Carl Panzram

Charles "Carl" Panzram (June 28, 1891 – September 5, 1930) was an American serial killer, pederast, rapist, child molester, arsonist, robber and burglar. In prison confessions and in his autobiography, Panzram claimed to have committed 21 murders, most of which could not be corroborated. He also claimed more than 1,000 acts of sodomy of boys and men. After a series of imprisonments and escapes, he was executed in 1930 for the murder of a prison employee at Leavenworth Federal Prison.

Carl Panzram
Panzram in 1915
Born
Charles Panzram

(1891-06-28)June 28, 1891
East Grand Forks, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedSeptember 5, 1930(1930-09-05) (aged 39)
USP Leavenworth, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S.
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Other names
List of aliases
  • Carl Baldwin
  • Cooper John II
  • Harry Panzram
  • Jack Allen
  • Jeff Davis
  • Jeff Rhodes
  • Jefferson Baldwin
  • Jefferson Davis
  • Jefferson Rhodes
  • John King
  • John O'Leary
Years active1899–1929
Notable work
Killer: A Journal of Murder
Conviction(s)First degree murder of a federal employee (18 U.S.C. §§ 253 and 452)
Criminal penaltyDeath
Details
CountryUnited States, Portuguese Angola
Location(s)Kansas; Connecticut; Kansas; Maryland; Massachusetts; New York; Pennsylvania; Texas; Luanda Province
Killed5+ (21 confessed)
Imprisoned at
Upwards of seven prisons

Only five of Panzram's confessed murders could be confirmed. He is suspected to have killed more than 100 men in total in the United States alone, as well as several murders overseas.

Early life

Born into a large family in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, Panzram was the son of East Prussian immigrants Johann "John" Gottlieb Panzram and Mathilda Elizabeth "Lizzie" (née Bolduan,[1] anglicised as Boldon, Bolden, Boldwon, or Baldwin) Panzram. He was raised on his family's farm with eight siblings. At a young age, he was forced to work on his parents' farm. During his early childhood, truancy laws came into effect, which forced parents to send their children to school. Panzram's parents were not happy to be losing their children to school during the day, and forced them to work in the fields through the night. Panzram later reported he would get just two hours of sleep as a young child before he would have to get up for school. Punishments in the home ranged from being chained to being starved. Panzram later said that he had felt from a young age that he was not liked by other children: by the age of five or six he was a liar and thief, and claimed that he became meaner the older he grew.[2] In 1899, Panzram was charged in juvenile court with being drunk and disorderly. In 1903, at age 11, he was arrested and jailed for being drunk and "incorrigible," a term used when detaining youths.[3]

In 1903, at age 11, Panzram stole some cake, apples, and a revolver from a neighbor's home. In October 1903, his parents sent him to the Minnesota State Training School, purportedly a reform school. According to his own autobiography, while there he was repeatedly beaten, tortured, and raped by staff members in what attendees dubbed "the paint shop"; children were said to leave these sessions painted with bruises and blood. Panzram hated the school so much that he decided to burn it down, and did so without detection on July 7, 1905.[2]: 11  [4]

In January 1906, Panzram was paroled from Red Wing Training School, where he had been detained after stealing money from his mother's pocketbook.[5][6] By his teens, he had become an alcoholic and was repeatedly in trouble with the authorities, often for burglary and theft.

He ran away from home and became a hobo at age 14, a couple of weeks after his parole and two weeks after attempting to kill a Lutheran cleric with a revolver.[fn 1] He often traveled via train cars. He claimed to have been gang raped by a group of hobos aboard a train.

Crimes

Early crimes

Panzram claimed that after escaping from a Montana State Reform School—along with an inmate named Jimmie Benson—both were involved in a string of burglaries, robberies, and arsons throughout the Midwest until they split up. In 1907, at age 15, after getting drunk in a Montana saloon, Panzram enlisted in the United States Army. Shortly thereafter, he was convicted of larceny and served a prison sentence from April 20, 1908, to 1910 in the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. U.S. Secretary of War William Howard Taft approved the sentence. Panzram later claimed that any goodness left in him was smashed out during his Leavenworth imprisonment.[7]

After his release and dishonorable discharge, Panzram resumed his career as a thief. Stealing items that ranged from bicycles to yachts, he was caught and imprisoned multiple times. He served time under his own name and various aliases in Fresno, California; Rusk, Texas; The Dalles, Oregon; Harrison, Idaho; Butte, Montana; Montana State Prison(Inmate # 3194); Oregon State Penitentiary; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Sing Sing Correctional Facility (Inmate #75182); Clinton Correctional Facility; and Washington, D.C. While incarcerated, Panzram frequently attacked officers and refused to follow their orders. The officers retaliated, subjecting him to beatings and other punishments.[8]

