FILLMORE — Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. mailed an executive agreement Thursday to the governor of Illinois asking that a convicted killer be extradited to Utah to stand trial in connection with a 15-year-old murder in Millard County.
If everything goes as expected, Robert Ben Rhoades, 59, could be in the Millard County Jail within one to two weeks to stand trial in a case that could bring him the death penalty if convicted.
Rhoades is charged with murder and aggravated kidnapping, both first-degree felonies, in 4th District Court in the 1990 death of Patricia Candace Walsh.
"I guess this is a good thing," said Walsh's brother, P. Adam Walsh, who was at a loss for words Thursday. "We'll see what justice has in store."
Walsh, who lives in California, said he did not want to jeopardize the case by discussing details of his sister's murder. But he said when his family learned that a suspect was finally named they felt a "sense of relief.
"We didn't think my sister would ever be found. To have him be named, and for there to be evidence pointing to that, is a miracle really," he said.
Investigators believe Rhoades, a former truck driver, is a serial killer and rapist who went on a murderous trek in 1990 in several states. A story in the Tucson Weekly in 1996 quoted officials as saying they believed by early 1990 Rhoades was kidnapping and murdering an average of three females a month.
He is serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole in the Pontiac, Ill., Correctional Center for the murder of a 14-year-old runaway girl from Texas.
Although his current sentence would seemingly ensure Rhoades will not get out of prison, officials in Millard County said Thursday it was important to bring him to Utah.
"He needs to pay for what he did here," Chief Deputy County Attorney Brent Berkley said. "We need to seek some justice for that. Not just for her but also her family."
If Rhoades isn't returned to Utah to stand trial, that would be a "gross miscarriage of justice," Berkley said.
Adam Walsh said he would also like to see Rhoades stand trial in Utah for the sake of having additional information emerge.
"There are reasons I can't really mention that I hope he goes to trial in Utah. I suspect there are more victims out there, and I hope (a Utah trial) spurs for more investigations to cases around the country," he said.
Candace Walsh's badly decomposed body was discovered by deer hunters 22 miles south of Fillmore in October 1990. She had been dead for several months.
Investigators believe Rhoades picked up Walsh, 24, and her new husband, Scott Zyskowski, 25, both originally from Seattle, hitchhiking somewhere in the South, possibly Georgia, Berkley said.
Near El Paso, Texas, Rhoades allegedly murdered Zyskowski and dumped his body in January 1990, he said.
For the next seven days, Walsh was apparently held captive by Rhoades. A week later, he allegedly shot her multiple times and dumped her body in Millard County, Berkley said.
A month later, Rhoades picked up 14-year-old Regina Walters and Ricky Lee Jones, two runaways from Texas. He murdered Walters in Illinois and was later convicted of that crime. Jones' body has never been found.
On April 1, 1990, Arizona police happened to come across Rhoades' semitrailer truck where he was in the process of torturing another woman. Rhoades was convicted and sent to prison in Arizona. He was on the verge of being released a few years later when authorities in Illinois filed their case, Berkley said.
Walsh's body remained unidentified and was kept in the basement of the Millard County Sheriff's Office for 13 years. An apparent series of mistakes by other law enforcement agencies prevented investigators from identifying Walsh years earlier.
A woman from the California Department of Corrections who had been talking to a Texas Ranger on Zyskowski's case got the ball rolling. Dental records from Washington were eventually used to identify Walsh.
"When you identify the victim, you're going to find out who killed her," said Capt. John Kimball, who has worked on the case from the beginning.
Berkley said because of the high-profile nature of the case his office will not release many details. A judge has already established a gag order, and the affidavit for Rhoades' arrest warrant was sealed.
Berkley said the last thing he wanted was to be forced to request a change of venue.
"We want to prosecute it here," he said.
Under an executive agreement, Rhoades will not be allowed to contest his extradition. If he is convicted in Utah and receives anything less than the death penalty, it's possible he could be sent back to Illinois to serve the remainder of his life sentence there, Berkley said.
But Berkley said both the physical and forensic evidence in his case and the memories of most of the potential witnesses are very good.
"The majority of our witnesses are law enforcement officers. They have records and documents. The evidence is well-preserved," Berkley said. "We feel very comfortable with the strength of our case."
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