Charles Starkweather
Charles Starkweather's prison photo, 1958
Born:	November 24, 1938
Location:	Lincoln, Nebraska
Died:	June 25, 1959
Cause of death:	Electric chair
Number of victims:	11
Country where killings occurred:	USA
States where killings occurred:	Nebraska and Wyoming
Span of killings:	December 1, 1957 through
Penalty:	Death

Charles Starkweather (November 24, 1938 – June 25, 1959) was a spree killer who murdered 11 victims in Nebraska and Wyoming during a road trip with his underage girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate. He became a national fascination in the USA, eventually inspiring the films The Sadist, Badlands, Natural Born Killers, Starkweather and the Bruce Springsteen song "Nebraska". Image File history File links Starkweather. ... is the 328th day of the year (329th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname: Location in Nebraska Coordinates: , Country   State     County United States   Nebraska     Lancaster Founded[1]   Renamed   Incorporated 1856   July 29, 1867   April 1, 1869 Government  - Mayor Chris Beutler Area  - City 195. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Nebraska. ... is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The electric chair is an execution method in which the person being put to death is strapped to a chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Official language(s) English Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Largest metro area Omaha Area  Ranked 16th  - Total 77,421 sq mi (200,520 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Cheyenne Largest city Cheyenne Area  Ranked 10th  - Total 97,818 sq mi (253,348 km²)  - Width 280 miles (450 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 0. ... is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... is the 328th day of the year (329th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Official language(s) English Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Largest metro area Omaha Area  Ranked 16th  - Total 77,421 sq mi (200,520 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Cheyenne Largest city Cheyenne Area  Ranked 10th  - Total 97,818 sq mi (253,348 km²)  - Width 280 miles (450 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 0. ... Caril Ann Fugate (born July 31, 1943) was the fourteen-year-old accomplice of spree killer Charles Starkweather. ... The Sadist is a 1963 black & white Exploitation Film written and directed by James Landis, based on real life serial killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate. ... Badlands is a 1973 film directed by Terrence Malick from his own script. ... For the song, see Natural Born Killaz. ... Starkweather is a 2004 film directed by Byron Werner from a script written by Stephen Johnston. ... Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. ... Nebraska is a song by Bruce Springsteen. ...

Early years

Charles Starkweather was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on November 24, 1938, to Guy and Helen Starkweather. The third of seven children, Starkweather never recalled any bad memories of his home life. Despite being born at the tail-end of the Great Depression, Charles would later recall that the family never went without food or shelter; nor was he ever abused as a child. The Lincoln community considered the Starkweathers to be a strong family with well-behaved children. Guy, the father, was by all accounts a mild-mannered man; a carpenter, he suffered frequent periods of unemployment due to crippling arthritis in his hands and a weak spine. During these periods Charles' mother Helen supplemented the family income by working as a waitress. Nickname: Location in Nebraska Coordinates: , Country   State     County United States   Nebraska     Lancaster Founded[1]   Renamed   Incorporated 1856   July 29, 1867   April 1, 1869 Government  - Mayor Chris Beutler Area  - City 195. ... is the 328th day of the year (329th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Great Depression started after October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ... Arthritis (from Greek arthro-, joint + -itis, inflammation; plural: arthritides) is a group of conditions where there is damage caused to the joints of the body. ...

In contrast to his pleasant memories of his home life, Starkweather possessed no kind remembrances of his time in public school. Starkweather was born with a mild birth defect, Genu varum, that caused his legs to be misshapen, and he also suffered from a mild speech impediment, which caused him to be teased, picked upon, and beaten up from an early age. He was considered a slow learner and was accused of never applying himself, although in his teens it was discovered that he suffered from severe myopia which had severely affected his vision for most of his life. A congenital disorder is a medical condition or defect that is present at or before birth (for example, congenital heart disease). ... Genu varum A deformity marked by medial angulation of the leg in relation to the thigh; an outward bowing of the legs. ... Speech disorders are a type of communication disorders where normal speech is disrupted. ... Normal vision. ...

