Richard "R.P." White is serving a life sentence.

By Brian D. Crecente, Rocky Mountain News
September 29, 2004

Self-professed serial killer Richard "R.P." White led investigators Tuesday to the possible burial site of one of his alleged victims in Costilla County, officials said.

"The remains that were recovered will be taken to the (Denver) coroner's office and then there will be an assessment made to determine if they are human or animal remains," said Denver Assistant District Attorney Chuck Lepley. "If they turn out to be human then we will start on the process of identifying whose remains they are - and that will be a challenge."

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The remains are likely human but it is unlikely a cause of death can be determined, a source close to the investigation said.

White is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the Aurora murder of Jason Reichardt.

He also pleaded guilty to killing two women whose bodies were found buried in the back yard of a Park Hill home in September 2003.

After his arrest in the Aurora murder, White told police he had killed five prostitutes from 1998 to 2002, police say.

He later drew a map of his back yard, marking where two bodies were buried and two other maps showing where three women were buried in Costilla and Otero counties.

In 2003, deputies and volunteers scoured more than two square miles of fields near White's boyhood home in Mesita, in Costilla County in far south-central Colorado.

White's map showed that a body was buried 285 steps from the road and marked by five stones in the shape of a cross.

But nothing was found.

On Tuesday, White led a team of investigators straight to the spot.

Once there, investigators discovered suspicious remains, Lepley confirmed.

White left Arapahoe County Jail about 4:30 a.m., said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson.

He met investigators from the Denver District Attorney's Office and Colorado Bureau of Investigation in Costilla County, Lepley said.

White and the team of investigators left to return to the Denver area about 1:30 p.m., Lepley said.

Robinson said he was unaware of any plans to bring White to Otero County to search for the two bodies he claimed he dumped there.

Lepley declined to comment on the subject.

Last year, a dozen Otero County sheriff's deputies searched along and under the North La Junta Bridge for two bodies.

They also searched the sides of the Arkansas River and a nearby canal but did not find any bodies.

The victims

White claims responsibility for six slayings:

• Jason Reichardt, White's friend, was murdered in September 2003.

• Annaletia Maria Gonzales, 27, was strangled and buried in the back yard of White's girlfriend's home.

• Victoria Turpin, 34, was strangled and buried in the back yard of White's girlfriend's home.

• White says he killed three other unidentified women, burying two of the bodies in Otera County and one in Mesita.

crecenteb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2811