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Vanessa Richardson (12:49)

And@Mybilly.Com In 1971, 22 year old Ed Kemper had just come into some money after getting into a motorcycle accident. He'd been struggling financially and could use all the help he could get. But instead of using the cash to move out of his mom's place in Santa Cruz, he used it to buy a nice car and ride around town. And soon Ed was picking up hitchhikers, a lot of them. Over the course of several months, he gave rides to about 150 different people. He didn't hurt them, he just chatted with them and seemed to like the company. But eventually he got antsy after murdering his grandparents. He'd been out of the state hospital for a little over a year now. And although his doctors had deemed him rehabilitated, Ed was far from stable. He had a dangerous temper and would get especially upset after fighting with his mom, Clarnell, which they were still doing constantly. Eventually the arguments became too much for Ed to handle and soon his anger turned to violence. In May 1972, Ed filled his Ford Galaxy with plastic bags, weap a blanket and handcuffs. That same day, Fresno State College students Mary Ann Pesci and Anita Lucchesa were looking for a ride from Berkeley to Stanford University in nearby Palo Alto. Unfortunately for Mary Ann and Anita, the person they hitched a ride with was Ed. Their friends at Stanford waited for Marianne and Anita to arrive, but hours passed and they were nowhere to be seen. It was a 40 mile drive from Berkeley to Palo Alto. It shouldn't have taken them long to get there. Eventually, their friends got in touch with the girl's parents, who hadn't heard from them either. Later that day, their families contacted the police. But Mary Ann and anita were both 18. They were adults, free to appear and disappear as they pleased. At first, the authorities refused to file missing persons reports. But after a few days, the girls still didn't turn up and the police launched an investigation. Even then, there were no clues or evidence to go on. And so the reports sat in the police station gathering dust until three months later when a skull was found in a wooded area of Loma Prieta Mountain in Santa Cruz. It was a match for Mary Ann Pesci. After finding Marianne's remains, the Santa Cruz police scoured Loma Prieta mountain. But once again, there wasn't any evidence to lead them to her killer. And just a month later, another girl from Santa Cruz seemed to disappear without a trace. On the night of September 14, 1972, Skydreat Rabin Koo became worried when her daughter, 15 year old Aiko, didn't come home from a dance class. When Aiko still wasn't back by the following morning, Mrs. Koo reported her missing. But just like in the case of Mary Ann and Anita, police didn't rush to open an investigation. They told Mrs. Koo that youngsters went Missing all the time. And there was a solid chance Aiko would turn up. Mrs. Koo wasn't so sure. In fact, she already had a theory. She believed her daughter had been kidnapped. She explained that Aiko was a model student at an exclusive all girls school. It was totally out of character for her to just run off because Aiko had big plans. She was a rising star in the world of Korean ballet and was even scheduled to perform at the World trade fair in St. Louis later that month. The family didn't have a car, and Mrs. Koo suspected her daughter had hitchhiked to her dance class that night, and she was afraid that whoever had given her a ride was dangerous. But nothing, Mrs. Koo said would convince the police to take Aiko's disappearance seriously. So Mrs. Koo did what she could. She posted flyers with Aiko's description around Santa Cruz and tried her best to spread the word. Other than some letters of sympathy, she got no leads until four months later, when an officer made a grisly discovery. On January 10, 1973, a California Highway Patrol officer was driving along Highway 1 down the coast from Santa Cruz when he spotted something in the brush. He pulled over to get a better look, and that's when he realized he was looking at a pair of severed human arms. A week later, a torso was found in a Santa Cruz lagoon. And two days after that, a surfer in the same area found a severed hand. Three days later, another civilian discovered a pelvis on the shore. But these body parts didn't belong to Aiko. They were the remains of another woman, Cynthia Ann Schall. Cynthia had disappeared on January 9, 1973. The day before, the patrolman found the arms off the side of the highway. Just like Marianne, Anita and Aiko, Cynthia had been hitchhiking in the Santa Cruz area. Law enforcement remembered the skull that had been found back in August. The similarities were clear. Between the sudden uptick in murders, the way the victims had been found, and the fact that they were all young female hitchhikers, detectives couldn't deny it. They had a serial killer on their hands. The Santa Cruz area was on high alert. Law enforcement warned students and young people not to hitchhike, emphasizing that campus patrol cars with identification stickers were the safest way to catch a ride. But Ed Kemper, now 24, also saw these warnings, and he used them to his advantage. His mom, Clarnell, was an administrative assistant at the University of California, Santa Cruz. And somehow Ed was able to get a university identification sticker for his car. And he used it to his advantage. The following