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Real Serial Killer Memories

post #1 of 12
7/23/07 at 11:30pm
Thread Starter 
Don't get your hopes up, I'm not confessing to the Balck Dahlia murders or anything.

But that last thread I posted, w/ the bit about Eyewitness news, reminded me of something else from my childhood. I actually remember hearing news reports about the Son of Sam Murders. I remeber before they knew who he was, he was called "The .44 Caliber Killer", before they suddenly switched to calling him "Son of Sam" (I didn't catch on to the letter he wrote; I was like 9). I only dimly recall hearing about this, as I was more interested in other things as a 9 year old kid, and it was happening in the far reaches of the Outer Boroughs of NYC, not here across the river in Jersey City.

But I do remember being creeped out, a little. "The .44 Caliber Killer". Blunt. Ominous.

Years later, Joel Rifkin received a brief spate of notoriety when he was caught. Maybe because he strangled his victims as opposed to splattering their brains all over Lover's Lane, making for less spectacular news, or maybe because of our overstimulated media moving everything right along to make room for the next news item (I don't recall each murder being talked about, and the details of the manhunt on the news). Or maybe just because I was older (by probably close to 20 years) when they caught him. But his murderous rampage didn't seem like quite as big a deal. But I still remember him.

Does anyone else have any more memories, recent or remote, of the news of a locally based serial killer's exploits? Were you creeped out yet fascinated, as the 9 year old me was during the "Summer of Sam"?
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post #2 of 12
7/24/07 at 12:37am
Growing up in Florida gave me ample real-life creepshows on the news: Ted Bundy, the Adam Walsh slaying, and, worst of all, the horrifying Gainesville murders in 1990. All incredibly unsettling.

Fun fact: I once dated a woman who used to live next door to one of the Hillside Stranglers when she was a kid in Los Angeles. She said he seemed "nice". Yeesh.
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post #3 of 12
7/24/07 at 12:45am
I was too young for the Night Stalker murders which were mid-80s. I do remember the summer of 1997 which had both the death of lady di and Andrew Cunanan, the guy who killed Versache and other men around the country until he killed himself in a Miami on a houseboat.

I also remember hearing about Jeffrey Dhamer about the time.

Then there was that time a couple of years back if I'm not mistaken Phoenix had two serial killers running around one terrifying summer.

Oh and the Washington Beltway Sniper of fall of '02. That I remember pretty well.
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post #4 of 12
7/24/07 at 1:35am
I grew up just south of Milwaukee (about 20 minutes or so) and remember all the hoopla about Jeffrey Dahmer, but I remember feeling like it was a million miles away from where I lived. It didn't seem real, and now that I think about it, it still doesn't. Never mind that my brother lives a few blocks away from the apartment building where Dahmer did his dismembering (the building has since been torn down). Maybe it's because no one around the area really ever talks about it- some things are just best forgotten.
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post #5 of 12
7/24/07 at 12:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty
Growing up in Florida gave me ample real-life creepshows on the news: Ted Bundy, the Adam Walsh slaying, and, worst of all, the horrifying Gainesville murders in 1990. All incredibly unsettling.
I also grew up in Florida, attending UF at Gainesville. My entomology class was in a facility next to the slash pine forest where they found Danny Rolling's tent and "belongings" (including a cassette tape recording of him singing songs about the murders he committed).

For a few weeks, you really felt like you were living in a horror film. It was bad enough that this guy was going around killing people, but the horrific mutilation and "posing" of the bodies for effect made it a lot worse. Ugh, Florida's such a cesspool.
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post #6 of 12
7/24/07 at 12:28pm
Quote:
For a few weeks, you really felt like you were living in a horror film. It was bad enough that this guy was going around killing people, but the horrific mutilation and "posing" of the bodies for effect made it a lot worse. Ugh, Florida's such a cesspool.
I didn't even go to UF (I was living in Orlando at the time), but it seemed like the entire middle of the state was infected by this Cloud of Evil for a month.

