No, a serial killer named Robert Thibodeau isn't targeting women around the US | Fact check
The claim: A serial killer named Robert Thibodeau is targeting people in various areas
A Dec. 3 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes two pictures of a bearded man and claims he poses a threat to the public in Columbus, Georgia.
“Warning: The public around #columbus is being warned to be alert & vigilant as there is a serial killer on the run,” reads part of the post.
It goes on to identify the man as a 52-year-old named Robert Thibodeau. The post says he attacked a 37-year-old woman with a knife and stole an 83-year-old woman’s vehicle.
It was shared more than 8,000 times in less than three weeks. Other versions of the claim stated the same man was targeting individuals in Indiana, Texas and Massachusetts.
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Our rating: False
Officials in the places mentioned in the social media posts said there were no reports of any such incidents. The photo shows a man named James Vining who was arrested in 2018.
Posts are 'gullibility checks' scammers use to find victims
The Columbus Police Department “has no reports or evidence of a serial killer named Robert Thibodeau targeting individuals in our area,” department spokesperson Brittany Santiago told Paste BN in an email.
“If we were actively investigating such a significant case, the information would be disseminated through our verified channels and credible news organizations, not via unverified posts in social media groups,” Santiago said.
The City of Odessa, Texas, also said claims of a serial killer in the area were false in a Dec. 9 Facebook post.
The photo included in some versions of the claim first appeared in an August 2018 article by The Advocate about a man, identified as 42-year-old James Vining, who was charged with voyeurism and other crimes.
A 53-year-old man named Robert Thibodeau was sentenced to eight years in prison earlier in December after being convicted of numerous weapons and ammunition charges in New York, as WPTZ-TV reported.
Jeffrey Blevins, a professor at the University of Cincinnati and a misinformation expert, previously told Paste BN such copy-and-paste scams are a "gullibility check" scammers use to identify potential victims. Signs a post might be a scam include having comments disabled and coming from a newly created Facebook account. Comments were disabled on the posts in question.
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Paste BN has debunked similar claims in the past, including false assertions that serial killers were targeting women in Texas, New Jersey and Ohio.
Paste BN reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
PolitiFact, AFP and Snopes also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- Brittany Santiago, Dec. 20, Email exchange with Paste BN
- City of Odessa, Texas, Dec. 9, Facebook post
- The Advocate, Aug. 7, 2018, Former Tangipahoa firefighter accused of hiding cameras in women’s restroom at firehouse
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