United States & Canada

NELSON
Earle Leonard

Active from 1925-1927, in California, Oregon, Washington, Iowa, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Illinois and Manitoba

DID YOU KNOW...

Average Fact

Nelson averaged 1 murder every 24 days

Arresting Fact

Almost every murder resulted in the arrest and release of a suspect

Hunt Fact

More than 1000 Canadian farmers helped track Nelson when he fled

THE DISPATCH

The Beginning

Earle Leonard Nelson was dubbed a fiend after his first murder. He earned the nicknames Strangler, Smiling Stranger, Dark Strangler, Coast Strangler and Coast Throttler. When he began killing in Canada, he became the Hobo Strangler, and finally, after his capture, he was given the name, Gorilla Man.

Nelson was born on May 12, 1897, in San Francisco, California. Nelson had it rough growing up. His parents both died of syphilis when he was young, and he was raised by puritan Pentecostal grandparents. By the time he was 10, Nelson was already a Peeping Tom with a violent streak. At age 14, his grandmother had died and he was cared for by an aunt. That same year, he had run-in with a streetcar and was head injured. He was unconscious for 6 days, and suffered headaches and memory loss from then on.

Nelson would often be sent to school in clean clothes but return in used, dirty ones taken from someone else. This is a theme he would often repeat during his murder spree – stealing clothes from male boarders and husbands.

In July, 1915, he had his first arrest for robbery. He was arrested again less than a year after he was paroled, and then again for burglary.

Nelson had joined various branches of the US armed forces. He was housed in a mental hospital after behaving erratically in the Navy. His frequent escapes from the hospital earned him the nickname “Houdini”. He was released from hospital with the notation he had improved. In reality, they were tired of his escapes. At one point in his non-criminal life, Nelson fell from ladder at work. The second head injury caused vision issues, voices, and more mental problems.

During one of his escapes, he married a woman who quickly became afraid of him. He then claimed his name was Evan Louis Fuller. His wife, Mary Martin, soon asked authorities for help. This landed Nelson in hospital again.

Early Crimes

On May 19, 1921, Nelson, who had again escaped the Napa State Hospital for the Insane, attacked 12-year-old Mary Summers, at 1519 Pacific Avenue. He appears to have gone by the name Earl Ferrell at that time. Nelson entered a home pretending he was a plumber. He likely was planning to rob the home, but his plan changed when he found 12-year-old girl, Mary Summers. Nelson attempted to sexually assault the girl, and she screamed. Her brother came to her rescue. Nelson was arrested and placed in a mental hospital. He escaped the hospital twice before his final release.

Nelson often used a ruse to gain entry to homes. He sometimes said he was looking to rent or buy a place. Despite being a disorganized killer, Nelson was organized enough to be well-dressed, and to use a ruse every time he struck. He also preferred to leave his victims on an upper floor of a building, such as a second floor bedroom or attic bathroom.

Nelson sexually assaulted the majority of his victims, sometimes after their death. In some cases, the body would be undiscovered for day, while on at least 2 occasions, the murder was discovered within minutes and the victim’s body was still warm.

The Murders

Olla McCoy

Olla (or Ola) McCoy was the first of three very similar murders in Philadelphia that would later be attributed to Nelson. McCoy, the only African American victim, was killed in her Montgomery Avenue home on October 18, 1925. McCoy’s murder got less press than other victims, probably because she was African American. McCoy was found lying on a bed, one ankle tied to the bedpost. She had been bound with rope, and gagged with a towel. The towel was then stuffed in her mouth. She had been sexually assaulted. Police noted a “Room for Rent” sign had been in the window of her home. McCoy was 22 or 25 years old.

Mary Murray

On November 7, 1925, dress maker Mary Murray was murdered. She and her killer had fought in the parlour, dining room and kitchen before she had died. She had struggled violently, and was covered in cuts, scratches and bruises. Murray was killed in the kitchen of her boarding house, then carried to the second floor bedroom. She was bound with strips of torn cloth or rope, and a large blue handkerchief was tied over her mouth. A blue handkerchief was also bound around her ankles. She had been sexually assaulted.

Murray ran a boarding house, and one of her boarders was immediately arrested. He was not the killer.

Murray was 30 years old when she died.

Lena Weiner

Lena Weiner’s daughter returned home from school on November 10, 1925. Lillian, 13, found her 5-year-old brother sitting on the front steps of the house, crying. Inside, she found her mother gagged and bound, dead on the bed. There were signs of a struggle.

