taught to her by her parents, and which he had learned from her stepfather. He raped, bludgeoned and strangled Traxler at Germany Creek, burying her beside a tree. By the terms of the plea deal, he was sentenced to 55 years in prison at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Because of his violent tendencies and criminal record, authorities strongly suspected he had been involved in the unexplained disappearances of other preteen girls throughout the region besides Traxler and Rudd. They were especially convinced of Kondro's role in Silvernails' disappearance in 1982, given the striking similarities in modus operandi between her case and those of the other girls, the location of the crime, and the fact that Kondro had dated Silvernails’ mother. Detectives planned to question him further about the other unsolved disappearances, but he balked at discussing them due to concerns about a capital punishment imposition. Kondro died in prison of liver disease likely related to Hepatitis C infection. Media and criminal profiling Kondro's cases, his victims and the circumstances surrounding his actions have all drawn considerable attention across print, Internet and broadcast media, not only due to the heinous nature but also to the possible factors and implications in the development of psychopathy, and the potential for psychological profilers to identify warning signs and traits of serial killers and violent criminals. Such criminal profiles can be used to identify criminals at high risk of becoming violent offenders, expediting both steps to monitor and alter the violent behavior (including in youth detention centers for juvenile offenders) as well as protect potential victims. Kondro was profiled by John E. Douglas of the FBI Behavioral Science Unit (BSU), one of the founders of offender profiling, on the MSNBC documentary (and subsequent Netflix series) Mindhunter. Douglas also discussed his profiling of Kondro in-depth in his book (co-authored with Mark Olshaker), The Killer Across the Table. The detective work and investigations into the abductions of Traxler and Rudd, and possibilities of Kondro's involvement with other disappearances in the Longview region, were featured in several true crime articles and books, including The Longview Serial Killer by author Lori Carangelo, and a number of television documentaries, including On the Case with Paula Zahn (episode "Broken Trust") and Cold Case Files ("Unicorns and Alligators"). See also List of serial killers in the United States References External links Erika Lyn Smith, Joseph Kondro Child Serial Killer,