Carl Panzram's criminal career started at the age of nine when he was arrested for being drunk an disorderly, and by eleven he was already in reform school. It was here that he first learned true sadism. According to Carl, he was tied, naked, to a wooden block and beaten regularly.
In 1921, Panzram served six months in jail in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for burglary and possession of a loaded handgun. When released, he joined a maritime union that was involved in a labor strike. Hard liners in the union got into a brawl with strikebreakers, and Panzram was quickly re-arrested for being involved in a running gun battle with police. He jumped bail and fled the state of Connecticut. A few days later, he stowed away on a ship and landed in Angola, a Portuguese colony on the west coast of Africa.
He eventually got a job with the Sinclair Oil Company as a foreman on an oil-drilling rig. At that time, the American oil industry was involved in an exploratory expedition to search for new sources of oil in Africa. In the coastal town of Luanda, Panzram raped and killed an 11-year-old boy.
"A little nigger boy about 11 or 12 years old came bumming around," he said. Panzram lured the boy back to the Sinclair Oil Company grounds where he sexually assaulted and killed him by bashing his head in with a rock.
"I left him there, but first I committed sodomy on him and then I killed him," Panzram wrote in his confession. "His brains were coming out of his ears when I left him and he will never be any deader."
After this murder, Panzram went back to Lobito Bay on the Atlantic coast where he lived for several weeks in a fishing village. The locals suspected him of the murder but it could never be proven. Several weeks later, he hired six natives to take him into the jungle to hunt for crocodiles, which brought a hefty price from European speculators in the Congo. The natives later demanded a cut of the profits. They paddled into the jungle, never suspecting what Panzram had on his mind. As they went downriver, Panzram shot and killed all six men.
"To some of average intelligence, killing six at once seems an almost impossible feat...It was very much easier for me to kill those six niggers than it was for me to kill only one of the young boys I killed later and some of them were only 11 or 12 years old," he later said.
He shot them all in the back, one by one. While they lay in the bloody canoe, Panzram shot each native again in the back of the head. He then fed the bodies to the hungry crocodiles and rowed back to Lobito Bay. When he docked the boat, he realized he had to get out of the Congo since
"dozens of people saw me at Lobito Bay when I hired these men and the canoe."
After a few days back in the States, Panzram went to the U.S. Customs office in New York City where he renewed his captain's license and retrieved the papers for his yacht, the Akista, wrecked on the Jersey shoals two years before. He planned to steal another boat and refit her under the Akista name. He began to search the local boatyards in the New York area and wandered up the Connecticut coast. He soon drifted into the seaport of Providence, Rhode Island, where he still could not find a boat that resembled the Akista. He continued north along Boston Road into Boston and eventually arrived in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, famous for the 17th century witch trials. There, on the hot afternoon of July 18, 1922, he came across a 12-year-old boy walking alone on the west side of town.
"You will find that I have consistently followed one idea through all my life," he said later, "I preyed upon the weak, the harmless and the unsuspecting." The boy's name was George Henry McMahon who lived at 65 Boston Street in Salem. He had spent most of the day in a neighbor's restaurant until the owner, Mrs. Margaret Lyons, asked George to run an errand.
"About 2:15 I sent him to the A&P store for the milk, giving him fifteen cents," she later told the court. Little George left the restaurant and walked up Boston Street. About an hour later, another neighbor, Mrs. Margaret Crean, saw George walking up the avenue with a stranger.
"In the afternoon of July 18th, while sitting in front of a window in my home, I saw a boy and a man walking up the avenue. The man was dressed in a blue suit and wore a cap," she said later. That man was Carl Panzram.
"The boy's name I didn't know," Panzram said years later, "He told me he was eleven years old...he was carrying a basket or pail in his hand. He told me he was going to the store to do an errand. He told me his aunt ran this store. I asked him if he would like to earn fifty cents. He said yes."
