Investigation Discovery is delving into the shocking crimes of Cesar Francesco Barone, who is responsible for the deaths of a least four women in the Hillsboro area of Washington state. ID is documenting his crimes in its show: The Serial Killer of Washington County.
Cesar Barone was born Adolph James Rode in Florida in 1960, but he gained notoriety in the early 1990s when he went on a killing spree in Hillsboro, Ore. He is known to have strangled or shot four women spanning 1991 to 1993, but he is suspected of committing one other murder in the 1970s and of attacking his grandmother around the same time.
In April 1991, Barone attacked 61-year-old Margaret Schmidt in her home, where he raped and strangled her to death. And then, in October 1992, he shot 41-year-old nurse Martha Bryant in her car. He dragged her out of the vehicle, sexually assaulted her, and then shot her at close range in the head.
Just two months later, the twisted killer struck again; he beat and sexually assaulted 23-year-old Chantee Woodman before shooting her dead and dumping her remains by the side of the road.
In January 1993, Barone attacked 51-year-old Betty Williams in her Portland apartment. She died of a heart attack as he was sexually assaulting her.
Cesar Barone showed no remorse for the murders
Barone’s reign of terror was finally brought to an end a month later when he was arrested. Found guilty of the four murders, he was sentenced to 89 years for the death of Williams but was given a death sentence for Schmidt, Bryant, and Woodman. Detectives say he never admitted any responsibility and showed zero remorse.
It was later learned that in the 1970s, Barone had been imprisoned in Florida for attacking an elderly neighbor. During that time, he had briefly shared a cell with notorious killer serial Ted Bundy. After his imprisonment, he changed his name to Barone and moved to the Pacific northwest.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelBarone never faced the executioner as he died on Christmas Eve in 2009 of natural causes in an Oregon penitentiary.
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The Serial Killer of Washington County airs at 8/7c on Investigation Discovery.
Hillsboro is actually in Oregon.