WHO KILLED HOLLYWOOD'S GLAMOUR GIRL?

 

 

Christa Helm dreamed of being an actress from a young age. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Christa set her sights on fame and fortune, constantly reminding people that one day she was going to make it big.

 

At the age of 17, she began her journey with a trip to New York, but only got as far as Chicago before getting married. When her wedding night turned out to be a disaster, her husband walked out and was never to be heard from again. Months later, Christa learned she was pregnant and returned home to Milwaukee. After the birth of her child, anxious to continue on her road to fame, she left her child with friends and continued her journey to New York.

 

Once there, she landed a modeling job and met Lennie Barin, a New York clothing designer who introduced her to the wealthy, flamboyant, Stuart Duncan who had Hollywood connections. When Duncan invited Christa to a party with guests that included legendary singers and actors, she jumped at the chance to befriend him and never looked back. This acquaintance lead her to become a fixture of the New York jet-setters and her escapades soon became legendary when it was leaked that she’d slept with Mick Jagger after a late night party with the Rolling Stones. Further reports stated her sleeping with Jet’s quarterback, Joe Namath, as well as the Shah of Iran. Now on a roll, she was named “Bachelorette of the Month” by Cosmopolitan Magazine. The fact that she was becoming a household name egged her on to bigger things.

 

Eventually, Duncan managed to get Christa a role in the 1974 movie “Let’s Go for Broke.” Unfortunately, the movie tanked and was pulled from theaters a mere four days after opening. By this time, however, Christa had been bitten by the acting bug and began to audition for various roles. Sadly, she only got bit parts in “Wonder Woman” and “Starsky & Hutch.” But this did not stop her from rubbing elbows with the rich and famous, whom she hoped would open more doors. Much to her dismay, that never happened even after moving to Hollywood. By this time, her acting career seems to have stalled.  

 

Her social life, however, was anything but stalled as she was frequently seen at parties all over Los Angeles where she became very promiscuous--her list of lovers growing like wild fires with the likes of Warren Beatty, Englebert Humperdinck, and George Hamilton. This woman was going to do whatever it took to get where she wanted to be, yet all she managed to do was to acquire the title of gold-digger who’d slept with hundreds of men and women.

 

 

It’s no secret how greed changed Christa when she began keeping a “sex diary” that included the names and rankings of those she’d slept with. Despite knowing she was playing in dangerous waters, she continued, even adding something new—taping the sexual encounters, and bragging about it to her friend Darlene Thoresen. She warned Christa she could ruin a lot of lives, but Christa dismissed the warning and continued in that vain.
 

Christa’s life tragically ended on February 12, 1977, when she was found stabbed 22 times and bludgeoned to death in front of her agent’s home. Next to her body lay her purse with a few valuables missing, leading police to consider the unlikely scenario that it could have been a robbery. Also missing was the sex diary!
 

When the police learned of the sex tapes, it became more certain that she was most likely blackmailing someone. Years later, her sister, Marisa was interviewed by “48 Hours” where she admitted she would not have been surprised if Christa had been killed for blackmailing someone because she would do anything and use anyone for her own gain.

 

When the police questioned, Darlene, she showed them a postcard she’d received from Christa shortly before her murder that read: “Dar…I’m in way over my head here. I'm into something I can't get out of.”

When reports surfaced that actor Tony Sirico paid a visit to Christa’s roommates after her death under the auspices of warning them they too could be in danger, they later found he’d pilfered several items of value including several sex tapes which were later found in her clothing designer friend’s home. Barin admitted that he’d paid Sirico to take them to avoid Christa’s already muddied reputation further disparaging names. To this day, Sirico denies ever being at the apartment.

 

The way Christa was killed indicates a strong hatred. DNA testing only proved it to be a woman. Digging in deeper, police learned about an interesting love triangle. At the time of her death, Christa was working on a record with disc jockey Frankie Cocker. During this time, she was romantically involved with Patti Collins, a backup singer and also sleeping with a keyboardist who was dating Debbie Danilow, one of the other backup singers. Having found out that Danilow had caught them in the act, the police confronted her, but she pointed her finger at Patti, who’d found out about Christa’s other lovers.

 

Long after the murder, DNA tests proved that the killer was a woman, making the two women the lead suspects. When Debbie’s DNA did not match, it left Patti, who was nowhere to be found.

 

With a parade of suspects and proof of wrongdoing, this case is still open and may never be solved!

