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UChicago Fossil LabOne of the mummies of an Edmontosaurus annectens that was found in Wyoming.Scientists in Wyoming have unearthed two Edmontosaurus annectens fossils with detailed features that are so well preserved that these specimens are being called dinosaur mummies.Moreover, these fossils are so intact that, for the first time ever, researchers have been able to reconstruct the complete profile of a dinosaur and understand what it actually looked like, including the spikes along the creatures tail and most astonishingly its hooved feet.The Discovery Of Two Dinosaur Mummies, Intact Fossils With Preserved SkinTyler Keillor/UChicago Fossil LabThe scaly skin of this Edmontosaurus annectens dinosaur mummy is visible even to the naked eye.Before the researchers could get to reconstructing the profile of the Edmontosaurus annectens, they had to relocate the sites in Wyoming where dinosaur mummies were located, though not all fully excavated, in the early 1900s. A new study published in the journal Science describes how the team mapped out an entire dinosaur mummy zone although the term mummy might not mean what you think.Unlike the mummified human remains of ancient Egypt, for instance, these dinosaur mummies contain no organic remains. Instead, physical features like the skin, spikes, and hooves of the dinosaurs were preserved in a clay film. Shortly after the dinosaur died, a layer of clay 1/100th of an inch thick covered the creature, mummifying its features (not unlike a Nodosaur mummy found in 2017).This is a mask, a template, a clay layer so thin you could blow it away, said Paul Sereno, senior author of the study, in a statement from the University of Chicago. It was attracted to the outside of the carcass in a fluke event of preservation.UChicago Fossil LabAlthough paleontologists have been unearthing dinosaur remains for 200 years, theyve never found a truly intact specimen that revealed what these prehistoric beasts actually looked like until now.The team excavated two 66-million-year-old Edmontosaurus annectens mummies and got to work analyzing the remains. They used an array of imaging techniques, including micro-CT scans, X-ray spectroscopy, as well as physical examinations of the site to determine how exactly the preservation occurred.After meticulous cleaning of the dinosaur mummies, the team used 3D imaging, CT scans, and the analysis of footprints to figure out how all of the pieces of these creatures anatomy fit together. Finally, digital artists helped to recreate the appearance of this duck-billed dinosaur like no prehistoric creature ever before.Its the first time weve had a complete, fleshed-out view of a large dinosaur that we can really feel confident about, Sereno explained. Weve never been able to look at the appearance of a large prehistoric reptile like this.Edmontosaurus annectens: The First Known Dinosaur To Have HoovesDani NavarroA reconstruction of an Edmontosaurus annectens.Piecing together this duck-billed dinosaurs anatomy revealed some surprising features. Most shockingly, the larger of the two mummies revealed that Edmontosaurus annectens had hooves. This is the first time this feature has ever been seen in a dinosaur.Researchers compared this find with 3D images of Edmontosaurus footprints from the same period, confirming the creatures three hind toes were covered in a wedged hoof similar to that of a horse. Using both the mummy and the footprints, scientists were able to successfully reconstruct what the dinosaurs hind foot looked like.UChicago Fossil LabThe hoof of an Edmontosaurus, the first time this feature has ever been seen in a dinosaur.Furthermore, the reconstructed Edmontosaurus annectens profile includes a fleshy crest along the neck that goes down to the hips. It also has a single row of spikes running down its tail, each one connected to a single vertebra.There are so many amazing firsts preserved in these duck-billed mummies the earliest hooves documented in a land vertebrate, the first confirmed hooved reptile, and the first hooved four-legged animal with different forelimb and hindlimb posture, said Sereno.In addition to researchers unprecedented reconstruction of a fully fleshed-out dinosaur, this new study also provides a framework and toolkit for future analysis of dinosaurs soft tissue. Moving forward, the researchers are looking to analyze more dinosaur mummies from Wyoming and elsewhere.This may be the single best paper Ive released, Sereno said. From field to lab to 3D reconstructions along with a suite of useful terms defined, its a tour de force, and it tells a coherent story about how these remarkable fossils come to be and what we can learn from them.After reading about these dinosaur fossils with preserved skin, discover the 125-million-year-old dinosaur perfectly preserved in volcanic ash. Then, see 31 of the most astonishing dinosaur facts.The post Paleontologists Just Revealed The Most Complete Dinosaur Remains Ever Found appeared first on All That's Interesting.

To everyone in his Houston neighborhood, Dean Corll seemed like a decent, ordinary man. He was known for spending most of his time at the small candy factory that his mother owned, and he got along well with many of the neighborhood kids. He even gave free candy to local schoolchildren, which earned him the nickname Candy Man.YouTubeDean Corll pretended to be an ordinary electrician and many people bought the facade.But behind his sweet smile, Dean Corll had a dark secret: He was a serial killer who murdered at least 28 young men and boys in the early 1970s. This horrific crime spree would later be dubbed the Houston Mass Murders. And it wasnt until Corlls death in 1973 that the truth came to light.Shockingly, the person who killed Corll was his own accomplice a teenage boy whom he had groomed to help him with his depraved crimes.This is the true story of Dean Corll and how he became a killer.The Early Life Of Dean CorllIts a standard trope in true crime lore that a serial killers depravity can be traced back to some kind of horrific childhood event. But based on whats known about Corlls early life, its tough to pinpoint such an incident.Dean Corll was born in 1939 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His parents reportedly never had a happy marriage, and they argued often. But as far as anyone can tell, there was nothing particularly unusual about these fights.Corlls father was also known to have been a strict disciplinarian. But its unknown if this ever led to abuse or punishments that were out of the norm for the 1940s. Meanwhile, Corlls mother doted on him.Public DomainDean Corll in his 1958 yearbook photo.His parents first divorced in 1946 and briefly reconciled afterward, remarrying in 1950. But after they split up a second time three years later, Corlls mother wed a traveling salesman, and the family settled in Vidor, Texas. In school, Corll was reportedly a well-behaved, yet solitary, young boy. His grades were apparently decent enough to escape notice, and he occasionally dated girls from school or the neighborhood.Dean was a good boy, an anonymous relative told The Lewiston Daily Sun in 1973. I never even saw him with a cigarette. She said that Corll was the kind of guy who tried to do favors for people and always tried to make the best of every situation.So, how did this seemingly normal American boy of the 1950s become the Candy Man serial killer of the 1970s? Eerily, the nexus between these two personalities appears to have been his mothers candy company.How Dean Corll Became Known As The Candy ManIn the mid-1950s, Dean Corlls mother and stepfather started a candy company called Pecan Prince. From the very start, Corll played a crucial role in the company. While his stepfather sold the candy on his sales route and his mother managed the business side of the operation, Corll and his brother worked the machines that produced the sweets.By the time his mother divorced her second husband, Corll had spent several years working at the candy shop. At some point, Corll briefly returned to Indiana to care for his widowed grandmother. But by 1962, he was ready to come back to Texas and help his mother with a new venture.The revamped business was called the Corll Candy Company, located in the Houston Heights area. Mrs. Corll named Dean the vice president.Although Corll was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1964 and served for about 10 months, he successfully applied for a hardship discharge after explaining that he needed to help his mother at her company. And so, for several more years, Corll continued to work at the candy store.Public DomainDean Corll briefly served in the U.S. Army from 1964 to 1965.However, Corlls involvement at the company was not as wholesome as it seemed. There were warning signs that he was interested in underage boys.According to Jack Olsens 1974 book The Man with Candy, one teenage boy who worked for the Corlls complained that Dean had made sexual advances toward him. In response, Mrs. Corll fired the accuser.Meanwhile, the candy factory itself seemed to attract a string of adolescent boys both as employees and as customers. Some of them were runaways or troubled youths. Dean Corll quickly built up a rapport with these teens.In the back of the factory, Corll even installed a pool table where company employees and their friends many of whom were also young boys could congregate throughout the day. Corll was said to be openly flirtatious with the youths and befriended many of them. Among them was 12-year-old David Owen Brooks, who, like many children, was first introduced to Corll with offers of candy and a place to hang out.But over a period of two years, Corll groomed Brooks and slowly but steadily gained his trust. By the time Brooks was 14, Corll was regularly sexually abusing him and bribing him with gifts and money for his silence. Then, things took an even darker turn.The Heinous Crimes Of The Candy Man KillerAs Dean Corll abused Brooks, he was also on the lookout for other victims to rape and murder. He killed his first known victim, Jeffrey Konen, in September 1970. By this point, Corlls mother had divorced her third husband and moved to Colorado. But Corll had stayed behind in Houston because hed found a new job as an electrician. Now in his early 30s, Corll had also moved into a new apartment. But he wouldnt stay for long. During his vicious crime spree, he moved frequently, sometimes staying in one spot for just a few weeks.YouTubeJeffrey Konen was the earliest known victim of the Candy Man Killer. He was murdered in 1970.When Corll murdered Konen, he was living in Houstons Harold Turboff apartments. Corll came across the 18-year-old hitchhiking to his parents house from the University of Austin and offered him a ride. Instead of dropping the young man off, Corll bound and gagged him, sexually assaulted him, and strangled him to death.Just a few months later, in December 1970, Dean Corll abducted two teenage boys and tied them to his bed in his home. He was in the process of sexually assaulting them when Brooks suddenly walked in. Corll initially told Brooks that he was part of a gay pornography ring and had sent the teens to California. But later, he confessed to Brooks that he had killed them.To buy Brooks silence, Corll bought him a Corvette. He also offered Brooks $200 for any boy he could bring to him. And Brooks apparently agreed.One of the boys Brooks lured to Corlls lair was Elmer Wayne Henley. But for some reason, Corll decided not to kill him. Instead, he groomed Henley to participate in his sickening scheme just as he had with Brooks, feeding him the same story about the porn ring before telling him the truth and offering him cash as a reward for his help in finding new victims.YouTubeDean Corll with Elmer Wayne Henley, his 17-year-old accomplice in several murders, in 1973.As reported by the Montreal Gazette in 1975, Henley later wrote in his confession, Dean told me he would pay me $200 for every boy I could bring in and maybe more if they were real good looking boys. In reality, Corll usually paid the boys just $5 or $10.Henley has insisted that he only accepted the offer because of his familys financial hardship. But even when he was paid far less than hed hoped, he didnt back out. Eerily, he seemed almost flattered to be included.Together, Brooks