The bizarre story of America’s serial killer Carroll Edward “Eddie” Cole

Carroll Edward “Eddie” Cole was an American serial killer who killed no fewer than 14 women between 1971 and 1980. What was unique about this serial killer was that he repeatedly contacted the authorities before his first murder and told them about his murder fantasies, but they did not take his warning seriously. But who was Carroll Edward Cole, who, in addition to the 14 women, had already murdered a classmate at the age of 8? Carroll was born on May 9, 1938, in Sioux City. He was the second child of LaVerne and Vesta Cole. After the birth of his younger sister in 1939, the family moved to California, where Eddie’s father found work in a shipyard. Soon after, he went off to fight in World War II. While his father was away at war, his mother had several affairs, sometimes taking Eddie with her. Afterwards, she threatened Eddie, telling him to keep quiet and not to tell his father about her affairs under any circumstances. Eddie’s mother was emotionally abusive towards him and dressed him like a girl. At school, Cole was bullied by his classmates because of his feminine first name. At the age of eight, he took revenge on his biggest tormentor, named Duane, when he and other classmates went on a trip to the swimming lake. When he and Duane were alone, he drowned him in the lake. This event was initially considered an accident until Eddie confessed to Duane’s murder many years later in his autobiography in prison. Despite the murder, the humiliation from his mother and classmates continued. A rage built up inside him. An intelligence test in February 1953 determined that Eddie had an IQ of 152; he was highly gifted. But due to emotional stress, he was unable to concentrate on his studies at school. He was considered a poor student who sought refuge in alcohol. He had been drinking regularly since high school, which is why he was expelled from school. To get alcohol, he robbed liquor stores. He committed several minor thefts in his youth and was arrested. In February 1957, he enlisted in the Navy as a temporary soldier. But Eddie continued to drink and was discharged from the military in 1958 for stealing pistols. He returned to his parents’ home, where he consumed vast amounts of alcohol every day and got by doing odd jobs. On June 1, 1960, he attacked two couples sitting on a park bench. He struck them with a hammer, without seriously injuring them, but was sentenced to 30 days in a labor camp. In January 1961, he contacted the police in Richmond and said that he was plagued by violent fantasies in which he strangled women. He was then admitted to a psychiatric clinic, where he remained for 90 days. Six months after his release, Eddie stood trial for car theft. He was able to convince the judge to admit him to Atascadero State Hospital, which enabled him to receive therapy at the state’s expense. After his release, he found refuge with his parents once again. But they were fed up with his excessive drinking. Finally, his father bought him a bus ticket to Dallas to stay with his older brother Richard. On July 9, 1963, Eddie attempted to strangle a woman while drunk. His attempt failed, and Eddie swallowed a month’s supply of sleeping pills to end his life. However, he was discovered in time and his stomach was pumped. He then met Neville “Billy” Withworth, an alcoholic stripper, whom he married in November 1963. The marriage ended after two years when Eddie burned down a motel because he was convinced that Whitworth had been having sex with other men there. After serving his prison sentence, he attempted to strangle an 11-year-old girl in Missouri while she was sleeping, which led to a five-year prison sentence. After his release from prison, Eddie settled in Nevada, where he again attempted to strangle two women. After he checked himself into a psychiatric facility again, his murderous fantasies were noted, but the doctors decided against further incarceration and sent him back to San Diego. Eddie’s first murder victim was 39-year-old Essie Louise Buck, a bar owner in San Diego, whom he invited for a drive in his car on May 7, 1971. Eddie strangled her in his car and drove around with her body in the trunk before finally disposing of it on his 33rd birthday. Just two weeks later, he killed an unidentified woman named Wilma and buried her near San Isidoro. A week later, he killed a third woman whose name he did not know. He always followed the same pattern. First, he got drunk with the woman, then they had sex before he strangled her. Eddie later claimed that these women had been unfaithful to their husbands, which reminded him of his cheating mother. In July 1973, Eddie married bartender Diana Pashal, who was also an alcoholic. Their relationship