Gary M. Heidnik
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Warning: This article contains graphic and possibly disturbing details about Gary Hedinik's murders.
Gary M. Heidnik (November 1943 - July 6, 1999) was an American criminal who kidnapped women and kept them prisoner in his basement. He is often referred to as a serial killer, although having committed only two murders, he would not fit the standard FBI definition of a serial killer. FBI standard dictates "three or more murders" to classify as serial killer.
Beginning in November 1986, Heidnik, a former soldier who had made a small fortune on the stock market, abducted five women and held them in the basement of his house in Philadelphia. The captives were sexually abused, beaten and tortured in front of each other. When the first one died of her mistreatment, Heidnik dismembered her body. Heidnick ground it in a food-processor mixing it with dog-food, which he then fed to the surviving victims. Heidnick had a problem dealing with the arms and legs so he put them in a freezer and marked them "dog food". Heidnik cooked her ribs in an oven and her head was boiled in a pot on the stove. A second woman, bound in chains, died when she was thrown in a filled bathtub and house current applied to those chains. She died of electrocution for not cooperating.
Heidnik would torture and sexually abuse the women individually or in groups. He had a four foot deep pit that he covered with plywood and heavy weights where a "misbehaving" victim would be placed. The victims were encouraged to inform on each other in return for better conditions.
One of the kidnapped women managed to escape on March 24, 1987. She had convinced Heidnik to let her go out, promising to bring back another captive for him, but instead she went straight to the authorities who secured a search warrant. Heidnik was arrested.
Convicted of two counts of murder in 1988, Heidnik was sentenced to death. In January 1999 he attempted suicide with an overdose of the prescribed thorazine. Heidnik was executed by lethal injection on July 6, 1999.
Heidnik's method of keeping his captives in a deep hole in his basement was emulated by the killer in The Silence Of The Lambs.
External Links
- Crime Library Article on Gary Heidnik (http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/heidnik/index_1.html)
Categories: 1943 births | 1999 deaths | Serial killers | Murderers | Rapists | People from Ohio | Executed people | American people stubs
