Images of inmates used in false posts claiming to show serial killer 'hunting' in US, Canada
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on August 23, 2022 at 09:26
- 4 min read
- By Tendai DUBE, AFP South Africa
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A Facebook post published on August 15, 2022, and written in the first person claims that “my friend” was almost taken by a “serial killer or abductor who is currently hunting in Arlington”. The post features a picture of a man in front of a blue background.
“He drives a truck with led lights and hits Cars of women alone and once they pull over he takes them. Multiple disappearances (sic),” it reads. “If you are in the area and you are hit by a truck with led lights keep driving and call the cops. Stay safe.”
On the same day, the photo was posted to a Hillsdale County Facebook group claiming that the alleged killer is “hunting” in Michigan.
The claim, however, is false.
‘No known threat’
A reverse image search revealed that the man in the picture is Brandon Odom, an inmate at the Dickson County TN Jail, Tennessee. He is serving a four-year sentence for reckless homicide, according to this report.
Odom’s photo was recently in the news after the Dickson County Sheriff’s Office reported that he had “walked away from a work crew” on the morning of July 7, 2022, but later was taken back into custody.
The Dickson sheriff’s office cautioned residents against the false serial killer claim circulating on Facebook.
“This is a real booking photo and this subject is in custody, but for unrelated charges,” reads a statement issued by Dickson police on August 17, 2022. “The post is making its way outside of Dickson, claiming he is in Hickman, Humphreys, Rutherford, etc.. So, like we always say, just because it’s on Facebook, doesn’t mean it’s real!”
US police in Brownsville, Bulloch County, Moline, Pickens County, Flat Rock, and Mansfield also dismissed the Facebook posts as a hoax.
Canadian authorities put out a similar advisory.
“This post has been posted to community sites across Canada and the USA over Facebook with the sole intent to incite fear within those communities,” Ontario Provincial Police said on August 12, 2022.
“Essex County OPP would like to advise the public that there is no known threat to the communities within Essex County associated with the post.”
Residents have been encouraged to report the post to Facebook.
The false claims have also been posted to trade groups in Ontario, but alongside pictures of Francis Weaver, of Oregon, US. Weaver was sentenced to life in prison in March 2016 for shooting a drug dealer in the face (here and here).
His case garnered wide interest as he is the stepson of child killer, Ward Weaver III.
Rinse and repeat
Another mugshot, this time posted to a community yard sale group, showed a different man but with the same false claim.
AFP Fact Check traced the photo to articles from December 2020 (here and here) about a British inmate, Joshua Kettle. The reports said Kettle, who was already serving time, was jailed for an additional three years and six months after attacking another prisoner in 2019 at HM Prison Lancaster Farms in England.
Zimbabwean links
Most of the Facebook accounts responsible for the false posts have similar traits: they were created in Zimbabwe; they had little or no previous activity; and, in most cases, the comment sections were closed, making it difficult for anyone to warn users that they were being misled.
AFP Fact Check first wrote about this method of spreading disinformation in a debunk published on July 12, 2022, that exposed false posts claiming two violent criminals were terrorising communities in the United States.
One possible motive for the hoaxes is to boost page engagement, as explained in previous debunks (here and here).
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