Carl Panzram was an active serial killer in the 1920s. He claimed he killed 21 people, although many of the murders are unconfirmed.
He had no single favorite method of killing and admitted to murdering his victims with guns, strangling them, and sometimes beating them with a hard object, such as an iron bar or a rock
Besides murder, he also claimed to have sodomized a thousand boys and men, and although we know that he committed numerous burglaries and robberies, he wrote that he had committed thousands of theft crimes.
Much of what we know about Panzram comes from his autobiography. He wrote it and gave the papers to a prison guard, Henry Lesser, in 1928. In his own words, Panzram said he was not sorry for the crimes he committed and that he had no conscience to worry him.
In 1929, Panzram was transferred to the Leavenworth Prison in Kansas. While there, he killed a prison guard and was sentenced to death.
On September 5, 1930, he was hanged.
Might Makes Right
Panzram learned at a young age that might makes right. When he was seven-years-old, he left his home and hopped on a freight train in the hopes of escaping. At the mere age of eight, he was charged with being drunk.
By the time he was eleven, he was sent to the Minnesota State Training School where the “bad” children were sent at that time.
While he was there, he was beaten regularly by people who claimed to be “good” Christians. They believed that beating children would get rid of the bad inside of them and make them good, but it had quite the opposite effect on Panzram.
The beatings and whippings at this school, along with the religious rhetoric, filled the boy with extreme anger and hatred.
“I began to hate those who abused me. Then I began to think I would have my revenge as often as I could injure someone else. Anyone at all would do.”
He later said that if he were to meet Jesus Christ, he would crucify him all over again because of how he was treated.
Killing was the Answer
After training school, Carl Panzram was sent to a Lutheran school. Again, beating children was part of the curriculum.
At one point, as a preacher beat him, Panzram pulled out a revolver, pointed it at the preacher, and pulled the trigger. The bullet was a dud, but this was Panzram’s first real taste of what it was like to be in control of another person’s life.
Instead of being sent back to training school, Panzram got on a freight train and left.
“The only way to reform people is to kill them.”
With his new philosophy, Panzram was about to strike terror into the hearts of his numerous victims.
Joined the Army
After he had run away from Minnesota, he got himself in trouble with the law for robbery. Then, possibly out of desperation, he joined the Army.
During this short lived adventure, he was trained in firearms. Naturally, Panzram had no sense of self-discipline and was soon court martial for insubordination.
After he was released, he began wondering aimlessly, committing robberies and mayhem wherever he went.
Back in Prison
A few years passed and he was back in prison again for burglary. This time he was given seven years in an Oregon prison.
By this time, Panzram was well seasoned in the art of fear. He terrorized the prison guards, and they openly feared him.
The warden had him placed in a punishment cell. He was shackled, beaten often, and tortured. Nothing could break the man. He was already a monster.
The punishments continued for years until a new warden stepped into the prison. This new warden, a true Christian, tried a different approach with Panzram. He gave the prisoner his privileges back and attempted to communicate with the man, but Panzram was too far gone.
Panzram escaped from prison in 1918.
Murdering Sailors
Enriched with anger and hate, Carl Panzram was ready to begin his life as a serial killer. He continued to burglar homes, but he also started picking up sailors, sometimes one and sometimes two at a time. He would get them drunk, steal everything they had, rape them, and then shoot them in the head.
He liked to tied up the bodies afterwards, anchor them, and toss them into the sea. He estimated that he killed ten sailors in this fashion.
Visited the Congo
To avoid getting caught, Panzram went by ship to the Congo. He was going to hunt crocodiles for a living, but he mostly raped and murdered boys and men while he was there.
He quickly grew tired of the Congo, however, and returned to the U.S. to continue his rage against society and men.
Caught Once Again
After returning to the U.S., there was no stopping Carl Panzram. He hurt and killed whoever he desired. He preyed on the weak because, in his eyes, they did not deserve to live.
“I hated everyone I saw.”
He was caught, once again, for burglary, but it was the same old story. He was beaten in prison and eventually he was released.
One Last Time
Freshly released from prison, Panzram needed money, so he did what he always did. He robbed a house and then tried to sell one of the items and was once again back in jail.
While in the Washington District Jail, Panzram met Henry Lesser. Henry was not like the other guards. He was an intelligent young man, and Panzram liked him so much that he gave Henry his life story.
When Panzram later faced the jury for burglary, he admitted to the crime and then told the jury that he was a murderer.
“I believe the whole human race should be exterminated.”
He was sentenced to 25 years.
His Final Murder
Panzram was sent to Leavenworth, Kansas, to serve out his sentence, but he was clearly tired of living. He caused trouble among the inmates and held himself above all those he considered to be stupid. He eventually killed and guard and was sentenced to hang.
Death row had nicer accommodations than the main prison. Panzram wrote Lesser and told him that if he had been treated this well in his youth, maybe he would not have turned into a murderer.
On the morning of his death, Carl Panzram walked rather happily to the scaffold. When he saw the clergy waiting to send him off with prayers, he shouted:
“Get those Bible-backed cocksuckers out of here!”
He demanded to be hung immediately without any unnecessary ceremony.
After calling the executioner a bastard, Panzram was noosed and the trapdoor was sprung.
