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EspañolALBERT FISH
'Albert Hamilton Fish' (May 19, 1870 – January 16, 1936) was an American serial killer and cannibal.
He was also known as the 'Gray Man', the 'Werewolf of Wysteria' and possibly the 'Brooklyn Vampire'. He boasted that he molested over 100 children, and was a suspect in at least five killings. Fish confessed to three murders that police were able to trace to a known homicide, and confessed to stabbing at least two other people. He was put on trial for the murder of Grace Budd, and was convicted and executed.
Biography
Early life
He was born as 'Hamilton Fish' in Washington, D.C., to Randall Fish (1795-1875). [1] He said he had been named after Hamilton Fish, a distant relative. His father was 43 years older than his mother.; 1870 US Census; Washington, District of Columbia Fish was the youngest child and he had three living siblings: Walter, Annie, and Edwin Fish. He wished to be called "Albert" after a dead sibling, and to escape the nickname 'Ham and Eggs' that he was given at an orphanage in which he spent many of his early years.
Many members of his family had mental illness, and one suffered from religious mania. His father was a river boat captain, but by 1870 he was a fertilizer manufacturer. The elder Fish died of a heart attack at the Sixth Street Station of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1875 in Washington, D.C. Fish's mother put him into an orphanage. He was frequently whipped and beaten there, and eventually discovered that he enjoyed physical pain. The beatings would often give him erections, for which the other orphans teased him.
By 1879, his mother got a government job and was able to look after him. However, his various experiences before this had affected him. He started a homosexual relationship in 1882, at the age of 12, with a telegraph boy. The youth also introduced Fish to such practices as drinking urine and coprophagia. Fish began visiting public baths where he could watch boys undress, and spent a great portion of his weekends on these visits.
Albert Fish's mugshot in 1903
By 1890, Fish had arrived in New York City, and he said he became a male prostitute. He also said he began raping young boys, a crime he kept committing even after his mother arranged a marriage. In 1898, he was married to a woman nine years his junior. They had six children: Albert, Anna, Gertrude, Eugene, John, and Henry Fish. He was arrested for embezzlement and was sentenced to incarceration in Sing Sing in 1903. He regularly had sex with men while in prison.
Throughout 1898 he worked as a house painter, and he said he molested more than 100 children, mostly boys under six. He later recounted an incident in which a male lover took him to a waxworks museum, where Fish was fascinated by a bisection of a penis; soon after, he developed a morbid interest in castration. During a relationship with a mentally retarded man, Fish attempted to castrate him after tying him up. The man became frightened and fled. Fish then began intensifying his visits to brothels where he could be whipped and beaten more often.Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman; ''The Serial Killers'', Virgin Publishing Ltd. 2004, page 176
In January 1917, his wife left him for John Straube, a handyman who boarded with the Fish family.[2] Following this rejection, Fish began to hear voices; for example, he once wrapped himself up in a carpet, explaining that he was following the instructions of John the Apostle.
Early attacks and attempted abductions
Fish committed what may have been his first attack on a child named Thomas Bedden. [3][4] in Wilmington, Delaware in 1910. Afterward, he stabbed a mentally retarded boy around 1919 in Georgetown, Washington, D.C..
On July 11, 1924 Fish found eight-year-old Beatrice Kiell playing alone on her parents' Staten Island farm. He offered her money to come and help him look for rhubarb in the neighboring fields. She was about to leave the farm when her mother chased Fish away. Fish left, but returned later to the Kiel's barn where he tried to sleep for the night before being discovered by Hans Kiel and told to leave.