In his autobiography, Panzram wrote that he was "rage personified" and that he would often rape men whom he had robbed. He was noted for his large stature and great physical strength—due to years of hard labor at Leavenworth and other prisons – which aided him in overpowering most men he encountered.[8] He also engaged in vandalism and arson. By his own admission, one of the few times he did not engage in criminal activities was when he was employed as a strikebreaker against union employees. On one occasion, he tried to sign aboard as a ship's steward on an Army transport vessel, but was discharged when he reported to work intoxicated.[7]

Escalating violence

Panzram claimed in his 1929 autobiography that after serving a short sentence at Rusk, Texas, he went to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, in the winter of 1910 to try to enlist in the Federal Mexican Army. He took a train to Del Rio, Texas, and got off in a small town 50 to 100 miles (80 to 161 km) east of El Paso. He later claimed to have abducted, assaulted, kicked, and strangled a man about a mile from town and then stolen $35 ($566.12 USD in 2021) from the victim.[9]

In the summer of 1911, Panzram, going by the alias "Jefferson Davis", was arrested in Fresno, California, for stealing a bicycle. He was sentenced to six months in county jail, but escaped after thirty days.[10] In 1913, Panzram, going by the alias "Jack Allen", was arrested in The Dalles, Oregon, for highway robbery, assault, and sodomy. He broke out of jail after two to three months. While he was on the run, he used the alias "Jeff Davis". He was arrested in Harrison, Idaho, but again he escaped from county jail. He was arrested in Chinook, Montana, under the alias "Jefferson Davis" and sentenced to one year in prison for burglary, to be served at the Montana State Prison.

On April 27, 1913, Panzram, using his "Jefferson Davis" alias, was admitted to the state prison at Deer Lodge, Montana. He escaped on November 13. Within a week, he was arrested for burglary, giving his name as "Jeff Rhoades" in Three Forks. He was incarcerated at Deer Lodge for an additional year. He was released on March 3, 1915. On June 1, Panzram burglarized a house in Astoria, Oregon, where he was soon arrested while attempting to sell some of the stolen items.

Under the name "Jeff Baldwin", he was sentenced to seven years in prison, to be served at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, where he was taken on June 24. Warden Harry Minto believed in harsh treatment of inmates, including beatings and isolation, among other disciplinary measures. Later, Panzram stated that he swore he "would never do that seven years and I defied the warden and all his officers to make me."[8]

Later that year, Panzram helped fellow inmate Otto Hooker escape from the prison. While attempting to evade recapture, Hooker killed Minto. This event marked Panzram's first known involvement in a murder, as an accessory before the fact.[8] In his prison record he falsely gave his age as 30, and his place of birth as Alabama. His only trueful statement was when he stated his occupation as "thief".

Panzram was disciplined several times while at Salem, including 61 days in solitary confinement, before escaping on September 18, 1917. After two shootouts, in which he attempted to shoot Chief Deputy Sheriff Joseph Frum, he was recaptured and returned to the prison. On May 12, 1918, he escaped again by sawing through the bars of his cell, and caught a freight train heading east. He began going by the name "John O'Leary" and shaved off his mustache to change his appearance. He would never return to the Northwest.[8] Allegedly he ended up in New York City and got a Seaman Identification card; and sailed on the steamship James S. Whitney to Panama. There he tried to steal a small boat with the help of a drunken sailor who killed everyone on board and was arrested. Still free, Panzram travelled to Peru to work in a copper mine. After that, he traveled to Chile, Port Arthur, Texas, London, Edinburgh, Paris, and Hamburg.

Murder spree

In 1920 he committed a robbery in Newport, Rhode Island. In August 1920, Panzram burglarized the William H. Taft Mansion in New Haven, Connecticut, a home of William Howard Taft, former President of the United States. Panzram believed Taft was responsible for his Leavenworth imprisonment. He stole a large amount of jewelry and bonds,[fn 2] as well as Taft's Colt M1911 .45-caliber handgun.

