I believe it is only fitting to end off this blogging adventure with the most notorious serial killer of all time. None other than Ted Bundy. Bundy was probably the first ever serial killer I really delved into as a child. Hearing his story; and how he got away with multiple murders over the spam of his life. If you search, there are hundreds of different keen sources into the life of Ted Bundy. Whether that be through movies, docuserieses, magazine articles, recorded interviews, etc… Bundy had the most publicity surrounding his name. The one movie I was highly interested in when it premiered on Netflix was extremely wicked, shockingly evil, and vile. The documentary movie starred Zac Efron as Bundy and Lily Collins as his wife (Liz Kendall). I thought the movie overall was solid and had some great acting scenes. It foretold Bundy’s story as he lived in Utah with his then girlfriend (Liz) and his son. It elaborates on Bundy seducing, raping, and killing you teenage girls as he was perceived as harmless and charming. It then proceeds to dive into the countless murders Bundy has been a part of all over the country including Nevada and even Florida. Also his adventure of escaping prison and going out on another murder spree. The movie ends with Bundy in court defending himself as his own lawyer and even proposing to his former girlfriend, Carole Ann, in the court room before being sentenced to death by the electric chair.

The thing Bundy had going for him was his charm. Because he was so good looking, no one, especially younger women would show any fear towards him. Bundy has a confirmed victim count of 30 young females. However, in court he confessed to having killed over 40 females in total. There were 3 confirmed kills within the movie. Two were young college girls who were having a sleepover and the other was a young met Bundy met at the library. He lured her into his car them proceeded to rape her and kill her by hacksaw. Sawing off her limbs and placing them in unknown locations. This is crazy to think about as Bundy seemed to be a normal man who had a loving family along his side. So why would he commit these crimes?

There was nothing Bundy endured during his childhood. No abuse, molestation, disorientated family, nothing of that nature. The only source of data that was presentable was during his interview with a psychologist. The psychologist (Al Carisle) stated that Bundy was a very open and warm person to speak to. However, that was the catch. Bundy would often use his charisma to lure people in to murder them and often times he wouldn’t think twice about it. He suffers from a social disorder known as antisocial personality disorder, where the individual feels little to no remorse for any harm that may had inflicted. While this is a serious condition it does not justify his actions. Another interesting factor was that bundy never took a bite out of his “last meal”. He was given eggs, steak, toast, hash brown, juice and coffee, and proceeded to not take a single bit of it. One strange man i’ll say that.

Sources:

https://www.grunge.com/482585/heres-what-was-wrong-with-ted-bundy-according-to-a-psychologist/

https://www.9news.com.au/world/last-meals-what-serial-killers-ate-as-their-last-meal-on-death-row/ecfb2a5a-3ffc-4ab0-b4ed-fc55072d5108#9

I think researching new and unknown stories are far more fascinating to me as it gives me insight on lesser known murders. For example, everyone knows Ted Bundy, but who knew Dean Corll? So in reference to that, we have a story I have never heard of. The “Smiley Face” killer. However, this is not an accurate depiction because it is not just a singular killer, but a mob of men who committed some disturbing crimes.

The first reported incident of these smiley face killers was in the year of 1997, in the wonderful state of New York. Patrick McNeil was our victim’s name who unfortunately suffered a horrific fate when he was found dead in the east river. It took the police over a month to find his body. It was recorded that night that he stumbled out of the bar drunk and was never heard of again. Of course stumbling out of a bar drunk, especially, in New York is no biggie and committing a stupid act right after, is also nothing new to the city. However, to wash up dead, after being declared missing for over a month is not typical of a New York citizen. The police report came up as an “accidental” drowning. Soon enough, too many coincidences appeared, and that is how the smiley face killer origin began.

Another incident occurred in 2009, so a relatively new case. This time a man by the name of William Hurley was assaulted in Boston, Massachusetts, on the night of October 8th. According to this article explaining the weird string of drowning victims, “While on the phone with Mahoney (his girlfriend), Hurley warned that his cellphone battery was low; when she asked for his location, someone in the background yelled, “99 Nashua street” before the line went dead” (Rolling Stone). This is eery as someone who is a complete stranger shouts out that statement and the line just goes dead. About a week later, Hurley’s body was found in the Charles river and ultimately ruled as another accidental drowning.

