Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Gorilla Man” Pt. 2: Earle Leonard Nelson

Episode Date: January 13, 2020

From 1926-1928, Earle Nelson would roam across North America strangling unsuspecting land ladies. By the end of his rampage, he will kill at least 22 people, a record that would not be broken for another 50 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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And now, you can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash killers. That's ZipRecruiter. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie 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 killers. That's Shopify.com slash killers. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel

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celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. Due to the graphic nature, of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. In May of 1921, the San Francisco Police Department received a frantic call from a young man named Charles Summers Jr. His little sister Mary had been attacked. He tried to fight off the assailant, but the man was too strong.

Now, the crazed maniac ran loose on the streets, an unpredictable, bloodthirsty beast who threatened all who crossed his path. The police moved quickly and efficiently throughout the streets of San Francisco. They had gotten the description, a large white man with a dark complexion, long arms, and sizable hands. He had fled on foot. He had to be nearby. They scoured the roads, looking everywhere they could.

Two hours into the hunt, an officer spotted the attacker, sitting calmly on a trolley. The officer rushed to stop the vehicle. When he climbed on board, he saw the monster's face was scratched and bleeding. Little Mary had done a good job defending herself. She'd marked this man as guilty. The officers were determined to lock him up for good, but they would fail. Earl Leonard Nelson's reign of violence had only just begun. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson.

This is serial killers, a podcast original. Every Monday, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. This is our second episode on Earl Leonard Nelson, the man infamously known as the Gorilla Killer, or Gorilla Man. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of Serial Killers and all other Parcast originals for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. To stream Serial Killers for free on Spotify, just open the app and type Serial Killers in the search bar.

At Parcast, we're grateful for you, our listeners. You allow us to do what we love. Let us know how we're doing. Reach out on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast and Twitter at Parcast Network. And if you enjoyed today's episode, the best way to help us. is to leave a five-star review wherever you're listening, it really does help. Last week, we covered the early life and first attack of the guerrilla killer, Earl Nelson. Reputed to have abnormally long arms and unusually large hands, Earl roamed the United States

in Canada, strangling unsuspecting landlady's in their own homes. This week, we'll cover the series of killings that made him one of the most prolific murderers of the early 20th century. During his 17-month spree, he managed to slaughter at least 21 women and one infant child. By 1921, 24-year-old Earl Leonard Nelson had lived a short but troubled life. He'd been orphaned. He'd suffered two traumatic brain injuries, and he had spent multiple years behind bars. He had committed many petty crimes, but in May of 1921, his behavior escalated from minor theft to major violence.

After walking past a home and peering into its basement windows, Earl spotted a 12-year-old girl named Mary Summers. Earl entered the house and attempted to strangle Mary, but he was chased off by her older brother, Charles Jr. Two hours later, Earl was captured by the police and taken to jail. Some sources claim that Earl spent his first night in jail, plucking out his eyebrow hairs, screaming about faces in the walls. The judicial system soon realized that Earl was an escaped inmate of Napa State Psychiatric

Hospital. Given his clearly impaired mental state, court psychiatrists evaluated him a second time, declaring him restless, violent, dangerous, excited, and depressed. The courts deemed him a danger to the public and recommitted him to Napa State Hospital, even though he had escaped that same hospital three times before. Upon readmission, the hospital psychiatrists declared Earl a constitutional psychopath with outbreaks of psychosis. His visions and delusions had greatly worsened since his last hospital stay. He also presented a clear wanderlust that the hospital psychiatrists called nomadic dementia.

Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or a psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. While the term nomadic dementia is not commonly used today, in 1921, it referred to a lack of inhibition in the nomadic instinct that was believed to be common in mankind. A 1915 paper titled The Feebly Inhibited Nomadism or The Wandering Impulse with special reference to Heredity, declared that the wandering instinct is in man, fundamental, and basic.

