James was a long hall truck driver that resided in Columbiana County, Ohio, with his wife and daughter.

As we have learned from previous Serial Killers, employment as a long hall truck driver gives those so designed a sense of anonymity along our endless highways and the perfect setting to rape and or slay and run. Most times victims of said individuals lay undiscovered for long periods, if even discovered at all. One can only imagine the shear magnitude of corpses that most likely lay undiscovered along Americas highways.

21 March 1993, Dawn Marie Birnbaum, 17, ran away from a boarding school located in Bangor, Maine. Dawn had been placed in the school after her mother had become fed up with her rebellious adolescent behavior. Dawn's mother had hoped that the school would be able to help with her daughter’s severe behavioral problems.

On March 24, 1993, three days after her disappearance, one found Dawn Marie Birnbaum's corpse. The corpse of the young woman had been placed in an area of rest between the roads 26 and 550 of Pennsylvania, and it was discovered by a motorist.

Upon arriving at the scene, investigators quickly noticed that a yellow nylon rope had been wrapped around the victim’s neck and tied in a "granny (style) knot". It was also noted that the victim’s hands had been bound with lengths of the same rope and she was nude from the waste down. Crime Scene investigators also discovered a set of tire tracks leading away from the dump spot; it was later determined that these tracks had been left by a large truck or semi.

An autopsy later confirmed that the victim had in fact been strangled with the length of rope that was left tied around her neck. While collecting latent evidence the medical examiner further determined that the victim had been raped and two strands of black hair were discovered amongst the victims natural blonde hair.

Investigators soon discovered that Dawn's murder was very similar to that of eight other women that had been discovered near or around Ohio interstate truck stops. All of the victims had been strangled and sexually assaulted; although, most were found to be lot-lizards (trucker slang for prostitutes).

Due to the fact that Dawn had crossed state lines (before or after death) investigators contacted the offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI, state and area law enforcement began to compare the tire tread casts that had been made at the scene, with semis from various trucking corporations. In addition, they began to wade through thousands of truck stop receipts ranging from Bangor Maine to Centre Clinton Counties (where the body was discovered).

After hours and hours of research, investigators began to see a common thread emerging and the tire casts eventually led them to a trucking business located in New Waterford, Ohio.

It was soon discovered that the semi in question was driven on a regular basis to Maine, and the driver of the rig was a so called man James Cruz Jr. Investigators quickly obtained a search warrant for the semi and were able to obtain one long blonde hair from the passenger seat of the truck. Pennsylvania's state crime lab was able to determine that the single hair was a match to that of Miss Birnbaum's. Due to the hair match, investigators were able to obtain a court order forcing James Cruz to submit to blood testing for comparism to semen discovered in the vagina of the victim. Preliminary analysis of the suspect’s blood indicated a 660 million-to-one match.

On September 8, 1983, five months after Dawn's body had been discovered, James Cruz Jr. was placed under arrest at his employers corporate office located near the Ohio/Pennsylvania border. Cruz, 36, was accused of murder in the first, second and third degree, kidnapping, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (sodomy), robbery and theft by unlawful taking.

On Septembe 10, 1983, Cruz was taken for his arraignment, in an Akron Municipal Court. At the hearing Cruz's bond was set at five million dollars, the highest bond ever set in Summit County.

"Death you can handle, this you don't"
-- Cruz's wife.

After Cruz's arrest, a special task force was coordinated in an effort to try and prove James involvement in the unsolved string of murders that plagued the area.

On March 13, 1994, after a judgment with juror, James Cruz was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

The task force that was assembled to prove Cruz's involvement in the unsolved prostitute murders was eventually disbanded. Investigators were unable to obtain any SOLID evidence linking Cruz to any of the murders, although, there is no doubt in any of their minds that Cruz was in fact the killer. After Cruz's arrest, the string of prostitute murders along the highways of Northeastern Ohio stopped just as abruptly as they had begun.

We will most likely never know the full extent of Cruz's involvement in the unsolved prostitute murders. To this day, the cases remain open and unsolved....

Fate of Cruz trial now rests in hands of jury