Donna Perry, the Spokane trans killer, killed her victims for being "more attractive than he could ever be," experts say

The case of Donna Perry, the Spokane transsexual killer who killed three prostitutes in the 1990s before throwing them into the river, is back on the front pages. The reason stems froom the statements of criminologists who analyzed the case for an Apple TV documentary. According to these experts, it was a mixture of jealousy and resentment that motivated the deaths of the three women in 1990.

The Donna Perry case took many years to resolve. The bodies of Yolanda Sapp, Nichie Lowe and Khatleen Brisbois were found on the banks of the Spokane River, Washington State, between February and May 1990. However, the killer Donna Perry was not arrested for these cases until 2017.

A disturbed mind

Donna Perry, formerly Douglas, is a man haunted by an abusive childhood. Ten years after the murders of the three women, he underwent a sex change operation in Thailand and changed his name to a feminine version. Prior to his arrest for the three murders, he was already known to the police services for repeated misdemeanor weapons offenses.

From the outset, it was ruled out that Perry had transitioned to avoid responsibility for his crimes. The investigation indicated that Perry suffers from a severe mental disorder. He completely dissociates his past masculine identity with his present feminine one.

Jealousy of female appearance

According to criminologist and expert on the case Brian Federick, Perry would have chosen his victims based on their appearance. "I imagine there was a bit of jealousy involved as well," the expert stated in the documentary. "He picked some attractive victims, maybe more attractive than he could ever be as Donna, and he felt they were wasting that beauty by giving sex to other men who didn't necessarily have the same purpose he had. He was goal-oriented."

In 2017, Perry was sentenced to three life sentences in Washington state, without access to parole. She has since served time in a women's correctional facility in Gig Harbor, Washington.