Randall Brent Woodfield: The I-5 Killer
Overview
Randall Brent Woodfield, often known as the I-5 Killer or the I-5 Bandit, was a former college football player and Green Bay Packers draft pick whose violent crimes spread fear across the Pacific Northwest and Northern California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His nickname came from the Interstate 5 corridor, where many of his robberies, sexual assaults, shootings, and murders occurred. Woodfield was convicted of the murder of Shari Lynn Hull and the attempted murder of her surviving co-worker, but investigators have linked him to additional killings through evidence, case patterns, and later forensic testing.
Woodfield was born on December 26, 1950, in Oregon. He grew up athletic and socially successful, and he became a standout football player at Portland State University. In 1974, the Green Bay Packers selected him in the NFL draft, but his football career collapsed after repeated criminal and behavioral problems, including indecent exposure arrests. After that, his offenses escalated. By the late 1970s, he had been convicted of crimes involving robbery and sexual assault, served prison time, and then returned to society. Not long after his release, a new and more violent crime spree began.
Escalation Along Interstate 5
Woodfield's known attacks often followed a similar pattern. He targeted women in homes, offices, businesses, convenience stores, motels, and other places near the I-5 corridor. He sometimes wore disguises, including a fake beard, and used a firearm to control victims. His crimes included armed robbery, forced sexual acts, kidnapping, rape, attempted murder, and murder. Some victims were people he knew or had met socially, while others were strangers who crossed his path during robberies.
The I-5 corridor made it difficult for police agencies to immediately connect the crimes. The attacks stretched through Oregon, Washington, and California, crossing city, county, and state lines. In early 1981, the number of similar assaults and shootings increased rapidly, and investigators began to suspect that the same offender was responsible for multiple crimes.
Known and Linked Murder Victims
- Cherie Lynn Ayers - Died October 9, 1980, in Portland, Oregon. Ayers was a 29-year-old X-ray technician and a former classmate of Woodfield. She was attacked inside her apartment in downtown Portland and was later found by her fiance on October 11, 1980. She had been sexually assaulted and violently killed. Woodfield was questioned because he knew her, but he was not charged at the time.
- Darcey Renee Fix - Died November 27, 1980, in Portland, Oregon. Fix was 22 years old and was killed on Thanksgiving Day inside a North Portland home. She had known Woodfield socially through college connections. She and Douglas Keith Altig were found shot to death. Later DNA testing linked Woodfield to this case.
- Douglas Keith Altig - Died November 27, 1980, in Portland, Oregon. Altig was 24 years old and was with Darcey Renee Fix when both were killed. The double homicide was carried out inside Fix's home. The victims were bound and shot. The case remained unresolved for years before later forensic evidence connected Woodfield to the murders.
- Shari Lynn Hull - Died January 18, 1981, in Keizer, Oregon. Hull was 20 years old and was working in a Transamerica office building with a female co-worker when Woodfield entered the office. He sexually assaulted both women and shot them. Hull died from her injuries. Woodfield was convicted of murdering Hull.
- Donna Lee Eckard - Died February 3, 1981, in Mountain Gate, Shasta County, California. Eckard was 37 years old. She and her teenage daughter were found shot to death in their home north of Redding, California. Their murders were later linked to the I-5 crime series.
- Janell Charlotte Jarvis - Died February 3, 1981, in Mountain Gate, Shasta County, California. Jarvis was 14 years old and was killed alongside her mother, Donna Lee Eckard. The crime scene showed that the attack was sexually motivated and extremely violent. The case became one of the California murders associated with Woodfield's I-5 spree.
- Julie Ann Reitz - Died February 15, 1981, in Beaverton, Oregon. Reitz was 18 years old and knew Woodfield through his work as a bartender or bouncer. She was attacked in her home during the early morning hours and shot to death. Years later, forensic evidence linked Woodfield to her murder.
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