Michael Swango, the star of tonight's serial killer bedtime story, makes Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest look like Florence Nightingale.
Authorities suspect Michael Swango, 43, may have poisoned and killed as many as 60 patients under his care over the past 10 years when he worked in Ohio, Quincy, Massachusetts, Virginia, South Dakota, New York and Zimbabwe. In all these places the affable doctor had been suspected in a number of deaths and sudden illnesses. Although he was never charged in connection with any, he was either fired or left his respective jobs while under a cloud of suspicion.
Authorities became aware of alleged career as an "Angel of Death" in 1984 when he worked in Quincy, Illinois, as a paramedic. As with others in his line of mayhem, many of his co-workers complained that they became ill every time he brought them food or drinks such as doughnuts, cool drinks or iced tea. When one of his colleagues found ant poison mixed with sugar among Swango's belongings, police went to search his home.
There they found "how-to" books on homemade weapons and mass destruction as well as books on the occult, several guns, bottles with different concentrations of ant poison, a range of insecticides and rodent killers; and castor beans, from which the almost untraceable poison, ricin, can be obtained. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to five-years' jail for aggravated battery because none of his colleagues had died from the poisonings. "I don't think he intended to kill them," said Judge Dennis Cashman. "I think he wanted to take them to the edge of death. They were like a lab experiment."
While he was serving his sentence, investigators combed the Ohio State University Hospital in Columbus, where Swango had been a medical intern. Nurses told investigators that they had become suspicious because he was seen in several patients' rooms right before they died unexpectedly. "I do not think the evidence was clear one way or the other. I am glad he is not here," said Ohio State University's Larry Carey.
Swango was paroled in 1987 after serving two-and-a-half years of his five-year sentence. Curiously, after leaving prison he continued his career in the health care business with increasingly lethal results. He hopped from job to job and was fired at least three times after he was suspected of wrongdoing or someone learned about his past.
In the early 1990s Swango landed a job at a State University of New York hospital. There, Federal of Bureau Investigation agents investigated 147 patients Swango treated and died. Autopsies were performed on several former patients, but the results were inconclusive. By 1993 -- as police started piecing together his poisonous path -- he disappeared to re-emerge in Zimbabwe. There he worked at a rural hospital where he was suspended after five patients under his care died in suspicious circumstances.
After his suspension he travelled to South Africa, the modern mecca for serial killings, where he contacted Saudi Arabian health authorities, who offered him a job. Finally in July, 1997, Swango was arrested when he re-entered the United States to pick up a visa en route to his job as a physician in Saudi Arabia. Though he has been arrested for relatively minor fraud charges and illegally prescribing narcotics to patients, authorities hope to uncover enough evidence to expose him as a viscous serial killer.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Serial Killer Bedtime Stories: Bruno Ludke
Once upon a time there was a serial killer named Bruno Ludke . . .
A German laundry delivery man, Bruno offed at least 80 women between 1928 and 1943. When Nazi officials finally caught up with his lethal hobby, they shipped him off to a research hospital in Vienna where he was used as a human guinea pig by Nazi doctors. When they were done with their experiments, Bruno was executed by lethal injection.
That was a short story, but punishment by guinea pig-ization seems to qualify it as a goody.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazy.
A German laundry delivery man, Bruno offed at least 80 women between 1928 and 1943. When Nazi officials finally caught up with his lethal hobby, they shipped him off to a research hospital in Vienna where he was used as a human guinea pig by Nazi doctors. When they were done with their experiments, Bruno was executed by lethal injection.
That was a short story, but punishment by guinea pig-ization seems to qualify it as a goody.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazy.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Serial Killer Bedtime Stories: Javed Iqbal
Enjoy tonight's serial killer bedtime story about Javed Iqbal.
On March 16, 2000, a Pakistani court in Lahore sentenced serial child killer Javed Iqbal to death, saying he would be strangled in front of the parents whose children he was convicted of murdering. Judge Allah Baksh Ranja added that Iqbal's body "will then be cut into a 100 pieces and put in acid the same way you killed the children." His three accomplices, including a 13-year-old boy identified only as Sabir, also were found guilty. Sabir was sentenced to 42 years in jail; the other two accomplices were sentenced to death.
