Imagine walking into your neighbourhood bakery every morning.

The man behind the counter knows your order. He smiles, serves your coffee, remembers your name. Police officers stop by for donuts. His wife and children attend church with him every Sunday.

Now imagine that this same man has been kidnapping women, flying them into the Alaskan wilderness, releasing them into the forest, and hunting them with a rifle.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

Meet Robert Hansen, also known as The Butcher Baker. 

And trust us, the name is not nearly as disturbing as the story behind it.

Robert Hansen was born in 1939 in a small town in Iowa. His childhood wasn't particularly happy. He had a severe stutter, struggled with acne and scarring, and was bullied by other children. His father was demanding and ran the family bakery with an iron fist. Robert was expected to work, obey, and keep his feelings to himself.

He eventually found an escape in the woods.

Hunting, fishing, and archery gave him something he struggled to find around other people: control. He became patient, skilled with weapons, and comfortable moving through the wilderness without being noticed.

And here's where we need to make something clear. A difficult childhood, bullying, or social isolation does not turn someone into a serial killer. Millions of people experience those things without ever harming anyone. Robert's later choices were his own.

In 1960, he was arrested for burning down a school bus garage. He was convicted of arson and sentenced to three years in prison. A psychiatric evaluation described serious emotional and behavioural problems, including an obsession with revenge.

He was released in 1962.

There were more arrests, more thefts, and another marriage. Then, in 1967, Robert and his second wife, Darla, moved to Alaska.

And somehow, this is where he managed to build the perfect cover.

Anchorage gave Robert the fresh start he wanted. He opened a bakery, became known as a hardworking businessman, raised two children, and attended church.

Customers liked him. Police officers came into his shop for coffee and donuts. People knew him as Bob.

He also became a highly accomplished hunter, entering competitions and earning recognition for his skills. Eventually, he bought a Piper Super Cub, a small aircraft that allowed him to reach remote areas of Alaska that were difficult to access by road.

A successful bakery. A family. A plane. A reputation as an exceptional hunter.

I mean what else could anyone want?

Except Robert had already been arrested for violent attacks against women in 1971. He received a five-year sentence but served only around six months before entering a work-release programme and returning to everyday life.

There were warning signs. There were opportunities to stop him.

And he was still out there.

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Robert had developed a routine. He frequented Anchorage's Fourth Avenue, approaching women, often dancers and sex workers, with an offer of money for a supposed modelling session or photo shoot.

Around $300 was a common offer.

Once a woman got into his vehicle, the friendly businessman disappeared. He would threaten her with a weapon, handcuff her, and take her to his house. Sometimes he held women in a soundproofed basement.

Then came the plane.

Robert would fly his victims into remote wilderness locations, far from roads and other people. And once they were there, he did something that sounds like the plot of a horror film.

He released them.

He gave them a head start and then hunted them through the forest with a rifle, using the same patience and tracking skills that had made him an award-winning hunter.

The women weren't animals. They were human beings trying to survive.

And Robert had turned their terror into a hunting game.

Welcome to another episode of The Crime Times, your weekly dose of chilling crimes, bizarre mysteries, and stories that will make you question everything.

We're starting a new Crime Times series exploring serial killers, the lives they lived behind closed doors, and the details that make you question how someone could get away with so much for so long.

Keep your lights off, wear your detective hat and let’s get back to this week’s case.

The first years of his suspected killing spree are difficult to reconstruct. Some victims were never found. Others remained unidentified for decades. Several women were last seen after saying they were meeting a man for a photo shoot or an offer of money.

Among the women linked to Hansen were Sherry Morrow, whose body was found near the Knik River in 1982, and Paula Golding, whose body was discovered in September 1983.

Investigators found shell casings near the victims. Ballistic evidence eventually connected the killings to the same .223-calibre rifle.

But there was another detail that would become crucial.

In June 1983, a 17-year-old girl named Cindy Paulson got into Robert's car.

He offered her $200. Then he pulled a gun, handcuffed her, and took her to his home. Cindy was held and assaulted for hours. Robert planned to take her to the wilderness the following morning.

