The Killers Trilogy

by Martin McGregor

  Almost everything in the apartment, including food and drinking glasses, that were nearly all covered in blood. In the kitchen were small pieces of bone, and various body parts were in the fridge. One container had human brain inside. A food blender was badly stained and smelt of rotten flesh. A calendar showed the date of the triple murders with the word ‘today’ written on it. He had also written the same world on a further 44 future dates.

  While in custody Chase admitted to another cellmate, that he had drunk the blood of his victims because he had blood poisoning. Then on the 24th of March, the decapitated body of the missing child was found. The body had been stabbed several times, and a bullet wound was found in the head. Several of the child’s ribs had also been broken. The evidence against Chase was growing by the day. Chase’s defence team entered a plea of ‘Not guilty by reason of insanity’. The prosecutor said that he intended to seek the death penalty.

  The prosecutor was determined to show that Chase knew the difference between right and wrong, and that Chase was not compelled to murder. To assist in the case, he researched blood related crimes and blood rituals that were used in other cultures, he also read about vampires as part of his strategy. During his research, he noted that some believed that by ingesting another person’s blood, they would be strengthened or healed, but this in itself was no reason to commit murder.

  In early January 1979, Chase was put on trial for six counts of murder. The prosecution reminded the court several times during the case, that Chase always had a choice not to kill. When he went to commit the murders, he carried latex gloves with him with the intent to murder. Altogether the prosecution showed 250 exhibits of evidence including Chase’s gun and a wallet he had taken from one of his victims.

  Dan Wallis was the first person to have to describe the scene that greeted him when he found his dead wife. Almost one hundred other witnesses came forward over the next four months. Chase then took the stand in his own defence. He said that he was semi conscious during the Wallis murder, and then told the court about how he had been mistreated during most of his life. He did then admit to drinking Wallis’s blood.

  He said that he did not recall much about the next series of murders, but he did recall shooting the baby and removing its head. He said how he had left the baby in a bucket hoping to get more of its blood. He said that his problems stemmed from being unable to have sex, and then expressed remorse for his actions. The defence asked for a plea of second degree murder, so that Chase would not face the death penalty, but the prosecutor said he was a sexual sadist and a monster who they said could not be saved.

  In May of 1978, Chase was found to be legally sane, and guilty of six counts of first degree murder. He was sentenced to die by the gas chamber. Up until the point of his death, Chase was visited on numerous occasions by various FBI profilers, all hoping to gain some more insight into the criminal psychology of serial killers. It eventually emerged that he was formerly released from treatment even though some of the staff warned that he was dangerous. He had thought that his blood was turning to powder and he needed other blood to replace it.

  Chase genuinely believed that he had to kill to save his own life, and that he was going to appeal based on his belief. He was delusional in prison saying that he was being poisoned, he said that was persecuted by the Nazis as he was Jewish (which he wasn’t), and UFO’s had telepathically told him to replenish his blood. He said that these UFO’s would show up on radar if the FBI tracked him.

  On Christmas day in 1980, Chase was found dead in his cell. He had saved up doses of his prescription medication and had then overdosed. His official cause of death was toxic ingestion.

  Despite worrying all his life, his heart was found to be normal sized, and in a good condition.

  Gary and Thaddeus Lewingdon.

  In Colombo Ohio in the late 1970’s, there were a series of ten seemingly unrelated murders. Homes were invaded and the murders were committed in the most brutal fashion. Police had no clues as to who was responsible until one of the murderers used a credit card that was stolen from one of the victims, and when Gary Lewingdon was taken into custody, he soon confessed about the crimes he, and his brother Thaddeus had committed.

  On December 10th 1977, two women were gunned down in cold blood at the back door of Forkers cafe in Newark Ohio. They were both shot as they left work at 2.30 am. The frozen bodies of 37 year old Joyce Vermilion and 33 year old Karen Dodrill were found in the snow. Shell casings from a .22 calibre gun were found in the surrounding snow. For reasons unknown, a 26 year old woman confessed to the police that she had witnessed her boyfriend shooting the women, but she was lying.

  The 26 year old go-go dancer named Claudia Yasko, had walked into a police station and told the police that she had actually been with two men when they had committed the murders. She gave the police a very strong description of the crime scene. As a result Yasko, her boyfriend and one of his associates were all arrested and charged with the murders. The police assumed that the case was now closed.

  On February 12th 1978, the bodies of 52 year old Mickey McCann his 77 year old mother Dorothy and his 26 year old girlfriend Christine Herdman were found in McCann’s home in Franklin County, all three had been shot multiple times around the face and head. Similar .22 cases were found around the bodies.

  Herdman had been shot in the right cheek, her right shoulder and twice in the forehead. Dorothy McCann had been shot in the mouth, her head, and in her right leg. Richard McCann had been shot twice in the forehead, once in the mouth and twice in the back of the head. Telephones lines to the house had been severed and there appeared to be no clear motive for the murders.