Iqbal, 42, initially confessed to the killings in a letter last year to police. He said he strangled the children, dismembered their bodies and placed them in a vat of acid. He later recanted his confession.
Police found the remains of two bodies in a blue vat in his home after his arrest. Police also found pictures of 100 children whom Iqbal in his letter confessed to having killed. They also found clothes belonging to the young victims. Previously, the worst killing in Pakistani history was in mid-1980s when dozens of people were killed in the Punjab, Sindh and North West Frontier provinces in a series of mysterious night attacks that police blamed on a so-called "hammer group." The attackers broke into houses and bludgeoned victims to death with hammers. They were never found.
Parents of missing children were contacted to sort through clothes and pictures to try to identify their missing children. Most were identified, but police did not recover any bodies. The search for Iqbal was one of the largest manhunts in Pakistan. On December 30 Iqbal walked into the Lahore office of a leading newspaper and turned himself in. He refused to go directly to the police, saying he feared for his life. During his trial, the child killer testified that he was only a witness to the killings. He said his earlier confession was sent as a message to the parents of the missing children, whom he accused of neglect.
Iqbal wrote in his letter to the police that he killed the children, who were mostly beggars, in retaliation for the abuse they inflicted on him following a previous arrest when he was accused of sodomy. He claimed he had been wrongly picked up and badly beaten while in police custody. Curiously, and I guess generously, he also claimed to have killed the street children to highlight their plight. During his six-month killing spree, Iqbal kept a detailed account of the murders, listing his victims' names, ages and the dates of their deaths. He also kept their shoes and bundles of their clothing. He also recorded the exact cost of disposing of each kid. "In terms of expense, including the acid, it cost me 120 rupees ($2.40) to erase each victim," he wrote.
A week after his sentencing, a Pakistan's top religious said the planned execution of serial killer Javed Iqbal went against Islamic tenets. Though the sentence of the killer called for his body to be cut into 100 pieces and dissolved in a vat of acid, the Council of Islamic Ideology said that would desecrate the killer's body, which would go against the Islamic teaching of respect for the body of the deceased.
On October 25, 2001, the Iqbal and Sabir were found dead in their cell from apparent poisoning. Their apparent suicides -- as declared by prison authorities -- came just four days after the country's highest Islamic Court had agreed to hear their appeal against the death sentence. Iqbal had voiced fears after his conviction that police would kill him. His lawyer said Iqbal was victim of a police conspiracy. Jail officials said Iqbal had twice made abortive suicide attempts in the past.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
On March 16, 2000, a Pakistani court in Lahore sentenced serial child killer Javed Iqbal to death, saying he would be strangled in front of the parents whose children he was convicted of murdering. Judge Allah Baksh Ranja added that Iqbal's body "will then be cut into a 100 pieces and put in acid the same way you killed the children." His three accomplices, including a 13-year-old boy identified only as Sabir, also were found guilty. Sabir was sentenced to 42 years in jail; the other two accomplices were sentenced to death.
Iqbal, 42, initially confessed to the killings in a letter last year to police. He said he strangled the children, dismembered their bodies and placed them in a vat of acid. He later recanted his confession.
Police found the remains of two bodies in a blue vat in his home after his arrest. Police also found pictures of 100 children whom Iqbal in his letter confessed to having killed. They also found clothes belonging to the young victims. Previously, the worst killing in Pakistani history was in mid-1980s when dozens of people were killed in the Punjab, Sindh and North West Frontier provinces in a series of mysterious night attacks that police blamed on a so-called "hammer group." The attackers broke into houses and bludgeoned victims to death with hammers. They were never found.
Parents of missing children were contacted to sort through clothes and pictures to try to identify their missing children. Most were identified, but police did not recover any bodies. The search for Iqbal was one of the largest manhunts in Pakistan. On December 30 Iqbal walked into the Lahore office of a leading newspaper and turned himself in. He refused to go directly to the police, saying he feared for his life. During his trial, the child killer testified that he was only a witness to the killings. He said his earlier confession was sent as a message to the parents of the missing children, whom he accused of neglect.
