In January 2013, Joliet, Illinois – Joshua Miner (aged 24)
and Adam Landerman (19) murdered two men, and afterward had sexual relations with
Alisa Massaro (18), using the covered corpses as a human mattress. Bethany McKee (18) invited the victims to Massaro’s
house, telling them to “bring booze and weed.”
Massaro confessed years ago to her boyfriend, Miner, that she had
necrophilia fantasies.
In February 2008, Louisville, Kentucky – Martin Hughes (20),
killed his stepmother, Laura Hughes (39) and his half-sister Tessa (12).
He then raped his stepmother’s corpse. Hughes
made a futile attempt to make his crimes look like a robbery.
In October 2007, Teaneck, New Jersey – Anthony Merino (24)
was a lab technician for Holy Name Hospital.
He had only been working there for two weeks, and a security guard
caught him desecrating a 92-year-old woman’s corpse. The security team
called the police. Merino had passed two criminal background checks for
Holy Name Hospital and Overlook Hospital, and had no complaints filed against
him prior to the incident. He was
terminated from Overlook after his arrest.
Not all victims of necrophilia are human.
In October 2006, Superior, Wisconsin – Bryan James Hathaway
(20) had sexual contact with a dead deer. While bike riding, he had found
the deer carcass at the side of a road.
Although unconfirmed, it would be common sense to relocate the deer
where he could privately desecrate it.
However, Hathaway was not a common sensible man. He returned to his residence, the Transitional
Living Program Housing, where the Wisconsin Department of Corrections probation
officers were conducting a routine visit.
Officer Poskozim observed Hathaway to be covered in blood and fur. At first, the officer was concerned if this
man was injured. Hathaway’s pants were
“loose” and his underwear was visible and bloodied as well. Poskozim knew that could indicate sexual
assault, but he also knew Hathaway’s tendency toward beastiality. In April 2005, Hathaway killed a horse, and admitted
to police that he intended to have sex with the horse.
In September 2006, Cassville, Wisconsin – Nicholas Grunke,
Alexander Grunke (twin brothers, 20), and Dustin Radke (20) attempted to have
sexual relations with a dead body. Nicholas found the obituary of Laura
Tennessen, a woman who died in a motorcycle accident on August 27. He
asked his twin brother, Alex, and their friend, Dustin, to help dig up her
grave and then transport Tennessen’s body to another location for the purpose
of having sexual relations. Prepared
with shovels, crowbar, and a tarpaulin, Nick and Dustin dug a 3’x3’6” hole,
1’8” deep. Alex served as the lookout. The concrete vault was exposed, but they
couldn’t pry it open. When a car
appeared, the three men fled the scene.
At 11pm, Officer McDonald from the Village of Cassville Police arrived,
and soon found a vacant van with the same tools the perpetrators used. The officer then found Alex Grunke, who could
not explain his reason for being in the cemetery. Officer McDonald then detained him.
Kenneth Douglas (now 59) worked at the Hamilton County morgue
in Cincinnati during the years 1976-1992. In 1982, he sexually abused the remains of
Karen Range (19), and in 1991, he raped two corpses, Charlene Appling (23) and
Angel Hicks (24). All three women were
murder victims. He resigned out of fear
of being caught. In 2008, his sexual
abuse was uncovered when he was arrested for drug trafficking, which required him
to give a DNA sample. The DNA sample matched
the semen inside the body of Range. Then
two more matches were found for Appling and Hicks. In 2012, he was convicted of gross abuse to
their corpses. During his 16 years
of employment, he said that he raped about 100 dead bodies. This is more of an estimate than a real count. During his sexual exploits, he was under the
influences of cocaine and alcohol.
The following table gives a visual for reviewing the crime
dates, the names and ages for both the perpetrators and the victims, the state
where the incident occurred, and how the victims’ bodies were acquired.
Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Table 2 gives the averages of the ages for the victims and
the perpetrators in this project.
Kenneth Douglas’s age is accounted by his last known incident. Table 3 shows the gender percentages for both
the victims and the offenders.
According to Katherine Ramsland from the Crime Library, roughly 90% of
necrophiles are male. The male percentage
is fairly close considering this is a small sample.