 

 

 

 

The Unsolved Case of the Black Dahlia

The case of The Black Dahlia has fascinated me for years ever since I saw the movie, so I decided to do some research. I became so caught up in this research that I wanted to make sure you had all the facts of the case. I even thought about doing it in two segments, but figured waiting an entire week for the second half wasn't fair either. So here it is all three pages worth. I hope you enjoy this post as much as I have!

On January 15, 1947, the dismembered body of Elizabeth Short, a 22-year old actress’s dismembered body was found in Los Angeles’ Leimert Park. While Short’s murder wasn't uncommon at the time, but the brutal nature of it shocked the Nation. When news of the murder went public, reporters immediately dubbed her, “The Black Dahlia.”

There are many theories as to where this name came from, but the most popular is that of a reporter who interviewed several of Elizabeth’s friends at “The Blue Dahlia” pharmacy and drug store, a place where Elizabeth had won a beauty contest in 1946.

Despite her incredible beauty, there was nothing that really distinguished Elizabeth from thousands of other young women who made their way to Hollywood to seek out fame and fortune.

She was born in Massachusetts in 1924 to Cleo and Phoebe Short. With five children, the Shorts were a large, yet otherwise normal family. Her father successfully built miniature golf courses, while Phoebe was a stay at home mom. In 1929 when the stock market crashed, Cleo’s business went bankrupt and sent him spiraling into a deep depression when he couldn’t care for his family. Unable to deal with the loss, his car was found abandoned on a bridge and even though they never found his body or evidence to support their findings, the police labeled his disappearance a suicide.

The truth was that Cleo simply abandoned his family and moved to California. In 1943, Phoebe received a letter of apology from him, but it has never been publicized as to what kind of reaction she had to the letter. Since they never saw one another again, it’s obvious she had no use for him.

Upon learning her father’s whereabouts, Elizabeth’s ideas of grandeur as an actress escalated and she left Massachusetts to visit him at his home in Vallejo, California. Although this could have simply been a daughter’s attempt to reconnect with her father, it is suspected that Elizabeth may have had ulterior motives and most likely saw this visit as her big chance to become a Hollywood starlet.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth’s laziness did not sit well with her father and he asked her to leave.

Determined to become an actress, Elizabeth set out for Los Angeles, but her underage drinking interrupted her trip and the police sent her back home to Massachusetts. Having reached emancipation, she returned to Los Angeles to pursue her dream.

It didn’t take long for Elizabeth to realize becoming an actress was as easy as she thought, but she did manage to get a few bit parts, but nothing meaningful. Like most wannabe’s of that generation, she had it in her head that sleeping her way to stardom was the answer and spent a great deal of time with any man who paid attention to her. This obsession resulted in dangerous activities. Her friends would later state that she was too trusting and never hesitated to get into a car with strange men. On a few occasions, she would even meet with married men.

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Not long after, an unidentified dismembered body was discovered by a local woman who mistook it for a discarded department store mannequin. The body had been cut in half, the intestines neatly arranged outside her body and the body parts were riddled with small cuts. And her killer was even more morbid when he cut the corners of her mouth into a grizzly smile. Based on the location of the cuts and the way the body was posed lead the police to believe the victim had been sexually assaulted, although they had no proof whatsoever since the body was completely drained of blood and meticulously cleaned of any fingerprints.

Fortunately, because she’d been arrested for underage drinking, the police department did have her fingerprints on file and the body was identified as Elizabeth Short. The public became fascinated by her murder and hungry for more details. As a result, reporters took extreme measures to get any information they could before the news of her death was reported, even going so far as to call Elizabeth’s mother and say she’d won a beauty contest in an attempt to get more information about Elizabeth’s life. When Phoebe eventually found out her daughter had been murdered, she made the trip to Los Angeles to identify the body all by herself because her father wanted nothing to do with the case. This led to speculation about his role in his daughter’s murder but he was soon eliminated as a suspect.

News of Elizabeth’s death led to an exhaustive search. The fact that she’d dated so many men made it difficult for the police to focus on any one suspect. When the case took on a new twist and nearly 60 people confessed, seemingly as their way to stardom, the police were required to sift through the list. After investigating so many suspects, all were cleared until the police narrowed it down to one suitor, a Robert “Red” Manley, who was a salesman and had been seen with Elizabeth on January 8th. After a night of drinking and dancing, the two rented a hotel room, although Manley claimed that while he was attracted to Elizabeth, they didn't sleep together; in fact, Manley claimed to have slept on the bed while she slept on the chair. With Elizabeth’s reputation for being ‘easy’ with the men, it is unknown what really happened between the two, because Manley had plenty of motive to lie about his relationship with Elizabeth when the police found out he was married with a pregnant wife.

