Book Review
Title: Edmund Kemper: The True Story of The Co-Ed Killer by Jack Rosewood
Genre: Non-Fiction, True Crime
Rating: 2.25 Stars
I have always been fascinated with serial killers and after reading Mindhunter and watching the show, it reignited my fascination and this was the first book I picked up, obviously looking into Ed Kemper, the Co-Ed Killer. The first portion of the book introduces us to early childhood, Kemper for the first part of his childhood was seemingly normal but he did suffer a lot of verbal and mental abuse from his mother and this would only get worse after her divorce from Kemper’s father. In the aftermath he was locked in the basement, separated from his sisters because his mother feared that Kemper would rape them due to his larger size. This obviously had a massive impact on Kemper’s early development leading to him dropping out of school despite his near genius IQ and run away to be with his father who he had a better relationship with.
However, upon arriving he learnt that his father had remarried and had a new family and there was no room from Ed who was only 15 years old at the time. This rejection coupled with his mother’s abuse landed him in the care of his grandparents but he soon learnt that his grandmother was a lot like his mother. Kemper had already exhibited many violent behaviours at this time like killing the family pets and beheading his sister’s dolls and finding pleasure in it. Soon after arriving with his grandparents, Kemper murdered the pair of them. In interviews he explained he wanted to see what it would feel like to kill his grandmother and only murdered his grandfather because Kemper didn’t want him to see what he had done. Under the weight of his emotions he called his mother who advised him to call the police and turn himself in which Kemper did. He spent 6 years in a mental hospital receive treatment for his paranoid schizophrenia but there is made friends with the staff and learnt to pass the tests that the doctors were giving him leading to him being released on his 21st birthday back into the care of his mother. However, Kemper had managed to create some level of self-respect and wouldn’t break under his mother’s even more ruthless taunting anymore.
It was around this time that Kemper began dating but after a disastrous attempt he didn’t try again which only feed to inferiority that Kemper was already feeling and the anger that came with it. After many attempts of picking up women in his car in attempt to build friendships or relationships with them, Kemper didn’t think it was working a progressed to more drastic methods of getting what he wanted. After fantasizing about killing young women and keeping weapons in his car, Kemper eventually picks up his first two victims, Mary Ann Pesce and Anita Luchessa. Kemper has admitted that Anita was flirtatious but he was more attracted to Mary Ann. After holding the girls at gunpoint, he attempts to rape Mary Ann but his inexperience with women and sex means he can’t do it. This sparks his anger and he ends up stabbing her to death quickly followed by Anita because he can’t let her go. After he takes the bodies back to his apartment being stopped by a police officer along the way but getting away with a warning for his broken tail light. He dismembers the bodies and uses them for his sexual desires before eventually disposing them. While the remains were found in part, no suspicion fell on Kemper and he went out hunting for another victim shortly after.
After this Kemper became a regular in a local bar called The Jury Room where many of the officers working the case went for drinks. Kemper who had been rejected from the police for being too tall had a fascination with law enforcement especially after his first murders. He then picked up 15 year old, Aiko Koo and this could have been the end of Kemper. At some point during this kidnapping, Kemper locked himself out of the car and Aiko let him back in where he proceed to rape and kill her. One interesting thing to note is that Kemper and another serial killer, Herbert Mullin were operating in the same area and the same time. They were also arrested close together and ended up in opposing cells where Kemper “trained” Mullin. These facts are broken up by commentary from various medical professionals, police officer and from Kemper himself. If anyone has seen the show Mindhunter on Netflix then you will know that Kemper was very open with the FBI about his crimes and the manner he committed them. Things were also about to get a lot worse for the community after Kemper had a massive argument with his mother and ended up picking up two more girls, Rosalind Thorpe and Allison Liu.
Kemper deals with the girls like he has with his other victims but the end is drawing close now, Kemper has often stated that the murders he committed was because he wanted to kill his mother and that hatred has been transferred onto other women. After another argument with his mother, Clarnell, Kemper does kill and some of the things he did to her after death are difficult to read. He also then invited Sally Hallett, his mother’s best friend over and kills her as well. After the object of his hatred is gone Kemper feels a loss of some sort coupled with the police looking into his owning of a firearm because of his record he flees. After hours of driving he eventually phones the police to turn himself in but at first many don’t believe what Kemper is telling them about killing his mother until they investigate the apartment and find out it is true. By the time the police mobilise and arrest, Kemper he has been waiting for them for a while and many of the arresting officer are concerned with Kemper’s size but ultimately describe him as being a gentle giant. We get to briefly read about the trial and Kemper’s subsequent conviction and incarceration but the interesting thing to note is the duality of his character. Many people that knew Kemper including law enforcement would describe him as being a quiet, gentle person who was soft spoken and highly intelligent. The phrase gentle giant is often attached to him and if you read Mindhunter even John Douglas from the FBI says that if he didn’t know what Kemper had done he could imagine them being friends. Overall, seeing the information laid out makes the book easy to read despite its difficult content but Rosewood doesn’t make any interesting commentary on Kemper or his crimes and at times reads like a Wikipedia pages which is the reason for the low rating.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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