However, there was evidence presented to steer the police in a different directions of an accidental drowning. The first clue was the blunt force trauma that Hurley had suffered. Second clue was the fact that was Hurley was drugged by GHB. Also known as the “first date” drug. These cases are so bizarre and fascinating that it even led to its own show called “Smiley Faced Killers: The hunt for Justice.”

I just wanted to bring light to this unbeknownst topic as I feel there are a lot of cases are murders that fly under the radar and are never brought into intention, even though some are very serious and have many casualties. For this blog, there will be analysis on the serial killer’s behavior or patterns as these killers are unknown and yet to be found. Also there are multiple so it’s very hard to decipher what each person may have psychologically wrong with them. Next blog, which may or may not be the final one, will be based on the most notorious serial killer of all time, Ted Bundy. I saved hum for last or near last, because he’s the one i know most about through movies, crime shows, and articles covering his case.

Sources

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/smiley-face-murder-serial-killer-drowning-death-882042/

So for today’s blog, I initially had no idea who was blog was going to be about. I was considering doing someone around the likes of Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, or Jack the Ripper. However, these are some of the most known serial killers in history. So I looked up some “lesser” known serial killers and came along one of the most eery stories i’ve ever read. I have never heard of this killer or the story surrounding it, so we both are going into this blind.

The name of this assailant is Dean Corll. Corll was born in 1939, in Fort Wayne, Indiana and lived a troublesome childhood, as most of these serial killers do. His parents split in 1946, leading to his mother moving to Texas and marrying another man. With this new venture, the Corll family decided to open a candy shop in hopes of making it big in the business industry. At first, Dean has spent nearly all of his time at this store, mostly helping out his mother and step-father.

His lifetime goal of working at the candy shop had to be put on pause because Dean was drafted into the U.S. army in 1964. Surprisingly he only served 10 months before discharged and sent back home to help his mother with her business. Upon his return back home, Dean immediately went back to work for the candy business and devoted more time effort than he had before. Soon enough the business started gaining recognition and popularity. Along with this fame came accusation. There has been incidents of Dean flirting with the younger kids that would stop by and even physically touching them as well. These incidents had never really spiraled into anything special at the time but it was a clear indicator of what was to come.

Within the blink of an eye, these almost feeble flirts have become something extreme. Within the blink of an eye, young boys were being abducted, raped, tortured and killed for one’s “pleasures”. Even more interesting is that Dean had accomplices who would go and fetch young boys for Dean to molest and kill. The one being, David Brooks, who was only 14 at the time, while Dean was in his 30s. The other collaborator was another young boy (Elmer Wayne Henley) who Dean also molested but decided to keep around instead of killing. Between both Brooks and Henley assistance and Dean’s sadistic ways, a total of 28 young men were murdered.

The reason why it took so long for Dean’s reign to come to an end was because the Houston police department would offer little to no help to the victim’s parents as they deemed the kids as “runaways”. This murder spree was eventually put to an end when Dean’s own partner, Henley shot him six times.

According to this article about Corll’s psychology, there is not much introspect on why he committed these murders, besides the fact that his parents split and the possibility of working day and night at his parent’s store may have played an affect. However, not much more than that. He was just a sadistic person who wanted to commit heinous crimes for the hell of it.

Sources:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/dean-corll-candy-man-killer

Making of a Monster: Dean Corll (Pied Piper)

Is there anything scarier than a female serial killer? I honestly cannot name one. I think I would rather try to fight a bear rather than get into any sort of conflict with a female. The things that makes female serial killers so worry some is you just would not expect it from them. Not saying anything towards females of course, but them all seem so innocent, then boom you’re dead. The female we will be covering today is none other than Judy Buenoano. She is probably the most known female serial killer of all time, and rightfully so. I mean she only has 3 official murders, and one attempted murder to her name, but this should not be taken lightly. She murdered her husband and future boyfriend through arsenic poisoning, son who was also disabled by drowning, and attempted bombing of her future fiancé. Her motive was simply money. After each person she killed, she would just collect their insurance money and live a lavish life and no one ever suspected anything.

