On Thursday the National Museum of Crime & Punishment held an unveiling ceremony for Ted Bundy's Beetle, the car into which he lured his victims and in which he killed many of them during a vintage serial killing spree in the 1970s.
"This was kind of like a death wagon," said Wyndell C. Watkins Sr., a retired D.C. police deputy chief, who was on hand to help introduce the latest iconic celebrity murder object joining Washington's museum collections.
The car has been stored in a private collection owned by New York-based Arthur Nash, who owns many of the most grisly objects on display in the museum's main exhibition. Also from the Nash collection: clown and serial killer John Wayne Gacy's painter's box, on display in a room dealing with other delightful "murderabilia."
Bundy's VW replaces the 1933 Essex-Terraplane car used as a getaway vehicle by John Dillinger. With Dillinger's car shipped off to the Southwest terminal of Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport, where it will help present the capital region's best face to visitors, the crime museum needed a marquee object to grace its front lobby.
Of all of the notorious cars in the world -- the white Ford Bronco that O.J. Simpson rode in, the D.C. snipers' shabby Chevy Caprice retrofitted with gun placements -- Bundy's Bug may be the most notorious because it was so intimately connected to its owner's crimes. "Bundy killed in this car" is what you're supposed to feel when looking at something that was not just a tool, but a container for death. Yes, I have chills all over just thinking about it.
Compared with the D.C. snipers' car, on display at the Newseum, Bundy's VW has the edge of authenticity. The snipers' car is a mock-up, used at trial, not the actual vehicle from which John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo hunted their victims.
The Bundy car, with a brittle and faded 1976 Utah vehicle inspection sticker (No. 264924) still stuck to its dirty and cracked windshield, was not just the site of murder, but part of the strange, all-American charm and innocence that helped Bundy coerce women to get fatally close to him. It was advertising for a man who made himself an avatar of a free and unfettered age.
Maybe it's time for a visit to Washington. This stuff is the Holy Grail for those of us who are Crazy 4 Crazy.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Serial Killer Bedtime Stories: Dean Corll
Tonight's bedtime story is about Dean Corll.
Born on Christmas Eve, 1939, this Texan maniac enjoyed killing young boys in the comfort of his own home. Friendly Dean would invite kids into his house to sniff glue and then, when they passed out, he would slip on the handcuffs and party in their butts all night long before snapping their life away. Not the shy type, Dean enjoyed biting his victim's dicks off and kept a collection of them in a bag. In August 1973, one of his teen-aged helpers, Elmer Wayne Henley, shot and killed the portly psychopath after saying he would help him snatch more youngsters. Police found seventeen bodies under the floor of a boat house Dean rented as well as the bag full of severed genitalia.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
Born on Christmas Eve, 1939, this Texan maniac enjoyed killing young boys in the comfort of his own home. Friendly Dean would invite kids into his house to sniff glue and then, when they passed out, he would slip on the handcuffs and party in their butts all night long before snapping their life away. Not the shy type, Dean enjoyed biting his victim's dicks off and kept a collection of them in a bag. In August 1973, one of his teen-aged helpers, Elmer Wayne Henley, shot and killed the portly psychopath after saying he would help him snatch more youngsters. Police found seventeen bodies under the floor of a boat house Dean rented as well as the bag full of severed genitalia.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Serial Killer Bedtime Stories: Roger Andermatt
Happy New Year!
There once was a serial killer named Roger Andermatt . . .
On September 11, 2001, 32-year-old Swiss nurse, claiming he acted out of compassion, confessed to killing 27 elderly and ailing patients over a six-year period. The nurse, identified as Roger Andermatt, was arrested at the end of June after a suspicious death in a nursing home. He subsequently admitted killing nine patients there. Suspecting the toll might be higher, police launched a full investigation into mysterious deaths in other homes where Andermatt worked. Under interrogation, Andermatt confessed to 18 other killings, including 12 in a home for invalids in the central Swiss town of Sarnen.
If the death toll is confirmed, Andermatt will become Switzerland's worst serial killer. Andermatt allegedly gave his victims an overdose of tranquilizers or smothered them with a folded plastic bag or a small piece of cloth over the mouth and nose. In some instances, the nurse claimed he first sedated the patients before suffocating them.
Andermatt insisted his motives were "sympathy, compassion and a desire to end the suffering of the patient." But he also confessed that in some cases he was simply overwhelmed by the stress of work. The government in Obwalden, the small state where Andermatt lived and where many of the murders took place, said it was in shock. "The government regards it as tragic that such a crime could happen in such well-known and trusted surroundings," it said.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
There once was a serial killer named Roger Andermatt . . .
