Albert Fish was one of the most notorious serial killers who ever lived, but he looked like he could have played the part of Mr. Rogers on children's television. He looked quiet, mild and gentle, but like most serial killers he came from a dysfunctional family with a background of mental illness. Abandoned at a very young age, he was sent to an orphanage and was subjected to unspeakable brutality, according to Fish. It was at the orphanage during beatings that Fish came to realize that he enjoyed physical pain. (He often achieved an erection during the beatings and was teased for it by the other children in the orphanage).
Fish started killing when he was about 20 years old, after he had moved to New York City from his birthplace in Washington, D.C. Fish, working in New York as a male prostitute, began luring children away from their homes, and torturing them in various ways. One way of torture was to hit them with a paddle laced with small nails. Then, they were raped. His bizarre sexual attacks on children only grew worse over the years, with Fish beginning to murder and cannabalize the young victims. Some years later, Fish married and had six children. After his wife left him and the children, he would use that same paddle, making his children hit him with it until blood dripped down his legs. His sado-masochistic rituals also included pushing needles deep into his own skin.
Fish, before he was captured, was known by a variety of different names, including the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire, and the Boogeyman.
Fish blamed his killings of hundreds of children on "voices" that he heard in his head, but smiled as he described the horrible details of the killings to police in graphic detail. Psychiatrists agreed with Fish when he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, but a jury didn't agree, and on January 16, 1936, Fish was electrocuted at Sing Sing.
No comments:
Post a Comment