Profile Vol. I by Elaine

NOV 09, 2017

VOL. 01

PROFILE

Amelia Dyer Dennis Rader ‘B.T.K.’ The Grim Sleeper

Known as the Gainesville Ripper, Daniel Rolling murdered four University of Florida students and a Santa Fe Community College student in their apartments in 1990. He decapitated one victim, posed with some of the bodies, removed skin and body parts and arranged the murder scenes using props that included broken mirrors.

More on pg. 35.

CASE FILES

What on earth is

going on? 31 Oct 2016

1 Nov 2017

‘You can’t have my brains’: Chilling message scrawled on woman’s chest in her own blood by killer boyfriend

Murder probe launched after man, 55, stabbed to death in violent attack inside his own home

2 Nov 2017

Japanese serial killer offered suicide help to his victims

3 Nov 2017

Mum who strangled son, 9, to death on Halloween found with cloves of garlic, lighter and vial of ‘Holy water’

2 Nov 2017

Walmart shooting suspect arrested after murder of three people sparks 14-hour manhunt

3 Nov 2017

Betts Park murder: Teenager stabbed to death after attack in park

CASE FILES

Focus

CASE FILES

Japanese police searching for a missing woman found nine dismembered bodies hidden in the apartment of a man who may be connected to her disappearance. Takahiro Shiraishi, 27, was arrested on Monday after he allegedly confessed to killing a person, cutting the victim up and then hiding the body parts in his Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture apartment.

ANALYSIS

Origin of the Term

‘Serial Killer’ By Scott A. Bonn Ph.D., Professor of Criminology at Drew University, expert on criminal behavior and motivations

ver the centuries there have been hundreds of documented cases of serial murder around the world but the term “serial killer” is relatively new. Up until the 1970s, serial killers were generally called mass murderers by both the criminal justice system and the media. Today, we draw a clear distinction between serial murder and mass murder. Unlike serial homicide, which is manifested in a number of separate events, mass murder is a one-time event that involves the killing of multiple people at one location. In a mass murder, the victims may be either randomly selected or targeted for a specific reason such as retaliation or revenge by the killer.

A mass murder normally occurs when the perpetrator, who is often deeply troubled, suffers a psychotic break from reality and strikes out at his or her perceived tormentors in a blitz-like attack. Unlike serial killers, mass murderers are frequently, but not always, killed at the scene of the crime. Sometimes, they are shot by law enforcement officers, while other times mass murderers will take their own lives in a final act of suicide. The movie theater massacre perpetrated by James Holmes in Aurora, Colorado, on July 20, 2012, on the opening night of The Dark Knight is a classic example of mass murder. In contrast to mass murder,

Source: DC Comics/Public Domain

serial killing involves multiple incidents of homicide— committed in separate events and crime scenes—where the perpetrator experiences an

ANALYSIS emotional cooling off period between murders. During the emotional cooling off period (which can last weeks, months, or even years) the killer returns to his/her seemingly normal life. Unlike mass murderers, serial killers are not fatalistic and have no desire to be caught.

They love killing far too much. The late John Wayne Gacy, the “Killer Clown,” is a classic example of a highly prolific serial killer. So, exactly where and when did the term “serial killer” originate? As explained by Peter Vronsky in his 2004 book Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters, the term “serial killer” was probably coined by the late

FBI agent and profiler Robert Ressler. According to the story, Ressler was lecturing at the British police academy at Bramshill, England, in 1974, where he heard the description of some crimes as occurring in series, including rapes, arsons, burglaries, robberies, and murders. Ressler said that the description reminded him of the movie industry term “serial adventures,” which referred to short episodic films, featuring the likes of Batman and the Lone Ranger, shown in theaters on Saturday afternoons during the 1930s and 1940s. Each week, youthful matinee audiences were lured back for the next installment in the series by an inconclusive ending known as a “cliffhanger” that left them wanting more. The FBI agent recalled

from his youth that no episode had a satisfactory conclusion and the ending of each one increased rather than decreased the tension in the viewer. Similarly, Ressler believed that the conclusion of every murder increases the tension and desire of a serial killer to commit a more perfect murder in the future—one closer to his/her ideal fantasy. Rather than being satisfied when they murder, serial killers are instead agitated toward repeating their killings in an unending “serial” cycle.

Scott Bonn discusses the motivations, fantasies and habits of notorious serial killers, including the “Son of Sam” and “Bind, Torture, Kill” based on his personal correspondence with them, in his book Why We Love Serial Killers: The Curious Appeal of the World’s Most Savage Murderers.

