Montag, 8. Mär 2010, 0:21
Alaina Kaufman
May
Business law – 1B
March 5th, 2010
Albert Fish
Serial Killer: A person who attacks and kills victims one by one in a series of incidents.
Biography: Albert was born Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish, on May 19th 1870. He was raised in a orphanage after his father died, which he said led to some of his odd behaviors, such as urine drinking and coprophagous. Many of his family members suffered from various mental afflictions including an uncle with religious mania, a sister with some sort of mental illness, and a mother who had frequent aural/ visual hallucinations. He became a painter/interior designer, married a woman for 20 years, and had 6 children with his wife before she left him.In 1890 he relocated to New York City and began his crimes against children. He often encouraged his children to hit him with a paddle with multiple long nails in it. He lodged 27 needles into his pelvic region, He’s been believed to be a male prostitute, and a homosexual. He was also had habits that were sadistic/masochistic and included pedophilia. He admitted to killing Grace Budd, along with over 100 other children, one or more for each state. He was convicted, and sentenced to death on the electric chair. Before he died he claimed that dying in such a manner would be "the supreme thrill of my life".
How he works: He often found small children, typically boys, and take them to a secluded private place. There he would torture and torment them. He would then proceed to cut them into pieces, cook their meat, then eat them. In one case he wrote a letter to the parents of the victim describing in detail what he did to their daughter.
How he killed them:
KNOWN VICTIMS:
Francis X. McDonnell, age 8, July 15, 1924
Francis was playing on his front porch of his home in the pastoral Charlton Woods section of Staten Island. His mother was sitting and watching him as an old man walked by, who clenched and unclenched his fists and mumbled to himself.
Later that afternoon, the old man was seen again watching Francis and four other boys play ball. The old man called Francis over to him. The other boys continued to play ball. A few minutes later, both the old man and Francis had disappeared. A neighbor noticed a boy that looked like Francis walking that afternoon into a wooded area with an elderly gray-haired tramp behind him.
They found the boy in the woods under some branches. He had been horribly assaulted. His clothes had been torn from his body and he had been strangled with his suspenders. Francis had been beaten so badly that police doubted that the "old" tramp could have really been as old and frail as he looked. The beating was so severe that perhaps the old tramp had an accomplice who had the strength to maul the child.
Billy Gaffney, age 8, February 11, 1927
Billy was playing in the hallway one day with a neighbor boy (also named Billy) while being watched by a babysitter, who happened to be distracted by his crying sister. When she came back, both of the Billy’s were gone. They went on a frantic search for the two boys and found the neighbor boy on the roof. When asked where Billy Gaffney was he stated “the boogeyman took him.”
In Fish’s confession he said “I brought him to the Riker Ave. dumps. There is a house that stands alone, not far from where I took him. I took the boy there. Stripped him naked and tied his hands and feet and gagged him with a piece of dirty rag I picked out of the dump. Then I burned his clothes. Threw his shoes in the dump. Then I walked back and took the trolley to 59 St. at 2 A.M. and walked from there home.
"Next day about 2 P.M., I took tools, a good heavy cat-of-nine tails. Home made. Short handle. Cut one of my belts in half, slit these halves in six strips about 8 inches long. I whipped his bare behind till the blood ran from his legs. I cut off his ears – nose –slit his mouth from ear to ear. Gouged out his eyes. He was dead then. I stuck the knife in his belly and held my mouth to his body and drank his blood.
"I picked up four old potato sacks and gathered a pile of stones. Then I cut him up. I had a grip with me. I put his nose, ears and a few slices of his belly in the grip. Then I cut him through the middle of his body. Just below the belly button. Then through his legs about 2 inches below his behind. I put this in my grip with a lot of paper. I cut off the head – feet – arms– hands and the legs below the knee. This I put in sacks weighed with stones, tied the ends and threw them into the pools of slimy water you will see all along the road going to North Beach. "I came home with my meat. I had the front of his body I liked best. His monkey and pee wees and a nice little fat behind to roast in the oven and eat. I made a stew out of his ears – nose – pieces of his face and belly. I put onions, carrots, turnips, celery, salt and pepper. It was good.