Fun fact: a friend of mine from high school was briefly original suspect Ed Humphreys' roommate. He had some nice, long discussions with the FBI.
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post #7 of 12
7/24/07 at 1:28pm
I was born too late to catch any of the serial killers around here, but people are still hurting from Berkowitz. The area of The Bronx I grew up in (and lived till 2 years ago) was where he claimed his victims, and they actually shot Summer of Sam a few blocks from my house. One of my favorite pizzerias was in the film, much to the dismay of the relatives and friends of the family who still live in the area and didn't want them making the movie at all. So much to their dismay that someone lobbed a molotov cocktail through their window after the shoot.

Fun fact- the Son of Sam got saved by Jesus.

http://forgivenforlife.com//

People scare me, they really do. Makes sense though, I suppose. After all, if your God could reform a fucking monster like Berkowitz, he must be a powerful God.
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post #8 of 12
7/24/07 at 2:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minsky
I also grew up in Florida, attending UF at Gainesville. My entomology class was in a facility next to the slash pine forest where they found Danny Rolling's tent and "belongings" (including a cassette tape recording of him singing songs about the murders he committed).

For a few weeks, you really felt like you were living in a horror film. It was bad enough that this guy was going around killing people, but the horrific mutilation and "posing" of the bodies for effect made it a lot worse. Ugh, Florida's such a cesspool.
Wow. Hadn't heard of this. Sounds pretty damn creepy.

There's something to be said for living in a small town. Serial killers only pass through.
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post #9 of 12
7/27/07 at 11:45am
I was a kid during the Son of Sam killings, and I was always scared that he was going to come over from NY to NJ. That was really the only close connection when I was a kid. But I was born and raised in Atlantic City, and just last year, we had some wacko murdering prostitutes - they found four bodies in a drainage ditch behind some sleazy motel in the suburb of AC where my parents live.
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post #10 of 12
7/29/07 at 4:56pm
I'm similar to Iggy - I was about 9 when the Son of Sam murders were going on. The kids in my neighborhood were freaking he was going to get us for some reason.

I also remember the Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, Wuornos, Lucas and Wayne Williams growing up. I also remember hearing about Manson when I was a kid (they were futzing about with the death penalty in California, then Squeaky Fromme took a shot at President Ford); my dad gave me his copy of "Helter Skelter" when I was older - disturbing shit.

India7, whatever happened to the investigation? I remember reading about the murders in the Asbury Park Pres and NY Daily News, but haven't heard anything since then.
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post #11 of 12
7/29/07 at 8:49pm
One of the worst crimes in this area was in 1987 when three kids from the high school in a suburb of my town, which is about 5 miles away, used baseball bats to beat a kid, the school loser if you will, to death and threw him in a well. The kids blamed heavy metal music, family strife, drugs and all the usual crybaby shit.

After the murder, Geraldo came to town and interviewed the killers, their family and the victim's family.

Around that same time, a kid from my high school appeared as a guest on Geraldo and lied his ass off about being involved and a victim of Satanic cults.

Ah, fun times! *sniff
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post #12 of 12
7/29/07 at 9:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Timothy225
I'm similar to Iggy - I was about 9 when the Son of Sam murders were going on. The kids in my neighborhood were freaking he was going to get us for some reason.

I also remember the Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, Wuornos, Lucas and Wayne Williams growing up. I also remember hearing about Manson when I was a kid (they were futzing about with the death penalty in California, then Squeaky Fromme took a shot at President Ford); my dad gave me his copy of "Helter Skelter" when I was older - disturbing shit.

India7, whatever happened to the investigation? I remember reading about the murders in the Asbury Park Pres and NY Daily News, but haven't heard anything since then.
I remmeber hearing about Wayne Williams as it happened. Bundy made national headlines many years later whe he was executed, of course, but I don't recall the stuff actually happening. Dahmer was national news, as was Cunanan. Manson was before my time. That's about all I can recall. But none of them had the same effect on me as Son of Sam, probably because, I suspect, it was local. And more extensively covered for a longer time than even a similarly gruesome story would be today.
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