The only aspect of school in which Starkweather excelled was gym, wherein he found a physical outlet for his growing anger at the world around him. Starkweather used his newfound physicality to begin bullying those who had bullied him, and soon his anger stretched beyond those who had been cruel to him to anyone whom he happened to dislike. Starkweather quickly went from being considered one of the most well-behaved children in the community to one of the most troubled. His high school friend Bob van Busch would later recall:

Along with van Busch, Charles developed an obsession with James Dean, and began to groom and dress himself to look like Dean. Charles sympathized with Dean's rebellion, believing that he had found a kindred spirit of sorts, someone who had suffered ostracism similar to his own, to whom he could look up. Starkweather developed a severe inferiority complex and became self-loathing and nihilistic, believing that he was unable to do anything correctly, and that his own inherent failures would doom him to a life of poverty and misery. James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American film actor. ... This article cites very few or no references or sources. ... Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that the world, especially past and current human existence, is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. ...

Caril Ann Fugate

Around 1957 Bob van Busch introduced Starkweather to fourteen-year-old Caril Ann Fugate. She was born July 30, 1943. Caril Ann Fugate (born July 31, 1943) was the fourteen-year-old accomplice of spree killer Charles Starkweather. ...

Charles quit school shortly after he met Caril and took a job at a warehouse near her school so he could see her every day. Starkweather was considered a poor worker. His boss later recalled, "Sometimes you'd have to tell him something two or three times. Of all the employees in the warehouse, he was the dumbest man we had."

Charles taught Caril to drive, and one day she used his hotrod and crashed it into another car. Charles' father, as the legal owner of the vehicle, was forced to pay the damages. This caused a physical argument between Charles and his father. Guy Starkweather, having finally reached his breaking point with his son's behavior, kicked Charles out of the house.

Charles quit his job and went to work as a garbage man for minimum wage. Charles slipped back into his nihilistic views on society and life, believing that his current situation was the final determining factor in how he would live the rest of his life. He used the garbage route to begin plotting bank robberies, and finally found his own personal philosophy by which to live out the remainder of his life: "Dead people are all on the same level." The minimum wage is the minimum rate a worker can legally be paid (usually per hour) as opposed to wages that are determined by the forces of supply and demand in a free market. ...

The first murder

On November 30, 1957, Starkweather went to a Lincoln gas station where he tried to buy a stuffed toy dog for Caril on credit. The attendant, Robert Colvert, refused, and Charles left, furious. At three in the morning on December 1, 1957, Charles returned to the station with a 12 gauge shotgun. Initially, he left the gun in the car, went into the station, and bought cigarettes from Colvert, who was working alone. Starkweather left, drove down the road, turned around, and returned to the station, again leaving the gun in the car. This time he purchased a pack of gum, then once again left and drove away. He parked a distance away from the gas station, put on a bandanna and hat, then walked to the station with the shotgun and a canvas bag. He held Colvert at gun point and got $100 from the cash drawer before forcing Colvert to march back to his car. Charles drove Colvert to an abandoned area and made him get out of the car, at which point Colvert attacked Charles and attempted to get hold of the shotgun. The shotgun fired in the scuffle, knocking Colvert to his knees; Starkweather then executed the stunned Colvert with a shotgun blast to the head. is the 334th day of the year (335th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ...

Starkweather would later claim that in the aftermath of the murder he believed that he had transcended his former self to reach a new plane of existence in which he was above and outside the law. He confessed the robbery to Caril immediately, but claimed someone else had killed Colvert, which Caril did not believe.

Other murders

On January 21, 1958, Starkweather went to visit Caril at her dilapidated house. Finding her not home, he argued with and shot to death Caril Ann's mother and stepfather, as well as fatally clubbing Caril Ann's two-year-old sister, Betty Jean. He hid the bodies at various places behind the house before Caril came home from school. The two stayed in the house for six more days, turning people away with a note taped to the door, written by Caril, that read: "Stay a Way Every Body is sick with the Flue.^[sic]" Caril Ann's grandmother became suspicious and called the police. When they arrived on January 27, Charles and Caril had already gone. January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up sic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Charles and Caril drove to the Bennet, Nebr., farm home of August Meyer, 70, a Starkweather family friend, whom Charles shot in the head. Shortly thereafter, they got stuck in the mud and abandoned their car. When Robert Jensen and Carol King, two local teenagers, stopped to give them a ride, Charles forced them to drive back to an abandoned storm cellar, where both were shot and killed. Starkweather admitted shooting Jensen but later claimed Fugate shot King. Starkweather and Fugate then took Jensen's car.

