He dropped out of high school in 1960. The cases selected were chosen largely because of the amount of information available on the subjects. Arthur Shawcross with his daughter (left) and granddaughter at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in 2002. 13. Shawcross married first wife, Sarah, in September 1964. Ressler wrote that "[Shawcross's] claim of having witnessed wartime atrocities was patently outrageous and untrue." The F.B.I. I suffered PTSD for many years. With Augustine Capone, Maggie Deming, Paul Dierdorf, Lynde Johnston. The serial killer strangled June Stott, who was 26 at the time of her death, before Shawcross cut her body open from the throat to the vagina like she was a wild animal. Shawcross was sentenced to 250 years in prison and received an additional life sentence after pleading guilty to the murder of Elizabeth Gibson in Wayne County. An autopsy revealed that she had suffered severe wounds from a blunt object. [2], On May 7, 1972, he raped and killed his first known victim, 10-year-old Jack Owen Blake, after luring the boy into a wooded area in Watertown. Polly Flinders. Then his violent tendencies got worse and the arsonist became a cold-blooded murderer. Arthur John Shawcross, also known as the Genesee River Killer, is responsible for a brutal wave of slayings discovered between 1988 and 1990 in our downtown area. After serving 22 months, he was granted an early release in October 1971, in part due to his role in the rescue of a correctional officer during a prison riot. He was caught in 1990 and died in prison in 2008. . The strangulation and bodies dumped in rivers formed some workable theories as to the killers identity. Det var ikke frste gang, han drbte. Renowned forensic psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz, who consulted for both the FBI and CIA, claimed under oath during Shawcross' trial he felt Lewis coaxed Shawcross to play various roles. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Arthur Shawcross was an American serial killer born in April 1945. Female interviewers were often subjected to his long descriptions of how much he enjoyed eating the body parts and organs that he had cut out from his victims. It was also hindered by poor presentation on the part of the expert witnesses called to testify. An aerial search commenced and her body was found on January 3rd. 9 October 2017. place of death. If he thought he sensed sympathy from the interviewer, he would add more details about how his mother would insert sticks into his anus or offer up specific details into exactly how his aunt took sexual advantage of him when he was just a child. 16. He was arrested on October 3, 1972, and finally confessed to both killings, although he was only charged with Karen Hill's killing, given the lack of evidence tying him to Jack Blake's death. [1], Arthur John Shawcross was born in Kittery, Maine, the first of four children of Arthur Roy Shawcross and Elizabeth "Bessie" ("Betty") Yerakes Shawcross. John, who claims he had a "bond" with the late . It was the second time that the man with the same physical description, named Mike or Mitch, had been mentioned in reference to the murders. Arthur Shawcross, also known as the Genesee River Killer, was in prison after . Aileen Wuornos killed seven men and was executed by lethal injection in 2002. During his trial, his lawyer tried to prove that Shawcross was a victim of multiple personality disorder stemming from his years of being abused as a child. A Thirteenth Century Cannibal. Shawcross is known to have killed at least 14 people, as well as being a known cannibal and mutilator. Both Darlene Trippi and June Cicero were prostitutes that Shawcross picked up, strangled, and disposed of in December of 1989. On October 23, June Stott, 30, was reported missing by her boyfriend. Reply . Arthur John Shawcross was also known as The Genesee River Killer and The Rochester Strangler all due to how he would carry out his murders and where he would frequently dump the bodies of his victims. He was transferred to a hospital where he died later that day of cardiac arrest. The next strangulation murder happened in September of 1989. OVERVIEW ARTWORKS AUCTION RESULTS BIOGRAPHY Lapland Longspur. 13WHAM.com (2008118). Charles Montaldo. Allegedly, the youngster then began experimenting with this sexuality in many ways, including homosexuality and bestiality, by age 11. He was 16 years old. Fortunately for the authorities, Shawcross had, as speculated, returned to the scene of one of his crimes to relive the pleasure of the attack. But another probationary charge for unlawful entry in November 1965, proved the last straw for his marriage and he was divorced soon after. He also claimed that an aunt sexually molested him when he was 9 years old and that he acted out by sexually molesting his younger sister. Early Life. Arthur Shawcross, convicted of killing 10 Rochester-area women from 1988 to 1990, was sentenced today to a minimum of 250 years in prison. One particular murder stood out to investigators who gave interviews after Shawcross