Robert Hansen: The Serial Killer Who Hunted Women in the Alaskan Wilderness

Robert Christian Hansen — known as the 'Butcher Baker' — abducted, raped, and murdered at least 17 women in and around Anchorage, Alaska, over a period of approximately 12 years. He also sexually assaulted more than 30 women. His crimes were concealed by Alaska's vast, remote wilderness, and many of his victims were found in isolated areas far from the city. It was the courage of a 17-year-old woman on a June night in 1983 that finally brought the case to a close. Hansen pleaded guilty on February 27, 1984, and died in prison on August 21, 2014.

The crimes

Hansen targeted women who were especially vulnerable to disappearing without notice — including sex workers and other marginalized women in the Anchorage area. His method was consistent and deliberate. He would approach a victim, offer money for sex, force her into his car, and take her to his home in the Muldoon area of Anchorage, where he raped and held her captive. He then drove the victim to Merrill Field airport, flew or drove her to a remote location in the Alaskan wilderness, and hunted her there.

The bodies of his victims were later found scattered across large distances, primarily in areas around Knik River and Horseshoe Lake in the Matanuska-Susitna region.

On June 13, 1983, Hansen subjected 17-year-old Cindy Paulson to exactly this pattern. He offered her money for sex, forced her into his car, brought her to his home, raped and held her captive. When he subsequently drove her to Merrill Field airport with the intention of flying her into the wilderness, Paulson managed to escape. She immediately sought help.

According to People Magazine, it was that split-second decision that saved her life and ultimately led police to Hansen.

Investigation

Cindy Paulson's testimony pointed directly at Robert Hansen, but the investigation initially faced a significant obstacle: Hansen — a respected local baker and well-known hunter in Anchorage — presented an apparently credible alibi. It took time before authorities connected his profile to the bodies that had gradually been discovered in the surrounding wilderness.

Investigators eventually mapped Hansen's patterns and cross-referenced known disappearances with the geographic locations of the remains. According to People Magazine, it was the combination of Paulson's testimony, physical evidence from his home, and the police investigation that ultimately cemented the case against him.

The bodies were located in remote areas that Hansen knew intimately from his hunting — terrain that an outsider would have struggled to navigate.

The case highlighted a particular challenge in crimes committed against marginalized victims: disappearances were not always reported quickly, and the wide geographic spread of crime scenes complicated the investigation.

Trial and sentencing

Robert Hansen pleaded guilty in Alaska state court to multiple murders as well as the abduction and rape of Cindy Paulson. According to Oxygen.com and Wikipedia, he pleaded guilty to a number of the most serious charges brought against him.

On February 27, 1984, the court handed down its sentence: 461 years plus life in prison. The exact wording of the sentencing conditions varies across available sources, and the full legal formulation is therefore not reproduced here.

This article does not include a full list of all identified and unidentified victims, as the complete list cannot be consistently verified across available sources.

The case today

Robert Hansen died in an Alaskan state prison on August 21, 2014, at the age of 75. His death brought the criminal case to a legal close, but the work of identifying his victims continued.

In 2021, one previously unidentified victim — known as 'Horseshoe Harriet' — was identified as Robin Pelkey through genetic genealogy, confirmed by Alaskan authorities. The identification came 37 years after the body was discovered and stands as an example of how modern DNA technology and genetic genealogy can still provide answers to grieving families — even decades after the crimes themselves were committed.

Cindy Paulson, who survived the attack at age 17 and played a decisive role as a witness in bringing Hansen to justice, remains a central figure in the historical documentation of this case. Her decision to flee at Merrill Field airport on that June night in 1983 was the turning point that set the entire investigation in motion.