Woman realizes serial killer lived in home, and his mom is the landlord

KMOV says Catrina McGhaw was satisfied when she signed the lease for her St. Louis area home -- until one of her relatives told her to watch a documentary on the A&E network about serial killers.

What happened next will have you asking your prospective landlord a few extra questions the next time you're thinking of renting a place to live.

"It was 7 a.m. on a quiet morning last June when authorities knocked on Maury Travis' door. He knew what they would find at his house. In the basement, a secret torture chamber."

McGhaw quickly realized she was living in the same house where Maury Travis was suspected of killing between 12 and 20 women. He was called the 'Street Walker Strangler.'

"This whole basement was basically his torture chamber and it's not OK."

Needless to say, she immediately wanted out of her lease, but the landlord was unsympathetic.

CBS says, "McGhaw asked to be let out of the lease but she was turned down by the landlord. Guess who the landlord was: The mother of the killer."

Travis' mother told McGhaw she had to honor the lease she signed, but the St. Louis Housing Authority stepped in and is allowing her to move out at the end of the month.

So, how did she move in to the house without knowing it was an alleged crime scene?

Fox News reports, "The woman who is now renting the place says she had no idea. The landlord never mentioned the history in that house. There is no law in Missouri that forces a landlord to disclose those past crimes."

Maury Travis was never convicted of any of the alleged murders. He hanged himself in his jail cell in 2002.

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