A high-IQ dyslexic from a troubled home, New York resident Joel Rifkin in 1994 was convicted of murdering a string of nine New York City women, mostly prostitutes. He is thought to have killed eight more women.
His first murder was in 1989, his last in 1993. Rifkin's usual method was strangulation, sometimes followed by dismemberment.
Rufkin was caught after a high-speed chase when a trooper noticed that Rifkin's pickup had no license plate. The body of his last known victim was found in the truck.
Rifkin was found guilty in 1994 and was sentenced to 203 years to life.
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Monday, December 14, 2009
Mass/serial killers: Micheal Bruce Ross
Known variously as the Roadside Strangler and the Connecticut Strangler, Micheal Bruce Ross of Putnam, CT, murdered eight young women between 19812 and 1984.
Ross came from a violent, abusive home. While a student at Cornell University, he began stalking young women. He also raped the women he strangled and killed.
Ross appeared to realize the threat he posed to society and did not attempt to fight the death penalty. He was executed by injection in 2005.
Ross came from a violent, abusive home. While a student at Cornell University, he began stalking young women. He also raped the women he strangled and killed.
Ross appeared to realize the threat he posed to society and did not attempt to fight the death penalty. He was executed by injection in 2005.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Mass/serial killers: Efren Saldivar
California respiratory therapist Efren Saldivar killed somewhere between 50 and 120 patients who already were near death from 1988 to 1998.
Saldivar was born in Texas. After completing his education, he took a job on the night shift at a California medical center, where the killings by injection took place.
His motives for these killings remains unclear. Perhaps he wished to help people in distress die rather than suffer further. Perhaps not.
He confessed to 50 such killings, then recanted. Twenty of his alleged victims were exhumed, and abnormal levels of a morphine-like drug were found. He pled guilty to six counts of murder in 2002 and is not serving two life terms without a chance for parole.
Even if he actually did kill 150 people, he was still far behind a Brit, Dr. Harold Shipman, alias Dr. Death, who is thought to have killed as many as 508 victims in a similar manner between 1975 and 1998.
Saldivar was born in Texas. After completing his education, he took a job on the night shift at a California medical center, where the killings by injection took place.
His motives for these killings remains unclear. Perhaps he wished to help people in distress die rather than suffer further. Perhaps not.
He confessed to 50 such killings, then recanted. Twenty of his alleged victims were exhumed, and abnormal levels of a morphine-like drug were found. He pled guilty to six counts of murder in 2002 and is not serving two life terms without a chance for parole.
Even if he actually did kill 150 people, he was still far behind a Brit, Dr. Harold Shipman, alias Dr. Death, who is thought to have killed as many as 508 victims in a similar manner between 1975 and 1998.
Mass/serial killers: Jeff Weise
In what became known as the Red Lake Massacre, 16-year-old Jeff Weise, and Objibwa Indian, went way off the deep end, killing 10 people.
First, the troubled youth shot and killed his grandfather, using a .22. He took his grandad's .40-caliber pistol, 12-gauge shotgun, bullet-proof vest and car and drove to his Red Lake reservation high school. There, his first victim was the school's security guard.
Then Weise, a large boy who wore all black clothing in the "goth" style, shot and killed fellow students until finally turning the gun on himself, ending his own life.
While Weise had endured a hard childhood, he had a circle of school friends who remembered him as an apparently normal boy who liked to help others. Others considered him a strange loner.
First, the troubled youth shot and killed his grandfather, using a .22. He took his grandad's .40-caliber pistol, 12-gauge shotgun, bullet-proof vest and car and drove to his Red Lake reservation high school. There, his first victim was the school's security guard.
Then Weise, a large boy who wore all black clothing in the "goth" style, shot and killed fellow students until finally turning the gun on himself, ending his own life.
While Weise had endured a hard childhood, he had a circle of school friends who remembered him as an apparently normal boy who liked to help others. Others considered him a strange loner.
Mass/serial killers: Charles Whitman
Apparently suffering from some form of mental illness, 25-year-old University of Texas student Charles Whitman opened fire from the observation tower of the Austin campus' tallest building, killing 14 and wounding 31 more.
Whitman was born in Lake Worth, Florida. His father was abusive, yet Charles became an Eagle Scout and later enlisted in the Marines. After separating from military service in 1964, he enrolled at UT-Austin to study architectural engineering.
In 1966, Whitman snapped, first strangling his mother, then stabbing his wife to death.
Posing as a maintenance worker, Whitman gained access to the Texas Tower's upper deck, where he spent the next 96 minutes firing with deadly accuracy at random targets below. A policeman in a small plane circled the tower, trying to divert Whitman's efforts.
Finally, a small group of men stormed the deck, killing Whitman with a shotgun blast and subsequent gun shots. A medical examination showed that the shooter had a small brain tumor that likely contributed to his deadly state of mind.
The Whitman case caused many U.S. city police departments to establish SWAT teams.
Whitman was born in Lake Worth, Florida. His father was abusive, yet Charles became an Eagle Scout and later enlisted in the Marines. After separating from military service in 1964, he enrolled at UT-Austin to study architectural engineering.
In 1966, Whitman snapped, first strangling his mother, then stabbing his wife to death.
Posing as a maintenance worker, Whitman gained access to the Texas Tower's upper deck, where he spent the next 96 minutes firing with deadly accuracy at random targets below. A policeman in a small plane circled the tower, trying to divert Whitman's efforts.
Finally, a small group of men stormed the deck, killing Whitman with a shotgun blast and subsequent gun shots. A medical examination showed that the shooter had a small brain tumor that likely contributed to his deadly state of mind.
The Whitman case caused many U.S. city police departments to establish SWAT teams.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Mass/serial killers: Wayne Williams
The case of African American Atlanta resident Wayne Williams is a strange one indeed. In 1982, he was found guilty of the murders of two black men, and soon thereafter, the city's police closed the murder cases of 27 African American minors.
Williams denies responsibility for the younger victims, some as young as 8. These black children and teenagers disappeared over roughly a two-year period, from 1979 until into 1982. Williams was sentenced to two life terms for the murders of the two older men.
Some authorities think that Williams, who was a small man, was the guilty party in the killings of the younger victims, some of whom were bigger than he was.
Whatever the truth may be, he remains incarcerated.
Williams denies responsibility for the younger victims, some as young as 8. These black children and teenagers disappeared over roughly a two-year period, from 1979 until into 1982. Williams was sentenced to two life terms for the murders of the two older men.
Some authorities think that Williams, who was a small man, was the guilty party in the killings of the younger victims, some of whom were bigger than he was.
Whatever the truth may be, he remains incarcerated.
Mass/serial killers: Aileen Wuornos
Self-identified people hater Aileen Wuornos shot and killed seven men in Florida in 1989 and 1990.
She was born Aileen Pittman in Michigan. Her father was in prison during her childhood, and she eventually married a child molester. After they divorced, she was re-married to a geezer, which also ended in divorce. Thereafter, she became a lesbian but supported herself as a prostitute.
Wuornos denied being mentally ill, but said she was so filled with hate she would kill again if given the chance.
She was executed by lethal injection in 2002.
She was born Aileen Pittman in Michigan. Her father was in prison during her childhood, and she eventually married a child molester. After they divorced, she was re-married to a geezer, which also ended in divorce. Thereafter, she became a lesbian but supported herself as a prostitute.
Wuornos denied being mentally ill, but said she was so filled with hate she would kill again if given the chance.
She was executed by lethal injection in 2002.
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