Suspect in Horrifying Idaho Triple Murder Hasn’t Been Seen in 8 Years

When you think about what state could be named America’s true crime capital, Idaho probably isn’t the first state that comes to mind. You would assume it would be a state with more people and weirder headlines. Maybe somewhere like California, Florida or Texas. 

America Remains Fascinated By Idaho’s “Doomsday Mom”

But lately, it seems like Idaho is at the center of the true crime universe. After a trailer for a Dateline episode titled “Lori Vallow Daybell: The Jailhouse Interview” aired, true crime fans were stunned. In the clip, Vallow Daybell tells Keith Morrison, “You’ve heard a lot of stuff, Keith. What I tell you will be the truth.” ’Filmed in Arizona, Vallow Daybell was preparing to defend herself against conspiracy to commit murder charges linked to the death of one of her previous husbands, Charles Vallow. 

READ MORE: Gruesome 2004 Idaho Case Will Be Featured on New True Crime Series 

While the episode failed to deliver on that promise, thousands couldn’t help but tune in with morbid curiosity since it was the first time Vallow Daybell spoke publicly after being arrested in connection with the death of her children, Tylee and JJ and her current husband’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.

Did Dateline Taint the Potential Jury Pool in the Bryan Kohberger Case?

A few weeks later, Idahoans and true crime junkies from across the nation sat down to watch another Dateline episode titled “The Terrible Night on King Road.” Unlike the Daybell interview, this episode did deliver a ton of new information that people following the Bryan Kohberger case had never heard before.

Get our free mobile app

It was so explosive that the judge in the case very quickly ordered the prosecution to provide him with a list of everyone who had access to the details of the case.  Meanwhile, the defense wants to delay that trial partially in part to information revealed in that episode. 

Other Crimes with Idaho Ties Featured on Dateline

Those are the two most well known Idaho cases featured on Dateline recently but they’re from the only ones. Just a few weeks ago, I flipped on Dateline as background noise while I was cleaning my room. They were halfway through an episode titled “Footprints in the Snow” and within a few seconds I heard the host mention a familiar name - Steve Pankey. 

Remember him? He was a former Idaho gubernatorial candidate who was eventually found guilty of kidnapping and killing 12-year old Jonelle Matthews in Colorado almost 40 years ago. 

Another Dateline episode titled “The Family Secret” dove into the murder of Lloyd Ford. His wife drugged him, shot him and then buried his body in the backyard of their home on Clark Street in Boise. She told everyone that Ford had deserted the family when he met another woman. 

The one Idaho crime that we’re slightly surprised never made it to Dateline happened eight years ago, right here in the Treasure Valley. 

Suspect in Idaho Triple homicide Hasn’t Been Seen in Eight Years

In June 2017, police responded to what started out as a routine welfare check. What they found was something more gruesome than any of us could imagine. They discovered three partially decomposed female bodies, covered up and hidden in a shed on KCID Road in Caldwell. 

Each of the women was killed by a single gunshot wound, but because of the level of decomposition it took investigators weeks to determine who they were. By the end of the month they confirmed that one of the bodies was Cheryl Baker who was married to a man named Gerald “Mike” Bullinger. 

It took almost two more months to identify the other bodies as Nadja Medley and her daughter, Payton. Medley was Bullinger’s girlfriend and those who knew her were stunned to find out that Bullinger had been married to someone else for almost a decade. 

Bullinger had been living a double life, playing a doting boyfriend to Medley and was a strong father figure in Payton’s life. The two relocated from Utah to join him on his new ranch in Caldwell. However, People Magazine revealed that at the same time, he was still a supportive husband in a seemingly perfect marriage. 

Eight years after the bodies were found, we still don’t know what happened the day the three women were shot. True crime podcast, Casefile, did an episode on the case that suggested that Baker decided to surprise Bullinger with a visit at the Caldwell property the couple purchased together and planned to move to after Baker retired from her teaching job. The episode suggests that visit is when the truth came to light for all parties involved. What happened next? Only Bullinger truly knows.

Bullinger took off in his Ford Focus, which was eventually found at a remote campsite in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest. It’s widely believed that Bullinger is dead, either as a result of taking his own life, an animal attack or exposure to dangerous outdoor conditions but to this day, no one knows for sure. His body was never found and he hasn’t been seen since 2017. He was the sole suspect connected to Nadja, Payton and Cheryl’s murders.