Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “Serial Confessor” Gerald Stano Pt. 1

Episode Date: September 12, 2022

After a childhood of being bullied and living with a well below-average IQ, Gerald Stano's need to connect with other people was intense. When police questioned him about the stabbing death of a young woman, he wanted to impress the detective. So he confessed. But did he really kill her? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this episode, listener discretion is advised. This episode contains discussion of murder, assault, sexual assault, domestic violence, and graphic childhood trauma. Extreme caution is advised for listeners under 13. Kathy Kelly knew a lot. Specifically, she knew a lot about killers. She'd been a crime reporter with the Daytona Beach News Journal for over a decade. It was her job to know. But even the most knowledgeable people have...

blind spots. She passed her colleagues in the halls and lunchroom. They poured coffee from the same pot. Oftentimes, her coworkers brushed past her desk in a hurry as she typed furiously to meet deadlines. As such, not all of them made an impression. That's why I caught Kathy completely by surprise when she heard the news. One of those colleagues was a serial killer.

Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parcast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're taking you through the life of Gerald Stano, the so-called serial confessor. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. Today, we'll cover Gerald Stano's early life and what we know about his violent acts.

Then we'll dive into the incident that caught the attention of one eager cop, who unmasked Stano as a prolific serial killer. Next time, we'll detail Stano's confessions and explore all the inconsistencies in his story. Then we'll consider if any of it was the truth and whether justice was truly done. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us.

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This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. 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 Stano's story is a difficult one to understand. It requires a lot of digging to be able to comprehend how he ended up where he did. During our research, we pieced together a web of contradicting beliefs and perspectives. from people ranging from one of Stano's survivors to some of the biggest names in criminal research. Even after all that, everything still adds up to, well, a mystery. That's why this episode and the next might sound a little different from our usual.

For now, though, we'll start in a familiar place with our subjects' childhood, and when it comes to Stano, that's a grim tale all its own. Stano was born in 1951 in Schenectady, New York. His parents named him Paul Zininger, but that's all we know about them. Stano always believed his mother was a sex worker and that she either didn't want him or had no clue how to take care of him. Maybe there was some truth to that. Maybe there wasn't. Facts are easier to come by after Stano was about six months old. That's when child services found him in a crib playing in his own waist.

Psychiatrists who later evaluated Stano guessed that he might have suffered brain damage from high-e fevers that were untreated. They said he lived through extreme childhood neglect and spent the first months of his life in, quote, subhuman conditions. Vanessa is going to take over in the psychology here and throughout the episode. As a reminder, she is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but we have done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. Neglect occurs when a child can't rely on their parents or guardians to meet their basic needs, or to simply be present in the child. We're their life, which results in an insecure bond. This is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment and accounts for nearly 80% of all cases.

And while we may think of neglect as less severe than other forms of abuse, it can actually be worse. According to a study reported by Harvard on the science of neglect, victims of childhood neglect tend to struggle with creativity, confidence, and assertiveness, even more so than victims of verbal or physical abuse. They're also at risk for abnormal physical development, impairment of the immune system, and emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal relationship difficulties. Additionally, a detective who later worked his case claimed that Stano was a blue baby, a colloquial

term for cyanosis, a condition in babies born with a lack of oxygen in their blood. We don't always know what causes cyanosis, but we do know it can lead to a lowered IQ. At six months old, Stano was taken to a foster care facility where doctors realized he was already showing signs of cognitive problems, including executive function deficits. His coordination was so underdeveloped that he bumped into walls and once fell down the stairs. Between his history and developmental issues, the baby was deemed unadoptable by the state, which meant nobody was sure what to do with him. Thankfully, one of Stano's social workers was friends with the nurse who she knew. would take pity on the infant. Norma Stano wasn't afraid of the work she knew it would take to raise this baby boy. Sometime in 1951 or 52, she and her husband Eugene adopted the infant

and renamed him Gerald Eugene Stano. Then they brought him to their home in a suburb of Philadelphia. But despite their best efforts, Stano struggled throughout his childhood. For years, the Stannos did their best to help their son adapt to his new life. But he encountered one difficulty after another. Stano wet the bed every night and continued to play with his feces until he was at least nine. In school, he acted out and had terrible grades. But his behavior escalated beyond typical childlike mischief. While in elementary schools, Stano began setting small bushfires around town. The fires were never big enough to do real damage, but it was an alarming habit, nevertheless.

