Then there were two in late October of that year, followed by a fourth on Thanksgiving Day. Shawcross and his girlfriend Clara Neal were brought to the police station for questioning. After deliberating for just one-half hour, they found him sane and guilty. Investigators went from looking for individual killersto looking for a serial killer and the window of time between his kills was getting shorter. His sister was equally vehement about never having had a sexual relationship with her brother. Shawcross had returned to visit Jean Ciceros body. He dropped out of school after failing to pass the ninth grade, and the next few years were punctuated with violence and jail sentences. 1 reference. His body was found a year later out in the woods. 2011719. In 1964 Shawcross married and the next year he and his wife had a son. This Hiking Photo Has A ChillingBackstory, She Met A Man Online And Ended Up Taking Down An Active SerialKiller. Shawcross had served 12 years, roughly half of his sentence when inexperienced staff and social workers made the call to grant him parole stating he was no longer dangerous despite numerous psychiatrists warning that he was a schizoid psychopath. ", Idaho Murders: What Led Police to Bryan Kohberger, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Arthur Shawcross, Birth Year: 1945, Birth date: June 6, 1945, Birth State: Maine, Birth City: Kittery, Birth Country: United States, Best Known For: Serial killer Arthur Shawcross murdered 11 women from 1988 to 1990 in upstate New York, earning the nickname "Genesee River Killer. After Vietnam, he was stationed in Oklahoma where he remarried (Shawcross was already once divorced and had given up parental rights to a child who he never saw again) and worked as an armorer. Hunters discovered his next victim, 27-year-old prostitute Dorothy Blackburn, on March 24, 1988. The last victim, Elizabeth Gibson, had been killed in neighboring Wayne County. Once the boy was dead, he decided to eat his genitals. This was not the first time that he killed. Shawcross was sentenced to five years in prison for arson in 1969. 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. And as if to toast in the New Year, the serial killer attacked one more time on December 28, plucking 20-year-old Felicia Stephens off the streets. In 1968, Arthur Shawcross ended up in jail for arson and served two years of a five-year sentence. At this time he divorced his first wife and gave up his rights to their 18-month-old son, whom he never saw again. Steffen's father saw the facial recreation and identified the victim as his daughter, Anna Marie. He then confessed to murdering the others. She had been strangled to death, and there were bite marks covering what was left of her vagina which had been cut out. Shawcross was held at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in New York State until November 10, 2008, when he complained of pain in his leg. So He Killed Her And Threw Her Body Out Of APlane. 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. He was released in October 1971 and returned to Watertown again. The charges were pled down to one count of manslaughter and he was released on parole in 1987. 13WHAM.com (2008118). He and his team did not try to plea insanity and received an eleventh life sentence. Size: 13 x 10 in. and he murdered 12 more women. This was not the first time that he killed. Three more bodies turned up between December of 1989 and January of 1990. Eventually, he found his way to bestiality. [2] His second wife Linda experienced several aspects of his disturbing behavior, especially his penchant for starting fires; an Army psychiatrist told her that Shawcross derived sexual arousal from setting fires. Six days later her body was pulled from the Genesee River Gorge. The case studies selected were those of Carroll Edward Cole, Jeffery Lionel Dahmer, Edmund Emil Kemper III, Henry Lee Lucas, and Arthur Shawcross. After hours of interrogation, Shawcross still maintained that he had nothing to do with any Rochester murders. His defense team attempted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity citing his turbulent upbringing, PTSD from Vietnam, as well as claiming he had a genetic disorder and a cyst on his brain. His records were sealed so he could settle in a new town without causing a panic. Arthur Shawcross, AKA The Genesee River Killer, murdered at least 14 people. Police investigators arrested Shawcross in October 1972 after he was identified as the man who was with Hill on the bridge right before she disappeared. A police helicopter searching for a body along the river spotted a man on a bridge near one of the murder victims. Shawcross began developing a habit of looking for prostitutes and would use his girlfriend (who he was having an affair with) Claras car to go to Lake Avenue near the Genesee River which was an industrial area well known for cheap prostitutes and drug dealers. She had been beaten and strangled to death. He agreed to be interviewed for a 2003 documentary