Dead And Buried: A True Story Of Serial Rape And Murder. Corey Mitchell
garbage bag, used duct tape rolls from Krebs’s upstairs masterbedroom, and two topographical maps of Davis Canyon in his bedroom closet. They found an oversize belt buckle in the top drawer of Krebs’s filing cabinet, along with several crudely drawn sketches and patterns of belt buckles. Zaragoza noticed a recurring theme on the drawings and the belt buckle itself—a strange figure-eight symbol. More like the number eight if it was lying down on its side.
The infinity symbol.
The officers systematically made notes of their discoveriesand continued to search. They found an audiotape labeled as “House Meeting 4-21-98,” more 84 Lumber receipts with customer information on them, and a Canon camera, located on top of Krebs’s refrigerator. They also found a cream-coloredVictoria’s Secret negligee, size 5/Small.
Special Agent Navarro made the most startling discovery of all. As he canvassed Krebs’s house, he abruptly stopped in the front living room. He scanned the room slowly, not quite sure what he was looking for. He noticed mainly innocuousitems such as a television, a beaten-down couch, and some nondescript étagères.
Navarro was about to exit the living room when something caught his eye. It was an old hand-carved wooden box located on top of one of Krebs’s bookshelves. He walked over to the shelf and grabbed the 6” x 4” x 2” box. He turned it over in his hands and looked at both the top and bottom of it. He then placed it on the coffee table in the living room and unhooked the metal locking clasp. At first it looked like a random collectionof miscellaneous items: two matchbooks from Outlaws, “A Grubbin’ and Guzzlin’ Establishment”; a Superstar84 star-shaped pin; yellow glass icicles; an orange Sebadoh guitar pick.
One item, however, stood out. A small black plastic eight ball key chain holder. There was no ring attached to it that would hold keys, but it was definitely part of a key chain. He quickly closed the box and held on to it tightly.
Navarro informed Zaragoza and Sandusky of his discovery.The agents decided it was time to pack up. They marked the remaining items and gathered their findings for the day. The investigation into Rex Krebs was only now ready to begin.
On Sunday, March 21, 1999, Detective Jerome Tushbant summoned investigator Larry Hobson to the San Luis Obispo Police Department. Detective Tushbant wanted Hobson to interviewKrebs to learn if he knew anything about the disappearance of Aundria Crawford.
Hobson picked Krebs up from the county jail and transferredhim back over to the police department. When they arrived, Hobson led Krebs into the employee break room.
Krebs waived his constitutional rights and agreed to speak with Detective Hobson.
Hobson asked Krebs where he was on the evening of March 11, 1999. The calm Krebs stated that he was nowhere near Branch Street. He told Hobson that he was out buying flowers for his girlfriend, Roslynn Moore, and purchasing groceries.
Suddenly Krebs looked up at Hobson and began to tell him a new version of the events from that night. He remembered that he had been in the neighborhood, on Aundria Crawford’s street even. He claimed that he had visited a friend on Branch Street, two blocks south of Aundria’s residence. Krebs added that he frequented nearby Manuel’s Liquor Store. He also stated that he occasionally ducked into the Gaslight Lounge, located on Broad Street at the corner of Branch Street, two blocks north of Aundria’s duplex.
FIFTEEN
April 22, 1999
Davis Canyon Road, Davis Canyon, California
2:00 P.M.
For over one month the residents of San Luis Obispo were unaware that Rex Krebs was in jail. Most of the people were under the impression that the Aundria Crawford case was moving at a glacierlike pace, just like the Kristin Smart and Rachel Newhouse cases. Soon after Aundria’s disappearance gun sales surged, enrollment in self-defense courses increased,and people began to walk down the quiet streets in pairs and in groups, instead of by themselves. The fear had been ratcheted up several notches in San Luis Obispo.
On this day their fears would subside—but the horrors were only beginning to unfold.
The residents of Davis Canyon and See Canyon had no idea what was going on in their secluded neck of the world. Police had scoured the area the previous two days looking for something. The neighbors had no idea what they were trying to find. Several police vehicles were ushered in and out of rugged Davis Canyon Road. One Davis Canyon resident noticeda 35’ x 8’ sheriff’s emergency response vehicle. Police officers had to trim trees that hung across the road so the truck could pass through. A coroner’s vehicle also entered this beautiful, remote section of California’s Central Coast.
Muriel Wright owned her own two-story house that sat on property she shared with her adult daughter, Debbie, at the end of Davis Canyon Road. She also owned the barn apartmentbehind the house. She rented it out to a quiet fellow by the name of Rex Krebs. They lived on approximately 240 acres of wooded, secluded property. The neighbors had no idea why the police were heading back to her property.
Davis Canyon resident Ed Diable spotted a police car drivingdown the dirt road from the direction of Wright’s properties. Diable glanced into the squad car driven by DetectiveLarry Hobson. As difficult as it was, Diable was able to catch a glimpse of a man in the backseat. He spotted a pensiveface and a bushy mustache. As he glanced up to the top of the man’s head, he saw the shaved dome. There was only one person with that distinctive look who lived back in this area—Rex Krebs. Diable wondered what in the heck was going on.
He would find out soon enough.
The day before, April 21, 1999, Detective Larry Hobson had taken Rex Krebs for a ride. When the two men returned to the jail, Hobson asked Krebs if he could see him tomorrow.Krebs nonchalantly replied, “Maybe. I’ll deal with it tomorrow.”
On April 22, 1999, Hobson returned as promised. Soon thereafter, he and Krebs were back in his police car, this time heading for Krebs’s home in Davis Canyon. On the way out to the remote location, Hobson contacted fellow investigator Bill Hanley, who drove, and Officers Keith Storton and Russ Griffith, who followed in their marked San Luis Obispo PoliceDepartment vehicle, with a camcorder.
Krebs first directed Hobson to the A-frame, which was located just under a mile-and-a-half from the See Canyon Road turnoff onto Davis Canyon Road. The A-frame, on the left side of the road, was marked by a tiny mailbox with the name WRIGHT on a wooden post. The abandoned home had a natural brown wood siding that appeared slightly weathered. The walls were a fleshy tan color. Not an A-frame house in the true sense of the word, it had more of a front facade in the shape of the letter A. There were, however, several broken windows on the old building—a favorite for vandals severely off the beaten path. Overgrown eucalyptus trees hid the house. At night it resembled a house ripped out of the pages of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale.
Hansel and Gretel would not stop by here for a visit.
All five men piled out of their vehicles. Krebs, in his convict-issue bright orange jumpsuit, pointed up the hillsidefor Hobson, who scaled up the slope. Krebs pointed at a pile, nodded his head, and looked down at his feet.
SIXTEEN
April 23, 1999
Davis Canyon Road, Davis Canyon, California
8:30 A.M.
The following morning, Agent David Kice of the FBI walked to the location where Rex Krebs pointed to as the locationof Rachel Newhouse’s body. It was easy to spot, thanks to the yellow crime scene tape. The burial site was located almostthirty feet high on top of a grassy hill about sixty feet from Davis Canyon Road. Agent Kice was the team leader for the body recovery. Twenty men from the San Luis Obispo PoliceDepartment, the coroner’s office, and the district attorney’s office supported Agent Kice.
Two of Agent Kice’s support team took over the digging chores. They began to dig with a deliberate, careful pace so as not to destroy any possible evidence. After several minutes one of the men hit something that made him pause. As he inspectedthe dirt, he noticed a mesh wire that covered a black plastic garbage