He was executed on January 16, 1936, in the electric chair at the Sing Sing prison. By 1917, Fish had become severely mentally ill, and his wife left him for a man named John Straube. He had two brothers, named Walter Fish and Edwin Fish; and a sister called Annie Fish. The job seemed ideal, and the Budd family, excited by Edward's luck in finding the job, instantly trusted the gentle, polite Mr. Howard. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. He was roasted in the oven, (all of his ass) boiled, broiled, fried, stewed. I whipped his bare behind till the blood ran from his legs. Owing to his mothers mental health issues, Fish was sent to Saint Johns Orphanage in Washington where he was often brutally beaten and tortured. Under cross-examination, Dempsey asked if coprophilia, urophilia, and pedophilia indicated a sane or insane person. The descriptions given by both Beaton and the eyewitness pointed toward Fish. Bettmann/Getty ImagesThe house where Fish murdered Grace Budd. The small child was taken from his apartment hallway in Brooklyn and killed. representing "New York Private Chauffeur's Benevolent Association". Only 10 days after their initial meeting, Fish lured Kedden to an abandoned farmhouse under the pretense of an assignation. Later, around 1919, he stabbed an intellectually disabled boy in Georgetown, Washington. [23] Fish was arrested in May 1930 for "sending an obscene letter to a woman who answered an advertisement for a maid. When the child was left alone, either because of an adult's carelessness or by gaining his trust, he committed the crime. As time went on, his sexual fantasies with children grew more fiendish and bizarre, often ending in murdering and cannibalizing them. Fish began to enjoy the physical pain that the beatings brought. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. He was born in Washington, D.C., U.S. in 1870. [21], At a meeting with reporters after the execution, Fish's lawyer James Dempsey revealed that he was in possession of his client's "final statement". At least two of his family members died in asylums. One Last Letter: The writer tortured Mrs. Budd with details about the empty house her daughter was taken to in Worcester, New York. He reportedly choked her to death before eating her flesh. Husband of Phebe "Stella" Estella Wilcox (Baker) The investigation continued for six long years because no concrete evidence was found against Charles or any other suspect. [12][15], Several years later, around 1910, Fish was working in Wilmington, Delaware, when he met a 19-year-old man named Thomas Kedden. [5] He spent 108days in jail between his arrest and trial on December 22, 1930. He came back to the farm and was found trying to sleep in the barn. At that time I was living at 409 E 100 St, rear right side. Although he knew Grace was female, it is believed that Fish perceived her as a boy. Quinn and his friend were playing box ball on a sidewalk when Fish asked them if they had eaten lunch. long. Police investigated the letter. Police discovered that Fish was working a few miles away from Gaffneys disappearance spot. So the meat would be nice and juicy. Born Hamilton Howard FISH. Katie Serena is a New York City-based writer and a staff writer at All That's Interesting. Fish and Kedden began a sadomasochistic relationship, though it is unknown how much of it Kedden actually consented to. He started calling himself Albert after one of his dead siblings. It only took one glance at them to determine that what Fish had described was too macabre for public consumption. [10], None of the jurors doubted that Fish was insane, but ultimately, as one later explained, they felt he should be executed anyway. [16], In January 1917, Fish's wife left him for John Straube, a handyman who boarded with the Fish family. FISH DIES AT AGE OF 86 AIKEN, S. C.. Jan. 15 (AP), Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51688841/phebe-estella-wilcox, Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74073798/randall-fish, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, United States, Ossining, Westchester County, New York, United States, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, 1791-1963, http://crime.about.com/od/serial/p/albertfish.htm. According to Fish, no women ever responded to his letters asking them for their hand in administering pain. The budding killer mutilated the other mans body and cut off half his penis. He said voices in his head told him to kill children and commit other horrendous crimes. The trial of Albert Fish began on March 11, 1935 and demonstrated quite clearly that the man was insane. Hamilton Howard Albert Fish was an American serial killer, paedophile and cannibal. Father of Six: In 1898 he married and later fathered six children. Fish arrived at prison in March 1935, and was executed on January 16, 1936, in the electric chair at Sing Sing. At first, cops didnt take