(The deer was omitted in the
calculations; only human victims were accounted.)
Analysis
Comparing each case to each other would be more
complicated. Splitting these cases into three pairs would be easier to
compare and contrast. As shown in Table 1, deceased bodies were acquired
in three methods, Murder, Employment, and Finding. There were two cases
per method. The three analyses will be based on acquirement.
Murder – Joliet Murderers vs. Martin Hughes
In both cases, crimes were partially premeditated, except
the four perpetrators in Joliet, IL had premeditated a different crime,
robbery. Inversely, Martin Hughes tried
to make his murders look like a robbery instead.
In Joliet, the four perpetrators wanted to steal what they
perceived to be “a lot of money,” which according to Alisa Massaro was
“approximately $100.” Bethany McKee was living
at Massaro’s house and she invited over her friends, Terrance Rankins and Eric Glover,
in hopes of robbing them. Rankins and
Glover thought that they were going to have sex with Massaro and McKee. The two guests drank alcohol and played video
games. Later one guest was in bed with
McKee. According to what Miner told
police, he thought the man was trying to rape McKee. Miner yelled a racial slur, and the murders
began. Miner and Landerman strangled
both men. Afterward, the sexual activity
took place, which was also spontaneous.
However, Massaro’s necrophilia fantasies spawned long before that date. Landerman was a follower in this incident,
whereas Miner assumed a leading role. Landerman was sick; finding the murder amusing
enough to “surf” on the bodies after they were strangled to death. They rummaged their victims for money, and
stole marijuana, cocaine, and $10.
They started planning how to rid the bodies after
the murders. They drove the victims’ car to an
apartment complex parking lot, and decided against committing arson to the vehicle
and the remains, because they realized that would draw attention. After enough deliberation, they planned to
dismember the bodies, place the parts in separate trash bags, and dispose
everything in a dumpster in a remote town on trash day. Miner insisted on keeping the victims’ teeth
as memoirs, despite the obvious DNA evidence he would be retaining.
If they were not caught, there was potential for them to
become serial killers, which depended on the participants wanting to repeat the
necrophilia experience again. If true,
the participant(s) would need to murder another person to be sexually satiated
again, which is common among the sexually sadistic variety of serial
murderers. Miner’s decision to commit murder was not planned, but he did
want to collect the victims’ teeth as trophies – also common for serial
killers. If Miner had the drive to
murder, and to satisfy his girlfriend’s perverted sex drive, they both could be
a pair of serial killers.
According to the aforementioned Crime Library article, the
need to procure murder victims to fulfill this fetish would be a combination of
Necrophilia Homicide and Necrophilia Fantasies. Regular necrophilia
implies the perpetrator violated a body that was already deceased. The Joliet
perpetrators murdered plus engaged in necrophilia.
Martin Hughes’s case was also spontaneous and involved
double murder. His instantaneous motive
seemed to be wrath, rather than a need to protect a woman from a possible
rape. Instead, he killed two females,
whereas the Joliet victims were both male.
Hughes had problems with his family, and divorce could have
played a part in his familial issues. He shot his half-sister and
stepmother to death, and then raped his stepmother post-mortem. Afterward, he threw the shell casings into the
toilet, and he rearranged things in the house to create the impression that
someone had broke in and murdered the two people. He then called 911,
lying about a break-in in order to cover up his crimes. Since he
penetrated his stepmother, his own semen was evidence against him, along with
the unflushable shell casings which would match his gun.
He had to have some premeditation regarding his cover-up, as
if he tentatively planned a worst case scenario in the event that he felt the
urge to commit murder. Still his planning was dumb enough to bring him to
justice. Despite all his efforts to
simulate an alternative crime scene, he did not think twice about his DNA
evidence inside Laura Hughes’s body, which immediately ruled out all other
fictitious conclusions. The necrophilia
part of his crimes had to be unplanned, or else he would have prepared to cover
up that crime too. The thought of
murdering his stepmother and half-sister may have crossed his mind, but he did
not think it through thoroughly.
In the Joliet murders, the sick killers did not think very
hard either about concealing their crimes. Even with four criminals who
collectively did not think too hard, they got caught. Miner was not busted through possession of
the genetic trophies he wanted, while DNA fingerprinting was how Hughes was probably
caught. Both cases involved a phone
call. Hughes called 911 and led the
police to him, an attempt to look innocent.
