3 Killers Who Confessed to Cold Cases Out of the Blue Part 4

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Galloway Township, Steven Goff, Ricky Hart
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Alan Rickle, John Clayool, Lake City, Ricky Hart
3. 6:00 – 9:00: John Clayool
4. 9:00 – 12:00: John Clayool, Verona Strickland
5. 12:00 – 15:00: Jerry Pelosi, Eric Taylor, John Mer
6. 15:00 – 18:00: John Mer

Notable quotes from "3 Killers Who Confessed to Cold Cases Out of the Blue Part 4"

• In the spring of 1990, 15-year-old Frederick Hart, who lived by Ricky, lived in Galloway Township, New Jersey.

  about Galloway Township · at 0:20

• Then, 23 years after the murder, on Monday, April 27th, 2013, at 5:00 a.m., 41-year-old Steven Goff walked into the Galloway Township Police Station.

  about Steven Goff · at 1:19

• One of Gooff's best friends, Alan Rickle, was interviewed.

  about Alan Rickle · at 3:49

• The mayor of the city was 58-year-old Wilmer Strickland.

  about Verona Strickland · at 5:19

• Then in November 1995, 19 years and 11 months after the double homicide, 34year-old John Clayool surrendered himself to the police. Clayool had been a neighbor of the Stricklands.

  about John Clayool · at 8:26

• In the summer of 1983, they were both convicted and sentenced. In 2023, John Mer told an FBI agent that he had committed a murder about four years before killing Jerry Pelosi around Halloween 1979 when he was about 24 years old.

  about John Mer · at 12:45

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Steven Goff — Person · 3 mentions · first at 0:15
• John Clayool — Person · 3 mentions · first at 4:59
• John Mer — Person · 3 mentions · first at 12:50
• Ricky Hart — Person · 2 mentions · first at 1:49
  Goff confessed to the murder of Ricky Hart.
• Verona Strickland — Person · 2 mentions · first at 5:21
• Jerry Pelosi — Person · 2 mentions · first at 12:20
  27-year-old Eric Taylor, killed an accountant in his 30s named Jerry Pelosi in San Francisco, California.
• Susan Marcia Rose — Person · 2 mentions
• Alan Rickle — Person · 1 mention · first at 3:49
• Wilmer Strickland — Person · 1 mention · first at 5:21
  The mayor of the city was 58-year-old Wilmer Strickland.
• Eric Taylor — Person · 1 mention · first at 12:15
  In February 1983, 28-year-old Mer and his associate, 27-year-old Eric Taylor, killed an accountant in his 30s named Jerry Pelosi in San Francisco, California.

Places & events

• Galloway Township — Place · 2 mentions · first at 0:24
• Lake City — Place · 1 mention · first at 5:05
  Lake City is a small city in southeast Minnesota.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:15 Number three, Steven Goff. In the spring of 1990, 15-year-old Frederick Hart, who lived by Ricky, lived in Galloway Township, New Jersey. He was in the ninth grade. On May 8th, 1990, Ricky went missing. In the past, Ricky had run away from home several times. However, he always contacted a friend or family member. But after May 8th, no one had heard from him, so he was reported missing. About a year and a half later, in December 1991, a hunter found his skeletal remains in some woods in the township. Dental records were used to identify the body.

1:02 At the time, the medical examiner said that the cause of death could not be determined. The police had no leads and the case quickly went cold. Over two decades went by and the case was hopelessly cold. Then, 23 years after the murder, on Monday, April 27th, 2013, at 5:00 a.m., 41-year-old Steven Goff walked into the Galloway Township Police Station. At the time, Goff was working as an investment adviser. He lived alone in Vetner City, New Jersey, which is about 13 mi from Galloway. Goff had a criminal record. When he was 18, he was arrested for drugs and served 5 years of prison.

1:49 Goff confessed to the murder of Ricky Hart. He said, quote, "I just couldn't live with myself anymore. It was tearing me apart." Gau said on May 7th, 1990, the day before Ricky Hart's family realized he was missing, he had stabbed Ricky multiple times in the chest. Goff did not reveal what type of relationship he had with Ricky. He also didn't explain the motive for the murder. Goff did say, quote, "I lost control over my emotions that day for multiple reasons. I think it might have been because I was whacked out on steroids," unquote.

2:28 The next day at Coff's first hearing, before he was even indicted and had a lawyer, he tried to plead guilty. The judge did not accept the plea because it was not the appropriate time. Instead, that day, Goff was charged with murder. The next day, April 3rd, Goff was interviewed by a reporter from NBC 10 Philadelphia. Goff was asked why he confessed. He said his life had been hell over the past 23 years. He also said, quote, "I want to give the family some closure. I think they're entitled to that. For 20 plus years, these people have went to bed wondering what happened to their son, and I wanted to give them some closure."

3:13 Goff knew that the case likely would have never been solved had he not confessed. He said, quote, "I wasn't worried about getting caught. I had no chance of getting caught from this crime whatsoever. I was away scot-free, but you know, that doesn't mean that I wasn't away in my mind." unquote. He also had a message for Ricky's family. He said, quote, "I'm sorry. For over 20 years, you have not known what happened to your son, and now you know. I can never give him back to you, but at least now I hope you see that you can have some closure."

