He was also a suspect in the Freeway Phantom murders in the early 1970s, in which at least five girls and one woman were abducted and killed in the area.

On December 28, he served cyanide-laced whiskey to five prostitutes at a brothel in Washington, D.C., and offered a reward to whoever could swallow it the fastest.

During his murder trial, it was revealed that he was a police informant, aiding law enforcement in the arrests of prostitutes.

[4] In March 1977, 58-year-old Askins, then a computer technician at the National Science Foundation, was charged with abducting and raping a 24-year-old woman inside his home.

He denied having any connection to the Freeway Phantom murders to detectives and the press when questioned, claiming that he did not have the "depravity of mind required to commit any of the crimes."