Summary Of Heidnik's Cellar Of Horror

Throughout history there have been many cases in which defiant people commit horrendous acts that one cannot even fathom. Often times if these individuals perform acts in violation of moral laws and regulations, they are subject to confinement in a jail or prison. Of these non-obedient individuals are those who are known as serial killers, who murder innocent lives, due to their desire to receive relief. A famous example of a devious serial killer who raped, tortured, and fed the remnants of human flesh to his captives was Gary Heidnik. Like most criminals, his story is revolved around the achievement of a particular goal, which in his case was to create a ‘baby factory’ from the women he kidnapped. The book, Cellar of Horror, recaps his brutal

The book describes the history that Heidnik had with his first child, which may have caused him to go into a state of mourning. Years prior to the abduction of his first captive, Josefina Rivera, Heidnik met a woman in the mental hospital, whom he brought home without proper approval and got her pregnant. Upon the medical center finding out that Heidnik committed these acts, he was sent to prison and his child was placed in foster care. This may have emotionally affected Heidnik, as he later abducted women that resembled the woman from the mental hospital physically and

Heidnik waited a full four-hundred and twenty days before he got his trial. The person that defended Heidnik was Chuck Peruto, a very well groomed man with a respectful attitude. He tried to refute against prosecutor Charles Gallagher, who is described as completely opposite of Peruto. The idea that Peruto tried to convey throughout his efforts was that Heidnik was insane, which would change the murder from a first degree to a second degree. He provided evidence of his psychiatrist from his military academy, but that proved to not help. The psychiatrist tried to show that perhaps because the birth of his brother, Heidnik was stuck in that childhood phase. She tried to blame his mental illness, towards schizophrenia. Also, Peruto tried to convey the idea that how can a man be putting a facade of mental disorders for 21 years to finally put his plan into place. Although, his argument was valid, Gallagher tried to assert that if Heidnik was insane, how would he know to obstruct Lindsay’s body so the cops would not find it. Gallagher also had some interesting points stating that how could a insane person have an IQ well above the average. Thus, these two sides of the arguments were provided continuous evidence, until the jurors decided to confirm Heidnik guilty. He served a death sentence for his actions and lived in complete isolation until his lethal