1 00:00:01,639 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:07,880 Speaker 1: those of the authors and participants and do not necessarily 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: represent those of I Heart Media, Stuff Media, or its employees. 4 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: Listener discretion is advised from my Heart Radio and Tenderfoot TV. 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: Monster Presents Insomniac. I don't know for sure, but I'm 6 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: gonna wager a guest that most of you have never 7 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: seen a barn fire in person before. It's something that 8 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: I've witnessed several times in the past, and strangely enough, 9 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 1: I had a dream about a barn fire last night. 10 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: I don't know if I would call it a nightmare, 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: but it was definitely a vivid, realistic dream that made 12 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: me think of being a young boy again in northern Indiana. 13 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: I was standing there on my footy pajamas watching a 14 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: structure fire that had no hope of being put out 15 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: before the entire building was consumed. It took me right 16 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: back to when I was five or six years old. 17 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: I remember driving miles and miles behind fire trucks and 18 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: then standing out in the cold air of a Midwestern night. 19 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: Barnes burned incredibly fast and incredibly hot. Usually by the 20 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: time the fire trucks arrived, it was too late to 21 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: save the building. They were just there to knock down 22 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: the flames and prevented them spread into the farmhouse or 23 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: other nearby buildings. Sometimes the farmers were lucky enough to 24 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: get the animals out. Sometimes they weren't so fortunate. But 25 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,680 Speaker 1: with a loft full of hay fueling the fire, there 26 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 1: was usually no hope, and that always made it even 27 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: more tragic. Sometimes there was a lot of confusion on 28 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: the ground. Other times everything seemed eerily calm as the 29 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 1: fireman went about their business. It all played out right 30 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: in front of us. It was exciting and terrifying, beautiful 31 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: yet terrible all at once. I'm Scott Benjamin, and everything 32 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: I'm about to tell you is real. This is insomniac. 33 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: It was April and Arthur shaw Cross, now age, was 34 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: out of prison and on parole once again, and this 35 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:31,239 Speaker 1: time his appearance was dramatically different. He was no longer 36 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: the relatively fit and trim six ft tall ex military 37 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 1: man that went into prison in nineteen He now weighed 38 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: three hundred pounds and it wasn't muscle. His third wife, Penny, 39 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: had divorced him in ninet, just three years into his 40 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: prison term, but he already had another girlfriend waiting for him. 41 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: Her name was Rose, and she had been Arthur's prison penpal. 42 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: Life on the outside was different for Arthur this time. 43 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 1: For one, he and Rose couldn't find a place to live. 44 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,519 Speaker 1: It wasn't that there were no houses for rent or 45 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: apartments available. The problem was that no community wanted a 46 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 1: convicted child rapist and murderer moving in. Arthur couldn't return 47 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: to Watertown for obvious reasons, and since his post prison 48 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: relocations were well publicized in the first three communities he tried, 49 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: there was a strong objection to his arrival. First they 50 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: tried Bingham, to New York, then Delhi, then Fleishman's but 51 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: in every case he and Rose were run out of town. 52 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: A senior parole board officer finally decided it was time 53 00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: to try something different. They made the unfortunate decision to 54 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: seal Arthur shaw Crosses criminal records and then moved him 55 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: two d and fifty miles away into an apartment in 56 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: the city of Rochester, New York, without telling the members 57 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: of the community or the authorities. In other words, no 58 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,239 Speaker 1: one knew who he was and his violent sex offender 59 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: past was now invisible. Arthur soon found a job to 60 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,600 Speaker 1: pay the bills, work in the night shift, chopping and 61 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: packaging salads and boxes for a local food service company, 62 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: and he and Rose were married in the summer of 63 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 1: By Christmas of the same year, Arthur, now age forty two, 64 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,359 Speaker 1: was already having an affair with an older woman named 65 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: Clara Neil. She was fifty six. By the spring of 66 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:02,919 Speaker 1: shaw Crosses typical behavior was so erratic that neither of 67 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: the two women he was involved with noticed anything unusual 68 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: when he began staying out all night and using his 69 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: mistress's borrowed car, blue Dodge Omni two cruise for prostitutes 70 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: in the industrial area near the Genesee River. That's where 71 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 1: he found his first adult victim, a prostitute by the 72 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: name of Dorothy Blackburn. The agreement the two made was 73 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: for mutual oral sex for thirty dollars. Years later, shaw 74 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: Cross would claim that during the encounter, Dorothy bit his penis, 75 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 1: drawing blood and infuriating shaw Cross to the point of 76 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: violent retribution. In turn, he bit a chunk of flesh 77 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: out of her vagina and then choked her until she 78 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: was unconscious. He then drove her lifeless body out to 79 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: one of his favorite fishing spots, the bridge over the 80 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: Salmon River in Northampton Park, and dropped her into the 81 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: cold water below. Her remains would be found for nearly 82 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: a week. She was well preserved in the icy water, 83 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: but the river had also removed any evidence that her 84 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: killer might have left behind, aside from the deep bite 85 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: marks around her genitals. The community of Rochester, New York 86 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: didn't know it yet, but Dorothy Blackburn's murder was just 87 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: the first of what would be many, many more and 88 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: Arthur's second series of victims. It would be almost four 89 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,840 Speaker 1: months before Arthur would strike again. It was early July, 90 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: and now that he was ready, he returned to his 91 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 1: favorite hunting ground, a stretch of road called Lyle Avenue 92 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: in downtown Rochester. It was there that he found another prostitute, 93 00:06:54,560 --> 00:07:01,359 Speaker 1: Anna Marie Stephen. A deal was made between the two 94 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: sex for cash, and they headed down to the banks 95 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: of the Genesee River and the dark privacy that location provided. 96 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: But when shaw Cross was unable to perform sexually, he 97 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: claims Anna Marie made fun of him, so he punched 98 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: her to the ground in the darkness. She crawled into 99 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: the river to escape, but he went in after her, 100 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: grabbed her by the throat, and held her underwater until 101 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:34,559 Speaker 1: she drowned. This time, he simply let the body float 102 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: downstream instead of trying to hide it. She was discovered 103 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: two months later. Somehow, Arthur resisted the urge to kill 104 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: for a full year before taking his third victim in Rochester. 105 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: This time it was a homeless woman, Dorothy keeler Age. 106 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: Dorothy was working as a waitress in a diner shaw 107 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: Crossing asionally visited, and she and Arthur were having an affair. 108 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: It was July and the two had spent a lazy 109 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,800 Speaker 1: afternoon together fishing and having sex on seth Green Island 110 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:18,239 Speaker 1: in the middle of the Genesee River. At some point, 111 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: the conversation grew serious, and Dorothy threatened to reveal herself 112 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: to the other two women in shaw Across his life, 113 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: his wife Rose and his mistress Clara. Arthur and Dorothy argued. 114 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: He flew into a rage, picked up a heavy log, 115 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,679 Speaker 1: and he beat Dorothy to death. He then concealed her 116 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 1: body under a fallen tree before heading home for the evening. Later, 117 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: shaw Cross told police that he returned to Keiller's corpse 118 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: months afterward, to remove her skull, He threw it into 119 00:08:54,600 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: the river and it was never found. What was left 120 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: of her body was discovered by fisherman on October, nearly 121 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 1: three months after she went missing. Just six days after 122 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:18,200 Speaker 1: Dorothy Keeler was found on October, the discarded body of 123 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: yet another local sex worker, Patricia Ives, would be uncovered 124 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: at a construction site. She had also been strangled. A 125 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: little more than two weeks later, the bodies of two 126 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: Rochester prostitutes were found on the same day, November, Francis Brown, 127 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: aged and Kimberly Logan, aged thirty. They had been taken 128 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: just days apart in early November. Kimberly Logan was found 129 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: to have leaves stuffed down her throat to silence her 130 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: during her attack. Similar to shaw Cross's second victim, a 131 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: year old Karen Hill. Arthur also used this tactic to 132 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:04,440 Speaker 1: silence the animals he killed when he was much younger. 133 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 1: Just days later, on Thanksgiving Day, the body of another 134 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: local woman was found underneath the blanket and a pile 135 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: of brush. It was the body of June stott Age, thirty. 