I came across a bunch of mugshots and chose a few to share. First, John Gotti, famed mobster.
John Joseph Gotti was born October 27, 1940, and died June 10, 2002.
He became boss of the Gambino crime family after the murder of the former boss, Paul Castellano, of which Gotti later convicted. Gotti was aka Dapper Don due to his flamboyance and love of expensive clothing, and as The Teflon Don (Don is Italian mobster-speak meaning "boss") because of prior prosecution attempts that would not stick. The FBI tapped his apartment and was finally able to successfully prosecute him. In 1992 he was convicted on several counts: racketeering, 13 murders, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit murder, illegal gambling, extortion, tax evasion, and loansharking. He was sentenced to life in prison, and died 10 years later.
John Wayne Gacy, the killer clown: born March 17 1942, died May 10 1994. Convicted and later executed by lethal injection for rape and murder of 33 boys and young men between 1972 and 1978 when he was finally arrested. 27 of these were buried in the crawl space under the floor of his house, and 2 more found on his property in Cooke County Illinois, on the northwest side of Chicago in Norwood Park. The rest found in nearby rivers. He became notorious as the killer clown because he'd throw block parties for neighbors and friends and entertain the children dressed up as Pogo the Clown.
Gacy was a businessman, owning his own construction company, PDM Contractors. He was vice president of the Illinois Jaycees, a political activist and very involved in the Democratic Party in and around Chicago (worried a bit about CHicago politics and law enforcement as well as Secret Service investiations),and met and was photographed with then 1st Lady Rosalynn Carter. In the photo he can be seen wearing and "S" pin, which indicates a person who has received special clearance by the United States Secret Service - a huge embarrassment to the Secret Service when the picture was found. Mrs Carter met him while she was in town for the annual Polish Constitution Day Parade, and Gacy was the director of the parade for the 3rd consecutive year.
After the 2nd of his employees disappeared, the 2nd victims parents asked the police to investigate Gacy, but they did not. If they had merely looked up his record, they'd have seen he had a few arrests for this and that, and had served time for sodomy. But they did not. A 3rd employee went missing. Still the cops didn't look at Gacy. Then this vic's car was found when it's driver stole gas. The driver said he got the car from Gacy - Gacy told police he purchased the car from the missing employee before the young man left town, and they left it at that. Then in 1977 a 19 yr old man told cops Gacy had kidnapped him and raped him at gunpoint - he specifically named Gacy, and cops took NO ACTION still. In 78 Gacy lured Jeffrey Rignall into his car, chloroformed him, took him to his house and raped and tortured him, then dumped him in Lincoln Park. The man survived, and though he'd been drugged he could remember the car and parts of the route they took. Instead of relying on the police, Rignall decided to take action himself, and staked out the exit he recalled them taking. He finally spotted the car, and followed it to Gacy's address, and told the police. The cops got a warrant and found several drivers licenses of missing boys and young men, syringes, torture devices, clothing too small for Gacy, etc. Well, they left, even though they also noted a funny smell coming from the floor. ONly later did cops get another warrant and discover the 27 bodies/skeletons under his floor and in his yard. (on a different subject, I wonder why Chicago is so overrun with crime.....)
Gacy was finally arrested - I wonder how many lives could've been saved had police looked at him when his 2nd employee went missing and Gacy was mentioned by the family as a suspect, but it's too late for that now I guess. Gacy was found guilty and given the death penalty. While on trial he remarked that the only thing he was guilty of was running a cemetery without a license. He never showed any remorse, and supposedly remarked that killing him wouldn't bring anyone back. HIs last words were reported to be to a guard on the way to the execution chamber, and he supposedly said "kiss my ass". He was given lethal injection on May 10 1994. His brain was removed, and studies found no abnormality. Its now owned by a woman who interviewed several serial killers and was looking for patterns to how or why they killed.
Jeffrey Dahmer, May 21 1960 - Nov 28 1994. Killed 17 men and boys,most Asian or African American, between 1978 and 1991, with most murders occurring between 87 and 91. The very gruesome murders involved rape, torture, necropilia, dismemberment, and cannibalism.
A reported normal child, he began to change between the ages of 10-15, growing more and more withdrawn with no interest in any hobbies or socializing, and a very strange interest in dead things. He'd go around the neighborhood on his bicycle looking for dead animals. Then he'd bring them home and dissect them, going so far as to put a dog's head on a stake. He began drinking heavily at a young age, and was a full-blown alcholic by his senior high school year. He dropped out of college after less than one term and his father made him join the Army. This seemed well at first, but he was discharged after 2 years for his alcoholism. He lived with his grandmother next, from 1982, but she did not like his strange behavior; for example, she found a male mannequin in his closet, had funny smells coming from the basement - he told his father he dissolved a dead squirrel in acid. He was arrested twice for indecent exposure, the 2nd time masturbating in front of 2 boys. His grandmother could not take anymore, and made him leave her home in 1988. Even with all this, nobody realized he'd already committed murder - his first in 1978 when he'd picked up a male hitchhiker and beaten him to death with a barbell after sex - an event that would come back around to Dahmer in the end.
