Homegrown terrorist Timothy McVeigh was executed in 2001 for setting the truck bomb that killed 168 and wounded 500 more at the Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995.
McVeigh had served in the Army during the Gulf War. After separating from the service, he had a job as a security guard in Buffalo, N.Y., before returning to the Midwest.
It has been suggested that he might have had Al Qaeda connections and that his experiences in the Gulf brought about his hatred of the U.S. government.
McVeigh, then age 28, and his accomplice, Terry Nichols, were arrested almost immediately after the Oklahoma City bombing because they were stupid enough to speed on an Interstate in a car that had no license plate.
McVeigh was convicted in 1997. He remained straight-faced and unrepentant even in the face of execution.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Mass/serial killers: John Allen Muhammad
John Allen Muhammad (born John Allen Williams) was executed in 2009 by lethal injection for his part in the 2002 Beltway shootings in the Washington, D.C., area.
A native of New Orleans, he served in the National Guard and later in the Army, reaching the rank of sergeant before leaving the service in 1994.
Twice divorced, he was visiting his children in 1999 in Antigua, where he met teenager Lee Boyd Malvo, who became his partner in the fatal shootings of at least 10 people--7 in Maryland, 5 in Virginia and one in the District of Columbia. Three more people were wounded by the Beltway shooters.
It is thought that the two men might have killed as many as 11 more people.
The two were captured in Maryland after Malvo's fingerprints were found on a magazine he dropped during the robbery of a Montgomery, Ala., liquor store.
Muhammad had converted to the Nation of Islam in 2001, and at that time dropped the family name Williams.
Muhammad's role model was Osama bin Laden, and testimony in Malvo's trial indicated that the two had an elaborate scheme to kill more Americans and to extort millions of dollars from the federal government.
Muhammad was tried or murder in Virginia in 2003 and was found guilty. In 2005, he was tried and convicted in Maryland of six more murders. He received the death penalty.
A native of New Orleans, he served in the National Guard and later in the Army, reaching the rank of sergeant before leaving the service in 1994.
Twice divorced, he was visiting his children in 1999 in Antigua, where he met teenager Lee Boyd Malvo, who became his partner in the fatal shootings of at least 10 people--7 in Maryland, 5 in Virginia and one in the District of Columbia. Three more people were wounded by the Beltway shooters.
It is thought that the two men might have killed as many as 11 more people.
The two were captured in Maryland after Malvo's fingerprints were found on a magazine he dropped during the robbery of a Montgomery, Ala., liquor store.
Muhammad had converted to the Nation of Islam in 2001, and at that time dropped the family name Williams.
Muhammad's role model was Osama bin Laden, and testimony in Malvo's trial indicated that the two had an elaborate scheme to kill more Americans and to extort millions of dollars from the federal government.
Muhammad was tried or murder in Virginia in 2003 and was found guilty. In 2005, he was tried and convicted in Maryland of six more murders. He received the death penalty.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Mass/serial killers: Dennis Rader
Sexual sadist/serial killer Dennis Rader of Wichita, KS, claimed 10 victims before his capture in 2005.
American television audiences were horrified by Rader when he described his crimes in tones that sounded self-satisfied and completely calm about what he had done.
His killings ranged from 1974 to 1991. His usual mode op operation was to stalk a woman, gain entry to her home on some pretense, bind her, torture her and finally kill her.
Rader enjoyed sending letters to the press about his sexual fantasy-fueled killings, and he was dubbed the BTK Killer (bind/torture/kill).
In many ways he seemed like an unlikely serial killer. He had served in the Air Force, had a college degree (ironically, in Criminal Justice), had held responsible jobs, had been active in his church and the Cub Scouts, and seemed perfectly normal to many who knew him.
Rader was found guilty and was given 10 consecutive life terms, inasmuch as at that time, Kansas did not recognize the death penalty.
American television audiences were horrified by Rader when he described his crimes in tones that sounded self-satisfied and completely calm about what he had done.
His killings ranged from 1974 to 1991. His usual mode op operation was to stalk a woman, gain entry to her home on some pretense, bind her, torture her and finally kill her.
Rader enjoyed sending letters to the press about his sexual fantasy-fueled killings, and he was dubbed the BTK Killer (bind/torture/kill).
In many ways he seemed like an unlikely serial killer. He had served in the Air Force, had a college degree (ironically, in Criminal Justice), had held responsible jobs, had been active in his church and the Cub Scouts, and seemed perfectly normal to many who knew him.
Rader was found guilty and was given 10 consecutive life terms, inasmuch as at that time, Kansas did not recognize the death penalty.
Mass/serial killers: Richard Ramirez
Drug-ridden Satanist Richard Ramirez was arrested in 1985 for 13 murders plus sexual assaults, burglaries and attempted murders. He was found guilty and is awaiting execution.
Ramirez was given the sobriquet The Night Stalker in part because of his fondness for a rock song by the group AC/DC: "Night Prowler." His victims varied in age from 6 to 75, and he sometimes mutilated their corpses or had sex with them after they died.
His methods of killing varied from beatings to throat slitting to gunshots.
Police found Ramirez thanks to a citizen's tip regarding a suspicious car's license number.
His killings are said to have been inspired by the brutal exploits described to him by a relative who was stationed in Vietnam.
Ramirez was given the sobriquet The Night Stalker in part because of his fondness for a rock song by the group AC/DC: "Night Prowler." His victims varied in age from 6 to 75, and he sometimes mutilated their corpses or had sex with them after they died.
His methods of killing varied from beatings to throat slitting to gunshots.
Police found Ramirez thanks to a citizen's tip regarding a suspicious car's license number.
His killings are said to have been inspired by the brutal exploits described to him by a relative who was stationed in Vietnam.
Mass/serial killers: Angel Maturino Resendiz
Delusional drifter Angel Resendiz was executed in 2006 for having murdered, robbed and sometimes raped 24 victims.
Resendiz was publicized as The Railway Killer because so many of his victims were conveniently located to his usual mode of getaway.
He often killed his victims by hitting them with a heavy object. Resendiz had a wife and sister in Mexico. His sister eventually tipped off police, leasing to his 1999 arrest in El Paso, Texas.
Resendiz was publicized as The Railway Killer because so many of his victims were conveniently located to his usual mode of getaway.
He often killed his victims by hitting them with a heavy object. Resendiz had a wife and sister in Mexico. His sister eventually tipped off police, leasing to his 1999 arrest in El Paso, Texas.
Mass/serial killers: Gary Leon Ridgway
In 2003, Gary Ridgway of Seattle admitted in court to having murdered a record number of women: 48. The murders covered a span of twenty years.
His aim, he said, was to kill as many women he thought to be prostitutes as possible. His guilty plea spared him the death penalty.
Ridgway got his nickname, the Green River Killer, because many of his victims were located near that Seattle area river.
Ridgway is serving life without possibility of parole.
His aim, he said, was to kill as many women he thought to be prostitutes as possible. His guilty plea spared him the death penalty.
Ridgway got his nickname, the Green River Killer, because many of his victims were located near that Seattle area river.
Ridgway is serving life without possibility of parole.
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