Danny Rolling
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Daniel "Danny" Harold Rolling (May 26, 1954 – October 25, 2006), "the Gainesville Ripper", was a confessed and convicted U.S. serial killer. After confessing to the murder and mutilation of five students in Gainesville, Florida, in August 1990, he was ultimately executed. He also confessed to raping several of his victims, had admitted to an additional 1989 triple homicide in Shreveport, Louisiana,[1] and had admitted that he attempted to murder his father in May 1990. In all, Rolling confessed to killing 8 people, though there may have been more.
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[edit] Early years
Danny Rolling was born to James and Claudia Rolling. His father was abusive to both him and his mother, and later his brother, Kevin. Claudia Rolling made repeated attempts to leave her husband, but always returned. Rolling's father was a police officer.
After several incarcerations as a teen and young adult for a string of robberies in Georgia, Rolling had trouble trying to assimilate into society and hold down a steady job. Finally, after years of abuse, Rolling attempted to kill his father during an argument with the elder Rolling.
[edit] "The Gainesville Ripper"
He later fled to the state of Florida where he began his burglary and robbery spree, which culminated in the murders of five people in Gainesville. His signature was to arrange the bodies in such a way as to highlight the carnage in the rooms — this even included setting up several mirrors and decapitating and/or posing his victims.
Although law enforcement authorities initially had very few leads and the investigation dragged on for years, Rolling was eventually charged with several counts of murder, and Alachua County State Attorney Rod Smith oversaw the prosecution. In a surprise move, Rolling pleaded guilty in court, nearly four years after the murders occurred. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to the death penalty on each count.
A second man, Edward Humphrey of Indialantic, Florida, was considered an initial suspect in the Gainesville murders; authorities cleared him of all charges after Rolling's arrest. Police also considered Brandon Curry.
Subsequently, Rollings confessed via letter from his spiritual advisor to the Shreveport, Louisiana police, to the killings of 55-year-old William T. Grissom, his 24-year-old daughter Julie and 8-year-old grandson Sean as they got ready for dinner on November 4, 1989, in Grissom's home. Shreveport police alerted Gainesville police to the similarity of the murder scenes, which is what prompted Gainesville Police's interest in Rollings. Shreveport police, though holding an open warrant for his arrest, never pursued extradition, supposing Florida would sentence him to death easier than Louisiana would.
[edit] Aftermath
Rolling aided the writing career of Sondra London, who met him in prison while working with Gerard John Schaefer and other serial killers.
Rolling and the Gainesville murders are the subject of the book Beyond Murder by John Philpin and John Donnelly. The murders have been suggested to have been the inspiration for the original screenplay for 1996 film Scream, though the similarities may merely be coincidental.[citation needed]
Rolling was the subject of an episode of "Body of Evidence: From the Case Files of Dayle Hinman", a Court TV show. During Rolling's trial, Court TV ran an interview with his mother from her home, during which someone shouting and complaining (presumably Rolling's father) off-camera can be heard. American Justice with Bill Kurtis did an episode on him.
[edit] Execution
As a result of his murder convictions, Rolling was executed by lethal injection on October 25, 2006 and pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. EDT after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Rolling's last-ditch appeal.[2] He showed no remorse and refused to make any comments or offer any apology to the relatives of his victims, several of whom were present at his execution as witnesses. Instead he chose to sing a song he wrote himself. His last meal consisted of lobster tail, butterfly shrimp, baked potato, strawberry cheesecake and sweet tea. Shortly before his execution, Rolling confessed to three other murders.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ "The Killer Confesses" Crime Library (accessed October 26, 2006)
- ^ "Danny Rolling executed, state says" South Florida Sun-Sentinel (accessed October 25, 2006)
- ^ "Rolling confessed to 3 other murders before execution"