"Then I split the cheeks of his behind open, cut off his monkey and pee wees and washed them first. I put strips of bacon on each cheek of his behind and put them in the oven. Then I picked 4 onions and when the meat had roasted about 1/4 hour, I poured about a pint of water over it for gravy and put in the onions. At frequent intervals I basted his behind with a wooden spoon. So the meat would be nice and juicy.
"In about 2 hours, it was nice and brown, cooked through. I never ate any roast turkey that tasted half as good as his sweet fat little behind did. I ate every bit of the meat in about four days.”
Grace Budd, age 10, June 3, 1928
Albert Fish met the Budd’s by responding to an advertisement their son Edward put in the local classifieds section asking for work. He introduced himself under the false identity of Frank Howard, and appeared to be “credible and genteel.” He met young Gracie and decided that he was going to kill her. He then convinced her parents to let her “attend a childrens birthday party at his sister's home.” Her mother was suspicious of this, but her father stated “Let the poor kid go. She don't see much good times."
She never returned.
He took her to a secluded farmhouse. He later described how he killed her in a letter to the Budds. “We had lunch. Grace sat in my lap and kissed me. I made up my mind to eat her.
On the pretense of taking her to a party. You said Yes she could go. I took her to an empty house in Westchester I had already picked out. When we got there, I told her to remain outside. She picked wildflowers. I went upstairs and stripped all my clothes off. I knew if I did not I would get her blood on them.
When all was ready I went to the window and called her. Then I hid in a closet until she was in the room. When she saw me all naked she began to cry and tried to run down the stairs. I grabbed her and she said she would tell her mamma.
First I stripped her naked. How she did kick – bite and scratch. I choked her to death, then cut her in small pieces so I could take my meat to my rooms. Cook and eat it. How sweet and tender her little ass was roasted in the oven. It took me 9 days to eat her entire body… She died a virgin.”
POSSIBLE VICTIMS:
Yetta Abramowitz, age 12, 1927
She was strangled and beaten on the roof of a five-story apartment house at 1013 Simpson Street. She died in a hospital soon after she was found. The murderer escaped, but 20 detectives and many uniformed policemen were hunting for a "tall young man" who was said to have tried to lure several young girls of the neighborhood into dark hallways and alleys on May 14, 1927.
Mary Ellen O'Connor, age 16,February 15, 1932.
Far Rockaway in Queens. Her mutilated body was found in the woods close to a house that Fish had been painting.
Classification:
Processed focused, Visionary(god told him to kill the children), and a thrill hedonist.
Behavior:
Organized:
Met with people through ads, had instruments of torture and place chosen to commit his crimes, Mobile, Followed the news, Had daytime habits, Didn't explore self- help, Dismembers the bodies (for eating), Has conversation with victims, Leaves little evidence.
non- social:
socially adequate, Was married, had children, "dated".
Motive:
Sprouts from neglect from parents, abuse at orphanage, and possibly effects from mother's hallucinations.
Crimes committed:
1. 1910: Fish committed what may have been his first attack on a child (Thomas Bedden) in Wilmington, Delaware.
2. 1919: stabbed a mentally challenged boy in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
3. On July 11, 1924: Fish found eight-year-old Beatrice Kiel playing alone on her parents' Staten Island farm. He offered her money to come and help him look for rhubarb in the neighboring fields. She was about to leave the farm when her mother chased Fish away.
4. Killed Francis X, McDonnell
5. 1928: Killed Grace Budd
6.May 1930: "sending an obscene letter to a woman who answered an advertisement for a maid."
