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Arthur Shawcross /// The Shawcross Letters /// 199

November 16, 2023 / 51:45

This episode of True Crime Garage covers the chilling case of serial killer Arthur Shawcross, featuring insights from John Paul Fay, who corresponded with Shawcross.

The hosts, Nick and Captain, discuss Shawcross's brutal murders of sex workers in Rochester, New York, during the late 1980s. They detail the horrific methods he used, including strangulation and cannibalism, and how he evaded capture for so long.

John Paul Fay shares his unique experience of becoming pen pals with Shawcross, revealing how their correspondence developed into a strange friendship. Fay describes Shawcross's manipulative tendencies and his fascination with dark topics.

The episode also highlights the police investigation that ultimately led to Shawcross's arrest, including the patterns in his killings and the psychological profile developed by the FBI.

Listeners are left with a deeper understanding of Shawcross's psyche and the impact of his crimes, as well as the complexities of his relationship with Fay.

TLDR

Arthur Shawcross's brutal murders and his pen pal relationship with John Paul Fay are discussed in this chilling episode.

Episode

51:45
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[Music] % [Music] welcome to True Crime garage wherever you are whatever you are doing thanks
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for listening I'm your host Nick and with me as always as a man that likes to rock and roll all night and part of
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everybody gather around grab a chair grab a beer let's talk some true crime [Music]
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the following is taken from letters to John Paul Fay from Arthur shawcross written behind Prison
00:04:49
Walls hello John you can call me art if you want the stationary you chose is quite good reminds me of someone I knew
00:04:58
one time tied up blindfolded and gagged as good her legs would not be tied wide open I like blondes brunettes redheads
00:05:11
or whatever but I am choosy in the type I crave but at times I lose control and it's as if I made a snuff
00:05:21
film you forgot to mention a saw or two my specialty is the Keyhole saw it's what I used on three victims
00:05:32
then you have the jigsaw real Handy OJ didn't kill Nicole his friend did think about it he also had a white
00:05:43
Bronco it's very strange it was gotten rid of right away so you tell me something worth looking
00:05:53
into John if you want a woman for the winter pull one of the homeless she will like it in inside all winter then in the
00:06:01
spring let her go I've been there all winter with two women in the apartment what tastes better than
00:06:11
pork Jeffrey dmer was into eating and torturing his homosexual Partners as for me I only ate certain
00:06:19
parts quite tasty at that don't need salt either Ed gan's last victim was just about like one of mine
00:06:30
but not tied up mine was laying back legs open with a silly grin on her mug John the sa man every human no
00:06:41
matter what color looks the same after they're skinned you go to Southern Cal stay away
00:06:47
from any earthquake section AIDS lets you and I waste some morons be cool pal don't hurt anyone at
00:06:58
least don't get caught at it gotta go pal Good Day [Music] art anamarie stefen age 27 was an
00:07:20
emaciated sex worker who took to working the streets to support a drug habit she
00:07:26
was last seen alive on Saturday July 8 1989 while walking along ly Avenue Arthur shawcross had met her by the
00:07:36
princess restaurant on Lake Avenue and he walked with her to the back of the YMCA he then drove her down to the
00:07:44
driving Park and during oral sex he grabbed her throat and strangled her before rolling her body over the edge of
00:07:53
the jese River Gorge it is reported that she was frustrated after Arthur could not get an erection after 40 minutes
00:08:02
it's also alleged that she threatened to tell the police that she had seen Arthur
00:08:07
Shaw cross with dosi remember she was the victim that we discussed yesterday MH Anam Marie's body was found on Sunday
00:08:15
September 11th 1988 this is by Hector Maldonado while he was searching for returnable bottles so that he could save
00:08:23
up some money to buy cigarettes the victim was lying on her left side curled in a semi fetal position a pair of
00:08:31
Calvin Klein jeans were pulled down around the ankles and turned inside out a white tank top with red shoulder
00:08:38
straps was wrapped around the right wrist and a clump of hair had been ripped from the skull the eyes were
00:08:46
missing from their sockets now just 3 weeks later on Saturday July 29th 1989 Dorothy Keller this was supposedly
00:08:57
Shaw cross's friend would be his third victim now she was different from the first two in the
00:09:05
sense that she was not a sex worker she was a 58-year-old woman she was homeless and
00:09:11
sha cross had met Dorothy while when she worked as a waitress and a diner that he
00:09:17
had gone to the two struck up a friendship which had quickly turned into an affair on an afternoon this was um on
00:09:26
his way to fish in the river mm he stopped when he saw Keller to speak with her when she found out where he was
00:09:34
going she asked if he could take her with him and he agreed according to sha cross they spent the morning fishing and
00:09:41
making love until around midday when it started to rain now didn't she live with
00:09:46
them at some point I believe so there there there were a couple people that sha cross had affairs with or so he
00:09:55
would later claim because we have this individual here that would end up a murder victim that that can't tell us
00:10:03
otherwise mhm um and one thing that I think that we're going to see here with Shaw cross is there seems to be a reason
00:10:12
for most of these murders or at least a reason that he has made up in his mind you know either um the the woman made
00:10:20
fun of him or bit him or assaulted him or tried to Rob him and therefore he lost control and decided to kill them