ANALYSIS

Why Are We So Fascinated By Serial Killers? By Tom Hale

Purveyor of strange things on the internet. Owner of tortoises. Staff writer at IFLScience.

hroughout the 1970s and 1980s, news headlines were splashed with serial murder cases such as the Green River Killer, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy Jr, Richard “Night Stalker” Ramirez, the Zodiac Killer, and BTK. The FBI notes that this sparked a massive “renewed public interest” in serial killers – a similar curiosity of which had previously sprung up in the 19th century following the notorious murders of “Jack the Ripper” in Victorian London. Now, it’s the post-Making A Murderer Internet age, when it has never been easier to indulge in your morbid curiosity. With this, too, comes a whole new bag of serial killer-infused Netflix documentaries, TV series, podcasts, Reddit threads, movies, and even the odd IFLScience article. As much as we might be repulsed by the actions of serial killers in theory, it seems we can’t

get enough of them. So what is it about these characters that capture the human imagination so strongly? For many, it’s no different to the buzz you get from watching horror movies. Each stab, scream, or stalkery look comes with a rush of neurotransmitters and a physiological change in the body, such as an increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, and increased blood glucose levels – the same reaction we get with excitement. It also administers a dose of a dopamine into your brain, the neurotransmitter famously associated with pleasure, mainly food and sex, but also during times of fear. We get this shot of feel-good chemicals because it’s often helpful for our survival. If we are simply spectating the threat from a cool distance, however, then the neurotransmitters are there but in a very different context. It’s effectively a safe

place for us to relish in a binge of dopamine and adrenaline. “I would offer that we learn about serial killers through the media – documentaries, books, online sources, and films – and that these are safe ways to explore such a morbid topic,” Bridget Rubenking, assistant professor at the University of Central Florida and media psychology scholar, told IFLScience. “Exploring all the negative things – ranging from fearful or frightful, to quite depressing and melancholy – is common and quite easy to do through media, where the risks are substantially less than exploring these subjects in nonmediated environments.” Rubeking’s 2014 study looked into how we react to films and TV shows that tickle our sense of disgust and revulsion. Her team measured the physiological changes of participants as they watched videos that portrayed

ANALYSIS

three different types of disgust: death, gore, and socio-moral disgust, like cheating and betrayal. When it came to death and gore, the initial reaction was negative, but it also provoked the strongest physiological indication of “arousal” and “attention”. It’s easy to think that human behavior is simply guided by a desire to pursue pleasure, avoid pain, and survive. Yet paradoxically, we’re attracted by the repulsive. It’s the same reason why you rubberneck at car crashes, search for graphic videos on LiveLeak, or enjoy watching a celebrity meltdown on Twitter. So far, though, this could all apply to any old gruesome stuff. Why serial killers in particular? For starters, there is something appealing and definitely freeing about being unconstrained by conventional morality. Serial killers are particularly good at this. They

rarely commit their murders via conventional reasoning like revenge, jealousy, or fear. Instead, the FBI say that “regardless of the motive, serial murderers commit their crimes because they want to.” As fascinating as it might be to be “moraless”, it’s certainly something we want to avoid. “If you strip down all animals, our motivational systems are comprised of two systems,” Rubenking added. “First, an appetitive, or approach system, which leads us to seek out opportunities that aid self and species survival. Namely, food and sex. The other nested system in the motivational system is the aversive or defensive system. It is what ramps up when we’re faced with threats and guides protective actions.” “From this perspective, learning what is disgusting is functional. Disgust is often

conceptualized as originating in our oral rejection system: Basically, a ‘don’t eat that, it’s gross, you’ll die’ response. It has, over time, been co-opted to tell us also what not to have sex with, and later on, what people and practices to avoid.” However, this macabre interest in the topic far exceeds its scope. Realistically, the chances of getting nabbed by a serial killer are very, very slim. The curiosity might not be straightforward in its practicality, like learning to avoid foul-smelling meat, but it’s a testament to our ability as superbrained mammals to toy around with abstract concepts like good, evil, and death. It seems that being fascinated with death, and the most theatrical purveyors of death, is something that makes us human.

Source: Des Plaines Police Department/Public Domain

AMELIA DYER

‘Angel maker’ Amelia Dyer snuffed out the lives of an estimated 400 babies in Britain. By Murderpedia 14

1870

A bargeman navigating the River Thames in 1896 found the corpse of a baby girl, which led to arrest of baby killer Amelia Dyer. Photography by London Stereoscopic Company 15

FEATURES

The Reading Baby Farmer Classification Characteristics Number of victims Victim profile Method of murder Location Date of birth Timeline Status

Serial killer The most prolific baby farm murderer of Victorian England 6 - 100+ Children (‘adopted’ illegitimate infants for lump-sum payments) Strangulation Reading, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom 1839 1880 - 1896 Executed by hanging at Newgate Prison, June 10 1896

Unlike many of her generation, Amelia Dyer was not the product of grinding poverty. She was born the youngest of 5 (with 3 brothers, Thomas, James and William, and a sister, Ann) in the small village of Pyle Marsh, just east of Bristol (now part of Bristol’s urban sprawl known as Pile Marsh), the daughter of a master shoemaker, Samuel Hobley, and Sarah Hobley née Weymouth. She learned to read and write and developed a love of literature and poetry. However, her somewhat privileged childhood was marred by the mental illness of her mother, caused by typhus. Amelia witnessed her mother’s violent fits and was obliged to care for her until she died raving in 1848. Researchers would later comment on the effect this had on Amelia, and also what it would teach Amelia about the signs exhibited by those who appear to lose their mind through illness.

