*Warning – The post you are about to read may be too graphic for some readers. It may contain descriptions of true crimes, crime scenes, and photos of crime scenes. Reader discretion is advised.”
Serial killers come from all backgrounds, family situations, and education levels. But when a person with an IQ of 145, decides to use his intelligence to hurt people, you get Edmund E. Kemper III.
Edmund was born in December, 1948, and weighed 13 pounds as a new born. He was the middle child, and only son of Edmund and Clarnell Kemper. Edmund and Clarnell were not a good role model for their children, Clarnell felt that Edmund’s job as an electrician was menial work, and Edmund said that “suicide missions in wartime and the atomic bomb testings were nothing compared to living with her” and she affected him “more than three hundred and ninety-six days and nights of fighting on the front did.”
Edmund exhibited anitsocial behavior at an early age. He was cruel to animals, murdered family pets, and lied about his behavior. He led a dark fantasy life, and preformed rites with his younger sisters dolls, by removing their head and hands.
In 1957, Edmunds parents separated and even though he had a close relationship with his father, he was forced to live with his mother in Montana. His mother was a neurotic, domineering, alcoholic and often belittled, humiliated, and abused him. Running away from home at the age of 14, Edmund tried to reconcile with his father, who was now remarried and had a stepson. As this didn’t work out for the new family, Edmund went to live with his paternal grandparents.
At the age of 15 in 1964, Edmund and his grandmother Maude Kemper, had an argument. Enraged he stormed off and collected a hunting rifle, and upon his return to the kitchen where Maude was sitting, he fatally shot her in the head, and twice in the back. When he grandfather returned from grocery shopping, Edmund when outside and fatally shot him in the driveway. He phoned his mother, Clarnell, who told him to call the police. As he was young when he committed these crimes, he was sent to Atascadero State Hospital, and was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic.
While in the hospital, he was a model prisoner. He was a good worker as described by his psychiatrists, and he assisted with administering other tests to inmates. However, he learned from the other inmates during these tests as well; he learned to manipulate his doctors, and learned from sex offenders who stated to avoid leaving witnesses, you needed to kill the woman after raping her.
Upon his release from the hospital at the age of 21, Edmund returned to his mother’s home, and attended community college. He was denied a job with the police department due to his size, 6 feet 9 inches, so began working with the State of California Division of Highways. His juvenile record was expunged.
It wasn’t until 1972 that Edmund began acting on his homicidal sexual urges, called “little zappies”. He picked up female hitchhikers and take them to isolated areas where he would shoot, stab, smother, or strangle them. After they were dead, he took them back to his home, were he decapitated them and would then perform irrumatio on their severed heads. He would have sexual intercourse with them and dismember them. Edmund did this for 11 months before being caught. In total he killed five college students, a high school student, his mother, and his mothers best friend.
After the murders of Clarnell and her friend Sally, Edmund drove to Colorado fearing a manhunt was underway for him. When he arrived in Colorado, he called the police and confessed to the murder of his mother and Sally. They didn’t believe him, telling him to call back later. He called again and spoke with an officer he knew and confessed again to the murders, and the other students he killed as well.
When asked why he turned himself in, he said, “The original purpose was gone…it wasn’t serving any physical or real or emotional purpose. It was just a pure waste of time … Emotionally, I couldn’t handle it much longer. Toward the end there, I started feeling the folly of the whole damn thing, and at the point of near exhaustion, near collapse, I just said to hell with it and called it all off.”
During his trial, he attempted an insanity defense, but the jury found him sane and guilty of all 8 murders. He asked for death, but received seven years to life for each of the 8 counts.
He remains in prison and is considered a model prisoner. He is also a prolific reader of audio books for the blind, and has had several hundred audio book recordings to his name. He was retired from this in 2015 after having a stroke and being considered medically disabled. His next parole hearing is in 2024.
That is the story of Edmund E. Kemper III. What are your thoughts about Edmund, IF he was granted parole in 2024, do you think even at the age of 76 that he would be in 2024, that Edmund would kill again? Do you feel he should be paroled? Tell me what you think in the comments! I would love to hear from you!
Be ever alert, make good choices, stay safe
Amateur Connoisseur 