She was found the same day second victim Mary Murray, was laid to rest less than a mile away. Like McCoy and Murray, Weiner had been killed in her kitchen and bound with torn cloth that was tied with a particular type of knot. A necktie was knotted around her neck and she had been gagged. Each woman had been carried to her bed and placed there. Each was sexually assaulted after death. Each woman had a “Room for Rent” sign visible from the street. Police also noted that the murderer had stolen clothes from a male boarder in the house, and some money.

Witnesses say they saw a suspicious white man in the area, but police arrested both white and African American men. They admitted quickly that none of the arrested men were likely the suspect in the three murders. Weiner was 33.

Clara Newman

Clara Newman, 60, was a landlady with a room to let in San Francisco. She had relatives over for a visit on February 20, 1926. Less than an hour after bidding them farewell, Newman was found dead. Nelson gained access to the house by pretending to be interested in renting the room. Newman’s foster son and his wife lived in the basement of her house. He reported that someone had asked to see the room and went upstairs with Newman. The son had remained behind and witnessed the man leave. After more than an hour, his mother had not returned. Concerned, he went up and found her body.

Nelson strangled Newman with a cord tied tightly around her neck. She was bruised and her clothing torn, indicating a struggle. He left Newman in the attic bathroom. She had been sexually assaulted.

Note: She is listed as Clara M. Newman on the headstone, and Clara B. Newman on California Death Index. She is buried in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Laura Beale

The second California victim, just two weeks later, was Laura Beale. Beale was a wealthy woman with a strong Christian faith. She was a church worker and a leader of the Christian Women’s Temperance Union. On March 2, 1926, she was found strangled to death. The silk cord belt from her dress was so tight around her neck, it had become embedded in the flesh. It was wrapped twice, tied, wrapped twice again and tied again.

Like the others, Beale had a room to rent. Her husband owned the Deer Park apartments, and she showed Nelson a vacant apartment. She was found on dead on the bed of that apartment. The coroner confirmed she had been sexually assaulted. She was 63.

Multiple Attacks, All Survive

In March 1926, Nelson attacked many other women, all of whom survived. Mrs. D.L. Currier survived an attack. Nelson had stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth and ripped a piece of cloth off her dress. He bound it around her neck to choke her. She passed out and awoke to find the killer had fled.

Mrs. E.R. Vickers survived an attack from a “dark-skinned” man wanting to rent an apartment. (Note, the characteristic of “dark” skin does not mean African American).

Elsie Ehlert was in her father’s shop on North Street, in San Jose, on the same day. Nelson had attempted to strangle her, but failed.

Edna Martano survived a similar attack. On March 13, the killer was spotted and reported to police.

Regina Burtscher, 21, was attacked after she saw the “dark strangler” a second time near her home. She bit, kicked and scratched at Nelson after he climbed over an 8-foot fence into her back yard. She was able to flee into the safety of her home. This was his second appearance that day at her home. In the early morning hours. Burtscher was in her back yard when a man appeared. She ran to the house and told her husband. Charles Burtscher grabbed his gun and searched for the man, but he was gone. Nelson attacked Regina Burtscher an hour later, after her husband had gone to work.

Police arrest multiple suspects in the stranglings, but none are convicted.

Lillian St. Mary

On June 10, 1926, Lillian St. Mary, 63, of San Francisco, did not survive her encounter with Nelson. She was about to leave her home when a man appeared, asking about a room to rent. He strangled and raped St. Mary in the rooming house. Nelson had also crushed her ribs, which pierced her lungs and heart. Police have by now arrested a half dozen men, all hoping they would the murderer. None of them was Nelson. Nelson, who was now being called the “olive-skinned” Dark Strangler, mutilated St. Mary in his fiendish attack.

Ollie Russell

Ollie Russell was the next to be murdered. On June 24, Nelson attacked her in her room at a small hotel. A guest heard a scuffle and peeped through the keyhole to see a man wrestling with a woman. Since at that moment there was no outcry, he did nothing to save her. The killer left his fingerprints in blood on a door knob. Nelson had raped Russell and strangled her with a cord, leaving her dead body on the bed. Russell was 35.