At some point, he also started calling in false fire alarms to 911. He seemed to love the power he felt watching fire trucks pull up to the scene, only to realize they'd been lied to. Stano probably did these things for attention. Maybe because throughout his life he never found a better way to communicate. Perhaps the fires were just a way of trying to express himself, given his inability to create emotional bonds with others. At home, he loved his mom, but seemed to dislike his dad.

Then at school, he didn't have any friends. But he wasn't just a loner. The other children made fun of him, especially the girls. According to Stano, they taunted him about his looks, making it clear they found him unattractive. This might be why Stano was extremely clean and orderly. Perhaps he thought if he couldn't change his own appearance, he could at least keep his surroundings nice looking.

His mother said that even as a kid, Stano liked things to look picture-perfect. He relined the kitchen chairs when they were even a little askew and kept his room pristine. But while Stano, looked like an orderly young man. His actions told a different story. As a teenager, he started drinking, vandalizing, and getting into fights with his peers. He was arrested for the first time after throwing a rock off a freeway overpass, nearly killing a driver. From then on, he was in and out

of jail, mostly for petty theft. Eventually, it got so bad that his parents enrolled him in military school, but in no time he was back up to his old tricks. Stano borrowed large sums of money from classmates and refused to pay them back. To retaliate, his classmates bullied him. It got so bad that the Stannos withdrew him from the academy. Besides, in addition to the bullying, Stano's showed severe developmental issues that even the military felt unequipped to handle. We don't have a ton of information on his exact behaviors, but throughout his life, he was described as slow. These days, he'd likely be diagnosed with an intellectual developmental disorder, which the DSM. FM-5 defines as a disorder with onset during the developmental period that includes both intellectual

and adaptive functioning deficits in conceptual, social, and practical domains. As such, Stano likely would have struggled in seven areas, reasoning, problem-solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgment, academic learning, and learning from experience. In other words, almost all areas of everyday life. If we had to guess, that's probably why the military felt, it would be difficult for him to succeed. And it wasn't going to get any easier. Hoping to give their son a fresh start,

the Stannos moved to Ambler, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. There, Norma and Eugene encouraged Stano to join the track team, in hopes that the camaraderie of sports would build his confidence and help him make friends. The problem with that plan was Stano was a terrible runner. He finished dead last in every sprint and worried that other kids would make fun of him, just like they had an elementary school. Hoping to head off any bullying before it started, Stano got industrious.

He stole money from his dad, then used it to pay his teammates to let him come in first at school meets. Of course, it didn't take long for Stano's dad and coach to figure out what was going on, and he was kicked off the team. After that, he tried a variation of the plan. He stole money from classmates and used it to bribe the popular kids to accept him. But this didn't work out either.

Instead of going along with the scheme, his peers mocked him relentlessly. Dejected and humiliated, Stano started skipping school. Eventually, he was in real danger of flunking out, but instead, the principal let him repeat the 10th grade. When he finally made it to the 11th grade, everything changed for Stano, and it had nothing to do with school. When he was 19, he started dating a teenage girl, we'll call Delia. We don't know exactly how old she was, but we know that Stano fell quickly in love with her. Later, he said that Delia was the first person other than his mom he could laugh with, and who made him feel important. He had grand plans to marry her.

Then he found out Delia was pregnant. Stano could feel it. Everything was about to change. He was right. It just wasn't the change he wanted. Up next, Gerald and Delia tell their parents the good news. It's been said that art is in the eye of the beholder. But what about greed or chaos? Hi, it's Richard from the Spotify original from Parcast, Unexplained Mysteries. This September, join us as we comb through the clues of some of the greatest art mysteries of all time.

The Lost Da Vinci, the fake Rothko, the real identity of Banksy. If you've never listened to Unexplained Mysteries before, there's no better time to dive in than with this fantastic. five-part special. You can also find hundreds of other mystifying stories and new episodes each week by following Unexplained Mysteries free on Spotify. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseptitide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity, or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection.

Zepound contains terseptide and should not be used with other terseptide containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take up allergic to it. Or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endic crinoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop Zepbound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction.

Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia if you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepound with a sulfonelioria or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsened kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-97579 or visit zepbounce.lily.com. Now back to the story. In 1971, Gerald Stano found out that his girlfriend, Dealia, was pregnant. But instead of worrying about the future, the 19-year-old started entertaining dreams of what their

little family would be like. After so many years of being bullied by classmates and disappointing his teachers and coaches. Stano was ready for something good to happen. According to Stano, he and Delia went to their parents with what they thought was happy news. They sat down with her father first, but when he heard the young couple utter the words, he got up, grabbed a shotgun, and came after Stano. Furious, the father accused Stano of taking advantage of his daughter. And while his reaction was extreme, a little context helps us better understand where his head was at. Because while it's believed that Delia was around 16 or 17 years old at the time, she also had an intellectual disability, possibly Down syndrome. Her father argued that she was

unable to understand the relationship and forced Stano to pay for an abortion. Whether Delia herself wanted to keep the baby, we don't know. But even if she did, the decision was apparently out of her hands. We do know that Stano's parents helped him cover the cost of the abortion, and that Delia's father prevented the two from ever seeing each other again. After that, Stano's self-esteem plummeted to new lows. He began referring to himself as an overweight nobody. While low self-esteem doesn't excuse violent behavior, it's important to keep in mind for Stano's story

because it's possible his poor opinion of himself influenced later decisions, ones that had unintended consequences. What's equally important to what comes later is Stano's emotional maturity, He'd always held some contempt for girls his age because of the way they treated him. But now, perhaps because he was emotionally underdeveloped, he couldn't separate his girlfriend from her father's disapproval. As a result, he downright despised most girls around his age. Through all of the drama with Delia and the pregnancy,

Stano had to carry on with high school. He managed to pull himself through his classes, and in 1972, he graduated at 20. After that, he set out to find a job, but he couldn't hold anything down for long. Time and time again he was fired for petty theft, but that wasn't his only issue. Binge drinking became a regular occurrence too.

His parents had a front row seat for all of it, and yet again they offered their son a fresh start. After military school, they suggested he moved with them to Ormond Beach, Florida. His grandmother was sick and they thought he could help take care of her. Maybe it would give him some purpose, help him assume some responsibility. Stano agreed to the change. After all, there was nothing keeping him in Pennsylvania, and he needed his parents' care and support. So by 1973, the family was relocated. Yet again, Stano job-hopped, but was usually let go for theft or tardiness.

From the outside, it must have seemed like he had no chance of ever succeeding in anything. But it's possible he just needed to be in the right environment to flourish. A medical assessment conducted later in Stano's life found that he could be able to be able to, expected to, quote, cope with problems of daily living and that he had sufficient intelligence by which to apply himself with a degree of skill. In other words, the study found no reasons Danos shouldn't excel at certain trade work or in teachable roles. And things did seem to change for the better when he got a job at a local gas station and fell in love with the owner's daughter. The pair hit it off and dates quickly gave way to devotion. Things went so well that in 1974

24, 23-year-old Stano announced that the pair were engaged. But it turned out that gainful employment and a fiancé didn't fundamentally change Stano as a person. In the months leading up to their nuptials, he was arrested and jailed for check fraud. His soon-to-be in-laws wrote to the judge asking them to grant Stano furlough for the big day. The judge ended up releasing Stano early, but the relatively smooth start to the marriage didn't last. Tensions first arose when Stano started treating his job at the gas station like all the ones he'd had before. He'd show up to work late and given that he was irregular at all the local dive bars was probably hung over. He also liked to give himself a five-finger employee discount.

Despite all this, he never seemed to get in trouble. The other employees thought this was because his father-in-law was the owner, and they resented him for it. Even if they were right, these privileges still weren't enough to. to keep Stano happy. Remember, this was a man with severe developmental disabilities and deep-seated insecurities. He felt worthless and entitled at the same time, especially when he sensed others judging him. Alcohol seemed to be Stano's primary coping device for these conflicting feelings. But every time he drank, his internal extremes came to a head. That's when things erupted at home. Stano was verbally and physically abusive toward his wife. He admitted to pushing her around,

