The Retold Story of Albert Hamilton Fish “The Boogey Man”
Candace Moody
Old Dominion University
Albert Hamilton Fish also known as Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, and the Brooklyn Vampire was born on May 19, 1870 within the capital of the United States, Washington, DC. (Bardsley, 2003) Though no child is ever born evil, Fish was born into a family with long histories of mental illnesses. It is believed that this chain of illnesses and events from his early childhood lead to him becoming one of the world’s most infamous serial killers. Movies with characters like Hannibal Lector were heavy referenced by the crimes Fish committed as a child molester and cannibal.
Fish was the youngest child of four and by age five
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The first of many victims of the alleged Boogie Man was eight year old, Francis X. McDonnell who was found in the woods assaulted and strangled by his suspenders by Albert after being spotted playing with friends on the porch of his home in Staten Island on July 5, 1924. (Schechter, 1990) Fish’s second known victim was four year old Billy Gaffney. In February of 1927 Billy was last seen playing in the hallway of his family’s apartment in Brooklyn with a friend until both boys disappeared. Later that afternoon his friend was found on the roof of the building claiming the boogey man took Billy but his body was never found. It was not until Fish had been sentenced to serve time in Sing Sing did he confess to the murder and cannibalism of Billy Gaffney. (Bardsley, …show more content…
He was first sent to the Bellevue psychiatric hospital for observation during the course of one year following his arrests. Albert Fish went to trial for premeditated murder in the case of Grace Budd on March 11, 1935 and pleaded insanity, claiming that God told him to kill children. He believed that sacrificing a boy would penance his own sins and if the acts themselves were wrong that angels would have intervened if God did not approve. Fish was classified as having sexual fetishes which included coprophilia, urophilia, pedophilia and masochism. After several analysis by several psychiatrists the jury found Fish to be sane and guilty of all charges hence ordering him to the death sentence. (Schechter, 1990) Fish arrived to Sing Sing Prison in March 1935 and was executed on January 16, 1936 by the electric chair. (Albert,
My studies show that the patient’s actions during my interview with him were unusual, he was oddly calm about explaining in detail what he had done to the old man. I asked the defendant why he would do such a thing as killing the old man. He tells me the old man never did him wrong, “I knew what the old man felt and pitied him” (Poe 204)., it was the eye that tortured my patient. “a pale blue eye...my blood ran cold...thus
For over a decade, a man recognized as the axeman murdered numerous people, and was never apprehended. The murder of Joseph and Catherine Maggio sniped the attention of many. All of the suspects have unfortunately been released because there has not been sufficient evidence to prove their guilt. However, the investigation led to affirm points to one suspect, a frightening guy named Joseph Mumfre.
On the early morning of June 13th, 1961 in Panama City, Florida an individual broke into the Bay Harbor Pool Hall. The only evidence was a broken window, a broken cigarette machine, a broken juke box, and one eye witness. The eye witness claimed he saw a man by the name of Clarence Earl Gideon exiting the pool hall with a pint
Erick Larson wrote in Devil in the White City, “I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing – I was born with the Evil One standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered in the world, and he has been with me since” (Troy, Taylor). This statement was a quoted confession from Dr. H. H. Holmes himself in 1896. Holmes was the first major serial killer in America, even though he came after many others in his time. Thomas Neil Cream, the Austin Axe Murderer, the Bloody Benders, and Jack the Ripper came before him. His name was originally Herman Webster Mudgett. He was born on May 16th, 1860 in Gilman, New Hampshire. He was raised by his mother and father, who was a wealthy and respected citizen for 25 years. As a boy, Mudgett was always in trouble and was well known in his community for his rather sociopathic behavior. He would show cruelty to both animals and other children. The only thing keeping hope to society was the fact that he was an excellent student. He later changed his last name to Holmes in order to pursue both his medical and criminal careers. He had many other aliases in which he would hide under and try to derail the cops from finding him (Juan, Blanco). Holmes was medically trained to be a doctor and received his degree from the University of Michigan. He was not just into insurance fraud scams. His evil doings included forgery, claiming to find the cure for alcoholism, real estate scams, and pretending to have a machine that turned natural gas into water. He was quite the ladies man, had many wives, whom often had become his victims. Many of his medical partners became subject to him, also. He once even had three wiv...
