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Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate

Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate. Partners in Crime. What is a Serial Killer?. -By loose definition, a serial killer is someone who kills multiple victims in a similar fashion. The Beginning…. Charles Starkweather was born in Lincoln, Nebraska to Guy and Helen .

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Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate

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  1. Charles Starkweatherand Caril Fugate Partners in Crime

  2. What is a Serial Killer? -By loose definition, a serial killer is someone who kills multiple victims in a similar fashion

  3. The Beginning… • Charles Starkweather was born in Lincoln, Nebraska to Guy and Helen. • One of 7 brothers and sisters. • Never recalled any bad memories. • Surrounding community deemed the family as one of the best mannered. • He remembers nothing of time in school, • Except being teased and picked on… • He also never applied himself in school.

  4. First Signs • As many serial killers, he had a physical deformities and handicaps. • Varum, which is a disease that causes legs to be mishapen (bow-legged) • speech impediment, which caused the teasing • He suffered from myopia, which causes distant objects to appear blurry. • He was also considered a slow learner • This added to his already frustrating life

  5. His Outlet • Having seen himself as a failure in all other aspects of his life, he found comfort through the gym. • a physical outlet for rage • He began to bully and ridicule those who had bullied him. • And even further to even those who he merely “disliked.”

  6. Rebel Without A Cause • A friend described Starkweather • as someone who: • Had a severe inferiority complex • Saw himself as a failure who could do nothing right/was doomed to a life of poverty • He became obsessed with James Dean • Would dress, act and model his life after the actor • He became his idol.

  7. The Partnership Began.. • Charles Starkweather met Caril Ann Fugate in 1957 • He was eighteen; she was fourteen. • He dropped out of high school to work at the job he landed near her school. • It was an excuse to be closer to Caril, because he was not serious about the work. • A former boss said that he was “the dumbest man we had.” • While Caril wouldn’t directly help with the murders, her relationship with him would contribute to the strong feelings behind why the murders occurred.

  8. On The Streets… • Starkweather taught Caril how to drive. • She crashed his father’s car. • This led to an argument between Starkweather and his father. • This pushed his father over the edge, and so he was kicked out of the house. • He switched jobs, this time finding work as a garbage man.

  9. Pre-Murder #1 • He used his garbage route to plan murders. • It also allowed him to see the upper class side of life, which caused him to have even more contempt for those more fortunate than him • His first murder, however was of a gas station. • Not changing since early youth, he became angry with the gas station attendant for not accepting the credit he was using to buy Caril a stuff dog. • This occurred on November 30th, 1957

  10. The Next Morning… • Starkweather drives to the gas station with a 12 gauge shotgun • He buys cigarettes and then leaves. • He returns a second time to buy gum, this time parking far away from the gas station. • He enters the gas station and holds the attendant, Robert Colvert, at gunpoint. • They walk back to his car and drive to a deserted area. • Colvert attempts to get the gun, which further angers Starkweather. • The exchanges ends with Starkweather kicking Colvert to the ground and shooting him in the head.

  11. Murder Spree of 1958 • He killed Caril’s two year old sister by clubbing and strangling her, after shooting her two parents while arguing with them. • The two stayed in the home. • Caril’s grandmother called the police, but they did not catch up to the couple right away. • They fled to Nebraska where they went to a friend’s home, August Meyer. • Starkweather shot him in the head upon arrival. • Two teenagers, who stopped to give them a ride, were forced into a “storm cellar,” where Starkweather shot and killed them.

  12. Murder Spree of 1958 Continued • The two then drove back to Nebraska. • They broke into the home of C. Lauer an Clara War, wealthier people of the neighborhood, and stabbed them, as well as their housekeeper. • The couple then drove to Wyoming. • They found Merle Collison sleeping in his car. • Starkweather shot him, later blaming it on Caril, claiming she was “the most trigger happy person” • The couple was then put in jail in Douglas, Wyoming.

  13. Summary of Victims • Robert Colvert (21), gas station attendant: Nebraska • Marion Bartlett: Nebraska • Caril Ann's stepfather: Nebraska • Velda Bartlett, Caril Ann's mother: Nebrask • Betty Jean Bartlett (2), Marion and Velda's daughter: Nebraska • August Meyer (70), Starkweather's family friend • Robert Jensen (17), Carol's boyfriend: Nebraska • Carol King (16), Robert's girlfriend: Nebraska • C. Lauer Ward (47), wealthy industrialist: Nebraska • Clara Ward, C. Lauer Ward's wife: Nebraska • Lillian Fencl (51), Clara Ward's maid: Nebraska • Merle Collison, traveling salesman: Wyoming

  14. Patterns/Tendancies of the Starkweather Murders -most of the killings were fuelled by rage -it can safely be said that all of the killings were caused by Starkweather’s inferiority complex and self loathing -Starkweather killed with a gun or stabbed his victims, while he strangled Caril’s little sister.

  15. Evidence Used To Solve The Case • Caril Fugate testified that she was a willing participant. • In 1958, the couple was found guilty of murder in the first degree and robbery. • This was the last straw because it pinpointed Starkweather as a key suspect to the other murders. • While his lawyers pleaded insanity, Starkweather said he was not.

  16. Trial/Execution • Starkweather put to death by the electic chair on June 25th, 1959 • He had claimed that Caril was a willing participant, but she claimed that he said that if she did not go along with his wishes , he would kill her family (as she pretended she did not know they were dead). • She was sentenced to a life in prison after testifying but granted parole in 1975.

  17. Present Day Influence of The Couple • Starkweather and Fugate inspired movies and sondgs such as • Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” • Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance • Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers

  18. Sources • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Starkweather • http://images.google.com/imghp?um=1&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images • http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/starkweather/charlie_2.html • http://www.nndb.com/people/012/000110679/

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