00:10:28
and with Dorothy uh the interview that I saw Arthur was saying that Dorothy lived
00:10:33
with him and that he also paid her was some weird amount like $432 or something to clean the apartment
00:10:41
yeah he would claim that there was a couple things that sent him into a rage you know they're they're huddling
00:10:47
together in this crude shelter that Shaw cross put together while it rains out there and he states that while they're
00:10:55
huddling together they get into some kind of argument and it's starts off with an argument about her stealing
00:11:01
money and then it turns into their arguing about his relationships that he has with rose and with Clara he claimed
00:11:10
that she started to threaten him telling saying that she was going to tell the other women about their affair right and
00:11:18
this is when Arthur Shaw cross became angry he picked up a small log and he beat her on the side of the head uh
00:11:26
until he killed her now he he hit her body under a fallen tree and then he went home her body was found on October
00:11:36
21st but he later told police that at one time he had returned to the spot several months later and removed the
00:11:43
skull and dumped it in the river yeah and in the interview I saw they said oh how did you you know remove
00:11:52
the skull he said you just do you just do yeah he doesn't have that big of an accent but yeah sounded better sounded
00:12:02
better in my head on Friday September 29th 1989 Patricia IES this was another Lake Avenue sex worker also known as
00:12:11
crazy Patty she was um 25 years old at the time drug dependent a high school dropout she did have a a baby a young
00:12:21
child uh who had been placed in foster care some say that she once was a very attractive woman that she she used to
00:12:30
Bear more of a resemblance to the film star Julia Roberts um but by this point because the drugs had taken their toll
00:12:38
and she was a bit of a walking skeleton she had uh ragged and unkempt hair uh and she also had needle marks from her
00:12:48
elbows to her fingers yeah that's sad it was also believed that she might have had the AIDS virus now Arthur shawcross
00:12:57
claims that she offered him sex for $25 um when he approached the same Diner where Dorothy Keller had worked he
00:13:07
agreed to this and they went to a construction site while there uh and while having sex shoss says that he
00:13:16
caught IES trying to remove his wallet and pushed her hard against the ground she began to cry and he raped her and
00:13:25
began to strangle her until she didn't move anymore sha cross said that there were
00:13:32
children playing nearby and he states that I put my hand over her mouth and held her nose she didn't struggle she
00:13:40
didn't holler she didn't fight that he knew her and that Patty had been in the company of a white male who was riding a
00:13:48
bike with balloon tires there were fishing rods protruding from the Cycle's rear baskets Patty was reported missing
00:13:57
the following day by her pimp SL booyfriend who on the streets went by the name get get ready for this okay
00:14:06
this is went by the name is the Pimp's name yes okay rat face Billy you can't make this stuff up I'm
00:14:15
telling you who's your who's your boyfriend oh you know old rat face uh we shouldn't laugh uh po Patty's
00:14:25
body was found by children who were looking for a lost baseball on Friday October 27th when they saw a foot
00:14:34
sticking out from a pile of flattened cardboard the corpse was clothed in black pants and a sweatshirt lying face
00:14:41
up and a wedding ring was missing from her finger there were no shoes or socks on the body and maggots had devoured
00:14:50
most of the Flesh on October 23rd 1989 June stot uh was 30 years old was the youngest of
00:15:00
eight children she was homeless she apparently heard mysterious voices in her head and had been taken to sleeping
00:15:07
on Lyle Avenue now she's she's different in a sense that she's not a sex worker or a drug addict this is something that
00:15:17
you and I have spoke about before on our little show here our little garage show
00:15:21
that taking care of people that have mental health issues yeah but I mean I also think we have issues with you know
00:15:28
trying to take care of you know the sex workers I mean whether it's you know should be legal or shouldn't be legal I
00:15:35
mean we have to do a better job well I only point that out here because from everything I could gather it appears
00:15:42
that this this young woman was simply homeless because of of the problems she had and it wasn't due to drugs or
00:15:50
anything of that nature that she simply needed to be taken care of and didn't have anyone to help her with this yeah
00:15:58
now cross you know this is this is what we will see time and time again from from Monsters like sha cross they will
00:16:06
find somebody they will come across somebody with uh let's say what he would determine to be a weakness and he's
00:16:13
going to pre upon that person and make them further victimize them because he can yeah and he's going to talk her into
00:16:21
going fishing with them which we know is a bad thing well and when they're down by the water he's trying to talk her and
00:16:28
into having sex with with him and she refuses and he says this is when he decided to strangle her yeah now 2 days
00:16:36
later he returned to the body and he dragged it down into the um there's an area there with those large
00:16:43
Cattails uh he dragged the body there and using a knife he cut open her body from the breast bone to the crotch he
00:16:51
then gutted her like a a fish using his words throwing the entrails into the river
00:16:59
on Thursday November hold on I just want to point out that in the interview I watched on him he claims that this
00:17:06
attack happened and he didn't leave he was there all day and that he actually cut her open beforehand before returning
00:17:14
to the body right now that's what he claims now the only reason why I bring that up is that you see a lot of times
00:17:20