Within the average person, this instinct is repressed where there is good reason why it should be. Among constitutional mental inferiors, on the other hand, the inhibitions may be underdeveloped, and such persons show a constant roving tendency. In other words, doctors at the time believed that Earl's tendency to wander was impulsive and uncontrolled. Much like every other pattern of behavior Earl had exhibited, he seemed completely unable to resist the urges of his subconscious. Hence, his perpetual wanderlust was likened to a form of dementia. Earl's nomadic tendencies were on display early in his return

to Napa Hospital, as some sources report that he tried to escape from the mental hospital twice within his first two weeks. However, he was prevented from leaving the building on both occasions. After his initial failed attempts, Earl decided that escape was now impossible. Instead, he cooperated with the hospital staff, and much of his stay passed uneventfully. But as the months went by, the hospital staff loosened their restrictions on Earl. Eventually, they became as lax with Earl as they had been during his first commitment. He was quick to take advantage. On November 2nd, 1923, Earl broke out of the hospital, fleeing to freedom,

once more. With nowhere to go, Earl returned to his Aunt Lillian's home. His mental state had clearly deteriorated since she had last seen him, and when he appeared at her home, the look in his eyes scared his aunt half to death. Lillian opened the door and welcomed him in, but to protect her children, she told Earl he couldn't stay the night. She insisted that the police would assume he had fled to her home, and if he wanted to remain free, he needed to find another, less obvious place to stay. Surprisingly, Earl listened to his aunt. She gave him some of her husband's clothes,

then sent him back out to wander once more. As soon as he left, Lillian called the police and reported Earl's escape. She knew he was too dangerous to be left on the streets. After a two-day manhunt, Earl was captured again. The guards at Napa Hospital made sure to keep a closer eye on him. But their re-inspired vigilance didn't have to last long. Even after Earl's escape, no extra time was added to his sentence. Earl was officially released from the hospital sometime in the spring of 1925,

his record merely stating that he had been discharged as improved. Altogether, he had been imprisoned for nearly four years. It seems hard to believe that Earl Nelson's mental health had actually improved in that time. With this in mind, it's a little bit. entirely possible that Earl's release was handled similarly to his previous term at Napa Hospital that we covered last week. They'd simply gotten so tired of dealing with Earl. They discharged him in absentia. They had even purposefully listed him as non-dangerous, even though they knew he was unstable and unpredictable. It is entirely possible that the doctor's merely repeated history

by releasing Earl when they did. However, no evidence has been found to prove that the this is what occurred. Whatever the case may have been, Earl was released and free to wander the streets once more. Unfortunately, Earl's bloodlust had only grown during his time in Napa State Hospital. His release would be the death of women all across the country. When we return, we'll learn about the dark reality of Earl Nelson's twisted fantasies. Now back to the story. After assaulting a 12-year-old year old girl in 1921, 24-year-old Earl Nelson was declared criminally insane and was committed to Napa State Hospital. He was released from the hospital four years later, listed as improved,

but his violent tendencies only escalated. Some sources claim Earl began his murder spree mere weeks after being set free. He was a prime suspect in at least three murders that took place in 1925. However, in the interest of time, we will limit our discussion to the murders we know Earl is responsible for. By 1926, 28-year-old Earl's bloodlust had become all-consuming. While looking through the classifieds, he spotted an ad that caught his attention. A 62-year-old woman named Clara Newman was renting out a room in her home. Her ad specifically stated that drinking men and sailors were not allowed to apply.

To Earl, this ad read like the perfect opportunity to satiate his need for violence. He knew if he presented himself well, the woman would willingly invite him inside. He picked up his Bible and acquired a nice suit, then made his way to Clara's home. When Clara answered the door, Earl introduced himself using a fake name. He spoke cleanly, using religious language to give Clara the impression that he was an upstanding, god-fearing man. He asked to be allowed inside, and Clara assented. As Clara led Earl to the bedroom for rent, his mind ran wild. He thought of all the things he was about to do to her.

None of them good. As they walked down the hallway, they came across the bathroom door. She asked Earl if he wanted to see the restroom, and he readily agreed. She stepped into the bathroom, he stepped in after her, and closed the door behind them. Once the door latched shut, Earl felt free to do as he pleased. He brought his massive hands forward and wrapped them around her neck. Clara's eyes must have been filled with shock and fear as Earl squeezed and squeezed. Until Clara could breathe no longer.

