SERIAL KILLER: "The Dark Strangler" Pt. 1

Known for his hulking frame and olive complexion, Earle Leonard Nelson was known as the Dark Strangler. In the early 20th century, this terrifying serial killer targeted older women in San Francisco. He charmed his way into their homes... then murdered them with his bare hands. Killer Minds is a Crime House Original. Follow us on social media, @crimehouse for more true crime content.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Vanessa Richardson?

  Hi everyone. Before today's episode, there's another show I want to tell you about. It's called What the Fact with Connor Tomlinson from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum and Carter Roy. Every week, they take three unbelievable true facts from history and tell you the full story behind them. Plus, Connor's infectious energy that'll make you realize history is the most fascinating thing on earth. Follow What the Fact wherever you listen, or subscribe on YouTube at What the Fact Pod.

• 0:32Vanessa Richardson?

  We have an exciting update. Mind of a Serial Killer is now Killer Minds, expanding beyond serial killers to cover cult leaders, crimes of passion, spree killers, and more.

• 0:45Tristin Engels?

  Nothing else is changing. Same expert analysis, same deep storytelling, now twice a week.

• 0:52Vanessa Richardson?

  New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday, right here. No need to do anything, just stay tuned. Now, enjoy the episode.

• 1:08Speaker 02

  This is Crime House.

• 1:12Vanessa Richardson?

  We've all heard the phrase, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." It's a battle cry urging us to overcome our challenges. And some of us find that we're surprisingly resilient. We're able to use our painful experiences to come out the other side stronger and wiser than before. But that's not always true. In the case of Earl Leonard Nelson, what didn't kill him, tragic losses, illnesses, and brain injuries, broke his spirit. Instead of overcoming his struggles, he let them consume him until he became a monster. Like

• 1:55Vanessa Richardson?

  the great beast in his favorite Bible passage, Earl became a person who did nothing but destroy.

• 2:14Vanessa Richardson?

  The human mind is fascinating. It controls how we think, how we feel, how we love, and how we hate. And sometimes the mind drives us to do something truly unspeakable. This is Killer Minds, formerly known as Mind of a Serial Killer, a Crime House original. Every Monday and Thursday, we'll be taking deep dives into the minds of history's most notorious serial killers and murderers. The show is still the same, the name just changed. And if you're interested in more true crime stories from this week in history, check out Crime House, the show. Every episode covers multiple cases unified by the same theme, so every week you get something a little different.

• 2:59Vanessa Richardson?

  At Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making this possible. Please support us by rating, reviewing, and following Killer Minds wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly matters. And to enhance your Killer Minds listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad-free, and instead of having to wait for each episode of a two-part series, you'll get access to both at once, plus exciting Crime House bonus content. I'm Vanessa Richardson.

• 3:34Tristin Engels?

  And I'm Dr. Tristin Engels. As Vanessa takes you through our subject stories, I'll be helping her dive into these killers' minds as we try to understand how someone can do such horrible things.

• 3:46Vanessa Richardson?

  This is the first of two episodes on Earl Leonard Nelson, who killed and sexually assaulted over 20 people from February to November of 1926. Known as the Gorilla Killer or the Dark Strangler, Earl became notorious for his hulking frame and his preferred method of violence: strangulation. In today's episode, we'll talk about Earl's unfortunate early life and the disturbing behavior that emerged from it. We'll follow Earl as he transforms from a troubled youth to a violent criminal.

• 4:22Tristin Engels?

  I'm also going to be talking about things like the lasting impact of childhood mental illness, Earl's fixation on older women and why he chose them as his victims, and the long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries and their impact on human psychology.

• 4:38Vanessa Richardson?

  Next time, we'll discuss how Earl's murder spree finally came to an end, his desperate attempt to evade justice, and his ultimate fate. And as always, we'll be asking the question, "What makes a killer?"

• 4:58Vanessa Richardson?

