Earle Leonard Nelson, the "Gorilla Man" - Serial Killer Who Targeted Elderly Landladies

In the mid 1920s America was terrorized by the "Gorilla Man". This criminal even made his way into Canada before capture. Here in America, he was the first serial sex killer of the century, slaughtering at least 22 women.

Earle Leonard Nelson, the "Gorilla Man", was sent to live with his mother's family when his parents died of syphilis. He became withdrawn, moody, and had bizarre habits. For example, he would be sent to school in clean clothes and return in dirty, foul smelling clothes.

As a child, Nelson was riding his bike when he was struck by a trolley car. He was in the hospital for six weeks. Prior to this accident, Nelson thought his unusually large hands (hence his nickname later in life) were given to him so he could hold onto his Bible better. After the accident, he became more eccentric and eventually came to believe his large hands were meant to deal with the "Jezebels" and "Delilahs" of the world.

Earle Leonard Nelson served a brief two year sentence in San Quentin for burglary, just after he turned eighteen. After release, he enlisted as a navy man. However, he was placed in a mental institution because he insisted on speaking about the "Great Beast of Revelations" instead of performing military duties.

Nelson was discharged in 1919, at the age of 22. He promptly married and made his wife's life hell. He frequently accused her of promiscuity and beat her when she denied the allegations. The marriage did not last long, although the wife lived to tell about it.

He then attacked a 12-year-old and did another brief stint in an asylum. In 1925, he began traveling across the country, targeting landladies on the way. In San Francisco, 1926, Mrs. Clara Newman showed Earle Leonard Nelson his room. Upon reaching the room, the voices he had been hearing for quite some time instructed him to strangle her, so he did as they bade.

A few months later, he strangled and raped landlady Laura Beale. A few months after that attack, Nelson killed Mrs. St. Mary and stashed her under a bed. A fourth attack occurred later that month in Santa Barbara, California.

As he worked his way up the West Coast, he was nicknamed "Gorilla Man" because of how he utilized his large hands to strangle his victims.

Earle Leonard Nelson kept on the move, killing and raping as he went. He was eventually run into Canada, where two victims quickly fell prey to him. Winnipeg officials were investigating all recent arrivals, leading them to discover Lola Cowan, who was killed and shoved under a bed (in the room Nelson had used) three days prior to their discovery.

Two days later in Killarney, police picked up a man who turned out to be Nelson. He was locked in the interrogation room for 15 minutes and still managed to escape. Despite the hard work of a 500-man posse, Nelson boarded a train the next morning. He would have escaped except that train happened to be the one Winnipeg officials had taken to visit Killarney officials.

After several months, Earle Leonard Nelson was hung. No one heard him speak during his trial, but as the hangman slipped on the black hood, he said "I forgive those who have wronged me."

Sources:
The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers; Schechter, Harold and Everitt, David; Pocket Books, 2006.
The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting Beings; Steiger, Brad; Visible Ink Press, 1999.