The Joliet murders were cracked with one phone call. Bethany McKee called her father to request
help in disposing the victims’ bodies. Her
father, William McKee, did the right thing and called the police.
Employment – Anthony Merino vs. Kenneth Douglas
Merino was caught on his second week of employment at a hospital.
Douglas worked for 16 years at a morgue and his criminal past was only revealed
because of the required DNA sample from being arrested for a different crime,
drug trafficking. After matching
his DNA with the semen inside Karen Range’s body, the same DNA sample could be
matched against the other corpses he sexually abused. If Douglas did not
engage or get arrested for trafficking drugs, then his other crimes could have
gone undetected.
Drugs were the link between Douglas’s trafficking and his sex
crimes. Cocaine makes a person
indiscriminate in sexual activity. If
Douglas had no drug addiction, it is possible that he would not have engaged in
the necrophilia. The drug arrest would
never have occurred, leading to exposure of another crime.
Merino was simply spotted by a security guard. It is
possible that the security at Holy Name Hospital was better staffed and had
more cameras than the Hamilton County morgue. It is also possible that
Douglas knew where all the security cameras were, or there may not have been
any surveillance cameras or security crew.
The main negligence with Douglas’s employer was the lack of
drug testing. He would have been caught
sooner if he were tested. Douglas had to
be aware of the leniency, enough to bring his drug addiction to his
workplace. It can also be inferred that
once he knew he could get away with drugs and alcohol, he could get away with
anything.
Merino entered his career field with the intention of
necrophilia, seeing that he made his first and only attempt on his second week
of work. If he was not caught he would have continued until he was
spotted. Douglas spent a maximum of 16 years sexually violating a
possible 100+ lifeless bodies. If he had
no victims before Karen Range, then his sexual perversion started after six
years of employment, and most likely entered the job for legitimate reasons.
Douglas’s victims were consistently young, dead women who
were previously murdered. If his
selectivity was intentional, then it is possible that cocaine was not the only
factor in his necrophilia. He may have
had a secret desire to be a serial rapist, and it developed into a fetish for
murder victims only. It is a possibility, but there is no
certainty. Merino’s victim was an elderly woman. He was a young
man, and his victim was old, whereas all Douglas’s known victims were younger
than him.
Finding – Bryan James Hathaway vs. Grunke Twins and
Dustin Radke
The acquirement of “Finding” refers to how each criminal
discovered their victim. Nick Grunke found his victim in an obituary.
Bryan James Hathaway found his on a roadside. The obvious difference is
that Hathaway’s victim was an animal.
There was no premeditation for Hathaway’s crime. It
was a spur of the moment decision whether he had relations right at the white
line, or if he carried the deer to the woods to privately desecrate it.
The three men took more time in procuring items necessary for the act, located
the gravesite on an earlier date, plus prepared to do a lot of digging to reach
their victim.
All four criminals were 20 years old; but Hathaway seemed more
dangerous. There was no mention of
previous criminal records for the three perpetrators in Cassville, Wisconsin. Hathaway had a serious criminal record and a
reputation for murdering animals with intent of sexual contact with them.
There was very little time between his release from prison and committing the
rape on the dead deer. Later on in 2012,
Hathaway was caught burglarizing a vehicle in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and assaulted
an off duty police officer while trying to flee.
In both necrophilia cases, the perpetrators waived their
Miranda Rights. After enough
questioning, Hathaway admitted to raping a dead deer. Interrogating the Cassville perpetrators took
a little more effort. Before driving to
the cemetery, the three men stopped at Wal-Mart and purchased condoms. Officer McDonald found the condoms in their
van along with the tools. That purchase
was the ending evidence, proving their true intentions.
Both criminal acts took place in Wisconsin within a month of
each other. At the time there was no law against necrophilia in the state
of Wisconsin. The attempted graveyard-rape case did lead to the Supreme
Court of Wisconsin criminalizing necrophilia.
Both cases provoked discussions about law and ethics.
©2013 Caroline Friehs
Originally posted: April 11, 2013
Last updated upon blog renovation completion.
