The Shadow of a Serial Killer: The Story of Robert Eugene Brashers

Early Life

Robert Eugene Brashers was born on March 13, 1958, in Newport News, Virginia, the younger of two children to Doulis and Nancy Brashers. His early life, shrouded in mystery, traces a path from Virginia to Huntsville, Alabama, where he grew up. Despite his later notoriety, Brashers’ teenage years were unremarkable; he avoided legal trouble and abstained from drugs and alcohol. After high school, he enlisted in the Army and later served in the Navy, before leaving military service in the early 1980s.

Brashers relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana, settling into a new life. By the mid-1980s, he had moved again, this time to Fort Myers, Florida. In the early 1990s, he married and had a daughter in 1992; he also adopted two little girls. His life seemed to be settling into the rhythms of domesticity, but beneath the surface, a more sinister side was beginning to emerge.

The Attack on Michelle Wilkerson

The first known glimpse of Brashers’ violent tendencies surfaced in the fall of 1985. On November 22, in Port St. Lucie, Florida, he met 24-year-old Michelle Wilkerson in Fort Pierce, convincing her to join him at a bar. As the night wore on and alcohol flowed, Brashers drove Wilkerson to a secluded alley near a citrus grove. There, after sharing six Budweisers, he attempted to make sexual advances. Wilkerson's refusal sparked a violent altercation. Brashers shot her twice—in the neck and head.

Remarkably, Wilkerson survived. Despite her grave injuries, she managed to escape the car and hide in a culvert. Brashers, losing track of her, discarded his gun into the sea and tried to leave in his truck, which became stuck in the sand. Meanwhile, Wilkerson reached a nearby apartment for help, providing police with a description of Brashers and his vehicle. Shortly after, Brashers was apprehended, aimlessly wandering the beach. He was charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and using a firearm during the commission of a crime. Convicted the following year, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison but was released on parole on May 4, 1989.

Post-Release Crimes

Upon his release, Brashers became a drifter, moving between South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. His criminal activities persisted. On February 18, 1992, in Cobb County, Georgia, he was arrested for grand theft auto, unlawful possession of a weapon, and theft. A search of his vehicle and apartment revealed a radio scanner, police jacket, lock-picking tools, and a fake Tennessee driver's license. Facing potential imprisonment, Brashers struck a plea deal, admitting guilt to the most severe charge, which earned him a five-year sentence served in full. He was released in February 1997.

Brashers’ criminal exploits did not end there. On April 12, 1998, he attempted to break into the home of a woman in Paragould, Arkansas, whom he had previously worked for. Armed and having tampered with her home’s wiring, Brashers was arrested but released after someone posted bail.

The Final Stand: Suicide in Kennett

A stolen vehicle parked at the Super 8 Motel in Kennett, Missouri, on January 13, 1999, led police to Brashers. He and his family had arrived in that vehicle days earlier. When officers attempted to arrest him, they found Brashers hiding under a bed with a loaded gun. A confrontation ensued, with Brashers opening fire, forcing officers to retreat and call for backup. A standoff began, with Brashers taking his wife, daughter, and two stepdaughters hostage.

After four tense hours of negotiation, Brashers released his family and attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head. He lingered for six days, succumbing to his injuries on January 19, 1999. His death was ruled a suicide.

Posthumous Exposure

Brashers’ name faded into obscurity until 2018, when CeCe Moore, a genealogy expert with Parabon NanoLabs, used investigative genetic genealogy to link him to three murders and several rapes dating back to 1990. This breakthrough prompted Missouri prosecutors to seek the exhumation of Brashers’ remains for further testing. On September 27, 2018, his casket was exhumed in Paragould, Arkansas, and DNA was extracted from his bones.

The DNA linked Brashers to the April 5, 1990, murder of 28-year-old Genevieve "Jenny" Zitricki in Greenville, South Carolina. Zitricki had been bludgeoned, raped, and strangled, her body submerged in a bathtub. The killer left a chilling message on the bathroom mirror: "don't fuck with my family." DNA from the scene, isolated in 1995 and uploaded to CODIS, now matched Brashers. At the time of the murder, he lived nearby in Greenville.

Further DNA analysis connected Brashers to the March 28, 1998, murders of Sherri Scherer, 38, and her 12-year-old daughter Megan in Portageville, Missouri. Both were shot to death in their home; Megan had been raped. Hours later, Brashers attempted to assault another woman in Dyersburg, Tennessee, but she resisted, causing him to flee. Ballistic evidence tied the same weapon to this attempted assault and the Scherer murders. Additionally, Brashers was linked to the March 11, 1997, rape of a 14-year-old girl in Memphis, Tennessee.

Daughter's Revelations

In February 2019, Brashers’ daughter, Deborah, then 27, offered insights into her father’s life. She recalled first meeting him in early 1997 after his prison release. He lived with her, her mother, and her half-sisters, sometimes displaying aggression. Once, he fought her stepfather, injuring him with a drill. Disturbingly, Brashers recorded himself making cuts on his body with a saw to test his pain tolerance.

Deborah believed her mother, Dorothy, knew of Brashers’ dark past; she instructed the family to use a different name for him and to keep him indoors. By April 1998, his mental health had declined dramatically. His construction job often kept him away for weeks, during which he might have committed other crimes. As of October 2024, no additional crimes have been conclusively linked to him.

Sources

For the full details and references, visit the Wikipedia page.