The story of Patrick Kearney, the highway murderer

For almost a decade, three serial killers spread terror on the streets of California. Although they murdered independently, they mimicked each other. His modus operandi It was so identical and the victims they chose were so similar that the police initially attributed all the murders to a single individual.

One of these murderers was Patrick Kearney, who, like the other two murderers, was called “the highway murderer.” The reason for this nickname was because several of the victims were picked up (and later killed) when they were doing hitch-hiking. Over time, her pseudonym became the trash bag killerwhich, translated into Spanish, means ‘the garbage bag killer’.

In this text we tell you the story of this serial killer who caused terror in California for fifteen years.

The life of Patrick Kearney

Patrick Kearney was born in the late 40s of the last century, in Los Angeles. Although there is a belief that great serial killers come from quite unstructured families, Kearney is an exception to this rule, since, After an analysis of his childhood and adolescence, it was determined that his family was normal.

However, there were episodes in his childhood that made this a traumatic stage. In this sense, it is known that he suffered bullying for years, which laid the foundations for a purpose that, over time, would become real: murder anyone who posed a threat.

As a teenager, he received many insults and death warnings, including one that would leave him scarred: “I’m going to kill you, faggot.” This phrase was burned into the mind of this young murderer. It caused him to become obsessed with and harbor negative beliefs toward the gay community in his county, to such an extent that his victims were always young men.

However, Patrick Kearney was very intelligent. He had different skills, spoke fluent Spanish and completed an engineering degree. Thanks to these cognitive skills, she got a large number of jobs and, therefore, never lacked shelter or food to eat..

After years, she fell in love with a man, with whom she decided to move in. His name was David Hill, and with him she settled in Los Angeles in 1967. Around this time, Kearney would commit several of the murders that he confessed to in 1977.

The crimes

After confessing to his murders, authorities were able to prove that Patrick Kearney murdered 21 men. However, his confession consisted of 28 homicides and, according to information collected over time, it has been suggested that Kearney may have murdered up to 40 individuals.

Patrick devised a method that allowed him to control the situation of each murder. Unlike the other two serial killers that we mentioned at the beginning of the article, he was neat, refined and clean.

His victims died without suffering too much, since he often shot them unexpectedly while driving. However, although the procedure he carried out has been considered aseptic, the reality is that he made cuts and dismembered and amputated various parts and organs of his victims.

The trash bag killer

In all cases, the modus operandi by Patrick Kearney was too similar. He would pick up individuals on the road, shoot them, rape their bodies and dismember them. Next, he placed the remains in black bags and left them in different places in the desert. For this reason, the trailer was established the trash bag killer.

Among his victims, there are cases like that of Oliver, 13 years old, a boy who, on March 21, 1976, did hitch-hiking in Baja California. Patrick Kearney took him in and the young man was never heard from again. In fact, his body was never found, as was the case with several of this murderer’s victims.

Later, Kearney confessed to having had necrophilic practices with Oliver’s body, and then dismembered it. Today, it is hypothesized that parts of it may exist in various parts of Los Angeles County.

Kearney’s victims were always males between the ages of 5 and 28. This provides relevant information, since this murderer could have suffered, in addition to necrophilia, a paraphilic disorder known as pedophilia disorder.

Larry Espy, 17; Ronald Dean, 5 years old; David Allen, 27; Wilfrid Lawrence, 20; Nicolás Hernández-Jiménez, 28 years old; John Demchick, 13 years old, are some of the names of the victims of this serial killer.

Capture and conviction

LaMay, a boy of just 18 years old, was the victim who took a sad victory to the grave. As a result of his murder, Patrick Kerney was arrested, tried and convicted.

He managed to avoid the death penalty, since the judge valued the fact that he confessed to his crimes and declared his guilt. However, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Currently, Patrick Kearney is being held at Mule Creek State Prison in California..

Main image credits: Infobae.com

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