FEATURES

Case Study: murder of Doris Marmon

n January 1896, Evelina Marmon, a popular 25-year-old barmaid, gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, Doris, in a boarding house in Cheltenham. She quickly sought offers of adoption, and placed an advertisement in the “Miscellaneous” section of the Bristol Times & Mirror newspaper. It simply read: “Wanted, respectable woman to take young child.” Marmon intended to go back to work and hoped to eventually reclaim her child. Coincidentally, next to her own, was an advertisement reading: “Married couple with no family would adopt healthy child, nice country home. Terms, £10”. Marmon responded, to a “Mrs. Harding”, and a few days later she received a reply from Dyer. From Oxford Road in Reading, “Mrs Harding” wrote that “I should be glad to have a dear little baby girl, one I could bring up and call my own.” She continued: “We are plain, homely people, in fairly good circumstances. I don’t want a child for money’s sake, but for company and home comfort. ... Myself and my husband are dearly fond of children. I have no child of my own. A child with me will have a good home and a mother’s love”. Evelina Marmon wanted to pay a more affordable, weekly fee for the care of her daughter, but “Mrs Harding” insisted on being given the one-off payment in advance. Marmon

was in desperate straits, so she reluctantly agreed to pay the £10, and a week later “Mrs Harding” arrived in Cheltenham. Marmon was apparently surprised by Dyer’s advanced age and stocky appearance, but Dyer seemed affectionate towards Doris. Evelina handed over her daughter, a cardboard box of clothes and the £10. Still distressed at having to give up care for her daughter, Evelina accompanied Dyer to Cheltenham station, and then on to Gloucester. She returned to

to wrap the body in a napkin. They kept some of the clothes Marmon had packed; the rest was destined for the pawnbroker. Dyer paid the rent to the unwitting landlady, and gave her a pair of child’s boots as a present for her little girl. The following day, Wednesday 1 April 1896, another child, named Harry Simmons, was taken to Mayo Road. However, with no spare white edging tape available, the length around Doris’ corpse was removed and used to strangle the 13 month-old boy.

her lodgings “a broken woman”. A few days later, she received a letter from “Mrs Harding” saying all was well; Marmon wrote back, but received no reply. Dyer did not travel to Reading, as she had told Marmon. She went instead to 76 Mayo Road, Willesden, London where her 23-year-old daughter Polly was staying. There, Dyer quickly found some white edging tape used in dressmaking, wound it twice around the baby’s neck and tied a knot. Death would not have been immediate. (Amelia later said “I used to like to watch them with the tape around their neck, but it was soon all over with them”) Both women allegedly helped

On April 2, both bodies were stacked into a carpet bag, along with bricks for added weight. Dyer then headed for Reading. At a secluded spot she knew well near a weir at Caversham Lock, she forced the carpet bag through railings into the River Thames.

FEATURES

Discovery of the corpses

nknown to Dyer, on 30 March 1896, a package was retrieved from the Thames at Reading by a bargeman. It contained the body of a baby girl, later identified as Helena Fry. In the small detective force available to Reading Borough Police headed by Chief Constable George Tewsley, a Detective Constable Anderson made a crucial breakthrough. As well as finding a label from Temple Meads station, Bristol, he used microscopic analysis of the wrapping paper, and deciphered a faintly-legible name—Mrs Thomas—and an address. This evidence was enough to lead police to Dyer, but they still had no strong evidence to connect her directly with a serious crime. Additional evidence they gleaned from witnesses, and information obtained from Bristol police, only served to increase their concerns, and D.C. Anderson, with Sgt. James, placed Dyer’s home under surveillance. Subsequent intelligence suggested that Dyer would abscond if she became at all suspicious. The officers decided to use a young woman as a decoy, hoping she would be able to secure a meeting with Dyer to discuss her services. This may have been designed to help the detectives to positively link Dyer to her business activities, or it may have simply given them a reliable opportunity to arrest her.