in his stories now he's either misremembering or he's making stuff up as he correct yeah and on Thursday
00:17:29
November 23rd a man walking his dog he noticed an ice covered object it was a piece of carpet under which was the
00:17:37
badly decomposed body of June stot the corpse was face down but lividity staining showed that she had been rolled
00:17:45
over long after death the right leg was bent inward at the knee elevating the buttocks and suggesting the possibility
00:17:54
of intercourse after death with the body the vagina was missing from the body and
00:18:00
Arthur Shaw cross later said that he had ate it yeah and wow this is a graphic show um but law enforcement are now well
00:18:10
aware that they're looking for a serial killer well that's kind of a unique situation I guess in the sense that
00:18:17
that's not always the case you know sometimes they arrest a guy for a murder and then later find out that he's guilty
00:18:25
of three or four or five right here we have enough of a consistency in victims and how often they are finding these
00:18:35
victims that they're well aware that they're probably looking for they're at least looking for a serial killer mhm
00:18:42
it's undetermined if all of these are connected to the same guy or not yeah so they actually had a couple sting
00:18:48
operations that they set up and having police officers go undercover and because you know a lot of these victims
00:18:56
were sex workers so they were trying to you know figure this out now what Arthur
00:19:02
talks about in his interview is that he used to hang on at the Dunkin' donuts and he happened to be wearing like for
00:19:10
whatever reason he says some very shiny shoes and so when these officers were in
00:19:15
there talking about this stuff that they kind of just assume because of his shiny
00:19:19
shoes that he was law enforcement okay but none of them were dressed in uniform so they started talking about H how
00:19:27
they're trying to run this sting operation mhm and basically by just being at that dut shop he learned I know
00:19:35
there's probably a bunch of cop jokes out there with the donut shop but he learned all the decoys and so he could
00:19:41
stay away from them right right he would he would overhear these officers talking
00:19:46
about their investigation at times he was even speaking with them and it he was a regular in several diners and
00:19:53
coffee shops and this allowed him access to those uh individual ual now there were several victims in the course of
00:20:01
November of 1989 Marie Welch Francis Brown there's one that I do want to talk about in
00:20:09
particular this is a story from early November 1989 a Woman by the name of Joanne van nostran told police about a
00:20:18
client named Mitch a guy that called himself Mitch who had paid her to play dead the man also tried to strangle her
00:20:27
she pulled a knife on on him and fought him off this was the first Real Lead the
00:20:33
investigators received it was the second time that the man with the same physical
00:20:38
description named either Mike or Mitch had been mentioned in reference to the murders interviews with many of the
00:20:46
Lyall Street sex workers indicated that he was a regular and that he had the reputation of being violent with the
00:20:55
women and Elizabeth Gibson was also one of his Vic VI yes she was last seen working the streets on Lyall Avenue on
00:21:02
Saturday November 25th her body was found just 2 Days Later by a deer hunter walking through the woods now at this
00:21:11
crime scene police discovered Tire impressions in the muddy ground and they also discovered blue paint chips uh from
00:21:18
where a vehicle had scraped a tree now this paint would later be matched to Claire's blue Dodge Omni this was of
00:21:26
course a vehicle that sh cross often borrowed the his ninth victim or believed to be ninth victim was Darlene
00:21:35
trippy aged 32 she was last seen Alive by her sister on Friday December 15th it wasn't until after his arrest that sha
00:21:43
cross was able to direct police to Darlene's frozen body I want to point out something though here Captain we
00:21:52
we're seeing a frequency to this aren't we I mean we're talking about multiple victims in in the same month we're
00:21:59
talking about what they would later say probably 11 victims is what we're looking at is is pretty much a
00:22:08
certainty uh probably more victims were involved in this series that were not included in his later convictions
00:22:17
possibly yeah but we're seeing we're seeing what we've seen from time to time before you know when we discussed Ted
00:22:24
Bundy or the Green River Killer where you see a guy that has this capability that has murder on his mind who is
00:22:32
appears to almost have spiraled out of control to the point where he's murdering two three people a month well
00:22:39
let's talk about how old noodle dick is caught well so the investigation kind of
00:22:45
works like this we have most of the victims were sex workers who worked in the red light district of lake and ly
00:22:52
Avenues the women were either strangled or beaten to death and each was disposed
00:22:57
of naked or partially clothed around the city and close to or in water most of the victims had debris stuffed into
00:23:05
their ears nose and other body cavities their clothes were often found neatly folded or close to the corpses which
00:23:13
ranged in decomposition from skeletal to preserved in several instances the body
00:23:19
exhibited signs of having been partially eaten by wild animals or cannibalized by
00:23:25
the killer himself recognizing the these patterns the Rochester Police doubled the size of
00:23:31
its physical crimes unit round thee clock surveillance by Rochester PD Tactical Unit focused attention on the
00:23:38
red light district where many of the victims were last seen to be alive the services of the FBI profilers were
00:23:45
called upon to complete a psychological profile of the serial killer the successful capture of Arthur J shawcross
00:23:54
was due to an equal combination of good luck and dogged police work ultimately though it was the mindset of this