On September 11, 2001, 32-year-old Swiss nurse, claiming he acted out of compassion, confessed to killing 27 elderly and ailing patients over a six-year period. The nurse, identified as Roger Andermatt, was arrested at the end of June after a suspicious death in a nursing home. He subsequently admitted killing nine patients there. Suspecting the toll might be higher, police launched a full investigation into mysterious deaths in other homes where Andermatt worked. Under interrogation, Andermatt confessed to 18 other killings, including 12 in a home for invalids in the central Swiss town of Sarnen.
If the death toll is confirmed, Andermatt will become Switzerland's worst serial killer. Andermatt allegedly gave his victims an overdose of tranquilizers or smothered them with a folded plastic bag or a small piece of cloth over the mouth and nose. In some instances, the nurse claimed he first sedated the patients before suffocating them.
Andermatt insisted his motives were "sympathy, compassion and a desire to end the suffering of the patient." But he also confessed that in some cases he was simply overwhelmed by the stress of work. The government in Obwalden, the small state where Andermatt lived and where many of the murders took place, said it was in shock. "The government regards it as tragic that such a crime could happen in such well-known and trusted surroundings," it said.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Serial Killer Bedtime Stories: Fritz Haarmann
Tonight's serial killer bedtime story about Fritz Haarmann might make you think twice before riding the train.
Born in 1879, this perverted German pederast and his lover, Hans Grans, stalked the train stations of post-WWI Hannover searching for young boys. Always the enterprising killers, they would sell the flesh and clothing of their victims for fun and profit. Their deadly trade was first discovered in 1924 when bones from twenty-seven bodies were dredged out of the Leine River. A coat from one of the missing boys was traced back to the murderous love birds. Once in custody, Fritz started confessing. Haarmann enjoyed the attention he received during the trial and boasted of having killed up to forty people. He was decapitated on April 15, 1925. His lover Grans, who was not involved in the killings, received a twelve year sentence for selling stolen merchandise.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
Born in 1879, this perverted German pederast and his lover, Hans Grans, stalked the train stations of post-WWI Hannover searching for young boys. Always the enterprising killers, they would sell the flesh and clothing of their victims for fun and profit. Their deadly trade was first discovered in 1924 when bones from twenty-seven bodies were dredged out of the Leine River. A coat from one of the missing boys was traced back to the murderous love birds. Once in custody, Fritz started confessing. Haarmann enjoyed the attention he received during the trial and boasted of having killed up to forty people. He was decapitated on April 15, 1925. His lover Grans, who was not involved in the killings, received a twelve year sentence for selling stolen merchandise.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Join Me in Beautiful Sea View
I have become an enormous fan of the Satin Strangler, and am finally planning a pilgrimage to Sea View, NJ. As with any trip, I researched the location to learn about the biggest tourist attractions. It came as no surprise when I stumbled across this ad last night on the Sea View Chamber of Congress website:
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Visit the historic beach town of Sea View, selected by Time magazine as one of America’s Safest Cities. Come see:
The boardwalk where the Satin Strangler stalked her victims
The streets where the police hunt took place
The Oceanview Motel where she was captured
The boutique where she bought her stockings
The police station where she was arrested
The courtroom where she was arraigned
The most beautiful beach in New Jersey
Experience it all by foot, bicycle, or horse-drawn carriage
Ocean vista tours by day
Murder re-enactment tours at night (adults only please)
Sponsored by Mayor Winston Mayfield and the Sea View Chamber of Commerce
It pleases me to know that Sea View is embracing this tourism opportunity, rather than shunning it. Serial murder is not only a favorite pastime of numerous Crazy 4 Crazies, but it is also a successful industry, maybe the only one that can revive a dead little town like Sea View.-----
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
Serial Killer Fun for Kids of All Ages
Tired of buying Barbies, American Girls, and Polly Pockets? Want to give your kids something a little different for their next birthday or holiday? Here are a couple of ideas that even I think might perhaps be over the top. Well, maybe just a little. Perhaps.
The Peek-a-boo Jeffrey Dahmer Slayset
This Jeffrey Dahmer doll is made by Demented Dollz company and sold complete with dismembered victims, toothpicks, and a handy dandy hazardous waste disposal tin (never know when you’re going to need one). Zip open Jeffrey’s orange prison jump suit to reveal Cleotus, an anonymous dismembered victim who can be removed from Dahmer’s stomach and reattached. The quote on the package says “Open me up for a sure delight, and see who I ate for dinner last night.” Yum.
