31 Murders: Following the Trail of Serial Sex Killer Earle Nelson

Earle Nelson was a geographically mobile serial killer who strangled landladies and had sex with their dead bodies in the 1920s. He was captured in Canada in 1927 and was reported to have killed 21 women and a baby. However, the author examines nine unsolved murders of landladies linked to him, providing biographical sketches, police investigations, and subsequent attempts to link him to the crimes.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 277 pages
Publication date: 29 February 2024
Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc

Many decades before Ted Bundy roamed the country, there was another notorious serial killer named Earle Nelson. During the 1920s, this geographically mobile killer traveled from city to city, leaving a trail of terror in his wake. Nelson's modus operandi involved gaining access to houses by pretending to be a prospective tenant or a house inspector, and then strangling the landlady, often followed by sexual assault on the dead body. Robbery was often a secondary motive. Nelson's reign of terror came to an end in 1927 when he was captured in Canada. However, the number of his victims was a subject of much debate. Initially, it was reported that he had killed 21 women and a baby during the 1926-27 period. However, the author of this book examines an additional nine unsolved murders of landladies, two of which have never been dealt with in previous literature. Based on decades of archival research, the author meticulously examines all 31 murders, relying on primary sources when available and a wide variety of secondary sources. For each murder, the book provides biographical sketches of the victim, outlines the police investigation and the various suspects, and covers any subsequent attempts to link Nelson to the crime by identification evidence of witnesses or by fingerprints. The author's thorough research and analysis shed new light on the life and crimes of Earle Nelson, providing valuable insights into the mind of a serial killer and the social and cultural context of the time.

Dimension: 254 x 178 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781476694801