Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - Killer Couples Pt. 3: Gerald and Charlene Gallego

Episode Date: February 15, 2021

If love makes you do something evil, does that make you evil, too? In the late 1970s, Gerald Gallego twisted himself around Charlene’s heart and didn’t let go. The couple, later known as “The Sex Slave Killers,” worked in tandem to kidnap and murder ten women. Was Charlene a victim, too? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of these killers' crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, sexual assault, and child abuse that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. It was a balmy summer's night on the west bank of the Sacramento River. After a long night of tending bar, 34-year-old Virginia Mockel was looking forward to getting home to bed. Though it was a Wednesday night, some of the taverns patrons were drinking like it was the weekend. One young couple in particular caught Virginia's attention. They'd arrived tipsy and seemed determined to drink each other under the bar.

The man, Stephen, struck Virginia as outgoing and a little arrogant. He kept telling her that it was his birthday, demanding free drinks in a tone that was not quite playful. He was also openly flirting with her in front of his girlfriend. Virginia laughed it off, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She was used to guys like him, so convinced that they were God's gift to women. Still, when the couple finally staggered out of the bar, she couldn't help feeling relieved. Just before 2 a.m., Virginia waved goodbye to the last few patrons to leave the bar and started closing up for the night. The parking lot was quiet as Virginia emerged into the night air.

After her long, loud shift behind the bar, it was a welcome moment of peace. She took her time locking up, savoring the silence. Then her eyes adjusting to the darkness, she headed towards her car. Virginia didn't even see the figure looming out of the shadows racing toward her until it was too late. I'm Greg Paulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parcast. This is the third episode of a four-part look at couples who kill. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone.

You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parkcast for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Here on serial killers, we're usually looking at just one monster, exploring what moved them to kill and kill again. But this month, we're looking at love in some of its more twisted incarnations, Whether for money, sex, or a shared madness, these couples worked together to kill and conceal. While from the outside, they looked just like two people in blissful, innocent love. Last time we looked at the murder spree of Alton Coleman and Deborah Brown, who murdered eight people over one bloody summer.

The couple's relationship was abusive, and at trial, Deborah's lawyers claimed that she only went along with her boyfriend's violent spree because she was in her. his thrall. Today, we're delving into the similar saga of Gerald Gallego and Charlene Williams, aka the sex slave killers. Working in tandem at shopping malls and county fairs, the couple kidnapped and murdered 10 victims, who will explore the roots of their unlikely romance, how Charlene enabled her violent husband, and how a change of heart saved her life. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels, but you don't need to break any laws to find your perfect business partner because you have Shopify.

It's the commerce platform that can help you with literally everything, website design, marketing, shipping, and more. So start your business today with the best partner, Shopify, and get that. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash kill. That's Shopify.com slash killers. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Whether you're hiring for a role or searching for a killer, the hunt can be exhausting. When detectives looked and searched to find any kind of evidence to find the person they were looking for, like Jack the Ripper, the Golden State Killer, the Unit Bomber.

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And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L, every year after, The Love Hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. Gerald Gallego embodies the old saying, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Born in July of 1946 in Sacramento, California,

Gerald never met his father, but Gerald Gallego Sr. cast a shadow over his son's life nonetheless. Gallego Sr. was a career criminal, and he was in prison for most of his son's childhood. Then in 1955, he became the first man ever to be executed in a Mississippi gas chamber, charged with two counts of murder. Gerald was nine when his father was executed, but his childhood was difficult long before this point. His mother was a sex worker and was reportedly physically abusive to her son. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show.

Thanks, Greg. According to psychologist William Reed, Gerald inherited antisocial personality, traits from his father and suffered from a severe personality disturbance, which left him with an infantile mindset well into adulthood. Reed said Gerald was angry with both his parents, with his father for abandoning him, and with his mother for hurting him. It was this rage that defined Gerald's life. Perhaps as a result, Gerald had a criminal record for offenses that included sexual crimes and burglary. In 1958, at the age of 12, he would, was put on probation for burglary.

