Ripper Crew

Ripper Crew
Booking photos; left to right: Robin Gecht, Andrew Kokoraleis, Thomas Kokoraleis, and Edward Spreitzer
BornRobin Gecht
(1953-11-30) November 30, 1953 (age 70)
Menard, Illinois, U.S.
Andrew Kokoraleis
(1963-07-18)July 18, 1963
Villa Park, Illinois, U.S.
Thomas Kokoraleis
(1961-07-10) July 10, 1961 (age 63)
Villa Park, Illinois, U.S.
Edward Spreitzer
(1961-01-05) January 5, 1961 (age 63)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedAndrew Kokoraleis
March 17, 1999(1999-03-17) (aged 35)
Tamms Correctional Center, Tamms, Illinois, U.S.
Cause of deathAndrew Kokoraleis
Execution by lethal injection
Other namesThe Chicago Rippers
The Ripper Crew
Criminal statusRobin 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 penaltyRobin 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
Victims18 (6 convicted; 5 for Spreitzer, 1 for the Kokoralies brothers)
Span of crimes
May 23, 1981 – October 6, 1982
CountryUnited 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]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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)
  4. ^ 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.