Panzram took off on a murder spree that spanned eight years and multiple countries. With the money stolen from Taft, he bought a yacht, the Akista. He lured sailors away from New York City bars, got them drunk, raped them, and shot them with Taft's pistol, then dumped their bodies near Execution Rocks Light in Long Island Sound. He claimed to have killed ten men.[12] The sailor murders ended only after the Akista ran aground and sank near Atlantic City, during which his last two potential victims escaped to parts unknown.[13] On October 26, 1920 Panzram, using the pseudonym "John O'Leary", was arrested in Stamford, Connecticut, for burglary and possession of a loaded handgun. In 1921, he served six months in jail in Bridgeport, Connecticut.[14]

Panzram caught a ship to Southern Africa and landed in Luanda, the capital of colonial Portuguese Angola. In 1921, Panzram was foreman of an oil rig in Angola; he later burned it down out of what he said was spitefulness. He later claimed that, while in Angola, he raped and killed a boy estimated to be 11 years old. In his confession to this murder, he wrote: "His brains were coming out of his ears when I left him and he will never be any deader." He also claimed that he hired a boat with six rowers, shot the rowers with a Luger pistol, and threw their bodies to the crocodiles.[7]

After his return to the United States, Panzram asserted he raped and killed two small boys,[7] beating one to death with a rock on July 18, 1922, in Salem, Massachusetts,[fn 3][16] and strangling the other later that year near New Haven.[fn 4]

After his murder spree in Salem, Panzram worked as a night watchman in Yonkers, New York, north of Manhattan, at Abeeco Mill factory. He had sex with a 15-year-old boy named George Walosin. In Providence, he stole a yawl and sailed to New Haven, seeking victims to rob and rape, and boats to steal. In June 1923, in New Rochelle, New York, he stole a yacht belonging to the police chief of New Rochelle. He picked up Walosin and promised him a job on the boat, but instead, sodomized him.

On June 27, on the river near Kingston, New York, Panzram claimed he used a .38 caliber pistol from the stolen yacht to kill a man attempting to rob him on the yacht. Panzram threw the body into the river.[10] On June 28, Panzram and Walosin docked at Poughkeepsie, New York. Panzram stole $1,000 worth of fishing nets. At Newburgh, New York, Walosin, having witnessed the murder the day before, jumped overboard and swam to shore. He reported to the police at Yonkers that he had been sexually assaulted by Panzram. An alert went out for "Captain John O'Leary". On June 29, "John O'Leary" was arrested in Nyack, New York.

On July 9, Panzram tried to escape from jail. He later conned his lawyer by giving him ownership of a stolen boat in return for bail money. Panzram skipped bail, and the boat was confiscated by the government agents. On August 26, "O'Leary" was arrested in Larchmont, New York, after breaking into a train depot. Three days later, on August 29, "O'Leary" was cleared as a suspect in the stabbing death of Dorothy Kaufman of Greenburgh, New York, committed a month prior.[30] He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. While in county jail, he confessed to the alias "Jeff Baldwin", and that he was wanted in Oregon. In October, Panzram was imprisoned at Clinton Prison in Dannemora, New York as Inmate #33379. He was discharged in July 1928, and he allegedly committed a murder that summer in Baltimore, Maryland.

Capture and execution

On August 30, 1928, Panzram was arrested in Baltimore for a Washington, D.C. burglary – stealing a radio and jewelry from the home of a dentist on August 20.[31][32] During his interrogation, he confessed to killing three young boys earlier that month – one in Salem, one in Connecticut, and a 14-year-old newsboy in Philadelphia.[28][33][fn 5] Panzram's confession to killing a boy at Pier 28 on League island near Philadelphia in August 1928 was confirmed.[36] Boston police were unable to corroborate his other confession, the murder of a boy in Charlestown, Massachusetts.[37] Panzram later wrote that he had contemplated mass murders and other acts of mayhem, such as poisoning a city's water supply with arsenic, or scuttling a British warship in New York Harbor to provoke a war between the United States and Britain.[7]

In light of his extensive criminal record, Panzram was sentenced to 25-years-to-life. Upon arriving at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, identified as inmate #31614, he warned the warden, "I'll kill the first man that bothers me". He was assigned to work in the prison laundry room, where the foreman, Robert Warnke, was known to bully and harass other prisoners under him. Warnke soon antagonized Panzram, despite the latter repeatedly warning him to back off. On June 20, 1929, Panzram beat Warnke to death with an iron bar.

He was convicted and sentenced to death.[38] He refused to allow any appeals of his sentence. In response to offers from death penalty opponents and human rights activists to intervene, he wrote, "The only thanks you and your kind will ever get from me for your efforts on my behalf is that I wish you all had one neck and that I had my hands on it."[8]

While on death row, Panzram was befriended by an officer named Henry Philip Lesser, who would give him money to buy cigarettes.[39][40] Panzram was so astonished by this act of kindness that, after Lesser provided him with writing materials, Panzram wrote a detailed summary of his crimes, and nihilistic philosophy while awaiting execution. However, another article claimed he began chronicling in jail in Washington DC two years earlier.[41] Panzram explicitly denied repenting any actions, including the robberies, murders, rapes, and arsons he had committed.[42] It began with a straightforward statement: "In my lifetime I have murdered 21 human beings, I have committed thousands of burglaries, robberies, larcenies, arsons and, last but not least, I have committed sodomy on more than 1,000 male human beings. For all these things I am not in the least bit sorry."[2]

Panzram was officially hanged on September 5, 1930. As officers attempted to place a customary black hood over his head, he allegedly spat in the executioner's face.[43] When asked for any last words, he responded, "Yes, hurry it up, you Hoosier bastard! I could kill a dozen men while you're screwing around!" He was buried in the Leavenworth Penitentiary Cemetery, where his grave is marked only with his prison number, 31614.