The hazardous waste disposable tin is loaded with body parts, some skewered with toothpicks, and others that glow in the dark. “Body parts vary from set to set depending on morgue availability.”
It’s “a 2 foot tall cannibal collector’s dream.”
Satin Strangler Seduction and Destruction Doll
Move over American Girls. Here comes a doll like no other that you’ve seen before. It’s your own actual size Destiny Blande, complete with an assortment of stockings, veils, and scarves, plus a bonus knife holster garter belt for good measure.
Pull the string in her back and she talks to you. What will she say? “Let’s go someplace where we can be alone . . . Let’s tie each other up, okay? You first . . . I’ll take your breath away.”
Other accessories are sold separately. Who wouldn’t want the Satin Strangler’s favorite traveling trunk? Wrap your other dolls in her satin stockings and put them inside. See how long it takes your police dolls to find them.
If you’re Crazy 4 Crazies, hurry and get these two dolls and add them to your Serial Killer collection. Limited production has made them a rare find and immediate collectors’ items.
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This is post #68 in The Satin Strangler Blogs (TSSB).
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See links to all 105 posts in TSSB.
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The Peek-a-boo Jeffrey Dahmer Slayset
This Jeffrey Dahmer doll is made by Demented Dollz company and sold complete with dismembered victims, toothpicks, and a handy dandy hazardous waste disposal tin (never know when you’re going to need one). Zip open Jeffrey’s orange prison jump suit to reveal Cleotus, an anonymous dismembered victim who can be removed from Dahmer’s stomach and reattached. The quote on the package says “Open me up for a sure delight, and see who I ate for dinner last night.” Yum.
The hazardous waste disposable tin is loaded with body parts, some skewered with toothpicks, and others that glow in the dark. “Body parts vary from set to set depending on morgue availability.”
It’s “a 2 foot tall cannibal collector’s dream.”
Satin Strangler Seduction and Destruction Doll
Move over American Girls. Here comes a doll like no other that you’ve seen before. It’s your own actual size Destiny Blande, complete with an assortment of stockings, veils, and scarves, plus a bonus knife holster garter belt for good measure.
Pull the string in her back and she talks to you. What will she say? “Let’s go someplace where we can be alone . . . Let’s tie each other up, okay? You first . . . I’ll take your breath away.”
Other accessories are sold separately. Who wouldn’t want the Satin Strangler’s favorite traveling trunk? Wrap your other dolls in her satin stockings and put them inside. See how long it takes your police dolls to find them.
If you’re Crazy 4 Crazies, hurry and get these two dolls and add them to your Serial Killer collection. Limited production has made them a rare find and immediate collectors’ items.
-----
This is post #68 in The Satin Strangler Blogs (TSSB).
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Start TSSB from the first blog post.
See links to all 105 posts in TSSB.
“Like” TSSB on Facebook.
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Sunday, November 1, 2009
Serial Killer Bedtime Stories: Wayne Williams
Tonight's bedtime story is about Wayne Williams.
Suspected of being the Atlanta Child Murderer, Wayne killed mostly young, black boys and dumped their bodies in the Chattahoochee River. He was caught when he departed from his modus operandi and smoked a couple of adults. When he was arrested Wayne was described as the "Pillsbury Doughboy." Unlike many other serial killers, he was soft-spoken, mild-mannered and friendly.
His thick glasses, soft features and delicate hands made him an unlikely candidate for comitting 28 murders. Many black leaders characterized his arrest as being racial in nature. However, as his trial progressed, Wayne emerged as a person emotionally capable of murder with an "inadequate personality" and an "obsessive need for control." Though at first he presented himself as an innocent victim of circumstance who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, when FBI agents searched the home he shared with his retired-schoolteacher parents, they found books on how to cheat polygraph tests as well as the crucial fiber evidence that eventually linked him to 12 murders.
After his arrest the killings ceased for a period, or so did police say. Some police say evidence against him was flawed and believe the case should be reopened. Williams' lawyer claimed a Klansman named Charles Sanders confessed to the police that he helped the KKK kidnap and murder 21 black children. Allegedly, this evidence was suppressed to avoid a race war.
John Douglas, the FBI agent whose profile led to Wayne's arrest, believes he was probably one of four killers active in the area. Douglas believes that evidence links Williams to at most 12 murders. According to the retired Federal agent, there are still black children being murdered in Atlanta and local authorities -- scared of what they might uncover -- are trying to keep a lid on it.
