Flint reported 35 murders in all of 2009, but with 34 murders to date in 2010, it is on pace to meet its record setting 61 homicides in 1986. It is in Flint where an unknown serial killer is stalking the streets, looking for yet new victims that he can stab, slash and kill.

Murder, as indicated above, is not unusual in Flint and nearby cities, noting that almost half of all victims in that city this year were left to die on its darken streets. Either no one saw the assaults or somehow holds the belief that to talk to police would automatically brand them as a “snitch.” This has frightened many citizens into an almost mafia-like “omerta” or urban code of silence. Without the “force multiplier” that alert citizens with information can provide police, crime will continue to thrive in such environments.

There are many reasons for murder, but few make sense to most of us. While some have their own theories, few if any seem to have the answers. In the case of Flint and the State of Michigan, the 8th most populous state in America, you might suggest that it’s the economy, i.e., the lack of work; or perhaps the breakdown in our family structure and the number of men that fail to take responsibility for the children they sire; or, as in the case of Flint, perhaps because of a lack of police presence on the street, noting almost 50 police officers were laid off from that city’s force earlier this year. Some of Flint’s murders were the result of domestic disputes, or robberies, or just random bullets fired into a private homes.

Somewhere, though, in or around Flint in a silent serial killer on the prowl, someone believed to have murdered five and wounded eight since the middle of May, to include two handicapped individuals. In this case the offender is believed to drive up to a lone individual, pretending to have car problems or asking for directions. He then attacks his victims, all but one that were older, slight of build Black men. He overwhelms them with an edged weapon, slashing and stabbing, sometimes around their head, and then he flees the area, leaving his latest victim to be found, if, that is, someone reports the random body left in or near a busy intersection. The killer has been described a 6’ muscular white male in his late 20′s or early 30′s, weighing approximately 200 pounds, with light colored hair, with a mustache and a goatee (which he may have shaved off by now). Of further importance is the fact that he wears a distinctive ear piercing across the top of his left ear. Authorities are working to identify all of the killer’s victims, but their task is complicated, especially noting that in 2009 Flint led the nation in the rate of people attacked with weapons.

So we have a description of the killer, we know his MO, his stalking grounds and his choice of victims and that he strikes between the hours of 11 PM and 6 AM. While we don’t know why he’s doing this, we can suggest that he likely has an outstanding criminal history and has targeted his victims for reasons known only to him, perhaps because of their vulnerability, or they may represent something he wants to wipe out, or, perhaps, he just likes to kill and his victims, traveling alone, at dark, in an urban area are just easy targets. While a firearm allows a shooter to stand off from his/her victims, the use of an edged weapon is a very up close and personal method of murder. He can look into his victim’s eyes to see the fear and pain that he inflicts, with the victim’s blood spatter covering the his clothes and shoes. These are terribly brutal crimes, ones that suggest the killer likely enjoys his own handiwork. These may turn out to be hate crimes, something like the mass murder of eight in a Connecticut work place this past week may turn out to be.

As many of the serial stabber’s crimes have taken place near major road intersections, it would be natural for authorities to flood such areas with marked cars, unmarked cars, and even undercover officers, perhaps posing as likely victims. Such officers would hope beyond hope that he chooses to attack them instead of another innocent victim simply out at night. Then the table will quickly be turned on this new serial killer.

What we know about such killers is that they seldom quit of their own accord and normally keep killing until caught, meanwhile the number of victims will continue to rise. Dennis Rader, Wichita’s “BTK” serial killer murdered 10 people between 1979 and 1991. Defying statistics, he then hid in plain sight until his desire for fame and attention caused him to write letters to the media concerning his old crimes, letters that led to his 2005 arrest and subsequent conviction. Then there was Lonnie Franklin, Jr., southern California’s infamous “Grim Sleeper” serial killer who was responsible for the death of 11 or more women. He was actively out and killing from 1985-1988, and then he too dropped from sight, this until 2002 when he resumed his murderous activities. Franklin, a 57-year-old retired police mechanic, was ultimately identified when the DNA of his son, after a criminal conviction, was collected and compared with that found on the “Sleeper’s” victims. It was close enough to lead police to Franklin, and when he was observed to spit on the street, his saliva was collected by an alert police officer, compared to that found on the “sleeper’s victims, and Franklin was arrested, hopefully to kill no more.

Michigan’s serial stabber must now make a choice: will he will continue to hunt, stalk, stab and kill, thereby directly challenging police to catch him if they can, or like Rader and Franklin before him, stop the killing (for now) and simply carry on his current life. Perhaps, though, he might just move on to a new city or new state to continue his deadly assaults. In this killer’s case, time will quickly tell.

For more information concerning personal and family safety and security, to obtain a free copy of our DVD “Protecting Children from Predators,” to find out the identity and location of sexual offenders in your community and neighborhood, and to learn how to get the new iPhone, iPod, and Blackberry application “Silent Bodyguard,” one that with just one-button allows you to send a personal distress message to multiple people and transmits your exact GPS coordinates every 60 seconds, go to www.LiveSecure.org or the itunes website.