 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2018) |
Ripper Crew | |
|---|---|
 Booking photos; left to right: Robin Gecht, Andrew Kokoraleis, Thomas Kokoraleis, and Edward Spreitzer | |
| Born | Robin Gecht November 30, 1953 Menard, Illinois, U.S. Andrew Kokoraleis July 18, 1963 Villa Park, Illinois, U.S. Thomas Kokoraleis July 10, 1961 Villa Park, Illinois, U.S. Edward Spreitzer January 5, 1961 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | Andrew Kokoraleis March 17, 1999 (aged 35) Tamms Correctional Center, Tamms, Illinois, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Andrew Kokoraleis Execution by lethal injection |
| Other names | The Chicago Rippers The Ripper Crew |
| Criminal status | Robin Gecht and Edward Spreitzer Incarcerated Andrew Kokoraleis Executed Thomas Kokoraleis Released |
| Conviction(s) | Everyone except Gecht was convicted of at least one count of murder |
| Criminal penalty | Robin Gecht 120 years imprisonment Andrew Kokoraleis Death Thomas Kokoraleis Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; commuted to 70 years Edward Spreitzer Death; commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole |
| Details | |
| Victims | 18 (6 convicted; 5 for Spreitzer, 1 for the Kokoralies brothers) |
Span of crimes | May 23, 1981 – October 6, 1982 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Illinois |
Date apprehended | October 20 - November 12, 1982 |
The Ripper Crew or the Chicago Rippers was an organized crime group of serial killers, cannibals, rapists, and necrophiles. The group was composed of Robin Gecht[1] and three associates: Edward Spreitzer, and brothers Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis.[2] They were suspected in the murders of 17 women in Illinois in 1981 and 1982, as well as the unrelated fatal shooting of a man in a random drive-by shooting.[3] According to one of the detectives who investigated the case, Gecht "made Manson look like a Boy Scout."[4]
- ^ Schneck, Robert Damon (2014). "Ku Klux Klowns: Grim Rippers". Mrs. Wakeman vs. the Anti-Christ: And Other Strange-but-true Tales From American History (E-Book ed.). [S.l.]: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1585429448.
- ^ Ramsland, Katherine. (2005) The Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation, Berkley Books, ISBN 978-0-425-20765-9 p. 220.
- ^ Rumore, Christy Gutowski, Marianne Mather and Kori (29 March 2019). "Timeline: Sadistic exploits, innocent victims of the Ripper Crew". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2022-01-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Gutowski, Christy (29 March 2019). "The Ripper Crew abducted and murdered women in the '80s. Now Thomas Kokoraleis, 58, is set to go free". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2022-02-01.