went to jail. He confessed and agreed to a plea-bargain in which he revealed the location of one of the boys . His body was found a year later out in the woods. He was arrested the next day. Arthur Shawcross, also known as "The Genesee River Killer," was responsible for the murders of 12 women in upstate New York from 1988 to 1990. natural causes. This was the first real lead the investigators received. He went into fits of rage that led to broken windows and beat-up wives. Linda would soon divorce him, after which he began committing crimes such as arson and burglary. His next three victims, 25-year-old Patricia Ives, 32-year-old Frances Brown, and 22-year-old Maria Welch, were all prostitutes Shawcross picked up and murdered while having sex with them. The well-publicized resettlement of a child killer in the Binghamton area of New York State was greeted by a public outcry, and he was forced to leave the area after a few months along with his new girlfriend, Rose Whalley. When police threatened to implicate her in the killings, Shawcross capitulated and admitted to most of the murders, giving detailed excuses about why he had been "forced" to kill each one. When a pair of discarded jeans was discovered near the river on December 31, 1989, containing an ID card for a girl named Felicia Stephens, police began an aerial search of the surrounding area. At around the same time, the Genesee River Killer murdered eight-year-old Karen Ann Hill. 5. Her body was found under a bridge near the Black River and she had been raped, mutilated and strangled. His parole officer would later be quoted about his release saying, At the risk of being melodramatic, the writer considers this man to be possibly the most dangerous individual to be released to this community for many years.. When approached, Shawcross agreed to assist the police with their enquiries. Five months later, his victim's body was finally located. A police helicopter searching for a body along the river spotted a man on a bridge near one of the murder victims. The F.B.I agents strongly suggested that when the next body was found, that investigators wait and watch to see if thekiller returned to the body. Arthur Shawcross, also known as the Genesee River Killer, was in prison after . manner of death. He lived in Watertown, New York (NY) in his youth, and was relocated to Rochester, NY later on in his life. 0 references. Months after Jacks murder, 8-year-old Karen Ann Hill disappeared while on a Labor Day vacation with her mother. He dropped out of school after failing to pass the ninth grade, and the next few years were punctuated with violence and jail sentences. [2], In March 1988, Shawcross began murdering again, primarily targeting sex workers in the Rochester area, before his capture less than two years later. One of Rochester's most notorious serial killers, Arthur Shawcross killed 13 people in a span of two decades, including 11 Rochester-area women many of them prostitutes . He hid the body and left but told police that he later returned and threw her skull into the river. After his involvement in protecting a guard during a prison riot, he was granted an early release in October of 1971. Marie Welch, age 22 was a Lyell Avenue prostitute who was reported missing on November 5, 1989. There is no way of knowing whose version represents the reality of his upbringing, but what became clear, later on, was that Shawcross would change his stories at will, as he was interviewed by various professionals in the course of their investigations. Kimberly Logan, 30, another Lyell Avenue prostitute, was found dead on November 15, 1989. Dennis Rader, known as the BTK Killer (standing for "Bind, Torture, Kill") murdered 10 people between 1974 and 1991. A common trait of serial killers is the desire to show they are still in control and can reach through the prison walls and still do damage to those outside. Like the other women found, June Stott suffered a vicious beating before dying. According to autopsy reports, she had been raped and murdered, and dirt and leaves were found jammed down her throat. ", "Serial killer Arthur Shawcross dead at 63", Crime Library article on Arthur Shawcross, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arthur_Shawcross&oldid=1133486829, American people convicted of manslaughter, American people who died in prison custody, Crimes against sex workers in the United States, People convicted of murder by New York (state), People with antisocial personality disorder, People with schizoid personality disorder, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New York (state), Prisoners who died in New York (state) detention, Serial killers who died in prison custody, United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War, Violence against women in the United States, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2022, Articles with dead external links from August 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Life in prison without parole (or a term amounting to 250 years), This page was last edited on 14 January 2023, at 01:31. On the first episode of this two-part series, we explore the grim origins of brutal serial killer Arthur Shawcross, from his incestuous childhood to his time in 'Nam to his inexplicably numerous marriages. She died from having her neck broken. Since they had no solid evidence to convict him in the Blake case,prosecutors agreed, and he was found guilty and given a 25-year-sentence. 