Gary M. Heidnik
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gary Heidnik | |
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 Heidnik's mugshot.
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| Born | November 22, 1943 Ohio, USA |
| Died | July 6, 1999 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Charge(s) | murder, first degree (2) rape (5) kidnapping (6) aggravated assault (4) involuntary deviant sexual intercourse (1) |
| Penalty | Death penalty |
| Status | Executed (1999-07-06) |
| Spouse | Betty (1985-1986) |
| Parents | Michael and Ellen Heidnik |
Gary Michael Heidnik (November 22, 1943 – July 6, 1999) was an American criminal who kidnapped women and kept them prisoner in his basement. He is often referred to as a serial killer, although having committed only two murders, he would not fit the standard FBI definition of a serial killer. FBI standard dictates "three or more murders" to classify as serial killer.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Raised in the Cleveland suburb of Eastlake, Ohio, Heidnik dropped out of public high school in the ninth grade and attended Staunton Military Academy for two years, leaving before graduation. After another period in school, he dropped out and joined the Army.[1]
Heidnik served as a medic in the Army for 14 months before being honorably discharged with a medical disability. His official diagnosis was "schizoid personality disorder."
[edit] Marriage and children
Heidnik used a matrimonial service to meet his future wife, who he corresponded with by mail for two years before proposing to her. Betty arrived from the Philippines in September 1985 and married Heidnik in Maryland on October 3, 1985. The marriage rapidly deteriorated and she found Heidnik in bed with three other women and forced her to have sex with them. He beat and raped her until she left him three months later.[2] A child was conceived from their brief marriage.
[edit] Criminal career
[edit] 1976: First legal charges
In 1976, Heidnik was charged with aggravated assault and carrying an unlicensed pistol after shooting the tenant of a house he offered for rent, grazing his face.
[edit] 1978: First imprisonment
Heidnik signed his mentally retarded girlfriend's sister out of a mental institution on day leave and kept her prisoner in a locked storage room in his basement in 1978. After she was found and returned to the hospital, examination revealed that she had been raped and sodomized. Heidnik was arrested and charged with kidnapping, rape, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and interfering with the custody of a committed person.
The case went to trial in November 1978; he was found guilty and sentenced to three to seven years jail. The original sentence was overturned on appeal and Heidnik spent three years of his incarceration in mental institutions prior to being released in April 1983 under the supervision of a state sanctioned mental health program.
[edit] 1986: Spousal rape, charges dismissed
After his wife Betty left him in 1986, Heidnik was arrested yet again and charged with assault, indecent assault, spousal rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. The charges were later dismissed when Betty failed to appear for the preliminary hearing.
[edit] 1986-1987: Serial rape, imprisonment and murder
Beginning in November 1986, Heidnik abducted six women and held them in the basement of his house in Philadelphia. The captives were sexually abused, beaten and tortured in front of each other, and forced to beat each other with a shovel so that they wouldn't gang up on him. He used electric shock as a form of torture; one victim was electrocuted when she was bound in chains, thrown in a filled bathtub, and house current was applied to the chains. Heidnik dismembered her body, ground it in a food processor and mixed it with dog food, which he then fed to the surviving victims. He had a problem dealing with the arms and legs, so he put them in a freezer and marked them "dog food." He cooked her ribs in an oven and boiled her head in a pot on the stove.
Several weeks later, another of the women died of starvation.
Heidnik would torture and sexually abuse the women individually or in groups. He dug a four-foot-deep pit that he would throw a "misbehaving" victim in. The pit would then be covered with plywood and heavy weights. The victims were also encouraged to inform on each other in return for better conditions.
[edit] Arrest and trial
One of the kidnapped women escaped on March 24, 1987. She had convinced Heidnik to let her go out, promising to bring back another captive for him, but instead she went straight to the authorities who secured a search warrant. Heidnik was arrested. At his arraignment, Heidnik claimed that the women were already in the house when he moved in.[3]
During his trial, Heidnik repeatedly denied all allegations of mistreatment of his captives, and claimed that Sandra Lindsay was killed by the other captives for being a lesbian. Before his execution, Heidnik reportedly went on a tirade, claiming that he wanted to be executed because the execution of an innocent man would stop the death penalty in America.
Convicted of two counts of murder in 1988, Heidnik was sentenced to death and incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Pittsburgh. In January 1999 he attempted suicide with an overdose of prescribed thorazine. Heidnik was executed by lethal injection on July 6, 1999.
[edit] Trivia
- Heidnik's method of keeping his captives in a deep hole in his basement was emulated by the character "Buffalo Bill" in Thomas Harris' novel The Silence of the Lambs, which was later adapted into a motion picture.
[edit] References
- ^ Gruson, Lindsey (1987-03-28). "Strange Portrait of Torture Suspect". The New York Times. Article retrieved 2007-02-09.
- ^ "House Of Horrors" (1987-04-06). Time. Article retrieved 2007-02-11.
- ^ Brian Hickey (2002-03-13). Return to the House of Horrors Philadelphia Weekly.
[edit] Further reading
- A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers by Harold Schechter and David Everitt, Pocket, 1997, softcover, 368 pages, ISBN 0-671-02074-9
- Cellar of Horror by Ken Englade, 1989, softcover, 288 pages, ISBN 0-312-92929-3
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Heidnik, Gary M. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American serial killer and rapist executed by lethal injection in 1999. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 22, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 6, 1999 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