Iqbal wrote in his letter to the police that he killed the children, who were mostly beggars, in retaliation for the abuse they inflicted on him following a previous arrest when he was accused of sodomy. He claimed he had been wrongly picked up and badly beaten while in police custody. Curiously, and I guess generously, he also claimed to have killed the street children to highlight their plight. During his six-month killing spree, Iqbal kept a detailed account of the murders, listing his victims' names, ages and the dates of their deaths. He also kept their shoes and bundles of their clothing. He also recorded the exact cost of disposing of each kid. "In terms of expense, including the acid, it cost me 120 rupees ($2.40) to erase each victim," he wrote.
A week after his sentencing, a Pakistan's top religious said the planned execution of serial killer Javed Iqbal went against Islamic tenets. Though the sentence of the killer called for his body to be cut into 100 pieces and dissolved in a vat of acid, the Council of Islamic Ideology said that would desecrate the killer's body, which would go against the Islamic teaching of respect for the body of the deceased.
On October 25, 2001, the Iqbal and Sabir were found dead in their cell from apparent poisoning. Their apparent suicides -- as declared by prison authorities -- came just four days after the country's highest Islamic Court had agreed to hear their appeal against the death sentence. Iqbal had voiced fears after his conviction that police would kill him. His lawyer said Iqbal was victim of a police conspiracy. Jail officials said Iqbal had twice made abortive suicide attempts in the past.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
The Satin Strangler
A female serial killer dubbed the Satin Strangler has been hard at work during the last few months, seducing and strangling as many as 12 men along the east coast of the United States. Here are the details on three of her victims to whet your appetite:
Phillip Stewart was a bartender at the Peachtree Bistro in Atlanta. He disappeared after closing on January 16th. His body was found the next day in a nearby dumpster. Autopsy reports confirmed the cause of death to be asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation. Police have eliminated Stewart’s girlfriend and family members as suspects.
Preston Jones was a real estate agent murdered in Charleston, SC. His wife found his body in their bedroom upon returning from a business trip on February 15th. Multiple dark ligature marks varying in width were visible on the neck. The coroner’s cause of death was asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation.
Grant Leighton, a physical trainer from Atlantic City, was last spotted at 3AM on March 2nd on a Garden State Parkway toll booth surveillance camera. A woman sitting in the darkness of the passenger seat remains unidentified. Two days later, fishermen further north along the Jersey Shore found Leighton’s body bundled inside an industrial sized garbage bag and wedged into an antique traveling trunk. Ligature marks were found on his neck, wrists, and ankles. Both forearms had been broken and both pinkies amputated. The cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation.
Who is the Satin Strangler, and what is the secret to her seductive power? Are there more bodies out there somewhere, and how many more victims will she lure in?
For now there are more questions than answers. We’ll keep watching for news on the Satin Strangler because we’re Crazy 4 Crazies.
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Phillip Stewart was a bartender at the Peachtree Bistro in Atlanta. He disappeared after closing on January 16th. His body was found the next day in a nearby dumpster. Autopsy reports confirmed the cause of death to be asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation. Police have eliminated Stewart’s girlfriend and family members as suspects.
Preston Jones was a real estate agent murdered in Charleston, SC. His wife found his body in their bedroom upon returning from a business trip on February 15th. Multiple dark ligature marks varying in width were visible on the neck. The coroner’s cause of death was asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation.
Grant Leighton, a physical trainer from Atlantic City, was last spotted at 3AM on March 2nd on a Garden State Parkway toll booth surveillance camera. A woman sitting in the darkness of the passenger seat remains unidentified. Two days later, fishermen further north along the Jersey Shore found Leighton’s body bundled inside an industrial sized garbage bag and wedged into an antique traveling trunk. Ligature marks were found on his neck, wrists, and ankles. Both forearms had been broken and both pinkies amputated. The cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation.