7. March 11, 1935: Tried for killing of Grace Budd, found guilty.
Case Synopsis:
Albert Fish - A Vile Monster:
Albert Fish is known for being one of the most vile pedophiles and killers of all time. After his capture he admitted to molesting over 400 children and tortured and killed several others. Fish was a small, gentle looking man who appeared kind and trusting, yet once alone with his victims, the monster inside him was unleased - a monster so perverse and cruel, his crimes seem unbelievable. He was eventually executed and according to rumors, he turned his own execution into a fantasy of pleasure.
Long Roots of Insanity:
Albert Fish was born on May 19, 1870 in Washington D.C., into a family which had a long history of mental illness. His parents abandoned him at a young age and he was sent to an orphanage. The orphanage was, in Fish's memory, a place of brutality where he was exposed to regular beatings and sadistic acts of brutality. He had very little formal education and grew up learning to work more with his hands than his brains.
Fish's Crimes Against Children Begins:
According to Fish, in 1890 he relocated to New York City and began his crimes against children. Fish would lure children away from their homes, torture them in various ways including using a paddle laced with sharp nails, then rape them. As time went on, the sexual fantasies he would act out on the children grew more fiendish and bizarre, and often ended in murdering and cannibalizing his young victims.
Father of Six:
In 1898 he married and later fathered six children. The children led average lives up until 1917, after Fish's wife ran off with another man. It was at that time the children recall Fish occasionally asking them to participate in his sado-masochistic games. One game included the nail filled paddle Fish used on his victims. He would ask the children to paddle him with the weapon until blood ran down his legs. He also found enjoyment from pushing needles deep into his skin.
The Letter Writer:
After his marriage ended, Fish spent time writing to women listed in the personal columns of newspapers. In his letters he would go into graphic detail of sexual acts he would like to share with the women. The descriptions of these acts were so vile and disgusting that they were never made public even though they were submitted as evidence in court.
Across State Lines:
Fish developed his skill for house painting and often worked in different states across the country.
Polite Mr. Frank Howard:
In 1928, Fish answered an ad by 18-year-old Edward Budd who was looking for part-time work to help out with the family finances. Albert Fish, who introduced himself as Mr. Frank Howard, met with Edward and his family to discuss Edward's future position. The job seemed ideal and the Budd family, excited about Edward's luck in finding the job, instantly trusted the gentle and polite Mr. Howard.
Grace Budd:
After lunch, Fish explained to the family that he had to attend a children's birthday party at his sister's home and would return later to pick up Eddie and his friend to take to the farm. He then suggested that the Budd's allow him to bring their oldest daughter, ten-year-old Grace along to the party. The non-suspecting parents agreed and dressed in her Sunday best, Grace, excited about going to party, left her house for the very last time. Grace Budd was never seen alive again.
Six Year Investigation:
The investigation into the disappearance of Grace Budd went on for six years before detectives received any substantial break in the case. Then on November 11, 1934, Mrs. Budd received an anonymous letter which gave grotesque details of the murder and cannibalism of her precious daughter, Grace.
One Last Letter: The writer tortured Mrs. Budd with details about the empty house her daughter was taken to in Worcester, New York. How she was then stripped of her clothing, strangled and cut into pieces and eaten. As if to add some solace to Mrs. Budd, the writer was emphatic about the fact that Grace had not been sexually assaulted at any time.
Albert is Arrested: By tracing the paper the letter to Mrs. Budd was written on, the police were eventually led to a flophouse where Albert Fish was living. Fish was arrested and immediately began confessing to killing Grace Budd and several hundred other children. Fish, smiling as he described the grizzly details of the tortures and murders, appeared to the detectives as the devil himself.
Insanity Plea: On March 11, 1935, Fish's trial began and he plead innocent by the reason of insanity. He said it was voices in his head telling him to kill children that made him do such horrendous crimes. Despite the numerous psychiatrists who described Fish as insane, the jury found him sane and guilty after a short 10-day trial. He was sentenced to die by electrocution.
On January 16, 1936, Albert Fish was electrocuted at Sing Sing prison, reportedly a process Fish looked upon as "the ultimate sexual thrill" but later dismissed as just rumor.