In Sept 1988 Dahmer was arrested for drugging and fondling a 13 yr old boy. (Get ready to be outraged again, in some ways worse than the Gacy story, concerning the police.) He was sentenced to 5 years probation (even with the prior arrests for indecent exposure and masturbating in front of 2 boys) and 1 year in a work-release camp. He was released 2 months early from the work camp, and soon after the killings began in earnest.
In May 1991, 14 year old Konerak Sinthasomphone was found in the early morning hours wandering the streets, drugged, naked, and bleeding from his rectum, by 2 women. Oddly enough, this boy was younger brother to a former victim of Dahmer's, by chance seemingly. (Imagine that poor family's pain and anger.) The 2 women called 911, and 3 police responded. In the meantime Dahmer had tracked down his victim and tried to take him, but the 2 women wouldn't let him. When the cops arrived, Dahmer told them the 14 year old naked drugged bleeding boy was in fact his 19 year old boyfriend, and that they had fought after heavy drinking. The police released the boy into Dahmer's custody! Later on, Dahmer tortured and dismembered the boy. These cops later reported a funny smell in the home of Dahmer, which was the rotting body of his previous victim in the bedroom. The police audiotape was later released, where 2 of the cops were joking to the dispatcher, making homophobic remarks, joking they needed to be disloused and making fun of reuniting the lovers. Public outrage resulted in them losing their jobs, but 2 officers, - John Balcerzak and Joseph Gabrish evidently didn't feel at all responsible for the boy's death, did not feel they were unfit as cops, etc, as they fought for their jobs back. They won, and were reinstated WITH backpay, and named officers of the year by the police union for their valiant fight to win their jobs back. John Balcerzak was elected president of the Milwaukee Police Association in 2005. (The 3rd officer was unnamed in the articles I read for this blog.)
Finally, would-be victim Tracy Edwards escaped from Dahmer after a struggle, kicking him and punching him in the face even tho Dahmer had a knife. He led police to the house. Cops were unable to ignore what they found there this time. After being told to check the bedroom by the victim, they saw the photos Dahmer had on his wall of dismembered and mangled victims. Searching the place they found a severed head in the refrigerator, and other body parts including a heart in the freezer. Around the home they also found severed hands and penises, corpses in vats of acid, and such.
Dahmer was officially indicted on 17 murder counts. He pled not guilty by reason of insanity, but was found sane, guilty of 15 murders, and sentenced to 15 life sentences, or 957 years. After expressing remorse and claiming to be a born-again Christian, he was baptized. There was an attempt on his life - an inmate tried to slit his throat, but he escaped. Then in November of 1994, fellow inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution, Christopher Scarver, beat Jeffrey Dahmer to death with a metal bar from a weight machine (Dahmer's 1st vic, you'll recall, he beat to death with a barbell). Dahmer died in the ambulance of massive head trauma.
Son of Sam, aka .44 Calibur Killer, David Berkowitz was born June 1 1953. He is a serial killer and arsonist. Arrested in 1977,he confessed to killing 6 people and wounding 7 in a series of 8 shootings in New York City between 1976 and 1977. He claimed a demon possessed his neighbor's dog and commanded him to kill. Later he said he was the actual shooter in only 2 cases, killing 3 and wounding 1, and the others were killed by a satanic cult which he belonged to. Some in law enforcement, including those who investigated the case from the police dpts and journalists, think he may be telling the truth. Before Berkowitz was arrested, they suspected more than one shooter. The case was reportedly reopened in 1996 and remained open at least as late as 2004.
Berkowitz says he joined the cult in 1975, and at first it was only harmless stuff such as seances. Then they began with drugs, sadistic porn, and then violent crimes. He says they began killing dogs, especially German Shepherds, and indeed over a dozen dogs were found slaughtered around Yonkers - an area close to the park he says they used as a meeting place.
A letter was found in the street at one of the crime scenes, full of misspellings and rather crudely written, the author calling himself the Son of Sam. The letter claimed Sam beat him badly, along with the rest of his family, and that father Sam was getting old and needed blood to remain young - he liked to drink blood. The entire letter is easily found thru a Google search or on Wikipedia (most of all this info I got from Wikipedia, and I've only written small summaries - there is much more information on all these criminals and crimes if you're interested in finding out more, and very easy to find). "I am the monster Beelzebub", "I don't want to kill", "I love people" "don't belong on Earth", "return me to yahoos" "I'll be back" are examples of exerpts of this letter, and he also warned that they must kill him to stop him. It was signed "Yours in murder, Mr Monster".