her around and hitting her face, and at one point, even attempting to strangle her dog. Stano said that he and his wife only fought when he drank, though to be fair, that was almost every night. Eventually, it was too much for either of them to bear. They separated just 13 months into their marriage. Immediately, Stano fell back into his old unstable patterns. He hopped between jobs as frequently as he did dive bars, and although it appears he stayed out of legal trouble for a spell, it did take almost four years for him to find his footing again. He finally returned to stability around 1977, when he started working at the Daytona Beach News Journal. There, he earned $3.50 an hour, stuffing coupons into the folds and bundling the papers

for delivery. It was mindless work for meager pay, but Stano seemed to like it. In fact, it was the first time in his life that he kind of liked his coworkers. Not that he completely turned a corner or anything. He continued to spend the majority of his downtime drinking and indulging in another favorite hobby, cruising local roller rinks. In a life so overwhelmed by chaos, Stano had one true passion, roller skating. He almost always had a pair of skates in the trunk of his car. Part of the obsession was that he enjoyed speeding along the waxed floors, but even more than that, he loved disco music. In his mind, he was done a summer's number one fan, and he'd defend her to anyone who dared badmouth her.

Stanow's love of Donna Summer is surprising. Other than his mother and his partners, she was the only woman he ever said a good word about. Beyond that exclusive club, his opinion of women was still consistently low. We've already discussed how throughout his life, Stano struggled with feelings of rejection, especially from women. But it wasn't a simple issue. It was one that evolved over time and was full of contradictions. We're speculating here, but it's possible.

that Stano's anger stemmed back to his biological mother. She was the first woman to ever reject him. At least she was in his mind. And as we mentioned earlier, he suspected that she performed sex work to make ends meet. This may be why he developed a particular resentment towards sex workers. This makes it all the more curious that Stano started soliciting sex work. We don't know when he first started,

but by 1980, the 29-year-old was frequenting Ocean Avenue, a street in Daytona Beach that was popular with Johns. By that winter, Stano was driving a red AMC gremlin, complete with vanity plates that he kept immaculate. One day, he allegedly picked a woman up in his car and offered her $20 for a date. As the story goes, she agreed, and they had relations in the car. Then Stano paid up.

But as soon as the money left his hands, he grew angry. We don't know exactly what Stano said to this woman, but we know that the thought of her leaving his car and getting into someone else's made his blood boil. Stano ranted about how much he hated sex workers, which understandably made the woman anxious. She knew she needed to get out of there, but she didn't want him to take his money back. So she just unlatched the car door, jumped out, and ran. At one point she turned back to see if Stano was following her and saw him pointing a gun directly at her. She started running, desperate to find somewhere to hide.

She never looked back, but she heard a pop, which might have been Stano firing the gun. Regardless, the threat was enough to traumatize her. When she got back to Ocean Avenue, the woman likely warned other sex workers about Stano, but in a bustling city like Daytona, it took a while for word to get around. In the meantime, Stano was said to have continued acting violently

toward the women he hired. In one instance, he reportedly tried to strangle a woman when she went to leave. Details about the incident are slim, but the woman managed to fight him off and escape. It's important to stop for a second here and examine Stano's possible motivation to degrade and harm these women because it comes into play later on in his story. Specifically, it's crucial to distinguish Stano's brand of misogyny. Jill A. Stoddard, a psychologist and director of the Center for Stress and Anxiety Management, explains that misogyny can be defined as not only hatred toward women in general,

but a hostility toward the women who threatened to remove the male status as superior to women. Given this, it's possible that Stano disliked and distrusted the women he hired because he felt they viewed him as disposable. They offered a service he wanted, but then they'd be gone onto the next John. They were a source of the intimacy he desperately craved, but he was just a quick buck to them. With the guy like that running around, Stano's most recent target may have tried to warn other sex workers as well.

However, the issue never made it to the police. It seems that neither woman felt that authorities would help them. That meant, for the most part, Stano's violent behavior went unchecked. Until, that is, he met Donna Hensley. The first time he met Donna, Stano pulled up next to her in his gremlin and told her to get in. The 26-year-old obliged, and the pair made polite conversation as they made their way to Stano's apartment.