But it was his next crime later that year that set the stage for things to come. Gerald was charged with committing lewd and lascivious acts with a six-year-old girl, which landed him in a youth correctional facility. When he was paroled in 1961, 14-year-old Gerald went right back to his old ways. Within a year, he and his half-brother David were arrested for armed robbery and sent to her reform school in Iown, California. In 1963, Gerald was released on parole and began attending Sacramento High School. At just 16, he married a woman five years his senior.

Details about the relationship are scarce, but it was the first of several short-lived marriages for Gerald. Early in 1964, Gerald's first daughter, Krista, was born. But far from settling down, he was already sliding back into his old habits. He was suspended from high school for chronic truancy, tardiness, and profanity. His probation officer wrote a report calling Gerald, quote, a hard-shelled young man who evidenced little motivation for improvement, remorsefulness, or insight. That grim prognosis proved prescient. Gerald's violent nature was beginning to emerge, and he was physically abusive to his wife.

Yet when the marriage ended, he was awarded custody of Krista, whom he sent to live with his mother. Gerald went on to marry four more times throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and in every case, his wives reported that he was physically violent. His second wife described him as, quote, a perverted psychosexual maniac. Gerald's rap sheet was also getting longer and longer. Throughout the 1960s, Gerald and David bragged to their friends about getting away with all manner of felonies, including stealing cars and holding up stores. the pair were arrested in October of 1969

during an armed robbery in Vacaville, California. Gerald was sentenced to five years to life and served part of that term at the California Medical Facility, which has housed notorious killers like Charles Manson and Ed Kemper. Not that Gerald was a killer, just yet. Gerald was treated for depression during his time at the facility. We don't know whether the treatment was effective, or indeed if Gerald lived with depression at all,

but he made a good impression on the prison authorities. In December of 1975, the 29-year-old was released on parole. A parole officer wrote at the time that he believed Gerald wouldn't pose a significant risk to the community if he were released. It was a fatal mistake. In September of 1977, 31-year-old Gerald crossed paths with 20-year-old Charlene Williams. Accounts of their meeting vary. Some reports say that they met at a Sacramento poker club,

others that they were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend. Either way, they weren't an obvious match. Charlene's upbringing couldn't have been more different from Gerald's. Born in October of 1956 in the quiet town of Stockton, some 50 miles from Sacramento, Charlene led a charmed early life. Her father was a successful entrepreneur, and growing up, she wanted for nothing,

As the only child, she was the apple of her parents' eye, and her future seemed bright. Charlene was a shy, gifted child, with an unusually high IQ and a talent for the violin. Her parents had aspirations for her to attend the prestigious Juilliard School of Music in New York, but as Charlene grew up, a reckless and rebellious streak emerged. Soon after Charlene began high school, her grades began to slide, as she spent more of her time drinking, using drinks. drugs and having sex. Though this may sound like ordinary teenage rebellion, there were other indications that something was amiss. Like Gerald, Charlene developed a pattern of intense,

short-lived relationships. She got married for the first time on her 18th birthday, and again shortly before she turned 20. Both marriages lasted less than a year. Charlene's second husband Elliot described their relationship as tempestuous, marred by drug use and instability. According to him, Charlene once attempted suicide by drinking disinfectant. Perhaps because of her personal troubles, Charlene's father, Charles, became more devoted than ever to his daughter, catering to her every whim. He bought her a new Oldsmobile and paid for her to rent her own duplex. Charlene's parents doubtless had the best intentions. They hoped that if they supported their daughter, she would find her way.

Unfortunately, their faith was misplaced. Though they might seem like an unlikely match, the juvenile delinquent and the pampered daddy's girl, their connection was instant. Both were on the rebound from troubled marriages. Gerald was newly separated from his fifth wife, and Charlene had recently divorced Elliot. Now they were desperate to fall in love again. We're all familiar with serial monogamous, those people who hop from one serious relationship to another, but both Gerald and Charlene seemed to exemplify something even more. extreme. Their history of multiple, intense, short-lived relationships might suggest something closer

to addiction. Though it's not a medically recognized disorder, the concept of love addiction has been around since the 1970s when the 12-step group Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous first launched. The group, which models itself on Alcoholics Anonymous, lists several characteristics of sex and love addiction, including a lack of healthy boundaries, getting quickly attached to romantic partners without knowing them, compulsively pursuing one relationship after another, and using sex or emotional involvement to manipulate and control others. As we'll see, both Gerald and Charlene appear to fit the mold in different ways.

