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Adolescence
Named Edmund Emil Kemper III, he is born on December 18, 1948, in Burbank, California. He had one sister but would soon have another after his birth. He lived with his parents until they split as he was a child, beginning his psychological downturn. -
First Murders
At age 14 Kemper was sent to live with his grandparents after running away from his mother's house. On August 27th, 1964 the argument turned deadly. Kemper shot his grandmother in the back of the head, for reasons unknown besides Kemper's explanation, He said, " I just wanted to know what it felt like to kill grandma." When Edmund's grandfather returned he killed him as well. Kemper knew that his grandfather would become angry and he did not want him to see his dead wife. -
Arrested for Murder
At his time, Ed Kemper's crimes were considered to be too obscure for a young 15-year-old to take part in. After being arrested, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. After being told of his condition, he was admitted to Atascadero State Hospital, a home for the clinically insane. Soon after being sent to this hospital, he became friends with his counselor and was released within 4 years of admission. -
After Release
On his birthday, December 18, 1969, he was released from the State Hospital on parole. After this time, against medical and legal suggestions, he moved back into his mom's home in Santa Cruz, California. This was unadvised due to her physiological and physical abuse. Soon After moving in, he applied to become a State Trooper, despite being too large to join so he was rejected. Edmund also was part of a motorcycle accident that injured his arm, making him unable to work. -
Beginnings of the "Co-Ed Killer"
Unable to work, Kemper turned his mind toward other pursuits. He noticed a large number of young women hitchhiking in the area. In the new car he bought with some of his settlement money, Kemper began storing the tools he thought he might need to fulfill his murderous desires, including a gun, a knife and handcuffs. -
Return to Killing - #1 & 2
Starting out, Edmund Kemper began picking up younger female hitchhikers, but he let them go. However, this changed when he gave a ride to Fresno State Students Mary Ann Pesce & Anita Luchessa. They would never make it to their destination. Their bodies wouldnt be found until later that year on August 15th, then the head of Pesce was found in the woods near Santa Cruz. Later during trial, it was found both were stabbed in strangled. Luchessa's remains would never be found. -
Serial Killer - #3
Only months later, on September 14, 1972, Edmund picked up Aiko Koo, a 15-year-old girl from Berkley, California. She decided to get in the car with Kemper instead of waiting for the bus to get to her Dance Class. Into the dark of the night, she met the same fate as Luchessa & Pesce. -
Serial Killer - #4
Once again in January 1973, Edmund Kemper fed into his murderous impulses controlling his mind. In the dark of the night, he picked up another hitchhiker named Cindy Schall. After picking her up, she was shot and killed by Kemper, soon after being brought back to his home where her corpse was hidden. The next day, he then dismembered her body, tossing all except her head in the ocean where they would be found washed up on the shore. Edmund then buried her head in his mother's backyard. -
Serial Killer - #5 & 6
Just one month later, Edmund 24-year-old Rosalind Thorpe and 23-year-old Allison Liu are picked up by Kemper who got a campus pass from his Mother to use for his desires. After killing both women, his new postmortem routine sets in when he cuts off their heads using them to fulfill sexual desires including raping both severed heads. After completing his emotional needs, he dumped both woman's body parts throughout northern California, before being found later on Highway 1 in San Mateo County. -
His Final Murders
Following the deaths of the 2 College teens, Kemper finally committed the murder he longed for, his own mother. On Good Friday in April 1973, Edmund went to his mother's home and began an argument. He then attacked her as she was sleeping, striking her head with a hammer and slitting her throat. Just like his past victims, he decapitated her, cut off her hands, and then her larynx. With this, he then put it down the garbage disposal. This would be the beginning of the end for the Co-Ed Killer. -
Last Deadly Desire
Soon after murdering and dismantling his own mother's body, Kemper called her best friend over for dinner. Only now when she got there, Edmund grabbed her and then strangled her to her death. Despite his usual post-death routine, his emotional downward spiral got the best of him, so he left her body in the closet of his mother's home. -
The Confession
The very next day, Kemper fled the area driving to Pueblo, Colorado where just less than 24 hours after his last murders, he called the Santa Cruz Police to confess his deadly sins. It took nearly 7 calls for the police to believe him, due to Ed's friendly attitude towards their officers as well as community members in the past. During consequent interrogations, they finally found the murderer that was hiding right under them, the infamous Co-Ed Killer's identity was finally revealed. -
The End of The Co-Ed Killer
At the age of 24, Edmund Emil Kemper III was charged with First-Degree Murder on 8 counts. Earlier in October he was first charged and prosecuted where he was found guilty of his crimes on November 5, 1973. The Judge asked Kemper what he believed his punishment should be, and grimly he answered that he should be tortured to his death by pain and suffering. Instead, all the infamous "Co-Ed Killer" got was 8 consecutive life sentences where he is still being held today in Vacaville, California