Grace Budd
Grace Budd (1918-1928)
On May 25, 1928 Edward Budd put a classified ad in the Sunday edition of the ''New York World'' that read: "Young man, 18, wishes position in country. Edward Budd, 406 West 15th Street." On May 28, 1928, Fish, then 58 years old, visited the Budd family in Manhattan, New York City under the pretense of hiring Edward. He introduced himself as Frank Howard, a farmer from Farmingdale, New York. When he arrived, Fish met Budd's younger sister, 10-year-old Grace. Fish promised to hire Budd and said he would send for him in a few days. On his second visit he agreed to hire Budd, then convinced the parents, Delia Flanagan and Albert Budd I, to let Grace accompany him to a birthday party that evening at his sister's home. Albert senior was a porter for the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Grace had a sister, Beatrice; and two other brothers, Albert Budd II; and George Budd. Fish left with Grace that day, but never came back.[5]
The police arrested Charles Edward Pope on September 5, 1930 as a suspect of the kidnapping. He was a 66-year-old apartment house superintendent, and he was accused by his estranged wife.[6] He spent 108 days in jail between his arrest and trial on December 22, 1930.[7]
The letter
Seven years later, in November 1934, an anonymous letter was sent to the girl's parents which led the police to Albert Fish. The letter is quoted here, with all of Fish's misspellings and grammatical errors:
Mrs. Budd was illiterate and could not read the letter herself, so she had her son read it instead.[8] Fish later admitted to his attorney that he did indeed rape Grace.[9] Fish was a compulsive liar, however, so this may be untrue. He had told the police, when asked, that it "never even entered his head" to rape the girl.Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman, ''The Serial Killers'', Virgin Publishing Ltd. 2004, page 70
Capture
The letter was delivered in an envelope that had a small hexagonal emblem with the letters "N.Y.P.C.B.A." standing for "New York Private Chauffeur's Benevolent Association". A janitor at the company told police he had taken some of the stationery home but left it at his rooming house at 200 East 52nd Street when he moved out. The landlady of the rooming house said that Fish had checked out of that room a few days earlier. She said that Fish's son sent him money and he had asked her to hold his next check for him. William F. King,[10] the lead investigator, waited outside the room until Fish returned. He agreed to go to the headquarters for questioning, but at the street door lunged at King with a razor in each hand.[11] King disarmed Fish and took him to police headquarters. Fish made no attempt to deny the Grace Budd murder, saying that he had meant to go to the house to kill Edward Budd, Grace's brother.[12]
Postcapture discoveries
Billy Gaffney
A child named Billy Gaffney was playing in the hallway outside of his family's apartment in Brooklyn with his friend, Billy Beaton on February 11, 1927. Both of the boys disappeared, but the friend was found on the roof of the apartment house. When asked what happened to Gaffney, Beaton said "the boogey man took him." Initially Peter Kudzinowski was a suspect in the murder of Billy Gaffney. Then, Joseph Meehan, a motorman on a Brooklyn trolley, saw a picture of Fish in the newspaper and identified him as the old man that he saw February 11, 1927, who was trying to quiet a little boy sitting with him on the trolley. The boy wasn't wearing a jacket and was crying for his mother and was dragged by the man on and off the trolley. Police matched the description of the child to Billy Gaffney. Gaffney's body was never recovered.[13] Billy's mother visited Fish in Sing Sing to try and get more details of her son's death.[14] Fish confessed the following:
Previous incarceration
Fish married on February 6, 1930 at Waterloo, New York to "Mrs. Estella Wilcox" and divorced after one week.[15] Fish had been arrested in May 1930 for "sending an obscene letter to an African American woman who answered an advertisement for a maid."[16] He had been sent to the Bellevue psychiatric hospital in 1930 and 1931 for observation, following his arrests.[17]
Trial and execution
Fish inserted over a dozen needles into his pelvis and perineum as seen in this x-ray used at his trial
The trial of Albert Fish for the premeditated murder of Grace Budd began on Monday, March 11, 1935, in White Plains, New York with Frederick P. Close as judge, and Chief Assistant District Attorney, Elbert F. Gallagher, as the prosecuting attorney. James Dempsey was Fish's defense attorney. The trial lasted for ten days. Fish pleaded insanity, and claimed to have heard voices from God telling him to kill children. Several psychiatrists testified about Fish's sexual fetishes, including coprophilia, urophilia, pedophilia and masochism, but there was disagreement as to whether these activities meant he was insane. The defense's chief expert witness was Fredric Wertham, a psychiatrist with a focus on child development who conducted psychiatric examinations for the New York criminal courts; Wertham stated that Fish was insane. Another defense witness was Mary Nicholas, Fish's 17-year-old stepdaughter. She described how Fish taught her and her brothers and sisters a "game" involving masochism and child molestation.
The jury found him to be sane and guilty, and the judge ordered the death sentence.
After being sentenced Fish confessed to the murder of eight-year-old Francis X. McDonnell, killed on Staten Island. Francis was playing on the front porch of his home near Port Richmond, Staten Island in July 15, 1924. Francis's mother saw an "old man" walk by clenching and unclenching his fists. He walked past without saying anything. Later in the day, the old man was seen again, but this time he was watching Francis and his friends play. Francis' body was found in the woods near where a neighbor had seen Francis and the "old man" going earlier that afternoon. He had been assaulted and strangled with his suspenders.[18]New York Times; March 26, 1935; Fish is Sentenced; Admits New Crimes; Death in Electric Chair Fixed for Week of April 29, 1935. Move to Set Aside Verdict Denied. White Plains, New York, March 25, 1935. As Albert H. Fish was sentenced to die in the electric chair at Sing Sing, Westchester authorities revealed today that he had confessed to a series of other crimes in various parts of the country.; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
Fish arrived in March of 1935, and was executed on January 16, 1936, in the electric chair at Sing Sing. He entered the chamber at 11:06 p.m. and was pronounced dead three minutes later.[19] He was buried in the Sing Sing Prison Cemetery. He was recorded to have said that electrocution would be "the supreme thrill of my life".[20] Just before the switch was flipped, he stated "I don't even know why I am here."