Legacy

In 1938, Karl Menninger wrote Man Against Himself. He included material about Panzram, referring to him as using the pen name of "John Smith," and identified him as prisoner No. 31614.

Former prison guard Henry Lesser preserved Panzram's letters and autobiographical manuscript. He spent the next four decades trying to have this material published. In 1980, Lesser donated Panzram's materials to San Diego State University, where they are housed, as the "Carl Panzram papers" in the Malcolm A. Love Library.[44]

Writers Thomas E. Gaddis and Joe Long jointly co-wrote Killer: A Journal of Murder (1970). They had consulted with Lesser, who let them draw from Panzram's manuscript for their work.[44]

Musician Marilyn Manson in his song The Nobodies sings the lyric "Today I'm dirty, I want to be pretty / Tomorrow, I know I'm just dirt" which alludes to a Panzram quote [45]

Films

The Yugoslav film Strangler vs. Strangler (Davitelj protiv davitelja) (1984), about an ostensible serial killer, opens with a quote from Panzram: "I wish you all had one neck and my hands were around it."

The German film Schramm also begins with a quote of Panzram: "Today I am dirty, but tomorrow I'll be just dirt."

The Gaddis-Long book was adapted as a drama film of the same name, released in 1996 and starring James Woods as Carl Panzram and Robert Sean Leonard as Henry Lesser.

Filmmaker John Borowski released a documentary, Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance (2012).

See also

References

Notes
  1. One version is that Panzram tried to shoot a teacher; the plot miscarried, and he was thrown out of school.
  2. Panzram claimed the jewelry and bonds were worth $40,000. Taft reported that his wife's jewelry was worth only a few thousand dollars.[11]
  3. The Massachusetts victim was identified as Henry McMahon.[15]
  4. New London Connecticut police announced in October 1928 they were unable to corroborate Panzram's confession,[17] but in August 1923, a crime scene consistent with Panzram's description was discovered near New Haven.[18] The Connecticut Bridgeport Telegram published reports on the decomposed unknown victim remains found on August 10 (p.1) and August 11, 1923 (p.10).[19] Another report of the murdered victim appeared in the Connecticut newspaper The Day.[20] The Connecticut victim was killed by strangulation; because of the condition of the remains the Coroner ordered "John Doe" buried August 11, 1923[21] The John Doe had brown hair, was estimated to be approximately 20 years old, measured 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), and weighed around 150 lb (68 kg). He wore a striped brown suit and had a chauffeur's cap under one arm. The cause of death was determined to be strangulation via a belt drawn tightly around the neck.[22] A handkerchief with a wad of cotton inside had also been tied around his mouth. Two wounds on the victim's chest were initially mistaken for gunshots but were later theorized to be injuries caused by the killer's shoes when holding the victim down.[23] Panzram confessed to the murder in 1928, claiming that he had lured the victim into the woods before sexually assaulting and strangling him.[24][2]: 38  Panzram stated that the victim was a 16-year-old Jewish boy who wore thick glasses[24] and was the son or nephew of a New York policeman.[25] [26][27][28]A first degree murder warrant was issued for Panzram,[29] but proceedings were interrupted when he murdered a prison guard the following year, for which he was subsequently executed.
  5. Luszock's surname was also given as Uszacke[?] or Lusszzock[?],[34] Uszacke[?] or [Lusszzock[?].[35]

