Rodney Halbower

Gypsy Hill killings, San Mateo slasher

  Active for 1 year
(1976) in United States

5

CONFIRMED
VICTIMS

5

POSSIBLE
VICTIMS
Jump to:
  1. Summary
  2. Serial Killer Profile
  3. Serial Killer Type
  4. General Information
  5. Characteristics
  6. Childhood
  7. Cognitive Ability
  8. Incarceration
  9. Death
  10. 11 Timeline Events
  11. Serial Killers Active During Spree
  12. Boolean Statistical Questions
  13. 9 Books About Rodney Halbower
  14. 3 External References
  15. Internal References

Rodney Halbower (Rodney Lynn Halbower) an American serial killer known as the Gypsy Hill killings and the San Mateo slasher. The Gypsy Hill killings refers to five unsolved killings, of young women in San Mateo County, California during early 1976. In 2014, the FBI named Halbower as a person of interest in the Gypsy Hill killings; as of 2015, he was charged with two of the murders based on DNA taken from cigarette butts saved from the scene of a 1976 killing. Halbower is already in prison serving a life sentence with charges of attempted murder, assault, rape and robbery. With the exception of two brief periods when he had escaped, Halbower has been in prison for the past 38 years. In 2018, Halbower was sentenced to two additional life sentences.

Rodney Halbower Serial Killer Profile

Serial Killer Rodney Halbower (aka) Gypsy Hill killings, San Mateo slasher, was active for 1 year in 1976, known to have ( 5 confirmed / 5 possible ) victims. This Serial Killer was active in the following countries: United States

Rodney Halbower was born on June 27th 1948 in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. During his education he had academic, social or discipline problems.

He had 1 daughter (April), kidnapped her when she was 7 after escaping from Carson City Prison on June 25th 1977.

Prior to his spree he had killed, commited crimes, served time in jail, and served time in prison. He saw a psychologist.

In 1976 (Age 27/28) Rodney Halbower started his killing spree, during his crimes as a serial killer he was known to rape, and murder his victims. At the time of his crimes he was living with prison since 1976.

He was arrested on November 20th 2017 (Age 69), convicted on September 19th 2018 (Age 70), sentenced to life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole at the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City, California, US.

Profile Completeness: 65%
serial killers by profile completeness

Rodney Halbower has been listed on Killer.Cloud since August of 2018 and was last updated 4 years ago.

Rodney Halbower a known:

Rodney Halbower
Serial Killer Profile:

Updated: 2019-05-13 Collected by Killer.Cloud
General Information
Name: Rodney Halbower
Nickname: Gypsy Hill killings, San Mateo slasher
Victims: 5 - 5
Years Active: 1976 - 1976
Ages Active: 27/28 - 27/28
Active Countries: United States
Life Span: 1948 -     
Characteristics
Gender: Male
Sexual Preference: N/A
Astrological Sign: Cancer
Jun 21 - Jul 23
Birth Month: June
Marital Status: N/A
Children: 1 daughter (April), kidnapped her when she was 7 after escaping from Carson City Prison on June 25th 1977
Living With: prison since 1976
Childhood Information
D.O.B.: Jun 27, 1948
Birth Location: Muskegon Heights, Michigan
Birth Order: N/A
Siblings: N/A
Raised By: N/A
Birth Category: N/A
Mother: N/A
Father: N/A

Cognitive Ability
IQ: N/A
Highest School: N/A
Highest Degree:

Incarceration
Arrested: Nov 20, 2017 (Age 69)
Convicted: Sep 19, 2018 (Age 70)
Sentence: life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole
Prison Location: the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City, California, US
Executed: N/A
Previous Crimes: TRUE
Previous Jail: TRUE
Previous Prison: TRUE

Death Information
Death Date: N/A
Cause of Death: N/A
Death Location: N/A
Killed In Prison: N/A
Suicide: N/A
11 Timeline Events of Serial Killer
Rodney Halbower

The 11 dates listed below represent a timeline of the life and crimes of serial killer Rodney Halbower. A complete collection of serial killer events can be found on our Serial Killer Timeline.

