Serial Killers

[RCMerchant]

We had this scumbag in Kalamazoo. He killed maybe up to 100 people.

Carl Eugene Watts.

https://murderpedia.org/male.W/w/watts-carl-eugene.htm

[Olivia Bauer]

I can't name any Minnesotan serial killers of note. However our next door neighbor, Wisconsin, had Ed Gein.

Ed was a really sick piece of work. If you haven't heard of him, he was famous for making trophies out of the people he killed. He used bones and skin to make furniture, essentially.

Gein inspired a lot of famous fictional killers. Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs, Norman Bates from Psycho, and Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre were all inspired by Ed Gein.

I don't usually say this, but he totally deserved to get cancer. I have no sympathy for him.

[Olivia Bauer]

Apparently Jeffrey Dahmer was also from Wisconsin.

Also, Wisconsin is where Making a Murderer took place.

s**t, never go to Wisconsin, folks.

[RCMerchant]

I can't name any Minnesotan serial killers of note.

This guy was a piece of work-!

https://murderpedia.org/male.W/w/weise-jeffrey.htm

[Rev. Powell]

I just knew there would be a clickbait article titled something along the lines of "the worst serial killer from every state."

Sure enough, Google came up with 4 such articles!

There's even a big ol' graphic:

[ER]

Harvey since died in prison, beaten to death: zut.
A week ago I drove past the hospital where he "mercy killed" dozens, as I do from time to time. What a douche.

[RCMerchant]

^ Drive by the hospital, or mercy kill dozens? 

[ER]

Darn, ya caught me.

[Paquita]

Sorry, long post (though not compared to some  ), but I've been looking for a place to discuss this and RC made the perfect topic.  Thanks!

I'm very fascinated in murderers/crime.. not so much because of a sick interest in what they have done, but I truly want to know why and how they were compelled to do these things and then able to go on with their lives.  Just saying "they're sick" doesn't cut it.  I don't think there are excuses for them, people can have bad childhoods and still not become murderers, but I think in many cases something happened, most likely in their childhoods or early teens.  Whether it be mistreatment or negligence in allowing them to develop  a desire to make others  suffer (i.e. animal abuse) led to them becoming murderers.  As a parent, I am always wondering if my children are in school with a future serial murderer.. are there signs now?  How can I prevent my kids from doing something like this?

That brings me to the Ripper Crew.. I've pretty much heard of most of the "prolific" killers from the last century or so, and if I don't remember the name, I usually remember the face, their moniker or their crimes, which tend to be in the more bizarre or higher quantity to be written about enough.. but up until this year, I had never heard of the Ripper Crew.  Their crimes were in the early 80s and remind me of something out of a movie like "I Spit on Your Grave", plus they're associated with devil worship and cannibalizing their victims. Not that I think all horrible crimes deserve attention, but considering the timing of them, I feel like there would have been more notoriety to them.. maybe there was and I just didn't catch it.     

In March of this year, the Ripper Crew were in the news again because after 35 years, one of the members, Thomas Kokoraleis, was released from prison to a halfway house in the city I currently live in with my family.  Needless to say, people were not too keen on a satanic, cannibalistic murderer hanging around town.  To be honest, I was concerned myself.  I know sometimes media can be sensational, so I tried to do as much research as I could thinking in order for a criminal of this type to be released, there must have been a great miscarriage of justice, or he's some kind of genius to wheedle his way out.  What I found was that I think Thomas probably did not participate in these crimes at all.  I was able to find what I think are court transcripts for several of the members' cases at courtlistener.com (if anyone has heard of this site and know if it's reliable, I'd like to know).  It sounds like the main ring leader was a guy named Robin, and the other guys, Andrew (Thomas' brother) and Edward, were living with and/or working for Robin.  From what I read, in a nutshell it sounds like after work sometimes they would drive around and pick up hookers, and occasionally Robin would decide they were going to brutally murder one of those girls.  It really sounds to me like Robin found a couple of really dim-witted guys that felt indebted to him and would go along with any of his ideas.   I don't think they were innocent, but after reading what I did, I don't think they would have made the decision to commit these crimes themselves without Robin's influence.  Thomas does not appear to have been associated with the group regularly, he didn't live or work with any of them when the crimes were committed.  He sounds like he's a bit "simple" and was easily influenced by the police at the time when he voluntarily came forward to speak to them in an effort to help his brother. 

Good news is the hype has died down around town.  There are no more mothers marching in front of the halfway house he's living in.  He's done a couple interviews and doesn't seem to be interested in clearing his name.  It looks like people are leaving him alone, which is what he said he wanted.  I wouldn't be surprised if after all this time he may have been convinced that he was involved even if he wasn't... I don't know, maybe I'm biased because I don't really want someone who has done such depraved things living where my children go to school.. then again there are certainly depraved people living amongst us that just haven't been caught yet.

Oh, it also seems like the devil worship and cannibalism was greatly exaggerated.  The murders were horrific and the things done to these poor women were abhorrent, but I think the devil worship and cannibalism was just added by the media.  I didn't see any real reference to it in the courtlistener stuff, but there was a LOT to read so maybe I missed it.  I really want to hear someone else's opinion on it though... if anyone's willing to go digging into this for me, I would appreciate it!  My heart breaks for the families that lost their girls to these guys, but I also feel like there is something to be said for someone that potentially lost 35 years of his life to them too. 

