Detroit Suspect May Be Linked to More Killings

A man suspected of going from port to port strangling women while in the Navy might have begun killing eight years ago, and his victim total could reach 20, police said Thursday.

John Eric Armstrong, 26, is accused of killing five Detroit area prostitutes and is suspected in at least 11 other slayings since 1992: three in the Seattle area, two in Hawaii, two in Hong Kong and one each in North Carolina, Virginia, Thailand and Singapore.

Detroit Assistant Police Chief Marvin Winkler said victims may total 18 to 20 worldwide, including prostitute strangulations in Japan, Korea and Israel.

Many of the cities are ports of call for the aircraft carrier Nimitz, on which police say Armstrong served for about eight years as a fueler.

All the victims were women who were strangled, except one, a man killed in Seattle.

Winkler said the first slaying police think is linked to Armstrong occurred in North Carolina in 1992. Armstrong is originally from New Bern, N.C.

Armstrong was arrested Wednesday in an area of Detroit frequented by prostitutes.

Armstrong’s wife was questioned but uncooperative, Winkler said. The couple has a baby boy; he is with his mother, whose whereabouts Thursday were unknown, Winkler added.

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Robert Agacinski said Armstrong will be charged and arraigned today on five counts of premeditated murder and three counts of assault with intent to murder.