Arthur Shawcross

(The Genesee River Killer)

Arthur John Shawcross suffered from a love-hate conflict in regards to his mother while growing up. Arthur's mother often brutally molested him and at times would go so far as to ram a broomstick up his ass. Later on in life, Arthur served the United States Army in the Vietnam War. During the war, it would seem as though he began his quest towards insanity. Soon a self-proclaimed cannibal, Arthur ate parts of Vietnamese girls during his tour of duty with the army in South East Asia. "I was never happier!" (Arthur referring to the war).

During the war, Shawcross claimed to have killed women and children from small villages indiscriminately. He claimed to have tortured, mutilated and dismembered his victims, often times roasting the corpses and eating them. He believed these strange acts of murder and cannibalism were justified by the horrors of the Viet-Cong, claiming: "The VC put razor blades up whores vaginas, shoved them inside a cup deep in where you'd never know until it was too late. When the GI's would fuck 'em they would slit their penises to shreds or cut 'em clean off.”

It was while in Vietnam, Arthur claims, that Americans learned to kill hookers from Koreans, later stating: "I was with some guys, ROK Koreans, who took a whore and put a fire-hose inside her and turned on the water. She died almost instantly. Her neck jumped about a foot from her body. Another time we took another whore and tied her to two small trees, legs to the trees, bent down. She had a razor blade inside her vagina. She was cut from her anus to her chin. Then the trees were let go. She slit in half. Left her there hanging between the trees. This may be why I did what I did to those girls."

Arthur lost control of himself in Vietnam completely. He soon became worse than the enemy, so violent towards the peasants that they feared him more than the VC. "They would wire up little kids or babies like land mines and put them where we would pick them up. Once you touched a baby, it would blow you to pieces. Fingers and teeth everywhere. I remember one time in Pleiku, a small little girl about six walked into a bunch of GI's and exploded. Another time there was this fat little girl sitting on a pile of dirt and was not moving; crying yes, but not moving. We did not get too close, but we walked around her. Good thing, too, she had a wire around her waist going down the crack of her ass into the ground. We had a jeep with us. Put a loop under her arms and a good hundred feet of rope between her and the jeep. That jeep took off and that girl came off that pile in two ways, pulled and pushed. She left a thirty-foot crater and lost a foot also. When the GI's saw abandoned babies, they often didn't ask questions. They just gave them a wide berth and blew them up. One time I ate part of one. That scared the mama-sans all to hell..."

Back home Arthur believed that the spirit of a 13th century cannibal: "Ariemes", possessed his body and taught him all about eating human flesh. In 1972, while in Watertown, located in upstate New York, Arthur brutally raped and murdered 10-year-old Jack Blake and 8-year-old Karen Hill. He was later captured in upstate New York. Following a plea-bargain to a single count of manslaughter, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

A psychiatrist described Arthur before his parole hearing as: "Neat, clean, quiet, cooperative, attentive, pleasant. No bizarre mannerisms. Normal facial appearance and posture. Self-esteem/self-image good. Tolerance for frustration within limits. Abstract thinking intact. No hallucinations/delusions. Though processes logical, rational....Does not manifest any psychotic/neurotic symptoms." Hence, Arthur was released on parole in April of 1987, after serving a mere fourteen years and six months in prison.

Once out on parole Arthur was eventually sent to live in Rochester, New York, because enraged citizens in two other communities objected to his presence. Apparently not too many people wanted him for a neighbour. The people in Rochester found him to be friendly, and mild mannered. Unfortunately, for them, they did not know about his dark past.

Arthur married Rose Walley, while in Rochester. He also met Clara Neal, who soon became his mistress. He Worked nights as a food whole-seller, and lived near the center of town. Arthur did not have a car. He was often seen riding a brown Schwinn bicycle (a woman’s model), to fishing spots along the Genesee River.

In March of 1988, the body of a twenty-seven-year-old prostitute was found floating in Salmon Creek. In September of 1988, another dead prostitute was found. 1 year later in October of 1989, a third prostitute was found. In early November, of 1988, a fourth dead prostitute was found. Later that month the number jumped up to 5.

Police believed that the murders were connected, and were the work of a serial killer. During this time, Arthur followed the news of the murders quite closely, even going so far as to warn his wife to be careful. He would also hang out at the local Dunkin' Donuts shop and talk with police officers about the case.

In late November of 1988, a man walking his dog found another body. 4 days later, yet another body was found. By the end of the year, 3 more bodies were added to the death list. Around this time, Rochester police asked FBI serial killer profilers for help. They in turn made a profile of the killer: White male, mid-20's, mobile, trusted by the women who fearlessly got into his car.

On January 3, 1990, state troopers in a helicopter spotted a body in the icy Salmon Creek waters. On a bridge overlooking the creek, a man leaned out of his car, apparently urinating into a pop bottle. The pilot alerted patrol cars and they surrounded the area. Shawcross had just finished his salad when he saw the helicopter. He climbed back into Clara Neal's car and left toward the nursing home where she was employed. As soon as he pulled into the parking lot, a police car pulled up behind him and he was taken in for questioning.

40-year-old Shawcross did not fit the profile very well. However, when officers ran an NCIC their interest quickly changed. Investigators impounded his car even though they had to release him for lack of evidence. While inspecting the car investigators found a pink earring that matched an earring found on one of the victims. Arthur was again brought in for questioning. For hours, he denied any involvement in the murders. However, he eventually broke down and confessed to every murder in explicit detail. He even claimed to have committed a few cannibalistic deeds. A few of the prostitutes had their vaginas cut out, which Arthur claimed to have ate, reasoning that he was possessed by his shrewish mother's spirit (as well as Ariemes). Arthur also claimed that each of the victims had done something to make him angry. He said that those who did not offend or anger him lived. Arthur told how he had strangled one of his victims for calling him "no better than a faggot" and saying that he was the ”Genesee River Killer.” He smashed another one's face into the car door for saying he was "hopeless", and yet another because she claimed to be a virgin.

Many officers criticized the FBI's profiling techniques following the arrest. The highly detailed profile the FBI had created stated that the killer was a "25-year-old white male". Arthur Shawcross was forty years old at the time of his arrest. FBI profiler John Douglas stated that: "Occasionally we get some things wrong.” The difference between a 25-year-old and a 40-year-old man is however quite significant. Douglas’s explanation: "Shawcross had served 15 years in prison [during his late teens and twenties]," explained Douglas. "Shawcross' 15 years in the stir had merely been a holding pattern. Because Shawcross had spent 15 years in prison, he had not developed emotionally, therefore he was psychologically a 25-year-old man in a 40-year-old body.” Many however, still claim: "If we are putting so much faith in these profiles, using them as guides to track down killers, what happens when they are completely wrong? We end up looking for someone who doesn't exist while suspicion is thrown off the real killer, who is free to kill again.”

By the time his October trial came, Arthur refused to testify. His defense tried to claim insanity. Under hypnosis, he spoke as an 11-year-old Arttie, and even as a reincarnated medieval English cannibal. Humorously in 1990, Arthur received 10 write-in votes during New York's gubernatorial election. Curiously, Arthur is burdened with an extra Y-chromosome, which some say may have something to do with his nature towards violence.

On May 8, 1991, after hours of witnesses and testimony, receiving no mercy from the jury, Arthur J. Shawcross was convicted of 10 murders (he later admitted to an eleventh), and sentenced to 10 consecutive terms of 25 years (250 years in prison), and remanded to Fallsburg's, Sullivan Correctional Institute in Fallsburg, NY.

On July 10, 1997, Arthur married Clara Neal in a simple ceremony in the prison's visiting room. Clara later stated: "It was nice and all. It took 10 years to make the grade, but I finally made it.” Arthur's previous wife, Rose, had died in the spring of 1997, making their union possible. Under the state Department of Correctional Services policy, Shawcross and Neal will be eligible for conjugal visits. Neal states that she loves him and stands by him: "no matter what.”

On September 19, 1999, Arthur was punished for having agents sell his paintings on the Internet auction site E-Bay. 54-year-old Shawcross was ordered confined to solitary confinement for 2 years, 23 hours a day, and also lost all of his art privileges for the 5 years.