It transpired that Dyer was expecting her new client (the decoy) to call, but instead she found detectives waiting on her doorstep. On April 3 (Good Friday), police raided her home. They were apparently struck by the stench of human decomposition, although no human remains were found. There was however, plenty of other related evidence, including white edging tape, telegrams regarding adoption arrangements, pawn tickets for children’s clothing, receipts for advertisements and letters from mothers inquiring about the wellbeing of their children. The police calculated that in the previous few months alone, at least twenty children had been placed in the care of a “Mrs. Thomas”, now revealed to be Amelia Dyer. It also appeared that she was about to move home again, this time to Somerset. This rate of murder has led to some estimates that Mrs Dyer may, over the course of decades, have killed over 400 babies and children, making her one of the most prolific murderers ever, as well as the most prolific murderess ever. Helena Fry, the baby removed from the River Thames on March 30, had been handed over to Dyer at Temple Meads station on March 5. That same evening, she arrived home carrying only a brown paper parcel. She hid the package in the house but, after three weeks, the odor of decomposition prompted her to dump the dead

baby in the river. As it was not weighted adequately, it had been easily spotted. Amelia Dyer was arrested on April 4 and charged with murder. Her son-in-law Arthur Palmer was charged as an accessory. During April, the Thames was dragged and six more bodies were discovered, including Doris Marmon and Harry Simmons—Dyer’s last victims. Each baby had been strangled with white tape, which as she later told the police “was how you could tell it was one of mine”. Eleven days after handing her daughter to Dyer, Evelina Marmon, whose name had emerged in items kept by Dyer, identified her daughter’s remains

FEATURES

Inquest and trial

t the inquest into the deaths in early May, no evidence was found that Mary Ann or Arthur Palmer had acted as Dyer’s accomplices. Arthur Palmer was discharged as the result of a confession written by Amelia Dyer. In Reading gaol she wrote (with her own spelling and punctuation preserved): Sir will you kindly grant me the favour of presenting this to the magistrates on Saturday the 18th instant I have made this statement out, for I may not have the opportunity then I must relieve my mind I do know and I feel my days are numbered on this earth but I do feel it is an awful thing drawing innocent people into trouble I do know I shal have to answer before my Maker in Heaven for the awful

crimes I have committed but as God Almighty is my judge in Heaven a on Hearth neither my daughter Mary Ann Palmer nor her husband Alfred Ernest Palmer I do most solemnly declare neither of them had any thing at all to do with it, they never knew I contemplated doing such a wicked thing until it was to late I am speaking the truth and nothing but the truth as I hope to be forgiven, I myself and I alone must stand before my Maker in Heaven to give an answer for it all witnes my hand Amelia Dyer. —April 16, 1896 On 22 May 1896, Amelia Dyer appeared at the Old Bailey and pleaded guilty to one murder, that of Doris Marmon. Her family and associates testified at her trial that they had been growing suspicious and uneasy about her activities, and it emerged that Dyer had narrowly escaped discovery on several occasions. Evidence from a man who had seen and spoken to Dyer when she had disposed of the two bodies at Caversham Lock also proved significant. Her daughter had given graphic evidence that ensured Amelia Dyer’s conviction. The only defence Dyer offered was insanity: she had been twice committed to asylums in Bristol. However, the prosecution argued successfully that her exhibitions of mental instability had been a ploy to avoid suspicion; both committals were said to have coincided with times when Dyer was concerned her crimes might have been exposed.

It took the jury only four and a half minutes to find her guilty. In her 3 weeks in the condemned cell, she filled five exercise books with her “last true and only confession”. Visited the night before her execution by the chaplain and asked if she had anything to confess, she offered him her exercise books, saying, “isn’t this enough?” Curiously she was subpoenaed to appear as a witness in Polly’s trial for murder, set for a week after her own execution date. However it was ruled that Amelia was already legally dead once sentenced and that therefore her evidence would be inadmissible. Thus her execution was not delayed. On the eve of her execution Amelia heard that the charges against Polly had been dropped. She was hanged by James Billington at Newgate Prison on Wednesday, 10 June 1896. Asked on the scaffold if she had anything to say, she said “I have nothing to say”, just before being dropped at 9am precisely.

DENNIS RADER

Dennis Rader was a husband, a sexual pervert, a Boy Scout volunteer, a murderer, church leader, child killer, stalker. He terrorized Wichita for 31 years. By Matthew I Crawford 20

1974

Dennis Rader and his daughter, Kerri Rawson. Everyone who met and knew Dennis personally thought the world of him. There was nothing he could do wrong in their eyes. Photograph courtesy of Wichita Eagle 21

FEATURES

The B.T.K. Killer Classification Characteristics Number of victims Victim profile Method of murder Location Date of birth Timeline Status

Serial killer One of the most diabolical serial killers in American history 10 Mostly women Strangulation Wichita, Kansas 1945 1974 — 1991 Life imprisonment without possibility of parole for 175 years (10 consecutive life sentences) at the El Dorado Correctional Facility

Born March 9th, 1945, Dennis was the eldest of four boys born to William and Dorothea Rader. His father, who was a U.S. Marine at the time of his birth, moved his family to Wichita, Kansas when Dennis was very young. From nearly every account, Dennis Rader seemed to have a normal childhood. He joined the Boy Scouts of America, participated in the church youth group, and maintained a C average throughout his scholastic career. But Dennis Rader would later admit that from a very young age, he developed fantasies about the bondage and torture of women. He also admitted to killing and hanging small animals as a child, but he kept this life hidden from everyone that knew him. All of those close to Rader described him as “normal,” “polite,” and “well mannered.”

