Jerome Brudos
Jerry Brudos
Information summarized by
Mike Keefe, Audrey Mangrum, Kimberly Mast, Heather McGinn, Ryan Miller,
Kristin Pouchot, Nicole Newsome,Vickie Tanner
Department of Psychology
Radford University
Radford, VA 24142-6946
Date
Age
Life Event
January 31, 1939
0
Born in Webster, South Dakota. He was born the second son of Henry and Eileen and brother to Larry. Jerry was an accidental birth and his parents preferred a daughter over a second son, despite the fact that they lived on a farm.
1944
5
At this time Jerry was living in Portland Oregon and his family was financially stable. Jerry began to become fascinated with women’s high-heeled shoes. He found a pair of open toed high heeled shoes in a junkyard while wandering and playing alone, and wore them home. His mother scolded him repeatedly for wearing the shoes and eventually burned them.
1945-46
6-7
Family moves to Riverton California and Jerry enters the first grade. His teacher wears high-heeled shoes and keeps two pairs in the classroom. Jerry hides the second pair of shoes from the teacher so that he can take them home. A classmate intercedes and Jerry confesses to his attempted theft. His teacher gets angry and Jerry becomes embarrassed and leaves the room.
1946-47
7-8
Jerry fails second grade. He is diagnosed with the measles, sore throats, swollen glands and laryngitis during this time. He had to get several operations on his extremities to fight against fungal infections. He also complained of frequent headaches that often left him unable to see clearly. School officials thought that eyeglasses might solve these problems, and also alleviate the problems he was having in school. However, the eye doctor did not find a significant need for glasses. A thin prescription was given to Jerry with the thought that they might function similar to a drug placebo. His headaches persisted, and eventual his IQ was tested which came out to be within the normal range.
1947-1951
8-12
Jerry’s family moves twice more during this time to Grants Pass, Oregon and then to Wallace Pond, Oregon. At Grants Pass Jerry’s neighbors had several teenage girls and Jerry began to sneak into the house with the girl’s brother and play with girls’ clothes. At this time Jerry’s shoe fetish expands to women’s undergarments. At Wallace Pond Jerry’s father enters back into the agricultural industry.
1952
13
His brother Larry was now 16 and had a normal fascination with the nude female body. Larry drew several pictures of nude females and kept them hidden in the fear that his disapproving mother would find them and become angry. Jerry eventually found the box the drawings were hidden inside and picked the lock. He was caught in the process and took the blame instead of telling on Larry.
1955
16
Jerry begins to go through puberty. His mother again shows her disgust for anything sexual in nature, even forcing Jerry to wash his stained sheets by hand. Jerry begins to have bizarre fantasies. He fantasized that he would capture a girl force her to obey his commands and beg for mercy. His family moves again to Corvallis Oregon were Larry is studying electronics at Oregon State University. Jerry continues his habit of stealing women’s shoes and undergarments, and uses them to enhance the pleasure of masturbation.
Late summer 1955
16
Jerry steals the undergarments of an 18-year-old girl. Jerry decides he wants to get a nude photograph of the girl instead of relying on the undergarments for his sexual pleasure. He set up an elaborate plot to get the girl to pose for the nude photo. Jerry asked the girl to come to his house under the guise that he could help her get back her undergarments. When the girl arrived she was accosted by a masked man with a knife that forced her to remove her clothes and took several photos. The man left and the girl got dressed and fled. Before she could get away she ran into Jerry who said he saw the intruder and was locked in the barn. The girl left and informed the police of what had happened.
1956
17
Jerry lured a 17-year-old girl to his car. Jerry drove her to a deserted farmhouse where he beat her profusely. A couple stopped on the scene of the crime and notified the police. Jerry claimed that he had stopped to help the girl himself and was not the attacker. The couple did not believe Jerry, and eventually the Oregon state police obtained a confession. In Jerry’s house and car they found woman’s undergarments, photos, photo equipment, and Jerry was arrested for assault and battery.
1956
Jerry was committed to Oregon State Hospital for evaluation and treatment
April 16, 1956
Initial diagnosis of “adjustment reaction of adolescence with sexual deviation and fetishism”.
1956
While hospitalized Jerry was allowed to attend high school during the day at North Salem High School in Dallas Oregon. Jerry is diagnosed as “borderline schizophrenic”, a diagnosis that was often given at this time. Jerry remained hospitalized for 8-9 months and was eventually discharged and deemed not to be a danger to society.
