Is Murder Suspect a Serial Killer?

Courtney was charged in August. In November three news organizations filed a public records lawsuit asking the Corvallis Police Department and the Benton County District Attorney's Office to release a document containing details of the case. A judge ruled in January that the records should remain sealed because of the ongoing investigation into Courtney's crimes.

His wife, other family members and his attorney have also declined to talk about the case. But The Oregonian said court documents and interviews paint Courtney as an underemployed, angry man who at times drank too much and frightened his wife and children.

Typical Suburban Lifestyle

Courtney moved to Rio Rancho, N.M., an Albuquerque suburb, after a troubled adolescence, to start life over, according to The Oregonian.

In interviews with neighbors and New Mexico officials, the newspaper found that Courtney, his wife and their three children lived in a two-story home at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in a solidly middle-class subdivision. He had kept his record clean after an Oregon conviction at age 18 for sexual abuse in Washington County.

But that changed in 2004 when he was arrested and charged with drunken driving, abusing his wife and the abduction and rape for which he is awaiting trial.

A janitor, mechanic and fisherman, Courtney also faced financial pressure. When he was arrested in New Mexico, Courtney, was found with a glass pipe for smoking crack cocaine

Court records indicate Courtney spent much of 2004 on the road, traveling from Florida to Oregon and back to New Mexico. He drove cars registered to other people and companies.

The Oregonian said that Courtney and his wife, Rosy, lived in the North Hills neighborhood of Rio Rancho off and on since the mid-1990s. In June Rosy Courtney declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy; she was more than $100,000 in debt, much of it credit card charges racked up by her husband, said Ronald E. Holmes, her bankruptcy attorney.

Neighbors told the paper about their affection and respect for Rosy Courtney.

"Rosy is a good person; she works hard," said Patsy Akin, who moved next door to the Courtneys in 1997. "She and the kids are really nice, very mannerly. My granddaughter plays with their little girl."

Those warm feelings don't extend to Joel Courtney, the newspaper said. Allan Summers, a neighbor since 1997, told The Oregonian he exchanged words with Courtney just once in all those years -- when his sport utility vehicle needed a jump.

"He was very anti-social," Summers said. "He didn't talk much."

ABC affiliate KATU News in Portland, Ore., and The Associated Press contributed to this report.