FEATURES

The killings begin: the Otero family

round eight o’clock on the morning of January 15th, Rader snuck around to the back of the Otero house and cut the phone line. He broke in through the back door and found that things were not as he had planned. The entire family of four sat inside along with a rather vicious family dog. At gunpoint, Rader ordered the father, Joe Otero, 38 years of age, to take the dog into the backyard. He told them that he was a wanted criminal on the run and needed food, money, and a vehicle. Rader directed everyone to lie down in the living room, and then herded them into a bedroom. The Otero family allowed Rader to bind

them as they believed all he wanted was money. But they were mistaken. Rader placed a bag over the father’s head and used a cord to subdue and kill Joe Otero. He then moved to the mother, Julie Otero, age 34. He tried to strangle her with his bare hands, but it took several attempts before he was successful in murdering her. 9-year-old Joey Otero was next to die. He was found face down on his bedroom floor with a bag over his head. Rader had apparently brought a chair into the bedroom to sit and watch the child die. 11-year-old Josie Otero was taken to the basement and hung from a noose tied around a sewer pipe. She was left partially naked, and police discovered semen on the pipe behind the young girl. After the brutal murdering,

Rader proceeded to clean up and take a few souvenirs with him. He also took the Otero’s station wagon and nearly got into an accident backing out of the drive. From there, he drove to a Dillon’s supermarket. A woman later testified that she saw Rader get out of the vehicle “shaking like a leaf.” He then threw the keys onto the roof of the market, but realized that he had left a knife at the Otero residence. He claimed to have driven his car back to their residence and retrieved the knife from their yard. Rader was unaware that there were three other Otero children who had left for school prior to his arrival. Charlie (15), Daniel (14), and Carmen (13) found their family dead when they returned home from school.

FEATURES

Timeline 4 April 1974 Kathryn Bright 17 March 1977 Shirley Vian 8 December 1977 Nancy Fox 27 April 1985 Marine Hedge 16 September 1986 Vicki Wegerle 19 January 1991 Dolores “Dee” Davis

BTK Mystery Solved An arrest was made on the 1st of December 2004, but the suspect was cleared after DNA testing. The police would continue taking approximately 1,300 DNA samples from men in the Wichita area to try to connect someone to the crime, but they were unsuccessful. Later that month a man in a park found yet another BTK drop. He took the package home and opened it to find a “PJ” doll with its head wrapped in plastic and its hands tied behind its back (PJ stood for project or a person that the BTK killer had his sights on). Its feet were bound together and tied to the feet was the real driver’s license of Nancy Fox who was killed in December of 1977. The next month, Dennis Rader was named president of

the church council. On January 8th, Rader left a package in the back of a man’s pickup truck in a Home Depot parking lot. It was several days before the man realized that BTK was written on the box. Because of that drop, the police were above to review the security tape in the parking lot, and they were excited that they would finally get their first real look at the killer. Unfortunately, the camera was too far away and too blurry to make any kind of identification. However, they were able to ascertain that the killer had been driving a black Jeep Cherokee. Inside the box was information about alleged future targets as well as more misleading information about the killer. He made comments about living in a three-story apartment building, and said he had the elevator rigged with explosives should the police try to attempt to capture him.

Rader continued communicating with the police by using serial boxes, dolls, and nonsensical letters. Drop number eleven arrived at KSAS-TV on

February 16th. It contained a letter, a piece of jewelry, and a floppy disk. On the disk, detectives found software from Christ Lutheran Church and the name Dennis. A quick search on the Internet showed Dennis Rader as the president of the church council. The police quickly started surveillance on Rader, and a DNA sample was taken from his daughter’s medical records. Detectives were able to get a familial match to the BTK crime scenes. On February 25th, 2005, Rader left the office to head home for lunch. Upon arriving home, he noticed that his house was surrounded by police. Dennis Rader surrendered without incident. The sentencing of Dennis Rader was held on August 17 and 18, 2005, and the prosecution was for able to lay down their case against Rader for the first time. The courtroom listened intently for two full days as the prosecution displayed all the evidence, crime scene photos, and autopsy evidence, as well as allowed the victims’ families to speak. Nearing the end of the second day, the courtroom listened to a rambling 20-minute apology by Rader. Afterwards, Judge Waller sentenced the BTK killer to the maximum that Kansas state law allowed. Rader was sentenced to 175 years in prison. Rader would be eligible for parole in 2180 when he turns 135.