Who is the Satin Strangler, and what is the secret to her seductive power? Are there more bodies out there somewhere, and how many more victims will she lure in?
For now there are more questions than answers. We’ll keep watching for news on the Satin Strangler because we’re Crazy 4 Crazies.
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Thursday, May 1, 2008
Serial Killer Bedtime Stories: Pee Wee Gaskins
Out of sleeping pills? Try tonight's serial killer bedtime story about Pee Wee Gaskins.
When he was a young boy Pee Wee watched a cobra eat a live rat at a carnival. According to a later confession he penned, that was the first time he felt attracted to violence. Dubbed America's meanest killer, Pee Wee was always in trouble with the law. He spent most of his youth in and out of reform school and later prison. Because of his pint-size, Pee Wee had to be the "girlfriend" of older, more powerful prisoners. He soon put an end to it by killing a highly regarded inmate while the man was taking a shit, making him a jailhouse legend for the rest of his stay.
In 1969, after being released from prison, Pee Wee got back to killing at an alarming rate. He made a distinction between his "coastal kills," -- people he found while driving around the roadways of the American South that he killed for pleasure -- and his "serious murders," -- people he knew that he killed for specific reasons. Aside from killing, Pee Wee had a thriving business fencing stolen cars. He operated his fencing business out of several properties around the Carolinas. There he also slaughtered many of his prey. His other favorite hunting grounds were the coastal highways, where every six weeks, he went hunting to quell his feelings of "bother-someness."
In the early '80s, Pee Wee was named the "Meanest Man in America" for killing another inmate while in Maximum Security. For his fearless homicidal stunt, Pee Wee was given the death penalty. He was fried on September 6, 1991. His total hits might well have been over two hundred, but law enforcement sources found it impossible to verify all his claims. In the excellent post-mortem auto-biography, "Final Truth," Pee Wee waxed poetic about how he had "a special mind" that gave him "permission to kill."
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
When he was a young boy Pee Wee watched a cobra eat a live rat at a carnival. According to a later confession he penned, that was the first time he felt attracted to violence. Dubbed America's meanest killer, Pee Wee was always in trouble with the law. He spent most of his youth in and out of reform school and later prison. Because of his pint-size, Pee Wee had to be the "girlfriend" of older, more powerful prisoners. He soon put an end to it by killing a highly regarded inmate while the man was taking a shit, making him a jailhouse legend for the rest of his stay.
In 1969, after being released from prison, Pee Wee got back to killing at an alarming rate. He made a distinction between his "coastal kills," -- people he found while driving around the roadways of the American South that he killed for pleasure -- and his "serious murders," -- people he knew that he killed for specific reasons. Aside from killing, Pee Wee had a thriving business fencing stolen cars. He operated his fencing business out of several properties around the Carolinas. There he also slaughtered many of his prey. His other favorite hunting grounds were the coastal highways, where every six weeks, he went hunting to quell his feelings of "bother-someness."
In the early '80s, Pee Wee was named the "Meanest Man in America" for killing another inmate while in Maximum Security. For his fearless homicidal stunt, Pee Wee was given the death penalty. He was fried on September 6, 1991. His total hits might well have been over two hundred, but law enforcement sources found it impossible to verify all his claims. In the excellent post-mortem auto-biography, "Final Truth," Pee Wee waxed poetic about how he had "a special mind" that gave him "permission to kill."
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Serial Killer Bedtime Stories: Luis Alfredo Garavito
Tonight's serial killer bedtime story is about Luis Alfredo Garavito. Buenas noches.
On October 30, 1999, Colombian announced that Luis Alfredo Garavito confessed to raping, torturing and killing 140 children in a five-year killing spree. "Luis Alfredo Garavito has admitted the murder of about 140 children of which we have so far found 114 skeleton," chief prosecutor Alfonso Gomez told a news conference.
Drawing a battered notebook from his pocket, Garavito showed the interrogating judge and psychologist his tally of the killings he claimed during a four-hour confession. Across the pages were 140 lines, each symbolizing one murdered youngster.