Earl Nelson had just claimed his first known victim. Yet even after taking Clara's life, he was far from satisfied. Earl hiked up Clara's skirts and violated her body. The fact that Earl violated Clara's corpse after she was dead, rather than assault her while she was alive, indicates that Earl was a true necrophiliac. A necrophile is a person who feels sexual attraction towards human corpses. According to a study titled Sexual Attraction to Corpses,

a psychiatric review of necrophilia, performed by Dr. Jonathan P. Rossman and Philip J. Reznik, The most common motive for necrophilia is possession of an unresisting and unrejecting partner. Earl's behavior specifically categorizes him as a genuine necrophile, whose necrophilic fantasies were so powerful, he began committing necrophilic homicide or murder with the express purpose of obtaining a corpse to be used as a sexual partner. As we discussed in part one, Earl had had a hyperactive sex drive. from the moment he entered puberty.

He frequented the Red Light District of San Francisco, even at the age of 15. After he fell off a ladder at age 22 and hit his head, his sex drive only grew more uncontrollable. After facing resistance from his ex-wife, who simply could not keep up with his sexual demands, Earl likely felt that corpses were the only things that could truly satisfy his sexual desires.

Hence, he followed up his first murder, with the violation of his victim's corpse. Once he'd had his fill, he stepped out of the bathroom and walked to the front door of the home. He popped his collar up and pulled his hat down to help conceal his face. He reached for the door, only to hear footsteps coming from the staircase behind him.

Clara's nephew, Merton Newman, who lived in the upstairs apartment, called out, can I help you? Earl turned slightly towards him, still keeping most of his face concealed. Thinking quick on his feet, he answered, Tell the landlady I will return in an hour. I wish to rent the bedroom.

And with that, Earl stepped out of the house and sped down the sidewalk. Merton looked out the door to get a better glimpse of Earl, but by the time he got outside, Earl had already left his sight. Merton was perplexed. Earl's behaviors struck him as odd, and he didn't get a clear look at Earl's face. He decided to tell his aunt what the man had said. and walked to the kitchen to find her.

Instead, he found a cold pan with a half-cooked sausage on the stove. Merton continued moving through the house. Eventually, he peeked into the bathroom to find the horrific sight of his aunt strangled and violated. Merton immediately called the police, but he could hardly describe the man he had seen. He only knew that the man's skin had an olive tone. There was little the police could do. do and no evidence was available that could help them find their killer. Earl Nelson's rampage had only just begun. Whether driven by wanderlust or by fear of capture, Earl left San Francisco

and made his way south to San Jose. It didn't take long for him to strike again. After the success of his first attack, he felt he had found the perfect system for murder. He began scouring the classified ads for female landlord looking to rent out a room. He knew that if he presented himself well, she would invite him into an empty apartment. Once inside, he could easily overpower her and do whatever he wanted.

With his very first murder, Earl had already established his MO. On March 2nd, 1926, 28-year-old Earl spotted the perfect listing. 60-year-old Laura Beale was in search of a tenant. He made his way to her home, and much as his way he had with Clara, he pretended to be an upstanding, god-fearing man. Laura welcomed him in and showed him to the vacant apartment. As soon as Laura let her guard down, Earl attacked. Using his strength, he tore the silk belt from her dressing gown, then tied the sash around her neck.

He pulled the belt so tight, the pressure broke Laura's skin. She died, terrified, and bleeding, unable to get a single breath of air. Once Earl had finished strangling Laura, he hiked up her skirt and violated her body, much as he had with his first victim. He left her body in the vacant apartment and exited the building, walking away nonchalantly.

One neighbor caught a glimpse of him leaving, but could only describe him as a sallow-faced man. Laura's body was discovered by her husband, several hours later. He immediately called the police. Unfortunately, much like Earl's first killing, there was a little evidence available to tie any suspect to the crime. Soon, Earl's string of stranglings were front-page news.

The papers declared a maniac was loose, killing unsuspecting landladys. They dubbed the killer, the dark strangler. It is highly likely that Earl had seen the stories about his murders papered throughout the region. While this is purely speculation, Earl's fear of capture may about wait as itch for violence. He kept a low profile for the time being, waiting and watching for his time to strike.