Mary C. Nisbet

Nelson didn’t kill again until August 17, 1926. The unfortunate victim is Mary C. Nisbet of Oakland, California. Mary C. Nisbet was the proprietor of an apartment complex. She was found by her husband, strangled a with a towel and raped in the bathroom of a vacant apartment. Eye witnesses who saw the killer nearby said the killer was a dark and stocky man who had long arms and large hands. This led to the press giving him the names Gorilla Man, Gorilla Killer and Dark Strangler. The killer was described as having a “peculiar smile” which had caught the attention of the mail carrier. Nelson had been spotted hanging about several times over the course of a week before Nisbet was killed. She was 51.

Beate B. Withers

After another long break, Nelson killed Beate B. Withers in Portland on October 19, 1926. Her 15-year-old son found her in a trunk in the attic. She was under a tray and under some clothing. There was poetry written on the wall of the attic, and police first believed she killed herself. It was determined she had been raped and strangled. All of her underwear and stockings were stolen from the house. Withers was 35 years old.

Virginia Ada Grant

Virginia Ada Grant was strangled and raped on October 21, 1926. She was found the next day, shoved behind a furnace in the basement of her vacant house. There was no immediate evidence of a struggle. Police were not certain it was murder, but noted her earrings and a ring were missing. She was 59.

Mabel H. Fluke McDonald

On October 23, 1926, Mable H. Fluke McDonald was robbed and murdered. She had been advertising a room to rent. She was strangled with a scarf. Her body was not discovered until days later. Her family thought she was heading to Independence, Oregon, and it wasn’t until she failed to show that the alarm was raised. McDonald was found in the attic of her own home. The same medical official ruled that both Fluke and Withers were suicide. Newspapers and police thought otherwise.

Mable’s maiden name may be Fluke, and her married name McDonald (based on a burial in Independence OR. That is where it was thought she was headed – Find A Grave). McDonald was 35.

Willie Anna Edmonds

By November 18, 1926, Nelson was back in San Francisco, where he found Willie Anna Edmonds. Like many of the other women, Edmonds was a widow. She was trying to rent a room in her home. Neighbours saw her welcome a “swarthy” stranger into her home to show the place. That was the last time anyone saw her alive. Edmonds had recently injured herself and her son called on her that evening to see that she was alright. He found her dead in a room on the second floor. She had been strangled to death with a rag. She was sexually assaulted and strangled. Her jewellery was stolen off her body. She was 56.

Newspapers first reported her death due to heart failure but highlighted that police thought she was slain. Perhaps it was because the room she was found in had been locked from the outside.

Mrs. H. C. Murray (Survivor)

The next day, on November 19, Mrs. H.C. Murray survived an attack by Nelson (despite that some newspapers reported her dying). She had been showing him the house she had for sale when he grabbed her from behind. Nelson tried to strangle her to death. She fought back, scratching his face and hand. When she broke free, she began screaming, causing Nelson to flee. She was 28 at the time of the attack.

Florence Monks

With a survivor in California who could identify him, Nelson moved to Washington. He found a widow who was selling her house. On November 23, 1926, he raped and killed Florence Fithian Monks. Her body was found stuffed behind a furnace in the basement of her home. Her stolen jewelry was given to two women who lived in the same boarding house as Nelson. Thinking the man fit the Strangler’s description, the women turned the jewelry into police by December 2, 1926. Monks was 48.

Blanche Myers

On the 29th, Blanche Myers of Portland, Oregon, told her landlord that a man wanted to rent an upper floor room. She reportedly told her landlord, “I don’t like his looks very much, so I asked him if he drank.” Nelson attacked the woman while she was showing the room. Her son found her body stuffed under the bed, raped and strangled with a handkerchief. Her murder was key: there were fingerprints. They were found on the iron bed post. Blood splattered the room and a large pool formed on the floor. Myers “bore marks of a battle for her life.” She died at age 48.

Almira Clements Berard

On December 23, Nelson murdered Almira Clements Berard in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She was sexually assaulted. A shirt was tied around her neck and she was strangled and shoved behind the basement furnace. Witnesses had seen Berard talking with a stranger about renting a room. An anonymous call to the coroner said she committed suicide and said where her body was. Police initially thought her death a suicide. When they discovered she had been raped, it was changed to murder. Berard was murdered just days before her birthday. She was 40 years old.

Bonnie Pace

Four days later, on December 27, 1926, Bonnie Pace (Bonnie Coppenhaver Pace) was killed in her Kansas City, Missouri home. She had been raped, beaten and strangled. Pace’s body was found in a little used upstairs room. Nelson did not harm her disabled son.

