Christopher Dwayne PETERSON
AKA "Shotgun Killer" - "Obadayah Ben-Yisrayl"
Classification: Spree killer
Characteristics: Robberies
Number of victims: 7
Date of murders: October-December 1990
Date of birth: January 20, 1969
Victims profile: Lawrence Mill / Rhonda L. Hammersley / Harchand Singh Dhaliwal, 54 / Marie Meitzler, 48 / Ora L. Wildermuth / Brothers Eli, 60, and George Balovski, 66
Method of murder: Shooting (sawed-off shotgun)
Location: Indiana, USA
Status: Sentenced to death on June 5, 1992. Commuted to life in prison on July 23, 2003
Obadyah Ben-Yisrayl (born Christopher Dwayne Peterson January 20, 1969) is an American man found guilty of committing four murders and acquitted on three other murder charges related to the Shotgun Killer spree in Indiana from October 30, 1990 to December 18, 1990. The murders took place in a number of jurisdictions, and Peterson faced a number of trials in different venues. Peterson had initially confessed and then recanted. He was acquitted in two trials for three of the murders and found guilty of four murders in two subsequent trials. Initially sentenced to death for those murders, his death sentence was commuted in 2004. Ronald J. Harris was also charged and found guilty in two of the murders. The incident is controversial for a number of reasons such as Peterson is African American, while the initial descriptions of the suspect of the murders was described as white;[4] Peterson had been illegally arrested for committing another crime which impacted the use of evidence in the Shotgun Killer spree trials because it was deemed improperly collected; Peterson's initial confession was recanted under claims of duress; the trials with all-white juries came to different conclusions than juries which included people of other races; and in the final case to go to trial, the judge over-ruled the jury's decision not to impose the death penalty.
PETERSON, CHRISTOPHER D. # 73
(a.k.a. Obadayah Ben-Yisrayl)
OFF DEATH ROW SINCE 07-23-03
DOB: 01-20-1969
DOC#: 922005 Black Male
Porter County Superior Court
Judge Thomas W. Webber
Prosecutor: James H. Douglas, Gwen R. Rinkenberger
Defense: Jerry T. Jarrett, Alex Woloshansky
Date of Murder: December 13 & 15, 1990
Victim(s): Marie Meitzler W/F/48; Harchand Dhaliwal I/M/54 (No relationship to Peterson)
Method of Murder: shooting with sawed-off shotgun
Summary: Harchand Dhaliwal was working alone in the evening as an attendant at a Hudson Oil station in Portage. He was robbed and shot in the head at close range with a .12 gauge shotgun.
Two days later, Marie Meitzler was working alone in the evening as the desk clerk in a Howard Johnson motel. She was robbed and shot in the neck at close range with a .12 gauge shotgun.
Three days later, George and Eli Balovsky were found dead following a robbery in their tailor shop in Gary (Lake County). Both were shot in the head at close range by a .12 gauge shotgun.
A sawed-off shotgun, identified as the murder weapon in all four murders, was later recovered from Peterson's home after his mother consented to the search.
Peterson made incriminating statements to an acquaintance, and gave a complete confession to police. Evidence of the Lake County murders of the Balovsky brothers was admitted into evidence at the Porter County trial.
Peterson was also convicted of the 1991 Attempted Murder/Armed Robbery of Ronald Nitsch in Lake County, and was sentenced to 50 years and 20 years imprisonment on 11-16-93.
Conviction: Murder, Felony-Murder, Murder, Felony-Murder
Sentencing: May 15, 1992 (Death Sentence)
Aggravating Circumstances: b (1) Robbery, 2 murders
Mitigating Circumstances: None
PETERSON, CHRISTOPHER D. # 74
(a.k.a. Obadayah Ben-Yisrayl)
OFF DEATH ROW SINCE 07-23-03
DOB: 01-20-1969
DOC#: 922005 Black Male
Lake County Superior Court
Judge James L. Clement
Prosecutor: James J. Olszewski, Ralph Staples, John G. Evon
Defense: Alex Woloshansky, Jerry T. Jarrett
Date of Murder: December 18, 1990
Victim(s): Eli Balovsky W/M/60; George Balovsky W/M/66 No relationship to Peterson)
Method of Murder: shooting with sawed-off shotgun
Summary: The Balovsky brothers were found dead in their tailor shop as a result of shotgun wounds to the head.
A sawed-off shotgun, identified as the murder weapon, was later recovered from Peterson's home after his mother consented to the search.
Peterson made incriminating statements to an acquaintance, and gave a complete confession to police. He also confessed to two additional murders in Porter County, for which he was later convicted. These convictions served as the basis for a second aggravating circumstance in the case.
Conviction: Murder, Murder
Sentencing: June 5, 1992 (Death Sentence)
Aggravating Circumstances: Convicted of two other murders in Porter County, 2 murders
Mitigating Circumstances: Neglected in childhood by Father, caring and supportive of others, particularly girlfriend and baby, good and quiet prisoner during confinement, extreme emotional disturbance, high school graduate, two years in Marines, Father of 11 month old baby, 21 years old at time of murders.
Christopher Peterson (born January 20, 1969 in Gary, Indiana, USA) is an American serial killer also known as the "Shotgun Killer" & "Shotgun Peterson". He is now known as Obadyah Ben Yisrayl.
Victims
October 30, 1990: Insurance agent Lawrence Mill was shot to death in his car in front of the American Legion Post 66 in Griffith. No eyewitnesses.
October 30, 1990: Two and a half hours later, Rhonda L. Hammersley, who worked at a gas station in Cedar Lake, was shot in the parking lot. An eyewitness described the perpetrator as a young white man with long, stringy hair.
December 13, 1990: Harchand Singh Dhaliwal (54) was shot while working at a gas station. $327.55 was missing from the cash register.
December 15, 1990: Marie Meitzler was shot while working at a motel reception desk. $467 was stolen.
December 15, 1990: Six minutes later, Ora L. Wildermuth was shot in front of an automated teller machine.
December 15, 1990: One hour later, Robert S. Kotso was shot in a highway toll booth. He survived.
December 18, 1990: Brothers Eli and George Balovski were shot in an adjoining building to their tailor shop in the late afternoon. They were the last victims.
All were killed with a shotgun.
Peterson confessed to the crimes and was convicted despite eyewitnesses reports that the killer was white—Peterson is black. He was given two death sentences. He maintains his innocence, claiming that he was forced into a false confession at the time, and is currently sitting on death row where he is considered one of the many potentially wrongly convicted prisoners.
American death metal band Macabre have made song about him, titled "Shotgun Peterson" on their Sinister Slaughter album.