117th Feb. 1, 1991 Dolores Davis’ body found near 117th North

FEATURES

Meridian

The trail of BTK BTK left scores of crime scenes, including places where he killed people and others where he left messages, across the Wichita area.

MAP KEY 1 BTK crime scenes

VALLEY CENTER

Broadway

1 Possible BTK communication*

Seneca

77th

*Location of communication 7 is not known.

Jan 19. 1991 Dolores Davis disappears from her home at 6226 N. Hillside. Her body is found Feb. 1, 1991, near 117th North and Meridian.

135

69th

PARK CITY

61st North (Kechi Road)

Feb. 25, 2005 Dennis Rader home, 6220 Independence, searched after Rader is arrested in a traffic stop on 61st North (E. Kechi Road).

Webb 96

37th

WICHITA Sept. 16, 1986

Hillside

Sedgwick County Court Wichita Police Dept. 3 4

Wichita Public Library

Seneca

Mike Sullivan and Paul Soutar/The Wichita Eagle

Kathryn Bright is stabbed at 3217 E. 13th St.

Killer reports 6 Fox’s killing from pay phone here.

5 1

Wichita Eagle

March 17, 1977

Shirley Vian Relford is strangled at 1311 S. Hydraulic

Murdock Park Omni Center

13th

Jan. 15, 1974

Four members of the Otero family are strangled at 803 N. Edgemoor

1 Central

Oteros’ car found here

Douglas Kellogg

135

Lincoln

3 Harry

Edgemoor

pleads guilty to 10 counts of firstdegree murder

Woodlawn

April 4, 1974

13th Dennis Rader

Oliver

Meridian

Pinecrest

West

. lvd oB Zo

KSAS-TV

Wichita State University June 27, 2005

Wegerle’s car found here

May 2, 1985 Marine Hedge’s car found in Brittany Center parking lot.

21st

Vicki Wegerle is strangled at 2404 W. 13th St.

29th

135

Hydraulic

KAKE-TV

Broadway

235

May 5, 1985 Marine Hedge’s body found.

254

45th

235

53rd

Dec. 8, 1977

Nancy Fox is strangled at 843 S. Pershing

4 Pershing

135

PARK CITY

Hydraulic

Independence

KECHI

61st

Hillside

Marine Hedge disappears from her home at 6254 Independence. Her body is found May 5, 1985, near 53rd North and Webb Road.

Hydraulic

April 27, 1985

Greenwich

April 28, 1979

BTK burglarizes home at 615 S. Pinecrest

May 3, 1985 Marine Hedge’s purse found.

BTK messages leading to Rader’s arrest 1 March 19, 2004 - Wichita Eagle receives BTK letter containing a photocopy of Vicki Wegerle's driver's license and three pictures that apparently were taken by her killer. 2 May 2004 - KAKE receives letter containing chapter headings for "BTK Story," plus fake IDs and a word puzzle. 3 June 2004 - Police receive a letter. 4 July 17, 2004 - Package found at Central Library, 223 S. Main. 5 Oct. 22, 2004 - Package found at Omni Center package dropbox, 250 N. Kansas. 6 Dec. 14, 2004 - Package found in Murdock Park, near Murdock and I-135. 7 Location and date not verified - The postcard delivered Jan. 25 appears to indicate a package was sent or left to be found on Jan. 8. 8 Jan. 25, 2005 - KAKE receives a postcard detailing the location and contents of a Post Toasties cereal box; it is found near 69th North and Seneca. 9 Feb. 16, 2005 - Wichita Fox affiliate KSAS receives a small, reinforced manila envelope containing small items, including a computer disk and jewelry. 25A card inside the envelope stated that the communication was the 11th from BTK.

LONNIE FRANKLIN JR. Lonnie Franklin Jr. was convicted of killing 10 women and there may be dozens more victims – but he’s heading to death row with his secrets. By Suzanne Zuppello 26

2016

Court sketch of Grim Sleeper interrogation video shown to jury Photograph courtesy of ABC7 L.A. 27

FEATURES

The Grim Sleeper Classification Characteristics Number of victims Victim profile Method of murder Location Date of birth Timeline Status

Serial killer The longest-operating serial killer west of the Mississippi 10 Females Shot and/or strangled California, USA 1952 1985 — 2007 10 counts of first-degree murder and 1 count of attempted murder, death penalty on all counts of first-degree muders

Lonnie David Franklin Jr. was a smalltime crook, but his neighbors didn’t worry about a guy who could get you a nice price on a flat-screen TV and who kept a “don’t ask, don’t tell” supply of car parts stashed behind his spearmint green house. Even if his narrow street in South L.A. was lined with well-kept homes and pruned hedges, the neighborhood was beset with generational poverty and a parade of addicts, dealers and gang-bangers. Franklin had his issues; his encounters with women, in particular, could veer from overtly promiscuous to downright hostile, friends and neighbors said. Still, he was seen as something of a gem — a good neighbor, quick with a helping hand.