the child seriously. Fish, smiling as he described the grisly details of tortures and murders, appeared to the detectives as the devil himself. At first, Fish denied the charges. Shortly before Albert Fish was put to death, he confessed to being the one who lured Francis into the woods, later assaulting and strangling him. Prolific 20th-century American serial killer Albert Fish is known by many names - The Boogeyman, The Gray Man, The Werewolf of Wysteria, The Brooklyn Vampire, and The Moon Maniac. The part of the letter concerning the murder of Grace, however, was found to be accurate in its description of the kidnapping and subsequent events, although it was impossible to confirm whether or not Fish had actually eaten parts of Grace's body. Sing Sing Prison MuseumAlbert Fish was held at New Yorks Sing Sing Prison before he was executed by electrocution. Fish left but returned later to the Kiels' barn, where he tried to sleep but was discovered by Beatrice's father and forced to leave. The descriptions of these acts were so vile and disgusting that they were never made public even though they were submitted as evidence in court. They sank at once. Then I burned his clothes. The youth introduced Fish to such practices as urolagnia (drinking urine) and coprophagia (eating feces). Nick Name: The Bogeyman, The Brooklyn Vampire, Moon Maniac, Werewolf of Wysteria, Gray Man, Also Known As: Hamilton Howard Fish, Gray Man, Werewolf of Wysteria, father: Randall (1795 October 16, 1875), siblings: Annie Fish, Edwin Fish, Walter Winchell Fish, children: Albert Fish Jr., Anna Fish, Eugene Fish, Gertrude Fish, Henry Fish, John Fish, place of death: Ossining, New York, United States, See the events in life of Albert Fish in Chronological Order, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utrGjJ2slkA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQYWdgLZ8b0. I cut off the head feet arms hands and the legs below the knee. He admitted to being obsessed with mutilation after his male lover took him to a wax museum where he saw the bisection of a penis. Her family was baffled until Albert Fish's letter to her parents arrived. Although no one was ever able to find Billys remains, people were able to locate the body of Fishs third confirmed victim relatively quickly. Username and password are case sensitive. My dear Mrs Budd, He was arrested in 1928 for the murder of Grace Budd, and was later executed in 1936. [9] According to an autopsy, McDonnell had also suffered extensive lacerations to his legs and abdomen, and his left hamstring had almost entirely been stripped of its flesh. Albert Fish, the unassuming-looking stranger, convinced Delia and Albert Budd to let him take their daughter along to his nieces birthday party. His father passed away when Fish was only five years old. Genealogy profile for Albert Fish. [9] The defense called two more psychiatrists to support Wertham's findings. Insanity Plea: On March 11, 1935, Fish's trial began and he plead innocent by the reason of insanity. In his letters he would go into graphic detail of sexual acts he would like to share with the women. He was aroused by unmerciful whipping and flogging and began looking forward to it. I came home with my meat. Admits New Crimes; Death in Electric Chair Fixed for Week of April 29, 1935. When all was ready I went to the window and called her. He was the youngest of his surviving siblings. In later descriptions of the affair, Fish would hint that Kedden was perhaps intellectually disabled though it was always difficult to sort fact from fiction in Fishs tales. in Washington, D.C., USA , United States, Died on January 16, 1936 The last witness, James Vavasour, repeated Lambert's opinion. Albert Fish was one of the most notorious child serial killers of all time, molesting over 400 children and tortured and killed several others. His widowed mother didnt have the resources to care for Albert and his three siblings alone and left them with a state orphanage. There were several rebuttal witnesses who testified Fish to be abnormal but sane. The trial lasted for ten days. His father had English roots, while his mother was of Scottish and Irish descent. The girls parents forced him to leave. He was dead then. And when his father died in 1875, his mother left him in an orphanage, where he (and many of the other children) were . He also started writing salacious and vulgar letters to women from classified advertisements and matrimonial agencies. Home made. Despite numerous psychiatrists involved in the trial supporting the insanity plea, however, the jury found Fish sane enough to found guilty. His mother had visual hallucinations. . His uncle suffered from mania, his brother was sent to a mental asylum and his sister also suffered from mental afflictions. He was sentenced to die by electrocution. Not only was his brother in an asylum, but his uncle had been diagnosed with mania while