The Mall Passer: James Debardeleben

[@michelledebardelebenpage4132]

This monster was married to my mother, Wanda Faye, for 5 years. Once she became pregnant with me she left him for good & he never had a hand in raising me. My mother kept me from him all my life until I was in my 20’s when I got curious & visited him in Lewisburg State Penitentiary, which was such a horrible experience. I never knew the extent of his derangement until I met the author of the book about him. Gave me chills when I realized what my biological father was. They named me Lyndsay in the book, to protect me because I was so young. I visited him many times while he had cancer & was in Butner, NC. He had no remorse & denied the majority of his crimes.

[@susanmcmasterson956]

Why do you keep his surname, if you don't mind me asking? Also, was Stephen Michaud the author you met? Thanks in advance for sharing your story!

[@tybeauvais-tt6wp]

@michelledebardelebenpage4132. Omg that's incredible. I just watched the episode of Hear No Evil on him. It's truly disturbing that they had to block the voice of the victim. Considering how evil this man was it must've been horrible for the detectives to listen to these women being tortured. I must admit I was curious to hear it myself because it is soooo fucking shocking and sick.

[@meowMix03]

Did he make recording on video of his victims being killed? This does seem to be a huge thread Amongst the crimes of killers

[@peggysmith9895]

Im amazed ive never heard of this guy i listen to true crime podcast and watch shows all the time never heard of this guy

[@OneMoreRedNightmare]

New sub. Great choice on this guy, and thanks for all the research. It seems like the other true crime channels haven't had the huevos to cover this guy in depth. Also, greetings from a fellow Appalachian. You have the accent of my people.

[@cattycorner8]

So is this guy's name Mike or James? I'm a little confused.

[@christinareed9002]

James Mitchell Dabardeleben is his full name

[@bradleyshabazz8181]

We called him Mike in Burlington county jail 1986. New jersey

[@auroraboobiealice6352]

In the 80s, when I was 16, I was hitchhiking & James Mitchel (Mike) DeBardeleben picked me up in Norfolk, Virginia. I told him I was going to see my boyfriend. He had automatic door locks (rare in the 80s except for cop cars/limos & caddies) & a cb radio in his car. He said he was an undercover cop which even as a kid, I knew that was bull 💩 because cops don't tell you they're undercover plus I knew the difference between a cop radio & a CB radio (which is what he had), so I was immediately ill at ease. He kept touching my left leg & thigh asking if my boyfriend does that & asked me why I wasn't in school. I'd pushed his hand away, he smirked, grabbed my leg again & tightly held my thigh in his grip for some time. I felt extremely frightened & wanted to get the hell out of the car, but I noticed the lock covers were stripped off of the locks & I would've needed needle nose pliers to unlock the door (This detail was not mentioned on AMW or public police interviews but I relayed it to law enforcement). Fortunately on the road ahead, there was a 2 vehicle accident blocking our entrance to a bridge & cops were at the scene. I heard him pop the locks as he told me, "Today's your lucky day." The hairs on the back of my neck stood up even straighter. Some years later as a young Air Force wife & mother stationed overseas, I saw him featured on America's Most Wanted on the Armed Forces Network (AFN, a military tv channel). Initially he was only wanted for counterfeiting & was nicknamed 'The Mall Passer' because he would go to shopping centers passing his counterfeit bills mostly 20s on socks, candy & other small items to get change in real bills. In a storage unit in Virginia, they found a counterfeiting machine/paraphernalia & recordings of women being tortured & murdered. They also found women's clothing, jewelry & various forms of identification. Some of these women were found alive & they shared their horror stories with law enforcement as did I after he was captured. He was passing off counterfeit bills to fund his sexual deviance. I'm relieved that he's dead & that I was unscathed. After his arrest for counterfeiting, the Secret Service found evidence linking him to much more serious sex crimes. He was sentenced to 375 years in federal prison. Although he was never brought to trial for murder, he was the principal suspect in two homicides and he remains a suspect in several others. He died of pneumonia at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, in early 2011. I'll never forget that voice & the rage simmering just beneath. ID EPISODE kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpCXpmCcbqhoZpY en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_DeBardeleben kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYiUoJ9uaqZsf9k