| Glennon Engleman | |
|---|---|
Cover to Appointment For Murder, a book about Glennon Engleman by Susan Bakos |
|
| Background information | |
| Born | 1928 |
| Died | 1999 |
| Cause of death | Natural causes |
| Killings | |
| Number of victims: | 7+ |
| Span of killings | 1958–1980 |
| Country | U.S. |
| Date apprehended | 1980 |
Dr Glennon E. Engleman (c.1928-1999) was a St Louis dentist who moonlighted as a hitman, concocting and carrying out at least seven murders for profit over the course of 30 years.
He was already serving two life sentences in a Missouri jail when he pleaded guilty to the murder of a man and his parents in a separate contract killing.
Engleman was a sociopath; he once stated that his talent was to kill without remorse and he enjoyed planning and carrying out killings and disposing of the remains, in order that it would net him financial rewards.
Methods used to kill his victims included shooting, bludgeoning with a sledgehammer and car-bombing.
Engleman died in prison of a diabetes-related condition in 1999. The exact number of his victims is unknown.
Corbin Bernsen played Engleman in Beyond Suspicion, a 1993 telemovie loosely based on the killings.
One of four children, Engleman graduated in dentistry at Washington University, St Louis, in 1954. He had been admitted under the GI Bill, having previously served in the US Army Air Corps.
1958: James Bullock, 27, clerk. Shot near the St Louis Art Museum. Was married to Engleman’s ex-wife Edna Ruth, who upon Bullock’s death collected $64,000.
1963: Eric Frey, a business associate of Engleman at Pacific Drag Strip, which was owned by the dentist. Struck him with a rock, pushed him down a well, and used dynamite to blow him up afterwards. He then divided the insurance proceeds with Frey's widow.
1976: Peter J. Halm. Shot in Pacific, Missouri. His wife, Carmen Miranda Halm, a former dental assistant trainee who had worked for Engleman, ordered the hit to collect life insurance on Halm.
1977: Arthur and Vernita Gusewelle at their farmhouse near Edwardsville, Illinois. Arthur shot; Vernita bashed to death. Murdered their son Ronald in East St Louis 17 months later so his widow Barbera could claim the millions in life insurance she had taken out on her husband, the sole heir to his parents' oil business. Barbara Gusewelle Boyle subsequently sentenced to 50 years' jail for the murder of her husband. She was released from the Dwight Correctional Facility on October 10, 2009.
1980: Sophie Marie Barrera, owner of south St Louis dental laboratory. Killed in car bomb explosion. Engleman owed her over $14,000. Accused by her son, Frederick Barrera, of her murder.
Engleman was married twice, first to Edna Ruth and then to Ruth Jolley, with whom he had a son, David Engleman.