The two then drove back to Lincoln to the wealthier section of the town, where they entered the home of C. Lauer and Clara Ward, a wealthy local industrialist and his wife. Both Clara Ward and Lillian Fencl, the Wards' maid, were fatally stabbed. Starkweater admitted throwing a knife at Mrs. Ward but denied inflicting the multiple stab wounds that were found in her body. He also denied he fatally stabbed Fencl, whose body also showed multiple stab wounds. When Ward came home that evening Starkweather shot him. Starkweather and Fugate filled Lauer's black Packard with loot from the house and drove it into Wyoming. Needing a new car due to the high profile of the Lauer's Packard, they found traveling salesman Merle Collison, sleeping in his Buick along the highway near Douglas, Wyo. Waking Collison up, Charles shot him, although Starkweather later claimed Fugate finished him off after his (Starkweather's) gun jammed. Starkweather claimed Fugate was the "most trigger happy person" he had ever seen. A deputy sheriff happened on the scene as Starkweather was trying to start Collison's car. Fugate ran to him, yelling something to the effect of "It's Starkweather! He's going to kill me!" Starkweather tried to evade the police, exceeding speeds of over 100 miles per hour. After suffering a minor bullet wound in the ear, Starkweather stopped abruptly. Sheriff Earl Heflin said, "He thought he was bleeding to death. That's why he stopped. That's the kind of yellow sonofabitch he is." Both Starkweather and Fugate were jailed in Douglas.

Starkweather first claimed Caril had nothing to do with the murders, but changed his story several times, finally testifying at her trial that she was a willing participant. Caril has always maintained he was holding her hostage by threatening to kill her family (she maintained she did not know they were already dead.) Charles Starkweather was executed in the electric chair at the Nebraska State Penitentiary on June 25, 1959. Caril Ann was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled in 1976. Starkweather is buried in Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, along with five of his victims: the Bartlett family and the Ward couple. The electric chair is an execution method in which the person being put to death is strapped to a chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body. ... The Nebraska State Penitentiary (NSP) is a state prison in the United States. ... is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... In legal parlance, a trial is an event in which parties to a dispute present information (in the form of evidence) in a formal setting, usually a court, before a judge, jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute. ... Life imprisonment is a term used for a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment. ... Parole can have different meanings depending on the area and judiciary system. ... Nickname: Location in Nebraska Coordinates: , Country   State     County United States   Nebraska     Lancaster Founded[1]   Renamed   Incorporated 1856   July 29, 1867   April 1, 1869 Government  - Mayor Chris Beutler Area  - City 195. ...

Impact on culture

Starkweather is the inspiration and subject of the song "Nebraska" by Bruce Springsteen, which Springsteen originally considered calling "Starkweather". He is also mentioned in the 1989 Billy Joel hit "We Didn't Start the Fire." Nebraska is a song by Bruce Springsteen. ... Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. ... William Martin Billy Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and composer. ... We Didnt Start the Fire is a song by Billy Joel that chronicles 120 well-known events, people, things, and places widely noted during his lifetime, from March 1949 to 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front. ...

Stephen King was strongly influenced by reading about the murders when he was a youth—down to keeping a scrapbook about them ^[1] and has since incorporated Starkweather in many variations in his work (Starkweather is said to have been a schoolmate of Randall Flagg in The Stand and George Stark from The Dark Half was also named for him—these being only two characters amongst a myriad of others that are named for or are variations of the personality of Starkweather). Additionally, the interstate killing spree undertaken by Lloyd Henreid and Poke Freeman in The Stand mirrors the actions of Starkweather and Caril Ann. King has also revealed that The Kid, a leather jacket-wearing thug who appears in the uncut edition of The Stand is the reincarnation of Starkweather. Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of over 200 stories including over 50 bestselling horror novels. ... Randall Flagg. ... The Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror novel by Stephen King originally published in 1978. ... --58. ... The Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror novel by Stephen King originally published in 1978. ...