  Earl Leonard Nelson's trauma started from the moment he was born. He came into this world on May 12, 1897, and lost both of his parents to syphilis before his second birthday. After that, Earl was sent to live with his widowed grandmother, Jenny Nelson, in San Francisco. Jenny loved Earl, but she was already busy raising her own children, 12-year-old Willis and 10-year-old Lillian. To make things even more challenging, Earl struggled with a lot of behavioral issues from a very young age. Even as a toddler, he vacillated between depressive and manic states. He also had strange eating habits.

• 5:42Vanessa Richardson?

  For instance, he would cover his food in olive oil, then slurp up everything on his plate like an animal. Earl also hated baths. He'd get so filthy, kids at school refused to play with him. It didn't help that he constantly muttered under his breath about how unworthy he was, and how the world would be better off without him. Jenny thought she could change Earl's bad habits by teaching him religion. She was a devout Pentecostal who found comfort in her faith. She thought it could help Earl, too, and decided to introduce him to the Bible. Earl did become interested, but not in the way Jenny expected.

• 6:25Vanessa Richardson?

  He became fascinated with the Book of Revelation, which tells the story of the end of the world and the return of Jesus. In particular, Earl enjoyed reading about the apocalyptic visions of a war between God and Satan. Where Jenny found hope in the Bible, Earl embraced only the darkness.

• 6:46Tristin Engels?

  The first thing that I would want to consider here is whether or not there were any prenatal injuries as a result of his mother's untreated syphilis. There's something called congenital syphilis, which could cause organ damage, neurological deficits, and even developmental delays in children. And it's also worth noting that late-stage syphilis has been documented to cause personality changes, psychosis such as delusions, and disorganized thinking. And it's something referred to as neurosyphilis. Even certain mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and related conditions have been linked to exposure to viruses, illness, or malnutrition before birth.

• 7:28Tristin Engels?

  So this could really factor into the overall clinical picture for Earl and his behavior. And speaking of his behavior, that's definitely peculiar. Children who exhibit unusual or inappropriate behavior, or have extreme moodiness, like how you described Vanessa, or have an inability to appropriately interact with their peers, or a lack of interest or motivation, aren't bathing, special interests, unusual fantasies, and overall just poor communication, are typically monitored for conditions like schizophrenia because there can be early onsets. It could also be an early sign of a developing Cluster A personality disorder, such as schizoid or schizotypal.

• 8:12Tristin Engels?

  This could also be explained by autism, which is a developmental delay. And as they often share very similar traits, autism and schizophrenia are still vastly different conditions. But the bottom line is, if your child's exhibiting symptoms or signs such as these, it's important to always talk with your pediatrician or take them to see a specialist.

• 8:33Vanessa Richardson?

  Whatever caused Earl's childhood troubles, it only got worse with time. When he was seven, Earl started stealing small items from neighborhood shops. And when the kids at school teased Earl for being different, he got into his fair share of fights. It got so bad, the seven-year-old was expelled from school and had to enroll elsewhere. Earl developed a reputation in town for being deeply troubled, the sort of kid who would likely land in reform school, or maybe even jail. Desperate to help her grandson, Jenny tried even harder to instill him with good morals. She focused on scriptures about kindness and sacrificing for the greater good.

• 9:17Vanessa Richardson?

  But no matter what she tried, Earl only connected with the darker stories about death and destruction. The only person who seemed to get through to Earl was his Aunt Lillian. Being only 10 years older than him, she could function as both a sister and mother figure. But Lillian was just one person. What Earl really wanted was friends his own age. He just had no idea how to connect with them. So he tried something desperate. When Earl was 10, he tried to impress a group of boys by riding his bike in front of an oncoming trolley car on the streets of San Francisco. He wasn't fast enough, though.

• 10:00Vanessa Richardson?

  The trolley caught one of his wheels and sent him headfirst into the ground. Jenny spent the next two weeks nursing Earl back to health and reading scripture to him every night. Earl always requested the same section in the Book of Revelation, the part that mentioned the Great Beast, a terrifying monster that acts as Satan's agent on Earth. He memorized the passage and repeated the words over and over to himself. In Earl's head, fact and fiction began to blur. After a while, he became convinced that the Great Beast from the Bible was lurking in the modern world, and maybe it was him.

• 10:44Tristin Engels?

  This blur between fiction and reality is something that is commonly seen with children who have an early childhood onset of schizophrenia or are showing signs of a Cluster A personality or their traits, which are those that are characterized by odd, eccentric, and unusual behaviors and thoughts. But at the same time, it's perfectly normal for children to be imaginative. But when it comes to Earl, there is a pattern of concerning behaviors in addition to this that paint a bigger picture.

• 11:14Vanessa Richardson?

  Whenever Earl shared these thoughts with Lillian, she tried to reason with him. To her, Earl was still the sweet boy she'd helped care for since he was a baby. So when Jenny died in 1908, 21-year-old Lillian offered to take in her 11-year-old nephew. She had a stable home with a husband and children of her own by that point. Lillian thought they would help give Earl the comfort and safety he never had. But Lillian's optimism was short-lived. When Earl was 14, his fights and misunderstandings at school got so bad, he dropped out entirely. Although Lillian insisted he finish his education,

• 11:56Vanessa Richardson?

  Earl preferred to work menial jobs that didn't require much thinking. But even that was a struggle. Sometimes he couldn't finish a task because he was distracted, staring at the sky or talking to himself.

• 12:10Tristin Engels?

  Yeah, his fights and dropping out of school, this could all be a pattern of conduct disorder with Earl, and that can be a precursor to antisocial personality disorder.

• 12:20Vanessa Richardson?

  As Earl grew into a man, his body bulked up, yet he remained childlike and erratic. When he was 15, he started to vanish from Lillian's house for days or weeks on end without any explanation. Lillian didn't know, couldn't know, that Earl was spending his time in the brothels of San Francisco, drinking and hiring sex workers. Like many teenage boys, he'd developed an interest in sex. But for Earl, it was more like an unquenchable obsession.

• 12:54Tristin Engels?

  All right, so at this point, it's clear Earl's undergone puberty. And with puberty comes hormonal changes. He's undergone the physical changes based on what you described, but hormones affect emotions as well. Having a curiosity about sex at this age is normal, and it's why sex education is introduced around this time, at least now, though I don't really know how that was addressed back then. And since he's not been going to school, he clearly did not learn about sex education there. So it makes me wonder, where did he learn about sex? Was it from his sister, or was it from his peers? And how else does a 15-year-old boy know where a brothel is, let alone what it is? And more importantly,

• 13:36Tristin Engels?

  there is potentially a pattern of sexually deviant behavior emerging that could set the stage for future sexual violence. Paraphilia disorders such as voyeurism or fetishism begin around puberty, and they become crystallized through conditioning. And on that note, his first sexual experiences are occurring in brothels. Think about the environment of a brothel. Women faced exploitation, persecution, and abuse there, even if they were there voluntarily. And that's no different than what sex workers face today. Not to mention that there is a clear power differential occurring where Earl is paying for sex and therefore has some coercive control. So the quality of a person's first sexual experience

• 14:19Tristin Engels?

  can really impact their future sexual life, and it can shape attitudes, beliefs, and overall expectations when it comes to sex, or even their views on partners. And when we consider that, along with the environment and his historical pattern of behavior and alcohol abuse, which is clearly happening here, I can certainly see how a pattern of sexually violent behavior would emerge from this combination.

• 14:44Vanessa Richardson?

