Interview with a Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross

April 04, 2017 - Profile of Serial Killer Arthur Shawcross,

Follow the Deadly Path of the Genesee River Killer...

CONFESSIONS

Shawcross was brought in for questioning a second time. After several hours of interrogation, he still denied having anything to do with the murdered women. It was not until the detectives threatened to bring his wife and his girlfriend Clara in together for questioning and that they could be implicated in the murders, did he begin to waver.

His first admission that he was involved in the murders was when he told police that Clara had nothing to do with it. Once his involvement was established, the details began to flow.

The detectives gave Shawcross a list of 16 women missing or murdered, and he immediately denied having anything to do with five of them. He then confessed to murdering the others.

With each victim that he confessed to the killing, he included what the victim had done to deserve what they got. One victim tried to steal his wallet, another wouldn't be quiet, another made fun of him, and yet another had nearly bitten off his penis. 

He also blamed many of the victims for reminding him of his domineering and abusive mother, so much so that once he began to hit them, he couldn't stop.

When it came time to discuss June Stott, Shawcross appeared to become melancholy. Apparently, Stott was a friend and had been a guest in his home. He explained to the detectives that the reason he mutilated her body after killing her was a kind favor he extended to her so that she would decompose faster.

REACHING THROUGH THE PRISON BARS

A common trait of serial killers is the desire to show they are still in control and can reach through the prison walls and still do damage to those outside. 

When it came to Arthur Shawcross, this certainly appeared to be the case, because, throughout the years when interviewed, his answers to the questions seemed to change depending on who was doing the interviewing.

Female interviewers were often subjected to his long descriptions of how much he enjoyed eating the body parts and organs that he had cut out from his victims. Male interviewers often had to listen to his conquests in Vietnam. If he thought he sensed sympathy from the interviewer, he would add more details about how his mother would insert sticks into his anus or offer up specific details into exactly how his aunt took sexual advantage of him when he was just a child.

However, Shawcross was transparent, so much so that the interviewers, detectives, and doctors that listened to him, doubted much of what he said when he would describe his childhood abuse and his enjoyment of cutting up women and eating body parts.

THE TRIAL

Shawcross pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. During his trial, his lawyer tried to prove that Shawcross was a victim of multiple personality disorder stemming from his years of being abused as a child. Post-traumatic stress disorder from his year in Vietnam was also anted up as a reason why he went insane and murdered women.

The big problem with this defense was that there was no one who backed up his stories. His family completely denied his accusations of abuse.

The Army provided proof that Shawcross was never stationed near a jungle and that he never fought in combat, never burned down huts, was never caught behind a firebomb and never went on jungle patrol as he claimed.

As to his claiming to have killed and devoured two Vietnam women, two psychiatrists that interviewed him agreed that Shawcross changed the story so often that it became unbelievable.

EXTRA Y CHROMOSOME

It was discovered that Shawcross had an extra Y chromosome which some have suggested (although there is no proof) makes the person more violent.

A cyst found on Shawcross' right temporal lobe was said to have caused him to have behavioral seizures where he would display animalistic behavior, such as eating the body parts of his victims.

In the end, it came down to what the jury believed, and they weren't fooled for a moment. After deliberating for just one-half hour, they found him sane and guilty.

Shawcross was sentenced to 250 years in prison and received an additional life sentence after pleading guilty to the murder of Elizabeth Gibson in Wayne County.

DEATH

On November 10, 2008, Shawcross died of cardiac arrest after being transferred from the Sullivan Correction Facility to an Albany, New York hospital. He was 63 years old.