An alcoholic and narcotics addict, Cobb financed his expensive habits through robbery, eventually turning to murder. 

Convicted in the fatal beating of a Georgia holdup victim, Cobb was serving life when he escaped from the state prison, at Jessup, in April 1965. A federal warrant was routinely issued, charging him with unlawful flight to avoid confinement. 

On July 20, 1965, 58-year-old Frances Johnson, a door-to-door cosmetic saleswoman, vanished from her home in Tampa, Florida. One day later, Joe Cross, a gas station attendant in Dade County, noticed blood dripping from the trunk of a customer's car. Cross made note of the license number, which matched that of Frances Johnson's missing vehicle. Upon recovery, the car yielded fingerprints, and Joe Cross identified Cobb's mug shot as a likeness of the nervous driver. 

Frances Johnson's decomposing body was discovered on September 26, beneath a quilt, on a deserted path northeast of Tampa. An indictment for first-degree murder was returned against Hoyt Cobb, and his name was added to the FBI's "Most Wanted" list on January 6, 1966. 

Five months later, to the day, a tip led federal officers to the address in Hialeah, where their man -- as "Robert Jones" -- had been residing. Cobb was taken into custody without resistance and returned to Tampa for his murder trial.

Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers

SEX: M RACE: W TYPE: N MOTIVE: CE-felony

MO: Bludgeoned two victims in robberies.

DISPOSITION: Concurrent life terms in Ga. and Fla. (paroled 1989)