The story behind all of these deaths are so eery and heartless that I decided the best thing to do is include them. I will begin with her first husband, James. James was an air force sergeant who married Judy in 1962. As in any marriage, they were both happy, or so it seemed. Until one day, James was found dead inside his own home. Nothing ever seemed suspicious as James just came from the Vietnam War so his death was ruled as a heart attack. Not too long later, Judy was with another man. his name was Bobby Morris, and just like with James, Bobby suffered the same fate and was ruled dead by “heart attack”.

Now obviously Judy has some of correlation with these murders, however, she had no suspicion to her because poisoning is one of the most lethal ways of killing someone because it leaves little to no evidence behind. However, this next story is even more frightening as it really hints at Judy’s cruel personality. So her eldest son, Michael, who also had previously served in the military experienced signs of paralysis as he was poisoned with arsenic poisoning. He was rendered immobilized and was forced to retire from the military and head back home. Knowing she would receive finance off of veteran’s insurance and life insurance, Judy took her son canoeing and “mistakenly” rocked the boat and caused it to flip over. Reminder that Michael was paralyzed and also had to wear metal leg braces so these factors caused him to end up dying due to drowning. Judy claimed she had no opportunity to save her son as she was fretting for her life and just like that she was let off the scene and received her finance.

As stated before, she was never suspicious until she tried to blow up her future fiancé’s car. He luckily survived, and surrounding all of these coincidences piled on one another and soon enough she was arrested for her crimes. However, just like with most serial killers, Judy suffered from much distress from childhood. She grew up in a dysfunctional family which led her to bounce around foster homes and be abused as well. One psychologist said this about Buenoano, “While average in intelligence, Buenoano, suffers brain damage and serious psychiatric impairments” (Sun). The abuse as a child had definitely played an affect on her mental and psychological well-being and ultimately led to her death by electric chair in 1998.

Work Cited

https://allthatsinteresting.com/judy-buenoano

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1990-07-01-9001160462-story.html

While the other two murderers had taken place in Kansas, this blog will be centered in Los Angeles. First initial thought that must fly through your mind is the Zodiac Killer. Wrong, instead it someone who actually has been caught for their crimes. None other than Richard Ramirez, aka the night stalker. Ramirez is a serial killer who i’ve shown a growing interest in since his appearance in American Horror Story’s 1984. I even went a far as to watch the documentary, the Night Stalker: the Hunt for a Serial Killer. Richard Ramirez is one of the most satisfying stories to read about because of the person itself. Obviously the murders are intense and gruesome, but it is who Ramirez was as a person that makes his story interesting.

I’m going to give a brief overview of who he was and the crimes he committed. However, want to dive more in depth on his personality traits and mental stability. And ultimately what led to his demise. Richard Ramirez, born on February 29, 1960, was famously known as “the night stalker”. As a young child he was abused by his father and would often even sleep in a cemetery to escape his father. As he grew up he would hang out with his one war veteran cousin, Miguel, who often had stories of his times harassing and raping women. This is probably where Ramirez began fantasizing and imagining the life he wanted to live. Ramirez’s murders would consist of him invading people’s houses, sexually assaulting and robbing them, and sometimes would even murder them. Now this isn’t out of the ordinary. Murder, rape, home invasions all are relatively common when it comes to investigations. However, there was one gleaming factor that was almost unheard of. There was a left on the wall. Symbols representing that of the devil. Richard Ramirez believed he had this god complex to his persona. He would often believe he was invincible because he offered his soul to the devil. “His obsessions with satanism grew to the point where true crime novelist Phillip Carlo wrote that Ramirez believed “Satan was his friend,” and that the devil will protect him from ever being caught for his crimes” (crime sheet).

