Paul Ezra Rhoades

Paul Ezra Rhoades (January 18, 1957 – November 18, 2011) was an American spree killer and suspected serial killer convicted of three murders committed in Idaho during a three-week crime spree in 1987. He is the prime suspect in at least four additional killings in Utah and Wyoming dating back to 1984, however, he was never conclusively linked to these murders. One of these crimes was eventually solved thanks to the use of genetic genealogy, ruling out Rhoades as the perpetrator and casting doubt of his involvement in the other cases.

He was executed for two of his confirmed murders in 2011, becoming the first person to be executed in Idaho in over seventeen years.

Early life Paul Ezra Rhoades was born on January 18, 1957, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, the first of four children born to Augustus and Pauline Rhoades. His early life proved turbulent, as Rhoades was struck with polio since the age of 4, for which he constantly had to be hospitalized, and at home, his parents constantly argued. At the age of 10, he began drinking and soon dropped out of high school, after which he started using various drugs. Because of this, Rhoades developed an addiction to methamphetamines which would persist up until his arrest. At the same time, however, he started breaking into various homes and stole any valuables he could find.

Murders On the morning of March 1, 1987, the body of 21-year-old Stacy Dawn Baldwin, a Red Mini Barn clerk who was working the night shift, was found in an archery range about five miles northwest of Blackfoot. She had been shot three times, and it was quickly determined that her killing was likely linked to a robbery gone wrong that occurred the night before. Haddon was quickly rushed to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for treatment, but succumbed to his injuries only hours later. She had been abducted from the parking lot of a supermarket two days prior after dropping off lesson plans at the school where she worked. During the abduction, she cashed two $1,000 checks at separate branches of a bank. She was shot nine times and then raped, quite possibly after she was already deceased. While he was detained at the Nevada Highway Patrol Office, his items, including a handgun, were confiscated and handed over to authorities in Idaho. This claim was later contested by defense attorney John Radin, as Rodriguez later claimed that this had never occurred while being questioned by him. On the following day, after less than five hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts against Rhoades, with his sentencing phase set for March 16.

In the meantime, Rhoades was sent off to stand trial for the murder of Baldwin, which was held on March 3. His attorneys contended that the circumstantial evidence of the prosecution was flimsy, and that his client's alibi of babysitting his sister's two children at the supposed time of the crime could be easily corroborated by his family members. In addition, they also claimed that a man's watch found in Rhoades' possession, which was claimed to have been stolen from Baldwin, was actually bought by Teresa Rhoades as a Christmas gift for her son. His final trial for the murder of Haddon was subsequently set for April 25.

On March 24, Rhoades was sentenced to death for Michelbacher's murder and to life imprisonment without parole for all the remaining charges. That motion was denied, and Boyle was allowed to proceed as the main judge. In a bid to avoid another prolonged trial, Rhoades pleaded guilty to all charges, while still retaining his right to appeal his convictions. As a result of the plea, he was subsequently sentenced to two life terms without parole, but still claimed that he was innocent of this crime. On the following day, however, he overruled that decision and announced that he would reconsider, as he considered the defendant's complaint about not being present for the arguments phase in the original ruling. This was eventually denied, and Rhoades was promptly sentenced to death for this murder as well, in addition to a life term plus 45 years for the other charges relating to Baldwin's death.

Possible additional murders While awaiting trial for Haddon's murder, Rhoades was interviewed by Utah police for a possible connection to at least three murders in their jurisdiction that matched his modus operandi. The killings, which occurred in Salt Lake City and Layton, were the following: Christine Gallegos (18): shot to death at a parking lot in suburban Salt Lake City on May 15, 1985. Carla Maxwell (20): clerk who was shot five times while working at a 7-Eleven store in Layton on April 25, 1986. In addition, they had located another handgun which linked him to numerous burglaries and thefts committed at the Wasatch Front. The main investigator for the task force, Jim Bell, later revealed in an interview with the Jackson Hole Guide that he was able to place Rhoades in the area at the time after conducting an interview with him.

In May 2025, Othram identified Gallegos' killer as Ricky Lee Stallworth, an airman at the Hill Air Force Base who died from natural causes in 2023. Due to the identification, Rhoades is no longer considered a suspect in this case. All of these appeals were rejected, and he was subsequently executed via lethal injection at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna on November 18, 2011.