in the killings, as well as an eventual arrest and conviction. That is sexual sadism," Joni E.Johnston, a forensic psychologist, explained to producers. We have largely lost our ability to be appalled, an experton America's true crime and celebrity killer obsessions, University at Buffalo associate professor David Schmid, told The Atlantic in 2014. Her nude body was discovered early in the morning of June 29, 1988. 50 Cases: #8 - Delaware - Steven Brian Pennell, Drop Us a Line, Let Us Know What You Think, 2022 by True Crime Archive. However, her case was slightly different. A video, which has gone viral on Instagram, shows inside the abandoned murder house of Steven Brian Pennell, otherwise known as the Route 40 killer. In a video shared on Instagram, which has over 5,100 likes, video clips showed the rundown care and the rotting house which was been discovered frozen in time and filled with creepy kids' dolls. 20, 1988, and the other was Kathleen Meyer, 26, Finner had been last seen getting into a blue Ford van. Steven Brian Pennells decision to install the blue carpet led to fiber evidence that ultimately ended his terrifying spree of serial killing. Steven Brian Pennell's net worth Steven Brian Pennell (November 22, 1957 March 14, 1992), aka The Route 40 Killer, was Delaware's only known serial killer, convicted of the murders of two New Castle County, Delaware women and suspected of killing three others. She did note that the inside of the van was covered in blue carpeting, and she even managed to swipe some samples of it before she walked away. Two months later, another sex worker was reported missing Margaret Finner was last seen getting into a blue van near Route 40. Their disappearances are also less likely to be immediately noticed. Ellis autopsy revealed she had been bound at the hands and feet and tortured with work tools before death, according to Delaware Today. committed. Most of his victims were abducted from U.S. Route 40, near Bear. He was the only serial killer in the US to ever ask to be executed for his crimes. For Her body was never found. There were no signs of sexual assault, but she had been seriously abused, with her killer tying a string around her neck and hitting her head with a hammer before she died.