Gerald struck Charlene as gentlemanly. He didn't try to kiss her on their first date, and he sent her flowers the following morning. She had no idea about his criminal history. As far as she was concerned, he was an accomplished older man who could take care of her. Unsurprisingly, the relationship moved fast. Within a week, Gerald moved into Charlene's duplex with her, but the honeymoon phase soon turned into something more sinister

as Gerald's controlling nature emerged. According to Charlene, her new boyfriend systematically isolated her from her family and friends. She recalled, you can't see your way out because he eliminated things in my life, piece by piece, person by person, until all I had around me were members of his family. And they're all like him, every one of them. Just like his five previous wives, Charlene soon discovered that Gerald had a vicious temper. One night, soon after they moved in together, Gerald brought home a teenage girl to join them for a threesome. But when Charlene and the young girl began having sex, Gerald flew into a rage and physically lashed out at Charlene. The red flags were glaring, but whatever misgiving she had, Charlene was already in too deep to get out.

By the spring of 1978, there were more signs of trouble in paradise. Gerald moved out of Charlene's duplex and into his own apartment, where his now 14-year-old daughter Krista came to stay with him. During this time, Gerald reportedly molested Krista, sometimes in front of Charlene, who did nothing to stop him. Around the same time, Charlene discovered she was pregnant. It's hard to imagine that she could possibly want to have a child with Gerald, having seen him sexually abused Krista. But perhaps she did. Still, it was Gerald who pushed her to have an abortion. Soon after, Krista went back to live with Gerald's mother, now robbed of his daughter, who was an

easy target for his abuse, Gerald's perverse and violent impulses only grew stronger. He confessed to Charlene that he was having fantasies about taking young girls as sexual slaves. Whether out of fear, a desire to please her volatile boyfriend, or perhaps her own twisted compulsion, Charlene agreed to help Gerald fulfill his fantasy. On September 11, 1978, the couple went out for a drive in Charlene's new van. They pulled into the parking lot of a Sacramento mall, and Charlene went inside to begin the hunt. 17-year-old Rhonda Schaeffler and 16-year-old Kipivant had no reason to be alarmed when Charlene approached them.

She was petite, friendly, only a few years older than them, and offering them free pot. What could be the harm in joining her for a smoke? Charlene led the girls out to the van, where Gerald was waiting with his gun drawn. He forced them into the back of the van, bound their hands and feet with tape, and left Charlene to watch over the hostages while he drove. After driving for around an hour, Gerald pulled over and forced the girls out into a forest path near the town of Baxter, where he sexually assaulted them both. He then pushed them back into the car and told Charlene to drive them to Slew House,

a remote rural community. There, Gerald forced Rhonda and Kippey out of the car at gunpoint again and led them into a meadow. He bludgeoned them with a tire iron, shot each girl in the back of the head, and left their bodies where they lay. On their way home, Gerald and Charlene took time to cover their tracks, disposing of the victim's purses and the murder weapon in the Sacramento River. So when Rhonda and Kippe's bodies were found by migrant workers just two days later, there were few clues that. that stood out. The authorities had no leads, at least for now. Coming up, Gerald and Charlene Spree gather steam.

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With Charlene acting as Gerald's honey trap, the couple lured two teenage girls to their deaths. The couple's relationship had been rocky for some time, not least because of Gerald's violent temper, but it's possible that their first slaying actually brought them closer together. According to Dr. Judy Ho, clinical and forensic psychologist and professor at Pepperdine University, this kind of twisted intimacy is common.

in killer couples. She said, after being entrenched together in something so serious that it escalates to the point of killing, it binds a couple closer together and creates this weird intimacy between them. That weird intimacy was soon put to the test when another sin from Gerald's past came back to haunt him. In September of 1978, Gerald's 14-year-old daughter Krista reported to police in Butte County, California, that he sexually abused her. When word reached Gerald that he was wanted for questioning, he skipped town. Charlene went with him. There was seemingly nothing that could break his hold over her.