and Henley would help the Candy Man Killer abduct at least 28 boys and young men, ranging in age from 13 to 20. The three lured the victims into Corlls Plymouth GTX muscle car or his white van, often using candy, alcohol, or drugs to get them inside the vehicle. Dean Corll and his accomplices would then take the boys to his home, where they bound and gagged them. Horrifically, Corll sometimes forced them to write postcards to their families to say that they were okay.Each victim would be tied to a wooden torture board, beaten, and brutally raped. Afterward, some victims were strangled to death, while others were fatally shot. Every boy brought back to Corll was murdered with Brooks and Henley actively participating in these crimes. Brooks would later describe Henley as being especially sadistic. Despite the fact that many of these boys had families who were actively searching for them after they vanished, Dean Corll continued his grisly crimes for three years. But how did he get away with it?Why The Police Failed To Solve The Houston Mass MurdersOne of Corlls victims, Mark Scott, was 17 years old when he disappeared on April 20, 1972. His frantic parents quickly reported him missing after calling classmates, friends, and neighbors to see if they knew where he was. A few days later, the Scott family received a postcard that was supposedly written by Mark. The letter claimed that hed found a job in Austin that paid $3 per hour and that all was well with him.The Scotts did not believe that their son would suddenly leave town without saying goodbye. They immediately knew that something was terribly wrong. But like many family members of Dean Corlls victims, they received little help from the Houston Police Department.Public DomainAuthorities search a boat shed where the bodies of several of Dean Corlls victims were found.I camped on that police department door for eight months, said a grieving father named Everett Waldrop, as recorded in the 1975 book Harvest of Horror: Mass Murder in Houston. But all they did was say, Why are you down here? You know your boys are runaways.'Tragically, both of his sons 15-year-old Donald and 13-year-old Jerry were killed by Dean Corll. In Texas in the early 1970s, it wasnt illegal for a child to run away from home, so the chief of the Houston Police Department claimed that there was nothing authorities could do to help the desperate families. That chief would later be voted out of office in the first election that was held after Corlls murders became known to the public.By then, however, it was too late for Dean Corll himself to face the wrath of his victims loved ones.The Violent End Of Dean CorllAfter nearly three years and 28 known murders, Dean Corll turned on Elmer Wayne Henley on August 8, 1973. On that day, Henley had lured two teens Timothy Kerley and Rhonda Williams to Corlls home. While Henley had intended to introduce Kerley to Corll as a potential victim, Williams threw a wrench in the plans. She was one of Henleys friends, and as he was on the way back to Corlls place, he heard a commotion at her house and saw that shed been beaten by her father. So, Henley brought her along, seemingly assuming that nobody would die that night.Instead, Corll was furious when the trio walked in. He told Henley that hed ruined everything by bringing a girl into his house. The serial killer soon calmed down, though, and Henley, Kerley, and Williams drank, smoked, and huffed paint for several hours before they passed out.When Henley woke up, he discovered that he was tied up alongside Kerley and Williams. Corll was screaming at Henley while waving his .22-caliber pistol: Im gonna kill you all! But first Im gonna have my fun.YouTubeDean Corll in 1973, months before he was shot to death by his 17-year-old accomplice, Elmer Wayne Henley.In response, Henley pleaded with Corll to untie him, saying that the two of them could kill both Williams and Kerley together. Eventually, Corll did free Henley and brought Kerley and Williams into the bedroom to be tied to the torture board.In doing so, however, Corll needed to put his gun down. Thats when Henley decided to grab the weapon and put an end to the disturbing murder spree for good.Williams, who survived the attack and only spoke publicly about it in 2013, recalled how Corlls behavior had visibly shaken something in Henleys mind.He stood at my feet, and just all of a sudden told Dean this couldnt keep going on, he couldnt let him keep killing his friends and that it had to stop, she told ABC13. Dean looked up and he was surprised. So he started getting up and he was like, Youre not going to do anything to me.'Then, without another word, Henley shot Corll six times, killing him. And with that, the Houston Mass Murders finally came to an end. The Aftermath Of The Houston Mass MurdersAfter killing Dean Corll, Henley quickly called the police to confess what hed done. He and Brooks soon made official confessions stating their involvement in the murders and offered to show police where the victims were buried. Within a week, investigators had recovered 17 bodies from makeshift graves and a boathouse shed. Then, another 10 bodies were found on High Island Beach and in the woods near Lake Sam Rayburn.Public DomainDozens of people dig in the sand at High Island Beach, where more of Corlls victims were buried.Police didnt find the remains of the 28th victim until 1983. And unfortunately, it remains unknown how many others Dean Corll might have killed that Henley and Brooks didnt know about.Ultimately, Henley was convicted of six murders and sentenced to six life sentences for his role in the crimes. Brooks was convicted of one murder and received a life sentence as well. Since then, both men have been described as serial killers for their involvement in the Houston Mass Murders.In the past few decades, Henley has remained a controversial figure. From creating his own Facebook page to promoting his artwork from prison, he has drawn outrage from many who are furious at him for his crimes. Shockingly, he has also spoken out in a number of interviews about the Candy Man Killer, one in which he said, My only regret is that Dean isnt here now, so I could tell him what a good job I did killing him.Bettmann/Getty Images (l.) / Netflix (r.)Elmer Wayne Henley (left) leaving a Texas courthouse in 1973, and Robert Aramayo (right) playing Elmer Wayne Henley in the Netflix crime drama Mindhunter.Elmer Wayne Henley was later portrayed in the second season of Netflixs serial killer crime drama Mindhunter. His character was played by actor Robert Aramayo, best known for his role in HBOs Game of Thrones.But Brooks lived a far quieter life behind bars. He regularly refused interviews, and he chose not to correspond with Henley often. Brooks died in prison of COVID-19 in 2020.As for Dean Corll, his legacy remains as infamous as ever, and hes remembered as one of the most notorious serial killers in Texas history. And many who knew him probably want to forget that they ever did.After this look at Dean Corll, the Candy Man Killer, read up on the horrific story of serial killer Ed Kemper. Then, discover how some of historys most infamous serial killers finally met their ends.The post Inside The Depraved Crimes Of Dean Corll, The Candy Man Killer Of 1970s Houston appeared first on All That's Interesting.

