'Zombie hunter' canal killer facing death penalty

For nearly three decades, a brutal murderer walked free until advances in DNA technology finally caught up with him

- GAIL SHORTLAND

The Arizona Canal running through the suburbs of Phoenix is a popular route for cyclists. But in the early 1990s it was the hunting ground of a brutal killer who sexually assaulted, mutilated and murdered two young women.

The evening before her 22nd birthday, Angela Brosso left the home she shared with boyfriend Joe Krakowiecki to go for a bike ride. She never returned.

Angela, who worked for an electronics company, and Joe often cycled along the canal. But that night, 8 November, Joe stayed at home to bake her a birthday cake. When she wasn’t home an hour later, he began to worry. They always watched US comedy In Living Color together on Sunday evenings and it wasn’t like Angela to be late. So Joe went out searching and called friends and the police.

The next morning, bloody drag marks were discovered on the canal path. They led up an incline to where Angela’s body was found in a field near her apartment building.

She had been decapitated – and her head was missing. Her body was mutilated, she was naked, apart from her trainers, and she’d been stabbed in the back.

A post-mortem revealed she‘d been sexually assaulted and died from a stab wound that pierced her lung and aorta. Her head was found in the canal, a mile and a half away, 11 days later.

It was assumed Angela had been attacked as she rode along the path. DNA was found on her body, but the police had no leads.

Then 10 months later the killer struck again.

Melanie Bernas, 17, was a pupil of Arcadia High School, but on 21 September 1993, had been ill and stayed home.