A warrant was soon issued for Gerald's arrest, and it was under these less-than-romantic circumstances that the couple wed. On September 30th, they exchanged files in Reno, Nevada, marking Gerald's sixth marriage and Charlene's third. It's likely that this shot. Shotgun wedding was purely practical to prevent Charlene from ever testifying against Gerald. After the wedding, the couple laid low for a few months. Given the charge against Gerald in Butte County, they were wary of drawing any attention to themselves.

But they didn't stay low for too long. Within a year, they were ready for their next kill. On June 24, 1979, the couple arrived at their new hunting ground, the county fair. 14-year-old Brenda Judd and 13-year-old Sandra Colley had enjoyed their day at the fair and were waiting for a ride home when Charlene approached them. She asked the girls that they wanted to make a little extra cash by handing out leaflets, figuring their ride was still a few minutes away, they agreed. But as Charlene led the girls away from the fair, Gerald was watching. He'd been trailing them the whole time, and as soon as the trio were out of sight of the crowds,

he pounced, pistol in hand. He forced the girls into the back of the van, tied them up, and told Charlene to watch them while he drove. Somewhere along Interstate 80, Gerald pulled over and switched places with Charlene. As she drove, he raped and beat Brenda and Sandra in the back of the van. Finally, somewhere in the Nevada desert, Gerald ordered Charlene to stop. Leaving his wife in the van, he escorted his victims one by one out of the van. into the wilderness at gunpoint and beat them to death. As with their first victims, Charlene didn't take part in any of the physical violence.

But without her acting as bait, getaway driver and enabler, Gerald would never have been able to get the girls alone or kidnap them. This horrific act became a blueprint for the killer couple. Charlene was the lure, reeling unsuspecting teenage girls in, often by playing the role of a cool older sister offering them a joint, and Gerald was the monster waiting in the shadows. The depth of cruelty here is hard to fathom. Charlene lulled innocent teenagers into a false sense of security, knowing full well the nightmarish fate that awaited them. It's even harder to understand from someone who has no prior criminal record. Why would Charlene do this? In a 2013 overview of mixed-sex partner homicide, University of a

of Norwich criminologist Elizabeth A. Gurion discusses some common characteristics of women who end up as part of a killer couple. She notes that female offenders in these relationships commonly exhibit some combination of the following traits. Insecurity, low self-esteem, social isolation, poor education, and having been abused as children. Gurian also identifies economic dependence as a major factor that can make a woman vulnerable to a male partner's influence. What's interesting about Charlene is that she doesn't fit this mold at all. She was well educated, had a high IQ, and grew up in a wealthy family who doted on her. There's no evidence of any abuse or neglect at all. And she was certainly not economically dependent on Gerald. Remember,

he moved into her condo, which was paid for by her father. Based on what we know about her parents, it's hard to imagine Charlene didn't have other options. And yet, she, she, made her choice. After Brenda and Sandra's disappearance, Nevada authorities searched in vain. Neither the girls had any history of running away, but with no witnesses and no evidence of what might have happened, the trail went cold. Over the next few months, Gerald and Charlene's confidence grew. They were pretty sure the authorities weren't onto them, so sure, in fact, that by September

of 1979, they moved back to California. Given the molestation charge against Gerald in Butte County, they couldn't risk using their real names. So when they rented an apartment in Sacramento, it was under the aliases Mr. and Mrs. Stephen File. Gerald found work as a bartender, and for the next several months, the couple laid low. But by April of 1980, Gerald's dark urges returned. One evening, he turned to Charlene and announced that he was, quote, getting that feeling. She knew exactly what he meant. On April 24th, the couple drove out to a mall in Citrus Heights, a suburb of Sacramento.