Germaine A. "Germania" Harpin & Robert Harpin

On December 28, Nelson murdered both Germaine A. “Germania” Harpin and her eight-month-old son. While in the kitchen talking, Nelson took a mop handle and hit her on the head. He then dragged her to the2nd floor bedroom where she was sexually assaulted. Both she and her son Robert were strangled – she with a cloth, and he with a diaper. Nelson also raped Germania after death. Police and media were very aware that the killer was travelling around the USA killing women who rented out rooms. It is unclear if Harpin, who was born in France, regularly read the newspapers. Harpin was 28.

Mary E. McConnell

Nelson took a long break in his murders. It wasn’t until April 27,1927 that the Dark Strangler struck again. Mary E. McConnell was attacked in her Philadelphia home. She had been strangled with a cloth and found in an upper room, hidden under a bed: Nelson’s signature. The next day, Nelson tried unsuccessfully to sell a gold watch he stole from her. Newspapers report her age as 60, but her death certificate reports her age as 53.

Jennie Randolph

Fifty-five-year-old Jennie Randolph had a room to rent in her Buffalo home. Nelson rented the room and, one night stayed up late talking religion with Randolph. Then he murdered her. On May 30, 1927, Randolph was beaten, and strangled with a towel. She was raped, and stuffed under a bed.

Fannie May & Maureen Oswald

On June 1, Fannie May and Maureen Oswald were both strangled to death with wire. Their bodies were found in a Detroit rooming house. May ran the boarding house.

Oswald had recently divorced her husband, Dr. Noresh Chedra Atorthy. Newspapers made much of Atorthy, as he was Hindu. They reported he was wanted in the slayings. In the same articles, newspapers reported Dr. Atorthy was in England at the time of the murders. He had been dismissed as a suspect by police. Her divorce lawyer said a Hindu man had threatened her life because she scorned his attentions.

Oswald had been a W.A.A.C. during WWI, and was wounded at Vimy Ridge. She also saw action at the Belgian front before moving to Detroit, Michigan. It was there she met her husband, and they married after only 2 weeks. Almost 10 months later, she gave birth to her son, Donald Chand Atorthy. Her husband had filed divorce proceedings first, claiming she was a drug addict. He withdrew his petition, but then Oswald instituted proceedings. The claim of addiction was investigated by police after her death, but nothing came of it.

May and Oswald appear to have been separately attacked, and were left in separate rooms on the upper floor of the boarding house they lived in. Although neither woman was specifically hidden, they were not found until June 5. Oswald was not hidden. May was 53, Oswald was 29.

Mary Cecilia Sietsema

On June 2, 1927, Mary Cecilia Sietsema was murdered in Chicago. She was raped and strangled with a telephone or appliance cord. She was found later that day by her husband. Sietsema was in the blood spattered front (living) room, but had no cuts or bleeding injuries. She seems to have thrown a large metal cigar stand at her attacker. Nelson was cut, and it was his blood police found on the scene. She was one of the few victims found on the first floor of her home, and not hidden. Nelson may simply have run out of time.

She was 27, and Nelson’s last American victim.

Lola Margaret Beaulah Cowan

Nelson changed his modus operandi and crossed over into Canada. His June 9, 1927 attack on 13-year-old Lola Margaret Beaulah Cowan was well outside his pattern. Cowan was born June 12, 1913 in Carman, Manitoba. The girl died just days before her birthday. She worked selling flowers door to door. Her meagre income helped support her impoverished family. Nelson enticed Cowan into the room he was renting at a boarding house.

Nelson murdered Cowan in his own room. Nelson raped and, by some accounts, grotesquely mutilated Cowan. He shoved her nude body under his bed. She was found 3 days later. When Nelson was later arrested, he was charged with her murder. He was never tried. Her murder charge was an “indictment in reserve.”

Emily F. Patterson

Emily F. Patterson was Nelson’s last victim. Patterson met Nelson and invited him into her home to talk about the Bible. Patterson was knocked out with a claw hammer. She was raped and strangled to death. He shoved her under a bed. Nelson stole, among other things, a Bible. Her two young children were unharmed.

Like Cowan, Patterson was just days away from her birthday. She was 27 years old when she died. After her murder, authorities and families of his two victims offered a $1500 reward for the killer’s capture.