month, in February 1973, 22 year old Rosalind Thorpe and 20 year old Alice Liu were reported missing. Rosalind was last seen leaving the UCSC Science Library at 9pm when she missed the last bus out of town. With no way to get back home, Rosalind stood in the dark by the bus stop. She knew there was a killer on the loose and didn't plan on getting into any random cars. But when a yellow Ford Galaxy pulled up with a university bumper sticker, it seemed like a safe bet. The driver rolled down his window and offered Rosalind a ride. She eagerly accepted. Two blocks away, Alice Liu was in a similar predicament. She'd stayed too late at the main library and missed the last bus. So when the car with a university staff sticker and another young student pulled up, Alice climbed into the back seat. When neither woman returned to their dorm, their friends rushed to file missing persons reports. This time, the police took them seriously. With hacksawed human remains being found throughout the area, they feared that Alice and Rosalind may have been the mystery killer's latest victims. A radio message with information about the missing girls went out to all police officers in the area. And fellow students organized search parties to scour the densely, densely wooded 2,000 acre campus. Those initial searches came up empty. But just 10 days later, a county road crew made a gruesome discovery. While surveying storm damage in nearby Eden Canyon, the crew came across what they thought were a pair of mannequins. They inched closer and realized they were actually two headless bodies. One was naked, an Asian woman with her hands sawed clean off. The second, a white woman in just her underwear. With X rays and corroborating descriptions, the bodies were identified as Rosalind Thorpe and Alice Liu. The people of Santa Cruz were horrified. It seemed like all anyone could talk about was the serial killer in their midst, who had been dubbed the CO Ed Killer. District Attorney Peter Chang said their little beach town had turned into, quote, the murder capital of the world. The Santa Cruz PD had their own ideas about who might be responsible. Off duty, officers gathered at a bar called the Jury Room to scroll swap theories over beers. They had no idea that one of their drinking buddies was harboring a terrifying secret. Ed Kemper, known to his police buddies as Big Ed, was a regular at the jury room. In April 1973, he started asking the officers some more pointed questions. What did they know about the killer? What evidence were they missing? Even then, no one batted an eye at Ed. But it wouldn't be long until the Truth finally came out. On April 20, Ed killed his mom, Clarnell, after she came home drunk. Then the next day, he killed her friend Sally. He spent the night of April 21st drinking and plotting his next move. By the morning of April 22, Ed was in Sally's car driving east. He kept himself awake with beers and caffeine pills and the whole time he listened to the radio, hoping to hear news of the killings. But there was nothing. By the time he reached Pueblo, Colorado on April 23, Ed had made a decision. Whether he was frustrated by not being found out or he simply cracked he was going to turn himself in. At 4 in the morning, Ed used a payphone to call the Santa Cruz pd. The first officer to take Ed's call recognized his voice immediately. He thought it was a prank. After all, this was big Ed, the gentle giant, the friendly nuisance. That guy was no killer. So he hung up. Two hours later, Ed called a second time. With nobody taking him seriously, Ed finally requested to talk to Sergeant Alufi, an officer he was close with. He pleaded with Alufi to go to Klarnell's apartment. Eventually, Alufi agreed to take a look. When he arrived, Alufi found the two bodies exactly as Ed had described over the phone. Horrified, he secured the scene and contacted the Pueblo PD out in Colorado. A two man patrol car was dispatched and the officers had no trouble spotting the 6 foot 9 inch man in the phone booth. On April 24, 1973, 24 year old Edmund Kemper was arrested and taken into custody. Sitting across from detectives in an interrogation room, Ed calmly revealed he was the co Ed killer and had murdered eight people, not including his grandparents. He explained to police and elaborated in later interviews that each killing had come after a fight with his mother. Kemper said it was a perverse way to let off steam and for a while kept him from attacking her instead. But of course, Kemper had killed his final enemy, the mother he so despised, Ed. Kemper's trial began on October 23, 1973. In court, Ed meticulously described the full extent of his crimes. Although his attorney tried to convince the jury that Ed was criminally insane, it was clear he knew exactly what he was doing. Ed's trial lasted less than three weeks and on November 8, a jury found him guilty of eight counts of first degree murder. Ed had attempted suicide twice while in custody and told the judge he wanted to be, quote, tortured to death. But at the time, the Supreme Court had suspended suspended the death penalty. So Ed was sentenced to life in prison. Instead, he remains in Ivaca Ville, California prison to this day, leaving behind an enduring legacy of fear in what was once the peaceful beachside town of Santa Cruz. As of this recording, he's 76 years old. Up next, the story of another serial killer who hid in plain sight for far too long.

