RANDALL WOODFIELD
BACKGROUND
He lived in Salem, Oregon.
He came from a middle class family.
His family showed no signs of dysfunction.
He was a cherished son.
He was a high school football star.
He was an excellent student.
As a child, he was viewed as a charming and handsome young man.
When he was an adolescent, he star ted showing antisocial sexual
behavior.
 He seemed to have an obvious problem with anger star ting at age
11 .
 His parents were concerned about him and sent him to see a
therapist, however no one seemed to pick up on how bad his
problems were.
 He was draf ted to the Green Bay Packers.
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 He was dismissed from the team due to his criminal acts.
CRIMES HE COMMITTED
 His first arrest was when he was an adolescent for indecent
exposure (the intentional exposure of one’s body’s privates in a
manner that gives offense against accepted or prescribed
behavior), but his football coaches covered it up so he would not
be kicked off the team.
 He had three arrests in the early 1970s for petty crimes such as
vandalism (deliberately mischievous or malicious destruction or
damage of property) and public indecency (acts or behaviors that
may or may not be illegal, but are considered private behavior
that could harm the public in some fashion).
 By 1974, he had so many arrests for indecent exposure that he
was dismissed from the NFL team the Green Bay Packers (he had
be selected in the draft but was cut in training camp so he
wasn’t on the actual team but he still practiced with them.)
CRIMES HE COMMITTED (CONTINUED)
 1975 he robbed (to take something from someone by unlawful
force or threat of violence) and sexually assaulted (knowingly
cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by
force or threat) several women.
 He was arrested and served 4 years of a 10 year sentence before
being released on parole.
 In 1979, he took up a two year robbery spree, holding up gas
stations and homes along the Interstate 5 freeway.
 Some of his female victims were sexually assaulted, murdered, or
both.
 In 1981 , there was a shooting in Beaverton, Oregon where one
person was killed.
 Police investigated Woodfield and connected him to the shooting as
well as the attempted murder of two other women.
 He was then arrested and charged with the Beaverton murder and a
double murder of a wife and daughter in Redding, California.
EVIDENCE
 For his first arrests he was seen
committing the crimes and arrested
on the spot.
 DNA and ballistic evidence linked him with the
murder and attempted murder of two young women
whom Woodfield had shot in the head in Woodfield’s
house. The surviving victim, Lisa Garcia, testified
that Woodfield was her attacker at the subsequent
trial. He was also identified by multiple
witnesses/victims in line ups.
 One of the victims was a previous girlfriend of his.
SENTENCE
 Woodfield was sentenced to life + 90 years in prison in 1981 .
QUOTE AND NICKNAME
 “You just have to wonder how such a promising young man
could have turned into a maniacal rapist and killer.” –The
Charles Press Publishers
 Nickname:
 The I-5 Killer
 The I-5 Bandit
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY OF DEVIANCE
I think that Randall Woodfield fits under the labeling theor y. When
he was young, he was charged with indecent exposure. However, his
football coaches covered it up. This is an example of the primar y
deviance stage. He violated a social rule, but was not labeled due to his
reputation of being a star athlete and being a good student. Af ter this
occurred, he began committing more and more crimes, which eventually
led to him being labeled as a deviant. Due to this, af ter he was draf ted
to the Green Bay Packers, he was dismissed from the team af ter
committing yet another crime.
Af ter being labeled as a deviant, Woodfield took his crimes to the
next level, but when he was arrested and claimed that he didn’t do it.
This is an example of a technique of neutralization by denial of
responsibility. In some cases, as soon as police knew he was in the area,
they took action upon him because he was labeled as a deviant.
Woodfield’s escalation in criminal activity and the police’s action against
him is an example of secondar y deviance. He decided that since he was
labeled a deviant, he might as well accept it. The examples of primar y
deviance and secondar y deviance exhibited by Woodfield, along with the
label he received from police as a deviant are the reasons why I believe
he fits under the labeling theor y.
CULTURAL REFERENCES
 Movies:
 The Hunt for the I-5 Killer
 Novels:
 The I-5 Killer by Andy Stack
 The I-5 Killer by Ann Rule