  Then on the 8th of April 1978, another body was found. The body was that of 77 year old Jenkin T Jones. He had been gunned down in his own home. The victim had also been shot multiple times, six times in total, with two shots to the back of his head His four pet dogs were found and they had also been shot. Shells were also left at the scene belonging to a .22 calibre gun.

  On the 30th of April 1978, a part time security guard named Rev. Gerald Fields was murdered while at work in a private club in Fairfield County. Shell cases found at the scene matched those from previous locations. Then on May 21st 1978, another two victims were found. Jerry and Martha Martin were both shot multiple times in the head while they were at home in Franklin County. Shell cases at the scene also matched those previously found belonging to a .22 calibre gun.

  On the 21st of May two more bodies were discovered. The bullet riddled bodies of 47 year old Jerry L Martin and his 50 year old wife Martha, were discovered by a visiting relative. Both of the victims had been shot repeatedly about the head, the police now began to think that there may be more than one person involved in these killings.

  Police began to examine old case files, when they happened to come across the murders of Joyce Vermillion and Karen Dodrill, and they then decided to take another look at the evidence relating to the case. The shells found at the scene were sent away to be analyzed, and they came back as match to the recent series of murders. The three people who had previously been charged were all then released. No explanation was ever given to the confession.

  All then went quiet until the 4th of December 1978, when 56 year old Joseph Annick was shot five times in the chest and stomach and killed while he was in his garage. A different weapon was used for this murder though. Police still thought that this type of killing had to be related to the previous chain of murders.

  The case was swiftly brought to the point of being solved by an astute 17 year old girl named Cheryl Young. The shop assistant had noticed that she had been handed a stolen credit card for payment of goods. Her manager had previously posted on a register of stolen cards. Managers at the store detained 38 year old Gary Lewingdon until the police arrived. Lewingdon was then detained on suspicion of murder.

  Investigators discovered that Gary had served in Vietnam. He was discharged from the Air Force in 1962. Over the following years
he was arrested many times from theft, indecent exposure and for concealed weapons charges. Investigators took him to an investigation room hoping to gain a confession from him, they were not disappointed.

  Gary soon revealed that both he and his brother Thaddeus had in fact committed multiple murders. The authorities then arrested his brother Thaddeus, who was also happy to recount the events of the murders. Thaddeus told detectives that he and his brother had fallen out after he himself had grown tired of the slayings. Detectives searched both men’s homes and discovered various weapons and items that had been stolen from many of the victims.

  On the 14th of December 1978, both men were indicted. Gary faced 20 felony counts including 10 for murder, and Thaddeus faced 17 counts of which 9 were for murder. Thaddeus received three life terms on conviction from murders of Vermillion, Dodrill and Jones. A month later, he received another sentence of six life terms after being found guilty of the murders of the McCann’s and Martin. Gary received 8 consecutive life terms for all ten murders.

  On the 17th of April 1979, Gary died of lung cancer. Gary was repeatedly denied parole, and died of heart failure in October 2004. None of the members of his family wished to claim the body, and he was then buried at the prison in Mansfield.

  William Bonin

  Bonin was born on the 8th of January 1947. He was a serial killer and repeat sex offender, he became better known as ‘The Freeway Killer’. The exact number of his victims is unknown, but at least 21 boys were tortured, raped and killed, with the possibility that there may have been in excess of another twelve more victims. As is the case of many serial killers, Bonin came from a troubled family background.

  Bonin was the middle son of three brothers. His father was a compulsive gambler an alcoholic and was abusive. Bonin’s mother was also an alcoholic. The father would repeatedly beat his wife and children. The mother would often leave Bonin in his grandfather’s care for periods of time, and his grandfather was a convicted child molester. Often the three brothers were so neglected that they had to be fed by neighbours.

  At the age of six, Bonin was placed in an orphanage, and he would remain there until he was nine years old. At ten years old, he was arrested for stealing license plates and he soon ended up in a juvenile detention centre. Bonin was sexually abused by other boys at the centre, and when he was released home to his mother, he then himself began molesting younger children.

  After leaving High school, Bonin joined the U.S. Air Force and also became engaged to marry. Bonin served during the Vietnam War and logged over 700 hours of active duty, he even earned a good conduct medal. At one point he risked his own life, to save that of a fellow soldier. It was only later that it came to, light that he had sexually assaulted two other soldiers at gunpoint.

  Bonin left the Air Force in October of 1978, and returned home to live with his mother. He then decided to make a move to California. At the age of 21, he committed a sexual assault on a youth. Within a few months he had kidnapped and had assaulted a further four youths. The same year he was indicted for five counts of kidnapping and of four counts of sexual assaults. He pled guilty and was sentenced as a mentally disordered sexual offender.

  After spending two years at Atascadero State Hospital, he was then considered unfit for further treatment and was transferred to prison. In May 1974, Bonin was declared to no longer be a danger to others, and was released. His good behaviour failed to last, and eighteen months later, he was again back in prison after raping a fourteen year old hitchhiker at gunpoint and then attempting to abduct another youth. This time he was sentenced to serve 1-15 years at Orange County Jail.

