There’s a serial killer on the loose in Red Dead Redemption 2. You may have seen his “works of art” close to Valentine. The game won’t point you in the right direction here. You’ll have to find him and catch him yourself. But he does have one weakness.
Like most pop culture serial killers, this one is just begging to be caught. But it’ll take the right detective to figure out the clues. He wants his genius to be understood — but of course, that’ll be his downfall.
Each victim the RDR2 serial killer leaves out in the world has a clue nearby. Usually shoved inside a facial orifice, but not always the same one — it’s a surprise each time!
Much like the first mysterious shack, RDR2’s first serial killer victim is quite close to one of the starting areas, designed to pique your interest so you keep an Eagle Eye out for more…
As Gory As RDR2 Gets
The first of these clues is on the ride from Horseshoe Overlook to Valentine. Many players will stumble on it in their early game back-and-forth. If you load up the map nearby, a simple marker named “corpse” can be seen.
Travelling below the train tracks will reveal the body, or what’s left of it. If you find the severed head, you’ll get the clue: one third of a map that leads to… something.
But unlike most quests, there’s nothing to signpost where the next steps are. This is one of the rare mysteries in RDR2 that you either find yourself, or you miss.
Humans Don’t Have That Many Organs
Not too far away, in the land of the Braithwaites, there’s a corpse on the edge of the plantation property. There are actually so many body parts scattered around, we think more than one killing has taken place to signal this clue. There’s also a lot of blood, providing a trail to follow.
True to form, there’s a disembodied head nearby, with a scroll stuffed into a novelty face-hole. It’s the second third of the map. Here’s where to find it from Braithwaite Manor:
But we still need the third piece…
Third Crime’s a Charm
Back towards Valentine, if you go southwest and a bit south of Wallace Station, you’ll come across the third clue deep into the woods.
Follow the same formula, and use your Eagle Eye if you get lost.
Once your map is fully put together, it’ll look like this:
This just so happens to look like a run down shack that’s quite close to Valentine. Once you’re there, you can open up the basem*nt to find the serial killer’s dwelling. There also appears to be a safe combination, but Arthur will use that to open the serial killer’s locked door.
Finding the RDR2 Serial Killer
Investigate the serial killer’s hideout, and in the very back there’ll be a knife you can inspect. Doing so will trigger a cutscene in which the serial killer will attack you.
He’s not too hard to fight off, and you can hogtie him and take him back to the sheriff’s office in Valentine to collect your reward.
Trust a serial killer to get all weird, and when the sheriff tries to put him into his cell, he goes full Hannibal and tries to take a bite out of the sheriff’s neck. You’d almost think it was the vampire quest… but more on that one later.
Dead Eye makes it pretty easy to pop the serial killer in the head and save the sheriff. He’ll reward you for your trouble with a stack of bills. It’s not as much as you get from robbing a train, but at least the people of Valentine are a little safer now — until you next decide to rob them.
