Larry Eyler | |
|---|---|
 September 30, 1983 mugshot of Eyler | |
| Born | Larry William Eyler December 21, 1952 Crawfordsville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | March 6, 1994 (aged 41) |
| Other names | The Highway Killer The Interstate Killer |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
| Parent(s) | George Howard Eyler Shirley Phyllis Kennedy |
| Motive | Rage[1] |
| Conviction(s) | Illinois Murder Aggravated kidnapping Concealment of a homicidal death Indiana Murder[2] |
| Criminal penalty | Illinois Death (October 3, 1986) Indiana 60 years imprisonment (December 28, 1990)[3] |
| Details | |
| Victims | 21+[4] |
Span of crimes | October 23, 1982 – August 19, 1984[5] |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Illinois Indiana Kentucky (alleged) Wisconsin (alleged) |
Date apprehended | August 21, 1984 |
| Imprisoned at | Pontiac Correctional Center |
Larry William Eyler (December 21, 1952 – March 6, 1994) was an American serial killer who is believed to have murdered a minimum of twenty-one teenage boys and young men in a series of killings committed in the Midwest between 1982 and 1984.[6] Convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection for the 1984 kidnapping and murder of 16-year-old Daniel Bridges, he later voluntarily confessed to the 1982 murder of 23-year-old Steven Agan, offering to also confess to his culpability in twenty further unsolved homicides if the state of Illinois would commute his sentence to life imprisonment without parole.[7]
Eyler died of AIDS-related complications in 1994 while incarcerated on death row. Shortly before his death, he confessed to the murders of twenty further young men and boys to his defense attorney Kathleen Zellner, although he denied being physically responsible for the actual murder of Bridges, which he insisted had been committed by an alleged accomplice in five of his homicides, Robert David Little.[8] With her client's consent,[9] Zellner posthumously released Eyler's confession following the formal announcement of his death.[10]
Eyler was known as the Interstate Killer and the Highway Killer due to the fact many of his confirmed and alleged victims were discovered across several midwestern states in locations close to or accessible via the Interstate Highway System.[11]
- ^ "Indiana Coroners Press to Identify 3 Young Men Slain by 1980s Chicago Serial Killer". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois: Tribune Publishing. October 12, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ Kolarik 1990, p. 353.
- ^ Kolarik 1990, p. 390.
- ^ "Confessions of Alleged Serial Killer". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois: Tribune Publishing. March 9, 1994. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ "Eyler Charged in Dismemberment". UPI Archives. August 23, 1984. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
- ^ Kolarik 1990, p. 1.
- ^ Foreman 1992, p. 113.
- ^ "A Mugshot of Dr. Robert David Little". November 29, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
- ^ "A Murderer's Deadly Deal". Newsweek. January 13, 1991. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
- ^ "Murder Suspect Confesses Before Dying of AIDS". The Telegraph. March 9, 1994. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
- ^ Foreman 1992, pp. 112–113.