SERIAL KILLER EDMUND KEMPER

Thirty minutes outside of Sacramento sits an isolated compound. The California Medical Facility, part of the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. A facility that tends to the medical/psychiatric needs of the male felon population in California's prisons. It features a Licensed Elderly Care Unit, in-patient and outpatient psychiatric facilities, a Hospice Unit for terminally ill inmates, general population, and other special inmate housing. Additionally, the Department of State Hospitals operates a licensed, Acute Care Psychiatric Hospital and an Intermediate Care Facility within CMF. The beautiful landscapes that surround it are lost within its walls, much like the rest of the outside world. The facility’s walls are the only world its residents know.

In General Population, December 18 will mark the 67th birthday of one of the most infamous killers to have ever been housed there. 67 years alive, 46 of which have been spent inside medical & correctional facilities. A life that will only be remembered for brutality, terror & murder. 10 victims dead. Three of which were his mother, grandmother & grandfather. Edmund Emil Kemper III, "The Co-Ed Butcher", sits, waiting for his incarceration to end. He sits waiting for death. Merely existing, "Big Ed", 6'9", must fill his days meandering from his cell into the day-room, drinking coffee, glancing at the television, maybe playing a game of chess with another inmate from time to time. Reading books and mail. Chow at 4am, 11am and 4pm. Outside Recreation is called from time to time, but to go out into the sunlight and fresh air would only dissipate the grey cloud that blocks out time; it would only jam the cogs of this well-oiled routine that makes days inseparable. Lights out at 10pm. The cell door rolls and slams shut.

And so it goes...

Born December 18, 1948 in Burbank, California, Ed Kemper is the middle child and the only son of Edmund Emil Kemper Jr. and Clarnell Stage. Besides a fascination with hurting small animals and the occasional assassination attempt by one of his sisters, life did not seem too bad, yet. Before long, young Ed Kemper's world would be turned upside down, with his parents’ divorce. His mother took him to Helena, Montana. Away from the father who he so deeply cared for, away from the life he had grown to perceive as his own in those first 8 years of life. Signs of rage and violence became more prevalent. Tearing the heads off his sisters dolls, burying animals alive and then digging them up to inflict more pain and suffering. Yes, things were changing in Ed, all while he endured his mother's alcohol fueled abuse. Later, Clarnell, who was thought to have Borderline-Personality Disorder, would degrade and humiliate her son, locking him in the basement at night because of her irrational fear that he would rape his sisters. A dark, damp basement, infested with rats and other vermin. At 8 years old, Ed Kemper’s matricidal impulses began to surface. Dark thoughts started to fill his mind; he began fantasizing about murdering and dismembering his mother. Ed was alone with these thoughts as the abuse and violence continued, searching for a way to escape. His hatred only grew until he could not take it anymore, now 14, Ed ran away in an attempt to be with his father once again. Away from his wretched mother. From Helena, Ed made it to Van Nuys, a small town in the San Fernando Valley, outside of Los Angeles, where he found that his father had remarried and had another son. Despite his attempts to convince his father to have him, he was not welcomed and was sent back to Helena, where his mother turned him away. Clarnell sent her son to live with his grandparents, Edmund & Maude Kemper, in North Fork, California, on a 17-acre ranch. Rejected, defeated & imprisoned on his grandparent’s ranch, Ed described them as "senile", and claimed that his grandmother dominated the house and constantly emasculated him and his grandfather. The first 15 years of life brought Ed here. 15 years of abuse, rejection, and disappointment.

On August 27, 1964 Edmund Sr. left the house to go grocery shopping, leaving Maude to work on her latest children's book. Young Ed sat with her at the kitchen table, staring at her with empty, emotionless eyes. Maude, disturbed by his glare, insisted he stop. Whistling for the dog, Ed got up and grabbed his .22 rifle, which he had received as a Christmas gift from his grandfather. When his grandmother asked him where he was going, Ed informed her he was going to go shoot gophers. As he was about to leave, she began to berate him about shooting the birds she was so fond of. Standing behind her, Young Ed raised his rifle, aimed and shot his grandmother in the head. She slumped abruptly over the table. He shot her two more times, and then stabbed her 3 times in the back with a kitchen knife. He then wrapped her head in a towel and dragged her body through the house, to her room. She was 66.

