Octoberfest 2017: Fatal Families Part 2
Hi! I think every year I try to cover at least one edition of killer families, couples or teams. Unfortunately, for the time period I usually try to find names for, I'm running out of gas so this might be my last edition of Fatal Families; I'm not entirely sure just yet. This time around, finding names was a little easier because there were so many lists up on various serial killer teams, but the problem was that they all looked like the same list after awhile. The names repeated on several different lists, so I wasn't able to pull out a bunch and create a list that looked different. I still tried, though. lol Per usual, I apologize for any similarities you see between this list and others; while I looked at different lists for names I hadn't used yet, the intention was not to copy anyone's exact list or content. I found the names, then used entirely different websites to source the info. Because the lists were so similar, I was only able to create a list of 5 names. Let's get into them!
1. Staffleback Family
I want to say it was a couple of years ago during my first post about fatal families that I talked about the Bender and Kelly families, who both went on murdering sprees in Kansas back in the 1800s. There was another murderous family on the loose in Kansas some time later, the Staffleback family. The photo I included with this story is of the matriarch, Ma Staffleback, who was also known as Galena's Bloody Madam. Before their primary claim to fame in Galena, Kansas, the family was already known locally for being career criminals who'd carried out numerous petty crimes and serving time, but their gorier crimes, as well as their pasts, would eventually come out as well. At some point they moved to Galena and bought a rundown home that shared attachments to a nearby abandoned mine shaft, and this became the location for their murders. The location, nicknamed Galena's Murder Bordello, has recently come under dispute for being the actual location because paper documents haven't substantiated the long-held belief that Ma Staffleback owned and operated out of the house. The paper trail is cold, leaving some to wonder if the location now named as being the murder bordello was actually that house or not. This is more important for the local historical crowd, as having the incorrect house obviously would hurt the tourism angle of those wanting to see the house, and many of these infamous murder homes later become recognized as local historical sites, freeing them from potentially being demolished. You can't mark a spot as a local historical site if it's the wrong house. lol But that's a current day dispute. Let's get back to the basis for this house potentially becoming a historical site.
As I said, Ma Staffleback and her family, her six children (3 males, 3 females) and a son-in-law moved into the house in question. The sources I read differ on exactly what was going on in the house but the majority agree that it was a house for prostitution, or a bordello. Either way, soon after they moved in the murders began. One of Ma's sons, Ed, had a girlfriend who moved into the Staffleback home and she, along with another young woman who witnessed the girlfriend's murder, were beaten to death by one of Ma's other sons, Mike. Mike and Ed's girlfriend got into an argument that turned physical, and Mike beat her to death, murdering the other young woman because she saw what happened. Their bodies were dumped into the mine shaft along with those of a wife of another of the sons who had no interest in prostituting (this was their only means of income and the family was known to trick innocent women into marrying into the family and giving them another girl to sell to clients) and attempted to leave, a salesman and a miner, whose murder got the ball rolling to catch the Staffleaeck family. After he made advances on one of Ma's daughters Emma, he was invited to dinner and rejected, which brought on an argument, and the man attempted to flee. Ma chased him out with a knife and two of the brothers began shooting at him. Despite being shot he still attempted to get away, but one of the brothers caught up to him and shot him in the head. He was already dead by then, but Ma then slit his throat and the body was dumped, along with the others, in the mine shaft. There were two witnesses to the murder and they were initially threatened into silence, but later testified during the trial. Police later found his body in the shaft and this led to the arrests of Ma, two sons and her son-in-law, who were convicted and sent to prison for various charges stemming from the murder. This case led to the discovery of two other murders said to be attributed to the Staffleback family before they moved to Galena, and it is said that dozens of the bordello's clients never came out alive.
A couple of archived newspaper articles about the case while it was current can be read at the second source link, which detail the findings over a few days while police carried out the investigation. From the bit I read, this sounds like it was a media circus, with a daily crowd at the front of the mine shaft while police looked for bodies inside. A wooden bat with a clump of hair on it was found in the shaft, along with bloody clothes, and during the investigation several other bodies were pulled up, aligning with people who'd gone missing months beforehand. All in all, people attribute nearly, if not over 50, victims to the family.
