Donald Gaskins Primary Sources

DONALD HENRY GASKINS JR.

“PEE WEE”

Biographical Information Donald Gaskins was born on Monday March 13, 1933, in Florence County, South Carolina. His mother Eulea Parrot, who was not married at the time she became pregnant with Donald, lived with several men during his childhood. Many of the men treated Donald with disdain, at times beating him for just being around. His mother did little to protect him from the men in her life and Donald was left alone to raise himself. When his mother did marry, his stepfather beat him and his four half-siblings on a regular basis.

Donald was given the nicknames “Pee Wee” and “Junior Parrott” at a very young age because of his small body size (Montaldo, 2017). The names stuck with him through his adult

While working at the local garage, Donald met two boys, Danny and Marsh. None of the boys attended school and where all around the dame age. They became fast friends and called themselves “The Trouble Trio.” The trio picked up prostitutes, burglarized homes, and even sometimes raped little boys. They would then threaten the little boys so that they would not report them to the police (Montaldo, 2017).

The trio eventually broke up after they had been caught gang raping Marsh’s little sister (Crime Investigation, n.d). For punishment, the parents beat the boys until they bled and soon after Danny and Marsh moved away. Donald continued to burglarize homes on his own. In 1946, he was interrupted by a girl he knew while burglarizing her home (Capps, 2014). In an attempt to stop him, she struck him with an ax. Donald managed to get away from her, but prior to escaping, he struck her in the head and arm with the ax before leaving the scene. The girl, luckily survived the attack. Donald was arrested and convicted for assault with a deadly weapon and intent to kill (Kirby, n.d.). He was sent to the South Carolina Industrial School for Boys (reform school) until he turned

Donald spent the last months of his life dictating his memoirs into a tape recorder while working with author Wilton Earl on his book, "Final Truth" which was published in 1993 (Montaldo, 2017). In the book, Donald addresses the murders he committed and speaks of the “bothersome feelings” that encouraged him to kill.

Although Donald had a disregard for the life of others, he thought highly of himself and tried to avoid the electric chair. On the day of his scheduled electrocution, he slashed his wrists in an effort to delay the execution. His stall tactic did not work, as his self-inflicted wounds were stitched up, wrapped in gauze, and he was placed in the electric chair as scheduled. He was pronounced dead by electrocution at 1:05 a.m. on Sept. 6, 1991 (Kirby, n.d).

The exact location of Donald Henry Gaskin’s remains cannot be confirmed. He was however, cremated and it is thought that his ashes were scattered in and area called “The Neck” near Florence, South