Using the vast railway system of the United States, Angel Maturino Resendiz drifted from state to state committing murder from 1997 until 1999. His MO was simple. He rode the rails until he reached a location he deemed suitable for his crimes, got off and slayed the occupants of a nearby home, and then caught the next freight train out of town. Resendiz has claimed since his arrest that he committed fourteen killings throughout the country in this fashion, though authorities believe the total kills could be as high as twenty-four, and possible more.

Former FBI profiler John Douglas was quoted as saying Resendiz was "just a bungling crook... very disorganized", a claim buoyed by the fact that Resendiz often did not even enter his victim's homes with a weapon but instead used anything he could find once there to dispatch of the innocent people, usually favoring a blunt instrument to bludgeon them to death in their sleep. Evidence of sexual assault and robbery in many of the crimes was obvious, though the slayings themselves seemed to be the main goal. Resendiz was not entirely impulsive, however, and was careful not to invade the home of anyone that might put up a fight, instead victims that were often old, small, and/or female.

The beginning of the end for Resendiz was in late spring of 1999 when the FBI announced that they were seeking the Mexican citizen, then known as Rafael Ramirez, in connection with several of the killings. It was not until July 13 that Texas Ranger Drew Carter negotiated the outlaws surrender, however. Carter had arranged the deal by establishing contact through Resendiz' sister, Manuela. Resendiz was detained peacefully at the border outside of El Paso, Texas.

Resendiz has been formally charged with only one of the killings despite ample figerprint evidence linking him to many of the slayings. Despite claims of extreme mental illness, the man who had become known as "The Rail Killer" was found guilty of murdering Dr. Claudia Benton, 39, in her Houston home in 1998. The sentence of death imposed on May 17, 1999, suprised nobody. Resendiz was shipped off to Texas' death row to await execution.

The condemmed slayer has since moved to waive his appeals and speed his execution along. He has also given directions to Florida investigators that led to the graves of two more victims, a couple that had not previously been rleated to Resendiz' crime spree and whose remains may never have been recovered otherwise.

5/25/2002-It was reported in March that Resendiz had recently admitted guilt in three more Texas killings, none of which had been previously attributed to him. Two of the alleged murders have yet to be verified by authorities but the other may very well be the shooting death of a Jane Doe in Bexar County in 1986.