3:49 One of Gooff's best friends, Alan Rickle, was interviewed. Rickle said that the weeks before Goff turned himself in, he had been racked with guilt. Brigle said that the weekend before Goff turned himself in, he thought about running away to Canada, but ultimately decided to turn himself in. Rickle also said that Gooff called him from jail. Goff told him that he had nightmares where he saw Ricky's mother who stared at him and asked, "How can you do this to my family?" unquote. Wle said that the nightmares haunted Gooff.

4:26 In June 2013, about two months after Steven Goff confessed to the murder of Ricky Hart, he plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter. A month later, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He must serve a minimum of 15 years. At the time of this recording, 54year-old Steven Goff is incarcerated at the Bayside State Prison in Leburg, New Jersey. His earliest parole eligibility date is March 31st, 2028 when he'll be 56. Number two, John Clayool. Lake City is a small city in southeast Minnesota. It's on the banks of the Mississippi River.

5:12 In 1975, the city had a population of about 4,400 people. The mayor of the city was 58-year-old Wilmer Strickland. Wilmer had been mayor since 1968. In the four years before that, he had been a city councilman. Wilmer and his 52-year-old wife, Verona, had five children who were grown up and no longer lived with them. On the afternoon of December 21st, 1975, one of the couple's sons went to their home to drop off Christmas gifts. He found the front door a jar. In the hallway was the dead body of his 58-year-old father, Wilmer.

5:56 His 52-year-old mother, Verona, was dead in the bedroom. Wilmer had been shot five times, and Verona was shot once in the head with a 22 caliber gun. The police thought it was a strange crime scene. There were no signs of a break-in or forced entry. Both Wilmer and Verona were dressed in their nightc clothes. It appeared that they were summoned out of bed late the night before or early that morning. Wilmer opened the door, let the killer inside, and then he was shot. The killer then went to the bedroom where he found Verona.

6:35 The killer fired at least six shots of Verona. However, she was only shot once in the head. The rest of the bullets went into the wall behind her. The police weren't sure if the killer had terrible aim or was nervous or if they were a good marksman and they purposely miss Verona to torture her. The murder weapon was never found. Nothing was stolen from the home and there was no indication that was a sex crime. There were several theories regarding motive. For example, Wilmer was trying to rid the city of drug trafficking.

7:14 He had requested and received $15,000 to pay an undercover police officer to stop the drug trafficking. So, he was perhaps killed by the drug traffickers. However, the murders didn't appear to be drugreated. Notably, the killer came to the front door and Wilmer opened it for them. This suggests that Wilmer either knew the killer or didn't perceive them as a threat. The police eliminate Wilmer and Verona's family members as suspects. The police had several persons of interest, but they never found any physical evidence to arrest anyone.

7:53 So, the case went colder than a winter night in Minnesota. In 1993, Colecase investigators reopened the case. The big problem was that there was a major lack of physical evidence. The police believe that the case would only be solved if someone with information about the murders came forward. So, they offered a $25,000 reward for information. However, if anyone besides the killer knew anything about the murders, they did not come forward. Then in November 1995, 19 years and 11 months after the double homicide, 34year-old John Clayool surrendered himself to the police. Clayool had been a neighbor of the Stricklands.

8:40 A few weeks before he turned himself in, Clayool confessed to the murders for the first time to the minister at his church. About 4 years earlier, Clayool had found religion. He was struggling with his conscience and he told the minister about the murders. The minister got an attorney in the congregation to help. The attorney contacted the police and arranged for Clayool to turn himself in. In custody, Clayool told the police what had happened that night. He said he had been smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol.

9:18 About 10 or 15 minutes before the murder, he decided to kill the couple. Around 2 am, he walked over to their home and knocked on the door. When Wilmer opened it, he told him he was locked out of his home and asked to use their phone. Wilmer led him inside. Wilmer didn't see that he had a rifle until after he entered the home. When he saw the rifle, he yelled at Verona to run. Clayool then opened fire and shot Wilmer. He then went to the bedroom where he killed Verona. Clayool was asked why he killed Wilmer and Verona.

9:58 Clayool said that he liked his neighbors. He said he just wanted to see what it was like to kill someone. At the time of the murders, Clayool was only 14 years old. Once after the murders, Clayool dropped out of school and left the area. He eventually traveled to Tennessee and then California. After several years away, he came back to Minnesota's Twin Cities area where he got a job as a barge loader. He also got married and had daughters who were 8 and 11 when he turned himself in. He and his wife had divorced several years earlier.

10:36 The police said that Clayool had been one of the original persons of interest in the case. There were tracks in the snow going from Clayool's home to the Strickland's home. However, the police never found physical evidence that he was in the Strickland's home or that he shot them to death. The district attorney offered Clayool a plea deal. If he agreed not to be tried as juvenile, he could plead guilty to two counts of seconddegree murder. The maximum sentence would be 20 years of prison. Clayool accepted the plea deal.