In August 1990, five college students in Gainesville, Florida, were horrifically murdered in their apartments. Despite an extensive investigation, the police couldnt figure out who was behind the vicious crimes. Then, that November, a woman called Crime Stoppers to put forth the name of a suspect: Danny Rolling.Public DomainDanny Rolling killed eight people between 1989 and 1990. It turned out that Rolling had been arrested for a robbery not far from Gainesville less than two weeks after the murders and was still behind bars. And when the police tracked him down, they discovered that his DNA matched samples found at the crime scenes. Theyd found the Gainesville Ripper but the grisly spree wasnt the first time Rolling had killed.Investigators soon discovered that Rolling had fatally stabbed a Louisiana man along with his daughter and eight-year-old grandson back in November 1989. Hed also shot his own father, though the elder Rolling had survived. Danny Rolling reportedly claimed that he wanted to be a superstar like Ted Bundy.Rolling was executed in 2006, but his chilling legacy endures to this day. Even those who dont recognize his name will certainly know of the horror movie his crimes inspired: the cult classic 1996 film Scream.This is the disturbing tale of Danny Rolling and the true story behind Scream.Danny Rollings Troubled Early LifeDanny Rolling was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1954, and he faced abuse from his earliest days. His father, a war veteran and a police officer, frequently beat him and told him that he wished hed never been born. Rollings mother, Claudia, tried to escape the toxic marriage, but time and again she returned. By the time Danny was in third grade, his counselors had diagnosed him with aggressive tendencies and poor impulse control.As a teenager, Rolling started peeping into girls windows to see them naked, which eventually became a compulsion, psychologist Dr. Harry Krop testified at a 1994 hearing, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times at the time. He also began drinking, and he was arrested at least twice because of it. Ultimately, Danny Rolling dropped out of high school and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.RedditA young Danny Rolling, who would later go on to become known as the Gainesville Ripper.His stint in the military lasted just a year, as he faced trouble for drug possession and disobeying orders. He was honorably discharged, returned to Shreveport, and married a woman he met at church. His first child was born a few months later, soon after he turned 21, and he dealt with the pressures of marriage and fatherhood by drinking, smoking marijuana, and peeping into windows again.Then, his crimes began to escalate. Over the next few years, Danny Rolling robbed two Winn-Dixie supermarkets and several other stores. He spent most of his 20s in prison for armed robbery. He was released in 1984, but he was stealing again within a year and this time, his misdeeds didnt stop there.The Rise Of The Gainesville RipperIn November 1989, three bodies were found in a Shreveport home: Tom Grissom, his daughter Julie, and his eight-year-old grandson Sean. Julies corpse was arranged in a provocative pose. The murder went unsolved, and for a while, it seemed as if the perpetrator would get away with the disturbing crime. Then, a spree of eerily similar killings broke out in Florida.The Gainesville Ripper first struck in the early morning hours of August 24, 1990. He broke into the apartment of two incoming freshmen at the University of Florida, Sonja Larson and Christina Powell. Danny Rolling bound and gagged the girls before raping them, stabbing them to death, and posing their bodies. The following night, August 25, Rolling entered the apartment of 18-year-old Christa Hoyt, a student at Santa Fe College in Gainesville. She wasnt home, so he hid out until he heard her return and then sneaked up behind her, put her in a choke hold, taped her mouth, and tied her up. Rolling then raped her and stabbed her, but this time, he sliced her abdomen open when he was done. After leaving Hoyts apartment, Rolling realized he couldnt find his wallet. Fearing hed left it inside, he went back and while he was there, he cut off Hoyts head and placed it on a shelf staring at her body, which was posed on her bed just like the corpses of his previous victims.WillMcC/Wikimedia CommonsA memorial to the victims of the Gainesville Ripper near the University of Florida campus.By this point, news of the murders had spread across Gainesville. Authorities put out as much information as they could to try to catch the suspect, and students at the citys universities slept in groups and took every precaution they could think of to secure their dorms and apartments. Despite this, the Gainesville Ripper struck again on August 27.That night, Rolling murdered Tracey Paules and Manuel Taboada, both 23-year-old University of Florida students. He attacked Taboada while he slept, and when Paules heard the struggle and came to investigate, Rolling chased her to her bedroom. Paules tried to barricade herself inside, but the serial killer managed to break down her door, rape her, stab her to death, and pose her corpse. At the time, nobody knew that the murders of Paules and Taboada would be the Gainesville Rippers last. The University of Florida canceled classes, people carried baseball bats around with them, and nobody went out alone during the day or night. Students even started sleeping in shifts so that someone was awake at all times. By the end of August, many students had left campus, and some of them never returned because they feared for their lives.Despite having four separate crime scenes to gather evidence from, the police couldnt name a suspect. Danny Rolling had covered his tracks carefully, disposing of anything that he could have left fingerprints on. And while he did leave semen behind, investigators had nothing to test it against. At least, not until a woman from Shreveport called Crime Stoppers three months later.How A Single Tip Led The Police To Danny RollingCindy Juracich had heard about the Gainesville murders on the radio while driving through Florida that August. The crimes brought to mind a man Juracich had previously attended church with in Shreveport: Danny Rolling.Rolling had frequently visited the home of Juracich and her husband, Steven Dobbin, outside of church. Hed come over every night for a while, Juracich told ABC News in 2022, and then one night, Steven came in and goes, Hes got to go.'Her husband then told her that Rolling had admitted that he likes to stick knives into people. Juracich hadnt seen Rolling since hed left Shreveport, but she had a horrible gut feeling that he had something to do with the murders in Gainesville. In November 1990, she decided to call Crime Stoppers just to put his name forward. By this time, investigators had started to make connections between the Gainesville killings and the triple homicide in Shreveport a year prior. Mike Pease/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Wire / Alamy Stock PhotoDanny Rolling after his competency hearing in July 1991.Detectives looked into Rolling and discovered that hed been arrested on Sept. 7, 1990, for robbing a supermarket in Ocala, Florida, about 40 miles south of Gainesville. Thankfully, he was still in jail, and a quick blood test revealed that he had the same blood type as the suspect in both Shreveport and Gainesville. Danny Rolling was charged with five counts of murder, and just as his trial began in 1994, he pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to death and died by lethal injection on Oct. 25, 2006. His chilling legacy didnt end there, though.The True Story Behind ScreamWhen the news of the Gainesville Ripper broke in late 1990, Kevin Williamson was preparing to move to Los Angeles to take screenwriting classes at UCLA. The case inspired Williamson, and he started looking deeper into it as Rollings trial approached. Back when I was researching Danny Rolling, Williamson told Entertainment Tonight in 2013, I wanted to write about a serial killer on a college campus.Dimension FilmsDanny Rolling and his vicious murders as the Gainesville Ripper served as the true story behind Scream that inspired screenwriter Kevin Williamson.He took elements of Rollings story and put them into one of his screenplays: a movie called Scream. The film released in 1996 and soon became a cult classic. Williamsons career skyrocketed, and he went on to write for the hit series Dawsons Creek, the horror movie I Know What You Did Last Summer, and a couple of the sequels to Scream one of which indeed takes place on a college campus.As such, Danny Rollings vicious crimes live on, not just through the grief of his victims loved ones but as the true story behind Scream, one of modern historys most successful slasher film franchises.After reading about Danny Rolling and the true story behind Scream, go inside 12 other true stories that inspired horror films. Then, discover the stories behind some of Hollywoods most famous serial killer movies.The post The Disturbing Story Of Danny Rolling, The Gainesville Ripper Whose Murders Inspired The Movie Scream appeared first on All That's Interesting.