FEATURES

ranklin is better known as his serial-murdering alias, the Grim Sleeper – a name coined by L.A. Weekly in 2008 after a victim was linked to a string of murders that occurred in the 1980s. It’s possible he’s murdered as many as 25 women – which would make him one of the most prolific American killers – and this year was finally convicted for the deaths of nine women and a teenage girl. After six years of waiting, three and a half months on trial, and one day of jury deliberation, he was sentenced to death on August 10th, 2016 – exactly 31 years after the death of his first confirmed victim, Debra Jackson, in 1985. After shooting Jackson three times in the chest, Franklin went on to use the same .25 caliber gun in nine attacks – assaulting and strangling more, while keeping photos of his victims as trophies in his home.

He Doesn’t Fit The Profile of a Serial Killer

Upon arrest, Franklin was described by neighbors as “friendly and quiet.” He often worked on cars in his front yard while chatting with passersby – not something that a person who fit the profile of a serial killer would do. More specifically, over 80 percent of serial killers are white, between the ages of 20 and 30. Franklin was a black male who committed his first known murder at the age of 32.

He Chose Victims the Authorities Wouldn’t Care About His victims strayed from the standard profile, too: while serial murders most commonly target white women, the victims of the Grim Sleeper were all black – though he did choose prostitutes, often targets for a serial killer. Moreover, the murders began in the mid1980s in parts of Los Angeles where the use of crack cocaine was rampant. Several other killers were known to comb the area as well, looking for prostitutes and drug addicts who were later found murdered in alleys, parks, or trash bins and dumpsters. The killings were so rampant that the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders was formed in 1989 in protest of the LAPD’s lack of policing in areas where the murders occurred. The coalition felt it was irresponsible – and racially motivated – that information about the murders

and the profile were not released in order to better protect black women in South Central L.A. Similar frustrations were aired during Bill Bratton’s early 2000s reign as Police Commissioner in L.A., when he and elected officials paid no public mind to the resurgence of murder in black neighborhoods. “The killings weren’t going down in Silver Lake or Westwood,” wrote Christine Pelisek in her breakthrough 2008 L.A. Weekly profile of the murders. “There has been no big press conference by Bratton, who recently weighed in on Lindsay Lohan’s love life. The camera-loving [Mayor Antonio] Villaraigosa recently beseeched the public to eat more nutritiously.” Even with the identity of the killer ravaging poor, black neighborhoods still unknown, the LAPD did not alert communities of possible danger, or assemble a special task force to solve the Grim Sleeper murders after two new bodies were discovered in 2002 and 2003. Although the LAPD saw a pattern in the murders of the late 1980s and early 2000s, they did not share this new discovery with the families of those killed.

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A Controversial Use of DNA Brought Him Down Eventually, in 2007, Bratton assembled a task force to solve the murders. Ballistics evidence from the .25 caliber gun used, DNA from the crimes and Washington’s description of her assailant all played a key roles in the capture of the Grim Sleeper, considered the “longestoperating serial killer west of the Mississippi.” Yet despite these clues, what clinched the investigation was when Attorney General Jerry Brown allowed the controversial use of a DNA probe into California’s felon database. In early 2010, using DNA collected from the scenes of the murders, detectives linked the crimes to a relative of Franklin’s whose DNA was in the system – his son Christopher, who had been arrested for felony weapons possession in 2009. District Attorney Steve Cooley has said he believes this is “the first time a familial DNA search has been used successfully” in the state. Armed with this evidence, undercover officers finally obtained DNA samples of Franklin. Following him to a birthday party in an L.A. restaurant, an officer acting as a bus boy collected Franklin’s plate, cup, and pizza crust which have enough DNA to finally convict him of murder. In court, Franklin’s lawyers cited “reasonable expectation of privacy” as the reason the DNA

should be thrown out, but the claim of discarded food being private was overruled.

