Serial Killer Caught by Victim's Friends Gets 160 Years

They lured Khalil Wheeler-Weaver with fake social media account
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 7, 2021 2:19 PM CDT
Serial Killer Caught by Victim's Friends Gets 160 Years
Aliyah, left, and Laverne Butler, sister and mother of Sarah Butler, wear shirts with her picture as they give victim impact statements during the sentencing for Khalil Wheeler-Weaver in Newark, NJ, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

A New Jersey man who used dating apps to lure and kill three women five years ago was sentenced Wednesday to 160 years in prison after a trial in which it was revealed that friends of one victim did their own detective work on social media to ferret out the suspect. Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, 25, sat motionless as the judge gave the sentence in state court in Newark. The sentencing was preceded by emotional statements by family members of victims Robin West and Sarah Butler, the AP reports. In a brief statement before they spoke, Wheeler-Weaver denied responsibility, telling Superior Court Judge Mark S. Ali that he was framed.

The sentences covered three murders, one attempted murder, and other counts including kidnapping, aggravated arson, and desecration of human remains. The Essex County prosecutor's office had credited friends of Butler, a college student from Montclair, with using social media to help police find Wheeler-Weaver. They gained access to her social media accounts, set up a fake account, lured Wheeler-Weaver to a meeting in Montclair and notified police, according to prosecutors. A fourth woman who survived an attack and testified at Wheeler-Weaver's trial also provided crucial information that helped investigators.

Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that Wheeler-Weaver, then 20, used the dating apps to lure the women for sex and then strangled them. Their bodies were found between September and December 2016 in northern New Jersey. Investigators also presented evidence from Wheeler-Weaver’s cellphone that placed him where the victims disappeared and where their bodies were found. Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Adam Wells noted Wednesday that the killings were separated by weeks, giving Wheeler-Weaver a chance to contemplate his actions before killing again. "The defendant believed these victims were disposable. They were killed and then he went on about his day as if nothing had happened," he said. "But each of these women's lives mattered." (More serial killer stories.)

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