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Jake Bird |
VICTIMS: 40+ |
Jake Bird was born "somewhere out in Louisiana where there ain't no post office." He lived in this place until he was 19 when he seemed to decide that he might like to try a town with a post office. Over the following years of his life he never really settled down anywhere for long. he worked as everything from a manual labourer to a "gandy dancer" on railroads. it was this type of work that built Jake's strength, and also allowed him to keep moving from town to town, always finding something to do for money. Birds travels ended on October 30, 1947, when he was arrested in Tacoma, Washington. It seems Jake was passing through a street when he decided to have a little fun. He chose the house of Bertha Kludt, 52. Also in the house was her teenage daughter, Beverly. Well Jake went around the back of the house and found an axe. He then stripped off all his clothes and took the axe with him into the house. I guess that poor Mrs. Kludt and her daughter were a little surprised by a naked black man running through there house swinging an axe, and the showed there fear by screaming, which alerted neighbors who called police. The police though were not quick enough as by the time they had arrived at the scene Jake had bludgeoned both the Kludt ladies to death with the axe. As they walked through the house they spotted Bird walking in the back yard carrying his shoes. When he seen the police officers he came charging at the cops with a knife. He managed to slash two of them but was overpowered and was beaten into unconsciousness. He spent the next few days in hospital. When he was ready to speak Bird denied the charges. But his stance soon changed when it came out that police had found brain tissue in his trousers, and it would be hard to explain how that got there, so he admitted to the crime. Being a black man accused of killing whites didn't really help his cause much and Bird was sentence to die. It would seem that Jake wasn't ready to go just yet though. He made a few deals and somehow ended up putting the execution back two years, during which time he told of his many crimes throughout his life. From these stories it became fair to assume that Bird was involved in at least 44 murders. Well he at least showed enough knowledge to be consider prime suspect in that many murders. Of these 44 only eleven were proven beyond doubt. Bird had certainly gotten around over the years, he had committed a murder in Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, Ohio, Florida and Wisconsin. In addition to the 44 murders police believed he was involved in many more but these could be just written off as cops trying to clean up there books of unsolved murders (like with Henry Lee Lucas). It seems that Bird like one particular type of victim - white women. He particularly like white women cowering in fear of him. Most were killed with an axe or hatchet also. Jake Birds luck, and confessions, ran out on July 15, 1949. He was hung at Walla Walla in Washington State.
An Interesting Bit:
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MY OPINION Jake Bird is a great. Unlike Henry Lee Lucas he actually committed his crimes, and was able to give a lot more evidence to prove that. He was also one of the earliest black serial killers which makes him special. He also killed cross racially which is another thing that makes him stand out. And all that adds up top one of the better killers in history. An all time great that deserves more credit than shit like Henry lee Lucas. |
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