Convicted child murderer and rapist Arthur Ream indicated to investigators shortly before his death that he may have been responsible for the deaths of several other young girls.
Ream was serving a life sentence for the 1986 murder of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki, whose body was discovered in 2008 in the woods of Warren, a Detroit suburb.
Although they did not have sufficient evidence, Warren authorities were convinced that Ream was responsible for the disappearance of at least four other girls: Kimberly King, Kellie Brownlee, Kim Larrow and Connie Royce.
Before Ream died of cancer in August, Detective Sgt. Jim Twardsky met with him twice a month and begged him to confess.
Convicted child murderer and rapist Arthur Ream indicated to investigators shortly before his death that he may have been responsible for the deaths of several other young girls
In his chilling final words, the suspected child killer told Detective Twardsky he would likely be convicted of their murders.
“He never admitted to doing it, but he did specifically say that a jury would clearly convict him of it,” the investigator said. WDIV.
Detective Twardsky was ultimately unable to extract an explicit confession from Ream, who was known to enjoy playing “mind games” with law enforcement officers.
Twardsky said, “He was a bad guy in the beginning. He was a bad guy after all. At first he enjoyed messing with the police. In the end he enjoyed messing with the police. [He was] just a downright bad person.”
Warren authorities believe Ream is responsible for the disappearances of King and Brownlee
The investigator spent more than 50 hours interviewing Ream, and he felt there were several moments when the convicted killer seemed about to brag or reveal details about other murders.
“It just got to a frustrating point because there were multiple points where he said, ‘I understand why you think it’s me. It seems like something I maybe could have done. But I didn’t do it.’
Detective Twardsky believes Ream never admitted to anything because he was “programmed differently.”
‘It’s a very tough interview. He doesn’t express emotions, doesn’t feel fear, joy or any emotions, like all of us do.’
Detectives have also been investigating whether Ream is responsible for the disappearances of O’Dell and Larrow.
Twardsky characterized the deceased killer as a man who was “extremely smart.” [and] extremely manipulative.’ He said Ream did not see his victims as people, but as “pawns in his game.”
‘Talk to [Ream]you wouldn’t suspect that he is a bad person or that he is evil.
“But he’s done bad things and he’s clearly good at hiding his emotions.”
Authorities had previously tried to link Ream to the murder of King, who disappeared in 1979 at the age of 12, and the murders of Brownlee, 17, Larrow, 15, and Nadine O’Dell, 16, all in 1981 and 1982 disappeared.
In 2018, police searched a Detroit warehouse where the killer once operated a carpet business after fellow inmates said Ream bragged about killing four to six other girls. Ream failed a subsequent polygraph test.
In the warehouse, police were unable to find human remains, but they did manage to uncover “valuable documents.”
Despite this, Ream maintained his innocence and derided the efforts of law enforcement.
“To be honest, on one hand I was laughing my ass off and on the other hand I was pissed off,” Ream told the Detroit Free Press. ‘So you take it for what it is. As far as I know there are no bodies there.’
It was in this same warehouse where Zarzycki died in 1986. Ream claimed her death was an accident.
Zarzycki was in a relationship with Ream’s son. He killed the 13-year-old after trying to get her.
Initially he avoided feelings of guilt and the case remained cold for years. However, in 1998 he was convicted of her murder after authorities revived their investigation.
At the time of his conviction for Zarzycki’s murder, Ream was already serving a 15-year prison sentence on a sexual assault charge involving a 14-year-old girl.
He was later temporarily released from prison to lead police to Zarzycki’s body.
He told investigators that Zarzycki’s body was buried near a creek.
Ream also drew a map of the location and spent about an hour with authorities at the search location before leading police to where he buried her body in a shallow grave.
Authorities said Reams had a morbid obsession with young girls.