Edmund Emil Kemper III: Serial Killer Essay -- Biography Biographies

Edmund Emil Kemper III: Serial Killer Edmund Emil Kemper III was raised by a verbally abusive mother and her succession of abusive husbands. He was 6'9'' and therefore there was really no where that he could hide once the police caught on to his murderous activities. At a young age Edmund tortured and killed animals and had fantasies that combined sex and violence (crime library, 2000). Edmund's younger sister said that "he would stage his own execution in the form of a childhood 'game' in which he had her lead him to a chair, blindfold him, and pull and imaginary lever, after which he would writhe about as if dying in a gas chamber" (Leyton: 1995, 43). By the time that Edmund was finally apprehended by the police he had killed ten people by strangulation , stabbing an shooting. These victims not only perfect strangers but his grandparents and his mother as well. Edmund's background was similar to that of many serial killers. His parents had a tumultuous marriage and they separated when he was nine (crime library, 2000). Edmund's parents were not bad parents, they did try, but he was a difficult child. Even though he was growing quickly in size he was afraid of other boys and had problems making friends and forming relationships. Since Edmund was so difficult to handle he was sent from his mothers house to his fathers were subsequent threats to his stepmother lead him to be sent to his grandparents farm. This is where his first killings occurred at the age of fourteen. "I just wondered how it would feel to shoot Grandma" (Leyton: 1995, 46). This is what Edmund said to the police when they arrived at the farm after he shot and killed both his grandmother and grandfather. He said that he felt an overwhelming rage, like he ... ...d, he had intercourse with dead corpses, decapitated heads (his mothers was said to be put on the mantel at one point) and he even handcuffed the corpses (Leyton: 1995). After killing the girls he made an attempt to ensure that the girls were of the upper class, this was a very important point with him (Leyton: 1995, 66). "I didn't want to kill all the coeds in the world", this quote may give some insight into who Kemper is now as he sits in an institution and is said to be a 'happy' man, he has challenged all the problems in his life that bothered him and now after the issues have been resolved he appears to be content (Leyton: 1995, 77). References: Leyton, E. (1995). Hunting Humans: The Rise of the Modern Multiple Murderer. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. The crime library, 2000 [wysiwyg://2/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serials/kemper/kempermain.htm]