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Vanessa Richardson (28:31)

Edmund Kemper used his intelligence and unassuming personality to manipulate the young women of Santa Cruz in the early 1970s. Nearly two decades later, another serial killer halfway across the world also used a facade of kindness to hide the monster within. It was April 14, 1992, in room number five of the Regional court in the Russian town of Rostov on Don. In the right hand corner stood a metal cage flanked by four guards. Inside was 55 year old Andre Chikatilo, a former schoolteacher who was finally staring down the barrel of justice after murdering more than 50 people. As Chikatilo raged against the bars of his cage, a mob of angry citizens tried to rush at him. They were eager to get their hands on the animal who had brutally killed their friends, children and grandchildren. Chikatilo's reign of terror began over a decade earlier, on December 22, 1978. That evening, nine year old Lena Zakatnova was having a play date with a friend in Rostov on Don. Afterwards, Lena headed home, but she'd stayed too late and it was a long walk. She was tired, cold and needed to use the bathroom when a kind looking man walked up alongside her and struck up a conversation. Lena was grateful to have the company. He told her he lived just around the corner and that she could pop in to use his restroom. As the night grew dark, the pair turned on to Ms. Havoy Lane and walked up to a small dilapidated house. A row of bushes kept the building hidden from neighbors. Lena never made it home. Two days later, police found her Lifeless body in a river nearby. A special investigative team was dispatched to find Lena's killer. They combed the area, going door to door on Ms. Havoy Lane, asking residents if they knew anything about her murder. When they got to house number 26, 41 year old Andre Chikatilo opened the door. At first, nothing stood out about him. He seemed kind and polite. He explained he was a schoolteacher and said he was horrified to hear about Lena's murder. But then police dug into his employment history. Throughout his teaching career, he'd been shuffled from school to school, escaping molestation allegations. Various students had complained that their mild mannered Russian literature instructor was in fact a predator. But administrators swept each allegation under the rug. And in 1978, Chikatilo was still teaching. And even if officers suspected he had something to do with Lena's murder, Chikatilo had an alibi. His wife confirmed he was at home on the evening of December 22nd when Lena was killed. And so officers shifted their focus to one of Chikatilo's neighbors, 25 year old Alexander Kravchenko. He had previously served time in prison for the rape and murder of a young girl. Although there was no evidence connecting Kravchenko to Lena, he lived in the area where she was last seen and his record was damning. Despite the lack of concrete evidence, they brought Kravchenko in for questioning. And after a brutal interrogation, he couldn't take it anymore and confessed to killing Lena. Later he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. With Kravchenko locked up, it seemed like the case was closed and the city could move. But three years later, another grizzly discovery made the police wonder if they'd put away the wrong man. On September 4, 1981, authorities found another naked, mutilated body along the river. Dawn. This time it was 17 year old Larissa Tachenko, who'd recently discovered disappeared from a local bus stop. Not long after that, in June 1982, the nearly skeletal remains of 13 year old Luba Biryuk were discovered in the woods several hours away. She'd also gone missing near a bus stop. From August to October 1982, the police found three more bodies in Rostov and the surrounding areas. And as 1982 turned to 1983, the number of victims continued to grow. In 1983, eight young people were killed, their ages ranging from 7 to 22. The authorities couldn't deny it any longer. There was a serial killer in Rostov and it didn't look like they'd let up anytime soon. And although local residents were aware of all the murders, police didn't want to alarm them any further. So they kept their realization to themselves, leaving the people of Rostov in the dark. It didn't help that the Russian media was heavily censored. If any reporters knew what was going on with the killer in their midst, they weren't allowed to write about it. However, they did did tell the public about an update in the case of Lena Zakatnova. By July 1984, Lena's supposed killer, Alexander Kravchenko, had been imprisoned in a labor camp for five years. But her family wasn't satisfied. They wanted him to pay with his own life. Under pressure from Lena's family, Kravchenko was retried and once again found guilty. His sentence was changed to the death penalty. That month, Kravchenko was executed by firing squad. Of course, her real killer was still out there. The murders continued, leaving detectives scratching their heads. The bodies they'd found were so badly mutilated that investigators floated through several shocking theories, from an organ harvesting ring to a satanic cult. But all that speculation didn't bring them any closer to nabbing the killer, who'd been dubbed the Rostov ripper. Then, on March 24, 1984, investigators found the body of 10 year old Dima Tashnikov. This time, the killer wasn't as careful. Police found a footprint near the body and semen on the boy's shirt. They collected the fluid for a sample, but without a suspect to compare it to, it didn't get them very far. The investigation came up short again, and by September 1984, 15 more people were dead. Although the bodies were turning up across the region, some hundreds of miles apart from each other, there was one unifying factor. Nearly every victim had been found near a train station, rail station or bus stop. Once the authorities finally admitted the pattern they were seeing, they decided to switch tactics and widen their scope. Several agencies in the area joined forces forces to survey public transit. They positioned more officers at crowded stations, hoping the killer would notice and go to a smaller regional station instead. Before long, detectives found another mutilated body by one of these stations. Shortly after that, another victim was found murdered in a nearby forest. Investigators knew they were on the right track, but they needed more evidence if they wanted to bring the killings to an end. Then, on September 13, 1984, Rostov Police Inspector Alexander Zanosovsky made a promising discovery. That morning, Zanosovsky had detained a man acting suspiciously in the central market. He'd been tailing the suspect for almost 10 hours as the man traveled all over the city trying and failing to pick up women. When Zanisofsky stopped him, he found knives and a rope in the man's bag. With a killer on the loose, this certainly looked like a smoking gun. Zanosovsky brought the man in for questioning and he identified himself as 47 year old Andrei Chikatilo. They ran Chikatilo's record and noticed he owned house number 26 on Mizavoi Lane. He'd been questioned six years earlier in the death of Lena Zakatnova. Detectives wondered, could this mild mannered teacher be the rostov Ripper? From 1978 to 1984, the Russian city of Rostov on Don had been terrorized by a serial killer. Over the course of six years, the Rostov Ripper, as he'd come to be known, had murdered 32 people, mostly young women and children. Local authorities were desperate to bring an end to the violence and in September 1984 they finally landed on a suspect. That month they detained 47 year old Andre Chikatilo after an officer found knives and rope in his bag. It was certainly suspicious, but detectives needed more evidence to arrest him. And this time they finally had it. Back in March, police had found a footprint near one of the victim's bodies and semen on the boy's shirt. Sure enough, Chikatilo's prints were a match. Now they just needed to test the semen sample they'd taken against Chikatilo. Semen could be tested for blood type and the original sample was type ab. But when they took a blood sample from Chikatilo, it was type A. They tested and retested the sample and still the blood types simply didn't match. Investigators were stumped. They were able to put Chikatilo behind bars for an unrelated minor theft. But after three months they had no choice but to release him. And so the murders continued from 1985 until 1990, 19 more people turned up dead, mutilated in the same manner near train and rail stations. But detectives weren't giving up yet and continued to monitor public transit. Then on November 6, 1990, Sergeant Igor Rybakov was assigned to surveil the local Dunlis Kaz train station. Rybakov noticed a man with with an injured finger, covered in grass stains. Returning to the station from the nearby forest, he stopped the man and checked him for identification. It was Andre Chikatilo. But although he looked suspicious, it didn't seem like he'd actually done anything wrong. With nothing to detain him for Chikatilo was let go. One week later, on November 13, 1990, police found a woman's body near that same forest. Officers identified her as 22 year old Sveta Korostik. She was discovered just a few feet away from where two other victims had been found. Less than a month before, Sgt. Rybakov told his police chief about the man with the injured finger he'd seen at the Dunlis Kaz station. An autopsy revealed Sveta had died the same day Rybakov apprehended Andrei Chikatilo. But that name didn't mean much to authorities at the time. Many of the officers working the case in 1990 hadn't been around long enough to recognize Chikatilo. But there was one person who remembered him. The head of the regional crime school squad recalled how they spoke to Chikatilo in 1984. He recommended they take a closer look. Detectives dug back into his employment history. After jumping from one job to the next to avoid allegations of sexual misconduct, Chikatilo finally Left teaching in 1981. Now he worked as a supply clerk, a job that required him to travel frequently. Officers combed through Chikatilo's travel history and found he'd been at the railway stations where many of the victims had been found. Knowing his mo, detectives placed him under permanent supervision. And almost immediately they noticed a pattern. Whenever he boarded a train, Chikatilo would seat himself next to a young boy or girl and strike up a conversation. Authorities had no doubt about what he'd do when the train arrived at the station, and they couldn't risk another victim. On November 20, 1990, 53 year old Andrei Chikatilo was arrested outside a cafe in Rostov and taken in for questioning. Chikatilo stayed calm during the lengthy interrogation. Unfortunately for detectives, he was educated, aware of his rights and seemed unflappable. Even worse, his blood type was still coming back as a which didn't match the only sample they had, the semen they collected from the young male victim in 1984. Under Soviet law, they had just three hours to hold him. If they didn't find any evidence during that time, they had to let him go. The clock was ticking and their killer was about to get away for the third time. Then something occurred to detectives. The blood samples they'd taken from Chikatilo were from a finger prick. Although rare, it is possible for a man's sperm type to differ from their blood type. That could explain why Chikatilo's blood was type A, while the sperm found on the body was type ab. It's not clear why it took so long for investigators to realize this. Even so, they decided to test Chikatilo's sperm and sure enough, it was type ab. Twelve years later, they finally had their man. In the end, a psychiatrist managed to get a confession out of the Rostov Ripper. After days of hardly speaking, Chikatilo sat down with the doctor. He told him everything, starting with the revelation that he had murdered Lena Zakatnova, not Alexander Kravchenko. After that, Chikatilo confessed to killing and brutally mutilating 21 boys, 14 girls and 18 women. He admitted to getting a deep and sick sexual pleasure from his crimes and now he was finally going to pay for them. On April 14, 1992, 55 year old Andre Chikatilo went on trial. Because he was so dangerous, he was held in a metal cage for the duration of the proceedings. His victims loved ones packed the courtroom eager to see him punished. After six months, a judge found Chikatilo guilty of 52 counts of murder and on October 15 he was sentenced to death. The courtroom erupted into applause when the guilty verdict was read. Chikatilo clawed at the bars of his cage. On February 14, 1994, more than 15 years after his first murder, he was executed. In the case of Andre Chikatilo, justice was finally served, but it came far too late. Both he and Ed Kemper manipulated the people around them to carry out their worst fantasies and murder dozens of innocent young people. When it comes to Andre Chikatilo, he was apprehended twice before authorities could find finally arrest him. Chikatilo knew how the Soviet justice system worked and he knew how to take advantage of it. On the other hand, Ed Kemper wanted to be a police officer. When he was denied, he got as close to the force as he could. He was even friends with the officers who were looking for him. But they should have known some of the scariest monsters are hiding in plain sight. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is Crime House the Show. The show is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studio At Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making this possible. Please support us by rating, reviewing and following Crime House the Show. Wherever you get your podcasts, your feedback truly matters. And for ad free and early access to Crime the Show plus exciting bonus content. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts will be back next Monday. The show is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson, and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios this episode of Crime House the Show was brought to Life by the Crime House Team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertzovsky, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Truman Capps, Haniya Saeed and Michael Langsner. Thank you for listening.