his mother routinely experienced visual hallucinations. She was 32 and he, 75 years old. The Letter Writer: After his marriage ended, Fish spent time writing to women listed in the personal columns of newspapers. As his gruesome letter read: First, I stripped her naked. While its generally believed he killed anywhere between three and nine victims, Fish himself had another figure in mind. Short handle. I put this in my grip with a lot of paper. An X-ray of Albert Fishs pelvis, showing 29 needles embedded into the area. In 1928, Fish answered an ad from 18-year-old Edward Budd, who was looking for part-time work to help with the family finances. After his marriage ended, Fish wrote to women listed in the personal columns of newspapers, describing in graphic detail the sexual acts he would like to share with them. met with Edward and his family to discuss Edward's future. Enslow Publishing, 2015, pp. He offered her money to come and help him look for rhubarb. Fish, who introduced himself as Mr. Frank Howard, met with Edward and his family to discuss Edward's future. [9] Wertham then detailed Fish's cannibalism, which in his mind he associated with communion. He is known by the nicknames of"The Gray Man,""Grandfather Murderer,""Werewolf Man of Wysteria"or"The Vampire of Brooklyn." . [28] The unaltered letter (complete with Fish's misspellings and grammatical errors) reads:[10]. He boasted that he had "had children in every State," putting the figure at around 100, although it is not clear whether he was talking about molestation or cannibalization, less . "Took first train I could get back home. His father, Randall, was 75 years old at the time. Small, quiet, and unassuming, he had a face that blended in with the crowd and a private life that would have frightened even the most hardened criminals. Hisfamily had a long history of mental illness. The unsuspecting parents agreed and dressed her in her Sunday best. Then thru his legs about 2 in. He never saw Kedden again. Threw them in the toilet. In his insanity plea, Fish claimed that he heard voices from God who instructed him to kill children. A man who called himself Frank Howard had materialized on their doorstep to offer 18-year-old Edward Budd a job. Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection. In 1898 he married and fathered six children. Beatons brother briefly left to check on his sister, and when he returned, the two young boys had disappeared. Albert Fish was held at New Yorks Sing Sing Prison before he was executed by electrocution. New York State CorrectionsFish was executed on Jan. 16, 1936. His parents abandoned him at a young age, and he was sent to an orphanage, a place of brutality, in Fish's memory, where he was exposed to regular beatings and sadistic acts of brutality. He confessed to three murders that police were able to trace to a known homicide, and he confessed to stabbing at least two other people. Fish failed to show up, but he sent a telegram to the Budd family apologizing and set a later date. He said that he was named after statesman and politician Hamilton Fish, a distant relative. I knew if I did not I would get her blood on them. Fish was said to have smiled as he confessed to his crimes. We were unmercifully whipped. A search was organized and his body was foundhanging by a treein a wooded area near his home. [notes 3] Fish said it "never even entered [his] head" to rape the girl,[32] but he later claimed to his attorney that, while kneeling on Grace's chest and strangling her, he did have two involuntary ejaculations. The house where Fish murdered Grace Budd. According to the letter sent to Delia Budd, along with his confession, Fish hid in an upstairs bedroom naked, so as not to get blood on his clothing while Grace picked wildflowers in the yard. His mother, Ellen, was 43 years younger than her husband. Birthplace: New York, United States. Remarkably, in 1898 Fish married a woman his mother had introduced him to and fathered six children with her. Albert Fish, who introduced himself as Mr. Frank . Fish was a small, gentle looking man who appeared kind and trusting, yet once alone with his victims, the monster inside him was unleased - a monster so perverse and cruel, his crimes seem unbelievable. Dear Mrs. Budd, it read. Billy had disappeared while playing with a neighbor in Brooklyn on February 11, 1927. [3], Fish was apprehended on December 13, 1934, and put on trial for the kidnapping and murder of Grace Budd. While discussing his fictitious farm and the imaginary work Edward would undertake, Fish casually mentioned that he was in town to visit his niece and attend her birthday party. On May 28, Fish, then 58years old, visited the Budd family in Manhattan under the pretense of hiring Edward; he later confessed that he planned to tie Edward up, mutilate him, and leave him to bleed to death. He once claimed that he had one victim in every state of the