Panzram walked with McMahon to the nearby store where inside, he was even brazen enough to speak with the clerk. A few minutes later, Panzram convinced the child to go for a trolley ride. About a mile from where they boarded the car, they exited the trolley in a deserted section of the town.
"I grabbed him by the arm and told him I was going to kill him," Panzram said in his confession.
"I stayed with the boy about three hours. During that time, I committed sodomy on the boy six times, and then I killed him by beating his brains out with a rock...I had stuffed down his throat several sheets of paper out of a magazine."
He then covered the body up with tree branches and hurried out of town. "I left him lying there with his brains coming out of his ears," he said. But as he fled the wooded area where he left McMahon's body, two Salem residents passed by.
They took notice of the strange man, who was carrying what appeared to be a newspaper, walking quickly away. He seemed nervous and a little frantic. But the two witnesses continued on their way.
Panzram continued travelling, and killing until he was arrested for burglary in Larchmont, N.Y. At this stage he had committed twenty murders, all unknown to the New York police. He received five years for the burglary, and while attempting to escape fell 30 feet on to the concrete ground, breaking both ankles. Neither brakes was set, and the bones were left to set themselves, assuring Panzram would be left with a pronounced limp. Those old prisons sure sound like lovely places. Upon release Panzram was again arrested for robbery, this time in Washington.
It was here that Panzram made his now famous threat, "I'll kill the first man that bothers me." Unfortunately for Robert Warnke he payed no attention to Panzrams threat and wound up with a crushed skull. For this murder Panzram was given the death sentence.
He was hung on 5 September 1930.
One of Panzrams last victims was in fact killed because he was attempting to rob him. I think he may have been more than a little surprised by his intended victim pulling a gun and proceeding to rape and kill him.
The best friend Panzram ever had was a prison guard, Henry Lesser, who eventually wrote out Panzams life story.
He boasted of committing over 1000 acts of sodomy. No mean feat I think.
His final words were "Hurry it up, I could hang a dozen men while your fooling around."
"I don't believe in man, God nor Devil. I hate the whole damned human race, including myself... I preyed upon the weak, the harmless and the unsuspecting. This lesson I was taught by others : Might makes right."
In 1921, Panzram served six months in jail in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for burglary and possession of a loaded handgun. When released, he joined a maritime union that was involved in a labor strike. Hard liners in the union got into a brawl with strikebreakers, and Panzram was quickly re-arrested for being involved in a running gun battle with police. He jumped bail and fled the state of Connecticut. A few days later, he stowed away on a ship and landed in Angola, a Portuguese colony on the west coast of Africa.
He eventually got a job with the Sinclair Oil Company as a foreman on an oil-drilling rig. At that time, the American oil industry was involved in an exploratory expedition to search for new sources of oil in Africa. In the coastal town of Luanda, Panzram raped and killed an 11-year-old boy.
"A little nigger boy about 11 or 12 years old came bumming around," he said. Panzram lured the boy back to the Sinclair Oil Company grounds where he sexually assaulted and killed him by bashing his head in with a rock.
"I left him there, but first I committed sodomy on him and then I killed him," Panzram wrote in his confession. "His brains were coming out of his ears when I left him and he will never be any deader."
After this murder, Panzram went back to Lobito Bay on the Atlantic coast where he lived for several weeks in a fishing village. The locals suspected him of the murder but it could never be proven. Several weeks later, he hired six natives to take him into the jungle to hunt for crocodiles, which brought a hefty price from European speculators in the Congo. The natives later demanded a cut of the profits. They paddled into the jungle, never suspecting what Panzram had on his mind. As they went downriver, Panzram shot and killed all six men.
"To some of average intelligence, killing six at once seems an almost impossible feat...It was very much easier for me to kill those six niggers than it was for me to kill only one of the young boys I killed later and some of them were only 11 or 12 years old," he later said.
He shot them all in the back, one by one. While they lay in the bloody canoe, Panzram shot each native again in the back of the head. He then fed the bodies to the hungry crocodiles and rowed back to Lobito Bay. When he docked the boat, he realized he had to get out of the Congo since
"dozens of people saw me at Lobito Bay when I hired these men and the canoe."
