Gerald Stano
Encyclopedia
Gerald Eugene Stano was an American
convicted serial killer
. He killed at least 22 women; he confessed killing 41
. His given name at birth was Paul Zeininger. His natural mother neglected him to such an extent that when she finally gave him up for adoption
when he was six months old, county doctors declared him unadoptable because he was functioning at what they described as "an animalistic level", even ingesting his own feces
to survive. He was eventually adopted
, however, by Norma Stano, a nurse, who renamed him Gerald Eugene Stano.
By all accounts, the Stanos were loving parents, but discipline problems nevertheless plagued their adopted son all his life. He earned C's and D's in all subjects in school (except music, at which he excelled). He was a bed wetter
until the age of 10. He lied compulsively and was once caught stealing money from his father's wallet to pay fellow members of the track and field team to finish behind him, so he would not be viewed as a complete failure. He graduated high school at the age of 21 and did not attend college.
was found when these claims were investigated almost 20 years later, Stano was never charged. He was most active in Florida
and New Jersey
. By his 29th birthday, he was in prison for murdering 41 women. He was housed with fellow serial killer Ted Bundy
until Bundy's execution in 1989.
on March 23, 1998 in Florida State Prison
. His final statement was to give information on the last body, which was directly across from the police station. The Governor of Florida at the time is reported to have said, "No more. We are to move on with the death penalty;" he was told that giving away the location of the final body would not help him stall the trial's verdict any longer. He gave away the location anyway.
was published about Stano's life and crimes, ghostwritten by the mother of an Assistant State Attorney who prosecuted him.
Another book is due for release in April, 2011 - I Would Find a Girl Walking, written by Kathy Kelly and Diana Montane. The content is culled from interviews with the lead investigator and the victims' families, and exclusive access to the killer.
stating unequivocably that Sergeant Paul Crow was responsible for "spoon feeding" Stano the intimate details of unsolved homicides. According to Gadberry's affidavit, Stano merely parroted the information back to Crow while other veteran homicide officers later made statements to the effect that, they too, had witnessed Paul Crow 'helping' Stano to confess to crimes he had not committed.
Crow's colleagues recalled how he actively gathered information on unsolved or "cold case" murders from foreign jurisdictions. During sworn testimony in Orlando Federal Appeals Court in 1993, Crow himself recalled using copies of stories from the local newspaper to locate details about murders to which Stano later confessed, including the murder for which Stano was later executed.
In 1995, Crow was removed from office by a grand jury appointed by Florida Governor Lawton Chiles
, citing corruption.
Further controversy surrounded the fact that Stano, in spite of his 41 murder confessions, was brought to trial for just one homicide: that of 17-year-old Cathy Lee Scharf, who was murdered in December 1973. A conspicuous lack of physical evidence corroborating Stano's confessions made it virtually impossible for jurisdictions in Florida to prosecute, and Stano's previous convictions were exclusively the result of his own guilty pleas.
Following a hung jury
, prosecutors introduced the testimony of a jailhouse informant, Clarence Zacke, who was later discredited when another man against whom he had testified, Wilton Dedge, was released after serving 22 years for rape
; lawyers for the Innocence Project
established that his DNA
did not match that found on the victim.
During a secretly recorded conversation with freelance reporter Arthur Nash in 1997, Zacke admitted that he had lied regarding Stano and other defendants, including Wilton Dedge. He said his testimony had been fabricated with the assistance of two county prosecutors, who offered him incentives in exchange for testimony.
In late 2007, an FBI lab report surfaced which concluded that Stano could not have been the source of unidentified Caucasian
pubic hair
s that were recovered from Scharf's body. The report was never presented as evidence by the public defender representing Stano. The source of the pubic hairs was not identified, and they were destroyed shortly after Stano's execution in the Florida electric chair in 1998.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
convicted serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
. He killed at least 22 women; he confessed killing 41
Early life
He was born in Schenectady, New YorkSchenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
. His given name at birth was Paul Zeininger. His natural mother neglected him to such an extent that when she finally gave him up for adoption
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
when he was six months old, county doctors declared him unadoptable because he was functioning at what they described as "an animalistic level", even ingesting his own feces
Feces
Feces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...
to survive. He was eventually adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
, however, by Norma Stano, a nurse, who renamed him Gerald Eugene Stano.
By all accounts, the Stanos were loving parents, but discipline problems nevertheless plagued their adopted son all his life. He earned C's and D's in all subjects in school (except music, at which he excelled). He was a bed wetter
Bedwetting
Nocturnal enuresis, commonly called bedwetting, is involuntary urination while asleep after the age at which bladder control usually occurs. Nocturnal enuresis is considered primary when a child has not yet had a prolonged period of being dry...
until the age of 10. He lied compulsively and was once caught stealing money from his father's wallet to pay fellow members of the track and field team to finish behind him, so he would not be viewed as a complete failure. He graduated high school at the age of 21 and did not attend college.
Murders
Officially, Stano admitted that he began killing in the early 1970s, when he was in his 20s but also claimed to have begun killing in the late 1960s, at the age of 18. Several girls had gone missing in Stano's area of residence at that time, but since insufficient physical evidenceEvidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
was found when these claims were investigated almost 20 years later, Stano was never charged. He was most active in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. By his 29th birthday, he was in prison for murdering 41 women. He was housed with fellow serial killer Ted Bundy
Ted Bundy
Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women during the 1970s, and possibly earlier...
until Bundy's execution in 1989.
Execution
Stano was executed by electric chairElectric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
on March 23, 1998 in Florida State Prison
Florida State Prison
Florida State Prison , formerly known as the Union Correctional Institution—East Unit, is a correctional institution located in unincorporated Bradford County, Florida. It is located on Florida State Road 16 right across the border from Union County. The institution opened in 1961, even though...
. His final statement was to give information on the last body, which was directly across from the police station. The Governor of Florida at the time is reported to have said, "No more. We are to move on with the death penalty;" he was told that giving away the location of the final body would not help him stall the trial's verdict any longer. He gave away the location anyway.
Books
In 1993, the true crime book Blind FuryBlind Fury
Blind Fury is a 1989 samurai/action film directed by Phillip Noyce. It is a loosely based, modernized version of Zatoichi Challenged, the 17th film in the Japanese Zatoichi film series. The film stars Rutger Hauer as Nick Parker, a blind, sword-wielding Vietnam War veteran, who returns to the...
was published about Stano's life and crimes, ghostwritten by the mother of an Assistant State Attorney who prosecuted him.
Another book is due for release in April, 2011 - I Would Find a Girl Walking, written by Kathy Kelly and Diana Montane. The content is culled from interviews with the lead investigator and the victims' families, and exclusive access to the killer.
Controversy
Controversy has long accompanied Gerald Stano's criminal history, with some believing that Stano was actually a 'serial confessor', including his arresting officer, Detective James Gadberry, who challenged the decision to accept Stano's first confessions as valid and, in 1986, signed a legal affidavitAffidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
stating unequivocably that Sergeant Paul Crow was responsible for "spoon feeding" Stano the intimate details of unsolved homicides. According to Gadberry's affidavit, Stano merely parroted the information back to Crow while other veteran homicide officers later made statements to the effect that, they too, had witnessed Paul Crow 'helping' Stano to confess to crimes he had not committed.
Crow's colleagues recalled how he actively gathered information on unsolved or "cold case" murders from foreign jurisdictions. During sworn testimony in Orlando Federal Appeals Court in 1993, Crow himself recalled using copies of stories from the local newspaper to locate details about murders to which Stano later confessed, including the murder for which Stano was later executed.
In 1995, Crow was removed from office by a grand jury appointed by Florida Governor Lawton Chiles
Lawton Chiles
Lawton Mainor Chiles, Jr. was an American politician from the US state of Florida. In a career spanning four decades, Chiles, a Democrat who never lost an election, served in the Florida House of Representatives , the Florida State Senate , the United States Senate , and as the 41st Governor of...
, citing corruption.
Further controversy surrounded the fact that Stano, in spite of his 41 murder confessions, was brought to trial for just one homicide: that of 17-year-old Cathy Lee Scharf, who was murdered in December 1973. A conspicuous lack of physical evidence corroborating Stano's confessions made it virtually impossible for jurisdictions in Florida to prosecute, and Stano's previous convictions were exclusively the result of his own guilty pleas.
Following a hung jury
Hung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
, prosecutors introduced the testimony of a jailhouse informant, Clarence Zacke, who was later discredited when another man against whom he had testified, Wilton Dedge, was released after serving 22 years for rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
; lawyers for the Innocence Project
Innocence Project
An Innocence Project is one of a number of non-profit legal organizations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand dedicated to proving the innocence of wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing, and to reforming the criminal justice systems to...
established that his DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
did not match that found on the victim.
During a secretly recorded conversation with freelance reporter Arthur Nash in 1997, Zacke admitted that he had lied regarding Stano and other defendants, including Wilton Dedge. He said his testimony had been fabricated with the assistance of two county prosecutors, who offered him incentives in exchange for testimony.
In late 2007, an FBI lab report surfaced which concluded that Stano could not have been the source of unidentified Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
pubic hair
Pubic hair
Pubic hair is hair in the frontal genital area, the crotch, and sometimes at the top of the inside of the legs; these areas form the pubic region....
s that were recovered from Scharf's body. The report was never presented as evidence by the public defender representing Stano. The source of the pubic hairs was not identified, and they were destroyed shortly after Stano's execution in the Florida electric chair in 1998.
Related Links
- I Would Find a Girl Walking by Kathy Kelly and Diane Montane at True Crime Book Reviews