136 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: She had been missing for exactly one month. She was 137 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,680 Speaker 1: not a prostitute or a drug user. In fact, Stott 138 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: was a friend of Rose and Arthur shaw Cross, even 139 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:37,959 Speaker 1: an occasional guest at their home. Similar to the other 140 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: recent victims, June Stott had been strangled to death. Unlike 141 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: the other adult victims to date, however, her body had 142 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 1: been mutilated. She was sodomized after she was killed. She 143 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: had been gutted from her genitals to her throat, and 144 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: her vagina had been cut out and removed. Arthur would 145 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: later claim that he had eaten that part of her 146 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: on with some internal organs. The killer's violence, as well 147 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:07,840 Speaker 1: as the frequency with which he was taking his victims, 148 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,319 Speaker 1: had now escalated considerably. It was impossible for the police 149 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: and the press to ignore the similarities among the recent slangs, 150 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 1: and while the detectives continued to comb through the criminal 151 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: records of the violent offenders that might be living in 152 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: the area, Arthur shaw Crosses sealed criminal records meant that 153 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: he didn't show up on any police searches. He remained invisible. 154 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: As a result of interviews with the local prostitutes. The 155 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: authorities were now canvassing the street corners and bars looking 156 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: for a suspicious man that several of the ladies had 157 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 1: come to know Ah's Mitch. He was a regular customer 158 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 1: on Lysle Avenue, and some of them knew, both of 159 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 1: experience and word of mouth, that Mitch was not only 160 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: capable of violence, but he was also with several of 161 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: the now missing women. What the cops didn't realize at 162 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,439 Speaker 1: the time was that they were closer than ever to 163 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 1: the mysterious Mitch, and they were unintentionally giving him inside 164 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:17,719 Speaker 1: information that allowed him to continue his deadly attacks virtually unchallenged. 165 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: M Arthur and Rose shaw Cross lived at two one 166 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 1: Alexander Street in Rochester, New York. There was a dunkin 167 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: Donuts located just down the block from their home, on 168 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 1: the corner of Alexander Street and Monroe Avenue, about a 169 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: four minute walk from door to door. Arthur was a 170 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:51,560 Speaker 1: regular customer there. I know it sounds cliche, but that 171 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 1: donut shop is where the police would often gather, the 172 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: place where they felt like it was safe to let 173 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: their guard down a bit, And of course the shop 174 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: talk often turned to what was happening in the Genesee 175 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: River killer case. Arthur was routinely present for these discussions. 176 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 1: Between his deadly attacks, Arthur would learn exactly what the 177 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,960 Speaker 1: police were discussing the leads they were chasing down and 178 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: in general how close they were to capturing, well him, 179 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: the killer. The whole thing was a sort of cat 180 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: and mouse game, where the mouse, Arthur, had the inside 181 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: line and exactly what the cat the Rochester police were 182 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: up to. Years after his arrest, Arthur was asked about 183 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:44,200 Speaker 1: his donut shopped conversations with the police. He attributed to 184 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: his ability to get away with being so close to 185 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:51,079 Speaker 1: his pursuers without suspicion, to being well groomed and well dressed, 186 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: including wearing shiny shoes a trade. Arthur claimed the police 187 00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: liked about him at the donut counter. He the role 188 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: of a concerned citizen instead of the sort of individually 189 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: he might suspect would be out on the streets killing 190 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: prostitutes at night. And because Arthur had gained their trust, 191 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:16,119 Speaker 1: he was occasionally given some friendly inside information about the stakeouts, 192 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: where the decoy prostitutes were located, and the investigation in general, 193 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 1: straight from the police work in the case, Well, this 194 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: is a fairly rare situation. It's not the first time 195 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: we've heard a similar story. Edmund Kemper is an example 196 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: of another serial killer who befriended the local police to 197 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: gain inside information on the investigation of the murders he 198 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: was carrying out. He hung out with police in a 199 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: bar called the Jury Room, across the street from the 200 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: Santa Cruz County Courthouse in Santa Cruz, California. Similar to 201 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: shaw Cross, the police came to know Kemper as a friend. 