Weeks passed, and eventually stories about the dark strangler drifted off of the front page and into the fog of the collective memory. Once the heat around Earl's crimes died down, he felt he could finally attack again. On June 10, 1926, Earl found an ad placed by a 63-year-old widow named Lillian St. Mary. She had a home in San Francisco with several boarders and one room available for rent. Just as he had before, Earl arrived at St. Mary's home in the middle of the day. Suit-pressed Bible in hand. St. Mary welcomed him into her home and led him up the stairs to the vacant room.

As soon as they entered, Earl locked the door behind them. Earl attacked Lillian faster than she could react. He grabbed her by the throat, threw her on the bed, then leapt on top of her, his knees pressing into her chest as he squeezed the breath from her neck. Once she was dead, he pulled back her clothing and desecrated her corpse,

just as he had done twice before. Earl left the house silently. He had been so quiet, in fact, the renter who was in the bedroom directly beneath the murder scene hadn't heard any noise prior to, during, or after the attack. He didn't notice anything was wrong until hours later. Searching for his landlady, he ascended the stairs to find the vacant room's door hanging open, and Lillian St. Mary's violated corpse left on the bed. With a third landlady murder officially on the books, police became convinced a single roving maniac was responsible for all three slayings. The chief of police warned every citizen of the Bay Area that a killer was on the prowl. He advised all landladys to avoid inviting potential renters indoors without a second person present. The police searched the streets for Earl once again, unsuccessfully.

Shortly after murdering Lillian St. Mary, Earl fled San Jose, heading south along the coast. By mid-June, he had arrived in Santa Barbara, California, where the public was unaware of the threat. On June 24th, two weeks after his last killing, Earl called up the home of 53-year-old landlady, Mrs. Russell. He arranged an appointment to see the vacant room during midday when he knew her husband would be out of the home. When the time arrived, Earl knocked on Mrs. Russell's door, and she led him inside. Once they were alone in the room, Earl assaulted her, tying a rope so tightly around her neck, it tore through her skin. When she was dead, he pushed up her dress and violated her corpse, yet this time he was not unnoticed. Earl's motion brought the bed repeatedly crashing against the wall, while he had assumed he was

was alone, William Franey, one of Mrs. Russell's renters, was sleeping in the adjacent room. Franey worked the night shift, and when he heard the ruckus, he awoke, angry that his sleep had been interrupted. Franey crept across the hall, knelt down, and peeked into the keyhole to see what exactly was going on. Franey peered inside, spying a large man having sex with his landlady, but Frany knew Mrs. Russell would never willingly cheat on her husband. When he looked more closely, he realized that Mrs. Russell was practically motionless,

and the bed sheets were stained with blood. Stunned and confused, Franey watched as Earl finished with his awful act. When Earl approached the door, Frany snuck back into his own room and waited for Earl to leave. Franey then left the building himself and rushed to find Mrs. Russell's husband, George, at his workplace. Franey told George what he had seen, and the two men returned to the house to find Mrs. Russell dead and defiled. They immediately reported the murder to the police, and for the first time, law enforcement received a clear description of the dark strangler. A Los Angeles paper described him as, probably Greek, about 35 years old, 5-7 or 5-8, high cheekbones,

thin face, and possessing long, wavy, sandy hair. Earl was actually said to be of English and Spanish descent, and he was only 29 years old at the time of the crime. But Franey's statement was still the closest the police had come to identifying the dark strangler. Unfortunately, it would do little to help bring Earl in. His tendency to wander carried him out of Santa Barbara, long before the police were able to find him. While they finally had a witness, Earl's wanderings would allow him to kill all across North America.

His reign of terror had only just begun, eventually claiming the lives of nearly two dozen other women. Up next, we'll learn how Earl became the most prolific American serial killer of the early 20th century. Now back to the story. By late June of 1926, 29-year-old Earl Nelson had already killed four landladys throughout California. An eyewitness had seen him defiling his fourth victim's body and given a description to the police, but it was of little help to them. By walking, hitchhiking, and train hopping, Earl traveled from city to city

too quickly for the police to catch him. Due to the technological limitations of the 1920s, police departments had little to no communication with each other. These limitations and Earl's penchant for wandering made him nearly uncatchable. After murdering his latest victim in Santa Barbara, Earl headed north to Oakland, California. In Oakland, Earl repeated his now familiar pattern. He found his fifth victim, 52-year-old Mary Nesbit, in the classified section. On August 16, 1926, he talked his way into Mary's home.