United States and that his victims were close to a hundred children. Then I cut him thru the middle of his body. My father was Captain Randall Fish, 32nd-degree. Profile of Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross, Profile of Serial Killer Tommy Lynn Sells, The Most Notorious Serial Killers in History, Herbert Richard Baumeister, Serial Killer, Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer. His uncle was diagnosed with mania,his brother was sent to a state mental institution, and his sister was diagnosed with a "mental affliction." He lured children from their homes, tortured them in various wayshis favorite was using a paddle laced with sharp nailsand then raped them. His father was 43 years older than his mother and 75 years old at the time of his birth. He had a family history of mental illness. Then he called her inside. While Edward was mulling over his offer, Fish noticed a young girl standing behind her parents: 10-year-old Grace. When his mother became mentally stable and financially self-sufficient enough to take him home in 1880, she removed him from the orphanage. Upon learning that Fish bore a strong resemblance to Frank Howard, Grace Budds kidnapper, the police set up an interview. Bettmann/Getty ImagesSerial killer Albert Fish claimed to have murdered a child in every state. These Halloween Decorations Are So Gruesome That Neighbors Keep Calling The Cops, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. He testified that Fish was abnormal but sane. Fish was arrested and immediately confessed to killing Grace and other children. Before his execution on January 16, 1936, Albert Fishs attorney Jack Dempsey refused to share his clients notes. From the time Albert Fish was a young boy growing up in Washington, D.C., he seemed fated for a life of horrors. Detectives of the Manhattan Missing Persons Bureau were able to establish that Fish was employed as a house painter by a Brooklyn real estate company during February 1927, and that on the day of Gaffney's disappearance he was working at a location a few miles from where the boy was abducted. On May 25, 1928, Albert Fish saw a classified advertisement in the New York World placed by an Edward Budd, who wanted a working position in the country. Fish not only continued to administer his own beatings but began an unhealthy relationship with a telegraph boy in 1882. He introduced himself as Frank Howard, a farmer from Farmingdale, New York. There is no house at #379, and the house pictured in the article is #359. Fish's defense counsel was James Dempsey, a former prosecutor and the one-time mayor of Peekskill, New York. As expected, his defense pleaded innocent by reason of insanity. For starters, His mother was 43 years the junior of her husband. The family dynamic was rather interesting. Brother of Walter Fish; Annie Fish and Edwin Fish Fish began teaching his own children strange and oddly sadomasochist games, before developing an obsession with cannibalism. When they said that they had not, he invited them into his apartment for sandwiches. Dempsey in his summation noted that Fish was a "psychiatric phenomenon" and that nowhere in legal or medical records was there another individual who possessed so many sexual abnormalities. His father passed away when Fish was only five years old. Wertham said that Fish believed that similarly "sacrificing" a boy would be penance for his own sins and that even if the act itself was wrong, angels would prevent it if God did not approve. To their surprise, Fish confessed in an instant, practically tripping over himself to reveal the precise details of what hed done to Grace Budd as well as dozens of other children. Then, learn about Fritz Haarmann who was a popular butcher in 1920s Germany until people found out he sold human meat. Fish once boasted that he "had children in every state",[2] and at one time stated his number of victims was about 100. Albert Fish (19 of May of 1870 - 16 of January of 1936) was a serial killer and cannibal born in the United States, whose victims were only children. His parents were Randall and Ellen Fish. ThoughtCo. Fish stated that he had killed at least 23 and molested more than 400 children. While awaiting his fate behind bars in Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York, Fish was permitted to write a series of notes regarding his crimes. It was about this time that Fish began to indulge in self-harm by embedding needles into his groin and abdomen. Billy had disappeared while playing with a neighbor in Brooklyn on February 11, 1927. The trial lasted for 10 days. This I put in sacks weighed with stones, tied the ends and threw them into the pools of slimy water you will see all along the road going to North Beach. [18] He chose people who were either mentally disabled or African-American as his victims, later explaining that he assumed these people would not be missed when killed.