Research resources:
1 | 2 | 3
2. Briley Brothers
The Briley Brothers were a team of three brothers who unleashed one of the worst crime/murder sprees on Richmond, Virginia in 1979. The oldest, Linwood, seems to be the one who got his younger brothers into the criminal life. In 1971, 16-year-old Linwood murdered his neighbor, who was outside hanging clothes, for absolutely no reason. The woman had recently been widowed and was minding her own business, hanging her clothes out on her line, when Linwood shot her with a rifle from his bedroom window. Once police were able to discern that the cause of death was a bullet wound rather than stress (at first, nobody noted the spot of blood in her back so the bullet wasn't uncovered until later), the trajectory of the bullet led straight to Linwood, who admitted it with no provocation--or guilt. After a year in reform school, he was released and over the next few years, the middle brother followed his brother into petty crime and was imprisoned for burglary and shooting at police during his getaway--which I'll get back to later--but otherwise, things were quiet until 1979. The brothers planned a home invasion/murder spree, robbing various homes and people and leaving no witnesses alive to identify them. March to October of 1979 saw them murder 11 people, but the group has since been linked to 9 other murders in the area.
It doesn't appear that the brothers had any preference in the victims they chose; the youngest documented victim was 5, while the oldest was around 76. Married couples, pregnant women, and on one occasion even a local celebrity fell victim to the Briley Brothers. Much like the victims that were chosen, the procedure didn't seem to follow any rhyme or reason either. A few of their victims were ambushed in their homes, others were ambushed while walking home or leaving a location, and the youngest of the victims was murdered simply for standing by Linwood's car for too long, making Linwood suspicious. They were indiscriminate in the victims they chose, but they were brutal with the manner in which they carried out their crimes. The first two survivors were ambushed in their home, robbed and left to burn to death as the brothers set the house on fire before leaving. Despite being on fire (Linwood had poured kerosene over the man's legs before setting the room alight), the man was able to get himself and his wife to safety. The majority of their victims were robbed, the female victims repeatedly raped, most of them beat, and most were eventually shot in the head. Two elderly victims, a brother and sister, were stabbed and bludgeoned to death. The 17-year-old had his skull crushed by a cinder block. It is assumed that within these various crimes that the other 9 murders they've since been linked to were committed.
The murder that led to the brothers' arrest was the joint murder of husband and wife Harvey Wilkerson, Judy Barton and their 5-year-old son. Unlike many of their other victims, the brothers were actually acquaintainces of Wilkerson and had been friendly on a number of occasions over the years as the two families lived around the corner from each other. The brothers heard rumors about Wilkerson potentially being a drug dealer and one of the sources lists this as a potential reason for the attack, but I'm unsure. Either way, the brothers were planning their next victims as a bit of celebratory run as the middle brother, who I mentioned earlier had been imprisoned, had been paroled that same morning. At some point, the gang decided on the Wilkerson family and, with a 16-year-old friend named Duncan Meekins, approached the Wilkerson house and over the course of an evening, robbed the house, repeatedly raped Judy (who was pregnant) in front of her son and husband, and eventually shot and killed all three--four, counting the unborn child. What makes this particular case sadder for me is that the police were currently canvassing the area looking for the brothers and saw them enter the Wilkerson house, but were unsure of where they'd heard the gunshots coming from. As a result, they didn't search the apartment or find the family for days, until a welfare check was requested by a neighbor. The brothers had released the family's pet snakes and puppies in the apartment, so crucial evidence had been destroyed in the three days that the family was left in their home. At the time the brothers were arrested, they were wearing bits and pieces of their victims' jewelry, including a ring by a local disc jockey they'd killed, which the victim's friend (who was with the man when he bought the ring and was one of the detectives interrogating the brothers) noticed, which left no doubt as to their guilt. Meekins took a plea deal in exchange for a lighter sentence and the two older brothers were given multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole. The youngest couldn't definitively be linked to any of the crime scenes, so he was given life with the possibility of parole.
You would think that's where the story ends, but it doesn't. In the mid-80s, the two eldest Brileys were able to escape from prison with a group of other inmates after overtaking the guards on patrol. Their freedom lasted for three weeks, when a wiretap on their uncle's phone led police to their location and they were re-arrested. All three brothers exhausted their appeal requests and a year later, Linwood was executed by electric chair. Six months after that, the middle brother was executed in the same manner. The youngest brother was alive at the time of the article I got my info from, but is in a different prison than his brothers were in.
The first link in this section will take you to a timeline of events covering all of the Briley Brothers' documented victims, and the second will take you to an account of one of the lone survivors in a case I didn't touch on here.