about cannibalism where he bragged about slicing out and eating the genitalia of three victims but refused to discuss the eating the genitals of his first victim, Jack Blake in 1972. He was a pathological liar and it was difficult to determine what was truth and what was not. His final victim was Felicia Stephens, another 19-year-old prostitute. Albany. By Gina Tron. On November 10th, 2008 Shawcross complained to officers about a pain in his leg. natural causes. Jack was never heard from again. Shawcross's medical records show that he had a cyst and scarring on his temporal lobe, which can dramatically alter . He was convicted of eleven murders, with a twelfth not officially ascribed to him. Shawcross was transparent, so much so that the interviewers,detectives, and doctors that listened to him,doubted much of what he said when he would describe his childhoodabuse and his enjoyment of cutting up women andeating body parts. At the beginning of November, Jo Ann Van Nostrand told police about a client named Mitch who paid her to play dead and then he would try to strangle her, which she did not allow. Nicknames like The Genesee River Killer, The Monster of the Rivers, and The Rochester Strangler began popping up. 1974. YouTubeArthur Shawcross in a prison interview. Shawcross said throughout his childhood, he was a frequent bed-wetter (which is one part of the Macdonald triad). Shawcross was born on June 6, 1945 in Kittery, Maine to an English immigrant . When asked for his driver's license, he told the police that he did not have one because he had been convicted of manslaughter. The cause of death was strangulation. Released and invisible. While several later tests showed his intelligence to be sub-normal or even "borderline disabled,"[citation needed] Shawcross received As and Bs in his first two years of grade school but was later tested to have an IQ of 86, signifying below-average intelligence. Under the terms of a plea bargain, he was allowed to plead guilty to one charge of manslaughter, for which he served 14 years of a 25-year sentence. 7. Shawcross married his longtime sweetheart Clara in 1997 while behind bars. All other charges were dropped and he was sentenced to a 25-years in prison. languages spoken, written or signed. Det var ikke frste gang, han drbte. Police found mud, leaves and other debris had been forced down her throat and inside her clothing. Good Guy Arthur and his daughter and granddaughter . Jo Ann Van Nostrand along with other prostitutes identified the police picture of Shawcross as the same man they called Mike/Mitch. Shawcross started his life of crime at a very young age and ended up being a big fat liar about many things he claimed to have done. He served two years in prison, was paroled to his respectable parents - and murdered a boy and a girl. She had been raped and murdered. 479 Words2 Pages. Color Pencil on Paper . One victim tried to steal his wallet, another wouldn't be quiet, another made fun of him, and yet another had nearly bitten off his penis. The three women were prostitutes who worked on Lyell . 22. Three women disappeared, one right after the other: In an effort to find the missing women, police organizedan air search of the Genesee River Gorge. [2] In late June 1987, Shawcross' parole officer moved him and Walley into a transient hotel in Rochester, but failed to notify local authorities of this action. [12], In 2003, Shawcross was interviewed by British reporter Katherine English for a documentary on cannibalism. Shawcross also killed 13 people over the course of 17 years. "Profile of Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross." 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. Could it be that Rochester was being stalked by two serial killers? 17. [2], On January 5, 1990, two days after June Cicero's body was discovered by aerial surveillance, police arrested Shawcross. "Shawcross Sent to Attica In Child's Death", "Serial killer profile: Arthur Shawcross", "A Serial-Murder Trial, On TV, Grips Rochester", "He Should Suffer: Why Was Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross Paroled Before Murder Spree? There were also human bite marks found all around her vagina. Arthur Shawcross. On April 7, 1972, he took a 10-year-old boy named Jack Blake, a neighbor at the time, fishing. On January 2, 1990, there was finally a breakthrough in the case. Arthur Shawcross (Arthur John Shawcross) an American serial killer known as the Genesee River Killer and the Genesee River Strangler. Edit: Since it came up in comments. "Profile of Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross." He received his first probationary sentence in December 1963 for smashing a shop window. Patrol teams on the ground were alerted to the vehicle, which had sped away. The Most Notorious Serial Killers in History. Known as the "Genesee River Killer," Arthur Shawcross of upstate Watertown first raped and killed two children in 1972. Shawcross pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. [11], Shawcross