00:24:02
psychopath that ultimately sealed his Fate One of Shaw cross's last victims was June cisero she was aged 34 she was
00:24:12
a strong character with a drug habit she had arrived in Rochester from Brooklyn New York in
00:24:18
1973 and she had been well known on the streets of Rochester where she was regarded as something of a mother figure
00:24:25
to many of the younger women who operated in the red light district she was a pistol yes June suddenly
00:24:32
disappeared Without a Trace from the red light district uh this was on the late evening of Sunday December 17th
00:24:40
1989 now where this comes into play here Captain is a police helicopter crew spotted her Frozen corpse lying in the
00:24:48
icy Salmon Creek on Wednesday January 3rd 1990 the body was naked except for a white sweater and white white socks
00:24:59
Arthur shawcross was seen standing on a nearby bridge by the same helicopter and
00:25:05
he was seen dropping something into the creek before driving off in the vehicle it was this incident that would later
00:25:13
lead to his arrest well this is kind of confusing uh so the body was found on thei and what we think based off a
00:25:21
reports is on the fourth is when they would see him cuz what what law enforcement started to understand is
00:25:31
whoever is committing these murders is going back to the scene so the he probably um probably dumped her body
00:25:40
before the third she was found on the third probably the fourth is when he is caught which in my reports he's
00:25:48
urinating on the bridge some have speculated that he was uh masturbating on the bridge well and I think I think
00:25:54
in regards to that Captain they couldn't determine what it was he was doing I think they could determine that possibly
00:26:01
his pants were down or his fly was unzipped yeah and then so I think they ended up pulling him over well what what
00:26:10
they ultimately end up doing is the vehicle that he is in that night they're able to trace that vehicle and they they
00:26:16
trace that vehicle back to him in a sense that they connected to him because it belongs to one of the women that he's
00:26:24
seeing remember he's taking turns driving his wife's car and his girlfriend's car from time to time to
00:26:31
pick up these women to commit these murders well when they trace this vehicle back to him it doesn't take long
00:26:38
for them to run his his background and figure out that this dude has murdered people in the past he's been convicted
00:26:44
of one murder right and what they decide to do is they decide to okay he he claims that he had no involvement in any
00:26:53
of this however they're going to give him the night to rest but they're going to observe him they're going to surveil
00:27:01
him they're going to keep him under their watchful eye early that next morning is when they take him down to
00:27:08
the police headquarters one thing that the detectives that spoke to Arthur shawcross in his questioning or
00:27:17
interrogation whatever you want to call it this was not FBI agents these were local detectives and they kind of picked
00:27:25
up on some personality traits of Arthur sha cross very quickly into speaking with him one they found that he was a
00:27:32
talker he that he liked to talk that he liked to open up if you kept him comfortable he would keep speaking to
00:27:37
you mhm the other thing he seemed to want never trust a talker he seemed to want to be their friends in some kind of
00:27:45
weird way even though he was denying all their claims he seemed to be want wanting to be their friends in the sense
00:27:52
that he wanted to open up to them mhm they used a tactic that I found pretty interesting
00:27:58
which is a little bit weird because this guy has got no soul my friend this guy has got no conscience this guy does not
00:28:05
care about human beings or life in general I mean he even said in his interview I have no remorse yes and what
00:28:14
they do is they start saying look we don't want it you need to fess up to these murders because we don't
00:28:21
want anybody else to get in trouble for this and what they meant was okay you're
00:28:25
using your wife's car to Comm these murders you're using your girlfriend's car to commit these murders those two
00:28:32
one of those two are both had to know what you were up to one of those two or both maybe were helping you commit these
00:28:39
murders yeah and he simply just said after hours and hours of them questioning him and things coming at him
00:28:47
is what he said yeah is he just got tired of it so he just confessed yeah and so he confesses to the murders um
00:28:54
not all of the series that they had at the time I believe it was 14 or 15 murders in total that they had uh
00:29:01
questioned him about he would later confess to many of them actually leading them to a couple of the bodies that had
00:29:08
been undiscovered at that time but it was just in December of 1990 when Arthur shawcross was convicted of killing 10
00:29:17
women after jurors decided he was sane and deliberated for only 6 and 1 half hours the judge sentenced him to 25
00:29:25
years for each count a total of 250 years imprisonment a few months later Shaw cross was taken to Wayne County and
00:29:33
tried for Elizabeth Gibson's murder rather than claim insanity this time he pled guilty and received a further life
00:29:44
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[Music] that all right cheers me mate cheers captain now prison officials said that Arthur
00:32:07
shawcross complained of a pain in his leg on the afternoon of November 10th 2018 he was taken to Albany Medical
00:32:16
Center where he went into cardiac arrest Arthur sha cross died that evening at 9:50 p.m. he was cremated and later his
00:32:26
ass es were given to his daughter now before his death there was a relationship that Arthur Shaw cross
00:32:34
developed a penp pal relationship with a man named John Paul Fay and earlier this
00:32:40
year a book came out called the shawcross letters which gives an inside look at Arthur shawcross one of
00:32:47
