Has anyine heard of Tommy Lynn Sells? He finally got caught but what he did to a Illinois family to me is chilling. Wiped out the whole family. Husband, wife, son, and the wife was pregnant with a daughter. Gave me nightmares.
November 17, 1987
Ina, Illinois
The Dardeen family was brutally killed November 17th, 1987 in Ina, Illinois.
Elaine Dardeen and her 3-year-old son Peter were found beaten to death in their trailer.
Elaine was seven months pregnant and gave birth to a baby during the attack. The killer beat the newborn to death too.
Keith Dardeen was found a day later in a nearby field, shot and sexually mutilated.
In 2000, serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells confessed to the crime, but will likely never be tried because he's already on death row.
I like to think the fascination for me is the alien nature of these freaks. My mind cannot get around the concept of killing for pleasure.
I also think timing beyond slow news days factor into the fame aspect. owell in leveland will soon be forgotten. No one knew they had a killer until he was captured. Pig farmer gut, Pickington (?) had a hot heavy manhunt underway before he was caught. Manson well the audacity of the crime was an advertisement for his existence. They are all caught after the fact, of course but I think if there is public knowledge of their presence the get a pre-fame lead.
Oh and the spiffy knicknames help. My favorite is Ed Kempher because he "quit" not hugely famous known as the "co-ed killer" as a few others were known. Kempher is way under rated as seriel killers go but maybe also to a degree that his hideous mother made him a bit inderstandable.
This is such an interesting thread! We have had more than a few in Britain. Dennis Nillson, Fred and Rose West, the Yorkshire Ripper, Harold Shipman, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. They fascinate me because they are so awful and evil and yet manage to go undetected for so long.
When I was about 8 a prisoner escaped near to where I lived and killed a family in their home a couple of miles from where we lived. It was in February and there was snow everywhere, it had been a really bad winter which is why the Family wasn't missed straight away as they lived in a rural area and the roads were bad. He was called William Hughes and was known as the Moors Murderer. I sometimes wonder if that's what set me off being interested in all this stuff. It was a scary time as they were looking for him for about a week.
I have to say though I feel no sympathy with these killers and do not understand people who write to them and stuff. As interesting as they are in a twisted mind sort of way I would be happier if they were never around in the first place.
Sells fatally stabbed 13-year-old Kaylene 'Katy' Harris 16 times and slit the throat of 10-year-old Krystal Surles. Krystal survived.
Krystal tells her story:
Video
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...in;contentBody
Article
A 10-Year-Old Girl's Story of Survival and How she Brought a Serial Killer to Justice
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...gmentUtilities
I did a search and didn't find this. This isn't new but... Some of them are so funny.
Bill Geerhart (a grown ass man and pop-culture historian) posed as a little kid and wrote to Charles Manson, the Unabomber, Richard Ramirez and other killers; as well as nonmurderous celebrities like Larry Flynt, Alan Greenspan, Dick Cheney (well, allegedly nonmurderous), Clarence Thomas, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, asking for advice on tough topics like dropping out of school and saving up for a speedboat. Radar Magazine posted their correspondence.
Richard Ramirez even had his own stationary!
This is one to the Governator-
Letters
Crazyyyyy
Okay, these are hilarious. I still am pondering the picture that Manson enclosed with his letter - what the hell?
I think many factors contribute...it's not an exact science.
Children have been abused by their parents since the beginning of time. Not all turned out to be mass murderers or serial killers. Everyone has a choice in life.
I don't know if this guy would qualify as a serial killer, but I definitely think he would have been if he hadn't been caught- Oba Chandler. He is on death row in Florida for luring a woman and her two teenage daughters out for a sunset cruise on his boat, taking them out in the bay where he then binds their wrists and ankles, duct tapes their mouths, rapes them, ties a rope around their necks with a concrete block attached, and one by one throws them overboard alive! They were tourists from Ohio who had never been on vacation before and he had written down directions for them at a convenient store after they took a wrong exit and couldn't find their motel. He was nice to them and they trusted him. He took advantage of their trust and invited them out on his boat later that evening, where he then raped and murdered them. This happened on June 1, 1989 and of course the worthless bastard is still alive on death row. I don't know how to do links, but if you google his name there are tons of stories about him. It is a very interesting story because it took several years to arrest and convict him. Of all of the crimes I have followed over the years, this one has stayed with me and stuck in my mind. It is a crime that I cannot comprehend. To me, it stands out as the worst crime I have ever heard of. It was totally senseless and unbelievably cruel. I cannot wrap my mind around how a person could do this to another person and it haunts me. What a terrifying and cruel way to die. This bastard needs to be executed soon!
I didn't see a thread on this...If one exists, please forgive me...
The Atlanta Child Murders, known locally as the "missing and murdered children case", were a series of murders committed in Atlanta, Georgia, United States from the summer of 1979 until the spring of 1981. Over the two-year period, a minimum of twenty-eight African-American children, adolescents and adults were killed. The subject was documented in James Baldwin's nonfiction book, The Evidence of Things Not Seen. Atlanta native Wayne Bertram Williams, also African American and 23 years old at the time of the last murder, was arrested for and convicted of two of the murders.
The Murders
In the spring of 1979, Edward Smith (14) and Alfred Evans (14) disappeared two days apart; both their bodies were found on July 28. Their confirmed deaths were the beginning of the series of murders believed to be committed by the Atlanta Child Killer, as the perpetrator was called. The next murder victim, Milton Harvey (who was 14 years old), disappeared on September 4, 1979, while traveling to the bank to pay a credit card bill for his mother. His body was later recovered.
Yusef Bell went to the store to buy snuff for a neighbor. A witness said she saw Yusef getting into a blue car before he disappeared. His body was not found for months. The police did not at first link his disappearance to the previous killings.
The next victim, 12-year-old Angel Lenair, was the first female victim of the Atlanta child killer. Within the next two weeks, Jeffery Mathis and Eric Middlebrooks also disappeared.
On June 9, Chris Richardson went missing on his way to a local pool. On June 22 and June 23, 7-year-old Latonya Wilson and 10-year-old Aaron Wyche went missing. The extended wave of disappearances and murders panicked parents and children in the city, and the government, led by an African-American mayor, struggled to ensure the safety of children. Nonetheless, apparently linked murders continued.
Two murders of children Anthony Carter and Earl Terell occurred in July 1980.
Between August and November 1980, five more killings took place. There were no known victims during the month of December. All the victims had been African-American children between the ages of nine and fourteen; most had been asphyxiated.
The murders continued into 1981. The first known victim in the new year was Lubie Geter, who disappeared on January 3. Geter's body was found in February. Geter's friend Terry Pue also went missing in January. An anonymous caller told the police where to find his body.[1]
In February were two murders believed linked to the others. In March four Atlanta linked murders took place, including that of Eddie Duncan, the first adult victim.
In April Larry Rogers was murdered, as well as adult ex-convict John Porter and adolescent Jimmy Ray Payne.
After William Barrett went missing on May 16, 1981, his body was found close to his home. The Atlanta Child Killer's last known victim was Nathaniel Cater, 27 years old.
The police and FBI investigation created a map of the victims' locations. Despite the difference in ages, the victims fell with the same geographic parameters. They were connected to Memorial Drive and 11 major streets in the area.
Its been discussed in various other threads but never had its own home.
Many people believe Wayne Williams is innocent or only a minor participant in the killings.
There are many conspiricy theories out there saying the KKK did this or it was a CIA mind control program designed to inflict terror.
Interesting case.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
One of the FBI profilers who worked the case has said he believed there were not one but two serial killers working that area at the same time.
After his conviction for the two murders, the police department declared that all the cases were solved even though there were murders after Williams was caught. There was outrage at the time but the Atlanta police seemed to just want to wrap up the investigation.
I remember people wearing green ribbons in remembrance of the victims.
the jim belushi movie on this case is a great movie~ good enough for me to search & find & buy the magazine that ran the story that the movie was based on~
there was alot to point away from wayne williams, enough to put me on the fence about his guilt~
Here's a bit on the Atlanta Child Murders tv movie that came out in 1985. It scared the shit out of me as a youngling...as did "Adam"...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088750/
I would like to add that Rip Torn starred in this...
Just saw his volkswagon on display at the Crime Museum in DC.
Saw a paint kit that belonged to John Wayne Gacy at the Crime Museum in DC
I just wanted to say that the handcuffs used as "ropes" are really a nice touch.
Whoa, I never knew about the cotton in the rectum. Wow.
Anyone ever check out the TV flick, "The Deliberate Stranger?" It was about Bundy.
http://www.amazon.com/Deliberate-Str.../dp/B00347AIOO
Someone in this thread commented that there aren't many black serial killers. I can think of two. Derrick Todd Lee, who I believe was from Louisiana, and killed white women and Maury Travis (can't remember where he was from) who killed black prostitutes. I didn't know if anyone on here had ever heard of them before.
Yes, Jack-O-Lantern I forgot about them, and their crimes weren't really that long ago. People who are evil enough to murder total strangers for no reason scare the crap out of me! At least we don't have to worry about John Allen Muhammed(sp?) ever hurting anyone else again. I'm sure he is roasting in hell as we speak!
Fantastic, Seagorath! They could be brothers...
I loved that movie, but I think Mark Harmon was a wee bit too good. When he would do those crazy Ted eyes, I would think maybe the wrong Ted got the chair! My mom can't watch NCIS for the same reason, and it pisses my dad off b/c NCIS is his fave show, and he wants her to watch it with him. It pisses him off more when my mom will tell him Mark only took the NCIS role to throw off the people that know he's a serial killer, lol!!!
Ann Rule talks about this a little in one of the revised editions of "The Stranger Beside Me". She said she occassionally gets letters from women who have seen that version of Ted's story and they say they are in love with Ted and that he should have not died, etc. She always tells them that they are in love with Mark Harmon and not Ted Bundy.
On a side note, Mark Harmon is still quite studly =]
Me too =D
This guy is like a case study in antisocial personality disorder...I think he was actually in one of my casebooks when I studied the disorder as an under grad...The interesting thing about him is that he break the barrier, we all think of someone dangerous as being some poor, ignorant, deshevled person and here you had someone clean cut, seemingly educated and well respected in the community who was a complete wack job...Goes to show you crazy knows no bounds...On a scary note, a lot of his victims looked like me ...I guess if he were around and I were to do a victimology...I'd be scared...
Anyone ever saw some video from a movie posted on youtube where they reenact when they were getting him ready for the chair and they have to put cotton balls up his butt? That made me sick...Just thought Id share...
Last edited by GuiltyLittleDeathHag; 04-25-2010 at 06:04 PM. Reason: forgot something
Does anyone remember the NCIS episode where Gibbs's (Mark Harmon's) cell phone keeps ringing and it is a wrong number? He kept getting phone calls asking if he is selling a VW? They all kind of look at each other and giggle- I'm assuming a Ted Bundy inside joke. I hope so- I died laughing every time his phone rang and he kept saying "NO! I don't have a Voltswagen for sale!" -but my family didn't get it!
Here is a story about a black serial killer in Charlotte NC. I remember when all this was going on.
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s...preface_1.html
Cotton balls? Why?
Just a guess here but maybe the shock from the chair makes stuff spew out...ewwww and eeeek...I never knew they did that either until I saw that clip, it was disturbing but I will have to try and hunt it down sometime...Old Ted there didn't seem to happy about it either, at least not as they depicted it...an almost fitting ending...
Wikipedia says that the cotton ball practice had ended by the time Ted was executed.
For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
What's so good about goodbye, when the best was yet to come?