11:13 On November 30th, 1995, John Clayool pleaded guilty to two counts of secondderee murder. In early January 1996, he was sentenced to 10 years to 1 month in prison. He had been eligible for parole after about 6 and 1/2 years. If Clayool got parole, he would have been released in 2001. And if he served his entire sentence, he would have been released in late December 2005 or early 2006. Number one, John Michael. In August 2023, 68-year-old John Michael walked into the FBI field office in Portland Oregon. He told an agent that he wanted to quote confess to several murders unquote. Mer had already served about 30 years of prison for murder.

12:11 In February 1983, 28-year-old Mer and his associate, 27-year-old Eric Taylor, killed an accountant in his 30s named Jerry Pelosi in San Francisco, California. Taylor and Mer got into Pelos's apartment and beat him in the head with a hammer and slash him across the chest with a knife. Pelosi was involved in the drug scene and Iran Taylor stole $9,000 in cash and drugs from him. Mer and Taylor were arrested days later during a routine traffic stop. In the summer of 1983, they were both convicted and sentenced. In 2023, John Mer told an FBI agent that he had committed a murder about four years before killing Jerry Pelosi around Halloween 1979 when he was about 24 years old.

13:04 Mer said that he was at a skating rink in the Backbay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. He met a young woman with red hair at a skating rink. He said he didn't know her name. She had been fighting with her boyfriend. They went for a walk and they came across an apartment building that was under construction. She wanted to explore it, so they went inside. He said as they were climbing the stairs, he struck her once in the head with a hammer. He was sure that he killed her with one blow. He then dragged her body up the stairs to the second floor where he had sex with the body.

13:45 He said afterward he took her wallet and threw it in the river. He then fled to New York and eventually ended up in California. Burmer said that he was surprised when he was released from the prison in California that he wasn't arrested for the woman's murder because he thought they would have connected his DNA to the crime. But he had been out of prison for nearly a decade and nothing had happened. The FBI contacted the Suffach County District Attorney's Office. They had an unsolved murder that matched Mer's confession.

14:21 On October 30th, 1974, 24year-old Susa Marcia Rose, who had red hair, was found murdered in an apartment building that was under construction. She had been sexually assaulted and struck multiple times in the head with a blunt object. Initially, the police didn't have a suspect in the case. Rose was from a small town in Pennsylvania and had moved to Boston 2 years earlier. She worked as a secretary. She didn't seem to have any enemies and didn't have a high-risk lifestyle. Then, 4 months later, in early March 1983, an arrest was made in the case.

15:03 Two people told the police that they suspected that 20-year-old Scott Kolahan killed Susan Rose. A young woman, Linda Dixon, said that around 2:45 a.m. on October 30th, she and another young woman were hanging out at Callahan's apartment. He left and when he returned 3 hours later, he was splattered with blood. Another person named John Webb who was described as an internate carnival worker said that weeks after the murder, Kolahan threatened him. He said he would quote do a Susan Rose unquote on him. Webb accused Callahan of murdering Rose and he claimed that Callahan said, "Yeah, so what?"

15:50 Scott Kahan went to trial in June 1981. The main evidence against him was the testimony of Linda Dixon and John Webb. Colin's lawyer pointed out inconsistencies in their testimony. The lawyer also pointed out that there was no physical evidence in the case. His lawyer said that the prosecution's case was weak and reminded the jury that they must acquit if they had any reasonable doubt. After a 3-week trial, the jury acquitted Scott Callahan of all charges. No one else was charged with Susan Rose's murder after the trial.

16:28 26 years after the murder in 2005, DNA testing was done on the evidence and a profile was created. The DNA was compared to the DNA of persons of interest in the case, including Scott Kolahan. A match was not found. In 2023, after John Mer confessed to the murder, his DNA was compared to the DNA from the crime scene. It was a match. So, in September 2023, 44 years after the death of 24year-old Susan Rose, 68-year-old John Mer was charged with murder. Mer also confessed to murdering a woman in the South. The police have not released any other details regarding that confession, and they said they were investigating.

17:17 No update has been provided in the years since Mer confessed. John Mer, who is currently in his early 70s, has yet to go to trial for Susan Rose's murder, and it's believed he's being held in jail in Suffach County while he awaits trial. Thank you so much for watching today's video. If you enjoyed it, we'd really appreciate it if you subscribed. Also, don't forget to watch our shorts on YouTube, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Once again, thank you for watching.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "3 Killers Who Confessed to Cold Cases Out of the Blue Part 4"?

In order: 0:00 Galloway Township, Steven Goff, Ricky Hart; 3:00 Alan Rickle, John Clayool, Lake City, Ricky Hart; 6:00 John Clayool; 9:00 John Clayool, Verona Strickland; 12:00 Jerry Pelosi, Eric Taylor, John Mer; 15:00 John Mer.

What is mentioned in this Criminally Listed episode?

12 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Steven Goff, John Clayool, John Mer, Galloway Township, Ricky Hart, Verona Strickland. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "3 Killers Who Confessed to Cold Cases Out of the Blue Part 4"?

The episode runs 18 min; the transcript is about 2,573 words in 25 timestamped sections.

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