Earle Nelson | |
|---|---|
 Nelson's 1927 mugshot | |
| Born | Earle Leonard Ferral May 12, 1897 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died | (aged 30) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Other names |
|
| Spouse |
Mary Martin
(m. 1919; sep. 1920) |
| Conviction(s) | Murder Attempted molestation Breaking and entering |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 22–29 |
Span of crimes | February 20, 1926 – June 9, 1927 |
| Country | United States and Canada |
| State(s) | |
Date apprehended | June 16, 1927 |
Earle Leonard Nelson (né Ferral; May 12, 1897 – January 13, 1928), also known in the media as the Gorilla Man, the Gorilla Killer, and the Dark Strangler,[2] was an American serial killer, rapist, and necrophile, who is considered the first known serial sex murderer of the twentieth century.[3] Born and raised in San Francisco, California[4] by his devoutly Pentecostal grandmother, Nelson exhibited bizarre behavior as a child, which was compounded by head injuries he sustained in a bicycling accident at age 10.[5] After committing various minor offenses in early adulthood, he was institutionalized in Napa for a time.
Nelson began committing numerous rapes and murders in February 1926, primarily in the West Coast cities of San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.[6] In late 1926 he moved east, committing multiple rapes and murders in several Midwestern and East Coast cities before moving north into Canada, raping and killing a teenage girl in Winnipeg, Manitoba. After committing his second murder in Winnipeg, he was arrested by Canadian authorities, convicted of his final murder only - that of Emily Patterson - and sentenced to death. Nelson was executed by hanging in Winnipeg in 1928.
In undertaking his crimes, Nelson had a modus operandi: Most of his victims were middle-aged landladies, many of whom he would find through "room for rent" advertisements. Posing as a mild-mannered and charming Christian drifter, Nelson used the pretext of renting a room in the landladies' boarding houses to make contact with them before attacking. Each of his victims were killed via strangulation, and many were raped after death. His penultimate victim, a 13-year-old girl named Lola Cowan, was one of three victims to be significantly mutilated after death.[7]
Nelson's crime spree is believed, through recent research, to have included 22 murders and 22 other attacks.[7] He was a source of inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 film Shadow of a Doubt.[8]
- ^ "Nelson Identified as Man Who Killed Buffalo Woman". The Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. June 20, 1927. p. 1. Retrieved December 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Schechter 1998, p. 229.
- ^ Schechter & Everitt 2006, p. 196.
- ^ "A Serial Killer at Your Door: The Grisly Gorilla Man Murders of Earle Leonard Nelson". the-line-up.com. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ^ "A Serial Killer at Your Door: The Grisly Gorilla Man Murders of Earle Leonard Nelson". the-line-up.com. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ^ "A Serial Killer at Your Door: The Grisly Gorilla Man Murders of Earle Leonard Nelson". the-line-up.com. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ^ a b Beddows 2023.
- ^ Mayo 2008, p. 250.