202 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: One of the officers even once gave him a set 203 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: of real police handcuffs as a gift. He occasionally used 204 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: them in his killings. If the code he abducted was 205 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: putting up a struggle, it was late. Arthur shaw Cross 206 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 1: was forty four years old, and his body count continued 207 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: to steadily grow. Seven missing women had already turned up dead, 208 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: and there would be numerous more before it was all over. 209 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,440 Speaker 1: Just four days after the Thanksgiving Day discovery of June 210 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: Stott's body, another shaw Cross victim was found. This time 211 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: it was Elizabeth Gibson, aged nine. She was a prostitute, 212 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: strangled to death just like the others. However, her body 213 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: was dumped in nearby Wayne County, New York, instead of Rochester, 214 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: as Arthur felt the police were getting a little too 215 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: close for his comfort level. Next, it was the body 216 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 1: of twenty year old Felicias Stevens found on New Year's Eve, 217 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: murdered just three days after Christmas. She was Arthur's final kill, 218 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: but she wouldn't be the last victim recovered. There were 219 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:24,640 Speaker 1: still missing women to be found. Just three days later, 220 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: on January three, the body of June Cicero was recovered 221 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: as a result of the New York State Trooper helicopter 222 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: surveillance flight. Those on the scene would note that her 223 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: body had been mutilated in a manner similar to two 224 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: earlier victims. At some point after her death, the killer 225 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: had returned to June Cicero's frozen body to remove her 226 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: vagina with a small hand saw. This was the same 227 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: surveillance flight that also exposed Arthur shaw Cross parked on 228 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 1: the bridge directly above June Cicero's frozen corpse. When the 229 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: authorities finally caught up to and questioned him on that 230 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: first day, Arthur reluctantly told them he was previously found 231 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: guilty of manslaughter in Watertown in but he denied any 232 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:20,400 Speaker 1: knowledge of the recent Rochester murders, and since he wasn't 233 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:25,400 Speaker 1: under arrest, he was questioned a while longer photographed and released. 234 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:33,679 Speaker 1: Kept under constant surveillance, of course, but released overnight. The 235 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: detectives did their homework right away. They found his sealed 236 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: criminal file and a link to some critical physical evidence 237 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: in the case. They investigated Arthur's place of employment, a 238 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: food service company called G and G Cheese, and found 239 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 1: that the company used a brand of handy wipes that 240 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: matched those founded two of the crime scenes, and they 241 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: were the same wipes found in shaw Crosses home too. 242 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 1: And from there the rest of the missing pieces started 243 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:09,440 Speaker 1: coming together. One point that really grabbed the investigator's attention 244 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: was when Arthur started telling them about his favorite fishing spots. 245 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:17,159 Speaker 1: All the places he preferred along the river coincided with 246 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:22,240 Speaker 1: where the bodies of the missing prostitutes were found. Just 247 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: two days after their initial contact with shaw Cross, and 248 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: with around the clock investigation into his background and activities, 249 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:33,879 Speaker 1: including several hours of conversation with him personally, the police 250 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: had enough evidence to arrest him and charge him with 251 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 1: the murders. The date was January five, Arthur knew was over. 252 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: He asked to be allowed to speak with his wife, Rose, 253 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:50,639 Speaker 1: and said that if he could just speak to her first, 254 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 1: he'd tell them everything they wanted to know, and that's 255 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: what he did. Throughout his lengthy confession to the authorities, 256 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: Arthur showed no sign of emotion, no remorse at all. 257 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 1: When asked why he did it, he coldly stated that 258 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: he was just taking care of business. With the sign 259 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: confession in hand, the authorities allowed Arthur to lead them 260 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 1: to the bodies of two missing women they hadn't yet recovered, 261 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:25,160 Speaker 1: Maria welch Ago, who had been missing since early November, 262 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:31,960 Speaker 1: and Darlene Trippy, age two, who had been missing since December. 