Faulkner County native Red Hall was a serial killer who confessed to murdering at least twenty-four people. Most of his victims were motorists who picked him up as he hitchhiked around the United States. In the closing months of World War II, he beat his wife to death and went on a killing spree across the state. His signature smile lured his victims to their doom, and even after his capture, he maintained a friendly manner, being described by one lawman as “a pleasant conversationalist.” Author Janie Nesbitt Jones chronicles his life for the first time and explores reasons why he became Arkansas’s Hitchhike Killer.
Janie Nesbitt Jones began her journalism career by writing features for the River Valley & Ozark Edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. After finding her niche as a true crime writer for AY Magazine, she acted as a consultant for Investigation Discovery. With her husband, Wyatt Jones, she coauthored two books: Hiking Arkansas and Arkansas Curiosities. An Arkansas native, she lives in Conway with Wyatt, their two dogs and two cats.