Forman Christian College University
Course Code: Psyc 385
Course Title: Forensic Psychology
The unsettling truth about Edmund Kemper
Who is Edmund Kemper and what has he done?
When anyone mentions murder or rape, especially in the US, people cannot stop themselves
from talking about Edmund Kemper, the genius. The infamous Edmund Emil Kemper, who also
goes by the name of The Co-ed Killer, is a 6 feet 9 inches man who weighs around 136kg; taller
and heavier than the average man. He is an American serial killer who started out this series of
murders in the early 1970s.
Interestingly his very first victims were both his grandparents who he lived with, in 17-acre
ranch in North Fork, California. His next six victims were all female hitchhikers in Santa Cruz,
California. Finally, the last two people he killed were his mother a friend of hers, after which he
turned himself to the authorities.
Kempers strategy was to pick up female students hitchhiking which usually happened after he
caught up himself in an argument with his mother. He would take them to a remote area and kill
them there. You’d be surprised when I say, the real torture began after the killing. Kemper
stabbed, shot or smothered the victims, took their bodies to his apartment and would have sex
with them and later dissected them. To get rid of the bodies he dumped them in ravines or buried
them in fields.
, As for his mother, she had it worse than any of his victims. He finally had his chance to take all
the frustration out on her. Kemper battered her to death with a pick hammer while she was
asleep. After decapitating her, he raped her headless body, used her head as a dartboard and put
her vocal cords in a garbage disposal though the machine was unable to break down the tissue
and it kept reappearing in the sink. A little too nasty!
Oddly, Edmund was still not satisfied after his mother’s murder. In order to pleasure his urges
and desires, he invited his mother’s best friend over and strangled her to death.
Till a while after both murder’s the police had yet not been informed, neither had they began a
search to look for the criminal. There was absolutely no news airing about what he had done.
This bothered Edmund so much that he ended up calling the police and confessing to necrophilia,
cannibalism and most importantly to being the Co-ed Killer himself. He eagerly waited for the
arrest. Once they were through with that, he pleaded insanity at his trial but he was found guilty
for eight murders. He then requested for a death penalty which however wasn’t given at the time
so instead they went with life imprisonment. And this is Edmund Kemper for you.
Edmund Kemper in Hollywood
Any strange cases that arise in the world which people are unable to comprehend, are intrigued
by or cases that can be very moving are used by Hollywood to create suspense filled films. This
is to raise awareness and to gain ratings too because the public is always looking out for a
controversial news that they’d either enjoy or criticize.
Keeping this in view they made several films, songs and many authors wrote books on Kempers
case and on his personality. People used his name in multiple places too. Some of the films and
songs even featured the real Kemper instead of having an actor mimic him.
A few on the list are:
Berzerker's song "Forever"
Macabre’s song "Edmund Kemper Had a Horrible Temper”
Author Thomas Harris’s book The Silence of the Lambs had a character named Buffalo Bill who
was partly similar to Edmund Kemper
The Ed Kemper Trio took their name from the killer
Edmund Kemper was featured in an episode of “Masterminds” on The Discovery Times Most
Evil
Gorefest’s song “The Glorious Dead” also featured Edmund Kemper’s voice in the intro
The model named Kemper, from Suicide Girls got her name from Edmund
The movie Cradle of Fear features Edmund
Course Code: Psyc 385
Course Title: Forensic Psychology
The unsettling truth about Edmund Kemper
Who is Edmund Kemper and what has he done?
When anyone mentions murder or rape, especially in the US, people cannot stop themselves
from talking about Edmund Kemper, the genius. The infamous Edmund Emil Kemper, who also
goes by the name of The Co-ed Killer, is a 6 feet 9 inches man who weighs around 136kg; taller
and heavier than the average man. He is an American serial killer who started out this series of
murders in the early 1970s.
Interestingly his very first victims were both his grandparents who he lived with, in 17-acre
ranch in North Fork, California. His next six victims were all female hitchhikers in Santa Cruz,
California. Finally, the last two people he killed were his mother a friend of hers, after which he
turned himself to the authorities.
Kempers strategy was to pick up female students hitchhiking which usually happened after he
caught up himself in an argument with his mother. He would take them to a remote area and kill
them there. You’d be surprised when I say, the real torture began after the killing. Kemper
stabbed, shot or smothered the victims, took their bodies to his apartment and would have sex
with them and later dissected them. To get rid of the bodies he dumped them in ravines or buried
them in fields.
, As for his mother, she had it worse than any of his victims. He finally had his chance to take all
the frustration out on her. Kemper battered her to death with a pick hammer while she was
asleep. After decapitating her, he raped her headless body, used her head as a dartboard and put
her vocal cords in a garbage disposal though the machine was unable to break down the tissue
and it kept reappearing in the sink. A little too nasty!
Oddly, Edmund was still not satisfied after his mother’s murder. In order to pleasure his urges
and desires, he invited his mother’s best friend over and strangled her to death.
Till a while after both murder’s the police had yet not been informed, neither had they began a
search to look for the criminal. There was absolutely no news airing about what he had done.
This bothered Edmund so much that he ended up calling the police and confessing to necrophilia,
cannibalism and most importantly to being the Co-ed Killer himself. He eagerly waited for the
arrest. Once they were through with that, he pleaded insanity at his trial but he was found guilty
for eight murders. He then requested for a death penalty which however wasn’t given at the time
so instead they went with life imprisonment. And this is Edmund Kemper for you.
Edmund Kemper in Hollywood
Any strange cases that arise in the world which people are unable to comprehend, are intrigued
by or cases that can be very moving are used by Hollywood to create suspense filled films. This
is to raise awareness and to gain ratings too because the public is always looking out for a
controversial news that they’d either enjoy or criticize.
Keeping this in view they made several films, songs and many authors wrote books on Kempers
case and on his personality. People used his name in multiple places too. Some of the films and
songs even featured the real Kemper instead of having an actor mimic him.
A few on the list are:
Berzerker's song "Forever"
Macabre’s song "Edmund Kemper Had a Horrible Temper”
Author Thomas Harris’s book The Silence of the Lambs had a character named Buffalo Bill who
was partly similar to Edmund Kemper
The Ed Kemper Trio took their name from the killer
Edmund Kemper was featured in an episode of “Masterminds” on The Discovery Times Most
Evil
Gorefest’s song “The Glorious Dead” also featured Edmund Kemper’s voice in the intro
The model named Kemper, from Suicide Girls got her name from Edmund
The movie Cradle of Fear features Edmund
