His victims were Jerry Howell age 20, held for 28 hours with repeated sexual assaults before finally dying from asphyxiation. Robert Sheldon age 18, held until April 15, 1985, when he was finally killed by asphyxiation. Mark Wallace age 20, captured by chance from being found in Berbella's tool shed to take cover from a storm on June 22, 1985, Mark died on June 23, 1985, from lack of oxygen and by being injected with drugs. Walter James Ferris age 25, The first victim whom Berdella stated he had intentionally tortured prior to his death. Berdella noted that Ferris became delirious during his captivity as a result of the torture and medication he had administered, with one of the final notations in his log of Ferris's capture being, "unable to sit up more than 10-15  seconds. His death was noted in Berdella's torture log with the notation "Stop the project". Todd Stoops age 21, kidnapped on June 17, 1986, because Berbella being sexually frustrated with him, todd died on July 1 by a combination of blood loss and infection. Larry Wayne Pearson age 20 captured on June 23, 1987, Pearson was killed by suffocation after six weeks of captivity, which included having a piano wire tied around his wrists with the intention of causing nerve damage. His head was kept and buried in Berdella's garden, Pearson died on August 5.