  Eventually, Earl always left the brothels and returned to Lillian's house, but he tended to come back drunk and disorderly. It wasn't long before Lillian had enough. When Earl turned 18, Lillian kicked him out. The moment he left, he went on a massive bender. Using some money he'd saved from a string of small crimes and odd jobs, Earl headed north through California's rural Plumas County. By the spring of 1915, he ran out of money and broke into a remote cabin he thought was abandoned. But the owner surprised him, and Earl took off. He couldn't run from the police, though. Earl was arrested, convicted of burglary,

• 15:28Vanessa Richardson?

  and sentenced to two years in San Quentin Prison. His time behind bars didn't do much to change him. He was initially paroled in September 1916, but ended up back in prison a few months later until his eventual release in late 1917. But as the United States was drawn into World War I, Earl thought there was an opportunity to do better for himself. Upon his release from prison, 20-year-old Earl enlisted in the US Army and was sent to a training camp in Northern California. But despite his best efforts, Earl couldn't adjust to military life. Over the course of the year, he deserted multiple times

• 16:12Vanessa Richardson?

  just to sign up for a different branch using another name. By 1918, Earl's terrible work ethic, along with his endless rants about the Bible and the apocalypse, landed him in the Napa State Mental Institution. The Navy footed the bill, hoping the doctors could fix him quick enough to be sent back into action. The physician who examined Earl was named Dr. J.B. Rogers. He couldn't find anything physically wrong with Earl, but blood tests revealed both gonorrhea and syphilis in his system. Earl then confessed he had contracted the diseases before the age of 16, though it was unclear if the syphilis had been passed down from his mother

• 16:57Vanessa Richardson?

  or if he got it from a sex worker. When it came to Earl's mental state, Dr. Rogers didn't see any evidence of psychosis. Earl seemed to be of sound mind, not violent, destructive, or homicidal. In the end, Dr. Rogers decided to keep Earl at the institution to rid his body of the diseases and planned to send him back to active duty after that. But Earl didn't like being in the hospital. On several occasions, he escaped and had to be brought back, turning what should have been a quick stay into a 13-month ordeal. But eventually, his doctors thought he was ready to go, or they just got sick of him.

• 17:40Vanessa Richardson?

  Earl was formally discharged on May 17, 1919, just five days after his 22nd birthday. Dr. Rogers wrote in his notes that he had "improved."

• 17:54Tristin Engels?

  All right, let's examine whether or not Earl was possibly faking this. It certainly is something I would want to rule out, given the pattern he's had so far. Let's start with the military. He wasn't adjusting to the military, so he kept going AWOL. And then he would simply re-enlist in a different branch, under a different name. Now, one logical reason that someone like Earl would run away from the military only to come back under a false name is because they were desperate. Earl had no family to take him in, no job, and probably very little savings. The military will give him his basic needs, and that can make it be somewhat of a trap for impoverished individuals in that way.

• 18:36Tristin Engels?

  But he clearly doesn't like the military, so it would not be surprising if he was now malingering psychiatric symptoms in order to be sent to a hospital instead, since going AWOL was not working. And doing that would serve two purposes: one, removing him from his duty, and two, keeping his basic needs intact at the same time. But he does not adjust well to any setting where he does not feel in control, or maybe feels trapped, because he has a pattern of running off. At the same time, Earl has had two untreated venereal diseases for at least six years. And if you recall, I previously touched on the concern for neurosyphilis, which can develop after years of it being untreated,

• 19:19Tristin Engels?

  and it can affect someone neurologically, even causing delusions. If this was causing his symptoms, and it was treated with antibiotics, then we would see the improvement that was noted in his case file, and that would make sense. However, Earl also has a pattern of odd behavior, fixations and beliefs, though I'm not sure his evaluator at the hospital actually knew that. He doesn't have any historical information or collateral information to go off of. So if we recall, that Earl became fixated on the Book of Revelations while still under the care of his grandmother, and he struggled to discern reality from fiction back then, and this is when there did not appear to be anything to gain from faking that.

• 20:02Tristin Engels?

  So while I do think that it's more likely than not Earl might have genuine psychiatric symptoms, two things can be true. He could also be exaggerating or playing into them for personal gain.

• 20:15Vanessa Richardson?

  Shortly after Earl was discharged, he landed a job as a janitor at St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco. There, he met a 58-year-old housekeeper named Mary Theresa Martin. He was drawn to her in a strangely romantic way. Mary was shocked that Earl took an interest in her. After all, he was only 22. But his seriousness about religion, coupled with his youthful energy, was enchanting to Mary. He made her feel a kind of ease she didn't feel with others. They started going out, and it wasn't long before they got married. But once they were wed, things changed. And not for the better.