was marked by conflict, and Eddie often preferred to spend days alone after an argument. During these absences, he committed murders. Eddie toured across the US. In August 1975, he strangled Myrlene “Teepee” Hamer in Casper. In May 1977, he strangled prostitute Kathlyn Blum in a backyard in Las Vegas. In November 1977, he ended up in Oklahoma City, where on November 24, he found a dead woman with her feet and right arm severed lying in his bathtub. He had a complete blackout. On the stove, he found a pan containing steaks that he had cut from the dead woman’s body and fried. Cole then dismembered the body with a kitchen knife and a hacksaw, put the pieces in garbage bags, and disposed of them at a landfill. He then returned to his wife Diana, who was now living in San Diego. Eddie did not change his lifestyle, which involved cheating on Diana left, right, and center. On August 27, during one of his bar crawls, he met 40-year-old Bonnie Sue O’Neill, whom he dragged into the storage room of a household goods store, where he had the “best sex of his life.” When she mentioned afterwards that she had to call her husband, he strangled her. Just one month later, on September 26, 1979, he finally strangled his 35-year-old wife Diana. When a suspicious neighbor alerted the police eight days later, they found her body wrapped in a blanket in a closet. However, the medical examiner attributed Eddie’s wife’s death to alcohol poisoning, as her blood alcohol concentration was 2.5 per mille. Eddie fled to Los Angeles, where he worked as a driver for a charity and collected clothing donations. He fell in love with a colleague, who became Eddie’s third wife. Of course, Eddie continued to have extramarital affairs. On November 3, 1979, he met Marie Cushman in a bar in Las Vegas. That same evening, they went to a motel, where he strangled her. After the murder, he went on his honeymoon to Texas with his wife. During a traffic stop, Eddie was unable to produce a valid driver’s license, so the officer checked Eddie’s name. He discovered that Eddie was wanted for embezzlement. As a repeat offender, he was transferred to the Forensic Clinic in Springfield, where he was to serve his sentence and be examined. On October 4, 1980, he was released from the clinic. This time, he was given a bus ticket to Dallas, where he strangled three more women in November 1980. In one of these cases, he was considered a suspect and was also found at the scene of the third murder. The police initially concluded that the second victim had probably died of natural causes. Just as Eddie was about to be ruled out as a suspect, he confessed to the murders and all the others. He claimed to have murdered at least fourteen women in the past nine years, but added that there might be more, as he often did not remember the crimes due to his heavy alcohol consumption. On April 9, 1981, he was convicted of the three murders in Texas and sentenced to life imprisonment. Eddie then planned his escape from Huntsville State Prison. However, when he injured himself on the planned escape date and was transferred to another ward, his plan was thwarted. In 1984, his mother died, and according to reports, Eddie’s attitude changed. He agreed to face further murder charges in Nevada, even though this could potentially result in the death penalty. In February 1984, Eddie was transferred to Nevada, where he was charged and convicted of the strangulation murders of two women in 1977 and 1979. In October 1984, he received the death penalty, which he had requested at his own request. When his sentence was announced, Eddie thanked the judge. Before his execution, he reportedly converted to Catholicism. Among the victims for whom Eddie was convicted were Kathlyn Blum, Marie Cushman, Sally Thompson, Dorothy King, and Wanda Roberts, the last three of whom he murdered in Texas. On the day of his execution, opponents of the death penalty attempted to commute his sentence, but Eddie protested. For his last meal, Eddie requested giant fried shrimp, French fries, a salad with French dressing, and Boston clam chowder, a clam soup made from large clams. The night before, he had asked for Kentucky Fried Chicken, but the guards could only offer him chicken nuggets because he was not allowed to have any food with bones. Eddie Cole was executed by lethal injection at Nevada State Prison at 2:10 a.m. on December 6, 1985. Hours after his execution, his brain was removed and examined for abnormalities at the University of Nevada-Reno School of Medicine. However, no abnormalities were found. Thus ended the story of Carroll Edward “Eddie” Cole, who went down in American criminal history as the first serial killer to announce his murders in advance. But no one had taken his cries for help seriously.