“The Genesee River Killer” By: Ali Harris Arthur Shawcross

Background Arthur Shawcross was born in Kittery, Maine, the first of four children. Tests show that Shawcross' intelligence was sub-normal or even "borderline retarded.” Shawcross had a low intelligence, his I.Q. was 86 Shawcross had a overbearing mother and he claimed when he was 9, his aunt performed oral sex on him. In his Junior year of high school he had sexual relations with his sister and he was said to be a bully in school. Shawcross also was known to have violent tendencies towards his school. In 1960, Shawcroos dropped out of high school.

Background When he was 21, Shawcross was drafted into the army in April of 1967. Shawcross served one tour of duty in Vietnam and he boasted of grotesque combat exploits. After being in Vietnam, he was sent to Fort Still in Lawton, Okahoma to be an armorer. He divorced his first wife and gave his rights up to his 18 month old child. Linda, his second wife, discovered his fondness of starting fires. Soon after that, an Army psychiatrist said he got “sexual enjoyment” from starting fires.

Crimes Shawcross began committing crimes such as arson and burglary. His offenses earned him a five year sentence. He Served 22 months and then got an early release. On May 7, 1972, he sexually assaulted and murdered 10 year old Jack Owen Blake after luring the boy into some woods in Watertown. Four months later, on September 2, he raped and killed 8 year old Karen Ann Hill Arrested in October, he confessed to both murders. He agreed to reveal the location of Blake's body; in return he was permitted to plead guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter (the crime of killing a human being without cruelty aforethought.) in the Hill case, all other charges were dropped, and he received a 25 year sentence at Green Haven Correctional Faculty. Shawcross was diagnosed as a "schizoid psychopath", and physiatrists concluded that he was "no longer dangerous". He was released on parole in April 1987.

Second Series of Murders Crime Date Victims Punishment Murder March 15, 1988 Dorothy Blackburn September 11, 1988 Anna Marie Steffen October 21, 1989 Dorothy Keeler October 20, 1989 Patricia Ives November 23, 1989 June Stott January 5, 1990 Marie Welch November 15, 1989 Frances Brown Kimberly Logan December 31, 1989 Felicia Stephens January 5, 1989 Darlene Trippi January 3, 1989 June Cicero November 27, 1989 Elizabeth Gibson Life in prison 250 years

Crimes/Evidence Most bodies were strangled and beaten to death, and sometimes mutilated as well. Most of them were found near the Genesee River. In November 1990, Shawcross was tried for the 10 murders in Monroe County. Shawcross pleaded not guilty for reason of insanity. Shawcross was found guilty of 10 counts of second degree murder (non planned killing, resulting from an assault in which death of the victim was a distinct possibility.) He was sentenced to 250 years to life in prison for the Monroe County killings. A few months later, Shawcross was taken to Wayne County to be tried for Gibson's murder. He pleaded guilty and was given a life sentence. He died in November 10, 2008

Books In 1992, Joel Norris wrote a book about Shawcross’s case. This book included a tape that contained live confessions of Arthur Shawcross and all his crimes. This drew some criticism that Norris was exaggerating the case. This book was called “Arther Shawcross: The Genesee River Killer.” Patrick Bellamy also wrote a book and it was called “The Arthur Shawcross Story: Sins of the Flesh”

Behavioral Theory The behavioral theory would best describe Arthur Shawcross. Experts say that criminals tend to think and act violently on a daily routine, but this theory states that you are not born with violent tendencies. It states that their daily life activities will trigger them to start thinking about and acting violent. These criminals think that if they watch and observe their family and friends getting rewarded for bad and violent things, they will think that is it okay to do the same thing . The criminal will receive satisfaction when they complete these violent acts. For Shawcross, he had a confession tapes as well as many books written about him for the media to see. Shawcross had many stressful events in his life that could contribute to him wanting to promote these horrific crimes. For example, when his aunt performed oral sex on him when he was nine years old, and then later in his life he had sexual relations with his sister in high school. Also, his mother was very controlling growing up, which caused him to rebel against what she said. Shawcross was considered a bully in school which could be contributed to those relations. An event like that can destroy and mentally confuse people. When he was drafted in the army, creating fires aroused him and made him want to do more. This then caused him to do more serious crimes such as burglary and arson and eventually assaulting and murdering children. He also believed that being violent and mean, he would get his way.