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Edmund “The Co-Ed Killer” Kemper

Welcome to the bonus post! As I said in my last update, I chose who to write about next by using a number generator and when this guy came up, I was too excited to wait so you guys get two posts in one day.  Also, I realized that I forgot my trigger warning in my last post so if you read it and it triggered you, I am SO sorry. I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Alright, so if you’ve watched Mindhunter on Netflix, you definitely know who this guy is. If not, go watch it because it’s a great show.

TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of abuse, murder, animal abuse and necrophilia

Edmund Kemper, born Edmund Emil Kemper III, and better known as The Co-Ed Killer was born on December 18, 1948 in Burbank, California. He was the middle child and only boy of Edmund Jr. and Clarnell Kemper’s three children. Kemper was very close to his father so when his parents divorced and his mother moved him and his two sisters to Helena, Montana, he was devastated. Kemper did not get along with his mother. She was emotionally abusive and even locked him in the basement because she was afraid he would rape his younger sister. If that wasn’t enough for her to consider getting him help, he showed sociopathic signs at a young age. As a child he was a pyromaniac and enjoyed killing cats. He also used to enact murders and bizarre sexual rituals with his sisters dolls and would make a game out of pretending to be executed by the electric chair to fulfill his fantasy.

When Kemper was thirteen, he ran away and made it all the way to his father in California only to realize he had remarried and had put all his affection to his step son. He was sent back to his mother in Montana. When he turned fourteen, his mother sent him to live with his paternal grandparents, Edmund Sr. and Maude Kemper, in North Fork, California. Kemper did not get along with his grandmother and despite measuring an intimidating height of 6’4, he was bullied a lot by other kids. On August 27, 1964 Kemper shot and killed his grandmother in her kitchen with a rifle he had gotten for Christmas. Some sources say that he shot her after an argument and others say she was just working on her next children’s book when he shot her just to see what it felt like. His grandfather returned after a trip to the grocery store shortly after. He shot him in the driveway to spare him the sight of his dead wife. Afterwards, he made a phone call to his mother to tell her what he had done, then a second call to the police to do the same. He then sat on the porch steps and waited for the police to arrive. After his arrest, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and admitted into Atascadero State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. During his stay, he surprisingly got along so well with his psychiatrist that he made Kemper his assistant. On his twenty-first birthday, Kemper was released back to his mother in Santa Cruz, California against the wishes of several psychiatrists. 

After his release, Kemper worked several different odd jobs before finally being hired by the State of California’s Department of Public Works as a laborer. He befriended quite a few friends at Santa Cruz PD and even wanted to become a cop himself. That dream quickly set sail after he learned his monstrous height of 6’9 was above regulation height. Eventually, Kemper was able to save enough money to move into an apartment with a roommate and after receiving a $15,000 settlement after a motorbike accident he was able to buy a truck. It seemed like he was truly safe to be a part of society now. Unfortunately, along with his truck, he also bought murder supplies such as a knife, plastic bags, and hand cuffs. Once he was fully prepared, he began searching the Pacific cost for female hitchhikers. On May 7, 1972, Kemper picked up two female Fresno State students in Berkley, California. He had promised to give them a ride to Stanford University but instead stabbed them to death. Over the next nine months, he would commit four other murders, usually after an argument with his mother. 

On April 19, 1973, Kemper had finally had enough and bludgeoned his mother to death in her sleep then spent the next several hours mutilating her body. He cut off her head and used it for oral sex. Then, he threw darts at it. Afterwards, he stuffed her vocal cords down the garbage disposal. Kemper wasn’t satisfied though, so he invited one of her friends over and killed her when she arrived. After his mini-spree, he took off in his truck listening to the radio for any reports about what he had just done. After four days of hearing nothing, he stopped at a phone booth in Pueblo, Colorado and called his friends at Santa Cruz PD. He confessed to all eight murders and at first, his friends thought it was a joke, but after a few phone calls, they realized he was telling the truth. Kemper went back to his truck and again, awaited his arrest.

