Benjamin S. Jeffries - Vile: Peeking Under the Skin of Murderers

Copyright 2016 by Benjamin S. Jeffries

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Dedicated To

Michael Ralph Scaccia

(July 14, 1965December 23, 2012)

Clive Ronald Burr

(March 8, 1957March 12, 2013)

Jeffrey John Hanneman

(January 31, 1964May 2, 2013)

David Murray Brockie

(August 30, 1963March 23, 2014)

But not all men seek rest and peace;

some are born with the spirit of the storm in their blood.

Robert E. Howard

Goodbye, my gods and monsters

EPIGRAPH

There is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.

Bret Easton Ellis,American Psycho

Ive got to start eating at home more.

Jeffrey Dahmer

CONTENTS

The Gray Man,

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

The VILE Files:Gilles de Rais(14051440)

The Pig Farmer Killer,

PORT COQUITLAM, BRITISH COLUMBIA

The VILE Files:Mohammed Bijeh(February 7, 1975March 16, 2005)

The Night Stalker,

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

The VILE Files:Luis AlfredoGaravito Cubillos(1957 )

The Kindly Killer,

NORTH LONDON, ENGLAND

The VILE Files:Roberto Succo(April 3, 1962May 23, 1988)

The Otaku Killer,

OTAKU, JAPAN

The VILE Files:Yang Xinhai(July 29, 1968February 14, 2004)

The Confession Killer,

RINGGOLD, TEXAS

The VILE Files:The Bloody Benders

The Butcher Baker,

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

The VILE Files:Glen Edward Rogers(July 15, 1962 )

The Wineville Chicken Coop Axe Murderer,

WINEVILLE, CALIFORNIA

The VILE Files:Wayne Williams(May 27, 1958 )

The Mean Man,

EAST GRAND FORKS, MINNESOTA

The VILE Files:Joe Ball(18961938)

The Shoemaker,

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

The VILE Files:Peter Kurten(May 26, 1883July 2, 1931)

The Smuttynose Butcher,

SMUTTYNOSE ISLAND, MAINE

The VILE Files:The Sawney Bean Gang

The IceMan,

JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY

The VILE Files:Richard Biegenwald(August 24, 1940March 10, 2008)

The Milwaukee Cannibal,

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

The VILE Files:Leonard Lake(19451985) andCharles Ng(1960 )

The Killer Couple,

GLOUCESTER, UNITED KINGDOM

The VILE Files:David and Catherine Birnie

The Rostov Ripper,

ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA

The VILE Files:Mikhail Popkov(March 7, 1964 )

The House of Horrors Killer,

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

The VILE Files:Giorgio Orsolano

The Co-Ed Killer,

SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA

The VILE Files:The Servant Girl Murders

WHITECHAPEL, LONDON

The VILE Files:The Real Sweeney Todd

The Cross Country Killer,

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS

The VILE Files:Angel Rafael Resendez(19592006)

The Lake County Strangler,

HAMMOND, IDIANA

The VILE Files:Anthony Sowell(1959 )

The Butcher of Plainfield,

PLAINFIELD, WISCONSIN

CHAPTER 1

ALBERT FISH

THE GRAY MAN

Brooklyn, New York

On Sunday June the 3rd 1928 I called on you at 406 W 15 St. Brought you pot cheesestrawberries. We had lunch. Grace sat in my lap and kissed me. I made up my mind to eat her.

Albert Fish,In a letter to his victims family

The world in 1928 was naive, almost inculpable. The poor out-numbered the wealthy and it was not unusual for children to essentially raise themselves as their parents put in long hours of work for what could be considered menial pay. In the boroughs of New York, like Hells Kitchen, Queens, and parts of Brooklyn, a lot of kids simply ran wild, hooking up with gangs, messing about with friends, or simply going to and from school. Reading how Albert Fish stole away with ten-year-old Grace Budd would infuriate most readers today; they would find fault in Graces parents, mostly for allowing her to leave with someone who was basically a complete stranger. But that is what happened, and its important to remember that, in those days, there were no terms such as serial killer, and cannibals were often found on South Pacific islands, not on the Coney Island boardwalk. The sick people were all locked up and never discussed, and there were no monsters lurking in the dark. The true monsters were Poverty, Starvation, and Illiteracynot a grandfather in a gray tweed suit. But after Albert Fish was executed, people would remember that monsters do exist and danger can be as close as your front door.

Albert Hamilton Fish first came to know the Budd Family after answering a classified advertisement placed in the Sunday edition of the New York World newspaper by the oldest son, Edward. Hed been looking for work, preferably in the countryside as a laborer, and Fish, who was fifty-eight at the time, came to call upon Edward and offer him a job in Farmingdale. Introducing himself as a farmer named Frank Howard, Fish was welcomed into the Budd household with open arms. He hardly seemed deadly in his gray suit, neatly coiffed hair and mustache, and slight, almost frail, frame. Even his light, watery eyes seemed to soften in their presence.