Originally posted: April 11, 2013
Last updated upon blog renovation completion.
References
Associated Press (2006 Sept 6). 3 Men Charged With Attempt Sex Assault On
Corpse. WISC-TV – Channel 3000. Retrieved
from: http://www.channel3000.com/news/3-men-charged-with-attempted-sex-assault-on-corpse/162033138
Associated Press (2006 Nov
16). Lawyer argues sex with dead deer
not crime. Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved
from: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/content/lawyer-argues-sex-dead-deer-not-crime
Associated Press (2007 Mar 21). Wisconsin Man Sentenced to Probation for
Having Sex With Dead Deer. Fox News.
Retrieved from: http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/03/21/wisconsin-man-sentenced-to-probation-for-having-sex-with-dead-deer.html
Associated Press (2008 Feb 4). Police:
Man Kills Two, Sleeps With Corpse.
WLKY. Retrieved from: http://www.wlky.com/article/police-man-kills-two-sleeps-with-corpse/3722615
Associated Press (2008 Sept 10). Bergen man to get time served for sex with
corpse. NJ.com. Retrieved from: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/bergen_man_to_get_time_served.html
Associated Press (2012 Aug
22). Deer molester arrested in
Hermantown Walmart cop assault. Duluth News Tribune. Retrieved from: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/content/deer-molester-arrested-hermantown-walmart-cop-assault
Associated Press (2013 Feb 27). Joshua Miner and Alisa Massaro Had Sex On Top
Of Corpses They Allegedly Murdered. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/joshua-miner-alisa-massaro-sex-corpses_n_2777107.html
Associated Press (2013 Oct 1). Appeals court hears Hamilton Co. morgue sex
abuse lawsuit. WLWT5 Retrieved from: http://www.wlwt.com/article/appeals-court-hears-hamilton-co-morgue-sex-abuse-lawsuit/3535696
Benali, R (2008 May 12).
Morgue tech admits to sex abuse of 92-year-old woman’s corpse. NJ.com. Retrieved from: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/morgue_tech_admits_to_sex_abus.html
CBS (2013 Feb 27).
Joliet Murders Update: Suspects
had sex on top of corpses, report says. CBS News.
Retrieved from: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/joliet-murders-update-suspects-had-sex-on-top-of-corpses-report-says/
Court of Appeals of Wisconsin (2007). State v. Grunke. [Legal opinion]. Retrieved from: http://www.leagle.com/decision/2007875738NW2d137_1870/STATE%20v.%20GRUNKE
Gazaway, C (2009 Sept. 4). Martin Hughes sentenced
for 2008 double murder. Wave-TV and Raycom Media. Retrieved
from: http://www.wave3.com/story/11080599/martin-hughes-sentenced-for-2008-double-murder
Gettys, T (2008 Jul 29).
Former Morgue Attendant Indicted On Corpse Abuse Charge. WLWT5. Retrieved from: http://www.wlwt.com/article/former-morgue-attendant-indicted-on-corpse-abuse-charge/3498735
Harvard Law Review (2009 Apr 1). State v. Grunke. Wisconsin Supreme Court Applies Sexual
Assault Statute to Attempted Sexual Intercourse with a Corpse. [Law Journal]. Retrieved from: http://cdn.harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/state_v_grunke.pdf
Hosey, J (2013 Feb 6).
‘Family is Family,’ Accused Killer’s Dad Says at Double Murder
Hearings. Joliet Patch. Retrieved
from: http://patch.com/illinois/joliet/family-is-family-says-dad-of-acccused-killer-in-jolie3b3b489e8b
Hosey, J (2013 Feb 26).
Accused Killers Confessed to Having Sex on the Bodies, Police Reports
Reveal. Joliet Patch. Retrieved
from: http://patch.com/illinois/joliet/accused-killers-in-rankin-glover-murders-confessed-toe3cfdb5e2f
Hosey, J (2013 Feb 27).
Daddies’ Little Girls: One Dad
Threatened to Call the Cops, the Other Did.
Joliet Patch. Retrieved from: http://patch.com/illinois/joliet/one-dad-threatened-to-call-the-cops-after-joliet-douba0f650ce8d
Hosey, J (2013 Feb 27).
From Rape to Robbery: Accused
Killers Changed Their Story. Joliet Patch. Retrieved from: http://patch.com/illinois/joliet/from-rape-to-robbery-accused-hickory-street-killers-c95aa9c2e53
Hosey, J (2013 Feb 28).
Accused Killer Wanted to Keep Dead Men’s Teeth. Joliet
Patch. Retrieved from: http://patch.com/illinois/joliet/accused-killer-in-rankins-glover-murders-wanted-to-kedbb61fe26a
NBC (2006 Sept 20).
Just because it’s not illegal, doesn’t mean it’s OK. NBC
News. Retrieved from: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/14929873/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/just-because-its-not-illegal-doesnt-mean-its-ok/#.WNiDtWcinIU
NBC (2007 Mar 22).
Man gets probation for dead deer sex.
NBC News. Retrieved from: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17726206/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/man-gets-probation-dead-deer-sex/#.WNiMtGcinIU
NBC (2008 Feb. 4). Man accused of killing
stepmother, half sister pleads not guilty. Wave3.com.
Retrieved from: http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=7819373
NBC (2008 Jul 9).
Court: Wisconsin law bans sex
with dead bodies. NBC News. Retrieved
from: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25609866/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/court-wisconsin-law-bans-sex-dead-bodies/#.WNySxWcinIU
(If the link doesn’t work, paste it into Google search; then
click on the article with the same headline.)
Pet-Abuse.com (2006). Sex with dead deer –
Superior, WI. Pet-Abuse.com. Retrieved from: http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/9881/
Pioneer Press (2012 Aug 21). Hermantown Minnesota: Man convicted of sex with dead deer charged
in alleged assault of police officer. Twin Cities.com – Pioneer Press. Retrieved from: http://www.twincities.com/2012/08/21/hermantown-minnesota-man-convicted-of-sex-with-dead-deer-charged-in-alleged-assault-of-police-officer/
Ramsland, K (2013). Necrophiles. [Ch. 9].
Crime Library. Retrieved from: http://web.archive.org/web/20110819094816/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/necrophiles/necro_4.html
[Chapter 18 contains her references, including the book
Ramsland wrote.]
Rhodan, M (2014 Aug 18).
Ohio Morgue Worker Admits to Having Sex with 100 Corpses. TIME. Retrieved from: http://time.com/3135722/ohio-morgue-sex-kenneth-douglas/
Schoetz, D (2007 Oct 30).
Cops: Man Caught in Hospital
Necrophilia Act. ABC News. Retrieved
from: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3794389&page=1
State of Wisconsin v. Bryan James Hathaway, Appeal No.
2007AP2022CR (3d Wis. Feb. 19, 2008).
Retrieved from: https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=31870
Supreme Court of Wisconsin (2008). State v. Grunke. [Legal opinion]. Retrieved from: http://www.leagle.com/decision/20081521752NW2d769_11518/STATE%20v.%20GRUNKE
[Note: The crime date
is incorrect in this legal document. The
Court of Appeals of Wisconsin states the crime took place on September 2, 2006
– not 2002. There are no news reports
prior to 2006 that relate to this incident.
Due to the credibility of this legal source, even Harvard passed on the
error in their law journal.]
University of California – Santa Barbara (2013 Oct 16). Necrophilia.
[Website]. UCSB – Sex Info. Retrieved
from: http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/article/necrophilia
Wells, D (2008 Jul 24).
Update: Bond set for former
coroner’s office employee accused of abusing corpse. Fox19. Retrieved from: http://www.fox19.com/story/8747198/update-bond-set-for-former-coroners-office-employee-accused-of-abusing-corpse
Wiedemann, K (2009 July 21). Guilty Verdict in SW
Wisconsin Grave Digging Case. KCRG-TV9 News. Retrieved
from: http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/51327922.html
Wisconsin Law Journal (2008 Jul 14). Necrophilia is against the law. [Law Journal]. Retrieved from: http://wislawjournal.com/2008/07/14/necrophilia-is-against-the-law/
YouTube (2008 Jul 10).
Preliminary Hearing in Necrophile Case.
[Video]. Courtesy of user: Dreamin’Demon. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91_YdX7jNRg
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.