Stano didn't want to do things in his car this time. That choice might have been made because he wanted to build a stronger sense of intimacy, but his intentions were anything but pure. When they arrived at his place, Donna took note of how tidy it was. She wasn't used to that in such seedy parts of the city. She also wasn't used to men like Stano. As time passed, she began to feel like he was a... nice guy. Plus, he paid her a decent rate of $35 for the night. Things continued much as expected,

with nothing out of the ordinary, and Donna left feeling good about her new client. So a few weeks later, when Donna saw Stano's Red Gremlin turn onto Ocean Avenue, she stepped out to wave him down. He picked her up and they headed to his place again. Once there, Stano abruptly mentioned that he had 100 pounds of cannabis that he wanted her to sell for him. For the record, there's nothing to suggest that Stano ever sold drugs, and though she didn't know whether the story was totally fictional. Donna knew there was no way he had that much to offload. Skeptical, Donna asked to see the stash, but Stano made excuses about why he couldn't. That sent up red flags in Donna's mind. She'd struggled with substance abuse, and she'd never known someone

to be so evasive when they wanted to sell. She thought Stano just wanted to seem like someone who sold drugs, like it would make her think he was important. Again, that's a significant detail to remember about Stano for later. But for now, Donna just found it odd, and even a little sad that this guy was so desperate to impress her. Maybe Stano picked up on Donna's pity, because without warning, he slapped her across the face. He then hit her a few more times before she fled his apartment. After that, Donna swore she'd never see Stano again. But a few weeks later, on the night of March 25th, Donna inadvertently broke her own rule. She had drugs in her system, so when a red gremlin pulled up next to her, she got in without checking to see who was driving.

It wasn't until she closed the door that she realized the dangerous mistake she just made. In a moment, Donna Hensley's last encounter with Gerald Stano changes his life forever. Sport your senses with Sol de Janeiro's limited edition perfume mist collection. At Sephora, spritz on lush notes of rainforest orchid and crisp sea breeze with he fresco paraizzo. Embrace a floral and fruity scent inspired by Rio's nude beach with chiqui bikini or capture sun-kissed bliss with limonada gelada, where zesty Brazilian lemonade accord meets coconut milk and golden brown sugar.

Don't miss Sol de Janeiro's limited edition perfume mist collection only at Sephora. Now back to the story. In the spring of 1980, Donna Hensley made a mistake. Not paying attention, she got back into Gerald Stano's car, just weeks after he assaulted her. Once she realized who was in the driver's seat, she was scared, but she didn't want to set him off, so she did her best to remain calm for the duration of the ride. This time, Stano didn't take Donna to his apartment. They ended up at a cheap motel instead.

There are a few different versions of what happened. next, but the important details are consistent. So with that in mind, we'll tell you the version that the papers described directly following the incident. According to Donna, she and Stano had sex and he paid her $50. After that, it seemed like the night would end without incident, like their very first encounter, so she relaxed a little. But as she started getting dressed to leave, Stano lunged at her, knocking her in the head. Donna fell to the ground. Shocked, then she said Stano went berserk yelling about his hatred for sex workers. Donna wasn't sure what to do, but he'd been violent with her before and she survived.

So she hoped that if she stayed alert but perfectly still, he'd calm down. Then she could escape like last time. But then Stano produced a bottle of muriatic acid and tried to douse her with it. This type of acid is typically used for removing rust, so we can only imagine what it would do to a person's skin. Fortunately, Donna dodged him. Stano dropped the bottle of acid, and as it spilled onto the carpet, the room began to fill with smoke. Donna tried to make a run for it, but Stano tackled her.

Then he pulled out a knife and plunged it into her inner thigh, hitting the bone. Screaming in pain, Donna wrestled with Stano as he slashed her chest, thighs, and arm. In all, he cut her almost 30 times. It's very possible that he was trying to kill her. Donna kicked and clawed at Stano until she could finally wriggle herself free. As she ran for the door, he grabbed her ankle and she fell. But she kicked him in the head with her free foot.

He yelped and loosened his grip. It was the millisecond Donna needed to get to the door and bolt for freedom. She ran across the parking lot to the motel clerk's office, where she collapsed. The manager called 911 and Daytona Beach medics and police arrived shortly after. But by that time, Stano had already fled. As paramedics treated Donna for multiple stab wounds, officers surveyed the scene. They asked if Donna could come down to the station the next day for an interview. Either the next morning or a few days later, Donna was introduced to Detective Paul Crow,

who was surprised by how much Donna knew about her attacker. It's unlikely she knew his real name, but she described him in great detail. She remembered that he liked roller skating and recalled what his car looked like. she'd even memorized his vanity plates. Donna was happy to help authorities however she could. According to Volusia County prosecutor Larry Nixon, she told police, quote, Look, I may be a whore, but nobody does this to me and gets away with it.