[Alex]

True serial killers tend to have had a difficult birth which leads to oxygen deprivation and kills off the part of the brain that deals with empathy. You then combine this with a strict (generally religious) upbringing, add in a few other factors and voila, you have a serial killer. They will normally start off small on things like pets, and work up from there, often messing up their first attempt at a kill by getting overexcited. I sometimes wonder if anyone has deliberately tried to raise one, but I am not entirely sure that is a question I'd want answering.

Many of them have described an urge to kill which grows in intensity as time passes between murders. Dahmer claimed he was trying to make a more or less zombie lover which he could use and stop killing new victims.

Oh, and psychopaths are surprisingly common. Their lack of empathy often allows them to get quite high on the corporate ladder and are often in positions of authority, however most of them have not had the upbringing required to turn them into killers. They are normally however rather unpleasant people to work for. A common tell-tale trait is that when someone tells a joke or funny story they will start laughing just after everyone else. They don't really get jokes and are just laughing as part of their survival mechanism and trying to fit in, therefore they copy the reactions of those around them.

Bet you'll all be watching your co-workers and bosses now for their reactions next time someone tells a funny story.

[claws]

Serial killers are disgustingly fascinating in a morbid curiosity kind of way, at least for me. I think this one would make for a great movie:

Clementine Barnabet

Clementine Barnabet is believed to have been born around 1894 in St. Martinville, Louisiana and moved to Lafayette, Louisiana in 1909. She was born into a two-parent household and lived with her mother and father, Nina Porter and Raymond Barnabet. She had one brother, Zepherin Barnabet. When she was 17, she joined a cult called the Church of Sacrifice which prompted the start of the murders that she committed. Raymond Barnabet was reported to be abusive to his family and very aggressive.

The Barnabet killings followed a consistent pattern. Barnabet would often murder entire families rather than one singular person. The murders were all done with an axe. It was found that Barnabet would cut the heads off of the victims and once she had butchered the entire family, she would then lay their bodies in bed together and leave them to be found as such. Barnabet's killings occurred between Lafayette, Louisiana and Texas.

In February 1911, the first of many murders were committed. Walter and Sylvania Byers and their infant child were murdered. This launched the investigation to determine the killer. The authorities' first suspect was Raymond Barnabet. Barnabet was the father of Clementine. The Barnabet family testified against Raymond, and they all recounted him leaving town that night for unknown reasons and returning home late with blood and brain matter on his shoes and shirt. Zepherin, Clementine's brother, stated that when he returned home, Raymond was bragging about the murders that he had committed and said that the family deserved it.

During the time Raymond was being investigated, more killings occurred. In March 1911, Alfred and Elizabeth Casaway and their three children and nephew were murdered. This caused a twist in the investigation because the family had a white mother, unlike the previous two families who were all black. Raymond was thought to have committed all three of these massacres and was soon arrested and sent to Lafayette Parish Jail.

While Barnabet was awaiting trial, another familicide took place. In November 1911, Norbert and Asima Randall and their four children were murdered in a manner similar to the previous slayings. This confused authorities because it raised another suspect. The police then decided to investigate Clementine Barnabet.

In the Barnabet residence, a man's suit with blood and brain matter all over it was found in Clementine's closet. This prompted police to arrest Clementine Barnabet as a prime suspect, along with her father, of the numerous murders committed in the area. When initially arrested, Clementine denied all connections to the murders.

However, eventually Clementine admitted to 35 murders. She explained her connection to the Church of Sacrifice, an offshoot of a Christ's Sanctified Holy Church congregation in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Clementine claimed that a priestess of the Church of Sacrifice had given her and her friends "conjure bags" (see Hoodoo) that would grant them supernatural powers and make them undetectable to the authorities. This spurred Clementine into committing her first murder to test whether or not this was true.

At only 18 years old, in October 1912, Clementine Barnabet was sentenced to life in prison at Angola State Penitentiary. In July 1913, she tried to escape jail but was caught before she even made it to the gate. However, in August 1923, Clementine Barnabet walked out of prison and was never seen or heard from again.

[RCMerchant]

There was this serial killer born here in Van Buern County. Donald Something. Right after Henry Lucas got caught- this guy bragged he killed over 100 people. It ended up he killed 3 children.
I can't recall his name, it was in 1993 or something.

[RCMerchant]

They had this scumbag who killed lotsa women. He was living at his uncles house- who was a cop.

John Norman Collins - killed over 10 women in Ann Arbor Michigan between 1967 and 1969.
He was 20 years old when he started.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Murders

[zombie no.one]

True serial killers tend to have had a difficult birth which leads to oxygen deprivation and kills off the part of the brain that deals with empathy. You then combine this with a strict (generally religious) upbringing,

hmm...I had to be delivered by C-section because the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and my heart beat apparently kept disappearing... I also had a ridiculously strict stepfather, who was also the treasurer of our local church, and he was the church warden too...*alarm bells ringing* 

it's ok though. I can honestly say I have never serial killed one single person. 

[ER]

True serial killers tend to have had a difficult birth which leads to oxygen deprivation and kills off the part of the brain that deals with empathy. You then combine this with a strict (generally religious) upbringing,

hmm...I had to be delivered by C-section because the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and my heart beat apparently kept disappearing... I also had a ridiculously strict stepfather, who was also the treasurer of our local church, and he was the church warden too...*alarm bells ringing* 

it's ok though. I can honestly say I have never serial killed one single person. 

Any overpowering urges to consume brains?