At his trial, Kemper attempted to plea insanity but failed, so he requested the death penalty and an execution by electric chair, like he had always fantasized about. At the time, California had temporarily suspended capital punishment so instead he was sentenced to life in prison. While in prison, he was one of the first inmates to be interviewed by the Behavioral Science Unit. One interviewer, who had interviewed three times, found himself locked in a small room with Kemper as he began to threaten his life. The guards didn’t believe his screams for him and when they finally showed up, Kemper claimed he was kidding. Another interviewer admitted he actually liked Kemper. Kemper is now still serving his sentence at California Medical Facility in Vacaville.

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Eric “The Olympic State Bomber” Rudolph

So this week's post is going to be a bit shorter than normal because after days of researching, I couldn’t find any more information and it all became repetitive. I did find this guy extremely interesting though, so if anyone can point me in the direction to find some information about his childhood and what not, it would be greatly appreciated. Since this post will be short, I may do another bonus post this week, so we will see. For now, let’s get started.

Eric Robert Rudolph, better known as The Olympic Park Bomber, was born on September 19, 1966 in Merritt Island, Florida. He was one of Robert and Patricia Rudolph’s six children. Rudolph was known to have some very hateful views. He was extremely racist, homophobic, very against abortion, and anti-government. Rudolph dropped out of high school after completing the ninth grade and became a carpenter. Rudolph’s father passed away in 1981, when Rudolph was only fifteen, from cancer. This passing traumatized Rudolph. After his father’s passing, Rudolph’s mother moved him and his siblings to North Carolina. When he was eighteen, he attended a Christian identity compound in Missouri with his mother and two of his siblings though he later claimed he did not follow that faith. Instead, he identifies as a Roman Catholic. After completing his GED, Rudolph attended two separate semesters at Western Carolina University. In 1987, Rudolph enlisted into the US Army, he served two years before getting kicked out for smoking marijuana.

In 1996, the hate in Rudolph’s heart finally got the best of him. On July 27, he planted a backpack containing a bomb in Centennial Olympic Park. The explosion killed one and killed over 100 people. A security guard named Richard Jewell was wrongfully suspected for the attack. Jewell was not cleared until 88 days until after the attack and Rudolph would not be captured until much later. In January 1997, two bombs went off at an abortion clinic in Sandy Springs in Atlanta, Georgia. The explosions injured seven people. One month later, another bomb went off at Otherside Lounge, a lesbian night club, injuring four people. A second bomb was found in the club before it went off. Another abortion clinic was hit, this time in Birmingham, Alabama. The explosion killed a security guard and seriously injured a nurse. Unlike the time bombs used in the previous attacks, this bomb was set off by a remote control. This attack made Rudolph the prime suspect after his truck was seen near the clinic prior to the bombing. 

Rudolph was a skilled outdoorsman and hid in caves and mountains to avoid the police. Because of this, Rudolph would not be caught until May 31, 2003, when he was spotted rummaging through a trash can behind a grocery store in North Carolina. After his capture, Rudolph made the FBI's top ten fugitives. Though he plead not guilty in 2003, two years later he plead guilty to all four bombings in a plea deal in order to get out of the death penalty. Instead he received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. During his trial, he apologized only to the victims of the Olympic bombing. He claimed his goal was to “ confound, anger, and embarrass the Washington government in the eyes of the people” for its pro-abortion stance. After his trial, Rudolph issued an eleven-page statement where he ranted about abortion. He is now serving his sentence in the federal maximum-security ADMAX prison in Florence, Colorado.

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Update

Hey guys! The new post will be up soon but I wanted to check in and get some feedback, how do you guys like the posts so far? Anything I can improve on? Any requests? I know so far I’ve only done serial killers, this week is different. Right now the way I decide who to write about next is through a number generator so if there’s a certain case you’re interested in, let me know.

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Aileen Wuornos

This week's post was inspired by one of my favorite movies, Monster. This murderer still raises so much conspiracy even almost twenty years after her death. Was this woman a victim? Or was she simply a monster?

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of murder, rape, incest, sexual assault and abuse

Aileen “Lee” Carol Wuornos, born Aileen Pittman, was born on February 29, 1956 in Rochester, Michigan. Her parents, Diane Wuornos and Leo Dale Pittman, were very young when they had her. Diane was only fourteen and Leo was sixteen. Aileen never got to meet her father due to him spending time in mental institutions and prison for child molestation. Eventually, he killed himself in prison. When Aileen was four, her mother abandoned her and her older brother, Kieth. She left them with their grandparents, Lauri and Britta Wuornos. They officially adopted Kieth and Aileen on March 18, 1960. Being with her grandparents, her life wasn’t much better. Both Lauri and Britta were alcoholics and Aileen claimed that her grandfather physically and sexually abused her. She also claimed that he would allow his friends to do the same. She also had sexual relations with her brother. When Aileen was eleve, she began performing sexual favors in exchange for drugs or food. At fourteen, Aileen got pregnant and was placed into a home for unwed mothers, The baby was put up for adoption. Some sources say the baby’s father was her brother, others say it was an older friend of her grandfathers. I tried to find any information on the baby now, but since it was a closed adoption, there is no information to find and he most likely has no idea who his biological mother is. Shortly after Aileen returned home her grandmother passed away and her grandfather kicked her out of the house. In order to support herself, Aileen worked as a prostitute. 

In 1976, Aileen met a wealthy yacht club owner named Lewis Gratz Fell. They got married that same year, Lewis was sixty-nine at the time. Just nine weeks after their wedding, Lewis filed for divorce and got a restraining order against Aileen after she attacked him with his cane. After this, she continues her life as a prostitute. By this time, Aileen had already started her life of crime. In 1974, she was arrested for driving under the influence, disorderly conduct, and firing a .22 caliber pistol out of a moving vehicle. She failed to show up to court. In 1981, she was involved in a convenience store armed robbery. She was sentenced to prison in May of 1982 and released the following year in June. In 1986, a year Aileen would never forget, she was charged with car theft, resisting arrest, and threatening a male companion with a gun. Police also found a .22 caliber pistol and spare ammunition in her car. That same year Aileen met the one person she truly ever loved, Tyria “Ty” Moore, at a biker bar in Daytona Beach, Florida. This would be Aileen’s longest relationship, lasting four years. Aileen took care of Ty, supporting them by prostituting. Ty claimed to disapprove of this but she never left.

In December of 1989, Aileen committed her first murder. She claimed that her victim had raped her and she killed him in self defense. Though it was never brought up in court, this victim had previously done time in prison for sexual assault. He was shot six times, but the two bullets that hit his lungs were the ones that killed him. In June of 1990, her second victim was found naked and shot multiple times with a .22 caliber pistol. Days later, another body was found but was too decomposed to identify right away. Due to the similarities with the previous murders, police suspected they were killed by the same person. On July 4, 1990, a car belonging to a missing merchant seaman was found crashed. Witnesses described two women that were seen leaving the car. Police suspected Aileen after hearing the description and finding a bloody handprint that matched a fingerprint found on an item belonging to the first victim. In August of 1990, the body of a delivery driver was found shot twice also with a .22 caliber pistol. The following month, a former police chief was found in Marion County shot six times with the same gun. In November 1990, the naked body of a truck driver was found shot four times also with the same gun less than twenty-four hours after he was murdered. 

Now this next part, since I want to keep it unbiased, I’m going to tell you what I found while doing research, then I’ll tell you what I believe. Please keep in mind when you read my opinion that it is just that. I may be wrong but it is what I believe happened. When Ty realized her and Aileen were wanted, she moved back to live with her sister. Police got into contact with her and made a deal. If she convinced Aileen to confess to the murders, she would be immune to any and all consequences. Ty agreed and on January 14, 1991 she began to call Aileen, pushing her to confess, saying she was scared to go to jail. Aileen promised her she wouldn’t let that happen. Two days later Aileen confessed to killing seven men and expressed that Ty was innocent. During the trial, Ty testified against Aileen. This was when Aileen figured out that Ty was responsible for her capture and began to cry when their recorded phone calls played. Ty claimed she knew only of the first murder and told Aileen she didn’t want details because she feared having to call the police if she knew more. She claimed that Aileen didn’t seem hurt or upset when she told her that she had murdered her first victim. Ty claimed to be suspicious after Aileen kept bringing back more and more stolen property. Now, here’s what I believe happened. I think that Ty not only knew about the murders but assisted Aileen either with the killing or with hiding the bodies. I think she was a coward who didn’t want to take responsibility for what she had done so she let Aileen take the blame knowing she would because of how much Aileen loved her. I think this is why she is so protective over her identity and why she refused to let the director of Monster depict her in any way other than being Aileen’s girlfriend. (No Selby is not a depiction of Ty and her character is made up to avoid any issues.) Again, this is just my opinion. 

Only Aileen’s first murder made it to trial where she was charged with first degree murder, armed robbery with a deadly weapon and possesion of firearm of a convicted felon. Later she pleaded guilty for the six other murders, receiving a death penalty for each one. At first she had tried to say all seven murders were in self defense but  later took back her statement saying only the first was self defense. On October 9, 2002, Aileen was executed by lethal injection in Florida State Prison. Her last words were, “I’d just like to say I’m sailing with the rock, and I’ll be back like Independence Day with Jesus June 6th. Like the movie, big mother ship and all. I’ll be back.” What do you think? Was she a victim? A monster? Both?

Let me know who you would like to see next.

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Update

Hi guys! I know I’m a little late on posting, it’s been a hectic week, so sorry about that. Just wanted let you guys know I’m just finishing up this weeks post and it will be up in the next hour or so.

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Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski

This week’s post is about my favorite hitman/serial killer to read about. This man scares me more than any other monster I have researched because I find something comforting and familiar about the way he looks and the sound of his voice. His story actually scares me so much that it’s taken me a couple days to write this post even though I’ve already done the research because it triggers my anxiety, specifically writing about his family life. Hope you guys enjoy, feel free to send me any feedback or requests.

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of child abuse, death of a child, animal abuse and death, murder and domestic abuse

Richard Leonard Kuklinski, also known as “The Iceman” was born on April 11, 1935 in Jersey City, New Jersey. It seems as though he never had a chance to be a child. His father, Stanley Kuklinski, was a very abusive alcoholic and beat him and his siblings daily. When Kuklinski was six years old, his father beat his older brother, Florian, to death while intoxicated. After this, Stanley abandoned his family. Unfortunately, Kuklinski’s life did not get any better with his fathers absence. His mother, Anna Kuklinski, believed her children should grow up in a strict household so she hit him routinely. Kuklinski even claimed his mother broke a broomstick over his back. On top of the abuse he suffered at home, he was a target for bullies thanks to his small size. This all made Kuklinski a very angry person. In order to cope with that anger and give himself a sense of power, he would mutilate cats and dogs. 

When Kuklinski was thirteen, he set out to get revenge on the leader of a small neighborhood gang that had been bullying him. He beat the boy to death with a wooden dowel then, to prevent authorities from identifying the body, he cut off his fingers with a hatchet and pulled out his teeth with pliers. Kuklinski claimed he hadn’t planned on killing the boy but proceeded to seek out the rest of the members and beat them almost to death with an iron rod. 

As time went on, Kuklinski became a well-known pool shark who was heavily feared because of his short fuse. He claimed to have killed anyone who he felt rubbed him the wrong way, but had one rule. He would not kill women or children. Unlike most serial killers, Kuklinski did not abuse drugs or alcohol and he did not kill out of lust. He only killed out of anger and later on, for money.

It seems as though Kuklinski was as transparent as can be right? Except he wasn’t. His crimes were kept a secret from his family. His own wife had no idea what he did for a living, though by the time he met her, he was already an experienced killer. When Kuklinski was twenty-five, even though he was already married and had a little boy, he met and fell in love with the eighteen-year-old secretary, Barbara Pedrici, at the trucking company he was working for at the time. Barbara said Kuklinski was charming and always told her he loved her. As their relationship got more serious, Barbara grew worried that she was becoming isolated from her family and friends. She decided to try and end their relationship. When she brought this up to Kuklinski, he took a hunting knife and stabbed her in the back. He told her, “This is an object lesson: never leave me.” After this incident, Barabra found out she was pregnant with his baby. She decided to marry him in order to protect her image. Her family even paid for his divorce. They ended up having three children, two daughters and a son. While Kuklinski adored his family and even said that the time with his family was some of the happiest moments of his life, Barbara said there were two sides to her husband, describing them as “bad Richie” and “good Richie.” She said she never knew which one was going to walk through the door. Good Richie was loving and caring. He spoiled his children, took his family on expensive vacations and regularly visited Disney World with them. Barbara enjoyed these times, living with no worries about finances. If she wanted anything, good Richie made sure she got it. She didn’t know how he was able to afford their lifestyle but she knew better than to question him. Bad Richie was angry and violent. He never hit his children but he beat Barbara so bad, it caused two miscarriages. 

Kuklinski gained a connection to Roy DeMeo(let me know if you guys want to hear about him too) and began pirating pornographic films for the Gambino Crime Family. He was quickly noticed by the higher-ups thanks to his now very intimidating look. The small, weak boy who was bullied for his height now stood six feet, five inches and weighed over 300 pounds. He became an enforcer for the family, making sure debts were paid. He became DeMeo’s favorite enforcer so he decided to put him up to a test. DeMeo randomly selected a target on the streets for Kuklinski to kill. He walked up to the man walking his dog and shot him in the back of the head with no remorse. From this point on, he began doing hits for the Family. He continued this life for thirty years, going out of his way to keep his “work life” away from his family. He claimed to kill anyone who threatened his family, sometimes even entire rooms of people. Since he didn’t have a preferred weapon or style of killing, it was very hard to catch Kuklinski. He also used different methods of hiding the bodies. He earned his nickname “The Iceman” from hiding bodies in a freezer after killing them then dumping them years later. This made it almost impossible to determine the time of death. In 1986, an undercover agent finally caught up with Kuklinski. On December 17, 1986 investigators set up a staged cyanide purchase deal and arrested Kuklinski.

In March of 1988, a jury found him guilty of five counts of murder, though he claimed to have killed over 200 people. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. He would turn 110 before he would be eligible for parole. On March 5, 2006, Kuklinski died from Kawasaki disease, a disease most common in Japanese children. His death was deemed suspicious because it was right before he was supposed to testify against Sammy “The Bull” Gravano(again, if you’d like to hear about him, let me know), a former mobster being tried for murder. One of the things Kuklinski was known for was poisoning some of his victims. Kawasaki disease has almost the exact same symptoms as mercury poisoning. Though his autopsy determined he died from natural causes, many people believed he was poisoned to keep him quiet. What do you think?

As for Barbara and their children, Barbara has changed her name and lives anonymously in New Jersey with her youngest daughter, Christin, and Christin’s boyfriend. Barbara has told an interviewer, “Look at me! I used to shop at Bloomingdale’s. We had a pool. I had the best of everything. I had a cleaner and a housekeeper. I wanted for nothing. If I wanted it, Richard saw that I got it. Now, I worry about the price of paper towels. But I have never been happier in my life. My husband’s dead and gone. Thank God!” Kuklinski’s oldest and favorite daughter, Merrick, keeps his ashes and has done a few interviews about her father. She is the only person to love him until the day he died.

