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(June 28, 1891 - September 5, 1930)
Carl was an American serial killer who, while imprisoned, wrote
an articulate autobiography about his life and his descent into
crime.
Growing up, he was heavily involved
in robbery, rape, vandalism and arson. In 1920, Panzram had graduated
to murder. He lured sailors in New York away from bars, got them
drunk, shot them and dumped their remains into the river. Panzram
then went to Africa where he raped and killed an 11-year-old
boy. A few days later he hired six men to go hunting crocodiles
with him. Once in the swamps, however, Panzram shot all six men
to death, hacked them up and fed them to the crocodiles. Back
in America, Panzram shot a man dead for trying to rob him. He
also raped and killed two small boys, beating one to death with
a rock and strangling the other with a belt.
In 1928, Panzram was arrested for
burglary and held in Washington, D.C.. During his interrogation
and jail time he voluntarily confessed to killing two boys. In
light of his extensive criminal record, he was handed a 25-year
sentence which was to be served at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary.
While there, he killed foreman of the prison laundry. To his
evident delight, Panzram was sentenced to death.
Carl Panzram was hung on September
5, 1930. When asked by the executioner if he had any last words,
Panzram barked, "Hurry it up, you Hoosier bastard! I could
kill 10 men while you're fooling around!" |