Date Event Description
Jun 27 1948Rodney Halbower was born in Muskegon Heights, Michigan.  #19480627
Jun 27 1968
(Age 20)
20th Birthday
1976
(Age 27/28)
Rodney Halbower started his serial killing spree. #1976
1976
(Age 28/29)
Rodney Halbower ended his serial killing spree. #1976
Jun 27 1978
(Age 30)
30th Birthday
Jun 27 1988
(Age 40)
40th Birthday
Jun 27 1998
(Age 50)
50th Birthday
Jun 27 2008
(Age 60)
60th Birthday
Nov 20 2017
(Age 69)
Rodney Halbower arrested. #20171120
Jun 27 2018
(Age 70)
70th Birthday
Sep 19 2018
(Age 70)
Rodney Halbower was convictedand sentenced to life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole at the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City, California, US.  #20180919
Back to top Serial Killers Active During

The following serial killers were active during the same time span as Rodney Halbower (1976-1976).

Serial Killers By Active Year


20 / 40
ANSWERED
Serial Killer
Boolean Questions:
Killer
Question
Killer
Answer
Total
Answered
problems in school TRUE 221
psychologist TRUE 258
previous crimes TRUE 367
previous jail TRUE 352
previous prision TRUE 336
previous killed TRUE 208
used weapon TRUE 453
rape TRUE 453
used gun FALSE 451
torture FALSE 426
stalk FALSE 418
blindfold FALSE 363
bound FALSE 406
strangle FALSE 443
sex with body FALSE 430
mutilated FALSE 447
ate part of body FALSE 451
drank blood FALSE 442
posed body FALSE 365
robbed FALSE 418


Books that Mention Rodney Halbower

Book: Serial Killer Rapists (mentions serial killer Rodney Halbower)
Kevin Smith
Serial Killer Rapists
Book: Gorky Park (mentions serial killer Rodney Halbower)
Martin Cruz Smith
Gorky Park
Book: Black House (mentions serial killer Rodney Halbower)
Stephen King
Black House
Book: First They Killed My Father (mentions serial killer Rodney Halbower)
Loung Ung
First They Killed My Father
Book: Gypsy Boy (mentions serial killer Rodney Halbower)
Mikey Walsh
Gypsy Boy
Book: Sudden Terror (mentions serial killer Rodney Halbower)
Larry Crompton
Sudden Terror
Book: The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers (mentions serial killer Rodney Halbower)
Michael Newton
The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers
Book: Britain's Underworld (mentions serial killer Rodney Halbower)
Billy Hill
Britain's Underworld

9 Books that mention Serial Killer
Rodney Halbower

ISBN10 Book Title Killers
1733630619 Serial Killer Rapists 266
1849838224 Gorky Park 1
145169492x Black House 1
0062036548 First They Killed My Fath... 1
1250011973 Gypsy Boy 1
1452052425 Sudden Terror 2
0816069875 The Encyclopedia of Seria... 108
0956095801 Britain's Underworld 1
0297816772 Mother Teresa 1
External References
  1. Gypsy Hill killings on en.wikipedia.org, Retrieved on Sep 16, 2018.
  2. San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, Arrest of Rodney Halbower on smcsheriff.com, Retrieved on Sep 16, 2018.
  3. Q16983027 on www.wikidata.org, Retrieved on Dec 24, 2018.
Internal References

Rodney Halbower is included in the following pages on Killer.Cloud the Serial Killer Database

  1. #12 of 34[ Page 1 ] of Cancer Serial Killers sorted by Confirmed Victims
  2. #17 of 34[ Page 2 ] of Serial Killers with birthdays in June
  3. #174 of 327[ Page 12 ] of Serial Killers active in the United States
  4. #183 of 307[ Page 13 ] of Serial Killer Rapist sorted by Confirmed Victims
  5. #230 of 651[ Page 16 ] of the A-Z List of Serial Killers
  6. #353 of 651[ Page 24 ] of serial killers sorted by Profile Completeness
  7. #361 of 651[ Page 25 ] of serial killers sorted by Confirmed Victims
  8. #571 of 651[ Page 39 ] of serial killers sorted by Years Active
Statistics:
Serial Killers Statistics, charts Rodney Halbower is included in: Active Serial Killers by Country, Serial Killers By Gender, Age of Serial Killer by Date, Killers By Astrological Sign, Killers By Birth Month, Active Serial Killers by Year and Statistical Boolean Questions.
Years Active: