The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers (82 page)

like CHARLES MANSON,” with his matted hair and scene.

beard, but they found him competent for trial. Sells Sells left Texas for Oklahoma on July 3, 1999. Two proved a model inmate at a rural prison camp and was days later, he met 14-year-old Bobbie Lynn Wofford in released in January 1991.

Kingfisher, shooting her to death when she resisted As told by Sells, his next rampage began on Decem-rape. Sells stole her earrings and kept drifting, circling ber 9, 1991, when he invaded the Marianna, Florida, back to Del Rio in time for Christmas. On December home of 28-year-old Teresa Hall. Sells ransacked the 31, 1999, he invaded the Guajia Bay home of Terry house, smashing a table and using one of its legs to and Crystal Harris, acquaintances Sells met through fatally bludgeon Hall and her five-year-old daughter his employer. Creeping through the house with a knife, Tiffany. Drifting to Charleston, South Carolina, Sells Sells murdered 13-year-old Kaylene Harris and left 10-was arrested twice for public drunkenness in March year-old Krystal Surles for dead with her throat and April 1992. On May 13, in Charleston, West Vir-slashed. Almost miraculously, Surles survived to iden-ginia, a 20-year-old woman found Sells begging on the tify Sells, and he was arrested at home on January 2, street and took him home. He raped, beat, and stabbed 2000. He agreed to a search of his home, revealing her, then looted the house, but his victim survived to bloody clothes and the 12-inch boning knife used in his summon police. Arrested on the strength of her descrip-latest crime. A short time later, Sells began his tion, Sells was convicted of malicious wounding on marathon confession, after remarking to Lieutenant June 25, 1993, receiving a sentence of two to 10 years Larry Pope, “I suppose you want me to tell you about in prison. Authorities released him in May 1997.

the other one.”

236

“SERIAL Murder”

In the wake of those confessions, Texas Rangers

“SERIAL Murder”:
Defined

flew Sells across country in a bid to clear outstanding Throughout most of human history, serial murder—

cases. The effort mimicked tours with HENRY LEE

that is, the consecutive killing of victims
in series
—was LUCAS, almost 20 years earlier, but it failed to produce simply regarded and labeled as a form of “MASS MUR-the same results. In Little Rock, police had no record of DER.” Only since the late 1950s have criminologists a 1982 murder at the house Sells pointed out, but made a concerted effort to distinguish between different investigators learned that the tenant had played dead types of multiple murder, recognizing (however belat-after Sells fired a clumsy shot and missed him. Pulaski edly) that there may be method to the madness, as well County officers refused to look for the woman Sells as madness in the method.
How
a killer chooses, stalks claimed to have killed in 1982, complaining that a and slays his victim may, in fact, help us determine
why
search of flooded quarries was too costly. At Twin he kills. To that end if for no other reason, concise defi-Falls, Idaho, Sells could not find the spot where he nitions are critical. Sadly, they are also hard to come by allegedly murdered another woman in 1997, afterward in a field where egos often count for more than under-hacking her body apart with an ax and dropping it in standing and needless debate over trivia serves to com-the Snake River. In Nevada, Sells spoke to Win-pound, rather than eliminate, confusion.

nemucca’s sheriff and FBI agents about Stephanie Criminologist James Reinhardt took the first major Stroh, but her remains were not found.

step toward disentangling serial murder from other types Back in Texas, defense attorney Victor Garcia ques-of multicide in 1957 when he coined the phrase “chain tioned his client’s sanity, but Judge George Thurmond killers” in his book
Sex Perversions and Sex Crimes.
Sim-found Sells competent for trial on June 23, 2000. On ply stated, Reinhardt’s chain killers were those who left a September 12, Sells pleaded guilty to attempted murder

“chain” of victims behind them, slaughtered over time, in the case of Krystal Surles, while paradoxically plead-and he went on to provide more examples five years later ing not guilty in the death of Kaylene Harris. That plea in
The Psychology of Strange Killers
(1962).

