Scott Kimball is seen above in his mugshot
Detectives have told how a FBI informant turned serial killer Scott Kimball tried to throw investigators off track as they searched for the body of one of his victims.
Dateline returns on Friday night, and the new season will kick off with the story of Kimball who earned the nickname Hannibal Lecter after murdering at least four people in the early 2000s.
He is currently serving a 70-year sentence after pleading guilty to murder in the second degree in the deaths of two of the women.
A clip from the episode obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com shows the moment that FBI agents found one of those bodies – LeAnn Emry, 24, and just how hard Kimball worked to lead them astray.
At one point during their search, Kimball almost managed to redirect the men away from one of his shallow graves, but found his plot foiled when one of the men noticed a hair clip with part of Emry’s scalp still attached.
The detective said: ‘I shouted, I think I’ve found LeAnn.’
Kimball, who earned the nickname Hannibal Lecter, after murdering at least four people in the early 2000s, is seen above with detectives as they search for LeAnn Emry
At one point during their search, Kimball almost managed to redirect the men away from one of his shallow graves. He is seen above speaking with detectives
The number of people Kimball may have killed prior to his time in prison is unknown for certain, and some have guessed that there are likely more than 20. The search for LeAnn’s body is seen above
Victim: LeAnn Emry, 24, (pictured)
The number of people Kimball may have killed prior to his time in prison is unknown for certain, and some have guessed that there are likely more than 20 victims.
He admitted to killing four people between 2003 and 2004, confessing to the murders of Kaysi McLeod, 19, Jennifer Marcum, 25, LeAnn Emry, 24, and his uncle Terry Kimball, 60.
When first speaking with Emry, Kimball had used the alias ‘Hannibal.’
The body of Marcum has never been found.
His spree began just one month after he was released from prison early in 2002 to assist the FBI in a drug investigation.
He managed to luck into the role after his cellmate, Steve Ennis, asked him to kill a witness In a drug case.
A detective noticed a hair clip with part of Emry’s scalp still attached (pictured above)
Dateline: A Deal With the Devil airs Friday on NBC at 9pm ET. Above Kimball is seen leading a detective astray during the hunt for LeAnn’s body
Dateline will also examine a few of the other possible victims such as 26-year-old Catrina Powell. The search for LeAnn’s body is seen above
This proved to be a huge embarrassment for the FBI when they realized the man was a killer.
The task of finding the victims proved to be a difficult one on a count of the fact that Kimball dismembered the women after murdering them.
Dateline will also examine a few of the other possible victims such as 26-year-old Catrina Powell.
It was in October of 2004 that Powell’s nude body was discovered leaning against a dumpster in an alley way bend a strip mall.
She was missing both hands by the time officers found her on the scene.
Dateline: A Deal With the Devil airs Friday on NBC at 9pm ET.
Kimball admitted to killing four people between 2003 and 2004, confessing to the murders of Kaysi McLeod, 19, (left) and Jennifer Marcum, 25, (right)