By now, Charlene knew her role well. As Gerald waited in the van, she strolled into the mall, looking for all the world like an ordinary young woman out for a shopping trip. 17-year-old Karen Chipman Twiggs and Stacey Ann Reddickin were in high spirits. They'd both recently started new jobs at a fast food restaurant in the mall and had just received their first paychecks. As they tried to decide which store to visit first, Charlene approached them and asked if they wanted to smoke pot.

As ever, the cool older sister routine worked like a charm. Karen and Stacey were in the mood to celebrate and happily followed Charlene out into the parking lot. But as they approached the van, the mood shifted. Before the girls could register what was happening, Gerald confronted them. with a handgun. He climbed into the back of the van with the two frightened teenagers and told Charlene to head east on the interstate. As Charlene drove, Gerald raped Karen and Stacey. At some point on the journey, he told Charlene to stop off at a supermarket, where he purchased a brand-new hammer.

Finally, after several hours of driving, Charlene pulled the van over on the side of a dirt road near Limerick Canyon in Pershing County, Nevada. Gerald took his victims out of the van one at a time and walked them deeper into the desert, where he bludgeoned them to death. Charlene waited in the van throughout all of this, and when Gerald returned without the girls, she obediently drove him all the way back home to Sacramento,

leaving the girls' bodies in their dust. Karen's mother reported her daughter missing right away, But as with the other victims, the authorities had no leads and no witnesses to the disappearance. Charlene was the perfect bait because she seemed so unthreatening to the victims, but she also never drew attention from passers-by. The sight of a young 20-something woman walking with two teenage girls didn't register as remotely suspicious. And so the Gallego's Trail went cold yet again. It's not clear whether the couple were worried about being caught,

but Charlene had other things on her mind. Just a few days after they claimed their fifth and sixth victims, Charlene discovered that she was pregnant again, and this time she was determined to keep the baby. Gerald agreed, on the condition that he and Charlene marry again under their new aliases. And so on June 1, 1980, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Fyle tied the nod at the heart of Reno Wedding Chapel, solidifying their false identities.

They wasted no time embarking on a twisted honeymoon. Just six days later, the newlyweds drove north up the coastline, enjoying views over the Pacific Ocean while they plotted their next kill. As they approached the town of Gold Beach, Oregon, the couple spotted a young woman on the side of the road. 21-year-old Linda Aguilar was four months pregnant and in no mood to walk home. She hitched a ride with a couple who seemed friendly. But as soon as Linda was in the back of the van, Gerald locked the doors and accelerated away. After driving for a while, he switched places with Charlene and went into the back of the van, where he raped Linda.

Charlene drove the van back towards California, finally stopping at an isolated spot in the Mojave Desert. There, Gerald led Linda away from the van at gunpoint, bludgeoned her to death, and buried her in the sand. Linda's boyfriend reported her missing two days after she failed to come home. She had a history of wandering off on her own, sometimes for days at a time, so the authorities weren't certain that her disappearance was suspicious. But three weeks later, her body was found in the sand by German tourists, and the truth was horrifyingly clear. As ever, there was little to lead investigators to the killers.

And by now, the twisted intimacy between Gerald and Charleston, was stronger than ever. Including Linda's unborn child, the couple had now taken eight lives together, forging a violent bond that seemed unbreakable. Up next, Gerald and Charlene get sloppy and pay the price. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong.

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In July of 1980, Gerald Gallego was getting ready to celebrate his 34th birthday with his 23-year-old wife, Charlene. For the past two years, his partner in life and in crime had been aiding and abetting his rape and murder spree across California and Nevada. The couple's body count now stood at eight. including an unborn baby, and they were only just gathering steam. On the evening of July 16th, Gerald and Charlene spent a leisurely few hours in a boat on the Sacramento River, drinking beers and fishing.