The mutilated corpses of the mostly male victims aged between eight and 16 years old have been discovered near more than 60 towns in at least 11 of Colombia's 32 provinces. "The bodies were beheaded and bore signs of having been tied up and mutilated," Gomez said.
The nationwide murder investigation was triggered after 36 decomposing corpses were found near the city of Pereira in 1997. At the time investigators said the children may have been murdered in a black magic ritual. Authorities also considered social cleansing, organ trafficking and pedophilic mayhem as reasons behind the butchery. After an 18-month investigation, Garavito was arrested in the eastern plains city of Villavicencio in April on charges of attempting to rape a child.
Born in Colombia's western coffee-growing region, Gararito was the oldest of seven children. He was repeatedly beaten by his father and raped by two male neighbors. Garavito was also a heavy alcoholic, and was treated for depression and suicidal tendencies. He said he committed most of the murders after heavy drinking.
Garavito had just five years of schooling and left home at 16, working first as a store clerk, then as a street vendor who sold religious icons and prayer cards. Prosecutors said Garavito found most of his victims on the streets, gaining their confidence by giving them soft drinks and money.
Garavito apparently committed his first murder in 1992. Authorities were unaware of the alleged serial killer until 25 bodies were found in the western city of Pereira. The victims -- mostly boys between eight and 16 -- were found with their throats slit. Some showed signs of torture and rape.
The victims were mostly poor. Many of them were children of street vendors or homeless kids. Garavito -- who was known as "Goofy", "El Loco" and "The Priest" -- passed himself off as "a street vendor, monk, indigent, disabled person or a representative of fictitious foundations for the elderly and children's education, in that way gaining entrance to schools as a speaker," Gomez said.
Garavito moved around the country frequently after the killings began in 1994, and also spent time in Ecuador, where investigations are trying to determine whether he might be linked to child slayings there too.
The most killings took place in the western state of Risaralda, and its capital, Pereira. Forty-one bodies have been found in Pereira and another 27 have turned up in neighboring Valle de Cauca.
Previously authorities charged one Pedro Pablo Ramirez with 29 of the slayings. It is unclear whether Ramirez and Garavito are the same person, or if Ramirez was released or is still in custody.
On December 31, 1998, Colombian police arrested Ramirez in connection with the murder of 29 children. The children's bodies - many missing body parts and showing signs of torture - were found in two separate mass graves. The first grave, found on 12 November, was discovered when a boy walking through an overgrown lot saw a skull in the bushes.
Authorities who dug up the lot, found several incomplete skeletons and 13 skulls. The second discovery was made less than a week later in a river-bed below a city highway. Investigators have linked Ramirez -- who had previously been in prison for sex crimes -- to at least three killings in Pereira and possibly three others in the nearby town of Armenia.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain loco 4 locos.
On October 30, 1999, Colombian announced that Luis Alfredo Garavito confessed to raping, torturing and killing 140 children in a five-year killing spree. "Luis Alfredo Garavito has admitted the murder of about 140 children of which we have so far found 114 skeleton," chief prosecutor Alfonso Gomez told a news conference.
Drawing a battered notebook from his pocket, Garavito showed the interrogating judge and psychologist his tally of the killings he claimed during a four-hour confession. Across the pages were 140 lines, each symbolizing one murdered youngster.
The mutilated corpses of the mostly male victims aged between eight and 16 years old have been discovered near more than 60 towns in at least 11 of Colombia's 32 provinces. "The bodies were beheaded and bore signs of having been tied up and mutilated," Gomez said.
The nationwide murder investigation was triggered after 36 decomposing corpses were found near the city of Pereira in 1997. At the time investigators said the children may have been murdered in a black magic ritual. Authorities also considered social cleansing, organ trafficking and pedophilic mayhem as reasons behind the butchery. After an 18-month investigation, Garavito was arrested in the eastern plains city of Villavicencio in April on charges of attempting to rape a child.
Born in Colombia's western coffee-growing region, Gararito was the oldest of seven children. He was repeatedly beaten by his father and raped by two male neighbors. Garavito was also a heavy alcoholic, and was treated for depression and suicidal tendencies. He said he committed most of the murders after heavy drinking.
