Arthur Shawcross was serving a life sentence for the murders of 11 women from 1988 to 1990 when he died late Monday at Albany hospital.
His death marks the end of a life of terrible crimes. His first known victim was 10 year old Jack Blake in Watertown NY in 1972. He confessed to the killing but was never charged due to a plea bargain. A few months after Jack's murder, Shawcross killed again. This time, his victim was
8 year old Karen Hill. The girl had been raped and had mud and grass stuffed down her throat. Shawcross was able to plead to manslaughter in the case and no charges were brought in the murder of the Blake boy.
He was paroled after 15 years and then proceeded to kill at least 11 women in the Rochester, NY Area. Patricia Ives, 25, Frances Brown, 22, June Cicero, 34, Darlene Trippi, 32,Anna Marie Steffen, 28, Dorothy Blackburn, 27, Kimberly Logan, June Stotts, 30, Marie Welch, 22, Elizabeth Gibson, and Dorothy Keller, 59.
Shawcross told many horror stories of his Vietnam experience which he largely blamed for his homicidal tendencies, but it remains unclear how much if any of them were true.
I had never heard of this case until my Uncle gave me this book-
a couple of weeks ago. I finished reading it last night while this guy was dying. Creepy.
Another book which I have not read:
I-Team 10 investigation: Letters from a serial killer - November 11, 2008
NY serial killer Arthur Shawcross dead at age 63 - November 11, 2008
