Missouri 'Package Killer' who confessed to killing 5 women gets 2 life sentences

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. (TCD) -- A 74-year-old serial killer accused of slaying five women will serve an additional two life sentences on top of the two life sentences he was already given.

According to a press release from the Maryland Heights Police Department, in October 1990, 27-year-old Brenda Pruitt’s "decomposed body" was found "stuffed into a trash can" on the 12400 block of Basston Drive. Pruitt had been smothered or strangled to death, The Associated Press reports.

Police said investigators were able to link Pruitt’s slaying to two other deaths in Missouri: Robyn Mihan in 1990 and Sandra Little in 1991. Mihan’s body was reportedly found alongside a road sandwiched between two mattresses that were secured with wire, and Little’s body was discovered inside a dresser near a highway.

Officials put in thousands of hours of work for several years following their deaths, but the cases went cold.

Last year, police said investigators used resubmitted evidence and DNA analysis to identify Gary Muehlberg as a suspect in the three women’s deaths. He was already serving a life sentence since 1993 for the murder of a man.

According to police, Muehlberg confessed to killing Pruitt, Mihan, and Little. He also reportedly admitted to slaying Donna Reitmeyer in 1990, whose nude, decomposed body was discovered in a trash can on a sidewalk, KSDK-TV reports. Due to the level of decomposition, authorities were unable to determine Reitmeyer’s cause of death.

Muehlberg was subsequently charged with four counts of murder.

The O’Fallon Police Department said Muehlberg also confessed to killing a fifth woman. Her remains were never found, but Muehlberg reportedly told authorities he disposed of her body in a metal barrel near a car wash.

Muehlberg pleaded guilty to killing Pruitt and Reitmeyer, and on Tuesday, March 21, he was sentenced to serve two life sentences for their deaths. Muehlberg remains held in the Missouri Department of Corrections, and his two life sentences will be served concurrently with the two life sentences he was previously given.

Muehlberg is scheduled for a hearing next week for Mihan’s slaying.

According to The Associated Press, Muehlberg was called the "Package Killer" because of the way he disposed of his victims’ bodies.

MORE:

• Missouri Department of Corrections
• 1990-91 Cold Case Murders Solve –– Multiple Warrants Issued, 9/15/2022 — Maryland Heights Police Department
• News Release, 9/19/2022 — O’Fallon Police Department
• St. Louis serial killer pleads guilty to 2 murders, receives life sentences — KSDK
• Missouri man dubbed ‘Package Killer’ admits to 2 murders — AP