Later, they ended up at the Sale Inn bar, where they got chatting with the bartender. 34-year-old Virginia Mokal was amiable and well-liked by the bar's regulars. She probably thought nothing of making friendly chit-chat with this tipsy young couple. And when she closed up, just after 2 a.m., she didn't see Gerald coming. Just as Virginia got into her car, she heard a knock on the window. Turning, she saw the barrel of a revolver pointing directly at her. Gerald ordered her to get out of the car and into the back of his van. He tied Virginia up and left Charlene to watch her while he got into the front of the van

and drove them back to the couple's apartment. So far, the abduction was playing out like clockwork, but tonight something was different. For reasons that aren't clear, when they arrived back at the apartment, Charlene went inside while Gerald raped Virginia in the back of the van. Afterward, Gerald went inside to get Charlene and ordered her to drive. Charlene had already witnessed Gerald sexually assaulting multiple women, many of them minors. Yet for some reason, this time, she removed. herself from the situation.

It's unclear exactly why Charlene made this choice. It could have been a twisted kind of jealousy. In her mind, Gerald was choosing to spend his birthday evening with another woman, not with her. Or perhaps Charlene's conscience was finally getting the better of her. After all, they'd spent time chatting with Virginia back at the bar. Perhaps she couldn't face the fact that she knew this woman her husband was about to kill. Still, Charlene obeyed Gerald when he ordered her back into the driver's seat and when he told her to turn the music up loud.

After she did so, he murdered Virginia in the back of the van. Charlene drove for about 20 minutes, stopping on a levee road outside Clarksburg where Gerald dumped Virginia's body. As always, the couple returned home believing they'd pulled off another perfect crime. However, the bartender's disson. appearance didn't go unnoticed. Virginia was popular and widely known in her community, and search parties were quickly organized to comb the area surrounding the sale inn. They found nothing. Meanwhile, the authorities interviewed regular patrons at the inn and soon turned

up a lead. Several people reported that Virginia was talking with a man called Stephen Fyle and his companion Charlene on the night she disappeared. But when police contacted the couple, they denied any knowledge of what happened to Virginia. Charlene explained that they'd been out on a fishing trip that day to celebrate her husband's birthday and that they'd had a little too much to drink by the time they got to the bar. Their memories of the night weren't great, she said apologetically. This seemed plausible enough until Virginia's body was discovered three months later. Her remains were so deteriorated that it was hard to determine a cause of death,

but one thing was clear. whoever murdered her had bound her hands and feet with fishing line. Detective Trujillo, who questioned the couple back in July, remembered that Charlene mentioned a fishing trip. His suspicions aroused, he paid a visit to Charlene, only to discover that she no longer lived with her boyfriend, Stephen. The Gallego's relationship soured in the weeks after killing Virginia, perhaps in part due to the anxiety of being questioned by police.

They sold their van, which suggests that they were increasingly worried about finally being caught. And in August, the cracks in the marriage were clear during a visit from Charlene's mom, Mercedes. Gerald flew into a rage one day and started choking Charlene with his bare hands. He only stopped when Mercedes intervened, hitting him over the head with one of his guns. Shortly after this explosion, Charlene moved back home to live with her parents. Gerald took off to Oregon with a new girlfriend soon afterward, so Detective Trujillo interviewed Charlene alone. To the detective, she seemed genuine when she said,

I'm really sorry to hear about the lady bartender. She was nice to me and Stephen. I hope you find whoever did this to her. The fact that Charlene was able to lie so smoothly to the police indicates that she was not quite ready to let go of Gerald. Sure enough, within a month, the couple were back together. It didn't take long for them to fall back into old habits. On November 1st, Gerald told Charlene that he was getting that feeling and implied she should

find him their next victim. However, they'd sold their van, which made things a little more difficult. Fortunately, Charlene still had the Oldsmobile that her father bought her as a graduation gift. As ever, she was more than happy to share her wealth with her boyfriend. And so, with their new wheels. They went back out on the hunt. Charlene pulled into the parking lot of a shopping center, where Gerald laid eyes on his next victims. Twenty-two-year-old Craig Miller and his fiancé, 21-year-old Mary Elizabeth Sowers, were on their way out of a fraternity party heading towards their car. Before they could make it, Gerald accosted them at gunpoint and forced them into the back of the Oldsmobile. But he was less careful than usual,