The crimes of serial killers are always disturbing but teenage serial killers bring another level of terror. Its almost unfathomable to imagine someone who hasnt even graduated from high school plotting out heinous murders, but thats exactly what these adolescents did.Some of them came from turbulent households and faced abuse from a young age, while others were bullied at school and decided to take their anger out on people even more helpless than themselves. Whatever the case, these teen killers left a path of grisly destruction in their wake.Mary Bell was just 10 years old when she killed for the first time. Harvey Robinson became the youngest American serial killer ever sentenced to death at age 19. And Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. was the accomplice to an even more prolific killer. Their victims ranged from toddlers to the elderly and from innocent bystanders to fellow murderers.Below, go inside the chilling stories of nine teenage serial killers and the circumstances that led them to murder.Mary Bell, The 10-Year-Old Who Killed Two ToddlersWikimedia CommonsMary Bell murdered two toddlers in 1968.In 1968, a young girl named Mary Bell was convicted of two murders that shocked her native Newcastle, England. The day before her 11th birthday, she had lured a four-year-old boy named Martin Brown into an abandoned house and strangled him with her own hands. It must have taken a long time, because she wasnt strong enough to even leave marks on the boys throat. Thus, the cause of death couldnt be established at first.The following day, Mary and her 13-year-old friend, Norma Bell (no relation), broke into a local nursery school. They didnt take anything of value but they did leave a note confessing to the murder. It read: WE did murder martain brown fkof you bastard. At first, the police didnt take the note seriously. However, two months later, another young boy turned up dead in the same neighborhood. Three-year-old Brian Howe was found in a field on July 31, 1968. His hair was cut, his penis had been mutilated, and a large letter M was carved into his abdomen. The scissors used to cut into Howes body were discovered nearby, but investigators determined that his cause of death was strangulation, just like Martin Browns. The police questioned local children and learned that Brian had been seen with Mary Bell just before he disappeared. When detectives interrogated Mary, she denied any wrongdoing. However, she slipped up when she claimed that shed spotted Brian with an older boy the day of his murder. She stated that the boy was carrying scissors but only the police knew about the scissors found at the crime scene at the time.Public DomainWhitehouse Road, where Mary Bell lived, pictured here in 1966.Norma Bell was also questioned, and she blamed Mary for Brians murder. In turn, Mary said that Norma had killed the little boy. The case went to trial that December, and while Norma was acquitted, Mary was convicted of the manslaughter of both Martin Brown and Brian Howe. She wasnt found guilty of murder due to diminished responsibility because of her age. But why would a preteen kill two young boys? In 1998, author Gitta Sereny published an account of the crimes based on interviews with Mary Bell herself. According to a report in The New York Times the year after the books release, Marys mother was a sex worker who had tried to kill her daughter on several occasions and even allowed her clients to sexually abuse Mary. Reflecting on her crimes to Sereny, Bell stated, I didnt know I had intended for them to be dead dead forever. Dead for me then wasnt forever.Mary Bell spent 12 years behind bars and was released in 1980 at age 23. She was granted anonymity and today lives under a pseudonym, as does her daughter. The post Im Not Real Sorry For What I Did: 9 Teenage Serial Killers And The Chilling Crimes They Committed appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Russian Interior MinistryAnatoly Moskvins mugshot from 2011.Anatoly Moskvin loved history.He spoke 13 languages, traveled extensively, taught at the college level, and was a well-known local historian in Nizhny Novgorod, Russias fifth-largest city. Moskvin was also a necropolist, or expert on cemeteries.But Moskvin eventually took his expertise to an incredibly disturbing new level. In 2011, he was arrested after the bodies of 29 girls and young women were found mummified in his apartment. As it turned out, Moskvin had stolen the bodies from local graves, preserved the remains using a homemade solution, and decorated them to look like life-size dolls.How Anatoly Moskvin Developed An Unhealthy Obsession With The DeadBorn in 1966, Anatoly Moskvin would go on to become the ultimate expert on cemeteries in his city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Moskvin once attributed his obsession with the macabre to a 1979 incident that happened when he was 13 years old. He shared this story in Necrologies, a weekly publication in Russia that focused on cemeteries and obituaries.Moskvin regularly contributed to the publication, and in his last article, dated Oct. 26, 2011, he divulged how a group of men in black suits had stopped him on the way home from school. They were allegedly on their way to the funeral of 11-year-old Natasha Petrova and dragged young Anatoly along to her coffin, where they forced him to kiss the deceased girl.East 2 West NewsOne of the many female corpses discovered in Moskvins home.Anatoly Moskvin wrote, I kissed her once, then again, then again. The girls grieving mother purportedly put a wedding ring on Anatolys finger and a wedding ring on her dead daughters finger as well.My strange marriage with Natasha Petrova was useful, Moskvin wrote in the article. Strange, indeed. He said it led to a belief in magic and a fascination with the dead. Whether the story is even true is beside the point by now, as his disturbing thoughts would clearly go unchecked for decades.A Growing Interest In Cemeteries, Burials, And The MacabreAnatoly Moskvins obsession with the corpse-kissing incident apparently never abated. He began to wander through cemeteries as a schoolboy. East 2 West NewsAnatoly Moskvin, pictured after his arrest.His macabre interests eventually informed his studies. Moskvin earned an advanced degree in Celtic studies, a culture in which the mythology often blurs the lines between life and death. The historian also became fluent in some 13 languages and saw his scholarly work published many times.Meanwhile, Moskvin roamed from cemetery to cemetery. I dont think anyone in the city knows them better than I do, he said of his extensive knowledge of the regions