After intensive interrogations and two polygraphs, police did not have enough evidence to hold Manley and he was released. Manley eventually suffered a nervous breakdown during the interrogations, and over time, his mental condition deteriorated to the point that he was committed to a mental institution where he spent the rest of his life. Some believe that the strain of being a suspect in The Black Dahlia case was a contributing factor to his mental decline and a reporter who’d interviewed Manley years later wrote that the case may have ruined Manley’s life.

Janice Knowlton, a ten-year old girl living in Los Angeles at the time of the murder believed she witnessed her father killing Elizabeth with a claw hammer in their family’s garage. She goes on to claim that Elizabeth was living in the family’s detached garage and was having an affair with George.

Police insisted that Knowlton’s memory of the murder was consistent with the events surrounding the murder but once again, they found no evidence

It was a known fact that Knowlton began suffering from mental health problems in the mid-eighties, and claimed that repressed memories of abuse and molestation came to the forefront of her mind during therapy sessions. In addition to accusing her father of killing Elizabeth, Knowlton also recalled seeing her father with a dismembered baby. Despite the fact that it took nearly 40 years for her to recollect these memories, Knowlton’s therapist acknowledged that a hormonal imbalance caused her delusional mind, and the police eventually gave up on George. He died in the early 2000s and no one has stepped forward with any substantive information connecting him.

Since the body was found drained of blood and expertly dismembered, right down to the way the intestines were posed, police began to investigate the local doctors. One such doctor, George Hodel, was a leading suspect due to his frequent close contact with young women. As one of the only physicians to perform abortions, and the fact that he’d been accused of molesting his own daughter around the time, the police bugged his home hoping for a confession. They did have a recording between Hodel and an unknown person which hints at a confession, but the conversation wasn't enough to charge Hodel. During the conversation, Hodel discusses his secretaries’ death, but upon investigation, police ruled that she died of natural causes when they found no poison in her system to indicate foul play. Steve believed that Hodel was guilty of several murders, including Elizabeth’s and another woman who was killed in 1949 after seeking an abortion. Once again, there was no evidence to support the allegation and it was labeled as mere speculation.

 In 1999, when Hodel died, his son, Steve, a former detective, found two pictures of Elizabeth in his father’s personal effects. Steve recounted that Hodel was alone in the house at the time of Elizabeth’s murder because the rest of the family was traveling. A K-9s search of Hodel’s former home, found evidence of human decomposition. While it doesn't prove that Hodel was Elizabeth’s killer, it does give credence to the fact that Hodel could have been the killer.

Now after all these years, after the many years of investigation, the case is still listed as “unsolved” by the Los Angeles Police Department, but as time goes on, suspects and potential witnesses age and eventually die making it less likely Elizabeth’s murderer will ever be found.

The case of the Black Dahlia murder isn't likely to go away anytime soon, as evidenced by the movies and books written by Knowles and Steve Hodel about their father’s involvement. Now, sixty-eight years later, the public is still fascinated by the Black Dahlia case.

It seems Elizabeth did find the lasting notoriety she coveted—just not the kind she wanted!

 

MEET THE FIRST FEMALE SERIAL KILLER!

The first 45 years of Tillie Klimek’s life reads like a book entitled “The Average 18th Century Immigrant.” Polish born, Tillie immigrated to Chicago with her parents when she was four. Her life from there was relatively normal for a woman of her time; she got married, had four children, was widowed, and remarried. Appearances can be deceiving, however, and behind Tillie’s plain facade lurked a cold and calculating killer.

 

Tillie had always claimed to be a psychic, and “predicted” the deaths of neighborhood animals with stunning accuracy. A month after her first husband died in 1914 (reports are sketchy as to whether or not she “predicted” his death as well or if he died of natural causes), Tillie married a man named John Ruskowski. Shortly thereafter, Tillie predicted his death and three months after the wedding, John died. Tillie collected life insurance payments from each of her husbands, totaling over $2,000.