  Four years later in October 1978, he was again released from prison. He took a job as a truck driver and found himself a girlfriend. While on probation, he then molested another teenage boy. Instead of being sent back to prison, a technical error meant that he was instead set free once again. A close friend collected him from the police station and Bonin told him

  ‘No-one’s going to testify again. This is never going to happen to me again.’

  His words were chilling as they were a glimpse into an even darker turn of events that were about to unfold.

  A killing spree then ensued. Most of the victims were between 12 and 19 years of age. They were mostly enticed into Bonin’s Chevy van and then they were tied up, sexually assaulted and usually strangled, most of the time they were strangled with their own shirts. It was suspected that Bonin had an accomplice for at least nine of the murders and the suspect was named Vernon Butts.

  On the 29th of May 1979, fourteen year old Thomas Lundgren was hitchhiking. He was kidnapped and assaulted. His body was found near a freeway in Agoura. His autopsy showed that he had been emasculated, stabbed and strangled. On the 4th of August 1979, seventeen year old Mark Shelton was also abducted and killed. The following day an exchange student named Marcus Grabs was stabbed more than seventy times and his body then dumped in Malibu.

  On August 27th, fifteen year old Donald Hyden was abducted and killed. Another five more youths were killed between September and December that year. Another accomplice named James Munro, was also known to have assisted in the murder of a seventeen year old named Dennis Frank Fox in December of that year. The killing spree continued on into the next year.

  In January, 16 year old Michael McDonald was assaulted and killed. In February, 15 year old Charles Miranda was kidnapped, raped assaulted with other objects and then garrotted. Miranda’s naked body was dumped in an alleyway and just a few hours later that very same day, 12 year old James McCabe was beaten, raped and strangled with a tyre iron. His badly beaten body was not found for another three days.

  The killings ceased until March 14th when eighteen year old Ronald Gaitlin was abducted and killed. Then on the 29th of April, nineteen year old Darin Kendrick was lured in Bonin’s van. He was forced to drink chlorohydrate acid and then he had an ice pick driven into his ear. His body was discarded near to the Artesia freeway. On the 19th of May fourteen year old Sean King was also abducted and killed.

  The press had picked up on stories of the Freeway Killer. Reports of the killings were broadcast on local radio stations and this is where the police received a lucky break. From his prison cell, a former accomplice of Bonin had heard about the killings on his radio. He suspected that this was the work of Bonin, and reported his suspicions to the Police. The Police looked at his Bonin’s previous convictions and decided to place him under surveillance.

  As fate would have it, the police surveillance started on the 2nd of June. This was the day of the last murder that Bonin committed. It was however too late to save eighteen year old Stephen Wells who was raped, beaten and then strangled with his own t-shirt. Police observed Bonin’s actions for the next nine days. In that time he had been observed trying to pick up five different teenagers. He eventually succeeded in luring one into his van, and was followed to a desolate area. It was here that he was caught in the act of sexual assault on a fifteen year old boy.

  While in custody, Bonin confessed to abducting, raping and killing 21 boys and young men. He was charged with 16 of the murders to which he had confessed. The prosecution thought that they now had enough to obtain a conviction. Bonin showed no remorse for his crimes and said that if he was still at large he would still be killing. He said he couldn’t stop killing and that it got easier every time.

  Vernon Butts was charged with accompanying Bonin on five of the murders. He was later charged with four other murders. Two more accomplices were also charged with murder, but were all spared the death penalty in an agreement to testify against Bonin. On the 5th of January 1982, Bonin was found guilty of ten of the murders, and was subsequently sentenced to death.

  Bonin spent the next fourteen years on death row, awaiting his execution. He launched numerous appeals but none were successful. On the 23rd of February 1996, he was executed by lethal injection in San Quentin State Prison. The day before his execution, Bonin gave an interview to local radio from the prison he state
d:

  “They feel my death will bring closure, but that’s not the case. They’re going to find out.”

  Alton Coleman and Debra Brown

  Alton Coleman was born on the 6th of November 1955. He grew up with a mother who was a prostitute, who would often entertain clients and engage in sexual intercourse in front of him. By the time he had dropped out of middle school, he was living in Waukegan Illinois with his 73 year old grandmother who was also well known to the authorities. He was charged with ten sex crimes between 1973 and 1983.

  Two of the sex crime cases were dismissed. Coleman pled guilty to two of the lesser charges and he was twice acquitted. He was supposed to begin trial for the rape of a fourteen year old girl, but he ran. This was then to spark a murderous killing spree along with an accomplice named Debra Denise Brown.

  Brown was borderline retarded, she was one of eleven children, and she had suffered from a major head trauma as a child. In 1983 she was engaged to another man, but broke off the engagement to move in with Coleman. She had never been in trouble in her life before she met Coleman. Soon she would become a willing accomplice to murder but her I.Q. was measured at less than 75.