On June 5, 1998, two investigators of the widely publicized Atlanta missing and murdered children cases said again they believe convicted killer Wayne Williams is innocent. DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey and Fulton County Police Chief Louis Graham, both Atlanta police homicide investigators at the time the rash of killings occurred in the early 1980s, made the assertions on "Dateline NBC." The state has also introduced evidence of 10 other murders, for which Williams was never indicted. Police ultimately blamed him for 24 deaths.
Williams was convicted of murder in the deaths of Nathaniel Cater, 27, and Jimmy Ray Payne 21, two of 29 young Atlanta blacks murdered between 1979 and 1981. Williams was convicted of two of the homicides, but 22 others were closed after his conviction; five cases remain open.
After the conviction, authorities blamed Williams, who is black, for 22 other slayings but never charged him. Five of the 29 murders investigated by a special police task force remain officially open. The 41-year-old freelance photographer and talent scout was convicted in 1982 and sentenced to two life terms.
Williams became a suspect in the string of murders in May 1981 when police staking out a bridge over the Chattahoochee River -- where some of the victims' bodies had been found -- heard a splash and stopped Williams as he drove away. Two days later, the body of Cater was found downstream.
The main prosecution evidence against Williams was tiny fibers found on the bodies and matched to rugs and other fabrics in the home and cars of Williams' parents. His attorney said he is pushing for DNA testing to set him free after 18 years in prison. Lawyer Lynn Whatley said he is trying to raise the money to have tests--using advances in the science--conducted on hair and blood that linked Williams to two murders.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
Suspected of being the Atlanta Child Murderer, Wayne killed mostly young, black boys and dumped their bodies in the Chattahoochee River. He was caught when he departed from his modus operandi and smoked a couple of adults. When he was arrested Wayne was described as the "Pillsbury Doughboy." Unlike many other serial killers, he was soft-spoken, mild-mannered and friendly.
His thick glasses, soft features and delicate hands made him an unlikely candidate for comitting 28 murders. Many black leaders characterized his arrest as being racial in nature. However, as his trial progressed, Wayne emerged as a person emotionally capable of murder with an "inadequate personality" and an "obsessive need for control." Though at first he presented himself as an innocent victim of circumstance who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, when FBI agents searched the home he shared with his retired-schoolteacher parents, they found books on how to cheat polygraph tests as well as the crucial fiber evidence that eventually linked him to 12 murders.
After his arrest the killings ceased for a period, or so did police say. Some police say evidence against him was flawed and believe the case should be reopened. Williams' lawyer claimed a Klansman named Charles Sanders confessed to the police that he helped the KKK kidnap and murder 21 black children. Allegedly, this evidence was suppressed to avoid a race war.
John Douglas, the FBI agent whose profile led to Wayne's arrest, believes he was probably one of four killers active in the area. Douglas believes that evidence links Williams to at most 12 murders. According to the retired Federal agent, there are still black children being murdered in Atlanta and local authorities -- scared of what they might uncover -- are trying to keep a lid on it.
On June 5, 1998, two investigators of the widely publicized Atlanta missing and murdered children cases said again they believe convicted killer Wayne Williams is innocent. DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey and Fulton County Police Chief Louis Graham, both Atlanta police homicide investigators at the time the rash of killings occurred in the early 1980s, made the assertions on "Dateline NBC." The state has also introduced evidence of 10 other murders, for which Williams was never indicted. Police ultimately blamed him for 24 deaths.
Williams was convicted of murder in the deaths of Nathaniel Cater, 27, and Jimmy Ray Payne 21, two of 29 young Atlanta blacks murdered between 1979 and 1981. Williams was convicted of two of the homicides, but 22 others were closed after his conviction; five cases remain open.
After the conviction, authorities blamed Williams, who is black, for 22 other slayings but never charged him. Five of the 29 murders investigated by a special police task force remain officially open. The 41-year-old freelance photographer and talent scout was convicted in 1982 and sentenced to two life terms.
Williams became a suspect in the string of murders in May 1981 when police staking out a bridge over the Chattahoochee River -- where some of the victims' bodies had been found -- heard a splash and stopped Williams as he drove away. Two days later, the body of Cater was found downstream.
The main prosecution evidence against Williams was tiny fibers found on the bodies and matched to rugs and other fabrics in the home and cars of Williams' parents. His attorney said he is pushing for DNA testing to set him free after 18 years in prison. Lawyer Lynn Whatley said he is trying to raise the money to have tests--using advances in the science--conducted on hair and blood that linked Williams to two murders.
Sweet dreams, and may you forever remain Crazy 4 Crazies.
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