proved futile with a confession on record, and jurors The term “serial murder” itself surfaced in 1961, convicted Sells of capital murder on September 18, according to author Harold Schechter and Jesse Sheid-2000. Three days later, the panel sentenced Sells to lower, editor of the
Oxford English Dictionary.
The death.

quote, attributed to German critic Siegfried Kracauer Investigation of the other slayings claimed by in
Merriam-Webster’s Third New International Dictio-Tommy Sells continued as this volume went to press.

nary (1961) reads: “[He] denies that he is the pursued On February 7, 2001, police in Texas announced their serial murderer.” Five years later, in his book The belief that Sells might be guilty of 70 murders across the Meaning of Murder (1966), British author John Bro-United States, but authorities in other jurisdictions phy applied the label to “JACK THE RIPPER” and others.

remain skeptical. Lawrenceville, Illinois, was a case in Another decade passed before forensic psychiatrist point, where Julie Rea-Harper was convicted in March Donald Lunde mentioned “serial mass murder” in 2002 for the murder of her son Joel Kirkpatrick in Murder and Madness (1976). Between those publica-October 1997. Sentenced to 65 years in prison, Rea tions, FBI agent ROBERT K. RESSLER allegedly thought rejoiced when Sells confessed the crime, but prosecutor up the term on his own—coincidentally while visiting Todd Reitz demanded fresh DNA tests, dismissing Sells England in 1974, eight years after publication of Bro-with the observation that “He has made false confes-phy’s work—but he waited nearly two decades to claim sions before.” An appellate court ordered Rea-Harper credit for the brainstorm in Whoever Fights Monsters released from prison on July 9, 2004, pending results of (1992).

the DNA test, but defiant prosecutors jailed her without The clamor for credit aside, self-styled “experts” on bond in Lawrenceville. The troubling case was unre-serial murder spend much of their time debating proper solved at press time for this volume.

definitions and progress no further toward an under-On September 17, 2003, a grand jury in Greene

standing of the grim phenomenon itself. The FBI’s County, Missouri, indicted Tommy Sells for the 1997

Crime Classification Manual (1992) defines serial mur-murder of Stephanie Mahaney. With Sells already fac-der as “three or more separate events in three or more ing death in Texas, some observers doubted that Sells separate locations with an emotional cooling-off period would ever face trial in that case. Assistant prosecutor between homicides.” At first glance, the Bureau’s defini-Dan Patterson told reporters, “We’re pleased that he tion seems clear and concise. A second look, however, was indicted and hope this will bring some closure for reveals three built-in flaws that doom it from the start.

the family. The good thing about the indictment is that First, we have the requirement of “three or more”

we are in no rush to bring him back.” No date has been murders to make up a bona fide series. Unfortunately, scheduled for trial in that case.

the FBI’s other “official” categories of murder—single,
237

SEX Crimes and Serial Murder

double, triple, mass, and SPREE MURDER—make no
SEX Crimes and Serial Murder

allowance for the slayer who claims only two victims Seventy percent of all serial murders are sexually moti-with the requisite “cooling-off” period between crimes vated. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that many and who is then arrested prior to bagging number three.

repeat killers commit various other sex crimes through Double murder, in FBI parlance, describes two victims the years before they “graduate” to homicide. A killed at the same time and place; spree murder, mean-pedophile or serial rapist may assault dozens—even while, may have only two victims, but it is defined as “a hundreds—of victims before he starts killing. For some, single event with . . . no emotional cooling-off period murder is the pinnacle of “achievement,” an end in between murders.” Thus, the killer who waits months itself and the only means of sexual release. Others, like or even years between his first and second kill then finds Florida’s ROBERT JOE LONG, add murder as an embell-himself in jail has no place whatsoever in the Bureau’s ishment to their ongoing crimes, killing some victims scheme of things.

and sparing others. In some cases, murder is simply A second problem is the FBI’s requirement that serial expedient, a means of eliminating witnesses—particu-murders occur at “three or more separate locations.”

larly if the individual offender has a record of convic-By that standard, some of the most prolific killers of tions for sex crimes and fears returning to prison.

modern times—including DEAN CORLL, JOHN GACY, In sexually motivated murder, the killer’s personal DONALD HARVEY, and Britain’s DENNIS NILSEN—do not fixation determines his (or her) choice of victims.