263 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: It wasn't a surprise that both women had been strangled 264 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: to death. When it was all over, the number of 265 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 1: women who lost their lives at the hands of Arthur 266 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: shaw Cross in Rochester alone was twelve, and when you 267 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 1: add the two children he killed in Watertown in nineteen 268 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:56,440 Speaker 1: seventy two, Jack Blake and Karen Hill, the grim total 269 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:00,840 Speaker 1: grows to fourteen. Since all of victims were killed in 270 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 1: Monroe County, New York, with the exception of Elizabeth Gibson, 271 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:08,919 Speaker 1: who was killed in nearby Wayne County, the Monroe County 272 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:14,959 Speaker 1: trial was held first. The poor proceedings lasted nearly three months, 273 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: with all of Rochester keeping watch. It wasn't until years 274 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: later that I realized this siren chasing was a common 275 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: behavior in my family. We always watched from a safe 276 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:45,360 Speaker 1: distance away, maybe a few hundred yards or so. Usually 277 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 1: we were close enough to smell the smoke and even 278 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:52,160 Speaker 1: feel the heat. Sometimes I would see the whole structure 279 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 1: collapse onto itself. That always produced what seemed like a 280 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: million glory numbers shooting upwards, along with the blinding red 281 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: orange flames and a tower of the thickest black smoke 282 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,920 Speaker 1: you can imagine, billowing into the sky. I remember it 283 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,639 Speaker 1: was a thrill to be so near the action, but 284 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: it was also scary. My dad was always a siren chaser. 285 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,360 Speaker 1: He couldn't resist getting close to the scene of an accident, 286 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:23,159 Speaker 1: the fire, and arrest in progress, anything. Really, it was 287 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: a behavior he learned from his mother, my grandmother, and 288 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 1: lately I began to wonder if it was a behavior 289 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 1: that she had learned from her father, my great grandfather. 290 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 1: They lived in a small town, so whenever the sirens began, 291 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: my grandmother would load up to kids and go see 292 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: what she could. My dad was the same way when 293 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 1: I was growing up, and today I find it difficult 294 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 1: to resist turning the car around and see what's happening 295 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: if I see emergency lights. I can't believe that it 296 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:56,679 Speaker 1: took me so long to realize that I'm the product 297 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:01,240 Speaker 1: of at least three, possibly four generals of siren chaser's. 298 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:14,399 Speaker 1: That explains a lot. In the United States, broadcasting and 299 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 1: photography of the court proceedings is allowed in some court 300 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 1: rooms but not others. In ninety nine, the eyes and 301 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: ears of the public were focused on the nationally televised 302 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:30,879 Speaker 1: trial of serial killer Ted Bundy. In it was Jeffrey Dahmer, 303 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: in the Menendez Brothers, in he was the O. J. 304 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: Simpson trial. It's clear that television viewers enjoy watching high 305 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: profile criminal court cases play out in front of them 306 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:50,879 Speaker 1: on live television, and while the nineteen ninety trial of 307 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:54,360 Speaker 1: Arthur shaw Cross might have had a somewhat limited audience 308 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 1: due to its local coverage rather than national coverage, the 309 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 1: citizens of Rochester were more than willing to watch. The 310 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:05,920 Speaker 1: New York Times ran an article about the televised shaw 311 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: Cross trial on December two nine, and it's said, like 312 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 1: a moth drawn to a flame, Rochester, a city of 313 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: two hundred and forty one thousand people has been both 314 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 1: repulsed and riveted by the proceedings in the teak paneled 315 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: second floor Core Room of the Monroe County Public Safety Building. 316 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,000 Speaker 1: For more than ten weeks, the residents of Rochester and 317 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: the surrounding areas tuned in to witness the Core room 318 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: drama and theatrics of the show cross Case. It was 319 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: television that was difficult to watch at times because it 320 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 1: was a lured tale that included details of child sexual abuse, beastiality, 321 00:23:51,359 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: wartime atrocities, murder, reincarnation, corpse mutilation, and claims of cannibalism. 322 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 1: Adding to the public's outrage was the now widely known 323 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: fact that shaw Cross's criminal record had been sealed and 324 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: that a convicted child rapist and killer had been moved 325 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: into Rochester without alerting members of the community or the authorities. 