"I took the lives of so many people," Reinaldo Rivera told the jury which ultimately sentenced him to death.
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Reninaldo Rivera's defense attorney Jacque Hawk gives his closing arguements to the jury Monday Jan. 26, 2004 in Augusta.
Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff
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District Attorney Danny Craig gives his closing arguements to the jury in the death penalty case against Reinaldo Rivera, Monday Jan. 26, 2004 in Augusta.
Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff
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His statement has some wondering if "so many" might mean more than four.
"Do I think there're more, yes. Whether he'll ever admit it or not, I don't know," said former Richmond County sheriff's homicide investigator Wayne Bunton, who led the investigation that resulted in Mr. Rivera's death sentence.
After Mr. Rivera, 40, was arrested in the near-fatal attack on an Augusta teenager Oct. 10, 2000, he confessed to that crime and to four homicides.
Mr. Rivera's first trial in Richmond County Superior Court this month led to the death sentence for the killing of Army Sgt. Marni Glista, 21, in September 2000.
He might still stand trial in Columbia County for the June 29, 2000, death of Tabitha Bosdell, and in Aiken County for the killings of Melissa Dingess in July 1999 and Tiffaney S. Wilson in December 1999. All three were 17 years old when they disappeared.
Mr. Bunton said Tuesday in a telephone interview that he wants to return to Augusta to talk with Mr. Rivera again, especially about the possibility that he might not have confessed to all of his crimes. It doesn't make sense that Mr. Rivera would suddenly, in his 30s, become a serial killer, said Mr. Bunton, who is now an officer with the Hillsborough County (Fla.) Sheriff's Department.
In different statements to investigators after his arrest, Mr. Rivera said he raped about 200 prostitutes in the Washington, D.C., area and a few others after moving to South Carolina. But he insisted he didn't kill anyone until moving to the Aiken area in 1999.
In his last conversation with Mr. Bunton on Oct. 20, 2000, however, Mr. Rivera said of two rapes in Fayetteville, N.C., "Yes, two times. One of them, I'm very sure that she probably did die."
Lt. Tom Guilette, who is in charge of the Fayetteville Police Department's homicide squad, said there was one 1995 unsolved strangulation homicide, but DNA led to the arrest of another suspected serial killer.
The Fayetteville case was solved when officers began tracking the movements of Samuel McCullun after his arrest in Kentucky, Lt. Guilette said.
Lt. Guilette said he will consult with the sheriff's department and other departments in the area to check for any other unsolved homicides and missing persons cases during the time Mr. Rivera lived in Fayetteville.
Right now, it's only speculation that Mr. Rivera might be responsible for any other deaths, said District Attorney Danny Craig.
"What we do now know though you cannot accept the word of a serial killer."
Former FBI Agent John Gerrity, who worked in profiling for more than16 years during his career, said Tuesday it's not an easy call about Mr. Rivera.
He killed like an experienced serial killer, but Mr. Gerrity thought it strange that Mr. Rivera didn't take souvenirs from his victims like most serial killers do.
No one ever found the red dress worn by Mrs. Wilson's baby the day Mrs. Wilson was killed and the baby abandoned at the Georgia Welcome Center, Mr. Gerrity said.
No one explained why a video camcorder was found on Sgt. Glista's coffee table and the television was set to play a video.
On the witness stand, Mr. Rivera told the jury that he was sorry for all the damage he had caused in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Attorney Jacque Hawk said Tuesday he doesn't believe Mr. Rivera meant to imply that he had killed anyone in North Carolina. He was referring to rapes, said Mr. Hawk, who represented Mr. Rivera with lead counsel Peter Johnson.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226
or sandyodson@augustachronicle.com.