Garavito had just five years of schooling and left home at 16, working first as a store clerk, then as a street vendor who sold religious icons and prayer cards. Prosecutors said Garavito found most of his victims on the streets, gaining their confidence by giving them soft drinks and money.
Garavito apparently committed his first murder in 1992. Authorities were unaware of the alleged serial killer until 25 bodies were found in the western city of Pereira. The victims -- mostly boys between eight and 16 -- were found with their throats slit. Some showed signs of torture and rape.
The victims were mostly poor. Many of them were children of street vendors or homeless kids. Garavito -- who was known as "Goofy", "El Loco" and "The Priest" -- passed himself off as "a street vendor, monk, indigent, disabled person or a representative of fictitious foundations for the elderly and children's education, in that way gaining entrance to schools as a speaker," Gomez said.
Garavito moved around the country frequently after the killings began in 1994, and also spent time in Ecuador, where investigations are trying to determine whether he might be linked to child slayings there too.
The most killings took place in the western state of Risaralda, and its capital, Pereira. Forty-one bodies have been found in Pereira and another 27 have turned up in neighboring Valle de Cauca.
Previously authorities charged one Pedro Pablo Ramirez with 29 of the slayings. It is unclear whether Ramirez and Garavito are the same person, or if Ramirez was released or is still in custody.
On December 31, 1998, Colombian police arrested Ramirez in connection with the murder of 29 children. The children's bodies - many missing body parts and showing signs of torture - were found in two separate mass graves. The first grave, found on 12 November, was discovered when a boy walking through an overgrown lot saw a skull in the bushes.
Authorities who dug up the lot, found several incomplete skeletons and 13 skulls. The second discovery was made less than a week later in a river-bed below a city highway. Investigators have linked Ramirez -- who had previously been in prison for sex crimes -- to at least three killings in Pereira and possibly three others in the nearby town of Armenia.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain loco 4 locos.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Serial Killer Bedtime Stories: Gilles de Rais
Here's out latest serial killer bedtime story to help you go beddy bye.
A Fifteenth Century French war hero, Gilles de Rais was also one of medieval Europe's worst killers. An ally of Joan of Arc during the Hundred Year War, de Rais was instrumental in driving the English out of France. In his later years, after he was named Marshal of France by King Charles VII, he settled in his estates in Brittany, where he turned his heroic impulses towards torture and murder. He enjoyed killing mostly young boys, whom he would sodomize before and after decapitation. When he wasn't feeling up to the task he enjoyed watching his servants butcher the boys and masturbated over their entrails.
Because he was a baron, no one took note of the disappearing children around his castle. A great patron of the arts, Gilles also enjoyed practicing black magic and alchemy. His reign of terror came to an end when the Duke of Brittany dug up the mutilated remains of 50 boys in his castle. He confessed to 140 killings but it is believed that the body count could have been as high as 300. On October 26, 1440, Gilles was simultaneously burned and hanged. His two servant accomplices were simply burned alive.
Sweet dreams, and forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
A Fifteenth Century French war hero, Gilles de Rais was also one of medieval Europe's worst killers. An ally of Joan of Arc during the Hundred Year War, de Rais was instrumental in driving the English out of France. In his later years, after he was named Marshal of France by King Charles VII, he settled in his estates in Brittany, where he turned his heroic impulses towards torture and murder. He enjoyed killing mostly young boys, whom he would sodomize before and after decapitation. When he wasn't feeling up to the task he enjoyed watching his servants butcher the boys and masturbated over their entrails.
Because he was a baron, no one took note of the disappearing children around his castle. A great patron of the arts, Gilles also enjoyed practicing black magic and alchemy. His reign of terror came to an end when the Duke of Brittany dug up the mutilated remains of 50 boys in his castle. He confessed to 140 killings but it is believed that the body count could have been as high as 300. On October 26, 1440, Gilles was simultaneously burned and hanged. His two servant accomplices were simply burned alive.
Sweet dreams, and forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
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