gravesites. From 2005 to 2007, Moskvin claimed to have visited 752 cemeteries across the region surrounding Nizhny Novgorod.He took detailed notes on each one, even delving into the histories of those buried there. Moskvin claimed to have walked up to 20 miles per day to reach and explore the gravesites, sometimes sleeping on hay bales and drinking rainwater from puddles during his journeys to the cemeteries. He created in-depth reports on his travels and discoveries, with titles like What the Dead Said and Great Walks Around Cemeteries.He even said he spent one night sleeping in a coffin ahead of a deceased persons funeral. But as it would turn out, Anatoly Moskvins observations about cemeteries and burials were more than just observations.The Mass Desecration Of Graves In And Around Nizhny NovgorodIn 2009, many locals in and around Nizhny Novgorod discovered the graves of their loved ones desecrated. In some cases, they were completely dug up. Russian Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Valery Gribakin told CNN: Our leading theory was that it was done by some extremist organizations. We decided to beef up our police units and set up groups composed of our most experienced detectives who specialize in extremist crimes. /YouTubeMoskvins parents reportedly believed the female corpses in their home were just toys.But for nearly two years, the Russian Interior Ministrys leads went nowhere. Graves continued to be vandalized, and no one knew why.Its somewhat unclear exactly how Anatoly Moskvin was caught in 2011, with some sources reporting that police grew suspicious after they questioned the cemetery expert about recent grave desecrations and other sources claiming that authorities caught him carrying a bag of bones. What is clear is that the police quickly went to Moskvins apartment to investigate. What they found there was shocking, to say the least. The Discovery Of Anatoly Moskvins Horrific Doll CollectionAnatoly Moskvin, who was 45 years old when he was arrested, lived with his parents in a small apartment. As authorities investigated the home, they soon found numerous life-sized, doll-like figures.Many of the figures resembled vintage or antique dolls, but they were all wearing different types of clothing. Some wore knee-length boots, while others donned frilly dresses. Some had makeup on their faces.Police soon realized that these large dolls were not dolls at all they were the mummified corpses of human girls and young women.When authorities moved one of the bodies, they were shocked to hear it played music, as if on cue. It was later learned that Moskvin had embedded music boxes and toys so theyd make noise when he touched them. Elsewhere in the apartment, there were plaques that he had taken off of the victims gravestones, doll-making manuals, and maps of local cemeteries.Crucially, there were also shoes in the apartment that were a match to footprints found near many of the desecrated graves.East 2 West NewsMoskvins parents were present at his hearing.Inside the mummies, investigators found a variety of disturbing items. One mummy even had a piece of her own gravestone stuffed inside her body. Another one contained a hospital tag with the date and the cause of the girls death. A dried human heart was found inside a third body.Anatoly Moskvin later admitted that he would stuff the decayed corpses with rags, presumably to ensure they kept their original shape. Then, he would wrap nylon tights around their faces or place fashion doll faces onto them. He would also sometimes insert buttons or toy eyes into the girls eye sockets so that they could watch cartoons with him.Moskvin was allegedly motivated to rob the graves and desecrate the bodies because he was lonely and desperately wanted a daughter, but he had been rejected after he tried to adopt a girl due to his low income. He denied being attracted to his dolls and claimed that he considered them his children.He also claimed that he was hoping science would eventually be able to bring the girls and women back to life. In the meantime, he used a solution with salt and baking soda to preserve the corpses as best as he could.As for Anatoly Moskvins parents, who lived with their son, they claimed to know nothing of the true origin of Moskvins doll collection.East 2 West NewsAnatoly Moskvins parents.Elvira, Moskvins then-76-year-old mom, said, We saw these dolls but we did not suspect there were dead bodies inside. We thought it was his hobby to make such big dolls and did not see anything wrong with it.Anatoly Moskvins Dark Hobby Shocked Those Who Knew HimIn all, authorities discovered 29 life-size dolls in Anatoly Moskvins apartment. They ranged in age from three to 25. Shockingly, he had reportedly kept one corpse as long as nine years. Moskvin was charged with desecrating both the bodies and the graves. As the horrific news spread in the media, he became known as The Lord of the Mummies and Perfumer (inspired by the Patrick Sskind novel Perfume).East 2 West NewsMoskvin walking with his attorney Dmitry Repkin.Neighbors were shocked. They said that the renowned historian was quiet and that Moskvins parents seemed to be nice people. Sure, their apartment smelled bad sometimes, but neighbors excused it by thinking it was the stink of something that rots in the basements of many local buildings.Moskvins editor at Necrologies, Alexei Yesin, didnt think much of his writers eccentricities and quirks. Yesin certainly never thought that Moskvin would collect and mummify young women and girls.Perhaps most shocking, Moskvin confessed his horrific crimes in court and refused to apologize to the girls parents. Instead, he said, You abandoned your girls, I brought them home and warmed them up.Will Anatoly Moskvin Ever Go Free?Not long after his arrest, Anatoly Moskvin was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and declared unfit to stand trial for his crimes. Instead, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital for mental health treatment.In 2018, it was reported that some psychiatrists at the hospital had recommended his release, claiming that it was safe for him to live at home with his parents and continue his treatment from there.These reports outraged the families of victims he desecrated.Natalia Chardymova, the mother of Moskvins victim Olga, firmly believes that Moskvin should stay locked up for the rest of his life.Police PhotosA photo of one of Moskvins victims and her mummified corpse.I shudder to think that he will have freedom to go where he wants, Chardymova said. Neither my family nor the families of the other victims will be able to sleep peacefully. He needs to be kept