Background and Early Life
Edmund Emil Kemper III was born on December 18, 1948, in Burbank, California. He experienced a turbulent childhood marked by a difficult relationship with his mother, Clarnell, following his parents' separation. Unusually large for his age, Kemper grew to a height of 6 feet 9 inches and possessed an exceptionally high measured IQ.
At the age of 15, in 1964, Kemper shot and killed both of his paternal grandparents at their California ranch. He later said he wanted to know what it felt like to kill his grandmother. He was committed to Atascadero State Hospital, where he was diagnosed and studied by psychiatric staff. He was released in 1969 into the custody of his mother, against the recommendation of some clinicians, and his juvenile records were later sealed when he reached adulthood.
The Murders
Between May 1972 and April 1973, Kemper murdered six young women in the Santa Cruz, California, area, a period during which the region saw several unrelated serial killers active simultaneously. He typically picked up female hitchhikers, many of them students near the University of California, Santa Cruz, taking advantage of the era's hitchhiking culture.
His victims during this period were Mary Ann Pesce and Anita Luchessa (May 1972), Aiko Koo (September 1972), Cynthia Schall (January 1973), and Rosalind Thorpe and Alice Liu (February 1973). After killing the women, Kemper committed acts of mutilation and necrophilia and disposed of remains in remote areas. The crimes earned him the nickname the 'Co-ed Killer' in the press because several victims were college students.
The Final Murders and Surrender
On April 20, 1973, Kemper killed his mother, Clarnell Strandberg, at her Santa Cruz home, attacking her while she slept. He then killed her friend, Sally Hallett, when she came to the house. These murders are widely cited as the culmination of his long-standing antagonism toward his mother.
After the killings, Kemper fled eastward by car, eventually reaching Pueblo, Colorado. Expecting to hear news of his crimes and finding none, he telephoned the Santa Cruz police from a pay phone and confessed. Investigators were initially skeptical, as Kemper had previously been an acquaintance of officers at a local bar. He waited for police to arrive and was taken into custody, after which he provided detailed confessions to all the killings.
Trial and Sentencing
Kemper was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder. At his 1973 trial, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but court-appointed psychiatrists found him legally sane and competent to stand trial. He gave extensive and candid accounts of his crimes.
In November 1973, the jury found Kemper guilty on all eight counts of murder. When asked what punishment he thought he deserved, he reportedly suggested death by torture, but California's death penalty was not in effect at the time. He was sentenced to life in prison. Kemper has been incarcerated in the California state prison system since his conviction and has been repeatedly denied parole, in several instances waiving his own parole hearings.
Aftermath and Legacy
While imprisoned, Kemper became known for his cooperation with researchers and law enforcement. He participated in interviews with FBI agents studying serial offenders, work associated with the development of criminal profiling and the Bureau's Behavioral Science Unit. His articulate, self-analytical interviews have been widely cited in criminology and popular media.
Kemper has also been noted for narrating audiobooks for the blind while incarcerated, a volunteer activity he undertook over many years. His case remains one of the most studied in American criminal psychology and has been featured in numerous documentaries, books, and dramatized portrayals, including the Netflix series 'Mindhunter.' He continues to serve his sentence in California.
