Happy True Crime Thursday!
Since Halloween time is upon us I have decided for the next couple of weeks the stories will be based on events that inspired some of the most well known horror movies out there.
Today I'll be discussing Danny Rolling, also known as The Gainesville Ripper.
The inspiration behind the movie "Scream."
* Disclaimer: Today's blog does contain information about crimes that include abuse, sexual assualt and murder
Danny Rolling was born in May of 1954 in Shreveport, Louisiana to Claudia and James Rolling. James was a police officer, but definitely did not serve and protect his family. James was highly abuse towards his wife and children. Danny was only a year old when James first abused him, why? Because he wasn't crawling properly. In 1955 Danny's younger brother Kevin was born and the abuse only continued to get worse for the family. Claudia made several attempts to leave, but sadly always returned.
By the 3rd grade he was already failing school due to the amount of absences he had. His mother had a complete nervous breakdown and ended up being committed for a period of time because she had slit her wrists. The counselors at Danny's school described his personality as "suffering from an inferiority complex. with aggressive tendencies and poor impulse control." Little did they probably know that these tendencies would soon be the layout of Danny's life.
At the age of 11 Danny tired to find something to cope with his abuse, he turned to music. He sang hymn like songs and played the guitar, but soon this wasn't enough for him. He turned to drugs and alcohol which only made things worse. By the age of 14 he was caught by his neighbors when he was peeping into the daughters room. He tried his best to stay on track and in control, he attended church and would later enlist in the Air Force looking for some stability. He just couldn't quit drugs though and ended up being discharged from the military. His commanding officer told his mother that "he was not mature and did not have the nervous system or maturity necessary for the military life." Despite all of this he got married at a young age and had a daughter, he led what appeared to be a normal life...
But like many of you know...not everything is how it appears.
In 1977, at the age of 23 Danny had been with his wife for 4 years. She separated from Danny after he threatened to kill her. Danny was devastated. This devastation turned into frustration and anger and Danny lost it. Over the next decade he turned to a life of petty crime and also spent periods of time behind bars for armed robbery in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
He broke out of prison on several occasions and couldn't keep a job. In May of 1990 he shot his father who was 58 at the time, he shot him twice (once in the stomach and once in the face,) he nearly killed him. Even though he survived he lost an eye and an ear. Now wanted for attempted murder Danny fled to Louisiana, he stayed briefly in Sarasota, Florida. It was there that he broke into the home of Janet Frake, he raped her and left. Danny wore a mask and was never charged with the crime, even though later on DNA evidence triggered by Sarasota police indicated a match.
In late August of 1990 Danny set up a campsite in the woods just outside of Gainesville, Florida and soon would gain the name of The Gainsville Ripper.
On August 24 Danny broke into the home of Sonja Larson and Christina Powell, armed with a pistol and a military hunting knife. They were both first year students at the University of Florida. He murdered Sonja first, covering her mouth with duct tape and stabbing her while she slept. Next he moved on to Christina, he raped her before killing her and cutting off her nipples. He cleaned up the scene and posed both of his victims in sexualized positions. Christina's parent grew worried after they hadn't heard from their daughter so they traveled from Jacksonville to check on her. Sadly they discovered the girls bodies on the afternoon of August 26th.
Little did police know at this point that the day after Sonja and Christina were murdered another 18 year old by the name of Christa Hoyt became Danny's next victim. This time he entered the home, raped and stabbed Christa, rupturing her aorta. He ended up not only cutting off her nipples like the last, but also decapitated her. He put her head on a bookshelf and propped her body up in bed.
In the early morning hours of the 27th is when police discovered Christa's body when she was reported missing, she had missed her shift as a clerk at the Alachua County Sheriff's Department. News broke out around campus about the gruesome murders.
Soon Danny would murder again, this time breaking into the apartment of Tracy Paules and Manuel Taboada. Danny stabbed Manuel first while he slept, but he awoke and fought back, sadly he was overpowered by Danny and was stabbed 31 times. Tracy ran to the bathroom and locked the door, unfortunately Danny was able to break the door down. He raped Tracy for hours and then killed her via 3 stabs to the neck. They were discovered the next day.
Panic started to set in at this point throughout Gainesville, 5 murders within such a short time frame.
Police set their sights on 19 year old Edward Humphrey. He suffered from manic depression and had been recently arrested for assaulting his grandmother. Police thought he had circumstantial ties to the crimes. His bail was set at 1 million dollars and eventually he would serve 14 months in state prison on assault charges. The murders stopped while he was locked up so the police thought for sure they had their man.
Danny may have stopped his killing ways at this point, but he still was committing robbery. It was during one of these robberies on September 7, 1990 that he would be taken into police custody after a short chase. Ken Raym, the arresting officer said that as they took Danny into custody he said "Boy, you guys are good."
Police soon discovered Danny's campsite, it was here that they discovered evidence that tied him to the crimes. One piece of evidence was a cassette tape with songs describing his plans. It was DNA evidence that sealed the deal.
It was in February of 1994 when Danny pled guilty to 5 counts of murder, 3 counts of sexual battery and armed burglary. While addressing the court he said "I've been running from first one thing and then another all my life, whether from problems at home, or with the law, or from myself." "But there are some things that you just can't run from, and this being one of those." A month later he was sentenced to death.
Aspiring Screenwriter Kevin Williamson took the case of The Gainesville Ripper as a source of inspiration for a screenplay he was writing about a series of murders in a college town and the circuitous search for the killer. Soon that screenplay turned into the 1996 film "Scream," directed by the "Master of Horror" Wes Craven.
On October 25, 2006 Danny Rolling was put to death by lethal injection. Shortly before his execution he gave a note to his "spiritual adviser" Reverend Mike Hudspeth, in which he confessed to the murders of the Grissom family that happened 17 years earlier in his hometown. He broke into their home, and stabbed William, 55, his daughter Julie, 24, and his grandson Sean, 8 all to death. Julie was his main focus. He raped her and posed her body. When Danny was asked if he had any final words he said, well rather sang "none greater than thee, O Lord, none greater than thee."
I actually had never heard of Danny Rolling "The Gainesville Ripper" before. He aspired to be as infamous as Ted Bundy, but he never had that dream fulfilled. The authorities made sure the main focus was on the victims and the families instead of giving him the attention he desired.
See you guys next week!
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