Arrest & Trial

Nelson Is Arrested

On June 16, 1927, Killarney, Manitoba police arrest Nelson under the name “Virgil Wilson” for the two Canadian murders. Nelson had other plans and quick escaped. Nelson fled along train tracks. He was tracked by almost 1000 farmers and a “train load” of armed guards from Winnipeg.

Nelson was found in underbrush near Killarney after more than 12 hours of searching. He did not fight back.

Once at the Winnipeg police station, Wilson was asked to write down his name and birth information. He wrote “Earle Nelson, born San Francisco, 1897.” The next day, Nelson was officially rearrested by Crystal City police under his real name. However, newspapers reported his name as Adrian Harris, Ferrell, Randolph and a number of others.

During the ensuing days, almost 4000 people lined up near the police station to catch a glimpse of the killer.

The Trial Begins

Nelson’s trial for the Canadian murder of Patterson began on November 1, 1927. More than 60 witnesses, including his wife and aunt, were called to the stand.

During his incarceration, Nelson resented the way guards treated him compared to the way city police had treated him. He said he had high ideals, good character, and was not guilty of any crimes.

Nelson said the murders were God’s will. He did not like the “death cell” he was placed in while awaiting execution. It was the first time a prisoner who had yet to be convicted, was put in the death cell. Officials feared not only that he might escape, but that a mob might lynch him.

Nelson Sentenced to Death

On November 5, 1927, Nelson was sentenced to death for the murder of Patterson. Cowan’s charge was stayed, in case it was needed later. He was not charged with any American murders, and maintained his innocence up until his death.

Nelson’s Death

Serial Killer Executed

On Friday, January 13, 1928, Earle Leonard Nelson was hanged in the Vaughan Street Jail, Winnipeg, Manitoba. His final words were, “I forgive those who have wronged me.” His body was shipped back to San Francisco, California.

Nelson’s crimes were seen as the first serial sex murders in the US, and gathered national and international press coverage. His attributed murder count remained a record high for the US until serial killer Dean Corll.

SIMILAR SERIAL KILLERS

Glen Douglas Race

Race and Nelson murdered victims in both the USA and Canada

Margie Velma Barfield

Both Barfield and Nelson were Pentacostal

David Frank Spanbauer

Like Nelson, Spanbauer went AWOL from the military

WHERE IT HAPPENED

An interactive map of where things happened

BOOKS

Books about or including Earle Leonard Nelson

The Laughing Gorilla by Robert Graysmith

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley; Illustrated edition (Oct. 5 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0425237362
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425237366

During the 1920s, in more than a dozen cities, over four years, and across two continents, women were being butchered. Eyewitneses claim the perpetrator was a hulking Bible-carrying brute who lumbered on all fours, and laughed maniacally with each new slaughter.

The crimes haunted San Francisco Police Captain Charles Dullea, the last honest cop in one of the most notoriously corrupt departments in the country. But nothing could have prepared Dullea for where the case- and the truth-would take him

The Dark Strangler – Earle Leonard Nelson by Michael Newton

Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1st edition (Nov. 4 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 150 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1518660312
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1518660313

Nicknamed at the time “The Gorilla Man” for the savagery of his rape and necrophiliac murders, Earle Nelson is one of history’s early “pioneer serial killers” committing more than twenty horrific murders. Nelson targeted landladies mostly whom he met through ‘room to let’ classified advertisements. He carried a well-worn Bible for appearance to reassure his female victims before brutally strangling them, raping their corpses, and making a cursory attempt to hide the bodies. In 1926, following the murder of Laura Beal, the newspaper reporters began calling him “the Dark Strangler.” Also dubbed the “Original American Monster” Nelson killed women, not only in multiple US cities, but eventually he crossed the border into Canada where he killed several women before authorities finally arrested, convicted and executed him. In an era before the term “serial killer” had been coined, Nelson was a true serial killer as we today define them.

Cold North Killers: Canadian Serial Murder by Lee Mellor

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dundurn Press; Illustrated edition (March 3 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 472 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1459701240
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1459701243

There are more than 60 serial murderers in Canadian history. For too long awareness of serial murder in Canada has been confined to West Coast butcher Clifford Olson and the “Schoolgirl Murderers” Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, along with the horrific acts of pig farmer Robert Pickton. Unlike our American neighbours, Canada has been viewed as a nation untouched by the shadow of multiple murder. Then came Colonel Russell Williams and his bizarre homicides and serial home invasions, which were sensational news worldwide on the Internet and television and in scores of newspapers and magazines.