There Might Be a Lot More Victims Upon his arrest in 2010, Franklin’s home was searched, and detectives took nearly 1,000

photos of women and teenage girls – some nude, unconscious, bleeding, some presumably dead – into evidence. After identifying the known victims, police began to wonder if there were more murders tied to the Grim Sleeper. At a press conference last spring, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie

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Beck told reporters, “We certainly don’t believe we are so lucky or so good as to know all of his victims. We need the public’s help.” It’s common for serial killers to take breaks in between killings, but at least in his case, a 14 year gap does not seem likely. Though not charged

for his murder, police believe Franklin is responsible for the death of Thomas Steele, who was assumed to be the friend of one of Franklin’s victims, as well as anywhere from 14 to 100 unsolved murders of Jane Does. Franklin maintains his innocence in all charges brought against him, so DNA

and witnesses may be the only means to solve these crimes. Investigations are ongoing, and detectives speculate as to whether Franklin was truly hiding after the botched murder of Washington in 1988. And if anyone could cover up a dead body, it was Franklin – as a sanitation worker for the city he had access to landfills, leading officials to speculate that he could have disposed of any number of bodies, undetected. Regardless of what is to follow with the other investigations, Franklin is the last in a line of nearly 750 inmates on death row at San Quentin State Prison, where no one has been put to death since 2006. His conviction will automatically be appealed, a right afforded to anyone sentenced to death, but it’s safe to assume that Franklin will live out his life in jail, and not go on to kill again. The camera-loving [Mayor Antonio] Villaraigosa recently beseeched the public to eat more nutritiously.” Even with the identity of the killer ravaging poor, black neighborhoods still unknown, the LAPD did not alert communities of possible danger, or assemble a special task force to solve the Grim Sleeper murders after two new bodies were discovered in 2002 and 2003. Although the LAPD saw a pattern in the murders of the late 1980s and early 2000s, they did not share this new discovery with the families of those killed.

ANALYSIS

Final Interview with

Ted Bundy Ted Bundy granted an interview to James Dobson just before he was executed on January 24, 1989.

What is going through your mind? Sometimes I fe tranquil at all. It fueled your fantasies. In the begi Then, at a certain time, it is instrumental in cry is almost a separate entity inside. You hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t kno normal person. I had good friends. I led a norm

potent and destructive segment that I kept very punishment the state has inflicted upon you? I des society has. I think society deserves to be prote Countless millions who have walked this earth just an experience we all share.

ANALYSIS

eel very tranquil and other times I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel inning, it fuels this kind of thought process. ystallizing it, making it into something that own you were capable of that before? I was a mal life, except for this one, small but very

ry secret and close to myself. Do you deserve the serve, certainly, the most extreme punishment ected from itself. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appointed unto man. h before us have gone through this, so this is

CULTURE

Eyes and ears

The Snowman (Movie)

When an elite crime squad’s lead detective (Michael Fassbender) investigates the disappearance of a victim on the first snow of winter, he fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. With the help of a brilliant recruit (Rebecca Ferguson), the cop must connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new one if he hopes to outwit this unthinkable evil before the next snowfall. Coming soon, 7 December 2017.

Mindhunter (TV series)

For Detective Harry Hole, the death of a young woman during the first snowfall of winter feels like anything but a routine homicide. His investigation leads him to “The Snowman Killer,” an elusive sociopath who continuously taunts Hole with cat-and-mouse games. As the vicious murders continue, Harry teams up with a brilliant recruit to try and lure the madman out of the shadows before he can strike again.

Shadow Man (Book)

Southern California, 1986. Detective Ben Wade has returned to his hometown in search of a quieter life and to try to save his marriage. Suddenly the community, with its peaceful streets and neighbourly concerns, finds itself at the mercy of a serial killer who slips through windows and screen doors at night, shattering illusions of safety.

/r/SerialKillers Morbidly curious people. By Reddit.

What is the scariest quote you have heard from a serial killer? — submitted 5 hours ago by dielawn87 BTK Dennis Rader on a fishing trip with daughter Kerri — submitted 23 hours ago by freefalling77 Florida Serial Killer Surveillance Video — submitted 2 days ago by sum-onez Who are some serial killers that aren’t psychopaths? — submitted 5 days ago by binxy_boo15 ‘My Friend Dahmer’ Star Talks About Being Haunted By The Serial Killer — submitted 1 day ago by GUMMIESANDGIANTS

CULTURE

Murderabilia

Theodore Robert Bundy Phillip Carl Jablonski $2,500.00. Envelope is signed T. Bundy. Originally mailed to the recipient December 2, 1985.

$30.00. Jablonski wears his influences on his sleeve, much like Basquiat painting Dizzy Gillespie into Horn Players. Final score, 4 Night Stalkers out of 27.

Zodiac Killer

Original 1969 SFPD Wanted For Murder Poster on cardstock and measures 8” X 11”. Released by the San Francisco Police Department October 18, 1969. Sold for $400.00.

Issei Sagawa Gary M. Heidnik

$15.00. Two 4” X 6” prints on professional processed glossy photopaper.

$3,500.00. Gary Heidnik self portrait Brain on Fire, drawing signed.

Cedric L. Ford

$175.00. Personally owned Russell Simmons Brand jewelry box. Box measures 3,5”H X 4.5”W X 4”L.

Find more on www.serialkillersink.net a true crime collectibles and memorabilia company.