But Cindy was paying attention.

She noticed the animal trophies throughout the house, the basement, the vehicle, and details about the plane. She even deliberately left her shoes in the car, hoping they might become evidence if she didn't make it out alive.

The next morning, Robert drove her to Merrill Field, where his plane was parked.

He told her to stay in the car while he prepared the aircraft.

And then Cindy saw her chance.

She crawled into the front seat, opened the driver's door, and ran.

Barefoot. Still handcuffed.

A pickup truck happened to pass by. The driver saw a teenage girl running down the road at around 5 a.m. with handcuffs on her wrists and immediately stopped to help.

Cindy got into the truck. The driver took her where she asked to go, then reported what he'd witnessed to police.

She eventually told investigators everything she could remember: the man, the car, the house, the animal trophies, and the plane.

And somehow, despite all of that, Robert Hansen was initially believed over her.

He denied knowing Cindy and suggested she was trying to get money from him. 

Two friends backed up his alibi, claiming he'd been with them that night.

No charges were filed.

Cindy had escaped a man who had allegedly been hunting women for years, and the authorities initially let him walk.

Fortunately, one investigator wasn't willing to let the matter go.

Alaska State Trooper Glenn Flothe reviewed Cindy's account alongside the growing collection of unsolved murders. The details matched a pattern that was becoming impossible to ignore.

He brought in the FBI, including agent John Douglas, whose team developed a profile of the suspected killer. It described a man with low self-esteem, a history of rejection by women, hunting experience, access to a bush plane, and a speech impediment.

Robert Hansen fit the profile remarkably well.

Investigators revisited Cindy's testimony, challenged the two friends who had provided Robert's alibi, and eventually got both men to admit they had lied.

Then came the search warrant.

On October 27, 1983, Robert was arrested at his bakery while investigators searched his home.

They found firearms, jewellery belonging to missing women, and a Ruger Mini-14 rifle linked through ballistics to multiple murders.

But the most unsettling discovery was hidden behind the headboard of his bed.

An aviation map.

Across it were 37 X marks, scattered throughout the Alaskan wilderness. Some corresponded with locations where victims' bodies had been found.

Robert eventually confessed to killing 17 women and admitted to assaulting at least 30 others. He described the kidnappings, the flights, and the hunts with disturbing detachment.

He also suggested that the women who fought back were responsible for what happened to them.

And those 37 marks?

He never fully explained them.

Investigators believed they could represent additional victims, but the true number may never be known.

Robert pleaded guilty to four murders and the kidnapping and assault of Cindy Paulson in February 1984. As part of a plea agreement, he helped investigators locate burial sites.

He revealed 20 previously unknown grave locations. Seven bodies were recovered during the subsequent searches.

Not every victim was found. 

Robert was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 461 years.

He never offered a meaningful apology. He continued to maintain that some of his victims deserved what happened to them.

He died in prison on August 21, 2014.

But there's one part of this case that deserves to stay with us long after the details of the investigation fade.

Cindy Paulson was 17 years old. She escaped, remembered what she could, and kept telling people what had happened. The first investigators who heard her didn't believe her. It took another officer, a deeper investigation, and an extraordinary amount of evidence to finally expose the man behind the bakery counter. 

And think about the women whose disappearances weren't investigated with the same urgency. Women whose lives and circumstances made them easier for society to overlook. Women who deserved to be heard just as much as anyone else.

Robert Hansen's story is not just about a serial killer who lived a double life. It's also about how many opportunities there were to stop him, and how many people paid the price when those opportunities were missed.

So, welcome to our serial killer series. We're going to be going down some very dark rabbit holes, and this one is a reminder that behind every infamous killer are real people whose names and lives deserve to be remembered.

One question before we go:

If you had seen a man like Bob every morning, serving coffee and donuts, would you ever have suspected that he was hunting women after his shifts?

Hit reply. We want to hear your thoughts.

— The Crime Times
(Your smartest friend who's dangerously obsessed with true crime 🧚🏻‍♀️)