Atlanta homicide detectives will talk to a homeless man accused of strangling a prostitute 13 years ago to see if he knows anything about other streetwalkers who were killed around that time, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Michael D. Harvey was arrested Monday after DNA linked him to Valerie Payton, whose body was found Oct. 19, 1994, in high weeds in the Reynoldstown neighborhood in Atlanta.
Payton was nude but wrapped in a blanket, according to the homicide detective in charge of the case at the time.
In the mid-1990s, Atlanta police were investigating the possibility that a serial killer was going after prostitutes, including Payton. Two men have been convicted of at least two of those deaths that were on the list that at one time had the names of eight women.
"There were a couple of arrests made in those murders back then," said Atlanta Police Department spokeswoman Judy Pal. "We are looking at him to see if he's involved with any other crimes around that time."
Fulton County had requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigation compare DNA evidence against its database of samples provided by state prisoners, according to GBI spokesman John Bankhead.
Georgia law has required since 2000 that the state collect samples from state prison inmates. The state also now requires DNA samples from felons sentenced to probation.
Harvey, 46, was released last July from the Georgia prison system, where he had been held for two years for an aggravated assault conviction.
Harvey also was imprisoned four other times since 1980 for crimes such as aggravated assault with intent to rape, burglary and car theft.
Retired police Lt. Danny Agan, who was head of APD's homicide unit then, said a task force was put together to consider whether a serial killer was stalking streetwalkers.
Besides the fact all the victims were prostitutes, there were similarities in how they were killed. Like the other victims, Payton had been stabbed multiple times and strangled, the cause of death.
Eventually, investigators realized some of the cases were unrelated.
"The feeling was ... we were dealing with more than one individual," Agan said. "All these murders were unique.
"Typically, what happens when you have prostitutes, being in a high risk group, is this kind of crime," he said.
"They're out there working on the street, and their job is to have sex with strangers. So they put themselves at risk just to make money."
About the Author