America's most notorious serial killers the shawcross letters is a graphic and dramatic True Crime book that will
00:32:55
horrify enlighten and keep you up at night author Brian Whitney teamed up with John Paul Fay to write this book to
00:33:04
show us what happens when one of the most evil men in the history of America meets a man he trusts enough to share
00:33:11
his darkest secrets with and on the phone with us here in the garage is John Paul Fay the man that was penp Pals with
00:33:19
convicted serial killer Arthur shawcross now John this is kind of interesting because Arthur actually reached out to
00:33:26
you you didn't actually reach out to him well first of all reach out to me first
00:33:32
and uh initially I was selling some of his artwork on eBay back when he could sell the murder ailia and I ended up
00:33:39
with his artwork through interesting trades I did with uh say fans of his quote unquote groupies and I used to
00:33:46
sell various videotapes and that type of thing like uncut horror movies and uh so
00:33:50
when I got those drawings I decided to resell them and uh Arthur discovered this and he ended up getting my address
00:33:58
from one of his fans believe it or not with whom I've uh traded and one day I went to the mailbox and there was a
00:34:04
letter from the Solan Correctional Facility Arthur Shar Crossing of course the first I was uh a bit taken aback I
00:34:11
went to a quiet spot to read the letter away from so-called family members and he had mentioned that he knew I was
00:34:17
selling some of his artwork and all this stuff and I wasn't sure how to take it initially you know I uh you know if I
00:34:23
should feel threatened but so I I just collected Myself and I wrote him back a letter it was uh you know a very
00:34:30
gentlemanly letter there no uh no problems I just said that if you could do more drawings basically you know we
00:34:36
could we could split the proceeds and go from there and so he got back to me and
00:34:40
uh said sure basically that's a great idea let's go ahead with that and so we we started he started uh doing artwork
00:34:47
for for me which i' resell and split split that with him I just got him a money order so then we just uh we
00:34:52
developed a friendship from there and it became very close where I I hate to say
00:34:57
it I mean I saw him as a kind of father fig just because my own life has been so
00:35:03
Twisted as far as male uh Role Models quote unquote and it just it got strange obviously it's s deep down the rabbit
00:35:10
hole that type of thing but that's where I live anyway you know I've always um been a very kind of Twisted dark
00:35:17
character myself but say similar thoughts to a I say a Jeffrey dmer kind of Jeffrey dmer 2.0 dmer if you were a
00:35:24
writer I think but of course I've come uh very close to engaging those activities myself but I mean I think
00:35:32
that that's a the summary all right so you uh did hear that correctly you're probably listening and going what I'm
00:35:39
more of the Jeffrey dmer type what is John talking about well so he gets some items from Arthur and he's selling them
00:35:48
on eBay and then Arthur reaches out to him and he says hey if you draw some more drawings I can sell these and as
00:35:56
they're communicating back and forth John opens up to to Arthur and says hey man I got some dark thoughts that I have
00:36:05
yeah it sounds like John you know has a a troubled past a possibly troubled childhood um that we can ask more
00:36:14
questions about but this leading to alcoholism some drug use and some very dark fantasies to which he's going to
00:36:23
confide his thoughts and feelings with this monster Arthur shawcross who's reached out to him so John you say that
00:36:31
a friendship developed between you and sha cross now during the course of this friendship in the beginning stages was
00:36:39
it simply just business as usual for Shaw Cross or was he trying to manipulate you or use you in any way no
00:36:46
no I never felt manipulated uh it was a part business and and part friendly once
00:36:52
he figured out who what type of person I was and I did explain that to him in the
00:36:57
letter that you know I really am in a kind of similar position psychologically then he loosened up and he got very
00:37:04
friendly uh after that I mean long after I I stopped selling his artwork because
00:37:08
eBay banned it we getting along and you know and uh and even that was before we got into the book too for there was a
00:37:16
period there where we just uh there was a letter about every two weeks and he didn't present himself as a celebrity we
00:37:21
just uh like a friend we we just got into some uh strange topics in regard to uh you know cannibalism and uh murder
00:37:30
and and all that fun stuff I guess I mean um you know I don't see eye to eye with him on on everything and I don't
00:37:38
necessarily agree on on what he did but I certainly I understand it as far as identifying with u serial killers it
00:37:45
would be more along the lines of a dber they say killing for company that type of thing Arthur Shaw cross himself I
00:37:51
consider it more of a destroyer he more like a kind of a human Terminator as I put it for some reason we did hit it off
00:37:58
was it was beyond uh Way Beyond the business that was actually a small portion of it our relationship um you
00:38:05
know just again just like two friends talking and you know over a beer or something like that well John I think uh
00:38:11
me and the colonel have different conversations than you and Arthur had John did this ever go beyond just
00:38:17
letters did you ever go meet him in person he uh that that was a kind of a a contentious deal there because uh toward
00:38:25
the end of our relationship because I told I was supposed to go and meet him up in New York and uh I had just come
00:38:31
back from Arizona investing in in a lowbudget movie and kind of exhausted my funds so I was going to take a little
00:38:36
while to for to get up there so when I wrote him telling him I was going to visit he thought that was going to be
00:38:41
right away so he he said well I thought I thought you said you were going to visit and he was angry about that I said
00:38:45
well just give me another month or so collect my funds but uh you know things started falling apart after that that
00:38:51
was again towards the end end of our relationship but he was upset that I didn't get to to visit him he thought he
00:38:57
was going to come up to see him a lot sooner all right so sha cross and Son of Sam were actually in the same prison
00:39:04
together yeah and I heard that Arthur shawcross actually despised David burkowitz the Son of Sam did he ever
00:39:12
mention that to you John oh I resented him yeah the money that burtz makes and money that he did not make shr himself
00:39:20
oh yeah it was just it was resentment that burz was a little more popular against got got more fun funding than
00:39:28
him yeah so we did talk about him over the years there have been several books written about Arthur Shaw cross and many
00:39:34
newspaper and magazine articles was sha cross keeping tabs on what was written about him was he was he reading his own
00:39:42
material yeah absolutely he absolutely did he did a lot of reading in general but he definitely kept up on his own
00:39:49
press and uh whatever books are written about him yes did sha cross ever mention
00:39:53
the book The misbegotten Son by Jack Olsen yeah yeah and I'm remembering now actually yes he had mentioned Jack Olsen
00:40:01
several times actually he sent me an envelope like with Jack Olson's return address on it sha cross had signed you
00:40:08
know so yeah actually I have an envelope here with Jack ol's return a dress on it
00:40:13
believe it or not not that I'm thinking of it John did Arthur ever ask you about
00:40:17
females in your life maybe your mother sister or girlfriend or somebody uh yeah once in a while he he would ask what was
00:40:24
going on in my life as far as uh females but uh you know for the most part I was
00:40:29
uh isolated you know he asked about my uh cousin Michelle for instance and uh who was actually for a period there
00:40:38
pregnant at the time and he would uh joke about that say for instance uh he never mentioned my mother sister or
00:40:45
anything but uh yeah definitely like the the focus was on my pregnant cousin Michelle at the time yeah did he ever
00:40:52
ask you to send him things or pictures of these women just a picture of uh her pregnant basically um which he did a
00:41:03
copy of a picture of photo of my cousin Michelle showing her her belly there at the time but that was more for comedy
00:41:12
sake really did he ever ask you to send him anything uh anything weird or anything that would be considered
00:41:19
contraband he never requested anything I sent him stuff that They confiscated but
00:41:24
uh yeah he never directly quested anything he knew would be confiscated yeah all right so we're not going to ask
00:41:31
you about that but uh John after you told Shaw cross about some of your darker fantasies do you feel like he
00:41:38
ever tried to manipulate you or send you encrypted messages to kind of point you
00:41:44
in the direction or push you over the edge and get you to do some of the horrible things that he has done yeah
00:41:51
and I guess I read between the lines kind of way it say things like be good or be good at it you know and and uh we
00:41:56
both knew what you were talking about there in that regard and about uh pressure points how to where how to
00:42:02
choke a person properly along those lines so yeah there you go the answer is yes he was kind of
00:42:12
teaching me uh I guess how how to kill or or hurt people yeah but do you think he was trying to push you in that
00:42:19
direction he didn't seem to directly want that but he didn't seem to be against it either um you know he knew
00:42:27
where I was in my life so he he didn't discourage my line of thinking you know at all you know so it only seem like he
00:42:34
was encouraging it and whether he meant to or not he he he was and you know talking about how to pick a pitch hikers
00:42:43
and again choke them you know beheadings and you know that all that lovely stuff
00:42:49
yeah and and of course cannibalism is often a topic of discussion between he and I you how to how to he kind of I
00:42:58
guess instructing me on how to properly cook a human being for instance yeah again I guess the simple
00:43:06
answer is yes in his own way he was again wasn't discouraging me at all so I know that you guys spoke about
00:43:15
cannibalism a lot because that is one of your dark fantasies a lot of times when he ate
00:43:23
pieces of people it was raw but uh other times he had mentioned say uh roasting the say calf muscle and uh over a Open
00:43:32
Flame and uh indulging in that and basically it was focused on like the calf muscles and the I guess
00:43:40
the buttocks of women in particular yes so he would uh he he talked about that quite a bit with me
00:43:48
actually he went back and forth on that and uh I you know I I don't necessarily agree again with his uh type of
00:43:56
cannibalism because his was more a destruction cannibalism and uh my interest would be again something like U
00:44:03
absorbing the person somebody you have affection for um assimilation you know kind of a quick and dirty way to upload
00:44:11
a person Soul into your own soul uh his was more uh I would say barbaric mine would be more ritual I
00:44:18
suppose I mean my interest anyway how long did your correspondence go on with uh Arthur
00:44:25
shawcross it was like uh a little over five years and it was about a letter every two weeks like I say now there's
00:44:31
an article out there that states that you had said at one point in your life Arthur shawcross was more of a father
00:44:39
figure or maybe even a better Father Figure to you than your own father or males in your
00:44:47
life yes well that's also true the uh male figures in my life have been brutal in ignorance you know and like uh even
00:44:56
worse than sure opinion just well in in a in a sense in a sense I mean where they I mean they abused uh abused me
00:45:03
growing up in in one way or another basically it was just physical or verbal abuse but uh my my own father he he
00:45:11
never mentally grew up but he's Vicious he's still basically nine years old mentally but he's extremely vicious and
00:45:17
aggressive and then my surrogate father uh my Uncle Jerry he was a brutal man you know he he was vicious and violent
00:45:25
and so I had no one to really turn to and you know like friends they're alls Psychopaths and criminals and so I mean
00:45:34
it was so bad I ended up seeing uh sh cross I guess as the lesser of evils as they say you know and I got along with
00:45:40
them a hell of a lot better than the other male figures in my life you know so that's that's how that goes well and
00:45:46
John and just to be clear we're not saying that that Shaw cross is a better person or a better man than these two
00:45:53
individuals we're just simply saying that your correspondence with him he treated you with more respect maybe
00:46:01
kindness and friendship than these others have shown you yeah well that's exactly it that's it that's how bad
00:46:06
that's what I'm saying that's how bad the other men were had it turned to a one of the worst
00:46:12
serial killer cannibals this world ever known so there you go it's my life what did you know about Shaw cross before he
00:46:19
reached out to you well again throughout my life I had been seeking somebody I could uh again kind of with or identify
00:46:30
with you know so I I've been studying say stereo pillars and occults uh since I was uh n nine or 10 years old I
00:46:38
started with a Zodiac Killer again because I I was feeling differently than everybody else I knew it was different
00:46:44
and I was just searching some answers you know so that's the main reason I got into it so I had read by that time 2000
00:46:50
I had read a couple of books about him uh Jack olsson's book and uh Bill Norris material and uh so I I I did know about
00:46:59
him I had read a had read about him and uh at the very least if not seeing at least a documentary about him and he
00:47:06
discovered you because you were selling things on eBay was sha cross interested in any of your collections well let's
00:47:14
see he was fascinated with the shrunken head collection um was I would again I I
00:47:20
would be collecting uh I collected trunk and head replica trunk and head well one
00:47:24
was made out of a real human scale apparently but uh yeah collecting those and he was very interested I don't think
00:47:30
he'd be collecting them themselves he didn't seem like much of a collector type but he was very interested in it
00:47:36
made some about it but yeah I used to collect the shrunken heads and and mummified heads mummified heads so um
00:47:43
yeah I I've since sold them but uh i' like to start recollecting at some point yeah I did get to hold a real one
00:47:51
the the man I sold him to he actually he had a real authentic one I got to hold as a a little Museum as a tattoo parlor
00:47:59
that I visited and yeah so that was an interesting experience very interesting day that was a day for a lot of
00:48:05
th yeah get into that another time but yeah what was your takeaway from this pinp pal relationship with this Cal
00:48:12
killer yeah well it it uh it's a very uh Twisted thing to say but I almost felt uh wanted and accepted that was the main
00:48:23
thing that there was someone out there who would accept me I I guess that that's the bottom line and that sums it
00:48:30
up other than people's interest in True Crime what are the other reasons to go out and pick up your book yeah it's
00:48:37
that's a thing it's not meant to be uh gratuitous um and it's not one dimensional it's not just uh like I'm
00:48:43
just stuck and stagnant at this phase where I'm thinking this way this is about a recovery from it a recovery from
00:48:50
I say purging my Boogeyman uh from from this type of thinking and uh as well as the addictions to alcohol and drugs I
00:48:58
mean that's what it's about it's about coming out on the other side of this at the end of it and if thing is if
00:49:04
somebody else is having either uh these types of thoughts or addictions the main
00:49:09
thing is you have to find someone you trust you could talk to you got to talk about it you have to find a therapeutic
00:49:14
way to exercise these these demons without hurting anybody that that's the main thing that's what you got to get
00:49:19
across I'm not just sitting here drooling and grinning maniacally I I really I this is about my getting better
00:49:26
you know that's the point and I I've I've improved almost 180 degree turn almost maybe it's 17 so but I'm getting
00:49:33
there but yeah this is really I recovered for the most part from uh that again that frequency of thought as I I
00:49:41
say um but yeah that's the thing it's really not meant to be a you know again something where I'm reving in the evil
00:49:49
it's not that at all you know because this was therapeutic to write the book this is a therapy for me again you know
00:49:56
to work out these demons in as diplomatic and healthy a way as I could you know that was the main thing that
00:50:02
you know I had to get it out of my [Music] system well of course Captain our recommended reading this week is the
00:50:23
shaw cross letters my journey into the mind of Evil by John Paul Fay and Brian Whitney you can pick that up at Amazon
00:50:31
or wherever books are sold I want to thank uh Brian and John for chatting with us and all of our recommended
00:50:39
readings are on our website so check out truecar.com click on the recommended page and if you're not listening on the
00:50:45
Stitcher app make sure you download it we'll be announcing something very soon about partnering with them on a cool
00:50:51
project all right well thank you Captain very exciting stuff and thank you to every everybody out there until next
00:50:56
time be good be kind and don't [Music] [Applause] litter you can start your day off right when
00:51:31
you find a professional on Angie to get your plumbing right first connect with skilled professionals
00:51:37
to get all your home projects done well visit angie.com you can do this when you
00:51:42
Angie that

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 75
    Most intense
  • 70
    Most heartbreaking
  • 70
    Most surprising

Episode Highlights

  • Quality Sleep with Ashley
    Ashley offers top mattress brands at winning prices with special financing options.
    “Make every snooze count!”
    @ 00m 22s
    November 16, 2023
  • Learn Languages with Rosetta Stone
    Rosetta Stone's technology provides immersive lessons and voice feedback for intuitive learning.
    “Dive into 25 languages!”
    @ 00m 44s
    November 16, 2023
  • True Crime Garage Introduction
    Nick and the captain welcome listeners to another episode of True Crime Garage.
    “Thanks for listening!”
    @ 01m 41s
    November 16, 2023
  • The Tragic Story of Art Anamarie Stefen
    Anamarie was a young sex worker whose life ended tragically at the hands of Shawcross.
    “She was last seen alive on July 8, 1989.”
    @ 07m 20s
    November 16, 2023
  • The Horrific Murders of Arthur Shawcross
    Shawcross's victims were often vulnerable women, leading to a series of tragic deaths.
    “He would prey on those with weaknesses.”
    @ 16m 06s
    November 16, 2023
  • The Discovery of a Body
    A police helicopter crew spots a frozen corpse in Salmon Creek, leading to a major investigation.
    “It was this incident that would later lead to his arrest.”
    @ 25m 10s
    November 16, 2023
  • Shawcross's Confession
    After hours of questioning, Arthur Shawcross confesses to multiple murders, revealing his dark past.
    “He just got tired of it, so he just confessed.”
    @ 28m 42s
    November 16, 2023
  • Shawcross's Death
    Arthur Shawcross dies in 2018, leaving behind a legacy of horror and infamy.
    “He was cremated and later his ashes were given to his daughter.”
    @ 32m 22s
    November 16, 2023
  • A Disturbing Friendship
    John Paul Fay develops a pen pal relationship with Shawcross, sharing dark thoughts and fantasies.
    “I saw him as a kind of father figure.”
    @ 35m 00s
    November 16, 2023
  • The Importance of Recovery
    The conversation highlights the journey of recovery from dark thoughts and addictions.
    “It's about coming out on the other side.”
    @ 49m 00s
    November 16, 2023
  • Journey into the Mind of Evil
    A deep dive into the psyche of a serial killer through letters.
    “Shaw Cross Letters: My Journey into the Mind of Evil.”
    @ 50m 23s
    November 16, 2023

Episode Quotes

  • It's good to be seen and it's good to see you!
    Arthur Shawcross /// The Shawcross Letters /// 199
  • You can't make this stuff up!
    Arthur Shawcross /// The Shawcross Letters /// 199
  • This is a graphic show.
    Arthur Shawcross /// The Shawcross Letters /// 199
  • He just got tired of it, so he just confessed.
    Arthur Shawcross /// The Shawcross Letters /// 199
  • He was kind of teaching me how to kill.
    Arthur Shawcross /// The Shawcross Letters /// 199
  • I almost felt wanted and accepted.
    Arthur Shawcross /// The Shawcross Letters /// 199

Key Moments

  • Language Learning00:31
  • Serial Killer Profile23:50
  • Body Discovery24:46
  • Dark Friendship35:00
  • Seeking Acceptance48:17
  • Recovery Journey49:00
  • Therapeutic Writing49:52
  • Recommended Reading50:23

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown