In April 2017, just days apart, Texas police learned of two brutal murders that were similar in execution. Molly Matheson and Megan Getrum were found dead and raped. Police were able to find out that the same person was responsible for both crimes.
Dateline: Wreckage on NBC News tells the story of the shocking investigation, which raised further questions about how the killer was free despite having previously been charged with sexual assault. So how about we find out more about what happened?
Molly Matheson and Megan Getrum died in different ways
Molly Jane Matheson was born in Florida but later moved to Fort Worth, Texas with her family. She attended high school in Fort Worth at Keller Timber Creek High School and then attended college at the University of Arkansas. But the 22-year-old reportedly dropped out of college in 2015 and moved back to Fort Worth. At the time of the incident, she lived near Texas Christian University and worked as a sales manager at a women’s clothing store.
Molly’s mother, Tracy, went to check on her on April 10, 2017, when the young woman failed to show up for work. That day, Tracy found something horrible in the bathroom. Molly’s body was found under a running shower. She had been sexually assaulted and choked to death, and the person who did it tried to hide the evidence. Molly’s death was ruled a homicide.
Megan Leigh Getrum loved to hike, camp and travel. The 36-year-old went hiking at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano, Texas on April 14, 2017. Megan was not seen alive after that night. Her body was found on April 15, 2017 in Lake Roy Hubbard, Texas. Like Molly, she had been sexually abused. There was also evidence that the person had been strangled, hit in the back of the head with something and drowned.
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Molly Matheson and Megan Getrum were killed. Who was it?
In the case of Molly Matheson, police looked at her phone records and messages to see if they were giving them any leads. On April 9, 2017, at around 10:26 p.m., she received a text message from a man named Reginald Kimbro, according to records. A few days after Molly was found, he was brought in for questioning. Police found he knew the 22-year-old from her time in Arkansas. Molly and Reginald dated for a while but broke up. Even after the breakup, they stayed in touch.
Reginald told police that he went to Molly’s apartment that night and that they started kissing. But he said Molly didn’t want to have sex with him, so he left around 1:30 a.m. on April 10, 2017. At around 2:59 a.m., she received a text message from Reginald thanking her for some advice. However, she never read this text. At the crime scene, it appeared that the killer had gone to great lengths to cover his tracks. Molly was put under a shower to get rid of all the evidence, but DNA was still found on her body and taken.
Police also found wet laundry in the apartment. The cargo included two pairs of women’s underwear, a fitted sheet, a pillowcase, washcloths, a towel, a pair of men’s underwear and running pants. Reginald said he was wearing running shorts on April 9 and that those found at Molly’s apartment belonged to him. It was later determined that Reginald’s DNA matched the DNA from the crime scene.
Biological evidence was also extracted from Megan, who was sexually assaulted. This also matched Reginald, tying him to two murders and sexual assault. Then the police found out that he had assaulted women many times over the years. Prior to the murders, Reginald was on police radar for sexual assault allegations in various parts of Texas in 2012 and 2014. Three different women said Reginald choked and raped them.
In all of these situations, his sperm was found on the women, but he was not arrested. Authorities said the woman initially didn’t want to press charges in the 2012 case, but changed her mind after the murder investigation began. In January 2014, a woman was raped in Allen, Texas, but police didn’t know it was Reginald’s DNA in the rape kit until February 2017, just over a month before Molly was killed. Also, one of Reginald’s ex-girlfriends said that he likes to choke during sex and sometimes goes too far and doesn’t stop.
In the end, Reginald struck a plea deal in March 2022, just before his trial began. As part of the deal, he admitted to the two murders and four other sexual assaults. Reginald was put in prison for life with no chance of getting out. Because of this, people didn’t like the way the police had dealt with the previous sexual assault cases. One woman said the officer who questioned her didn’t believe her. Attorneys for the victims said the killings could have been stopped had Reginald been arrested sooner after his DNA was found to match that of the person who sexually abused a girl in 2014.
Kimbro said he was guilty before the trial had even started. That saved him from the death penalty.
Matheson and Getrum were both killed in just a few days. Both victims dated the killer in the past, so they are both connected to the same killer. On the other hand, Megan had never scored Kimbro, but she was badly injured while hiking near her home in Plano. In both cases, the DNA evidence linking the serial rapist to the murders was the same.
On Friday’s episode of NBC Dateline, they will discuss the horrific deaths of Molly Matheson and Megan Getrum. They will also talk about how Reginald Kimbro was finally caught and his sexual assault campaign in Texas came to an end. The episode is called “Wreckage” and will air on September 23, 2022 at 9 p.m. ET on the network.