Growing up Ramirez suffered attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and multiple head injuries. This could have been the likely outcome of what led him to commit all of these crimes. Ramirez’s first act of criminal behavior began as a teenager. “Ramirez worked at a local holiday inn, and used to his access to a master key to enter a woman’s hotel room while she was alone in an attempt to rape her. This violent attempt was the beginning of his independent criminal career – for the first time his imagination was becoming a reality, and he was becoming emboldened while developing sophisticated behaviors” (crime sheet). This was just the beginning for Ramirez for the more crime he committed, the more sadistic he became.

He was eventually caught due to a few major mishaps on his end. The biggest liability was the fact that he never brushed his teeth so his victims would often point out the tooth decay and bad breath. Another key issue was the fact that he was riding a public city bus when a man spotted him and called the police. This led to an ensuing chase and eventually led to Ramirez in jail and sentenced to the death penalty. However, on his last trial he stated, “Big deal. Death always went with the territory. See you in Disneyland.” This quote is so ambiguous and abstract that it still has people wondering what he meant by it.

Cites

• https://www.thecrimesheet.com/post/night-stalker-peeling-back-an-evil-mind#:~:text=Growing%20up%2C%20Ramirez%20suffered%20from,abuse%20he%20was%20surrounded%20by.
• https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/1740613/the-night-stalker-always-left-a-pentagram-on-his-victims-and-6-other-chilling-serial-killer-calling-cards/

Last blog had finished off in Kansas, coincidentally, where are still stuck in this awry state. Last blog was centered around the Clutter family, Perry Smith, and Richard Hickcock. As mentioned before, the killer we are mentioning in today’s blog was once right next to Smith and Hickcock in their prison cells. If you haven’t guessed by now who I am talking about, none other than Lowell Lee Andrews. I know you’re probably like “who is that?”. Yea that’s what i said until i dove deeper into the origin if this ruthless human being. Lowell Lee Andrews was just your typical nerdy and intelligent college student. He was a zoology major and attended the university of Kansas. Lee Andrews was born in Wolcott, Kansas, with his father and mother, William and Opal Andrews, and his sister Jennie Marie. Lee Andrews was a seemingly innocent and sweet boy, so sweet he was redeemed as the “the nicest boy in Wolcott.”

However, there as always been a dark side of Andrews that no one was ever aware of. recorded within murderpedia, which is my go to website because they always have the most accurate information, is stated, “In reality, the 18-year-old entertained fantasies of poisoning his family and moving to Chicago, Illinois to become a gangster and professional hit person.” These are the dark and cruel thoughts that were circulating through Andrew’s mind and ultimately led to the despicable act he committed upon his family. Andrews has had this vivid dream of killing his family since he was a freshman in college. He was always thinking of strategic ways of murder without getting caught. He believed poison could be a possibility as they would die in a quick and painless death. He had derailed this possibility because he had seen the potential flaws within it so he just stuck to a basic solution. Just kill them all.

He went with what to him was the easiest and most logical solution. On November 28, 1958, approximately a year before the Clutter family murders had occurred, Andrews had set his devious plan in motion. Weirdly enough Andrews had prepped himself before brutally murdering his family. He had initially been reading a book named The Brothers Karamazov, finished the novel, shaved, then put on a suit. He then grabbed a rifle and revolver and proceeded to walk downstairs. Andrews graphically killed his sister by putting his rifle to her head and pulling the trigger. He then shot his mother six times and his father a total of seventeen times. He then left the house, got in his car, drove to a movie theatre, and returned home and reported the murder. When the police arrived, Andrews was sitting on the front steps and seemed unconcerned and uninterested in the death of his family.

He was obviously sentenced to death by hanging on November 30, 1962. Now the reason as to why this crime was committed in the first place is a simple mental illness, schizophrenia. However, Andrews has not really showed any signs of this illness in his life. Maybe the only exception is having a delusion of grandeur where Andrews would believe he was better than he actually was. However, most psychiatrists agreed that Andrews was not insane and had a clear idea on what he was doing. It was just an act that was committed by his own conscious and desires.

