5 Most Horrific Convictions Involving Child Murders
Murder is always tragic, but it seems to be even more so when a child is involved. Even worse is when one person is convicted for killing dozens or even hundreds of children. This is a gruesome legacy that leaves behind families who have to grapple with that loss for years to come.
Here are 5 of the most horrific convictions involving child murders:
Andrea Yates
Though her conviction was later overturned, Andrea Yates was found guilty of murdering her 5 children by drowning them one-by-one in the bathroom of her home in 2001. The oldest child was 7 and the youngest was 6 months old. She was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but her conviction was overturned when expert testimony was called into question. When she was retried, she was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was committed to a mental-health facility.
Karla Homolka
Canadian Karla Homolka served only 12 years in prison for drugging, raping, torturing and killing young girls, including her own sister. When she was 17, Homolka became romantically involved with Paul Bernando, who became known as the Scarborough Rapist. She helped him to drug and rape young girls, believed to be virgins, including her own 15-year-old sister. They killed their victims, and even cut up some of their bodies.
Pedro Alonzo Lopez
Known as “The Monster of the Andes,” Pedro Alonzo Lopez confessed to killing at least 110 children in Ecuador, over 100 children in Colombia, and 100 more children in Peru. Acting out his rage for being raped and sexually violated multiple times as a child and a young man, Lopez sought out young girls to rape and to murder, and he vowed that if he were let out of prison, he would continue doing so. Though he spent more than 20 years in prison, he was ultimately released and remains at large today.
Joachim Kroll
Joachim Kroll was convicted of 8 murders in his native Germany, but he confessed to 13 murders. Known as “the Ruhr Cannibal” and the “Duisburg Man-Eater,” Kroll murdered and ate his young victims, including one girl who was 4 years old. Police arrested him after a neighbor complained of blocked pipes and the remains of the young girl were found inside. Kroll thought an operation would cure him of his homicidal urges, but he ultimately died of a heart attack in prison.
Jeffrey Dahmer
This infamous serious killer was responsible for the deaths of at least 17 men and young boys between 1978 and 1991. He sexually abused his victims (alive and dead) then killed them, dismembered them and ate them. When he was arrested, police found several corpses in his apartment, including dismembered heads and skulls. Dahmer was sentenced to 15 life terms, and he died in prison after being attacked by another inmate.
Though it’s hard to qualify the murder of any child as “worse” than another, these convictions stood at as some of the most horrific in recent memory.
About the Author:
Alexis Bonari writes for one of the largest open databases of college funding opportunities. Specific topics like scholarships for college are described in detail to provide multiple resources for students.
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