Gerald and Charlene Gallego

Gerald and Charlene Gallego

Charlene (top) and Gerald (bottom) Gallego
Born Gerald Armond Gallego
Charlene Adell Williams
(1946-07-17)July 17, 1946 (G.G.)
(1956-10-10) October 10, 1956 (C.G.)
Sacramento, California (G.G. and C.G.)
Died July 18, 2002(2002-07-18) (aged 56) (G.G.) Died of cancer before his death sentence could be carried out.
Nevada, (G.G.)
Other names The Love Slave Killers
The Gallego Sex Slaves Killers
Criminal penalty Death (G.G.)
Sixteen years and eight months (C.G.)
Conviction(s) Armed robbery (G.G.)
Lewd and lascivious acts with a child (G.G.)
Murder (G.G. and C.G.)
Killings
Victims 10
Span of killings
 September 11, 1978–November 2, 1980
Country United States
State(s) California
Nevada
Oregon
Date apprehended
 November 17, 1980

Gerald Armond Gallego (July 17, 1946 – July 18, 2002) and Charlene Adell (Williams) Gallego (born October 10, 1956) are two American serial killers who terrorized Sacramento, California between 1978 and 1980. They murdered ten victims, mostly teenagers, most of whom they kept as sex slaves before killing them.

Perpetrators

Gerald Armond Gallego

Gerald Armond Gallego (a.k.a. "Stephen Feil" or "Stephen Styles")[1] was born on 17 July 1946 in Sacramento, California. His mother was a prostitute, while his estranged father was a criminal who in 1955 became the first man executed in the Mississippi gas chamber for the killing a police officer during a prison escape.[2] Gallego began his criminal career at age thirteen, when he sexually abused a six year old girl;[3] he had 23 arrests and served time after being convicted of robbery prior to his murder spree.[1]

Gallego worked as a bartender and truck driver.[1] He was married a total of seven times, including two marriages to the same woman. He was still married to a previous wife when he married Charlene Williams.[3]

Charlene Adell (Williams) Gallego

Charlene Adell Williams was born on 19 October 1956 in Stockton, California. She was a smart, shy child from a supportive home.[4] The trajectory of her life began to change when, as a young adult, she started using drugs and alcohol. She had two failed marriages before meeting Gerald.[5]

Victims

Rhonda Scheffler and Kippi Vaught

On 11 September 1978, two teenagers – Rhonda Scheffler and Kippi Vaught – disappeared from a mall in Sacramento. Charlene lured them to a nearby van, leading to their abduction by the couple. Gerald used a handgun to threaten the girls and tied them up. They drove to Baxter, where Gerald raped and then executed the girls, each with a single shot to the back of their heads.[1]

Brenda Judd and Sandra Colley

On 24 June 1979, Brenda Judd and Sandra Colley were similarly abducted from the Washoe County Fair in Reno, Nevada. Charlene later testified that Gerald beat the girls to death with a shovel or hammer.[1] Their remains were not found and identified until twenty years later.[6]

Stacy Ann Redican and Karen Chipman-Twiggs

Similarly, on 24 April 1980, Stacy Ann Redican and Karen Chipman-Twiggs went missing from a Sacramento mall. They were found in July, sexually abused and bludgeoned to death.[3]

Linda Teresa Aguilar

While hitchhiking on 6 June 1980, Linda Teresa Augilar – who was pregnant – was abducted, murdered with a blunt object, and buried in a shallow grave.[3]

Virginia Mochel

On July 17, 1980, 34-year-old Virginia Mochel was abducted from the parking lot of a West Sacramento tavern, where she worked as a bartender. Her skeletal remains, still bound with nylon fishing line, were found three months later outside of Clarksburg. Loops of cord from the victim's neck were admitted as proof of death by strangulation.[7]

Craig Miller and Mary Elizabeth Sowers

While leaving a fraternity party on 1 November 1980, Craig Miller and Mary Elizabeth Sowers were forced into the Gallego's car at gunpoint.[4] Miller was ordered out of the car and shot; his body was found near Bass Lake, California. The couple returned to their apartment with Sowers, where Gerald sexually abused her before taking her to a field in Placer County, California, where he then executed her.[1]

Capture and trial

A friend of Miller and Sowers noticed their abduction and wrote down the car's license plate number. Police used this information and two weeks later they managed to track down and arrest the Gallegos at a Western Union office. Charlene’s parents were in the process of wiring her money.[8] Gerald and Charlene pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and murder. However, prosecutors eventually convinced Charlene to testify against Gerald for a plea deal that reduced her prison sentence to 16 years and eight months. In June 1983 Gerald was found guilty of murdering Miller and Sowers and sentenced to death by gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison. In June 1984 in less than four hours Gerald was found guilty of murder and aggravated kidnapping in the case of Karen Twiggs & Stacey Redican in Nevada. He is subsequently sentenced to death.[9]

In July 1997, Charlene completed her sentence and was released.[5] While in prison, she extensively studied psychology, business and Icelandic literature. She reportedly had a photographic memory, which was helpful during the trials.[10] During an interview, Charlene claimed that she was also a victim when she said, "There were victims who died, and there were victims who lived. It's taken me a hell of a long time to realize that I'm one of the ones who lived."[11] She also claimed that she "tried to save some of their lives."[12]

In 2002, Gerald died of cancer in a Nevada prison medical center while awaiting execution.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Frasier, David K. (1996). Murder cases of the twentieth century : biographies and bibliographies of 280 convicted or accused killers. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 167–9. ISBN 0786401842.
  2. ↑ http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Gallego,%20Gerald%20-%202005.pdf
  3. 1 2 3 4 Hickey, Eric W. (1991). Serial murderers and their victims (3 ed.). Pacific Grove, CA.: Brooks/Cole Pub. Co. pp. 198–9. ISBN 9780534154141.
  4. 1 2 Flowers, R. Barri (26 November 1996). "Chapter 18 – Gerald and Charlene Gallego". The dynamics of murder: kill or be killedPaid subscription required. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. 233–52. ISBN 978-1439879740. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  5. 1 2 Newton, Michael (2006). The encyclopedia of serial killers (2 ed.). New York: Facts On File. pp. 87–9. ISBN 9780816069873. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  6. ↑ Chereb, Sandra (23 February 2000). "DNA tests confirm remains of Sparks teens". LasVegas Sun. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  7. ↑ Serial Killer Couples: Bonded by Sexual Depravity, Abduction, and Murder. pp. 22, 23, 24. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  8. ↑ http://crimefeed.com/2017/02/killer-couple-charlene-and-gerald-gallego-the-sex-slave-killers/
  9. ↑ http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Gallego,%20Gerald%20-%202005.pdf
  10. ↑ Vronsky, Peter (2007). Female serial killers: How and why women become monsters. New York: Berkley Books. pp. 288–90.
  11. ↑ "Gallego's ex says she was victim". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada: Ganette. 29 October 1997. p. 13. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "Sacramento’s ‘Sex Slave Murders’ Killer Discovered Living In Area; Speaks After Years Of Silence". CBS Sacramento. CBS Broadcasting inc. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  13. ↑ Taylor, Michael (20 July 2002). "'Sex-slave' killer dies of cancer in Nevada prison hospital". SF Gate. Hearst Communications, inc. Retrieved 27 April 2017.

Further reading

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