Upon hearing his grandfather pull up the driveway, Ed, wanting to save his grandfather the heartbreak of having to see his wife dead, shot him in the back of his head and dragged his corpse into the garage. He was 72. Confused and now alone, Young Ed called the only person he knew, out of desperation. He called his mother in Montana, who demanded he call the Sherriff. Ed Kemper obliged, sat on the steps and patiently waited for the sheriff. He was taken into custody, and when questioned about the murders, he replied, "I just wanted to see what it felt like to kill Grandma."

He was tested and diagnosed a paranoid-schizophrenic and tested with an IQ of 136. He was sent to Atascadero State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Because of his agreeable demeanor and intelligence, he was allowed access to some of the assessment devices, even allowed at times to administer them to other patients. Memorizing 28 different assessment instruments, tests and answers, Ed was able to convince the doctors who evaluated him that he would be safe for release. Granted access to different parts of the hospital, working as a trustee, Kemper later described reading the files of those patients who had committed violent sexual crimes, and this is where he started to associate sex and violence as the same. He spent his time at the hospital cultivating a façade, a mask of normalcy to disguise the dark sadistic thoughts that illuminated his mind. Practicing how to convey human emotion to his doctors and supervisors, all the while, obsessing in violent sexual fantasies. Honing his skills as a sociopath. Ed even convinced his mother to give the doctors her address so he could be released into her care on his 21st birthday, even though his overseers at the hospital had told him to never again have contact with his mother. Now 6'9", 280 lbs. "Big Ed", had murdered both his grandparents and was released from the state hospital on his 21st birthday, after an incarceration of only 5 years.

Santa Cruz, the early 70's. A small beach town south of San Francisco, surrounded by redwood forests, mountains and the Pacific Ocean. A desirable vacation destination and a great upscale place to own a home or rent an apartment. In 1965, The University of California built a campus in Santa Cruz, which had started to attract a younger crowd into the beach community. Many of the townspeople disliked the bohemian atmosphere the institution brought with it, but still, the environment was that of an easy-going vacation, and now, college town.

Ed's mother, Clarnell, had ended her third marriage, moved to Santa Cruz and got a job at the university. Ed moved in with her after his release and worked at menial jobs when he could. He befriended local police officers and planned to become an officer himself. A dream that ended when he learned that he was above regulation height. For a short time, he moved away from his mother, into an apartment with a roommate, but eventually had to return to his mother's due to financial troubles. He was not good with money. After getting a job with the State of California's Department of Public Works, he was in a motorcycle accident, from which he received a $15,000 settlement. Kemper purchased a Ford Galaxy and started driving around picking up female hitchhikers.

Without any experience, Ed pushed himself to interact with the opposite sex. As he drove the female students to their destination, he would push himself farther each time, talking more and more, learning how to interact accordingly, depending on their reactions. Techniques were formulated and put into practice. Seeming disinterested or in a hurry, checking his watch. Acting as if he gave into his better nature and pulling over. Preforming this show each time, broadcasting through his windshield he sought to assume an unthreatening appearance. He perfected his hypnotizing process that lulled the girls into a vulnerable trance of safety. The Gentle Giant, The Good Samaritan, Big Ed. All the while, He pushed his dark fantasies farther and closer to reality. Concealing pistols under his seat, watching the unknowing girls smile in their ignorance to what he could do, sparked that old, familiar, comforting adrenaline rush. Even further, Ed began to jam the inside door handles shut with chap stick, requiring the girls to wait for him to reach across them and open the door, releasing them for his progressing ritual.

On the night of May 7, 1972, fantasy crossed into reality yet again. Driving in Berkeley, Ed picked up two 18-year-old hitchhiking Fresno State students on the pretext of taking them to Stanford University. Driving would take a little over an hour. Veering from the path of Stanford, Ed drove the girls miles north to a secluded dirt road. Mary Ann Pesce and Anita Luchessa now knew they would not make it to their destination. They now knew things were wrong. As their terror grew, so did his rage. Ed forced Anita outside the car and into the trunk, closing her in. Returning to the car, he suffocated Mary Ann, with a plastic bag around her head. When she fought and struggled, he stabbed her repeatedly until she was dead. He then returned to the trunk slit Anita’s throat. After moving Mary Ann into the trunk, he drove back to his apartment in Alameda. Inside he raped and dismembered their corpses, separating the various parts in a number of plastic bags. Then, driving 30 miles away, disposing of each bag in a different location of the mountains and ravines of Livermore. Two and a half months went by until Mary Ann’s head was found, only identifiable by her dental records.

Only 4 months and 1 week passed until Kemper struck again. September 14, early evening hours, Kemper spots a young hitchhiker at a bus stop. 15-year-old Aiko Koo decided to hitchhike to her dance class after missing the bus. Now in the car Ed pulled a gun out and held her in fear, explaining he had just kidnaped her. He drove to a remote location off the road. As she became hysterical, he began to weave a lie so she would regain composure and he could gain her trust. Convincing her of his plan was to commit suicide and take her with him they began to talk and he told her that he did not want to kill her. Aiko pleaded for her life and began to negotiate with Ed on how to resolve the situation. Kemper went to retrieve something from the trunk and accidentally locked himself out of his car. Staring at Aiko through the window, Ed asked her to unlock the car. He played on her sympathy and had convinced the young girl he was not a threat. The big oaf that was confused, hurting and crying for help. She unlocks the door and allows her captor back in. Kemper choked her until she is unconscious and then raped her. Then with her own scarf, Ed strangled Aiko until she was dead. Once back at his apartment, he raped her again, and then dismembered the corpse. He scattered her limbs in remote, deserted locations. All but her head, which he kept in the trunk of his car. Ed Kemper was now, by definition, a serial killer.

After murdering Aiko, her head still in his trunk, Kemper went to a state psychiatric appointment, where he then convinced the psychiatrist that he was doing well. So well that he should be released from probation. It was agreed among the officials that the murder of his grandparents had been nothing more than a crime of a troubled youth and that he no longer required supervision from the state.

Another 4 months went by, and Ed moved back in with his mother. The old routine of belittling, humiliation and abuse picked up where it had left off. Rage festered in Ed until his obsession, his hunger, his lust; his need for power overtook him again.

Despite the public’s growing awareness of a loose killer, and the warnings given by the schools and news stations about the dangers of hitchhiking, Cindy Schall got into Ed Kemper’s car, January 7, 1973. Kemper was later quoted, saying, “As soon as they touch the door handle of my car their life is mine.” In another remote location, Kemper later described, showing Cindy a .22 caliber pistol, leaving it on the seat while he opened the trunk, explaining how she did not resist or feel threatened. He ordered her to climb into the trunk after she remarked about how big it was. After retrieving his gun from the front seat, he shot Cindy in the head, closed the trunk, and drove back to his mother’s house. There, Ed removed the bullet in her head, raped Cindy’s corpse and decapitated her. He had sex with her disembodied head and then dismembered the rest of the body in the bathtub. Perhaps still dwelling on the day’s earlier arguments with his mother still fueling his rage, Kemper buried Cindy’s head near his mother’s garden, outside his bedroom window. He would later say, it was meant to be a joke, his mother “always wanted people to look up to her.” Later, he disposed of what remained of Cindy Schall, driving down the ocean-lined highway throwing her body parts from his car into the Pacific Ocean. 24 hours later her some of her remains would be discovered washed up on the shore.

Enraged from arguing with his mother, Ed Kemper, only 1 month after killing Cindy Schall, got in his car to hunt for another attractive, young girl whom which he can unleash his homicidal rage upon. February 5th, prowling the University of California Santa Cruz campus, he found 24-year-old Rosalind Thorpe and 23-year-old Alice Liu with their thumbs out looking for a ride. Rosalind entered Ed’s car, seeing the university-parking sticker, which he had obtained from his mother, who worked at the university. Alice was hesitant, with thoughts of all the warnings about hitchhiking, the reports of dead bodies being found lately, but after some reassuring from Rosalind, who pointed out that Kemper’s car had a university-parking sticker, Alice got in the car. Once off campus Kemper pulled off on the side of the road, fatally shot both girls, wrapped them in blankets, put them both in the backseat, and drove off. In the same ritualistic manner as before, Ed drives back to his mother’s house, where he decapitated the girls’ bodies. Cutting off Alice’s hands, he defiled and raped their corpses in numerous ways, spending hours with them, talking to the girls as he deconstructed their corpses. When he was done, Kemper drove from Santa Cruz to Alameda, then across the bay to San Mateo, and down to Monterey, disposing of Alice and Rosalind’s body parts along the way.

