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Robert Leroy Anderson

Also known as: Duct Tape Killer

Active

1994–1996

Region

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

State

SD

Kind

Serial

Status

Convicted

Victims

2

Robert Leroy Anderson, a meatpacking worker in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, abducted and killed two young women in the mid-1990s: Larisa Dumansky, 29, taken after her night shift at the John Morrell plant in August 1994, and Piper Streyle, 28, taken from her home in Canistota in July 1996. Neighbors' descriptions led police to him within days of Streyle's abduction, and he was convicted of kidnapping her in 1997. A cellmate then told investigators of his boasts, leading to evidence at his mother's home and, through a friend who had helped him, to Dumansky's grave near Lake Vermillion. In 1999 he was convicted of both murders and sentenced to death. He died by suicide in prison in 2003 while his appeal was pending. Streyle's body has never been found.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Larisa Dumansky, 29 · August 27, 1994

  A Ukrainian immigrant who worked the night shift at the John Morrell meatpacking plant.

• Piper Streyle, 28 · July 29, 1996

  A mother of young children in Canistota; her daughter later wrote a memoir about the case.

Timeline of locations

1. August 27, 1994
   John Morrell plant, Sioux Falls (Abduction, approximate area)

   Larisa Dumansky disappeared after leaving her night shift at the meatpacking plant.

2. July 29, 1996
   Streyle home, Canistota (Abduction, approximate area)

   Piper Streyle was abducted from her home while her children were in the house. Her body has never been found; investigators believe it was placed in the Big Sioux River.

3. May 8, 1997
   Kidnapping trial, Mitchell (Court / trial, approximate area)

   Anderson was convicted of kidnapping Piper Streyle on May 8, 1997, and sentenced to life in prison that July.

4. May 20, 1997
   Grave near Lake Vermillion, McCook County (Recovery site, approximate area)

   Anderson's friend led police to a shallow grave near Lake Vermillion, where DNA testing identified Dumansky's remains.

5. 1999
   South Dakota State Penitentiary (Prison)

   Anderson died by suicide in a disciplinary cell here on March 30, 2003, while appealing.

6. April 6, 1999
   Murder trial, Sioux Falls (Court / trial, approximate area)

   A Sioux Falls jury convicted Anderson of both murders in April 1999, and he was sentenced to death.

Sources

• Robert Leroy Anderson (Wikipedia)
• Robert Leroy Anderson: The serial killings that rocked South Dakota in the '90s (Mitchell Republic)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.