qualify as serial murderers, since they killed most or all Pedophiles hunt children (sometimes without regard to of their victims at a single location.

gender, more commonly preferring one sex or the Finally, we run head-on into the elusive, undefined other); “gay” killers typically (but not always) select

“cooling-off” period. No FBI spokesman has ever been same-sex victims; bisexual slayers may rape and kill vicable to pin down the time span; indeed, the Crime Clas-tims of either sex, indiscriminately. Other sex-driven sification Manual tells us that “[t]he cooling-off period killers fixate on the elderly, on victims from a particular can last for days, weeks, or months”—and, presumably, group or class (prostitutes, nurses, etc.), or those who even for years. Various authors have tried to resolve the possess specific physical traits (red hair, large breasts, problem by suggesting arbitrary time limits: one sug-tattoos).

gests two weeks, another “more than thirty days,” but Sex crimes may not be obvious at first glance.

none of their attempts to saddle unknown killers with a Indeed, there may be no sign whatsoever of a “normal”

one-size-fits-all mandate stand up under close examina-sexual assault. England’s BRUCE LEE (born Peter Dins-tion.

dale), a prolific serial arsonist, achieved orgasm only In terms of both utility and versatility, the best defin-when setting and watching fires, a pursuit that claimed ition of serial murder on record—and the one applied 26 lives between 1973 and 1980. Forty years earlier, in throughout this book—was published by the National Hungary, Sylvestre Matushke suffered a similar prob-Institute of Justice (NIJ) in 1988. The NIJ defines serial lem: in his case, the orgasmic trigger mechanism was killing as “a series of two or more murders, committed train wrecks, prompting him to dynamite railroad as separate events, usually, but not always, by one tracks in the path of speeding passenger trains.

offender acting alone. The crimes may occur over a The most common sex crime—rape—is divided by

period of time ranging from hours to years. Quite often the FBI’s Crime Classification Manual (1992) into four the motive is psychological, and the offender’s behavior broad categories with numerous subdivisions, as in the and the physical evidence observed at the crime scenes case of homicides. Generally, the Bureau recognizes will reflect sadistic, sexual overtones.”

“criminal enterprise rape,” “personal cause sexual By avoiding the rigid criteria of the FBI and other assault,” “group cause sexual assault,” and “sexual published definitions, the NIJ undoubtedly rankled assault not classified elsewhere” (fittingly defined, with-some purists—and authors with textbooks to sell—but out examples, as “those assaults that cannot be classi-its broad definition at once closes all of the FBI’s loop-fied elsewhere”).

holes while providing coverage for cases otherwise Criminal-enterprise rape is rare among serial killers denied any label at all. And thankfully, the NIJ’s low-but cannot be ruled out in the case of those slayers com-key approach has even breached the Bureau’s bulwark mitting criminal-enterprise murders. Subdivided into of resistance to change. In November 1997, speaking to

“primary felony rape” (where another crime such as reporters in Milwaukee of a case in progress, FBI Spe-burglary is intended and the victim is raped coinciden-cial Agent Richard Eggleston defined serial murder as tally) and “secondary felony rape” (where sexual

“two or more killings committed as separate events, assault is the primary goal, with robbery or some other usually by a lone offender.”

crime committed as an afterthought), the FBI’s classifi-See also MODUS OPERANDI; MOTIVES

cation oddly excludes the deliberate use of rape as a
238

SHIPMAN, Harold Frederick

weapon of criminal enterprise. There are, for example, On balance, it is both naive and dangerous to claim many cases on record of girls and women being raped that while a wide variety of crimes—including ARSON, as a “lesson” or warning to others—usually a husband, burglary, and murder—may be sexually motivated, rape lover, or family member. Such incidents are most com-never is. The notion is naive because it flies in the face mon among gangs and violent elements of organized of forensic psychology, blandly ignoring criminal crime.

motives; it is dangerous because, if applied literally, it Personal-cause assaults, the largest category in the would preclude authorities from examining probable Bureau manual, includes such diverse cases as domestic suspects.