Serial Killers and Mass Murderers, Part 2

     I honestly couldn’t wait to write today’s post because I knew exactly which killers I wanted to feature.  I was delayed in posting, because thunderstorms had knocked out my internet, but even that wouldn't stop me.  I had a little tribute planned for my hometown.  Both of the brutal murderers in today's post have a link to my favorite city...Philadelphia.   

     Ted Bundy.  The name alone conjures an image of a man who looked like evil incarnate.  Seriously, even in childhood pictures he looks liked the Anti-Christ.  Bundy spent the early years of his life, at his grandparents’ home, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Even as a young boy, he displayed bizarre and frightening behavior.  Though he admitted to thirty actual homicides, it is estimated that he may have been responsible for many more.  He would typically fake an injury or disability to gain sympathy from his victims.  With their guard down, he would assault, kidnap, rape, and then murder the women.  He favored women with long hair, parted down the middle, between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five and often targeted college campuses.  Unlike many other serial killers, Bundy traveled across the country, leaving a wake of terror and destruction behind him.  All over the United States, women lived in fear, never knowing where he would strike next.  Because he of the vast territory he’d claimed, it took state investigators a long time to realize they were all hunting the same man.  Many serial killers are deemed criminally insane and are remanded to State Hospitals but not Bundy.  He was sentenced to death by electric chair on January 24, 1989. 

     Our next Philadelphian is Gary Heidnik.  Though born and raised in Ohio, he moved to Philadelphia after being discharged from the Army.  When police raided Heidnik’s home, which the media dubbed his “house of horrors”, they discovered human remains in the kitchen and three half-naked women chained in his dungeon-like basement.  Initially, he had kidnapped six women.  One died from a combination of starvation, torture, and an untreated illness.  After dismembering her, parts of her were placed in the freezer under the label, “dog food”.  The rest was cooked and reportedly fed to his remaining hostages.  The next woman was killed during Heidnik’s electrocution torture.  Finally, one of the women escaped and called 911 which resulted in the aforementioned raid and Heidnik’s capture.  As of today, Gary Heidnik holds the distinction of being the last person executed in Pennsylvania…at least for now. 

     Come back tomorrow for our next installment of Serial Killers and Mass Murderers.