 

Ostensibly to recover, Tillie and her lover, Joseph Guskowski, traveled to Milwaukee. On the way home, Tillie confessed that she was responsible for her husband’s deaths and proceeded to hint that she wanted to marry Joseph. Being a reasonable man, Joseph declined to propose. Prepared for this eventuality, Tillie threatened to turn Joseph into the police for violation of the the Mann Act, which forbid “immoral behavior” like premarital sex. Joseph in turn threatened to turn Tilly in for the murder of her two husbands. At an impasse, the two agreed not to involve the police and parted ways.  A few weeks later, Joseph met an untimely end, although Tillie didn't predict it this time.

 

Tillie didn't marry again for another 5 years, most likely because she was afraid of being caught after her argument with Joseph. In 1919, Tillie married Frank Kupezyk and moved to 924 Winchester, which is still known as “"Old Lady Tillie Klimek's Haunted House.” The marriage was not a happy one, and two years later, Frank took ill and was bedridden. As he lay dying, Tillie dutifully sat beside him almost the whole time; except instead of comforting him, she was knitting her mourning veil in anticipation of his death.

 

At some point during Frank’s illness, Tillie noticed a casket on sale for $30, which she eagerly told her landlady about. When the landlady asked why she wanted a casket, Tillie responded cheerfully, “My man, he’s got only two inches to live.” Tillie bought the casket and stored it in her slightly disturbed landlady’s basement. Frank died shortly thereafter, but no one connected Tillie with his murder; Tillie’s psychic powers were legendary in the tight knit Polish community, so everyone just assumed she purchased Frank’s casket after foreseeing his death.

 

At Frank’s funeral, Tillie danced happily and even picked up Frank’s body and shouted in his ear. At the funeral, Tillie met Joseph Klimek, the man destined to be her last husband. A 50-year old widower, Klimek was suffering from loneliness and, as he put it, in need of a “home.”  A few weeks after the funeral Klimek called on Tillie and a budding romance ensued. The two were married a short time later and Frank found his loving home at 924 Winchester.

 

Shortly after the marriage began, Frank predictably became ill. This time, however, Tillie’s plot was interrupted by Frank’s brother John. Noting the odd symptoms of Frank’s illness, John had him examined by his personal physician. To the surprise of everyone (except perhaps Tillie and to a lesser extent, John), the doctor found that Frank was suffering from arsenic poisoning and Tillie was arrested for attempted murder.

 

When police discovered how many of Tillie’s husbands had died under mysterious circumstances, they become suspicious and initiated a full scale investigation. When Frank Kupezyk’s body was exhumed, traces of arsenic were discovered and Tillie was charged with his murder as well. The investigation didn't stop there, however; by the time policed finished, they discovered that with the help of her cousin Nellie, Tillie had killed 12 people, including several of her cousins. In addition to the dead, seven people came forward claiming that they became ill after eating Tillie’s cooking, including her nephew and several neighbors with whom Tilly had quarreled with.

 

Tillie was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, the harshest punishment ever assigned to a woman in Cook County. Tillie proved to be a model prisoner and by all accounts actually enjoyed prison, as it gave her time to catch up on her “spring sewing.” She also professed to enjoy the food-although for obvious reasons, she wasn’t allowed to cook. After a 13 year incarceration, Tillie Klimek died on November 20, 1936 at the age of 60.

I wonder if her deceased husbands were all waiting for her to arrive in hell!

Meet The First Serial Killer!

 H. H. Holmes

 

Herman Webster, Mudget, who you might know better as H.H. Holmes, was born on May 16, 1861 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire to a wealthy family. Although his parents were by all accounts devout Methodists, rumors persist that Holmes’ father was an abusive alcoholic, which could have fed Holmes’ already sociopathic tendencies; tendencies that manifested early in life and continued right up until his death in 1896.

 

As an adolescent, Holmes was fascinated by medicine, going so far as to practice surgery on animals. He may have also been involved in the death of a friend, but details are sketchy and this has never been proven. No matter what happened, we know that Holmes’ was eventually accepted to medical school at the University of Michigan.

 

While in Michigan, Holmes displayed an uncanny knack for coming up with cadavers that he donated to the University. The cadavers were most likely his victims, whose bodies he donated only after he defrauded life insurance companies by claiming to be the recently deceased beneficiary. Holmes was also known to mutilate and disfigure cadavers, although this must not have seemed too odd to professors, because they awarded Holmes with his doctorate degree.

 

After graduating, Holmes traveled to Chicago and began working in a small pharmacy. After the owner died, Holmes convinced the widow to sell the pharmacy to him before she “moved to California.”