The reason for Canada’s serial killer blackout is clear: until now such information has never been compiled and presented in a single concise work. Cold North Killers is a wake-up call. This detailed and haunting account of Canada’s worst monsters analyzes their crimes, childhoods, and inevitable downfalls. It is an indispensable compendium for any true crime lover, criminologist, or law-enforcement officer.

VIDEOS & PODCASTS

Videos and podcases about alleged serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson.

The Gorilla Man

History Dweebs – The Gorilla Killer – Serial Killer Earle Leonard Nelson

Murder Metal Mayhem
Serial Killers – “The Gorilla Man” Pt. 1: Earle Leonard Nelson
Serial Killers – “The Gorilla Man” Pt. 2: Earle Leonard Nelson
Dark Poutine – Earle Leonard Nelson – The Dark Strangler (MB)

THE STATS

Days from conviction to execution

Murders attributed to Nelson

Conviction

The average age of a victim

Earle Leonard Nelson in a Historical Timeline

Statistical table for Earle Leonard Nelson

Killer Name	Nelson, Earle Leonard
Killer AKA	Gorilla Killer, Dark Strangler, Gorilla Man
Gender	M
Arrest Date	June 16, 1927
Conviction Date	November 5, 1927
Sentence	Death sentence
Birth Location	San Francisco, California USA
Birth Date	May 12, 1897
Death Date	January 13, 1928
Deceased	Yes
Executed	Yes
Cause of Death	Hanged
Poor	Yes
Physical Issue	Unusually large hands
Speech Issues	No
Head Injury	Collided with street car and was unconscious for 6 days. Suffered headaches and memory loss. Fell from ladder at work. Caused vision issues, voices, and more mental problems.
Suffer Physical Abuse	No
Suffer Physical Abuse	No
Psychological Abuse	Possibly his grandmother was a very strict Pentecostal and religion played a big part of his life. This could have lead to hate of women because he viewed women as power figures.
Sexual Abuse	No
School Grade	kicked out at age 7
School Other	10
Caused Problems in School	Go to school in clean clothes and come back in different, dirty clothing
Teased	Yes, he had extremely large hands
Military Service	Yes
Military Service	US Army; US Navy
Worked in Police/Security	No
Fired	Yes, couldn't keep a job for more than a few days
Job Types	Odd jobs
Labour Type	Blue
Fake Job	Plumber
sk_empl_status	Active
Sexual Preference	Straight
Marital Status	Divorced/Separated
Killer Type	Sexual/Sadistic, Disorganized, Wanderer
sk_killer_type2	Disorganized, little premeditation
Drug Abuse	No
Alcohol Abuse	Yes
Psychology	Yes
Institutionalized	Napa State Hospital for the Insane
Psych Diagnosis	constitutional psychopathic state
Animal Torture	No
Fire Setting	No
Bed Wetting	No
comment1	Drove from town to town, mostly killing in boarding houses, leaving bodies under beds and then fleeing to next town.
Total Dead Victims	23
Victims (Suspected)	21
Victims (Convicted)	1
Victims (Misc)	1 charge outstanding
Victim Gender	F
Victim Race	Black, White
Victim Age	22, 38, 28, 33, 60, 63, 63, 51, 45, 35, 59, 35, 56, 48, 48, 41, 24, 0, 28, 53, 55, 53, 29, 27, 27, 13
Victim Type	Middle class women with rooms to rent or houses to sell
Method of Killing	Strangling, suffocation, beating
Weapon	Cords, belts, neckties, handkerchiefs, towels, other cloth or wires on hand
Robbery	Yes
Sex Assault	Yes
Stalking	Yes
Overkill	Yes
Efficient	Yes
Necrophilia	Yes
Mutilation	Yes
Sex Assault on Minor	Yes
Totem-Body	No
Body - Left, Not Hidden	Yes
Body - Left, Hidden	Yes
Body - Moved, Hidden	Yes
Body - Stored Near Killer	Yes
Previous Crimes	house breaking, larceny, burglary, robbery, theft
Previous Prison Time	yes

Killer Rating

 5/5

RESOURCES

Last updated on 23 February 2022 by E. Kelly Hemingway