Other possible victims
Fish denied involvement with any other murders. However he was a suspect in three other murders. Detective William King believed Fish may have been the "Brooklyn vampire", a rapist and murderer who mainly preyed on children. They were:
★ 1927 - Yetta Abramowitz, age 12, in The Bronx. She was strangled and beaten on the roof of a five-story apartment house at 1013 Simpson Street. She died in a hospital soon after she was found. The murderer escaped, but 20 detectives and many uniformed policemen were hunting for a "tall young man" who was said to have tried to lure several young girls of the neighborhood into dark hallways and alleys on May 14, 1927.[21]
★ 1932 - Mary Ellen O'Connor, age 16, in Far Rockaway in Queens on February 15, 1932. Her mutilated body was found in the woods close to a house that Fish had been painting.New York Times; December 15, 1934, Saturday; Police Try To Link Budd Girl's Slayer To 3 Other Crimes; Fish Questioned On O'Connor, Collings And Gaffney Cases. He Denies Part In Them.; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
★ 1932 - Benjamin Collings, age 17.
See also
★ Peter Kudzinowski, a serial killer who worked in the same timeframe and location
Footnotes
1. The records of the Congressional Cemetery show that Randall died on 16 October, 1875; and was buried on 19 October, 1875 in grave R96/89. Randall was married to Ellen (1838-?) of Ireland
2. http://www.prairieghosts.com/fish.html Prarie Ghosts: Albert Fish; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
3. No record of Bedden case
4. The movie "Albert Fish" IMDB uses the name "Kedden" in the credits for the name of the child, although the New York Times uses the name "Thomas Bedden".
5. 1920 US Census; Manhattan
6. New York Times; September 5, 1930; Wife Accuses Caretaker as Abductor Who Vanished With Girl Two Years Ago; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
7. New York Times; December 22, 1930; Charles Edward Pope, who has spent the last 108 days in jail after his arrest in connection with the disappearance of Grace Budd, 10 years old, who was last seen at her parents' home, 406 West Fifteenth Street, on June 3, 1928, will go on trial today before Judge Allen in General Sessions on a charge of kidnapping the missing girl.; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
8. Harold Schechter and David Everitt, ''The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers'', Pocket Books, 2006. Page 163
9. Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman, ''The Serial Killers'', Virgin Publishing Ltd. 2004, page 69
10. New York Times July 161944, Sunday; William King Dead.; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
11. Harold Schechter; Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer. ISBN 0671678752
12. Fish supplied the following biographical information in captivity: "I was born May 19, 1870, in Washington, DC. We lived on B Street, N.E., between Second and Third. My father was Captain Randall Fish, 32nd-degree Mason, and he is buried in the Grand Lodge grounds of the Congressional Cemetery. He was a Potomac River boat captain, running from D.C. to Marshall Hall, Virginia [sic]. My father dropped dead October 15, 1875, in the old Pennsylvania Station where President Garfield was shot, and I was placed in St. John's Orphanage in Washington. I was there till I was nearly nine, and that's where I got started wrong. We were unmercifully whipped. I saw boys doing many things they should not have done. I sang in the choir from 1880 to 1884, soprano, at St. John's. I came to New York. I was a good painter, interiors or anything. I got an apartment and brought my mother up from Washington. We lived at 76 West 101st Street, and that's where I met my wife. After our six children were born, she left me. She took all the furniture and didn't even leave a mattress for the children to sleep on. I'm still worried about my children, you'd think they'd come to visit their old dad in jail, but they haven't."
13. Billy Gaffney's parents were Elizabeth and Edward Gaffney.
14. Fish Victims; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
15. New York Times; December 14, 1934, pg 3; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
16. New York Times, December 15, 1934, pg 1; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
17. New York Times; March 13, 1935, pg 40; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
18. New York Times; December 17, 1934; Fish Denies Guilt in Gaffney Crime.; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
19. New York Times; January 17, 1936; Albert Fish, 65, Pays Penalty at Sing Sing. Bronx Negro Also Is Put to Death. Ossining, New York, January 16, 1936. Albert Fish, 65 years old, of 55 East 128th Street, Manhattan, a house painter who murdered Grace Budd, 6, after attacking her in a Westchester farmhouse in 1928, was put to death tonight in the electric chair at Sing Sing prison.; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
20. Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman, ''The Serial Killers'', Virgin Publishing Ltd. 2004, page 173
21. New York Times; May 15, 1927; Yetta Abramowitz was strangled and beaten on the roof of a five-story apartment house at 1,013 Simpson Street, the Bronx, and died in a hospital soon after she was found. The murderer escaped, but twenty detectives and many uniformed policemen were hunting for a "tall young man" who was said to have tried to lure several young girls of the neighborhood into dark hallways and alleys.; Retrieved on February 14, 2007
External links
★ Albert Fish bibliography
★ Crime Library Article: Albert Fish
★ Prarie Ghosts: Albert Fish
★ Fish family history
★
★
★ Albert Fish the film
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