 

After purchasing the store, Holmes built a three story hotel across the street. During the course of its construction, Holmes employed a variety of construction crews. The result was a hotel with curved hallways and oddly shaped walls. There were even doorways and stairs leading to nowhere. Guests staying in the hotel reported ominous feelings.

 

Holmes proceeded to hire a series of advertisements to lure young women into working at the hotel. As a condition of employment, the women had to take out a life insurance policy listing Holmes as the beneficiary (although Holmes offered to pay the premiums). Sadly, many of these women accepted this horrifying deal and disappeared into the depths of the hotel, never to be seen again. Not recognizing the danger of Holmes was not necessarily the young women’s fault; most of them came to Chicago from small towns in the Midwest and thus naive to evil men such as Holmes. Of course, disappearances weren't limited to staff; many young women staying in the hotel also disappeared without a trace.

 

In 1893, Chicago hosted the World’s Fair and the millions of people flocked to the City to visit. To Holmes, this throng must have appeared like a buffet of victims and he quickly opened up his hotel to guests. Like all serial killers, Holmes was smart and good-looking; one can almost picture him seducing a young lady by taking her for a ride on the world’s first Ferris wheel then buying her some newly invented drink containing sweetener and carbonated water (you know it today as diet soda).

 

It was the perfect set of circumstances for the perfect killer.

 

After the fair, Holmes abruptly left Chicago (many believe that this was due to a poor economy, but it could have been because someone finally noticed all the women in Holmes’ company). Holmes proceeded to meet up with an old friend, Benjamin Pitezel, and the two made their way across the country committing insurance fraud, stealing and reselling horses; one presumes that Holmes spent much of this time murdering people, although no one has ever linked him to any of these killings nor was there any evidence of Pitezel’s involvement.

 

Benjamin Pitezel

After the two men were arrested in Texas for horse theft, Holmes approached cell mate Marion Hedgepath with a plan for insurance fraud; Holmes explained the plan, which involved faking his own death, and promised Hedgepath $500 for the name of a lawyer to help arrange the deal and represent them if anything went wrong. Holmes and Pitezel were released soon after (Hedgepath was serving a much longer sentence for train robbery). After their scheme was foiled, the pair fled to Philadelphia. Undeterred, Holmes tried the scheme again, only this time he actually murdered Pitezel and three of his children for good measure. Holmes may have gone on committing fraud and killing forever if it hadn't been for that errant promise he made to Hedgepath, who was eagerly awaiting the promised $500.

 

Marion Hedgepath

 



Eventually, Hedgepath realized that Holmes had lied to him and informed the authorities. Holmes was tracked to Boston where he was arrested for horse thieving and insurance fraud. That might have been the end of it, but soon the authorities noticed that Holmes appeared to be getting ready to flee the country (in actuality, he had already stopped in Toronto once). When the authorities got suspicious and searched Holmes’ home, they found the remains of several women in his basement. Holmes eventually confessed to 28 murders, although many people estimate the actual number of victims as high as 200. In May 1896 H.H. Holmes was executed, bringing a conclusion to his reign of terror and ending the life of America’s first-and possibly most successful-serial killer.

 

 

These Escapees Must Be Houdini’s Apprentices

 

These days with my writing, I’m focusing more on romantic suspense and very often things that happen in the media pique my curiosity enough for me to research the subject for a possible inclusion in future stories. One in particular that caught my eye, is the recent news release about Joyce E. Mitchell, an employee of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York who helped two convicted killers escape to their freedom.

After the break out, investigators found that the two inmates used makeshift dummies to fool guards into believing they were asleep in their bunks. These men then cut through the walls of their adjoining cells using the tools provided to them by Mitchell, and managed to escape through a steam pipe in the bowels of the prison where they cut an entrance and crawled to freedom.

Here’s what confuses me about this story. Mitchell was a fifty-one year old woman who was obviously bamboozled by their attentiveness, but to fall for two known convicted killers and help them escape just boggles my mind. The Plan, as reported by the local media, says she ultimately backed out of that plan which involved killing her husband and serving as the getaway driver because she possibly “feared for her life.”  I think that fear is very real at this point, but I don’t think it will be these two inmates who’ll be doing it.

Further investigation revealed she’d been romantically involved with these two men, and at one time, was being investigated by the prison officials for getting too close with an inmate.

