Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Kansas City Butcher: Robert Berdella

Robert Andrew Berdella Jr. (January31, 1949 – October 8, 1992) was an American serial killer, known asThe Kansas City Butcher and The Collector, whokidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered at least six men between1984 and 1987 in Kansas City, Missouri after having forced hisvictims to endure periods of up to six weeks of captivity.

Describing his murders as being "someof my darkest fantasies becoming my reality", Berdellapleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment without thepossibility of parole for the first degree murder of one of hisvictims, Larry Pearson, in August 1988, and would later plead guiltyto one further charge of first degree murder, and four charges ofsecond degree murder in December 1988. He died of a heart attackwhile incarcerated at the Missouri State Penitentiary in October1992.

Berdella became known as "TheKansas City Butcher" due to his practice of extensivelydissecting his victims' bodies, which he would then dispose of ingarbage bags, and "The Collector" due to both themovie which he stated was the basis of the fantasies behind the modusoperandi of his crimes, and much of the evidence subsequentlyuncovered by investigators.

Early life

Robert Andrew Berdella Jr. was born onJanuary 31, 1949, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, the first of two sons bornto Robert Berdella Sr., a die setter for the Ford Motor Company, andMary Berdella, a homemaker. Berdella's father was a Catholic ofItalian descent, and raised his family in a deeply religioushousehold, in which the family regularly attended mass, and both sonsregularly attended religious education courses.

As a child, Berdella was intelligent,but a loner who rarely played outside his home, and seldom hadfriends visit to socialize. He had a speech impediment and wore thickglasses from the age of five because he was severely nearsighted. Hewas also diagnosed with high blood pressure for which he took severalmedications. Berdella was largely unathletic, whereas his youngerbrother, Daniel – seven years his junior – displayed an aptitudefor various sports from an early age. As Berdella's father valuedsports and physical education, he viewed his older son's lack ofinterest in sports as a sign of failure, and often compared himunfavorably with his younger brother. Occasionally, Berdella's fatherphysically and emotionally abused his children, and beat them with aleather strap.

Berdella performed well academically,though teachers often found him difficult to teach, in part due bothhis aloofness, and his being the recipient of bullying by otherstudents. Because of this, as a child, he also seldom socialized insocial activities at school with his peers.

When Berdella reached puberty, hediscovered that he was homosexual; initially, he kept this fact aclosely guarded secret, and he did not become open about hissexuality for several years. Nonetheless, in his early teens, hebriefly had a girlfriend.

Adolescence

By his mid-teens, Berdella had begun todisplay a degree of self-confidence, which would often manifestitself via his attitude to other individuals in which he would exerta somewhat rude and condescending attitude – particularly towardwomen. He learned about cooking and art and developed showmanship.On Christmas Day 1965, the Berdella family drove to Canton, Ohio tovisit relatives. That evening, Berdella's father had a heart attackat the age of 39. Two days later, Berdella returned to Cuyahoga Fallsby himself. When he arrived home his family told him his father haddied. Berdella sought solace in his religion – and later readextensively about many faiths – but became cynical about allreligion.