Antwone’s foster mother that abuses and belittles Antwone while a lad along with his two other foster brothers.
Like many in the world, people sometimes have too much guilt with them, and this guilt leads to people being sad and depressed and sometimes even confused on a certain topic. In “The Isabel Fish” by Julie Orringer Sage is very mean to his sister because of his depression caused by his guilt. Later they both admit their guilt and make peace. Even though initially Sage believes Maddy is responsible for Isabel’s death, as he is exposed to a taste of his own medicine he begins to realize both himself and Maddy are living with too much guilt, and ultimately comes to see that it’s better if they both move on.
One well-known serial killer is Gary Ridgway. Ridgway was born in February of 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His early life can be viewed as an indicator to his la...
Albert Fish is the man who some believe to be the "most deranged killer in American history" (Rampo Catskill Library system, Biography resource center, Albert Fish ). So much so, that the character, Hannibal Lector in the movie Silence of the Lambs is partially based on him. Murder was not the only thing that Albert Fish indulged in. He also dabbed in cannibalism, fetishism, pedophilia, voyeurism, exhibitionism, and masochism.
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." - Albert Pike
The town of Halifax in West Yorkshire had never experienced such a manhunt in it’s history (Glover 3). During a short, but long lasting in feeling, time period in late November through early December in the year 1938, the town of Halifax underwent a period of mass hysteria. A mysterious “slasher” hid in the shadows and lunged out with a razor blade at people who passed by (Halifax Slasher).
The story “Catch a Killer,” was written by George Woods. It is a story about three main characters, Lieutenant Tawney who is a B.C.I. man, Andrew Morgan who leaves his house and goes to Batten’s house, and Craig Corso who is a mysterious man. Their behaviors, personalities, actions, and their thoughts affect the story “Catch a Killer”.
American serial killer H. H. Holmes once said “I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing. I was born with the evil one standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world, and he has been with me since” (Lukacs, 2017, n.p.). H. H. Holmes is notorious for being a well known serial killer during the late 1800s. Interestingly, he is also considered by many individuals to be the first American serial killer. Today, researchers still struggle to find a cause as to why he committed the crimes he did. It is difficult to explain his reasoning and choices – therefore, because of this, many researchers and criminologists have dabbled in attempting to create an accurate explanation for his actions. In order to do this, it is essential to first consider Holmes’ childhood, upbringing, and crimes in
Storey Amanda, Strieter Carrie et al. Al, (2005), Richard Trenton Chase “Dracula Killer”, “The Vampire of Sacramento”, Department of Psychology, Radford University. (1-6) Kass-Gergi, Yara (2012). Killer Personalities: Serial Killers as Celebrities in Contemporary American Culture. Wesleyan University, p. 4-8.
Serial killers are everywhere! Well, perhaps not in our neighborhood, but on our television screens, at the movie theaters, and in rows and rows of books at our local Borders or Barnes and Nobles Booksellers” (Brown). When people think of serial killers, names such as Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, and Gein are cited. During the time Jack the Ripper was executing his victims in London, Holmes began his gruesome career in Chicago (America’s Serial Killers). “Despite being America’s first serial killer, Holmes is hardly a familiar name and until now we haven’t had any popular visual record of his crimes: (Spikol). Why is it that people only think of the more popular killers with higher known profiles? They are all very similar to one another because they share characteristics. H.H. Holmes was a successful serial killer because he was well educated, cunning and charming. Those are just a few traits Holmes ...
Antwone Fisher in my opinion is probably the most impactful movie I have ever seen. People may say, “ What a good movie” but I say “what a good man”.