So, here’s what I want to know. Where were the prison guards? Were they making rounds each night the way they were supposed to? If she was physically involved, where could they go to be alone without being noticed or heard? We’re talking too different sections of the prison here. Was she the only one involved, or did she have an accomplice? How did the inmates hide their progress? And lastly, how did the noise of the power tools go unnoticed by the guards?

Well, I just heard the news: One of the escapees, 51 year old, Richard Matt, has been shot and killed. Campers in the wooded area near an abandoned cabin reported hearing shots fired and called police who searched the area by foot with K-9s, and overhead aircraft. After a three-week search, they finally found him with a 20-guage shotgun. The defiant Matt refusing to put his gun down after several warnings, police took matters into their own hands. Matt had to know he’d never get out alive so took the easy way out. Is this considered, “suicide by cop”? 

WHAT DOES A KILLER LOOK LIKE?

A killer could be anyone. Maybe even your neighbor. There's no set feature of someone's face that will tell you what that person is capable of doing. For example, here's a photograph of a young man who reeked havoc on New York in the '70s.  Now, I ask you, does he look dangerous? I think he looks like a cuddly teddy bear. But that's just the problem. The saying goes: Never judge a book by its cover", and the same goes for a killer. You can't possibly know what's on their minds.

This man is David Richard Berkowitz who was born Richard David Falco, June 1, 1953 and became known as the Son of Sam

 

Born Richard David Falco, he was adopted by Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz when he was only a few days old. According to some reports, David Berkowitz was an intelligent but troubled child growing up. He was close to his mother who died during his teenage years, and he was deeply affected by her death.

He joined the military and received an honorable discharge, returning to New York City, and eventually found a job at the US post office and lived in Yonkers. Neighbors and co-workers described him as a quiet loner, but they had no idea how lethal he was.

His violent crimes began in the early '70s. His first attempt at murder was using a knife, but knowing the woman survived, he moved and decided to learn how to use a gun instead, and purchased a .44 caliber pistol to continue his spree throughout Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.

His victims? All were women with long, dark, wavy hair and he would search the streets for couples who sat in parked cars. What was so interesting about this case is I don't think there was ever a reason given as to why he chose only brunettes.

Now having a gun, his first shooting victim was in the Bronx. When two friends left a disco bar, he was waiting in the parking lot and ran toward them. The frightened driver gave him a piece of her mind. He didn't like being reprimanded so he crouched down, bracing his elbow on his knee and aimed killing her with one bullet. The other passenger was shot in her thigh, and a third bullet missed both women, after which, he turned and ran away. Both of these women survived and when they described the stance he took, the NYPD thought it might have been a policeman. The investigation proved nothing and they moved on.

More killings and the women of New York were in a state of panic afraid to leave their homes, but they found a way by bleaching their hair or wearing wigs to cover up their brunette locks.

Making his way around New York, to throw the police off, he killed at random. As often happens, the media made this guy a celebrity and he began to enjoy the notoriety. Reading negatives things about himself angered him and he fought back. Below is his first letter to the police that he left near the  victim.

 



 

More media coverage pursued and he didn't like the way he was being represented. (see below). It was the biggest thing to hit the city in a long while and the residents wanted answers.

 

Upset, he began to play a game with them. He loved this notoriety. It gave him a celebrity in his own right. Below is another letter. Source: Wickipedia

 

I am deeply hurt by your calling me a wemon hater. I am not. But I am a monster. I am the "Son of Sam." I am a little "brat". When father Sam gets drunk he gets mean. He beats his family. Sometimes he ties me up to the back of the house. Other times he locks me in the garage. Sam loves to drink blood. "Go out and kill" commands father Sam. Behind our house some rest. Mostly young — raped and slaughtered — their blood drained — just bones now. Papa Sam keeps me locked in the attic, too. I can't get out but I look out the attic window and watch the world go by. I feel like an outsider. I am on a different wave length then everybody else — programmed too kill. However, to stop me you must kill me. Attention all police: Shoot me first — shoot to kill or else. Keep out of my way or you will die! Papa Sam is old now. He needs some blood to preserve his youth. He has had too many heart attacks. Too many heart attacks. "Ugh, me hoot it hurts sonny boy." I miss my pretty princess most of all. She's resting in our ladies house but I'll see her soon. I am the "Monster" — "Beelzebub" — the "Chubby Behemouth." I love to hunt. Prowling the streets looking for fair game — tasty meat. The wemon of Queens are z prettyist of all. I must be the water they drink. I live for the hunt — my life. Blood for papa. Mr. Borrelli, sir, I dont want to kill anymore no sir, no more but I must, "honour thy father." I want to make love to the world. I love people. I don't belong on Earth. Return me to yahoos. To the people of Queens, I love you. And I wa want to wish all of you a happy Easter. May God bless you in this life and in the next and for now I say goodbye and goodnight. Police — Let me haunt you with these words; I'll be back! I'll be back! To be interrpreted as — bang, bang, bang, bank, bang — ugh!! Yours in murder Mr. Monster.

At the scene of one of his shootings, SOS got sloppy--he hadn't counted on anyone seeing him. Fortunately, the person who witnessed the shooting saw a man getting away in a car that had a parking ticket on it, and that was their break in the case. Only a handful of tickets had been given out that day, and one of them was for Berkowitz. The police arrested him on August 10, 1977. According to The New York Times, Berkowitz said, "Well, you've got me" when they took him into custody.

He was found mentally competent, and incarcerated in the state prison for murder. In the course of further police investigation, Berkowitz was also implicated in many unsolved arsons in the city.
In response, the New York State legislature enacted new legal statutes, known popularly as "Son of Sam laws", designed to keep criminals from profiting financially from the publicity surrounding their crimes.

Berkowitz has been imprisoned since his arrest and is serving six life sentences consecutively. In the mid-1990s, he amended his confession to claim that he had been a member of a violent Satanic Cult that orchestrated the incidents as ritual murder. Though he remains the only person ever charged with the shootings, some law enforcement authorities have questioned whether Berkowitz's claims are credible. A new investigation into the murders was launched in 1996, but was suspended indefinitely after inconclusive findings.

Today, Berkowitz wants the world to forgive him because he's found God. While saying you're sorry for evil deeds is a noble objective, I'm not sure I could ever forget or forgive the terror he caused in New York and the surrounding areas because I remember that smirk on his face when he was apprehended and I remember seeing the pleasure he got from his new celebrity status.

Right, David Berkowitz. I'll get right on that!

WHAT LURKS IN THE MINDS OF THE EVIL?

This month, I'm talking about Ted Bundy. He was a serial killer, a kidnapper, rapist and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s. The total amount of deaths is unknown, but he confessed to 30 homicides in numerous states.

Bundy was arrested in August 1975 by a Utah Highway Patrol officer after Ted failed to pull over for a routine traffic stop. The officer, noting that the Volkswagen's front passenger seat was missing, searched his car, and found a ski mask, a second mask made from pantyhose, a crowbar, handcuffs, trash bags, a coil of rope, an ice pick, and other items initially assumed to be burglary tools. When asked, Bundy said the ski mask was for skiing. The handcuffs? He claims he found them in a dumpster, and the rest were common household items. Detective Jerry Thompson did not believe him because he remembered a similar suspect and car description from a November 1974 DaRonch kidnapping, and Bundy's name from Kloepfer's December 1974 phone call. He was taken in for questioning until they could do a search on his apartment. All that was found was a guide to a Colorado ski resort with a checkmark next to the Wildwood Inn, and a brochure advertising the Viewmont High School play in Bountiful. This was the scene of a previous missing teenager,but nothing sufficiently incriminating to hold him. He was released.

After they did find enough evidence, he would boast to the police that during the first search, the police missed his collection of photographs of his victims hidden in the utility room, which he promptly destroyed when he came home that day.

Ted was a handsome, smart, charismatic young man who had a promising law career and took the dark side of law performing his own acts of evil. He was known for charming his victims to win their trust by pretending to be injured or disabled so they'd help him. Then, he'd give them a sob story about how he became injured, tell the woman how beautiful she was and take her to a secluded area under the auspices of a romantic evening only to rape and kill, then leave her there for the animals to feast on. He later admitted to revisiting the crime scene and performing sexual acts on the decomposed bodies.

On the victims he decapitated, he admitted taking the heads home as a memento until he tired of them. What he did with them afterward is unknown.

Unable to control his urge, he changed his routine by simply breaking into homes at night and bludgeon his victims while they slept.

Labeled a sadistic sociopath who took pleasure from another human's pain and his control over them,  he told the authorities he was "... the most cold-hearted son of a bitch you'll ever meet.

At trial, his own attorney wrote that he "was the very definition of heartless evil. When the jury read the verdict, Ted Bundy remained unemotional and showed absolutely no signs of remorse.

I think I'll double lock our windows tonight!