less diligent about making sure there were no witnesses. Andy Beale, a fraternity brother of Craigs, was leaving the party around the same time and noticed Craig and Mary Beth in the back of a stranger's car. He tried to intervene, but Charlene slapped him and told him to leave. That only inflamed Andy's suspicions. So as Charlene sped out of the parking lot with Gerald and as captives in the back of the car,

he wrote down the license plate number. With no idea of the danger they were now in, the couple headed east on Highway 50. Eventually, Gerald ordered Charlene to stop the car on a deserted road in El Dorado County, California. He forced Craig out of the car, told him to start walking, then shot him in the back of the head. Charlene then drove back to the couple's apartment, where Gerald raped and beat Mary Beth. Finally, he forced her back into the car at gunpoint and had Charlene drive them back out toward Nevada. When they pulled into an isolated field,

Gerald took Mary Beth out of the car and shot her three times, leaving her body in the pasture. Perversely, the couple seemed more bonded than ever by their latest slaying. After disposing of the murder weapon and some of Mary Beth's jewelry, Gerald told Charlene that he loved her

and didn't ever want to let her go. Later that night, they went out for donuts together, blissfully in love. But unbeknownst to them, the walls were closing in. The following morning, Andy Beale and a group of Craig and Marybeth's friends went to the Sacramento Police to report what Andy saw. It took no time for the police to trace the Oldsmobile back to Charlene. When the police arrived at the apartment, Charlene spoke with them while Gerald slipped out of the back door.

She told the detectives she didn't know anything about the missing couple and explained she wasn't feeling well because of morning sickness. Before they left, Charlene did admit one thing. Asked by the detectives if her boyfriend had a car. She pointed out Gerald's Red Triumph, which was parked across the street. Gerald was cautious and never drove his own car on any of his murderous expeditions. Still, when the police ran the car's license plate, they pulled up Gerald's photo to go with it. And when they showed the photograph to Andy Beale, he confirmed that it was the same man who kidnapped his friends.

Later that afternoon, Craig's body was found, confirming investigators' worst fears. But by the time the police got to Gerald's apartment to arrest him, he was gone. Back at Charlene's parents' house, the detectives also came up empty. The couple, knowing the police were closing in, skipped town. After abandoning Charlene's Oldsmobile in a casino parking lot, the couple hopped on a greyhound bus to Salt Lake City, Utah.

There, Charlene called her parents to ask them for money, as she'd done so many times before. Even now, they couldn't say no to their little girl. Charles and Mercedes wired $500 to Charlene. Using that money, the couple traveled first to Denver, Colorado, and then Omaha, Nebraska, searching for a place they could hide. In Nebraska, their money ran out,

and Charlene's parents stepped in once again. But this time, the FBI was on to them. The Williams's had been under surveillance for days by both the Bureau and the Sacramento Police, and agents watched the couple going into a Western Union. When the agents confronted them, the Williamses admitted that they'd just wired $500 to their daughter in Nebraska. On November 17th, Charlene showed up to a Western Union office in Nebraska to retrieve the $500.

That was when FBI agents swooped in to arrest her at last. Shortly afterward, they arrested Gerald, too, and the couple was returned to California to face trial. By now, Mary Elizabeth's body had also been found, and the couple was charged with double homicide. Gerald and Charlene both pled not guilty. But Charlene's priorities were about to shift. In January of 1981, she gave birth to a son while in prison. She named him Gerald Gallego Jr., which might indicate that her devotion to her husband was as strong as ever. But at some point during the next few weeks, Charlene had a change of heart.