Another letter was mailed to Jimmy Breslin of the New York Daily News. This letter had none of the crudeness of the first letter and seemed it must be written by a more intelligent person, though the unreleased details of the first letter were found in the second as well, leading police to believe they were from 2 different people yet both were at the least witnesses to the murders. The police were very thorough and hard-working in this case, unlike the above cases. They confiscated all the registered .44 cal guns in NYC and did ballistics tests on all of them, were investigating all of the 900 matching Volkswagens in NYC, formed a task force of 300 officers, set up traps in the newspapers and such, and roadblocks, dragnets, etc. There, they were on it boy. They finally were led to Berkowitz, and at first sought him as a possible witness, quickly realizing he was a suspect.
Berkowitz was arrested June 12 1978 and sentenced to 6 life sentences, a maximum of 365 years. He became a born-again Christian, and regularly councils troubled inmates and leads a prison ministry. He has written a letter to NY governor saying he has come to terms with things and knows he deserves life in prison , and does not want any parole hearings. The state has held 2 hearings for him anyway, neither of which he attended nor cooperated with, and both times his parole was denied due to the violent nature of his crimes, though noted he is an exemplary inmate. He says the cult led him to his crimes, though at the same time, he accepts full responsibility for his actions.
Berkowitz warns still that this cult is real, and has 2 dozen core members in NYC. He says he cannot tell too much or his family will be in danger. The cult supposedly has ties all across the US and is deeply involved in drug smuggling and other crimes. In a 1977 letter to the NY Post, the letter closes with "There are other Sons of Sam out there, God help the world". Journalist Maury Terry investigated and found strong evidence that a violent offshoot of the Process Church was responsible for Son of Sam murders and many other crimes. Terry's book, The Ultimate Evil, is about this, and has been expanded several times since first published in 1987. The case was reopened but nobody else has ever been arrested.
Berkowitz said that real life brothers John and Michael Carr, real sons of Yonkers resident Sam Carr, were in the same cult Berkowitz was in. John, he says, was referred to in the Breslin letter, "John Wheaties, rapist and suffocator of young girls". Both Carr brothers died within 2 years of Berkowitz's arrest. John was found dead in February 1978 at his girlfriend's North Dakota home. Police first suspected a homicide, but later ruled it a suicide. Michael was killed in a car crash in 1979 in Manhattan. Berkowitz says both were likely murdered due to heavy drug use, which made them untrustworthy, and seen as apt to inform on the rest of the cult if arrested.
Mark David Chapman, assassin of John Lennon. Born May 10 1955. On Dec 8 1980 shot Lennon 4 times out of 5 shots, with hollow point bullets, outside The Dakota apartment building in NYC. Then he stayed on the scene, reading the book he'd bought that morning, and had been obsessessed with, The Catcher in the Rye. He first pled guilty by reason of insanity, but later changed his plea to guilty of murder in the 2nd degree (though he'd planned the assassination for a long time and came to NYC specifically to kill Lennon). An assessment at Bellvue found him to be delusional but competent to stand trial. (There are many forms and degrees of insanity, and the measurement for crimes and trials is whether or not one knows right from wrong, and he knew killing Lennon was wrong. Many who try to claim insanity are undone when it is proven they tried to hide their crime, thus proving they knew they'd done wrong and would be punished, and trying to escape this fate. Chapman didn't even try to escape, but it was clear from everything he said that he simply didn't want to try and run, but knew it was wrong and knew the police were coming for him because he'd committed a crime.)
Chapman had waited outside Lennon's apartment all day with other fans. At one point he met the housekeeper taking Lennon's son Sean out for a walk, and knowing he was going to try to kill the boy's father, he shook Sean's hand. Lennon and Yoko Ono came out about 5 pm on their way to the recording studio. Lennon stopped to talk to fans, and shook Chapman's hand, and signed his autograph to an album Chapman had. Photographer Paul Goresh snapped a photo of this moment. Later Chapman said the bigger part of him won out at the time, and he wanted to go back to his hotel, but couldn't. "He knew where the ducks went in winter, and I needed to know this," a reference to the Catcher in the Rye.
About 10 minutes before 11 that night, Lennon and Ono returned. As they walked toward the entrance, Chapman turned and fired 5 hollow point bullets from a Charter Arms .38 revolver at Lennon, striking him 4 times in the shoulder and back, with 1 bullet piercing his aorta. Then he calmly took out his book and read til police got there. The first cops on the scene recognized the severity of Lennon's injuries and took him in the police cruiser to the hospital. Chapman was arrested without incident. Lennon died at the hospital at 11:07 pm.
Chapman has been denied parole each time he's up for it. Yoko and an online grassroots campaign work to prevent his parole. Chapman is a prisoner at Attica State Prison, confined to the Security Housing Unit for violent and at-risk prisoners, where officials say he is with 105 prisoners who pose no threat to Chapman. They fear putting him in the general population, that a Lennon fan will kill him.
Charles Manson. Lookin rough ain't he? This has taken longer than I planned on giving it, and most people are familiar enough with Charlie Boy here, so I'm just gonna show you his latest, 2008 mug shot, and anyone who wants his story can find it very easily.
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