Thankfully, Crow believed Donna and took her account seriously. But based on what happened in the months and years to come, his detective work after that was suspect. We'll get to that next time, though. On March 26th, the day of the day. after the attack, police called Donna into the station. When she arrived, they took photos of her bruises and ligature marks. Then they showed her a photo lineup of suspects. She picked out Gerald Stano immediately. That was enough to convince Crow. He'd already suspected Stano, who was the only

man in the pile with a list of priors. At first, Crow was just happy about the prospect of getting an abusive man off the street. But then he noticed a possible connection to another case. As he stared at the photographs of Donna's wounds, his thoughts traveled to a woman named Mary Carol Marr. Mary had been a student at the local community college, and had just accepted a swimming scholarship at Clemson University for the following school year. But that February, her body was found near the Daytona Beach Airport, covered in stab wounds. Now, a little over a month later, Mary lay in the county morgue, which gave Crow the opportunity

to compare her injuries with Donna's. Looking at them, he wondered whether Donna might have just escaped a killer. So when police arrested Stano on April 1st to charge him with assaulting Donna, Crow pulled him aside for further questioning. We don't know exactly what was said in the room that day, because the interview wasn't recorded, but there are accounts of what went down, so what we tell you next is based on those.

Apparently, Crow sat down with Stano and showed him a picture of Mary Carol Maher. Looking at it, Stano nodded and said that he, knew her. Once in late January, he gave her a ride to a convenience store to grab some beers. They partied a little, then she got out of his car and left. Crow wasn't satisfied with that answer. He was looking for Mary's killer and was sure he'd found his guy. He pushed, saying things like, that's not really true, is it? You two had some kind of argument, didn't you? Did she make you mad? It's unclear how much time passed, but Stano eventually greed with Crow's accusations. He apparently

confessed that he wanted to have sex with Mary, but that she rejected his advances. According to Kelly, Stano grew more and more indignant as he told the story, as though he were reliving the encounter, and as his emotions stirred, Crow strategically feigned sympathy. The ploy worked. Stano loosened up. He no longer felt like he was talking to a cop, but a friend. And for someone who lacked critical thinking skills and live for social approval, that was huge. Stano later wrote, All during this, Paul was like a person I could talk to and confide in. I didn't look at him like a policeman.

I saw him as a real person who cared what happened to me. When used properly, this kind of technique can be a valid way of getting to the truth. But in this case, some have speculated that Crow added his own twist. He used leading questions to get Stano to say what he wanted to hear. If this is true, then it seems Stano wanted to impress Detective Crow, because he eventually admitted that he got into a fight with Mary and stabbed her in the chest and thigh. The last detail was crucial.

Police never released the information to the public, but Mary had been stabbed in the thigh, with such force that it broke her femur. From one angle, it makes sense that Crow connected the two cases. Stano had stabbed Donna Hensley in the thigh, and now he was admitting to doing the same thing to another woman. It looked like a pattern. However, it could also look like a confused man trying to come up with the right answers to impress a new friend.

Maybe Stano took a guess, using his experience of what he did to Donna as a starting point. To be clear, though, we could only speculate what either man was thinking about during the interview. But whatever was going on internally, the upshot boiled down to one thing. Gerald Stano had just confessed to murder. And there was plenty more where. that came from. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. We'll be back next time with the rest of Gerald Stano's story,

which involves a lot more confessions and is best approached with a healthy dose of skepticism. That's because as the case against Stano builds, it becomes harder and harder to know the truth. You can find all episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week.

Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Jaron Cohen, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Nick Johnson, Trent Williamson, and Carly Madden. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Aaron Lan, edited by Sarah Batchelor and Joel Callan, fact-checked by Amelia Malars, researched by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood, and produced by Bruce Kitovich. Serial Killers stars Greg Poulson, and Vanessa Richardson. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment

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