In February, she offered to reveal information about the full extent of her murder spree with Gerald and said she would testify against him. in exchange for a reduced sentence. As part of her plea bargain, Charlene pled guilty not only to the murders of Craig and Mary Beth, but also to the Nevada murders of Stacey Reddickin and Karen Chipman Twigs. In exchange, she was offered a guaranteed sentence of 16 years. At trial, Charlene's defense team depicted her as a compliant victim, who went along with Gerald's murderous spree out of fear. Joseph Murphy, her lawyer, said,

under the control of a madman like Hitler, the German people did things they would never have dreamed of doing on their own. She was in that kind of situation. This may seem like a stretch, but it's not the only time such a comparison has been drawn. In a 2013 overview of mixed-sex partner homicide, criminologist Elizabeth A. Gurion explored killer couples through the lens of Stanley Milgram's infamous 1961 social experiment.

participants were instructed to administer electric shocks of increasing strength to a subject who was visibly in pain. The experiment was designed to create a moral conflict, obey orders at the cost of harming someone, or disobey and risk ruining the experiment. The results showed that a vast majority of people continued obeying orders throughout. In other words, people were surprisingly willing to obey orders, even when they believed they were harming someone. This finding that ordinary people can treat others with extraordinary cruelty in the name of obeying authority has been likened to genocide committed during the Holocaust. And Gurian suggests that it also applies to the dynamics of partnered homicide,

because men in killer couples tend to be older and more criminally experienced, they become the de facto authority figure in the relationship. We can see this not only in Gerald and Charlene's relationship, but in all three of the killer couples we've explored in this series so far. Despite his obviously diminished authority, Gerald still tried to exert his influence over Charlene. As his trial began in November of 1982, he tried to block Charlene from testifying against him, claiming spousal privilege, but he'd made a fatal miscalculation. Gerald's divorce from his second wife was never legally finalized. As a result, none of

his subsequent marriages were legal, and thus Charlene didn't have spousal privilege. She was free to testify against him, and she didn't waste the chance. Charlene told the jury about how Gerald ordered her to find victims for him, telling her that he was getting that feeling. When she was asked if she ever refused, Charlene responded, No, you don't say no to Jerry. Gerald opted to represent himself at trial. made for an extraordinary spectacle as he cross-examined Charlene on the stand.

Charlene was defiant, telling Gerald, I've been under your control even after being arrested. Unsurprisingly, 36-year-old Gerald did himself no favors on the stand. And on June 21st, after less than two hours of jury deliberation, he was found guilty of murdering Craig and Mary Beth. He was sentenced to death. The following spring, he was tried in Nevada for the murders of Stacey and Karen, and Charlene was once again the star witness for the prosecution. She went into detail about Gerald's sex slave fantasies and how he longed to find, quote,

girls who were ripe for picking. Once again, the jury took barely any time to sentence him to death for his crimes. Gerald was furious and unrepentant to the end, accusing Charlene of making up the story to save herself. But Gerald's rage did nothing to change his fate. He spent almost two decades on death row, going through multiple appeals before ultimately dying from cancer in 2002 at the age of 56.

In 1997, Charlene was released from prison after serving nearly 17 years. Charlene is now in her 60s, and has lived more than two decades. under a new name. She says that she changed her name to protect herself from Gerald and his family. Today, she counts herself as one of Gerald's victims, saying, There were victims who died and there were victims who lived. It's taken me a hell of a long time to realize that I'm one of the ones who lived. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. We'll be back soon with the final chapter of our killer couple series, where we'll explore the

bloody saga of the lonely hearts killers, Ray Fernandez and Martha Beck. For more information on Gerald and Charlene Gallego, amongst the many sources we used, we found R. Barry Flowers book, The Sex Slave Murders, extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from podcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original. from Parcast. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cuddler, sound designed by Anthony Valsick, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden, and Bruce Kitovich. This episode of

Cereal Killers was written by Emma Dibdin, with writing assistance by Joel Callan, fact-checking by Haley Milliken, and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial Killers stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. Hi, it's Vanessa again. Before you go, don't forget to check out the new Parcast Limited Series Criminal Couples. From apocalyptic cult leaders to bank robbing bandits to married mafiosos, these couples give new meaning to Till Death Do Us Part. Enjoy two part episodes every Monday starting February 1st. Follow Criminal Couples free and exclusively on Spotify.

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