Research resources:
1 | 2
3. Moors Murderers
"The Moors Murderers" was the name given to a pair of lovers in England who murdered their victims and dumped their bodies in Saddleworth Moor, around Manchester. All of the victims were children, with the eldest only being 17, which dirties this case even further considering what happened to the victims. Around 1963, Myra and Ian's first victim, a 16-year-old girl, was raped and beaten before being stabbed and having her throat slit. A few months later, a 12-year-old boy was kidnapped, raped and murdered. A few months after that, Keith Bennett, who was also 12, was kidnapped and strangled before his body was disposed of. Their youngest victim, a 10-year-old girl, was stripped, gagged and forced to pose for photographs before being raped and strangled. Their final victim, a 17-year-old boy, was beaten and axed to death in front of their only witness, the younger brother of Myra's brother-in-law. It was the young man who brought their killing spree to an end following the final murder, after they let him go home and he was urged to inform the police. The two did not confess their crimes until 1985, after two decades of professing their innocence and telling slightly conflicting stories about what happened to their victims. They did, however, agree that their young witness actually participated in the final murder rather than simply watching the couple commit it, but he has always maintained his innocence. The trial itself sounds like it was a media circus, but I've left those details for the research resources below the story.
Anyway, at a later point Myra, through correspondence with a doctor, expressed a bit of remorse but the British press still had her (correctly) nabbed as one of the most evil women in the land, and all of her appeals were denied. She admitted in the letters that she was not the instigator nor the planner in their crimes, but was a willing and culpable accomplice. She died in prison in 2002 and Ian, who after being declared criminally insane, was transferred to a mental hospital where he claimed his insanity was just method acting, eventually died earlier this year. From the articles I used to source this case, I believe both of them took the location of one of their victims' bodies to their own graves. Keith Bennett's remains were never found, despite their confessions to his murder and repeated requests by police over the years as their health declined with age. Even though Myra was said to be remorseful, this was one of the things she never disclosed. Ian didn't seem to share that feeling of remorse, as his reason for killing his victims was quoted to be "existential experience," rather than admitting that they were simply cold-blooded acts of monstrosity carried out on innocent children. He railed against the system for the right to kill himself and his legal team repeatedly attempted to get his insanity ruling overturned so that he could return to prison, but to no avail. Supposed hunger strikes didn't work, statements against the mental facility didn't work, and even appeals from victims' families to have him returned didn't work. He died there earlier this year, and as far as I know, he did not disclose where he and Myra buried Keith Bennett's body. The local police believe that only a miracle would result in a sufficient reason being granted to reopen the investigation, but the Bennett family has taken it upon themselves to continue searching the moor in hopes of finding their lost relative.
Research resources:
1 | 2 | 3
4. Lonely Hearts Killers
The Lonely Hearts Killers were a couple named Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez who would use the Lonely Hearts sections of newspapers to bait and lure their victims. Ironically, they chose this method of murder after meeting each other through the same kind of ad. While I believe this was Martha's first foray into lonely hearts ads, Raymond had already been at it for awhile. After an accident caused a traumatic brain injury, Raymond became a different person, abandoning his wife and kids for his newly developed plan to turn wealthy women into his slaves before leaving them penniless and/or dead. Before meeting Martha Beck he'd already tried out his scheme on a couple of women, one of whom actually vacationed with him and his wife as a trio before mysteriously turning up dead. Tongues wagged that Raymond was behind the death, but nothing ever came of it and he was left free to pursue his next victim. After the woman died, a last will was forged leaving him the heir to her estate which he immediately took advantage of, evicting her mother from the home and moving in to continue his scheme. He was the first person to respond to Martha's lonely hearts ad and for her it was love because he didn't seem to take issue with her large size (she slightly catfished him by not properly showing her size in pictures they exchanged), when he flew to her in Florida, but to him she was just his next mark. Martha surprised Raymond at his home in New York with her two children in tow but Raymond wanted nothing to do with them, so she abandoned them at a Salvation Army. At that point, Raymond came clean about the truth of his lonely hearts ads and to his delight, Martha was not only okay with it, but helped him pick his next marks. The two would pick a victim, then pretend to be brother and sister (or sister-in-law) to explain Martha's constant close proximity, and Raymond would seduce the woman, then fleece her.
The first victim quickly became a wife, but fled the home after only a few days and was one of the few women to leave of her own volition. One of the other women to marry Raymond shortly after was not so lucky. Even though Martha was okay with the con itself, she was not okay with Raymond getting close to the mark and she especially did not care for them sleeping together. This became an issue with one of the women, and eventually she and Martha had it out. She'd integrated herself so deeply that the 'couple' could not consummate the marriage, which obviously bothered the new 'wife,' and in response, the couple drugged her, robbed her, and left her at a bus station. She died the following day, but the couple had already skipped town. They continued robbing people on their way back to New York but didn't come across another meal ticket for awhile. A New York based woman became the next target, and Raymond did his portion, seducing her and gradually convincing her to clean out all of her bank accounts. Martha did hers as well, integrating herself as deeply as possible into the relationship to ensure it didn't go too far, and again, this caused an issue. The story differs as to who exactly struck the fatal blow, but the 'wife' suddenly turned up dead one morning, having suffered blunt force trauma to the head. This murder ended up being the first nail in the couple's coffin because they made a mistake in the days following the murder. While they were living it up, spending the woman's money, they were sending fraudulent typewritten notes to family and friends, posing as the woman and saying everything was fine. The problem with that was the woman did not own and did not know how to use a typewriter, and they took that to police.
