Alleged Serial Murderer in US Killed by His Victim Number 10

Virginia: US police are reopening old murder cases after concluding that a man shot dead with his own gun  in Virginia by an alleged prostitute in her home may have been a serial killer.

Neal Falls, 45, killed July 18 in Charleston, West Virginia, may be linked to the murder or disappearance of nine women in three states, police say.

"Our victim was the tenth. But she survived," Lt. Steve Cooper, the lead detective in the West Virginia case, told AFP on Tuesday.

In the trunk of Falls' car police found knives, an ax, a machete, a sledgehammer, plastic bags, bleach, a bullet-proof vest and four sets of handcuffs. Cooper has called it "a serial killer kit."

Falls had arranged to meet with the woman via a website advertising escort services.

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The woman, who has asked to be identified only as Heather, told CBS News over the weekend that as soon as Falls entered her home he pulled out a handgun, asked her if she wanted to live or die and started choking her.

"When he strangled me he just wouldn't let me get any air and so I grabbed my rake. And when he laid the gun down to get the rake out of my hands, I shot him. I just grabbed the gun and shot behind me," she said, making the gesture of reaching behind her head and shooting blindly.

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The shot hit Falls in the head, killing him.

DNA samples from Falls have been entered into an FBI database to see if they match evidence from old cases, Cooper said.

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On Falls' person police found a yellow Post-it note with the names, ages and telephone numbers of other women.