479 Words2 Pages. Shawcross has claimed that his mother and an aunt repeatedly molested him as a child and that in junior high he had a sexual relationship with his younger sister as well as a cousin. 1. 3. Then we detail the first few grisly deaths Arthur committed, which would prove only to be a warmup to unbelievable mayhem. In 1972 he confessed to the sexual assault and murders of two children. He dumped her body into the Salmon River, one of his favorite fishing spots. Shawcross was born on June 6, 1945 in Kittery, Maine to an English immigrant . He served two years in prison, was paroled to his respectable parents - and murdered a boy and a girl. He was born on June 6, 1945 in Kittery, Maine. When they asked for his driver's license, he admitted he did not have one and then revealed that he had been in jail for manslaughter. Arthur Shawcross certainly fit Greg McCrary's criteria of being "extraordinarily ordinary." He was a forty-four-year-old white male, a Vietnam veteran, a blue-collar factory worker, and a regular customer of Lyell Avenue. The Most Notorious Serial Killers in History. Her body was found under a bridge. Arthur Shawcross. Sentenced to 250 years to life in prison, 1991. Investigators were unable to identify the victim whose bones were found, so they hired an anthropologist to reconstruct the victim's facial features based on a skull that found on the scene. He died in hospital in Albany, New York on the 10 November 2008, aged 63.. At the time he was incarcerated at Sullivan Correction Facility in the Hudson Valley and had been transferred for medical treatment. 1974. [2] In mid-October, Shawcross and Walley found more permanent lodgings at 241 Alexander Street in Rochester. From earlyon,Shawcross was socially challenged and spent much of his time alone. Just three weeks later, Shawcross married his third wife who was pregnant with his child. After Frances Browns body was found the media began to catch wind of the killing happening in the area. Sheriff's officials say six people including a 17-year-old mother and her 6-month-old baby were killed in a shooting early Monday at a home in central California, and authorities are searching for . Signing up helps us (not Zuckerberg) stay in direct contact with you and create the best horror website possible. In contrast to these claims, however, his parents and siblings maintain that he had a normal childhood, and the described events were largely the product of his imagination. Shawcross again claimed that after engaging in mutual oral sex Elizabeth tried to steal his wallet. He also was spending a lot of timewith prostitutes. Its hard to corroborate his stories as later in life Shawcross frequently changed his stories from one moment to the next. Shawcross was held at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in New York State until November 10, 2008, when he complained of pain in his leg. A food service worker, Shawcross trawled the streets of Rochester in his girlfriend's 1984 Dodge Omni (later using her 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity), looking for sex workers to kill. The Genesee River Serial Killer was a man who had previously spent more than 14 years in prison for the murder of two children - and then was released to kill again. It was noted that the labia had been cut off and that the killer likely hadit in his possession. Arthur John Shawcross (Kittery, Maine, 06 de junho de 1945 - Albany, Nova Iorque, 10 de novembro de 2008) foi um assassino em srie que matou ao menos 11 mulheres, quase todas prostitutas, em Rochester, Condado de Monroe, Nova Iorque, entre 1988 e 1990.Ele tambm conhecido como Genesee River Killer (Assassino do Rio Genesee) ou Rochester Strangler (Estrangulador de Rochester). Naval Hospital in Kittery, Maine 1 month premature - weighed 5 pounds - spent 20 days in the hospital Mother Bessie was 18, father Arthur Roy was 21 Born with XYY Was first of four children Her boots were found in another location after the patrol expanded thesearch. He was 63 years old. He Wanted Her To Stop Yelling. 