Yet again, the couple had skipped town and their next mark, a single mother to a toddler, would be the final nail. The couple came into town to 'visit,' and ended up seeing Charles without the toupee that hid the mark from his accident. They had an argument about him deceiving her, and Martha convinced her to take some sleeping pills and rest for awhile. The child knew something was off and wouldn't stop crying, at which point Martha began to choke her. To prevent the child's mother from waking up and seeing the bruises around her neck, Raymond shot the woman in the head and disposed of the body. They held onto the little girl for the next couple of days, but the trauma she'd suffered at watching her mother's murder came out in uncontrollable crying. To keep her quiet, she was eventually shot as well and buried next to her mother. What did them in was their off-script move to not immediately leave town so when police came to the woman's home to investigate calls made by suspicious neighbors, Martha answered the door, leading to their arrests. Because they were in Michigan, which did not have the death penalty, the two readily confessed their crimes but in a move that surprised them both, they were extradited to New York, which did enforce the death penalty. Their other crimes caught up with them and after a year and half in jail, they were executed on the same day, one after the other, in Sing Sing Prison in 1951.
Believe it or not, that was the condensed version of the story. The second link, which is the main source I used for this story, will take you to a much more detailed rundown of the crimes, the trial and the execution of the Lonely Hearts Killers.
Research resources:
1 | 2
5. The Lethal Lovers
The Lethal Lovers was a nickname given to Cathy Wood and Gwendolyn Graham, two nurses aides who met and fell in love while working at a nursing home in the late '80s. Soon after becoming intimate with each other, the couple started playing around with sexual asphyxiation as Graham found it sexually arousing to her. She would restrain and choke Wood, usually during sex, until just before she lost consciousness. started flirting with the idea of murdering someone at the nursing home, also to be used as an aphrodisiac, and the couple eventually decided to make it a game. They would murder people whose initials would eventually spell out the word 'murder' but this plan shifted when the patients selected showed themselves too strong for Graham, and she'd have to back off. From then the plan was to only choose the weaker patients at the home, and while Wood, who was the head nurse aide at the facility, would serve as lookout Graham would murder the unsuspecting patient. Graham's preferred method was suffocation with a washcloth, which she'd hold over the patient's nose and mouth. Wood would use her superiority to ensure the surrounding area was free of any potential co-worker witnesses and after the deed was done, the two would usually be so aroused they'd sneak away to have sex. Graham usually took a souvenir from the victim afterward, which was flaunted in front of disbelieving coworkers as the couple spilled the beans on how the patient actually died. The co-workers didn't believe them, nobody called the police, and it seemed as though they'd both get away with their crimes. They continued on this way, killing off patients, stealing souvenirs and bragging about it later, for nearly 3 months. Being that it was a nursing home and the patients were already dying, however, nobody suspected anything was amiss.
The couple's breakup was what turned the tide, because at some point following the end of the relationship, Wood confessed the crimes to her ex-husband, who immediately notified the police. All in all, 40 patients died during the couple's murder spree but only 8 of those victims' deaths looked suspicious enough to attribute to the women. The final count of crimes was 5, and during the trial the women turned on each other, each accusing the other of being the mastermind. In the end, Graham was convicted of murder on all five charges and sentenced to life without parole in prison. Wood, however, was only given 40 years as part of a plea bargain she'd struck with the prosecution and is eligible for parole now, but will be released in 2021. Again, this is the condensed version of the story. The first link is to the Murderpedia, which has a lot more detail on the murders and the trial.
Research resources:
1 | 2 | 3
That wraps up things for me today. I wish there'd been more names; I know this wasn't nearly as meaty as the other serial killer entries I've made and I apologize. I just didn't my list to be identical to the others and since many of the same names are being circulated throughout the larger lists, I had no choice except to cut mine down. Even though true crime interests me, there are times and posts where it's a bit difficult for me to have to read through so much brutality and this was one of those times for me. I had to take quite a few breaks while I was writing this so I could get my life back together. lol Were there any names on this list that were new to you? See you in a few days!
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