Scott Erskine
Encyclopedia
Scott Thomas Erskine is an American
serial killer
on California's death row
, convicted for the murder
of two California boys in 1993. He is currently incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison
.
. When he was five years old, Erskine darted into traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach
and was hit by a station wagon. He remained in a coma
for 60 hours. Although physically he appeared recovered, he frequently complained to his mother about headaches, and he experienced "black out" moments where he couldn't remember what he was last doing. At the age of 10, he started molesting
his 6-year-old sister, forcing her to perform oral sex
upon him. He soon began abusing
her friends, threatening to kill them if they told anybody. Erskine attended Southwest Junior High School in San Diego, California and was placed in "special classes" for the emotionally disturbed. At 15, Erskine escaped from a juvenile detention facility, pulled a knife on a 13-year-old girl and rape
d her. The next morning, he assaulted a 27-year-old female jogger with a knife.
In 1980, while on his way to interview for a camp counselor's position, Erskine beat a 14-year-old boy unconscious during an attempted rape. He also raped another inmate while imprisoned. Erskine begged the San Diego judge at the time to spare him from adult prison. Despite his mother's pleas to send her son to a mental institution, Erskine was sentenced to four years in prison; he was parole
d in 1984.
Upon his release, Erskine met a woman named "Deborah," whom he dated on and off, and moved to Orlando, Florida
, with her in 1988. They were married that year, and had a child. The marriage was brief and dysfunction
al; Erskine physically abused
his wife, even kicking her in the stomach when she was pregnant, and she eventually left him. Erskine moved back to Southern California.
In 1993, Erskine invited a woman, who was waiting for the bus, into his home and held her hostage
for several days, repeatedly raping and sodomizing
her before letting her go. He was quickly arrested. He was convicted of rape and kidnapping
, declared a sex offender
, and sentenced to 70 years in prison. As a convicted sex offender, Erskine had to submit his DNA
to a database.
In March 2001, the San Diego Cold Case squad reopened the investigation of the unsolved murders of nine-year-old Jonathan Sellers and 13-year-old Charlie Keever. The police tested cotton swabs found in Charlie's mouth that contained semen
. Since it was determined the boy was not physically mature enough to produce sperm
, the semen could only have originated from the killer. The DNA sample was entered into CODIS, and was matched to Erskine.
was tied around his neck. On the ground laid Charlie, his head resting on a pile of his and Jonathan's clothes. He was also naked from the waist down, legs and arms bound, his mouth gagged, and his genitals were bleeding from extensive bite marks. He, too, had a rope around his neck. The pathologist determined Charlie was alive when the bite marks were inflicted. Erskine's DNA was also found on two cigarette butts found near the bodies.
Erskine's public defender never denied Erskine killed the boys, but instead focused on Erskine's car accident when he was 5 years old. The public defender stated that Erskine received serious brain injuries that diminished his capacity for right and wrong. They argued that life without the possibility of parole was a more appropriate punishment.
On October 1, 2003, the jury found Erskine guilty of murder; however, they could not agree on the sentence. Eleven jurors voted for the death penalty, while one juror insisted on giving Erskine life without parole
. The judge declared a mistrial on the penalty phase.
In April 2004 Erskine went before a second jury to decide his punishment for the murder. This jury unanimously recommended the death penalty. On September 1, 2004, a California judge upheld the jury's recommendation and gave Erskine the death penalty. He was transported to San Quentin six days later.
, at the time, admitted to raping and killing Baker, and was sentenced to life without parole. Baker drowned when Erskine broke her neck and left her near the bank of the Intracoastal Waterway
in Palm Beach
. Florida authorities suspect Erskine may be linked to other unsolved homicide
s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
on California's death row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
, convicted for the murder
Murder of Charlie Keever and Jonathan Sellers
The Murder of Charlie Keever and Jonathan Sellers occurred on March 27, 1993, in San Diego County, California. The murders of both boys was solved via a DNA match after a delay of eight years.-The victims:...
of two California boys in 1993. He is currently incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men in unincorporated San Quentin, Marin County, California, United States. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in the state. California's only death row for male inmates, the largest...
.
Early childhood
Erskine grew up in southern CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. When he was five years old, Erskine darted into traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
and was hit by a station wagon. He remained in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
for 60 hours. Although physically he appeared recovered, he frequently complained to his mother about headaches, and he experienced "black out" moments where he couldn't remember what he was last doing. At the age of 10, he started molesting
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
his 6-year-old sister, forcing her to perform oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
upon him. He soon began abusing
Relational aggression
Relational aggression, also known as covert aggression or covert bullying, is a type of aggression in which harm is caused through damage to relationships or social status within a group rather than by means of actual or threatened physical violence...
her friends, threatening to kill them if they told anybody. Erskine attended Southwest Junior High School in San Diego, California and was placed in "special classes" for the emotionally disturbed. At 15, Erskine escaped from a juvenile detention facility, pulled a knife on a 13-year-old girl and 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...
d her. The next morning, he assaulted a 27-year-old female jogger with a knife.
In 1980, while on his way to interview for a camp counselor's position, Erskine beat a 14-year-old boy unconscious during an attempted rape. He also raped another inmate while imprisoned. Erskine begged the San Diego judge at the time to spare him from adult prison. Despite his mother's pleas to send her son to a mental institution, Erskine was sentenced to four years in prison; he was parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
d in 1984.
Upon his release, Erskine met a woman named "Deborah," whom he dated on and off, and moved to Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, with her in 1988. They were married that year, and had a child. The marriage was brief and dysfunction
Dysfunction
Dysfunction can refer to:* Abnormality * Dysfunctional family* Sexual dysfunction* Dysfunction , an album by the rock band Staind...
al; Erskine physically abused
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
his wife, even kicking her in the stomach when she was pregnant, and she eventually left him. Erskine moved back to Southern California.
In 1993, Erskine invited a woman, who was waiting for the bus, into his home and held her hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
for several days, repeatedly raping and sodomizing
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
her before letting her go. He was quickly arrested. He was convicted of rape and kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, declared a sex offender
Sex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
, and sentenced to 70 years in prison. As a convicted sex offender, Erskine had to submit 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...
to a database.
In March 2001, the San Diego Cold Case squad reopened the investigation of the unsolved murders of nine-year-old Jonathan Sellers and 13-year-old Charlie Keever. The police tested cotton swabs found in Charlie's mouth that contained semen
Semen
Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...
. Since it was determined the boy was not physically mature enough to produce sperm
Sperm
The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive cells. In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell...
, the semen could only have originated from the killer. The DNA sample was entered into CODIS, and was matched to Erskine.
The trial
In September 2003, Erskine went on trial for the two murders. The jurors were shown photos of the crime scene: Jonathan was at the entrance of the make-shift fort hanging from a castor bean tree branch. He was naked from the waist down, his legs and arms bound with rope, and his mouth gagged. His genitals showed obvious signs of sexual assault, and a nooseNoose
A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot slides to make the loop collapsible. Knots used for making nooses include the running bowline, the tarbuck knot, and the slip knot.-Use in hanging:...
was tied around his neck. On the ground laid Charlie, his head resting on a pile of his and Jonathan's clothes. He was also naked from the waist down, legs and arms bound, his mouth gagged, and his genitals were bleeding from extensive bite marks. He, too, had a rope around his neck. The pathologist determined Charlie was alive when the bite marks were inflicted. Erskine's DNA was also found on two cigarette butts found near the bodies.
Erskine's public defender never denied Erskine killed the boys, but instead focused on Erskine's car accident when he was 5 years old. The public defender stated that Erskine received serious brain injuries that diminished his capacity for right and wrong. They argued that life without the possibility of parole was a more appropriate punishment.
On October 1, 2003, the jury found Erskine guilty of murder; however, they could not agree on the sentence. Eleven jurors voted for the death penalty, while one juror insisted on giving Erskine life without parole
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. The judge declared a mistrial on the penalty phase.
In April 2004 Erskine went before a second jury to decide his punishment for the murder. This jury unanimously recommended the death penalty. On September 1, 2004, a California judge upheld the jury's recommendation and gave Erskine the death penalty. He was transported to San Quentin six days later.
Florida murder
While awaiting the start of his trial, Florida investigators matched Erskine's DNA in the unsolved case of 26-year-old Renee Baker, who was murdered on June 23, 1989. He was formally charged in 2003, but didn't get sentenced until August 2004. Erskine, who did indeed live in Palm Beach County, FloridaPalm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County is the largest county in the state of Florida in total area, and third in population. As of 2010, the county's estimated population was 1,320,134, making it the twenty-eighth most populous in the United States...
, at the time, admitted to raping and killing Baker, and was sentenced to life without parole. Baker drowned when Erskine broke her neck and left her near the bank of the Intracoastal Waterway
Intracoastal Waterway
The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000-mile waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are artificial canals...
in Palm Beach
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
. Florida authorities suspect Erskine may be linked to other unsolved homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
s.