When he was not killing, Ed frequented local bars where police officers drank. Always friendly and polite, the police officers thought fondly of him and often socialized with him. He vicariously lived through their stories as well as monitored any leads they had for the murders he had committed. Herbert Mullen, another serial killer, active at the same time as Kemper, was arrested February 13, 1973. Mullen was a paranoid schizophrenic who killed 13 people, believing if he murdered earthquakes would stop in California. Surely, Ed heard this and other stories at the watering holes, vigilantly listening for any clues or talk of his own misdeeds. Nevertheless, as Ed monitored the police, so the police also monitored “Big Ed”.

Kemper purchased a .44 magnum revolver, but a routine background check turned up Ed’s previous conviction for double homicide. With his record sealed because he was convicted as minor, police were unsure about his rights to bare a firearm. They decided to confiscate the weapon until the court could make a ruling. Two officers went to the Kemper residence on the afternoon of April 2nd. Considered a well-known person to many of the officers on the force, police never suspected him of being “The Co-Ed Killer”, as the media was calling the murderer. By confiscating Ed’s weapon, the police unknowingly sparked his uncontrollable paranoia. Weeks passed, but nothing came of the gun. Kemper, left alone with his thoughts, obsessed, convinced that the police were closing in on him.

The night of April 20th, Clarnell came home from a party. Drunk and stumbling through the house she woke Ed, who got up to look in on his mother. Now reading a paperback on her bed, she said, “Oh, I suppose you're going to want to sit up all night and talk now.” in her belittling, sarcastic tone. “No”, Ed replied, “good night.” He would return to her room with a claw hammer and hit her in the head until she was no longer alive. Kemper then decapitated his mother and orally raped her severed head. Placing her head on the mantel place and throwing darts so they punctured and stuck out from her face, Ed then tore out her vocal chords and put them into the garbage disposal, all the while yelling at his dead mother. Kemper later said, “"That seemed appropriate as much as she'd bitched and screamed and yelled at me over so many years”. He had finally fulfilled his lifelong fantasy of killing his mother, but he was not yet finished. Ed invited his mother’s best friend over the next day, greeting her at the door with what seemed like a welcoming embrace he strangled her to death. Sally Hallett was 59 when she was killed.

His paranoia spiraled out of control; Ed got in his car and drove east driving through Nevada and Utah until he arrived in Pueblo, Colorado. Scanning the radio stations listening for news of the murders, he heard nothing. In a payphone booth, Kemper called the Santa Cruz police department and confessed to the murders of his mother and Sally Hallet, but his call was blown off as a bad practical joke and not taken seriously. Several hours passed, the sun had risen, Ed called the department back and asked to speak to an officer he knew personally, he confessed to the murder of his mother and her friend, not mentioning the six co-eds he had murdered, and hung up. Shortly after Pueblo Police arrested him, he did not resist, but instead was completely cooperative.

Upon his return, April 24th, Ed showed investigators and other Santa Cruz police officers various disposal sites he had used. He confessed to murder, dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism. When he was finally finished, he had been so thorough that he left his public defender no avenue for defense except that of insanity. At his trial, he pleaded "not guilty" by reason of insanity. November ‘73 Ed Kemper was found guilty of eight counts of murder. He requested the death penalty, but with capital punishment suspended at that time, received life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. In 1974, he asked for a lobotomy. His request was denied.

Now, more than 40 years later, Ed Kemper remains. Waiting for his incarceration to end, waiting for death.

“I lived as an ordinary person for most of my life even though I was living a parallel increasingly sick other life.”

–Edmund “Big Ed” Kemper