Edmund Emil Kemper III was born December 18, 1948 in Burbank, California. His mother Clarnell Elizabeth Kemper and father Edmund Emil Kemper Jr had three children with Edmund being the middle child and only boy. His father was a World War II veteran, he then became an electrician which his wife complained about saying it was a menial job.

Edmund was 13 pounds when he was born a stood a foot taller than other kids when he was 4 years old. At a young age Edmund was showing signs of antisocial behavior and cruelty to animals. When he was just 10 years old he buried the family cat alive before digging it back up and decapitating it, he then put its head on a spike in the yard. He claims he got pleasure from lying about it when his mother asked if he did it. Then at age 13 he killed another family cat because he thought it liked his younger sister better than him, he kept pieces in his closet until his mother found it.

These were just the beginning for Edmund, he harbored morbid fantasies that he used his sisters dolls to act out, he would remove their heads and hands. He also enjoyed pretending to be either electrocuted or in a gas chamber.

Edmund was very close to his father and was devastated when his parents separated in 1957 and divorced in 1961. Which led Edmund to living with his mother in Helena, Montana.

Edmund and his mother did not have a healthy relationship, she was known to be a neurotic, domineering alcoholic who belittled, humiliated and abused him. She would make him sleep in a locked basement because she believed he would harm his sisters. She would refuse to show him affection claiming she didn’t want to turn him gay. It has been theorized that she may have had borderline personality disorder.

Edmund ran away from home at the age of 14 to live with his father in California but when he got there he discovered his father had remarried and had a stepson. He stayed with them for awhile before his father sent him to live with his grandparents. Edmund hated living with them and called his grandfather senile and said his grandmother was constantly emasculating him.

On August 27, 1964 when Edmund was 15 he would commit his first murder. He and his grandmother were sitting at the kitchen table when they got into an argument. Edmund got so angry that he got up and grabbed a rifle and shot her in the head and then twice more in her back. It is said that she was also stabbed post mortem. He then waited for his grandfather to get home where Edmond went outside and shot him in the driveway. Unsure what to do next he called his mother who told him to call the police, he did and waited for them to arrive.

After, he claimed he just wanted to see what it felt like to kill her and only killed his grandfather so he wouldn’t have to know his wife was dead.

He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and sent to Atascadero State Hospital that housed mentally ill convicts. While there it was discovered his diagnoses was incorrect and was re-diagnosed with personality trait disturbance, passive aggressive type. He was a model prisoner and was trained to administer test on other inmates.

Edmund was released on parole on his 21st birthday December 18, 1969. He was released into his mothers care who had begun working at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Edmund had his juvenile record expunged in 1972.

He began attending community college in the hopes of becoming a police officer but was rejected due to his size which was 6’9″ and earned him the nickname “Big Ed” he was still friendly with the officers and started hanging out at the bar they frequented.

He started working for the California Division of Highways. Once he saved up enough money he moved out of his mothers house. They continued there volatile relationship with his mother calling him all the time or would show up, it didn’t help that when he had financial trouble he would move back in with her.

In March 1973 Edmund got engaged to a student at Turlock High School, the relationship lasted a little over a year before she broke it off due to his second arrest.

Edmund was involved in a car accident that left his arm badly injured, he received a $15,000 settlement. He then used that money to purchase a 1969 Ford Galaxie. While driving around he noticed how many women were hitchhiking and began storing plastic bags, knives, blankets and handcuffs in the car. At first he would just pick them up and drop them off but over time he started getting sexual urges and soon acted on them.

May 7, 1972 Edmund picked up 18 year old Mary Ann Pesce and 18 year old Anita Mary Luchessa who needed a ride to Stanford University.

After driving for awhile he made it to a secluded area near Alameda without raising suspicion. It was an area he was familiar with due to his work with the Highway Department. Once parked he handcuffed Mary Ann and put Anita in the trunk. He then proceed to stab and strangle Mary Ann before doing the same to Anita. After being caught Edmund stated that during the encounter he accidently brushed Mary Ann’s boob and apologized even though he then killed her. He chose them due to them looking like they were upper middle class.

After the murders he placed both of their body’s in the trunk and drove home. While driving he was stopped by police for a broken taillight but the officers were unaware of the women in the truck and he was let go. Once home Edmund brought them into his apartment where he photographed and had sexual intercourse with the corpses before dismembering them. He then used their heads for oral sex. He placed their remains in garbage bags and disposed of them near Loma Prieta Mountain and their heads in a ravine. Later that year Mary Ann’s head was found, but unfortunately the rest of her remains were never found. They never found any of Anita’s remains.

On September 14, 1972 Edmund would pick up his next victim, Aiko Koo who was only 15 years old.

Aiko was an accomplished Korean dancer who toured the country performing, she and her grandmother would sew her costumes together. She could also play the drums and one day wanted to be a Korean folk dancer.

Edmund picked Aiko up who was hitchhiking to dance class when she missed the bus. He again found a secluded area to park and pulled a gun on Aiko, he managed to lock himself out of the car but Aiko let him back inside where he proceeded to choke her into unconsciousness before raping and killing her. He then put her body into the trunk and drove to a nearby bar. After having a few drinks he then drove back to his apartment where he had intercourse with her body before dismembering her. He placed her remains into garbage bags and disposed of her in the mountains.

On January 7, 1973 he would pick up 18 year old Cindy Schall near Cabrillo College.

She was hitchhiking to class when he picked her up and took her to the hills near Watsonville where he forced her into his trunk and shot her with a .22 caliber pistol. He then drove to his mothers house that he recently moved back into. He put her body in his closet overnight, in the morning after his mother left he had sex with Cindy’s body before dismembering and decapitating her in his mothers bathtub. Edmund kept her head for several days using it for oral sex before he buried it in his mothers garden making sure it was facing her window saying later that he did this because she always wanted people to look up to her. He discarded the rest of her remains over a cliff. A few weeks later her remains were found except for her head, it was determined that she had been dismembered with a power saw.

Students had been advised of a possible serial killer in the area preying on hitchhikers and that they should only take rides from people with the university sticker in the window. Due to his mother working at the university Edmund was able to obtain a sticker so on February 5, 1973 Rosalind Heather Thorpe 23 and Alice Liu 20 thought they were accepting a ride from a fellow student.

That night Edmund had a heated argument with his mother, he left the house with the intention of finding a victim. He came across Rosalind as she was leaving a lecture, she got into his front seat. He then saw Alice looking for a ride so he pulled over and she got into his backseat. He soon slowed the car down and shot Rosalind with his .22 pistol before turning to the back seat and shotting at Alice but the first two shots missed on his third shot he hit her in the temple. He then wrapped them in a blanket and took them back to his mothers house where he decapitated them in the car before taking their bodies into the house to have intercourse. He then dismembered them and removed the bullets to prevent dentification before dumping the remains in the morning. A week later some remains were found near Eden Canyon, and more in March near Route 1.

Clarnell Strandberg, Edmund’s mother came home from a party on April 20, 1973 she got into bed to read a book when Edmund came in and she commented ” I suppose you’re going to want to sit up all night and talk now” which he replied ” No, good night”

After she had fallen asleep Edmund snuck into her room and bludgeoned her with a claw hammer before slitting her throat with a penknife. He then beheaded her and stated he placed her head on a shelf and yelled at it for an hour while throwing darts at it and smashing her face in. He removed her tongue and larynx, putting them into the garbage disposal but the vocal cords were to tough and it ejected back out, he later said ” that seems appropriate, as much as she’d bitch and screamed at me over so many years” He put her body in the closet and went to a bar.

Edmund returned home and called his mothers best friend, 59 year old Sara Taylor Hallett to come over for dinner. When she arrived he strangled her and put her in the closet. He then cleaned the house and wrote a note for the police, “No need for her to suffer any more at the hands of this horrible murderous butcher. It was quick-asleep-the way I wanted it. Not sloppy and incomplete, gents. Just a lack of time. I got things to do!!”

He then fled to Pueblo, Colorado taking caffeine pills to stay awake so he didn’t have to stop. He had three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition believing he was the target of a manhunt. After not hearing any news about the murders he called the police to report the crime but the police did not take him serious. He called back later to speak to an officer he knew and this time they believed him. Edmund then waited for them to come and arrest him, once they arrived he confessed to the other six murdered students.

On May 7, 1973 Edmund was indicted on 8 counts of first degree murder. While he was in custody Edmund attempted suicide twice. He was given a public defender who tried to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. He was deemed sane by three different psychiatrist. The trial began October 23, 1973

On November 1st Edmund took the stand and testified that he wanted them “for myself, like possessions” and tried to claim he had two personalities inside of him and when the killer personality took over he would black out.

November 8, 1973 the jury took 5 hours to deliberate and decide he was sane and guilty on all counts, Edmund asked for the death penalty but was denied due to moratorium placed on capital punishment. He got seven years to life for each murder and was sent to the California Medical Facility in Vacaville.

When he arrived at the facility he was re-evaluated and determined to be antisocial, narcissistic, and schizotypal personality disorders.

He became eligible for parole in 1979 and was denied, he was also denied in 1980, 1981, and 1982. He waived his right for parole in 1985 but tried again in 1988 and was denied again saying ” Society is not ready in any shape or form for me. I can’t fault them for that.” He continued to be denied parole in 1991 and 1994. He waived his right for parole until 2007 where he was again denied as well as in 2017. He will be eligible to apply in July 2024.

Thank you for reading and stay safe!

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