Once inside, he slammed her head into her head into her. the bathroom floor, then strangled her with a dish towel she was carrying when they met. When her husband returned home, he found her teeth and blood scattered across the floor, and her body violated and stuffed in the bathroom corner. As police began their search for Mary's killer, Earl fled north to Portland, Oregon. While there, he claimed three more victims in rapid succession. On October 19th, Earl strangled and raped. 35-year-old Bayada Withers. He dragged her body to the attic of her home

and stuffed her in a trunk. By hiding Bayada, Earl managed to delay her discovery until the next day, when her 15-year-old son found her mangled corpse. And by the time Bayada had been located, Earl had already struck again. On October 20th, Earl strangled and violated, a 37-year-old widow named

Mabel Fluke. He also hid her body in her attic. The next day, Earl claimed his third victim in Portland, 59-year-old Virginia Grant. Earl hid her corpse behind the furnace in her basement. Earl's Portland victims marked a significant shift in his MO. According to serial violence, analysis of modus operandi and signature characteristics of killers, written by doctors Robert D. Keppel and William J. burns. The MO of any one perpetrator is only valid for three to four months before it begins to change or evolve. This change results from the offender's experience gained through having committed a series of crimes,

education obtained through incarceration, media coverage of similar crimes, publications or other public means of discussion, maturation of the offender and his ability to adapt to a particular crime. Earl saw the media exposure his first four murders had received, and the speed with which the press and police could respond to his actions. In response, Earl started hiding the bodies, most likely to provide himself slightly more time to flee the town. However, he did not leave Portland right away. Instead, he continued to seek out landladys throughout the city.

Rather than strangle all of them, he charmed them with his use of scripture and booked a room. He would then place a down payment with stolen goods, stay a few days, and leave before paying the full bill. Earl's bill skipping would prove to be his downfall. The landlady he scammed, reported his name and his appearance to the Portland PD. By cross-referencing their descriptions of Earl with the previous descriptions of the Dark Strangler, police began to suspect that they had found their man. They looked into Earl Nelson's background and discovered that he,

He was a known psychotic and previously escaped inmate who had once attempted to murder a 12-year-old girl. The police made Earl's name known to the public, and the press reported it far and wide. Eager to take the story further, some reporters interviewed Earl's Aunt Lillian. Lillian told the reporters that Earl used to walk around on his hands, carried heavy objects in his teeth, and lurked within dark cellars. This odd behavior, along with Earl's large hands and long arms, reminded the press of an Edgar Allan Poe story titled The Murders in the Rue Morg. In the story, two women had been torn apart by bloodthirsty and maniacal orangutan. They decided to give Earl a name in reference to this story, but the orangutan man didn't quite roll off the tongue.

Instead, they dubbed Earl Nelson the gorilla man and the gorilla. killer, the name that stuck with Earl to this day. Yet even with Earl's name known to the public, he still proved difficult to capture. Earl's penchant for wandering and his tendency to use fake aliases made him nearly impossible to track. As such, he continued to roam the countryside, killing as he pleased. Every one of Earl's murders could be described at length, however, in the interest of time, we'll only cover each one briefly.

After Portland, Earl made his way back to San Francisco. On November 18, 1926, he killed landlady Mrs. William Edmonds and hid her body underneath her bed. Her husband found her later that same night. Earl spent the next five days traveling due north to Seattle, Washington. On November 23rd, he killed Florence Monks, stole her jewelry, then fled Seattle just as quickly as he had arrived. He returned to Portland.

On November 29th, Earl met Anne Strangled, 48-year-old landlady Blanche Myers. He stole cash from her purse, as well as some of her jewelry, then used his extra funds to flee Portland and run eastward across the United States. By late December, Earl had reached Council Bluffs, Iowa, one of the largest train hubs in the nation at the time. But rather than admire the infrastructure of the city, Earl preyed upon the people. who lived there. On December 23rd, Earl strangled 49-year-old Elizabeth Beard and hit her corpse beneath her bed. She was found by her husband later that same day.

