Columbus woman indicted in 'serial killings,' accused of meeting men for sex, drugging them
A Columbus woman has been indicted in four fatal overdoses in what the Ohio Attorney General's Office says were serial killings.
Rebecca Auborn, 33, is accused of meeting men for sex at hotels in Columbus, drugging them and then robbing them. Four of the meetings resulted in fatal overdoses, and a fifth person survived, according to the attorney general's office.
Columbus police have been investigating the cases, and the attorney general's office says they here may be more cases. Columbus police declined to provide additional information about the killings as of Thursday morning.
Auborn was indicted in September by a Franklin County grand jury on murder and other charges in connection with the January drug overdose death of a 30-year-old man in North Linden.
On Wednesday, a grand jury issued a superseding indictment against her on four counts of murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter, five counts of aggravated robbery, five counts of felonious assault, five counts of corrupting another with drugs, one count of tampering with evidence and four counts of trafficking in drugs.
Auborn was indicted after the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force recieved a tip that a woman was allegedly meeting men for sex in northeast Columbus, then overdosing the “johns” with drugs in order to steal their possessions.
Investigators are looking into overdose deaths between December 2022 and August 2023 within an area north of Downtown in an area bounded by I-71, Route 161, Cleveland Avenue and E. 17th Avenue.
Anyone with information about an overdose with related to the case is asked to call Columbus police or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).
bagallion@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus woman met men for sex, drugged and robbed them, police say
