A West Virginia hooker killed a violent john — and might have inadvertently solved a string of serial killings, police said.
The woman named “Heather” said 45-year-old Neal Falls, who answered her escort ad, showed up to her Charleston home, pulled a gun and asked, “Live or die?”
He went for her throat and touched off a life-or-death struggle on July 18, the sex worker said.
“When he strangled me, I grabbed my rake and when he laid the gun down to get the rake out of my hands, I shot him,” Heather told CBS News.
Cops found a terrifying arsenal inside Falls’ car — a machete, axes, knives, a shovel, a sledgehammer, bleach, plastic trash bags and four sets of handcuffs.
Police are investigating his possible connection to murders in Ohio, Illinois and Nevada.
Falls used to live in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, where police are investigating the murder and dismemberment of several women. The Nevada victims worked as escorts and advertised their services online.
“It’s likely that Mr. Falls is a serial killer,” Charleston police Chief of Detectives Steve Cooper said. “I believe she [Heather] saved lives by shooting Mr. Falls, based on what he did to her and based on the items found in his car.”
Las Vegas authorities believe Falls could be connected to the disappearances of Lindsay Harris, 21, Jodi Brewer, 19, Jessica Foster, 21, and Misty Saens, 25.
They all went missing between 2003 and 2006 and three of them have been found dead, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“It sounds like on this one there is a possible nexus,” Las Vegas police spokesman Michael Rodriguez said of the West Virginia link. “We would definitely welcome any information that is out there.”