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Richard Ramirez

The first case I’m going to write about is a pretty popular one. Even more so since Netflix released their documentary, The Night Stalker. Lets get right into it.

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of murder, sexual assault and crimes against children

Richard Ramirez, better known as The Night Stalker, was a serial killer, rapist, and self-described satanist. He was charged with thirteen counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder, eleven counts of sexual assault and fourteen burglaries. Not only did he commit these terrible crimes, but he showed absolutely no remorse for his victims or their families. What could drive a person to do such awful things?

Ramirez was born Richard Leyva Munoz Ramirez on February 29, 1960 in El Paso, Texas. He was the youngest of Mercedes and Julian Ramirez’s five children. Ramirez and his siblings were all born with birth defects ranging from respiratory issues to bone deformities. This was due to the chemical fumes their mother was exposed to during her pregnancy at her job at a boot factory. Even from birth, Ramirez never had an easy life. At the age of two, Ramirez suffered a large forehead laceration from a dresser falling on his head. At age five, he was knocked unconscious by a swing resulting in regular epileptic seizures. Ramirez also claimed that he endured physical abuse from his father throughout his childhood. At age twelve, he had grown close to an older cousin of his named, Miguel Ramirez, who was a Vietnam War veteran. Miguel would brag about and show Ramirez pictures of Vietnamese women who he had raped and dismembered while away at war. The next year Ramirez witnessed Miguel shoot and kill his own wife. Around this time in his life, Ramirez began abusing drugs, breaking into homes and eventually dropped out of high school.

After dropping out of high school, Ramirez moved to Los Angeles where he continued committing petty crimes until he was briefly imprisoned for stealing a car. In June of 1984, Ramirez committed what was believed to be his first murder where he raped and stabbed a seventy-nine year old woman. This was believed to be the start of his killing spree until 2009 when his DNA was found from a crime scene of a nine year old little girl who was murdered in April of 1984. However, Ramirez was never charged with this crime. Most of his crimes took place in and around Los Angeles during home invasions. His victims, some of whom survived, were usually sexually assaulted and beaten. Investigators also found satanic symbols at many of the crime scenes. Sometimes, Ramirez was so unbothered by what he had done, he would make himself food while his victims laid dead in the other room.

Investigators tied his crimes together by a shoe print found at every crime scene and eventually a fingerprint was found inside a stolen car that Ramirez had abandoned. This fingerprint led to his identification. On August 30, 1985, only six days after his last known murder, authorities released his name and picture to the public. The very next day, a man spotted Ramirez on a bus and notified the police. Ramirez, knowing he had been spotted, got off the bus immediately and attempted to steal a car. During his attempt, a crowd surrounded him and proceeded to beat him until police arrived. The Night Stalker had finally been caught thanks to those citizens.

Ramirez’s trial began in early 1984 and on September 20, he was sentenced to death. What was his response to his sentence? “Big deal. Death always went with the territory. See you in Disneyland.” Not only did he show absolutely no remorse for his victims or their families that were present, he taunted them throughout the trial by showing a pentagram tattooed on his palm.

After serving twenty-three years on death row in San Quentin State Prison, Ramirez passed away on June 7, 2013 from B-cell lymphoma at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, California at the age of fifty-three.

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Introduction post

Hi!

This is for my fellow true crime junkies. My plan with this blog is to write about one true crime case each week, maybe spark up a few conversations and make a few friends in the process. I have plenty of cases ready to write, as I’ve been planning on making this blog for a while now but I will gladly take requests, so don’t hesitate to send a message if you have a case you would like me to write about. I’ll be writing about both well-known criminals and not so commonly known ones as well. Hope you guys enjoy!