Ripper Crew
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ripper Crew | |
|---|---|
 Mugshots; left to right: Gecht, Spreitzer, Andrew, and Thomas |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name: | Robin Gecht Edward Spreitzer Andrew Kokoraleis Thomas Kokoraleis |
| Born: | 1953 (R.G.) 1958 (E.S.) 1961 (A.K.) 1958 (T.K.)  United States |
| Died: | March 16, 1999 (A.K.) |
| Cause of death: | lethal injection (A.K.) |
| Penalty: | 120 years in prison (R.G.) death penalty (E.S. and A.K.) life imprisonment (T.K.) |
| Killings | |
| Number of victims: | eight |
| Span of killings: | May 23, 1981 through October 8, 1982 |
| Country: | United States |
| State(s): | Illinois |
| Date apprehended: | November 5, 1982 |
Ripper Crew or Chicago Rippers was a satanic cult composed of Robin Gecht (who once worked for the serial killer John Wayne Gacy) and three associates (Edward Spreitzer with brothers Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis). They were suspected in the disappearances of 18 women in the streets of Chicago, Illinois. Gecht and his gang allegedly drove around in a van looking for prostitutes to sacrifice in Gecht's apartment. They claimed to have removed one breast from each victim and eaten it as Robin read passages of The Satanic Bible.
These men were arrested in 1982 for the stabbing of a teenaged prostitute.[1] Although Gecht's associates and other witnesses implicated him in some of the deaths, investigators never had enough evidence to charge him with murder. Gecht is serving 120 years in Menard Correctional Center for mutilating and raping an 18-year-old prostitute.[2]
Edward Spreitzer and Andrew Kokoraleis were sentenced to death.[3] On March 16, 1999, 35-year-old Andrew Kokoraleis was executed by lethal injection at Tamms Correctional Center in Southern Illinois for the 1982 strangulation murder of Lorraine Borowski, a 21-year-old secretary at a real estate office who had been abducted on her way to work. Her mutilated body was found in a cemetery.[4]
Defense attorneys unsuccessfully argued that Andrew Kokoraleis was coerced into confessing. They also argued that new information cast doubt on the credibility of confessions by two co-defendants who accused him. Andrew, who had been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Rose Beck Davis, was the first prisoner executed at a new super-maximum-security prison in southern Illinois.[5]
Thomas Kokoraleis was convicted of Lorraine Borowski's murder and received a life sentence.[6]
On March 7, 1999, Robin Gecht's son David and three others were charged with first-degree murder in connection with a shooting death which police believe the killing to be gang-related.[7]
