Suspected serial killer recently drove through North Texas

A man at the center of a serial killer investigation drove through North Texas three weeks ago.

Not only that, but an officer pulled him over for speeding.

It part of a special traffic enforcement on July 7, just after 8 a.m.
    
"He stopped the man for speeding and issued him a citation,” said Det. Michael Mulinax with the Benbrook Police Department. 

In all, the traffic stop took about eight minutes. It was nothing unique, and nothing made it stand out.

Then, two days ago, Benbrook police learned the man who was cited for going 64 in a 45 along Benbrook Boulevard, 45-year-old Neal Falls, was a potential serial killer now suspected in nearly a dozen brutal murders of call girls.

So what was he doing in Benbrook?

"We checked for previous contacts,” said Mulinax. “We didn't find any indication that he spent any significant amount of time in the city. Looks like he'd been passing through.”

Neal was killed more than a week ago by a woman who was likely his next victim.

“I knew he was there to kill me,” said the woman. “I could tell he's already done something, because he said that he was going to prison for a long time, and that's when I knew that he was gonna kill me.”

That woman, an escort, met Falls at a Charleston, West Virginia home.

He pointed a gun at her and she grabbed a rake.

She says he set the gun down and began to strangle her.

'When he strangled me, he wouldn't let me get any air,” said the woman. “So I grabbed my rake, and when he laid the gun down to get the rake out of my hands, I shot him. I just grabbed the gun and shot behind me.” 

Inside of Falls' SUV, the same one pulled over in Benbrook, police found a so-called kill kit.

A shovel, sledgehammer, bleach, a bulletproof vest, knives, a machete, axes and trash bags were inside. 

"It's unnerving to know that a serial killer was coming through our city, or possible serial killer, so it's definitely something that's not comfortable for us, but I'm sure it's something that happens more often than we know about,” said Mulinax.

Benbrook investigators have been in touch with other North Texas police departments to see if they may have any missing persons cases, open homicides or things of that nature particularly involving sex workers.

There is body camera video from the Benbrook stop, but Benbrook police couldn't get it to FOX 4 on Tuesday.

We’re told that since the officer was very tall, the camera may not have even picked up Falls' face, and there reportedly wasn't much said.