True Crime Friday: Earle Nelson, the Gorilla Serial Killer
Earle Leonard Nelson was born on May 12, 1897, in California. His parents died when he was a toddler and he was raised by his grandmother around two years old. When it was discovered that several women and girls had been raped or murdered the description of the man was given that he had Gorilla like features including huge arms. That is when he became known as the Dark Strangler and Gorilla Man, but the moniker of the Gorilla Killer seems to have stuck in the minds of the public. He was a rapist, serial killer and necrophile. Nelson killed at least twenty two women and girls across the United States and Canada between the years of 1926 and 1927. The crimes committed by Nelson were a source of inspiration for the movie Shadow of a Doubt a film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1943.
The Early Childhood of Earle Nelson
Earle Nelson was born in San Francisco, California and raised by his grandmother. She was deeply religious, which generally does not bode well when you are raising a psychopath. Nelson acted strangely as a child and people in his own family and in the community made note of his odd behavior. He began to commit crimes at the age of ten. It was reported that Nelson had several head injuries when he collided with a streetcar as a child while riding his bike. He was unconscious in the hospital for several days. His grandmother Jenni Nelson said his behavior became even more odd once he came home for the hospital. He suffered headaches and memory loss and would become angry without being provoked. After all the crimes he committed at a young age, he was institutionalized before being discharged in 1925. He went to live with his grandmother after both of his parents died from syphilis before he was two years old. His grandmother had two children she was raising along with Earle.The Victims of the Earle Nelson
- Mrs. Lola Cowan
- Mrs. Emily Patterson
- Mrs. Blanche Myers
- Mrs. Beata Withers
- Mrs. Clara Newman
- Mrs. Mabel Fluke
- Mrs. Jennifer Rudolf
- Mrs. Laura Beal
- Mrs. Lillian St. Mary
- Mrs. Ollie Russell
- Mrs. Beata Whithers
- Mrs. Blanche Myers
The Survivor of the Earle Nelson
- Mrs. Mary Summers
Earle Nelson looked like a beggar because he was unkept. But he managed to fool his victims by posing as a mild mannered, charming Christian drifter. He used the excuse that he wanted to rent a room which in those days was a common thing for people to rent rooms for the night or extended periods of time. Earle Nelson used this to his advantage staking out possible victims to attack. Each of his victims were killed via choking. Earle Nelson raped his victims after death. One victim was significantly mutilated after death and it was so horrifying even seasoned investigators were shaken. At the time, Nelson's confirmed victim count of twenty-two was the largest number of murders attributed to one person in United States history.