ED KEMPER AKA THE CO-ED KILLER

Edward Emil Kemper III is a serial killer who worked in California in the 1970’s.

His victims consist of his grandparents, 6 young women, his mother and his mother’s close friend

At the young age of 15, his first victims were his grandparents.

Edward had been forced to live with them as his mother had remarried and didn’t want her son to invade her new life in California and Edward’s father also said no but arranged for young Edward to live with his mother and father on their farmhouse in Sierra Nevada.

Fast forward to the morning of August 27th , 1964.

Edward and his grandmother were sitting at the kitchen table , drinking coffee and chatting before Edward excused himself. He grabbed a rifle from the kitchen and told his grandmother he was going to shoot some birds. Instead, he made his way outside the house and stood outside the kitchen window. He aimed and shot at the back of Grandma’s head. His Grandfather who has came home soon after from grocery shopping was also shot. Edward phoned the sheriff and turned himself in. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and committed to a psychiatric hospital. It was there he learned about rape and began to have fantasies based around this knowledge and came to the realization that rapists are caught mainly because their victims identify them.

After spending 5 years there, he was finally released. He spent 3 months in a halfway house and then released into his mothers care through some error, even though the doctor’s treating Edward strongly recommended he be kept away from her. After getting settled, he quickly began to feel like an outcast because of his intimidating height and because he had gained 20 stone.

By 1970, Ed had moved into a shared apartment. He made a hobby of picking up young female hitchhikers and gaining self confidence. He had persuaded his mother to get him a car permit for UCLA (this is where his mother worked). In 1972, Edward knew he was ready

On the 7th of May, Ed was looking for the right girl to pick up along the freeways and roads.

He found not one, but two. Mary-Ann Pesce and Anita Luchessa were 18 years old and students of Fresno State College. Edward drove for a while before pulling over and revealing a Browning 9mm pistol he had borrowed off a friend. He handcuffed Mary-Ann to her seatbelt and forced Anita into the boot.

He returned to Mary-Ann, handcuffed her hands behind her back and forced a plastic bag over her head and tied it in an attempt to strangle her. Mary-Ann managed to bite a hole in the bag and Edward stabbed her twice and she refused to die. He repeatedly stabbed her and after that didn’t work, he slit her throat.

He made his way to the boot and told Anita he had been forced to break Mary-Ann’s nose. He pulled Anita out and , with a different knife, attacked her with it in a frenzied attack until she stopped moving. Her dead body was put back in the boot along with the knife. Edwards flat mate was out when he returned so Edward carried the 2 bodies inside, undressed them, dissecting them and decapitating him, while also taking photographs throughout the process. He hid their heads in a cupboard and their torsos were taken back to the car, where they eventually ended up buried. Ed kept the heads for a few days before eventually throwing them down a ravine.

September had arrived and ed knew he had to kill again.

His next victim was 15 year old Aiko Koo who was on her way to a dance class in San Francisco. Not long after, Aiko realised she was never going to make her dance class, she begged and pleaded until Ed pulled out another borrowed gun. He told her he was planning to kill himself ,he wasn’t going to hurt her and just wanted someone to talk to. Eventually he pulled over and began beating the poor girl. He tied her up, gagged her and help his hands on her mouth and nose until she was unconscious. He dragged her small body out the car, raped her and then killed her. He dissected the body and dumped her body parts across the Santa Cruz mountains. He kept the head.

He still had Aiko’s head in his car boot whilst meeting with psychiatrists who decided to have his juvenile records sealed.

He had broken his arm in a motorcycle accident and could not afford rent anymore so moved back to his mother’s. Because the doctor’s agreed to seal his records, Ed could now legally buy a gun

And that is exactly what he did on the morning of 8th January 1973. That night he had got himself back on the road and just as he was about to give up and go home, Cynthia “Cindy” Schall accepted a lift. As soon as she got in, Ed showed her his gun and told Cindy the exact same tale as he told Aiko. Ed pulled up to a deserted roadside and told Cindy he was wanting to take her to his mothers home to talk and he was afraid her neighbours would see Cynthia, so would she mind hiding in the boot? Cynthia agreed and once she was in, Edward killed her with a single shot to the forehead. Ed’s mother was out for the night so he carried Cynthia’s body inside and hid it in a cupboard until morning. When his mother left for work the next morning, Cynthia was dragged out, sexually abused and dissected. Her head was kept inside a cupboard in Ed’s bedroom. The rest of her bodies were placed in plastic bags and tossed the bags out a 300ft cliff in Monteray. As soon as Ed heard in the news that enough body parts had been found to identify them as Cindy Schall, he buried her head in his garden. Less than a month after Cindy, Ed argued with his mother and stormed out. He headed toward the University and gave a lift to Rosalind Thorpe who had just come out of an evening class. As they were driving through the campus, Ed decided to pick up Alice Liu, a small Chinese girl. After leaving campus, Ed drove for a bit and eventually stopped. He pulled his gun out and just as Rosalind turned to look at him, he shot her in the side of the head. He turned around to Alice who was thrashing around in the backseat and shot at her twice and missed. He got her the next time and she stopped moving. As he continued to drive, he could still hear Alice moaning so shot her point blank in the head. He made his way back to his mothers, went inside and told her he had fallen asleep at the cinema and went out again to “buy cigarettes”. he moved the bodies to his boot and decapitated both of them with a hunting knife. He then bought cigarettes , and went to bed. The next morning , Ed brought the heads in, cleaned them and removed the bullets. He then brought in Alice’s body, sexually abused it, washed it and then put it back in the boot. He cut off their hands, but did not dissect as it didn’t excite him anymore. The next day, he visited a friend in San Francisco and dumped the bodies in Eden Canyon and the heads along the coast. He gathered all the keepsakes he took from the girls and the guns he used to kill them and threw them in the sea. On 20th April, Ed’s mother phoned to say she was going out after work and wouldn’t be back until late. Ed spent the evening with beer and television. His mother didn’t come home until 4am. As Ed went to her bedroom to check if she was back, she was just getting into bed. He went back to his bedroom and lay awake for a bit until he was sure his mother was sleeping, he grabbed his pocketknife and a hammer and crept into her bedroom again. He hit her with the hammer on her right temple. Ed then dragged the pocket knife across her throat to ensure she was dead. He effortlessly decapitated her and hid her body. Ed concocted a story that his mother was away during the easter weekend with a close friend. He knew it was weak but it had to do. Next on his list was picking which friend was joining his mother. Sally Hallett was a friend and colleague. Ed told her he was holding a surprise dinner party for his mother to celebrate him returning to work and would she come? Her answer was the biggest mistake of her life. When Sally finally arrived, Ed explained that his mother was delayed. He got her in a strangle hold and when he was sure she was dead, he tied a plastic bag round her head just in case. He put her body on his bed and went out for a few hours. When he returned, he went for a nap in his mother’s bed. He awoke and then removed Sally’s head.

He knew he had screwed up so much and came to the conclusion that he had to run. Next morning , he hid Sally’s body and put all his weapons in his car. There was no plan.

Ed drove for 2 days and 2 nights before finally picking up a payphone, connected to the Santa Cruz police and confessed all.

The jury found Ed guilty on 8 counts of first degree murder, in just 5 hours.

He has refused parole and in recent news has said he wants to die in prison. His next parole date is 2017 but he never wants to leave.