was held at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York, where he was held until his death. Serial killer Arthur Shawcross murdered 11 women from 1988 to 1990 in upstate New York, earning the nickname "Genesee River Killer. OVERVIEW ARTWORKS AUCTION RESULTS BIOGRAPHY Lapland Longspur. The judge sentenced him to 25 years for each count, a total of 250 years imprisonment. for help. Released early on plea bargain, not long after which he murdered 11 women. He admitted to 11 murders (he was not officially charged with a 12th), and his confession was an astounding 80 pages long. The serial killer, also known as the Monster of the Rivers, the Genesee River Strangler, and the Genesee River Killer, was not a small man. He could overpower people with this strength which pretty much sums up his murder methods. She had brutally kickedand beaten, and dirt and leaves were crammed down her throat, much like Shawcross did to 8-year-old, Karen Ann Hill. But what interested me was a photos of Shawcross in a prison visit with his daughter and granddaughter. He wouldnt kill again for several months, but after being laid off from his job went into a rage and picked up Anna Steffen. Arthur Shawcross Photo: Getty Images Serial killer Arthur Shawcross murdered 11 women in upstate New York in less than a two-year . He was arrested in 1972 for the rape and murder of two children. [2], Shawcross had difficulty settling down, as neighbors would protest his presence and employers would refuse to hire him. AP. Road patrols were also sent out, and on New Year's Eve, they found a pair of black jeans belonging to Felicia Stephens. Kevin MacLeod . 9 October 2017. place of death. It was discovered that Shawcross had an extra Y chromosomewhich somehave suggested (although there is no proof) makes the person more violent. Linda would soon divorce him, after which he began committing crimes such as arson and burglary. After his involvement in protecting a guard during a prison riot, he was granted an early release in October of 1971. Arthur Shawcross. Right after receiving his draft papers he married for the second time. Charles Montaldo. He bragged about slicing out and eating the vulvae of three victims, but refused to discuss his earlier claim of eating the genitals of his first victim, Jack Blake.[2]. The psychiatrist, who is the subject of HBO's new documentary Crazy Not Insane, tells us what she saw during her decades interviewing and assessing serial murders. His first admission that he was involved in the murders was when he told police that Clara had nothing to do with it. The decapitated and decomposing remains of a homeless woman, 60-year-old Dorothy Keller, was found on October 21, 1989, in the Genesee River Gorge. 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. Over the next few years, his violent behavior intensified, and he was suspected of arson and burglary. He murdered two kids and never disclosed the reason. There were other murders of prostitutes in that time but, given the danger of the profession, nothing untoward was noticed that linked any of the cases. He was released in October 1971, after serving just 22 months of his sentence. He also blamed many of the victims for reminding him of his domineering and abusive mother, so much so that once he began to hit them, he couldn't stop. 0 references. The body was not Felicia Stephens but that of missing prostitute June Cicero. In November 1990, Shawcross went to trial for the 10 murders that had occurred in Monroe County. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. He was sentenced to 250 years to life in prison, where he remained until he died of a cardiac arrest in 2008, aged 63. It seemed as if each week another woman went missing and those found murdered were not close to being solved. John Paul Fay was a murderabilia dealer with a troubled past. Male interviewers often had to listen to his conquests in Vietnam. From rape to mutilation, he terrified the Rochester area for over 17 years. The day of her death, October 21, 1989, Dorothy and Shawcross had spent the day fishing and having sex before getting into an argument about Shawcrosss various affairs and how hed been stealing money. On October 17, 1972, he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of first degree manslaughter for both deaths and was sentenced to an indeterminate term with a maximum of 25 years at Attica Correctional Facility. He received a 25-year jail sentence, and third wife Penny divorced him shortly thereafter. 19. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/profile-of-serial-killer-arthur-shawcross-973145. People with a desire to murder have a pretty big Venn diagram circle with people who have a craving for human flesh. Her body, however, was found far from the original murder scene, so again the possibility that a serial killer was at work was not recognized. In this television interview, Shawcross said that murder was out of anger because allegedly Stott was going to go to the police and rat him out.