New Jersey Woman Texted “You’re Not A Serial Killer, Right?” To Man She Met Online And Was Found Dead 10 Days Later, Alleged Killer Now On Trial

A young Black man by the name of Khalil Wheeler Weaver, 23, has been accused of killing three Black women and attempting to murder a fourth in the fall of 2016. During the alleged murderer’s trial, prosecutors read the messages of one of his victims, and the disturbing contents are making headlines.

“Are you a serial killer?” is what 20-year-old Sarah Butler of New Jersey asked Wheeler-Weaver right before she met up with him back in 2016 over Thanksgiving break. Wheeler-Weaver and Butler met online; the two were meeting up for arranged sex while Butler was home in her Montclair, New Jersey home.  Wheeler-Weaver was reportedly supposed to pay Butler $500 for sex, but initially backed out of meeting him in person, authorities said. However, she ended up borrowing her mother’s van and going through with seeing Wheeler-Weaver.

“You’re not a serial killer, right?” she messaged him before leaving the house. And he was just that. On Thursday, prosecutors said he is accused of murdering three women and attempting to kill a fourth. Butler was his last victim. The two met on Nov. 22, 2016, but before that, Wheeler-Weaver was searching the internet for information on date rape drugs and homemade poison, according to the North Jersey Record. Ten days after, Butler’s lifeless body was found in a nature reserve covered beneath leaves, dirt, and waste. Wheeler-Weaver had strangled Butler to death.

Three women are all authorities have been able to uncover so far. His two other victims have been identified as #JoanneBrown and #RobinWest. According to prosecutors Wheeler-Weaver, targeted young Black women, mostly those who were associated with sex work, homeless, or suffering from mental health issues. He said that he targeted those types of Black women because “They were viewed as somehow less than human, less valuable,” Essex County assistant prosecutor Adam Wells said last month, according to NJ.com.

Wheeler-Weaver admits that he was with each victim shortly before each of their disappearances, but denies that he should be held accountable for their murders. His attorney argues that the victims “put themselves in vulnerable positions,” and pointed out that Wheeler-Weaver cooperated with investigators, which they claim “is not the conduct of a guilty individual.”

If not for Butler’s family going through the victim’s social media accounts and messages, then she may have never been found, and police might have never connected it to Wheeler-Weaver. It only took five days after her body was found on Dec. 1, 2016. Last month, Butler’s friends and family created a fake profile on the site, Tagged and convinced Wheeler-Weaver to meet up for sex, but when he arrived, police were waiting on him. The trial is still ongoing.