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Joseph Kallinger |
VICTIMS: 3 |
 Where
do we start with this guy? Well, Joe lived in a 20 foot pit in the cellar of his house. He also wore wedges in his shoes to adjust the 'list' in his body to harmonize with his brain. And to top it off - He was constantly in touch with both God and Satan. It seems that both of Them wanted Joseph to bring about Armageddon and annihilate all of mankind. A pretty tall order for one man you might think. Well Joseph didn't. He decided to follow Their orders. In preparation for his assault on mankind Kallinger and his 12-year-old son went on a year long robbery spree basically stealing anything that wasn't bolted down. From mid 1973 till the time of their first abduction in '74 they were never caught in the act. On July 7, 1974, Kallinger decided to move onto bigger and better things. He came across a young boy playing in a Philadelphia playground alone. Not long after the boy was found dead - badly sexually mutilated. Challenger's mission was in operation. Also in July of '74, Kallinger took a large insurance policy out on his second son. It seems that the boy had out lived his usefulness and on the 28th on July 'tragically' drowned. But of course that had nothing to do with the insurance money - did it? The Kallingers decided to kick off 1975 with a big robbery. They held a few hostages when one must have taken Kallinger's eye. She ended up dead. The Kallinger's fled, but didn't do a great job of covering their tracks. the were caught easily and charged with kidnapping, robbery and assault. Kallinger was found guilty of the the lesser charges so police could have him safely locked up while they gathered evidence of more serious charges. And that they did. But by the time the trial came around Kallinger had totally lost it. He was speaking to his 'Lords' every day, and had now developed a second personality - Charlie - who he now said was the person behind the murders. It became obvious to anyone who spend a few minutes with the man that he was a complete nutjob, but the State was really after 'justice', so he was found sane enough to distinguish right from wrong. He was found guilty of murder on October 14, 1976, and sentenced to life in prison, but Kallinger wasn't too interested in being a caged animal. On March 15, 1977, Kallinger set fire to his prison cell, fighting off the guards as they were trying to save him. Unfortunately for Kallinger he didn't die. Apparently he was attempting to fry an egg on his head by covering himself in lighter fluid cracking the egg on his head, then lighting himself up. He was moved to a more appropriate place - A psychiatric Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey. But this place was not to be to his liking either. He stripped the plastic cover from his mattress and attempted to suffocate himself with it. But once again he was not to be in luck. He was saved again to be forced to live a life he obviously didn't want. After another suicide attempt in this facility it became obvious that Kallinger needed to be moved to a more strict Asylum. On May 18, 1978, he was moved to Pennsylvania's Fairview State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The place he should have been sent to in the first place. While here he slashed the throat of a fellow inmate, seriously injuring him. Also while here it was reported that Kallinger still had regular conversations with his invisible friends, and decided that he was going to replace God when he died. He also showed remorse for the murders during this time. I have been reliably informed that he died of a seizure on March 26, 1996. It is unknown whether or not Kallinger had replaced God, but I bet that if he did the world would become a pretty interesting place. In case you
were wondering -
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MY OPINION Kallinger is one of those killers that truly were insane. And these are some of my favorites (Mullins, Chase, etc.). I really do like the ones who honestly believe that they are serving a greater purpose, never questioning why they do what they do (kind of like most religious folk really). The thing about Kallinger that has always bothered me is his son. How the hell could he have been free at 25. As far as I can tell he was very much involved in the killings. But anyway using a 12 year old as an accomplice is a rare one, and one that makes Kallinger original, which you just have to like. |
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