This is a story i have been dying to talk about as I believe it is one that doesn’t receive enough attention. Next blog will be based on a more known serial killer and honestly a personal favorite.

Sources

• https://murderpedia.org/male.A/a/andrews-lowell-lee.htm
• http://truecrimediscussions.blogspot.com/2017/09/lowell-lee-andrews.html

First blog entry will be about two notorious killers I am very familiar with and I believe I have mentioned once before in my fall semester blogs. Richard Hickcock and Perry Smith are the two men responsible for the death of Herb, Bonny, Kenyon, and Nancy Clutter in their home of Holcomb Kansas on November 15, 1959. As someone who has read the phenomenal book of In Cold Blood, I have first insight on these two criminals, ranging from their birth dates to the the day there were executed.

Hickcock was born on June 6, 1931 and Smith on October 27, 1928 (Blanco.) Hickock and Smith were two young males who have spent most of their time and in and out of prison at a rather young age. This is also where they had first met each other. Hickock was born to his two farm owner parents, was an athlete and very popular throughout high school, and had his whole life ahead of him. That was until he endured a motorcycle accident in 1950 which left his face very much so disfigured.

Perry’s life was the exact opposite. His parents split up when he was still at a young aged ti his father abusing his mother and siblings. Him and his three other siblings were forced to live with his alcoholic mother, until one day she died of choking on her own vomit. Two of Smith’s siblings also committed suicide, and the last, Barbara, severed any communication the two had. Perry was forced to live within an orphanage where he was supposedly abused, both physically and emotionally.

The Clutter family murder had taken place November 14, 1959. This murder was so extraneous because the Clutter family was beloved by everyone in the community. They had two healthy and popular children in Nancy and Kenyon, a rather successful husband and father in Herbert and a, in some minds less than ideal wife and mother in Bonnie. This murder had every on the edge of their seats because if this beloved family isn’t safe, then is anyone? This whole murder began when Hickcock was informed by a fellow inmate that the clutter family had a safe full of lifetime savings stashed away in their house. This immediately sparked a match in both Smith and Hickcock as their true motive was to just gag the family and keep them locked up until they acquired the treasure they desired so badly. This obviously did not go as planned and led to one of the most infamous cases in history.

The day of the murder, both Perry and Hickcock waited until all the lights within the house were turned off and the family had gone to sleep. They proceeded to sneak into the house, cut the phone line, and capture Herb for interrogation. Plot twist is there never was a safe full of money. Angered by the fact Herb constantly denied knowing of a safe full of money, Smith and Hickock awoke everyone and tied the girls upstairs and led the men to the basement. After finding no safe and hardly any money, Smith took it into his own hands and proceeded to murder each member of the Clutter family.

After around a month, Smith and Hickcock were found in Las Vegas and taken into custody. Both of these killers were taken into court and given psychological testings. Conclusions founded that they both indeed suffered from psychological problems. Perry from schizophrenia and Richard from antisocial personality disorder. Throughout the story there are many clear indications that Perry exhibits clear signs of schizophrenia. Often times he would have delusion of persuasion as he would often feel the world is against him and often his misplaced emotions. Had no emotions to his siblings deaths or any sentiment towards using racial slurs against colored people. Hickcock would have the sinister temptation of touching younger women. He even went as far as touching Nancy before Perry ultimately stepped in.

This is still kind of rough as I’m working on how to specifically approach every killer so next weeks blog should be better. Next week’s blog will also be about someone convicted for the murder of his family around the same period the Clutter murder had taken place.

Sources

• https://murderpedia.org/male.H/h/hickock-richard.htm
• https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/smith-perry.htm

My passion blog will be based around serial killers and the psychological trauma and motive behind their heinous crimes. And as someone pointed out, I will be evaluating every crime and criminal through primary sources and hard data as to opposed to my opinion as I am not a licensed psychiatrist so will be sticking to the professionals. This would prevent false information from being provided and avoid speculation. I will dive into a brief history of the killer(s), the crime(s) committed, possible motive, and the psychological reasoning, if any, as to why the crime was committed.