Having introduced the killing spree to America, the couple became the inspiration for the film Badlands by Terrence Malick, as well as The Sadist, Wild at Heart (based on a book by Barry Gifford), Kalifornia, Strangers in the Night and Natural Born Killers. More direct, although still not accurate, accounts were dramatized in the 1993 TV miniseries Murder in the Heartland with Tim Roth as Starkweather, the book Headline: Starkweather, and Stephen Johnston's 2004 movie Starkweather. Badlands is a 1973 film directed by Terrence Malick from his own script. ... Terrence Terry Malick (born November 30, 1943 in Waco, Texas) is an Assyrian American film director. ... The Sadist is a 1963 black & white Exploitation Film written and directed by James Landis, based on real life serial killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate. ... Wild at Heart is a 1990 American film written and directed by David Lynch and based on Barry Giffords novel Wild at Heart: The Story of Sailor and Lula about a couple on the run from the mob. ... Barry Gifford (1946- ) is an author, poet, and screenwriter known for his distinctive mix of American landscapes, film noir, and beat generation-influenced literary madness. ... Kalifornia is a 1993 movie directed by Dominic Sena, starring a group of then-unknowns who have since become stars in their own right: David Duchovny, Michelle Forbes, Juliette Lewis and Brad Pitt. ... Strangers in the Night is a song made famous by Frank Sinatra, who recorded it in 1966. ... For the song, see Natural Born Killaz. ... A miniseries (sometimes mini-series), in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. ... Murder in the Heartland (1993) The television miniseries aired on ABC in 1993. ... Tim Roth (born 14 May 1961 as Timothy Simon Smith) is an English film actor and director. ... Stephen Johnston born July 20 1969 is a US screenwriter and co-founder of Los Angeles based WORKING CLASS FILMS. Johnston works primarily in the horror genre. ... Starkweather is a 2004 film directed by Byron Werner from a script written by Stephen Johnston. ...

In the 1996 movie The Frighteners the fictional serial-killing antagonist Johnny Bartlett (named after Caril Ann's family) is obsessed with beating Charles Starkweather's "score" of 11. Bartlett's backstory appears to be patterned after Starkweather. For the Matt Helm spy novel by Donald Hamilton, see The Frighteners (novel). ...

A metalcore band from Philadelphia is called Starkweather. Metalcore (also known as hardcore metal) is a fusion genre, mixing elements of metal and hardcore punk. ... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: , Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ... Starkweather are a hardcore / metal band from Philidelphia that formed in the late 80s / early 90s. ...

The San Francisco punk band J Church wrote a song called "Hate So Real" about Starkweather and Fugate. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... J Church is a San Francisco punk rock band fronted by Lance Hahn formed in 1992. ...

His last name is mentioned as one of the disembodied brains in the book Krokodil Tears by Jack Yeovil as part of the Dark Future series. Kim Newman (born July 31, 1959) is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. ... Dark Future is a game by Games Workshop. ...

Liza Ward's novel Outside Valentine is a fictional retelling of the Charles Starkweather murders and their far-reaching impact. Liza is the granddaughter of Starkweather victims C. Lauer and Clara Ward.

The name of the main antagonist in the Rockstar video game Manhunt is Lionel Starkweather. It has been suggested that Rockstar Advanced Game Engine be merged into this article or section. ... Manhunter: New York and Manhunter 2: San Francisco Manhunt is a controversial video game released by Rockstar Games in November, 2003. ...

Victims

1. Robert Colvert (21), gas station attendant
2. Marion Bartlett, Caril Ann's stepfather
3. Velda Bartlett, Caril Ann's mother
4. Betty Jean Bartlett (2), Marion and Velda's daughter
5. August Meyer (70), Starkweather's family friend
6. Robert Jensen (17)
7. Carol King (16), Robert's girlfriend
8. C. Lauer Ward (47), wealthy industrialist
9. Clara Ward, C. Lauer Ward's wife
10. Lillian Fencl (51), Clara Ward's maid
11. Merle Collison, traveling salesman

References

1. ^ http://observer.guardian.co.uk/stephenking/story/0,7763,368455,00.html

• Newton, Michael. Waste Land: The Savage Odyssey of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate. 1988, Pocket, 384 pages. ISBN 0671001981.

• Del Harding, reporter for the Lincoln, Nebr., Star, who covered the murders, the Starkweather and Fugate trials, and Starkweather's execution.

External links

• Starkweather story from crimelibrary.com