After a few days back in the States, Panzram went to the U.S. Customs office in New York City where he renewed his captain's license and retrieved the papers for his yacht, the Akista, wrecked on the Jersey shoals two years before. He planned to steal another boat and refit her under the Akista name. He began to search the local boatyards in the New York area and wandered up the Connecticut coast. He soon drifted into the seaport of Providence, Rhode Island, where he still could not find a boat that resembled the Akista. He continued north along Boston Road into Boston and eventually arrived in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, famous for the 17th century witch trials. There, on the hot afternoon of July 18, 1922, he came across a 12-year-old boy walking alone on the west side of town.
"You will find that I have consistently followed one idea through all my life," he said later, "I preyed upon the weak, the harmless and the unsuspecting." The boy's name was George Henry McMahon who lived at 65 Boston Street in Salem. He had spent most of the day in a neighbor's restaurant until the owner, Mrs. Margaret Lyons, asked George to run an errand.
"About 2:15 I sent him to the A&P store for the milk, giving him fifteen cents," she later told the court. Little George left the restaurant and walked up Boston Street. About an hour later, another neighbor, Mrs. Margaret Crean, saw George walking up the avenue with a stranger.
"In the afternoon of July 18th, while sitting in front of a window in my home, I saw a boy and a man walking up the avenue. The man was dressed in a blue suit and wore a cap," she said later. That man was Carl Panzram.
"The boy's name I didn't know," Panzram said years later, "He told me he was eleven years old...he was carrying a basket or pail in his hand. He told me he was going to the store to do an errand. He told me his aunt ran this store. I asked him if he would like to earn fifty cents. He said yes."
Panzram walked with McMahon to the nearby store where inside, he was even brazen enough to speak with the clerk. A few minutes later, Panzram convinced the child to go for a trolley ride. About a mile from where they boarded the car, they exited the trolley in a deserted section of the town.
"I grabbed him by the arm and told him I was going to kill him," Panzram said in his confession.
"I stayed with the boy about three hours. During that time, I committed sodomy on the boy six times, and then I killed him by beating his brains out with a rock...I had stuffed down his throat several sheets of paper out of a magazine."
He then covered the body up with tree branches and hurried out of town. "I left him lying there with his brains coming out of his ears," he said. But as he fled the wooded area where he left McMahon's body, two Salem residents passed by.
They took notice of the strange man, who was carrying what appeared to be a newspaper, walking quickly away. He seemed nervous and a little frantic. But the two witnesses continued on their way.
Panzram continued travelling, and killing until he was arrested for burglary in Larchmont, N.Y. At this stage he had committed twenty murders, all unknown to the New York police. He received five years for the burglary, and while attempting to escape fell 30 feet on to the concrete ground, breaking both ankles. Neither brakes was set, and the bones were left to set themselves, assuring Panzram would be left with a pronounced limp. Those old prisons sure sound like lovely places. Upon release Panzram was again arrested for robbery, this time in Washington.
It was here that Panzram made his now famous threat, "I'll kill the first man that bothers me." Unfortunately for Robert Warnke he payed no attention to Panzrams threat and wound up with a crushed skull. For this murder Panzram was given the death sentence.
He was hung on 5 September 1930.
One of Panzrams last victims was in fact killed because he was attempting to rob him. I think he may have been more than a little surprised by his intended victim pulling a gun and proceeding to rape and kill him.
The best friend Panzram ever had was a prison guard, Henry Lesser, who eventually wrote out Panzams life story.
He boasted of committing over 1000 acts of sodomy. No mean feat I think.
His final words were "Hurry it up, I could hang a dozen men while your fooling around."
"I don't believe in man, God nor Devil. I hate the whole damned human race, including myself... I preyed upon the weak, the harmless and the unsuspecting. This lesson I was taught by others : Might makes right."
i absolutely love that last quote of his.