'It Was A Flooring Moment,' Says Woman On Learning Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross Was Her Dad. He received his first probationary sentence in December 1963 for smashing a shop window. On January 2, 1990, there was finally a breakthrough in the case. He was born Arthur John Shawcross in Kittery, Maine on June 6, 1945, and grew up an unhappy kid. His past meant that he would be unwelcome almost anywhere, and the authorities made the decision to seal his criminal record in order to prevent a recurrence of the public alarm in Binghamton. She too was never seen alive again. Another serial killer, Arthur Shawcross did a prison stint for a few minor offences and was granted parole in 1971. Future news of events, Zoom movie marathons, books, and streaming updates will be delivered first to our newsletter readers. He then confessed to murdering the others. He even admitted to the killing of two undiscovered bodies, those of prostitutes Maria Welsh and Darlene Trippi, leading investigators to their bodies. But from 1988 to 1990, Shawcross killed 11 women in upstate New York, earning the nickname "Genesee River Killer." Officials said 63-year old Shawcross complained of a pain in his leg on the afternoon of November 10, 2008, his date of death. His first admission that he was involved in the murders was when he told police that Clara had nothing to do with it. The body was not Felicia Stephens but that of missing prostitute June Cicero. [5], After fourteen years' imprisonment, inexperienced prison staff and social workers concluded that Shawcross was "no longer dangerous", disregarding the warnings of psychiatrists who had assessed Shawcross as a "schizoid psychopath." [9], In response to the defense's claim that Shawcross's actions were the product of post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from his war service, FBI criminal profiler Robert K. Ressler reviewed the claim on behalf of the prosecution before the trial. Arthur John Shawcross was also known as "The Genesee River Killer" and "The Rochester Strangler" all due to how he . His family moved to Watertown, New York, when he was young. Shawcross would later admit to luring the boy into the woods, forcing him to strip naked and run before murdering him and consuming his heart and genitals. Shawcross was arrested on October 3, 1972, Shawcross stalled for two weeks before confessing both murders. Dorothy "Dotsie" Blackburn, 27, was a cocaine addict and prostitute who often worked on Lyell Avenue, a section in Rochester that was known for prostitution. "Profile of Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross." [5] In November he was transferred to Green Haven Correctional Facility. Shawcross is in part responsible for the 2001 ban of prisoners being able to sell artwork they create while incarcerated. This, along with the fact that she was not a prostitute or drug user, kept her disappearance separated from the serial killer investigation. Call Her Christine: The Story Of The Original American Transgender Celebrity, Christine Jorgensen, The Shocking Crimes Of Velma Barfield, The "Death Row Granny", What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. The press also grew interested in the murders and dubbed the killer as the "Genesee River Killer," and the "Rochester Strangler.". Dorothy was Shawcross's first murder after he was released from prison in 1987. Felicia went missing December 26, 1989, and a few days later on the 31st, a pair of hikers found some jeans with her ID in the pocket. Years later, while serving in Vietnam, Arthur John Shawcross wrote bloodcurdling letters about his battlefield ordeals, then returned to Watertown to commit a string of arsons and burglaries. YouTubeArthur Shawcross with his daughter (left) and granddaughter at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in 2002. In September 1972, the body of 8-year-old Karen Ann Hill was found under a bridge. By Gina Tron. The judicial system then thought it was wise to seal Shawcross records to prevent panic wherever he lived. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. They let him out saying he was no longer a danger. He was released in October 1971, after serving just 22 months of his sentence. They began to advise prostitutes working in the area to exercise caution, and sought as much information as possible about strangers operating in the area. June Cicero, 34, was a seasoned prostitute known for her good instincts and for always staying alert, yet on December 17 she also vanished. [2], On January 5, 1990, two days after June Cicero's body was discovered by aerial surveillance, police arrested Shawcross. 26. Shawcross later claimed that he killed 39 enemy soldiersduring combat. He eventually dropped out in 1960. He was taken to Albany Medical Center where he went into cardiac arrest, and died shortly thereafter. His criminal career began with crimes like burglary and arson, but the craziest thing about his past is that he had already been imprisoned once for murder. Neighbors remembered that Shawcross had been seen with Karen in the vicinity of the bridge before her disappearance, and he had a history of minor run-ins with local children. Despite the warnings of prison psychiatrists, after less than 15 years behind bars, social workers and prison staff members incorrectly determined Shawcross was no longer dangerous and granted him early parole in April of 1987. Arthur Shawcross, known as the Genessee River Killer, killed at least 14 people in the 1980s. Image via murderpedia.org. All Rights Reserved. [2], In November 1990, Shawcross was tried by Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Charles J. Siragusa for the ten murders in Monroe County.