under surveillance.Prosecutors ultimately agreed with Chardymovas assessment, ensuring that Moskvin would remain in the hospital for the foreseeable future.Since then, some reports have stated that Moskvin continues to improve with regular treatment, and some of his psychiatrists as well as his lawyers have continued to push for his freedom and outpatient care.As of October 2025, Moskvin remains in the hospital, but theres no guarantee that hell stay there for the rest of his days. Chillingly, he allegedly told authorities at one point not to rebury the girls too deeply because I will gather them again when I am free.After reading about Anatoly Moskvin, learn about Carl Tanzler, the Key West doctor who fell in love with a tuberculosis patient and then kept her corpse after she died from her disease. Then, go inside the case of Sada Abe, the Japanese geisha who killed her lover then kept his penis.The post The Crimes Of Anatoly Moskvin, The Grave Robber Who Stole Female Corpses And Dressed Them Up Like Dolls appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis/Getty ImagesGilles de Rais disposing of a corpse.Gilles de Rais was an esteemed 15th-century nobleman and warrior. He spent much of his life defending France from England and fought bravely in the Hundred Years War alongside Joan of Arc. But Gilles de Rais is best known for murdering more than 100 children in dark occultist rituals. His true nature wasnt revealed until 1440. Then, during a shocking trial, de Rais was found guilty of heresy, sodomy, torture, and murder. His accusers alleged that de Rais had committed the gruesome crimes because of his interest in the occult, and his hope to summon demons. Sentenced to death, de Rais was hanged and burned, and his grisly story would go on to inspire the macabre legend of Bluebeard. But not everyone today believes that Gilles de Rais was guilty. How Gilles De Rais Became A French HeroBorn Gilles de Montmorency-Laval in 1404 in Champtoc-sur-Loire, France, Gilles De Rais grew up in the lap of luxury. The son of wealthy nobles, he was a bright child who spent his youth studying Latin, reading and illustrating illuminated manuscripts, and learning about military strategy. Wikimedia CommonsGilles de Rais in armor.However, tragedy struck when de Rais was around 10 years old. Then, his father, Guy de Laval, was killed in a hunting accident which de Rais may have witnessed. Shortly thereafter, his mother, Marie de Craon, also died.In the aftermath, de Rais was raised by his maternal grandfather, Jean de Craon. When de Craons son died during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, he made Gilles de Rais his official heir, and arranged his marriage to the wealthy Catherine de Thouars. This increased de Rais power and prestige. And when the Hundred Years War reignited in 1422 after a brief period of peace, Gilles de Rais leapt into the conflict and became a national hero. On the battlefield, de Rais was lauded for his bravery and determination. Then, in, 1429, he was tasked with accompanying Joan of Arc, a young Frenchwoman who claimed she had been instructed by angels to lead France to victory in the conflict. The two fought bravely in several key battles, including at Orlans, as well as Jargeau and Patay. Joan of Arc became a national figure, and Gilles de Rais was given the high honor of being named Marshal of France, as well as a royal fleur-de-lis on his coat of arms.Jean-Jacques Scherrer/Wikimedia CommonsAn 1887 painting of Joan of Arc liberating Orlans during the Siege of Orlans.But in 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by the English. The next year, on May 30, 1431, she was burned to death in the city of Rouen. Shortly thereafter, in 1435, Gilles de Rais ended his own military career and retreated to his estate. By then, he had allegedly been murdering children for two years. The Dark Crimes Of Gilles De RaisAfter Gilles de Rais retired from military service, his lifestyle grew decadent. He squandered his fortune on servants and his household, and through his patronage of the play Le Mistre du Sige dOrlans (Mystery Play of the Siege of Orlans) on which de Rais spent the modern-day equivalent of millions of dollars. de Rais also became interested in the occult and how he could use alchemy to regrow his fortune. Wikimedia CommonsAn 1862 drawing depicting Gilles de Rais performing sorcery on his victims.In this pursuit, Gilles de Rais purportedly started killing children. His crimes began in 1433, when he began to murder his victims at his childhood home of Champtoc. According to trial documents, most of his murders occured at his castle, Machecoul, where he sodomized his victims before bludgeoning them to death. Then, he decapitated their bodies and kept their severed heads on display kissing his favorites from time to time.He was allegedly encouraged by a cleric named Prelati. Alongside Prelati, de Rais would use blood and dismembered body parts from his victims to cast spells and try to summon demons. However, on May 15, 1440, de Rais and his men abducted a cleric from the Church of Saint-tienne-de-Mer-Morte following a dispute. The Bishop of Nantes rapidly launched an investigation, which led church officials and lawmen to uncover evidence that de Rais had murdered 140 children.When lawmen interviewed Gilles de Rais servants, they admitted to abducting children for him. The servants testified that he would masturbate on and molest the children before cutting off their heads. Two French clerics also testified de Rais engaged in alchemy and was obsessed with the dark arts and that he used the limbs of victims for his rituals.Wikimedia CommonsMiniature representing the trial of Gilles de Rais.Several servants from neighboring villages also came forward to testify about children that had gone missing after begging near de Rais castle. In one instance, a furrier relayed how de Rais cousin had borrowed his 12-year-old apprentice, who was never seen again. Under threat of torture, de Rais confessed to everything murder, sodomy, hersey, torture, and necrophilia on October 21, 1440. The disgraced nobleman told the court: I have told you enough to hang 10,000 men. He was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to die by hanging, with a fire lit beneath the gallows. Gilles de Rais was executed on Oct. 26, though his body was saved before the flames entirely reduced it to ash. Centuries later, however, some believe that Gilles de Rais was not guilty at all but the victim of a 15th-century witch hunt. Historys First Serial Killer? Or An Innocent Man?Though his guilt has been long accepted Gilles de Rais even inspired the 1697 Bluebeard fairytale some experts have come to question the official story. Historian Margot K. Juby, the author of The Martyrdom of Gilles de Rais, believes the threat of torture was so terrifying that de Rais confessed out of fear, or to save himself from excommunication.Wikimedia CommonsA depiction of Gilles de Rais execution.It seems impossibly quaint in the 21st century to read a text that fully accepts the validity of an Inquisition trial with the use of torture, she remarked. Whats more, the Duke of Brittany, who prosecuted the case that saw de Rais convicted, wound up receiving all the titles to de Rais lands after his execution. Some historians point to this as evidence of a political scheme.And in 1992, a French writer named Gilbert Prouteau went as far as organizing a mock trial to investigate de Rais guilt.Comprised of French ministers, parliament members, and UNESCO experts, the court investigated all available evidence and came back with a verdict of not guilty. However, even Prouteau called the trial an absolute joke and it has no legal standing.Ultimately, the truth of Gilles de Rais is impossible to know. Was he truly a vicious serial killer, one who murdered more than 100 children in his pursuit of the occult? Or was he a French war hero, unjustly accused and executed? Centuries later, the truth is lost. But Gilles de Rais will certainly be remembered by history. After learning about Gilles De Rais, the child serial killer who aided Joan of Arc, discover the strange and chilling story of the Beast of Gvaudan, the mysterious monster that terrorized villagers in 18th-century France. Then, read about Henri Landru, Frances modern Bluebeard serial killer.The post Gilles De Rais, The 15th-Century French Nobleman Who Was Found Guilty Of Torturing And Murdering More Than 100 Children appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Karen Engstrom/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty ImagesInvestigators carrying the human remains found beneath the home of Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy in 1978.Nothing strikes terror in a person quite like a serial killer. Just reading about these notorious murderers will make you want to lock your doors, even if its been years since they were imprisoned or executed. Indeed, these 11 American serial killers are a special kind of terrifying.One was described by neighbors as a friendly and likable man. Another was a six-foot, nine-inch sociopath with a violent past and an IQ of 145.These serial killers from the United States might have looked different on the surface, but underneath, they all shared a menacing hunger for bloodshed.Jeffrey Dahmer, The Infamous American Serial Killer Known For His CannibalismJeffrey Dahmer, a man whose crimes were shocking even among the ranks of other American serial killers, once acknowledged that the carnage heleft behind is hard to comprehend, even for him.Curt Borgwardt/Sygma via Getty ImagesJeffrey Lionel Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal.Its hard for me to believe that a human being could have done what Ive done, Dahmer said. But I know that I did it.Born to middle-class parents Joyce Flint and Lionel Dahmer in Milwaukee in 1960, Dahmer started to display troubling behavior as a small child. He was infatuated with the concept of death, he collected the carcasses of dead animals, and he was oddly thrilled by the sound of clacking animal bones.Dahmer and his family moved to a suburb of Akron, Ohio, around the time he started high school. Socially ostracized, he soon turned to alcohol.While he was in high school, Dahmer realized that he was gay. He also began to have alarming sexual fantasies where he would rape men. Just three weeks after graduating high school, Dahmer acted on these fantasies.Wikimedia CommonsJeffrey Dahmers high school yearbook photo.He picked up Steven Mark Hicks, an 18-year-old hitchhiker, and convinced him to come over to his house. When Hicks attempted to leave the home, Dahmer lost it: He brutally bludgeoned Hicks and strangled him. Chillingly, Dahmer also stripped Hicks naked and masturbated on his corpse.Dahmer then took the body to the crawl space, removed the bones, smashed them into a fine powder, and dissolved the flesh with acid.After the murder, Dahmer briefly served in the U.S. Army. During his service, he drugged and raped two soldiers, and upon his return to civilian life, he continued to drug and rape unsuspecting male victims.His crimes turned deadly again in 1987 when he met 25-year-old Steven Tuomi at a bar. He claimed that he only intended to drug and rape Tuomi, but he woke up to find his corpse underneath his hotel room bed.Later, Dahmer spent time in jail for child molestation. Upon his release, he met 24-year-old aspiring model Anthony Sears in a bar and took him home. Dahmer drugged, raped, and killed Sears. He preserved Sears head and genitals in jars,the demented trophies of his murder.Jeffrey Dahmer talking about his early fascination with animal parts in a 1994 interview with Stone Phillips.Dahmer eventually returned to Milwaukee, and the next two years were the most violent and disturbing of his life. He kept pieces of his victims as trophies, used their bodies for experiments, drilled holes into their skulls while they were still alive, and stored body parts in his fridge to eat later.Dahmers downfall came on July 22, 1991, when he convinced 32-year-old Tracy Edwards to come home with him. Before long, Edwards began to fear for his life, especially when Dahmer threatened him with a knife and told him that he was going to cut out his heart and eat it.Edwards briefly played along, but when Dahmer briefly left himself exposed, Edwards punched him in the face, escaped, and immediately led the police to Dahmers apartment. The authorities soon found one of the grisliest crime scenes in the history of American serial killers.Dahmer admitted to all 17 of his murders and was sentenced to life in prison plus 70 years. He wouldnt serve most of his sentence, however, because a fellow inmate named Christopher Scarver beat him to death with a metal bar in a prison bathroom on Nov. 28, 1994.According to his murderer, Dahmer did not defend himself or fight back.The post Inside The Horrific Stories Of 11 American Serial Killers, From The Beast Of Chicago To Hells Belle appeared first on All That's Interesting.

For so many of us, one of the scariest things on our planet happens to make up over 70 percent of it: the ocean. Thalassophobia (the fear of the ocean and bodies of water) is a common, and quite frankly, reasonable fear, especially considering all that we have yet to truly uncover in the depths.