A Missouri woman was able to get out of her rental lease on a home that once belonged to a serial killer. Catrina McGhaw did not know of the home’s history until a friend told her to watch a documentary on serial killers.
New York Daily News reported McGhaw was watching a documentary on serial killers, including one that ended up being set in her own home.
The killer, Maury Travis, had used his basement as a make-shift torture chamber, where he killed at least 17 to 20 women. He hanged himself in prison before he could be tried for murder.
Even the furniture in the home was the same as in crime scene photos, such as a dining room table, and a wooden beam in the basement that was used to tie up the killer’s victims.
Travis’ mother, Sandra, owned the home and claimed she had told McGhaw about the house’s past, even though McGhaw said that was not the case.
KMOV reported the St. Louis Housing Authority finally got Travis’ mother to let McGhaw out of her lease.
McGhaw said of the home, “This whole basement was his torture chamber and it’s not okay.”
ABC News reported the Housing Authority’s executive director, Cheryl Lovell, said, “In this state, there is no duty to disclose. Other states there are, but mostly that is for selling houses.”
Police eventually caught Travis after he boasted about his crimes to a newspaper and also shared a map he had made.