Nathaniel White

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Nathaniel White (born July 28, 1960) is an African American serial killer. Active in the Hudson Valley region of New York during the early 1990s, White confessed to beating and stabbing six women to death while on parole.

Contents

[edit] Killings

White claimed to have found inspiration for his first murder while watching Robocop 2: "The first girl I killed was from a 'Robocop' movie... I seen him cut somebody’s throat then take the knife and slit down the chest to the stomach and left the body in a certain position. With the first person I killed I did exactly what I saw in the movie."[1]

This first killing took place on March 25, 1991—after White had been convicted of abducting a 16-year-old girl, but before he started his prison sentence—and police did not make the connection at the time. In a plea bargain that would later be heavily criticized, White had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for the abduction and would therefore be eligible for parole after just one year.[2] White was paroled in April of 1992 and returned to Orange County, New York.[3] White's first victim was the young niece of his girlfriend at the end of June, and he killed four others during the month of July.

[edit] Victims

[edit] Juliana R. Frank

White's first victim was Juliana Frank, 29, of Middletown, who was pregnant with her third child when she was killed in 1991.[4] Her naked body was left on a set of abandoned railroad tracks in Middletown.[5]

[edit] Christine M. Klebbe

White's youngest victim was Christine Klebbe, 14, who had just finished eighth grade. The niece of White's girlfriend, Jill Garrison, Klebbe disappeared on June 29. Her family reported her missing on July 1, 1992 and her body was discovered in Goshen, New York on August 4.[5]

[edit] Laurette Huggins Reviere

Laurette Reivere was killed in her Middletown home on July 10, 1992.[5]

[edit] Angelina Hopkins and Brenda L. Whiteside

Cousins Angelina Hopkins and Brenda Whiteside met White at the Blue Note Tavern in Poughkeepsie, New York on July 20, 1992. They were last seen leaving the bar with him in his pickup truck. Their bodies were found August 4, along with the body of Christine Klebbe.[5] Cause of death in both cases was determined to be severe blunt trauma to the face and head.[6]

[edit] Adraine M. Hunter

Adriane Hunter of Middletown, was stabbed to death in the early morning July 30, 1992. Her body was discovered in Goshen later that day. She was 27.[5]

[edit] Investigation

Angelina Hopkins's sister, Cecilia, witnessed Hopkins and Whiteside leaving the Blue Note Tavern with four men on the night of their disappearance. Poughkeepsie police did not act on the missing person report as they did not have enough information about the men, so Cecilia and her mother continued investigating on their own.

The New York State Police began investigating on July 30, after the body of Adriane Hunter was found and authorities began to suspect it was related to the earlier disappearances and murders. On August 2, White returned to the Blue Note where Hopkins identified him and he was arrested.[6] White confessed and led police to his dumping ground in Goshen on August 4.

White was arraigned by a grand jury on August 7 for the murder of Christine Klebbe. On September 9, the other five murders were added to the indictment.[7] White was charged with six counts of second degree murder and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. White was convicted on all counts on April 14, 1993 and sentenced to 150 years to life. His sentence began at Great Meadow Correctional Facility on May 27, 1993.[8][4][9]

White's case was cited by New York governor George Pataki in defense of his push to reinstate the death penalty.[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Karen Freifeld. "Tale of Death Suspect says `Robocop' sparked spree.", Newsday, August 6, 1992. 
  2. ^ William Glaberson. "Did the State Parole System Fail?", The New York Times, August 6, 1992. 
  3. ^ William Glaberson. "Parolee Charged with the Killing of 6 in New York", August 5, 1992. 
  4. ^ a b Mike Levine. "Six words tell all about Nathaniel White", The Times Herald Record, January 15, 2007. 
  5. ^ a b c d e Jonathan Rabinovitz. "6 Victims and a Suspect: The Mysteries Endure", The New York Times, August 6, 1992. 
  6. ^ a b Jonathan Rabinovitz. "Relatives Cracked Serial-Killing Case", The New York Times, August 7, 1992. 
  7. ^ "Wallkill Man Indicted in 5 More Killings", The New York Times, September 9, 1992. 
  8. ^ "Man Sentenced in Killings", The New York Times, May 27, 1993. 
  9. ^ Inmate Information. New York State Department of Corrections. Retrieved on May 14, 2008.
  10. ^ George Pataki. "Death Penalty is a deterrent", USA Today, March 1997. 

[edit] External link