Who were Megan Getrum and Molly Matheson? what happened to you
Molly Jane Matheson was born in Florida. After her birth, her family moved to Fort Worth, Texas. She attended Keller Timber Creek High School in Fort Worth and then attended the University of Arkansas. The 22-year-old, on the other hand, appears to have dropped out of school and moved back to Fort Worth in 2015. At the time of the incident, she worked as a sales manager at a women’s clothing store and lived near Texas Christian University.
Tracy Matheson, Molly’s mother, was concerned on April 10, 2017 when her daughter didn’t show up for work. Although her daughter lived across the street in a garage apartment, the worried mother called a friend.
Although her friend said Molly’s car was parked outside, Tracy went to the 22-year-old to check and make sure her daughter was safe. Molly wasn’t there when she opened the door and saw that it wasn’t locked. Tracy called her name and started looking around the house. Before going to the bathroom, she turned to look at the backyard.
Megan Leigh Getrum loved camping, hiking and visiting new places. On April 14, 2017, the 36-year-old hiked the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano, Texas. About a week after Molly Matheson’s death, Reginald Kimbro sexually assaulted and strangled Megan Getrum while police were investigating him.
Megan was attacked on April 14, 2017 while walking at night in her neighborhood’s Arbor Hills Nature Preserve. That night was the last time Megan saw anyone alive. On April 15, 2017, her body was found in Lake Roy Hubbard, Texas. Just like Molly, she had been sexually abused. There was also evidence that the person had drowned, been hit in the back of the head, or strangled. Reginald Kimbro, a serial rapist, raped and killed 22-year-old Molly Matheson of Fort Worth and 36-year-old Megan Getrum of Plano. He was found guilty of two murders and four counts of sexual assault in 2017 and is now serving a life sentence with no chance of parole. Kimbro confessed before the trial, which got him a deal that saved him from the death penalty.
Matheson and Getrum were both killed just days apart. The killer knew the person who had previously been killed because they had dated in the past. Megan, on the other hand, had never met Kimbro. She was hiking near her home in Plano when she was attacked. In both cases, DNA was the only thing connecting the serial escape to the murders.
On Friday, NBC Dateline will look back at the sad and violent deaths of Molly Matheson and Megan Getrum, and how police finally caught Reginald Kimbro and put an end to his streak of sexual assaults across Texas. The episode is called “Wreckage” and will air on September 23, 2022 at 9 p.m. ET on the network.
Trigger Warning: This article covers the details of the murder. Readers should make their own judgement.
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Molly Matheson’s mother found her body in the garage of her home
Tracy, Molly Matheson’s mother, was concerned when she missed work on April 10, 2017. The mother was so concerned that she called a friend who lived across the street from her daughter’s garage in Fort Worth.
Although Molly’s friend said her car was parked outside, Tracy went to the 22-year-old to check and make sure her daughter was safe. She saw that Molly wasn’t there and that the door wasn’t locked. Tracy walked into the backyard and then into the bathroom after calling her name and checking the house for her.
Molly’s body was found in the second floor bathroom. She had been beaten and strangled very badly. Her mother is said to have said:
A government press release says that after killing her, the killer tried to get rid of the evidence, but instead left a series of clues:
“She had been beaten and strangled and Kimbro tried to hide the evidence by washing her in the shower and tucking his underwear into a load of laundry.
Reginald Kimbro was allegedly linked to the crime through DNA, cellphone records, electricity consumption and security camera footage. Sources say that Molly Matheson went to the University of Arkansas where she met Kimbro and had a brief relationship with him. Kimbro had told police that Matheson called him to her apartment the night before, but he said he didn’t kill her.
Reginald Kimbro raped and strangled Megan Getrum, a 36-year-old woman from Plano, about a week after the murder of Molly Matheson while police were still investigating him.
Getrum was attacked on April 14, 2017 while hiking in the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve near her home. She had never met Kimbro before. A few days later her body was found in Lake Ray Hubbard. Through DNA evidence, witness statements, and identification, detectives were able to link Kimbro to the crime. They found him in the wildlife sanctuary parking lot around the time Getrum went missing.
Kimbro was suspected of rape in 2012 and 2014, but no charges were brought against him. This important fact wasn’t discovered until police began investigating the deaths of Molly Matheson and Megan Getrum. Other victims of the serial rapist soon came forward, telling horrifying stories about how he drugged, strangled, and raped them.
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