Footnotes
  1. "Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949: John Panzram and Mathilda Bolduan, 1878". FamilySearch.org. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  2. Panzram, Carl. Lesser, Henry (ed.). "Panzram Papers" (PDF). Special Collections & University Archives, Carl Panzram Papers, 1928-1980, Box 1, Folder 3: Typescript of Panzram Manuscript: Part I, Section 1, c. 1928-1930: San Diego State University. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  3. "Carl Panzram letter". bing.com. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  4. Nash, Jay Robert. "Carl Panzram: Serial Killer as Monster". annalsofcrime.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  5. "Panzam Will Be Paroled". The Evening Times. Grand Forks, North Dakota: Published online at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov Library of Congress. January 26, 1906. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  6. Gado, Mark. "Carl Panzram: Too Evil To Live, Part I". truTV. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008.
  7. Gaddis, Thomas E.; Long, James O. (1970). Killer: A Journal of Murder. Macmillan.
  8. "Carl Panzram". Serial Killer Calendar. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
  9. El Paso Evening Post, January 2, 1929, p. 9. Officials could not confirm Panzram claim.
  10. "True Crime XL: Carl Panzram". Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  11. "Tells Police He Killed 2, Robbed Homes". The Republican-Journal. October 6, 1928. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  12. Possible Confirmation[?] On August 20, 1920, the body of a unknown man was found in New York Bay off St Georges, Staten Island See "Found Man drowned in Bay". Staten Island Advance. August 20, 1920. p. 9. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018.
  13. "yacht, the Akiska". google.com. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  14. "True Crime XL; Carl Panzram". Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  15. "Man is Arrested as Slayer-Fiend". The Norwalk Hour. October 27, 1928. p. 1.
  16. "Women Identify Seamen in Death". The Pittsburgh Press. November 2, 1928. p. 28. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  17. "Says He Murdered Boy". The Montreal Gazette. Vol. CLVII, no. 258. October 27, 1928. p. 16. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  18. "Confesses Three Murders". The Reading Eagle. November 3, 1928. p. 2. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  19. "John Doe near New Haven found August 1923". Ancestry.com. August 18, 2016. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  20. "Body of Murdered Man unidentified". The Day. August 10, 1923. p. 12.
  21. "No Clue to Murderer". New Britain Herald. New Britain, Connecticut: Republished online at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, Library of Congress. August 11, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  22. "New Haven Murder Victim Unidentified". Hartford Courant. August 11, 1923. Retrieved January 20, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. "Murder Mystery Solution Rests on Autopsy Result". The Bridgeport Telegram. August 10, 1923. Retrieved January 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. "Self-Confessed Degenerate Slayer of Boys Held at Washington". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. October 27, 1928. Retrieved July 27, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. "Panzram Gives Slaying Account". Lewiston Evening Journal. November 3, 1928. Retrieved April 20, 2022 – via news.google.com.
  26. "Panzram Killed a Boy in New London". Lewiston Daily Sun. October 26, 1928. p. 1.
  27. "Panzram Gives Slaying Account". Lewiston Evening Journal. November 3, 1928. p. 10.
  28. "Panzram Relates Murder Details". The Evening Star. Republished online at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, Library of Congress. October 27, 1928. p. 2. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  29. "Jailed on Minor Charge, Confesses to Killing". The Daily Times. Salisburg, Maryland. November 3, 1928. Retrieved July 27, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. "Eliminate Ex-Convict from Murder Probe". The Evening Star. Washington, DC: republished online at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov, Library of Congress. August 30, 1923. p. 23. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  31. "Four Taken in Looting at Capital Residence". Evening Star. Washington, DC. September 1, 1928. p. 2. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  32. September 2, 1928, Panzram Inmate #33379 mugshot Washington DC.
  33. "Tells Police He Killed two, Robbs Homes". The Republican-Journal. Ogdensburg, New York. October 6, 1928. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  34. "Accountability--The Carl Panzram Story". Crime News Info. September 27, 2007. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018.
  35. "Man is Arrested as Slayer-Fiend". The Norwalk Hour. October 27, 1928. Retrieved April 20, 2022 – via news.google.com.
  36. "Burglar at Taft's Admits Two Murders". Stevens Point Journal. October 8, 1928.
  37. Syracuse Journal, October 6, 1928, Syracuse, New York
  38. "Corrections Employee Robert George Warnke". The Officer Down Memorial Page. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
  39. Social Security Death Index: Henry Lesser, born November 8, 1902, died October 27, 1983, SSN issued from District of Columbia, last residence and benefit to Los Angeles, California.
  40. California Death Index: Henry Philip Lesser born November 8, 1902, Massachusetts, died October 27, 1983, Los Angeles County.
  41. Henry, Thomas R. (April 24, 1930). "Habitual Criminal Writing Autobiography to Aid Science". The Evening Star. Washington, DC: republished online at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. Library of Congress. p. 1. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  42. Panzram, C. (2002). Panzram: A Journal of Murder. Amok Press. ISBN 1-878923-14-5.
  43. Earley, Pete (1993). The Hot House. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-56023-9.
  44. Carl Panzram papers, 1928–1982 in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
  45. Manson, Marilyn. "The Nobodies (lyrics)". Genius. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.