Arthur Shawcross Research Papers

Arthur Shawcross, otherwise known as “The Genesee River Killer”, was a serial killer most famous for the murder of eleven women in the upstate New York area from 1988 to 1990. However, these were not his only crimes. In the year 1972, he was also arrested for the murder of two children. Shortly after his arrest, Shawcross was released on parole and had his criminal records sealed in order to prevent a public panic at this newly released child murderer. As a result of his newfound freedom, Shawcross quickly began the spree that landed him his nickname, “The Genesee River Killer”. It was nearing the end of winter on March 24, a hunter at Salmon Creek came across the body of a dead woman rising to the surface of the creek. He called the

Two months after coming to Rochester, Shawcross developed a relationship with Clara Neal as well as with the local prostitutes, and often borrowed Neal’s car to meet them. With all this newly discovered information, investigators finally had the background details they needed to confirm their hunches. They then approached Shawcross and asked if he would mind going with them again to clear some things up. He agreed to go, and they drove him to the places where certain events happened in order to get a confession, but Shawcross did not budge. When word came in that the investigators had found an earring in Clara's car that had matched one they had found on June Cicero, Shawcross confessed. During his confession, Shawcross explained the reasons why he killed. Some of the prostitutes had ridiculed him, some had tried to steal, one would not shut up, several had threatened to turn him in as the killer, and one had threatened to tell his wife about their affair. The detectives then showed him photographs of the two missing women, Maria Welch and Darlene Trippi, and he admitted that he had killed them both as well as mark on a map where he had left

He could have been located and at least questioned and put under surveillance before so many women had been killed. Shawcross’s early release caused outrage and led to the harsh criticism of the judicial system and their incompetence played a huge role in the brutal murder of eleven women. He had been arrested multiple times on multiple accounts, each crime worse than before, and was still released with the thought that he would not escalate even more. Shawcross was the type of criminal who’s crimes would only get progressively worse not better. And maybe with a more thorough psychiatric test, they could have realized it. A man who brutally raped and strangled two children, is obviously not in the right mental state to be released on early parole. And as a result, he continued to brutally kill more people under the noses of those who released him. To add to this outrage, they hid his record. The only defense for this decision was that the three communities that were informed had turned him away, and "we had to put him somewhere”. I know where they could have put him, back in prison! Because of his hidden record, they practically gave the most dangerous person of that time a green light to go kill. He was probably aware of the fact that the police had no way of knowing he was in their area, and that fact gave him the push he needed to start killing again. I mean, if I was a psychopathic