Earl hopped aboard the rails once again and fled Iowa. In a matter of days, he reached Kansas City, Missouri. On December 27th, Earl killed one of his youngest victims, 23-year-old Bonnie Pace, and the next day, Earl killed again. Earl strangled 28-year-old Germania Harpen. To make matters worse, Earl also strangled Germania's eight-month-old infant with the child's own diaper. Nobody knows why Earl went out of his way to kill a baby. But some speculate he may have done it purely because the baby was in the room when he had killed the child's mother.

Whatever the case, this crime made the already infamous gorilla man, even more nefarious in the eye. of the public. The nation grew even more desperate to put Earl behind bars. Earl left Kansas City and continued to wander the U.S. however, his movements over the next four months of his life are relatively unknown. There's reason to believe he's responsible for at least three more murders during this time, but again we'll stick with the murders he's confirmed to have committed. Earl's next murder occurred on April 27, 1927, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

There, he strangled and violated 60-year-old Mary McConnell. He hit her body, stole her jewelry, and continued on to the next city. Earl turned 30 on May 12th. He celebrated his birthday on May 27th when he strangled 35-year-old Jenny Randolph in Buffalo, New York. By June, he had already made his way to Detroit, Michigan, where he committed his second double murder.

On June 1st, he strangled a 53-year-old landlady named Minnie May with electrical wire, then violated her corpse. Later that same day, he strangled one of May's residents, 64-year-old Maureen Atworthy, and violated her corpse as well. Always outrunning the local police, Earl ditched Detroit and made his way to Chicago, Illinois. On June 3rd, he used an electrical cord to strangle 27 years. year old Mary Sietzima. Her husband found her later that same day. Over the course of 17 months, the gorilla man, Earl Nelson, had traveled across the entire United States and murdered 19 women and one infant child. The nation was locked in a state of perpetual fear as strangled women were being found at an alarming rate all throughout the country. To the public, Earl seemed almost

unstoppable. He could kill at any time and evade the police in any city, leaving no leads behind. He was a boogeyman to the average American, a terror in the night. Yet even though the people thought Earl was uncatchable, Earl felt differently. Everywhere he went, he read constant newspaper stories about his killings. While the people thought they could not escape from him, Earl felt like he could not escape from their gaze and kill in peace. To Earl, it felt like the entirety of the American police force was after him. It was simply too much pressure, as he believed he could be caught at any moment.

As a result, Earl decided to flee the states entirely. He headed north to Canada. After crossing the border, he made his way to Winnipeg, Manitoba, arriving on June 8, 1927. Looking for a place to stay, Earl charmed the city. his way into a boarding house run by a woman named Catherine Hill. He gave her a fake name, paid her a dollar as a deposit, and promised to get her three more dollars by the end of the week. Unfortunately, he gave Catherine Hill something much worse instead. On that same day, a 14-year-old girl named Lola Cohen was walking down the street selling

paper flowers door-to-door. Perhaps she knocked on Catherine's door and Earl answered, or perhaps Earl met her on the street and asked her to return to his room with him. Whatever the case, Earl got Lola into his room alone, and in typical gorilla man fashion, he strangled her with his bare hands. Earl hid Lola's body underneath his bed, then went to sleep. In the morning, he left the boarding house, locking his bedroom door behind him. He began to wander the streets of Winnipeg, looking for his next. victim. He found her that very same afternoon. Emily Patterson was inside her home cleaning when Earl

Nelson spotted her through the window. Unlike most of Earl's victims, Emily was not a landlady. Nobody knows how Earl got inside the Patterson home, but once he did, he strangled Emily. He then violated her body and stuffed her corpse beneath her bed. Earl stole one of Emily's husband's suits, $70 in cash, and Emily's golden wedding ring. He left the house shortly after and began wandering Winnipeg once more. When Emily's husband, William, returned home that evening, he was wrought with worry. His wife was nowhere to be found. After several hours of searching, William finally decided to turn in for the night. He knelt down beside his bed at 11.30 p.m. and prayed to God, asking that he help him find his wife.

Once he finished praying, he stood. His leg caught the sheets that covered the side of the bed. As the sheets lifted, he caught a glimpse of his wife's sweater underneath. He knelt down once more to see the horrific sight of his wife, brutalized, violated, and dead. William contacted the Winnipeg police. As he described the crime to the police, they immediately knew who had committed it. Tales of Earl's horrific crimes had traveled all the way to Canada, long before he himself had actually arrived. The stories of a roving killer were the first of their kind, and the spooky nature of a murderous drifter fascinated the public, even internationally.

Using a description of Earl from American newspapers, the police set out to find him. By speaking to shopkeepers and passerby in the area, they traced Earl's movements back to Catherine Hill's boarding house. When they told her about the man they were after, she initially didn't believe that the charming Christian man she had allowed into her home was a killer. Yet when they checked Earl's room, they found 14-year-old Lola Cohen's corpse rotting underneath his bed. With the gorilla man's identity confirmed and his alias discovered, the Winnipeg police acted fast. They sent word out to the public, warning them about a dangerous American loose. in their province. People sent in tip after tip, effectively tracking Earl's movements for the police.

The police recovered Earl, five miles north of the Canada-US border. Earl surrendered to the Mounties using a fake name and complied with their every request. They initially doubted that they had captured the right man, as Earl was so cooperative. However, his first night in jail, he picked the door to a cell and escaped into the darkness. The police found him the next day, and his escape had proved his true identity to the police, beyond all reasonable doubt. They had finally captured the guerrilla man himself. As the Canadian police began to question Earl, they allowed officers from all over the U.S. to interrogate him as well. Officers from California, Oregon, Washington State, Iowa, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and so on, connected Earl to their various

unsolved murder cases through eyewitnesses and objects Earl had stolen from crime scenes. The police suspected Earl's involvement in 29 murders, but Earl denied his involvement in each and every one. In the end, the evidence against him was enough to declare him guilty of 22 killings. However, the Canadian courts only prosecuted him for the murders of Lola Cohen and Emily Patterson, because they were the only two murders that had occurred within Canada's borders. They declared him guilty of first-degree murder in both cases and sentenced him to death by hanging. The U.S. law enforcement was satisfied with Earl's Canadian trials

and left him to the justice of the North. After all, a criminal could not be killed twice, and he had already received the death sentence. On Friday, January 13th, 1928, 30-year-old Earl Nelson was led to the gallows. They allowed him to speak his last words. He cried, I am innocent. I stand innocent before God and man. I forgive those who have wronged me and ask forgiveness of those I have injured.

God have mercy. They placed the rope around his neck, led him to the platform, and at 7.30 a.m., they pulled the lever. Earl's neck broke, rendering him unconscious. As he hung from the rope, it squeezed the air from his lungs. In a poetic twist of fate, the gorilla man died in much the same way as his victims. Over the course of 17 months, Earl Nelson murdered at least 21 women and one eight-month-old child. He was the most prolific serial sex killer in American history

until the crimes of Dean Coral were discovered in 1973, nearly 50 years later. Earl Nelson was also the first American serial killer to get widespread public and press attention. His crimes and the terror they struck in the hearts of the American people were only the first of a dark and awful pattern to come. As such, Earl Nelson is credited with igniting the American fascination with the serial sex murderer. Earl's killing spree even inspired an Alfred Hitchcock film titled Shadow of a Doubt, Hitchcock's personal favorite of all of his films.

Earl's mark on American pop culture was deep and profound. And while the gorilla man may be dead and gone, his dark and awful legacy lives on. Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. We'll be back Monday with a new episode. You can find all episodes of serial killers and all other podcast originals for free on Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Not only does Spotify already have all of your favorite music, but now Spotify is making it easy for you to enjoy all of your favorite

podcast originals like serial killers for free from your phone, desktop, or smart speaker. To stream serial killers on Spotify, just open the app and type Serial Killers in the search bar. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast. And Twitter at Parcast Network. We'll see you next time. Serial Killers was created by Max Cutler and is a Parcast Studios original.

Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Trent Williamson, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro and Carly Madden. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Giles Hovesest. with writing assistance by Abigail Cannon and stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks.

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