Sadistic former cop David Middleton was banished from the force in disgrace, eventually earning a living working as a cable TV installer in Reno, Nevada. That job saw him come into contact with many female customers – some of whom never again saw the ligh

MONSTERS OF DEATH ROW

DAVID Middleton is the epitome of a cop gone bad.

He started out life as a police officer with the Boston PD and later with Miami Metro-Dade.

He was sworn to protect and serve. He did anything but.

DEATH SCENE: A judge and detectives examine the area where other bodies were discovered

And, by 1993, he was on his way to becoming a serial killer.

Officially, Middleton’s death toll stands at just two. He was convicted of the kidnap, torture, rape and murder of 42-year-old casino worker Thelma Davila and 45-year-old primary school teacher Katherine Powell.

But detectives suspect he could be responsible for many other disappearances and is a ‘person of interest’ in at least two other slayings.

He currently resides on Death Row,

CRUELLY SLAIN: Buffy Donohoe was last seen being picked up by Evonne Haley having been handed the ultimate sentence for his crimes in November 1997.

Jeff Powell, brother of slain teacher Katherine, racked up enormous personal debts as he was forced to take time off from his career as an architect to be at Middleton’s trial, losing valuable many customers and most of his income in the process. But to Jeff, it was all worth it. He said at the time: “It will be years before I recover from this.

“At the moment I’m treading water with my head just above the surface. I’m in massive debt. I’m getting just enough to make monthly payments. “It will be a long time before I get back to where I was.

“But at least David Middleton is in prison and will stay there.”

Middleton should, in a world less cruel, have had a glittering career as a police officer. Raised in Massachusetts, he was hired as a police cadet by the Boston Police Department at the age of 18 and also began to attend college.

Gerrilyn was granted low bail from the prosecutor’s office in New Jersey.

In 1988 he was investigated by internal affairs and subsequently suspended from duties on the warrants desk and given a more menial role.

Twelve months later Middleton’s true colours were beginning to show.

In November 1989 he was arrested for a truly horrific kidnapping and sexual assault.

Legal files revealed: “Middleton coaxed a woman who worked for the Miami-Dade police to have sex with him.

“She had sex with him once consensually, then Middleton raped her at his home.

“He used an animal head machete for anal penetration.”

Around the same time he raped a 16-year-old girl while off duty but wearing his uniform.

And by 1991 he was behind bars, serving a five-year stretch for his ghastly crimes against women.

But, just two years later, Middleton was once again a free man.

He moved to Montrose, Colorado, where he started working as a cable TV installer.

It’s around this time that he shacked up with girlfriend Evonne Haley, a woman who would eventually become his sick accomplice.

In November 1993, many suspect Middleton committed his first murder, that of newlywed Buffy Rice Donohue, who was just 18 years old. It is a crime for which he has not yet been convicted.

Buffy’s bound, battered and decomposed body wasn’t discovered until May 1995. She’d been bludgeoned to death with a blunt weapon.

Buffy was last seen