Keller - True Crime: American Monsters Vol. 10

American Monsters

Volume Ten

12 More Terrifying Tales of

Americas Most Horrific Serial Killers

Robert Keller

PUBLISHED BY:

Robert Keller

Copyright 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced in any format, electronic or otherwise, without the prior, written consent of the copyright holder and publisher. This book is for informational and entertainment purposes only and the author and publisher will not be held responsible for the misuse of information contain herein, whether deliberate or incidental.

Much research, from a variety of sources, has gone into the compilation of this material. To the best knowledge of the author and publisher, the material contained herein is factually correct. Neither the publisher, nor author will be held responsible for any inaccuracies.

The lives and horrifying deeds of 12 of Americas most horrific serial killers, including:

- the infamous 'Lipstick Killer' of 1940's Chicago. But was Heirens really the brutal slayer of three, or was he the politically expedient fall guy for an ambitious States Attorney?

- mild office worker by day, torturer and serial killer by night, the Torso Killer left a trail of mutilated bodies across New York and New Jersey.

- As far as body count goes, few murderers match the Green River Killer. Confessed to 48 victims, but investigators suspect there may have been more.

- America's youngest serial killer, Price murdered his first victim at 13, and had added three more before he'd even turned 16.

- cold-blooded killer who raped and murdered 8 young nursing students in a single night.

- a career criminal with a taste for bestiality and necrophilia, Garrow slaughtered four young victims during a murderous spree.

- proficient serial killer or proficient liar? Lucas confessed to over 300 murders, definitely committed three and is suspected in as many as 50.

- lured his victims via Internet chat sites, then raped, tortured and murdered them, before storing their bodies in his own, unique coffins.

- murder-for-profit killer who fed drug overdoses to her elderly tenants then went on cashing their social security checks for years after their deaths.

- traveled the world with the US Navy, racking up kills in every port, from Hawaii to Hong Kong.

- Graham had a unique way of dealing with corpses, he simply allowed them to rot in his apartment. The stench of 8 decomposing bodies eventually led to his downfall.

- America's most enigmatic killer. Zodiac killed at least 5 and taunted the San Francisco police, daring them to try and stop him.

The Lipstick Killer

For heavens sake catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself. Message scrawled by the alleged killer of Frances Brown

It is one of the most controversial murder cases in American history. In August 1946, William Heirens, a 17-year-old University of Chicago student and petty burglar confessed to three murders the brutal stabbing of two women and the horrific murder and dismemberment of a six-year-old girl. The confession was given under a plea agreement that would save the teenager from the electric chair. But even before a judge sentenced Heirens to three life terms, there were questions regarding the veracity of the conviction. In later years, details emerged of police brutality, tainted evidence, false testimony, illegal searches. There have been questions as to the competence and conduct of defense council. It was suggested that Heirens was fitted for the crime, the facts bent to point the finger at him, while other, more viable, suspects were ignored. There was clearly massive media bias and obvious maneuverings by the States Attorney to garner political capital from the case. Several experts have spoken out to declare Heirens innocent.

Does any of this prove that William Heirens was framed, that the real Lipstick Killer got away with murder? You be the judge.

***

Josephine Ross, a 43-year-old, three-time divorcee lived with her grown daughters, Mary Jane Blanchard and Jacqueline Miller in a small apartment on Kenwood Avenue in the Chicago District of Edgewood. Josephine was unemployed, strapped for cash, still fighting the insurance company over a payout from her late husbands life policy. She was not without prospects, though, with a fiance and two other interested suitors.

On June 5, 1945, Josephine rose early, chatted with her daughters over breakfast and then, after theyd left for their respective jobs, returned to bed. Jacqueline worked close by and was in the habit of returning home for lunch, as she did on this day, arriving at about 1:30. She found the apartment in a state, drawers pulled out, furniture knocked over, newspapers scattered across the floor. Calling her mothers name and getting no response, she rushed to the main bedroom where a horrendous sight greeted her. Josephine lay sprawled across the bed, her throat slashed, her head wrapped in a dress. Blood had sprayed everywhere, on the walls, the drapes, the furniture, the mattress. Running from the apartment, Jacqueline roused a neighbor who called the police.

The motive looked like burglary, although nothing of significance was taken from the apartment. No fingerprints were found at the scene and the initial suspects, including Mrs. Ross fianc Oscar Nordmark, were soon cleared. A pair of witnesses reported seeing a dark, slender man hanging around. Other than that, the police had nothing, the prospects of catching the killer looked bleak.

Six months after the killing of Josephine Ross, a similar murder occurred. Francis Brown was a petite, brunette who lived at 611 Pinecrest Apartments, Pine Grove Avenue, not far from where Josephine had lived. On the evening of December 10, 1945, Francis arrived home at around 9:30, and was told by the desk clerk that a man had inquiring about her earlier in the evening. Frances thanked the clerk (she appeared to have been expecting the caller, hed later testify) and headed up to her sixth floor apartment. There, she set out her clothing for the next day, made a call to her mother and had a shower before retiring to bed.

The following morning, housemaid Martha Engels was passing by apartment 611 when she noticed the door standing ajar, the radio playing from within at an exceedingly loud volume. The maid peaked into the room and saw a trail of blood on the floor, leading towards the bathroom. Thinking that Miss Brown may have hurt herself, the maid entered the apartment where she found the tenant bent over the bathtub, her head wrapped in her pajamas. A butchers knife protruded from her neck and a bullet hole perforated her skull.

The police arrived to find a ransacked apartment and an unusual clue. Scrawled across the living room wall, in lipstick, were the words: For heavens sake catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself. There was other evidence too, a smudged, bloody fingerprint on the doorjamb, a report of a gunshot at around 4 am, and a possible sighting of a suspect. Night clerk John Dedrick described a man emerging from the elevator in the early hours. He was 35 to 40-years-old, weighed about 140 pounds, and appeared extremely nervous.

This clue, and the others, led nowhere. As in the Ross murder, the police were stumped. Post-war Chicago was reeling under a deluge of crime, and this was likely another that would go unsolved.