1957
18
Jerry was released from Oregon State Hospital and went back to high school in Corvallis. He graduated high school with a low GPA in the lower 30% of his graduating class.
Fall 1957-1959
18-20
Jerry tried his hand at college and advanced technology schools including Oregon State university and Salem Technical Vocational School. His attendance was erratic and he eventual gave up on school.
March 9, 1959
20
Joined the U.S. Army. Jerry was stationed at Fort Ord, California and did his basic training in Fort Gordon, Georgia. He was granted the rank of E-2.
1959
20
Jerry began to have dreams that a Korean girl who would seduce him.
October 15, 1959
20
Jerry decided to go see the army chaplain who referred him to the army psychiatrist, Captain Theodore J. Barry. Barry discharged Jerry Brudos from the army because of his “bizarre obsessions”
Late fall 1960
21
After being discharged from the armed forces Jerry moved back to Corvallis with his parents, but was forced to live in their shed. One night after running an errand, he became excited by a young girl who was walking and followed her home. He strangled her until she was unconscious and then stole her shoes. He slept with the shoes in an attempt to feel more powerful.
1960
21
Jerry obtained his FCC license and began working at the Corvallis radio station
January 1962
22
While working at the radio station, Jerry meets his future wife, Darcie Metzler, who was 17 at this time. The two began going out and Darcie’s parents did not approve of this relationship. Arguably as an act of rebellion, Darcie gave Jerry a kind of attention that he had not experienced before and the two were married within a few months time.
1962
23
Their daughter Megan is born. And the couple moves all up and down the west coast mostly because Jerry is not able to maintain employment.
1965
26
Jerry manages to get a job as a technician at a West Salem electronics firm. He leaves the job after a while and the family continues moving around.
1967
28
The family settles in Portland where Jerry obtains a job as an electrician. Darcie got pregnant again, and Jerry was very excited to have a son. However, Darcie would not allow Jerry to be present during the birth of their son Jason. Jerry is deeply saddened by this and regresses back to shoe and undergarment theft.
1967
28
Shortly after his rejection in the birthing room Jerry claims he stalked a woman in Portland. He waited for her to fall asleep at home. He broke into the house and attempted to steal the woman’s shoes. She woke up and Jerry choked her until she went limp, raped her, stole her shoes, and fled the scene.
1967
28
Jerry was electrocuted at work. The 480 volt shock left him dazed, and with minor damages but he was never hospitalized
January 26, 1968
28
1st Murder- Linda Slawson- she was selling encyclopedias door to door and Jerry convinced her to come down to his workshop (lower garage), hit her with a two by four, and then strangled her to death. Before disposing of the body Jerry removed her clothes and put several undergarments from his collection on the corpse. He cut off her left foot and kept it in the freezer in a high-heeled shoe.
1968
28
Jerry faked a flat tire and dumped the body over a bridge.
July 1968
28
Stephanie Vikko is reported missing in Portland.
November 26, 1968
29
Jan Susan Whitney a 23-year-old college student at the University of Oregon goes missing.
March 27-28, 1969
30
Karen Sprinkler a 19-year-old college student goes missing. Two young girls inform police that a large man dressed in drag was on the parking garage roof where Karen’s abandoned car was found on the day Karen went missing.
April 21, 1969
30
Jerry encounters Sharon Wood in a parking garage at Portland State University. Sharon attempted to fend off Jerry’s attack by biting his thumb until it bleed. Jerry beat her unconscious but an oncoming car caused him to flee the scene of the crime. Police failed to make any immediate connections between these events.
April 22, 1969
30
Jerry encounters 14-year-old Liane Brumley. He attempted to abduct her in his car but she escaped.
April 23-24, 1969
30
Linda Dawn Salee is reported missing. Her car is found abandoned at a parking garage and police begin to realize they could be dealing with a serial killer. Jerry posed as a police officer and killed her by asphyxiation.
May 10-12, 1969
30
A local fisherman discovers Linda Salee’s body in the Long Tom River. Her body his been weighed down by an auto transmission. Two days later Karen Sprinkler’s body is found a mere fifty feet away. Karen was tied to an old engine which caused her to remain submerged. Jerry had cut out her breasts as souvenirs and filled the holes with brown paper towels. He had also place a bra from his collection of undergarments over her mangled chest.