326 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,840 Speaker 1: They also saw him plead not guilty by reason of insanity, 327 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: well as defense attorney showed the Core room videotapes of 328 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,879 Speaker 1: a supposedly hypnotized shaw Cross as he claimed to be 329 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: taken on one of his many multiple personalities, Ara Mas, 330 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 1: a reincarnated thirteenth century cannibal from England who Arthur claimed 331 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:40,919 Speaker 1: taught him to eat human flesh. While the tapes were shown, 332 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: and throughout the entire trial, shaw Cross sat perfectly still 333 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:50,880 Speaker 1: in the courtroom, head down, shoulders slumped, showing no emotion 334 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: at all. In the end, the jury didn't believe Arthur 335 00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:00,320 Speaker 1: was possessed, and much to everyone's relief, he is found 336 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: guilty of ten counts of second degree murder, with the 337 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: sentence of twenty five years for each count. Arthur shaw Cross, 338 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,440 Speaker 1: now age, would be behind bars for the next two 339 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: d and fifty years with no chance of her role. 340 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 1: The following year, when the Wayne County trial was held, 341 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,680 Speaker 1: shaw Cross simply played guilty to the second degree murder 342 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 1: of Elizabeth Gibson and received yet another life sentence. Arthur 343 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,360 Speaker 1: was incarcerated at the Sullivan Correctional Facility, a maximum security 344 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:45,160 Speaker 1: prison from male prisoners in Fallsburg, New York. In prison, 345 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:50,800 Speaker 1: Arthur was an outsider, a pariah with very few exceptions. 346 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,920 Speaker 1: He was avoided, ignored, and often threatened by nearly every 347 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,159 Speaker 1: other inmate in Sullivan. They deemed him the lowest of 348 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: the low, a pedophile, a rapist, and a serial killer 349 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:08,199 Speaker 1: of women and children. Soon after his conviction, Arthur was 350 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 1: divorced from his fourth wife, Rose. She served him with 351 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 1: papers on his forty nine birthday in June. Of Rose 352 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: shaw Cross would pass away less than three years later. 353 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: In the spring of Arthur was now legally free to 354 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:28,440 Speaker 1: marry his former mistress Clara, and did so in a 355 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: ceremony held in the prison's visiting room on July. She 356 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:38,000 Speaker 1: was his fifth wife, but his time in prison for 357 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: this his second series of murders, would be only slightly 358 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,000 Speaker 1: longer than his sentence for the child killings back in 359 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:49,919 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy two. On November tenth, eight just shy of 360 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: eighteen years after his trial and conviction, Arthur shaw Cross, 361 00:26:54,400 --> 00:27:00,080 Speaker 1: now age sixty three, died of a pulmonary embolism. He 362 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:02,679 Speaker 1: had complained of leg pain earlier in the day, and 363 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:04,800 Speaker 1: by the time he was transferred to the Albany Medical 364 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: Center later that evening, it was too late. Arthur shaw 365 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: Cross was dead, and the citizens of upstate New York 366 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 1: breathed a collective sigh of relief. Well, the best case 367 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 1: scenario would have been devoid even a single murder that 368 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,200 Speaker 1: might not even have been entirely possible in this case. 369 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 1: Throughout his entire life, whenever he wasn't in prison. Arthur 370 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 1: shaw Cross was killing, whether as when he was a 371 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 1: kid torturing and killing small animals, as a young adult 372 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: torturing and killing children, whereas a middle aged man strangling 373 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:48,159 Speaker 1: and killing sex workers. And if Arthur shaw Cross had 374 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,360 Speaker 1: not been granted the plea bargain deal in nWo after 375 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,479 Speaker 1: the Watertown child killings, he would have been locked up 376 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,359 Speaker 1: for life. The body count would have stopped at just 377 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: two instead of reaching fourteen. Two dead children are bad enough, 378 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,560 Speaker 1: but in this case, a series of poor decisions led 379 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:16,199 Speaker 1: to the deaths of twelve additional women. In Rochester, New York. 380 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: In two thousand eleven, in a South Georgia college town, 381 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:27,880 Speaker 1: a bad neighbor was lurking near campus. People found him creepy, antisocial, 382 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: but he turned out to be far worse than anyone 383 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: ever expected, a predator who selected the woman next door 384 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: as his prey. I'll prove that you never know who 385 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 1: might move into your neighborhood, and you certainly have no 386 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: idea what they're up to or capable of behind closed doors. 387 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: Next time on Insomniac. Insomniac is a production of I 388 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:03,560 Speaker 1: Heart Rate and Tenderfoot TV, written and hosted by Scott 389 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 1: Benjamin and produced by Miranda Hawkins, Alex Williams, Matt Frederick, 390 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: and Josh Thain. Music composed by Makeup and Vanity Said, 391 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: and cover art by Trevor Eisler. Follow on Twitter and 392 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: Facebook at Insomniac Pod, on Instagram at Insomniac podcast, and 393 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: at our website insomniac podcast dot com. For more podcasts 394 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 395 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows