Trial of albert fish

The Budd family received a letter with a description of the mutilation and murder of little Gracie. The note matched the handwriting from the original note sent to them earlier. During the time of the investigation and before the letter was received, another child vanished. Shortly after the disappearance of Billy Gaffney, another little boy also disappeared. Eight year-old Francis McDonnell was playing on the porch with his mother when a grey-haired, frail, old man walked down the street muttering to himself.

The mother noticed his awkward demeanor but did not report anything. Later that day, while Francis was playing at the park, his friends noticed that he walked into the woods with an elderly grey-haired man. When his family noticed that he was missing, they organized a search. Francis was found under some branches in the woods, badly beaten and strangled with his suspenders. All of the members were required to obtain a handwriting test for comparison to the letters from Howard.

A janitor came forward to admit that he had taken some sheets of paper and left them in his old rooming house. The landlady was able to confirm that an old man matching the description had lived there for two months and had only checked out a few days earlier. The former tenant was identified as Albert H. The landlady also mentioned that he wanted her to hold a letter that would be arriving from his son.

Detectives intercepted the letter at the post office and were contacted by the landlady that he would be coming to get his letter. The lead detective was able to capture Mr. Many confessions and testimonies were heard by law enforcement and psychiatrists. But ultimately, as one later explained, they felt he should be executed anyway.

They found him to be sane and guilty, and the judge ordered the death sentence. Fish arrived at prison in March , and was executed on January 16, , in the electric chair at Sing Sing. He entered the chamber at p. He was buried in the Sing Sing Prison Cemetery. Fish is said to have helped the executioner position the electrodes on his body. His last words were reportedly:. According to one witness present, it took two jolts before Fish died, creating the rumor that the apparatus was short-circuited by the needles that Fish had inserted into his body.

These rumors were later regarded as untrue, as Fish reportedly had died in the same fashion and time frame others do in the electric chair. At a meeting with reporters following the execution, Fish's lawyer, James Dempsey, revealed that he was in possession of his now deceased client's "final statement".

This amounted to several pages of hand-written notes that Fish had apparently penned in the hours just prior to his death. When pressed by the assembled journalists to reveal the document's contents, Dempsey refused, stating:. Other articles related to " trial and execution, executions, trial ":. Banfield b. Crushed, I mean, so as to remove all danger of its breaking out again in the future. Now put out your fires and get to your wagons. Home Contact Privacy. His last words were reportedly: I don't even know why I'm here.

When pressed by the assembled journalists to reveal the document's contents, Dempsey refused, stating: I will never show it to anyone. It was the most filthy string of obscenities that I have ever read. It was in Wilmington, Delaware in that Fish committed his first mutilation. Albert met and formed a sadomasochistic relationship with a young man named Thomas Kedden. Kedden was only 19 years old and impressionable.

It has been suggested that Fish took advantage of the young man, forcing him into the relationship. Fish eventually took the boy to an old farmhouse where he kept him and tortured him for two weeks.

By the end of the two weeks of hell, Kedden found himself tied up while Albert Fish cut off half of his penis. Fish was afraid the meat would spoil. Fish claimed he never knew what became of the boy after he took his leave of the gruesome scene. In , Anna Mary left Albert and their children for a slightly feeble-minded handyman by the name of John Straube.

Straube had once rented a room with the Fish family. Anna Mary and Straube fled the home with all the furnishing while Fish was at work. When he came home, he found his wife gone, his home empty, and his children dependent solely on him. Not much long after she fled the home, Mrs. Fish and her lover returned to her family home, begging for a place to stay.

Albert said Anna Mary could stay but her lover had to leave. Anna Mary had been sneaking food up to him as well as sneaking up to spend time with him.

Once discovered, Fish told his estranged wide she could stay, but her lover had to leave. Both Mrs. Fish and Straube fled. The Fish children never saw their mother place a foot in the family home again. After the drama created by his wife had ended, Albert began to act strangely.

It is said this was when he began to suffer auditory hallucinations. He also began to experiment with self-harm. Fish would push needles into his groin. He enjoyed hitting himself with a nail-studded wooden paddle. It was reported that he would frequently insert a lighter fluid soaked wooden dowel into his anus and set in on fire.

For fun. He went as far as to encourage his children and their friends to hit him with his nail-studded paddle. It was during this time that he began to experiment with cannibalism. He would often prepare entire meals made of raw meat for his family in an attempt to quell his desire for human flesh.

Throughout the dark period following the departure of his wife and before committing his first murder, Fish was evaluated by psychiatric hospitals numerous times. Each time he was declared sane and released into society. It was also during this time when Fish began to amass his collection of torture devices, a meat cleaver, a small handsaw, and a butcher knife.

Fish was fond of paying children to help him catch other children so he could torture and murder them. None of these murders were verified with actual proof. Albert Fish made a lot of claims after his eventual arrest. Although there was no proof, Albert Fish victims numbered in the hundreds according to him. By , Albert Fish was suffering from full-on psychosis.

He truly believed God was commanding him to torture and murder children, although he had been evaluated by professionals numerous times.

Her mother noticed Fish lurking about and chased him off, saving the life of the 8-year-old girl. Later that night, Fish returned to the Kiel farm and slept in the barn. Fish offered the boys lunch in order to lure them into his home.

The boys fled the home in fear for their lives. This caused Fish to up his game a little. In , Albert Fish answered an ad seeking work for year-old Edward Budd. The Budd family struggled financially, therefore Edward was hoping to find employment to take some of the burdens off his father. Albert Fish answered the ad by showing up at the Budd family home. He portrayed himself as an average, not at all psychopathic, sweet old man looking for help around his home.

The Budd family never suspected they were dealing with a deranged murderer. The Budd family could not believe their good fortune. Meanwhile, Fish planned to tie Edward up, mutilate him, and leave him to bleed to death before consuming him. Fish made arrangements with the Budd family to return a week later for Edward. When Fish returned to the Budd home as planned, he met little Grace. Albert became so captivated with Grace Budd that he changed his plans.

Instead of Edward, his intended victim became the young girl. Because the Budd parents were so enamored with the old man, they agreed. Grace Budd left with Albert Fish and never returned to her family. Albert Fish was not initially a suspect in the disappearance of Grace Budd. Police wrongly arrested superintendent Charles Edward Pope.

He spent days in jail before he was found not guilty of the crimes against little Grace. In November of , a letter arrived at the Budd home. Budd was unable to read the letter herself so her son, Edward, read the chilling words to his mother. Here are a few excerpts from the letter, written by Fish himself, that eventually led to the arrest of Albert Fish.

Brought you pot cheese — strawberries. We had lunch. Grace sat in my lap and kissed me. I made up my mind to eat her, on the pretense of taking her to a party. You said Yes she could go. I knew if I did not I would get her blood on them. When all was ready I went to the window and called her.

Then I hid in a closet until she was in the room. When she saw me all naked she began to cry and tried to run down stairs. I grabbed her and she said she would tell her mama. First I stripped her naked. How she did kick — bite and scratch.

I choked her to death then cut her into small pieces so I could take my meat to my rooms, cook and eat it. How sweet and tender her little ass was roasted in the oven.