May 1969
30
Jerry begins to phone dorm rooms at Oregon State University. He is somehow able to arrange several blind dates through this method. At this point police are unto the killer’s pattern and are staking out all areas where young attractive women are present. A female student that claimed to have gone on one of the blind dates gives the police a description of Jerome Brudos.
May 25-26, 1969
30
Jerry attempts to contact the same girl a second time that had notified the police. The girl informed police and Jerry was questioned at the girl’s residence hall. Jerry cooperated and his information came back legitimate so he was not arrested. Subsequently, the police examined Brudos’s record and decided to go to his home for some follow up questions. At the house they saw several suspicious items in the garage and began building a case.
May 28-30, 1969
30
Police have enough evidence to obtain an arrest warrant for Brudos. Brudos attempted to flee from the police who were attempting to serve him with a warrant for the attempted abduction of Liane Brumley the young girl who had escaped less than a month earlier. Once Jerry is captured the police begin the interrogation process.
June 1, 1969
30
Jerry attempts to convince his wife to burn clothing and other evidence from jail. Darcie does not comply this time.
June 2-3, 1969
30
Investigator Jim Stovall obtains evidential confessions from Jerry first followed by confessions to the murders of the two recently discovered bodies as well as the murder of Linda Slawson and Jan Whitney.
June 4, 1969
30
Brudos is arraigned for the murder of Karen Sprinker. Brudos pleas NGRI.
June 4, 1969
30
Jerry is tested by several psychiatrists. He shows above average IQ and cognition and is deemed NOT criminally insane. He is diagnosed as “antisocial personality, manifested by fetishism, transvestitism, exhibitionism, voyeurism & especially sadism.”
June 27, 1969
30
As the evidence mounted Brudos was eventually charged with three counts of first degree murder for the murders of Jan Whitney, Linda Salee, and Karen Sprinker. Brudos decides to revoke his plea of NGRI and plead guilty. That same day he is sentenced to 3 consecutive life sentences (no death penalty in Oregon). He was not charged with the murder of Linda Slawson as her body was not found.
July 17, 1969
30
12 woman went missing in Brudos’s area during the time he was free, so an investigation was ongoing to attempt to uncover the whereabouts of the other missing women. A neighbor implicated Darcie Brudos in one of the murders claiming that Darcie helped Jerry carry a body from the garage.
August 7, 1969
30
Darcie is arraigned, charged with aiding and abetting in the first degree murder of Karen Sprinker.
September 25, 1969
30
Darcie testifies and claims that she had no involvement.
October 2, 1969
30
Darcie found not guilty.
August 1970
31
Darcie divorces Jerry. Wisely, she also moved changed her name and eventually obtained a court order forbidding her children from visiting or writing their Father.
June 27, 1969-January 1971
30-32
Jerry has a lot of trouble in prison. He is hit in the head with a bucket of water and frequently beaten by fellow inmates. On January 1, 1970 he is treated for rectal bleeding that was classified as being caused by hemorrhoids or “other”.
1969-May 25,1977
30-38
Jerry and his lawyers have several failures in the appellate courts until there last appeal is rejected on May 25, 1977.
1999
60
Brudos goes up for parole. Parole is not granted and the parole board makes it clear to the victim’s families that Jerry will not be set free.
General Information
Sex
Male
Race
White
Number of victims
Convicted of 3, confessed to four, 12 women went missing in his era
Country where killing occurred
United States
States where killing occurred
Oregon
Childhood Information
Date of birth
January, 31, 1939
Location
Webster South Dakota
Birth order
2nd of 2
Number of siblings
1 Brother (Larry)
XYY?
Not diagnosed according to our sources
Raised by
Both parents
Birth category
Youngest
Parent’s marital status
Married
Family event
Mother favored his brother and showed extreme disgust for anything sexual
Age of family event
Birth through young adulthood
Problems in school?
Reading and compression difficulties
Teased while in school?
Yes he was teased profusely often as a result of his extremely eccentric behaviors.
Physically attractive?
No, at least not according to his available photographic record, but he did manage to convince several women to trust him.
Physical defect?
No
Speech defect?
No
Head injury?
He was electrocuted at the age of 21 and complained throughout his life of intense migraine headaches that often left him unable to see and sometimes caused a complete loss of consciousness
Physically abused?
Not Mentioned
Psychologically abused?
Yes, Mother often ridiculed him for his behaviors although her scolding was arguably justifiable in some instances. It is claimed by Brudos and some of the psychiatrists who evaluated him that his mothers extreme disgust for sexual topics caused him to develop an secretive and abnormal development of sexual fantasies and expression of sexuality
Sexually abused?
Slightly, in his years of puberty his mother shunned him for having a natural wet dream and forced him to wash his sheets after his nighttime indiscretions
Father’s occupation
Farmer
Age of first sexual experience
Became excited by women’s shoes in a junkyard at age 5, first aroused by this fetish at age 12
Age when first had intercourse
first had sex with his wife Darcie at age 20
Mother’s occupation
NA
Father abused drugs/alcohol
Not confirmed specifically but it has been speculated that his father may have been an alcoholic during at least part of his childhood
Mother abused drugs/alcohol
Not Mentioned
Cognitive Ability
Highest grade in school
Graduated 142nd of 202 in his class
Highest degree
FCC license
Grades in school
2.1 high school GPA but this was in the midst of a nine month stay at Oregon State Hospital
IQ
Average- Above average
Work History
Served in the military?
Yes
Branch
Army
Type of discharge
Psychological- based on his “bizarre obsessions”
Saw combat duty
No
Killed enemy during service?
No
Applied for job as a cop?
No
Worked in law enforcement?
No- but posed as a police officer during the murder of Linda Slawson
Fired from jobs?
Yes- on numerous occasions
Types of jobs worked
Technician, electrician
Employment status during series
Employed as an electrician
Relationships
Sexual preference
Hetero
Marital status
Married- divorced
Number of children
2
Lives with his children
Presently in jail and children have been ordered by the court to not visit or write their father.
Living with
Cell-mate- prior to this he lived with his wife and two children
Triad
Animal torture
No
Fire setting
No
Bed wetting
No
Killer Psychological Information
Abused drugs?
Abused alcohol?
Been to a psychologist?
Yes on several occasions see timeline for diagnoses
Time in forensic hospital?
Yes during his teenage years see timeline for details
Diagnosis
Borderline Schizophrenic, Antisocial Personality, Fetishism, Voyeurism, Exhibitionism, Transvestitism, Sadism
Killer Criminal History
Committed previous crimes?
Yes
Spend time in jail?
No- referred to Psych Ward
Spend time in prison?
No
Killed prior to series? Age?
No
Serial Killing
Number of victims
Convicted of 3, confessed to four, 12 women went missing in his era
Victim type
Young attractive women
Killer age at start of series
28
Gender of victims
Female
Race of victims
White
Age of victims
18-25
Method of killing
Asphyxiation
Type of serial killer
Organized lust
How close did killer live?
Drove to crime
Killing occurred in home of victim?
No typically he abducted them in parking lots
Killing occurred in home of killer?
Yes, his 1st murder occurred at his home
Weapon
No weapon- or a weapon close by at the scene
Behavior During Crimes
Rape?
Yes- typically post mortem
Tortured victims?
No
Stalked victims?
Yes
Overkill?
Quick & efficient?
Yes
Used blindfold?
No
Bound the victims?
No
After Death Behavior
Sex with the body?
Yes
Mutilated body?
Yes
Ate part of the body?
No
Drank victim’s blood?
No
Posed the body?
Yes
Took totem – body part
Yes- example foot and breasts
Took totem – personal item
Yes- shoes and undergarments
Robbed victim or location
Not of money but he stole their clothing
Disposal of Body
Left at scene, no attempt to hide
No
Left at scene, hidden
No
Left at scene, buried
?
Moved, no attempt to hide
No
Moved, buried
No
Cut-op and disposed of
Yes- mutilated many and disposed of them by sinking them in bodies of water, several of the women who went missing at this time have not been found.
Moved, too home
No
Sentencing
Date killer arrested
May 30, 1969
Date convicted
June 27, 1969
Sentence
3 consecutive life sentences
Killer executed?
No- no death penalty
Name and state of prison
Oregon State Penitentiary, Inmate # 33284
Killer committed suicide?
No
Killer killed in prison?
No
Date of death
Still alive- The structure of the Oregon Prison system causes him to go up for parole every two years
References
Newton, M. (2000). The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Checkmark Books. 23-24.
Rule, A. (1998). Lust Killer. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc.
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/4077/brudos.htm
http://www.skcentral.com/brudos.html
http://www.fesswhoto.com/sheriff-marion-pg3.html