• 21:06Vanessa Richardson?

  In August 1919, 22-year-old Earl Leonard Nelson got married to 58-year-old Mary Theresa Martin. It wasn't long before she discovered Earl's awful hygiene, social dysfunction, and violent tendencies. Like his grandmother Jenny, Mary found herself trying to correct Earl's behavior and turn him into a model Christian. But before she could make any progress, they hit a massive speed bump. One day at work, Earl fell off a ladder. He spent the next two days in the hospital being treated for a traumatic brain injury, until he remembered how much he hated being confined. At the end of the second day,

• 21:50Vanessa Richardson?

  Earl suddenly sat up in bed and bolted out of his room. He ran down the hallway and tore through the doors, escaping like a wild animal, bandages still wrapped around his head. After that, Earl became even more erratic. He started seeing visions and hearing voices. He would sit and stare at nothing for hours on end. His obsession with religion increased. He began to disappear for weeks without saying where he was going or when he would be back.

• 22:22Tristin Engels?

  So this is the second head injury now that Earl has had. General symptoms of a traumatic brain injury include dizziness, headache, disorientation, and fatigue, but specific long-term effects will depend on where in the brain the injury occurred and how serious the injury is. For example, if the injury was in the occipital lobe, we would expect to see impairment in vision and visual processing. If it's the frontal lobe, those injuries are likely to result in difficulty with memory, attention, problem-solving, judgment, as well as personality changes with impulsivity, mood-liquidity, changes in social behavior. An injury in the parietal lobe is likely to result in deficits in spatial awareness, impaired physical sensations, and poor motor planning.

• 23:08Tristin Engels?

  As you can see, it will really vary based on where it is. A TBI can also increase the risk of developing psychosis. And in the early stages of recovery from a TBI, like what was described here, delirium can be a factor which would cause disorientation and hallucinations. And it could explain why he suddenly sat up and bolted out of the hospital room. That sounds like an episode of disorientation to me. It's also worth noting that he's 22 years old at this point in the story. And this is also the time where it's typical for the age of onset for serious mental health conditions like schizophrenia spectrum disorder or even bipolar disorder. At this point in the story, all of these conditions are worth ruling out for Earl

• 23:52Tristin Engels?

  in addition to antisocial personality disorder, given his history of conduct disorder and his continued antisocial behaviors.

• 24:01Vanessa Richardson?

  If paired with syphilis at birth and budding psychosis, how could one more brain injury create the perfect storm in Earl's mind?

• 24:09Tristin Engels?

  Well, it could absolutely exacerbate what we've already been seeing. Earl's signs of mental illness in addition to syphilis predate this head injury. He's been showing signs since he was quite young, in addition to impulsive risk-taking behavior. A traumatic brain injury, especially in the frontal lobe, would really exacerbate that impulsivity. It could also cause deficits in his ability to reason appropriately, as well as further impact judgment and decision-making. It would make it much more difficult for him to not only feel in control of his impulses, but it would be hard to treat his symptoms overall, given how many possible comorbidities seem to exist here. He's a very complex case, especially for the early 1900s.

• 24:56Vanessa Richardson?

  Earl's behavior was so erratic, Mary decided to take action. In the spring of 1921, she moved them 30 miles away to Palo Alto, California, and got them jobs at a private school for girls. Mary worked as a cleaning woman, and Earl worked as a handyman. She thought maybe the change of scenery would be good for them. If anything, it made things worse. Earl was jealous and possessive. When he noticed Mary talking with a male coworker, he became verbally and physically abusive towards her. And during one of their fights, he tore Mary's wedding ring off her finger. He paced around the house and urged Mary to move back to San Francisco with him.

• 25:41Vanessa Richardson?

  But Mary liked their new lives in Palo Alto. She mustered the strength to tell him she wasn't going anywhere. Earl cocked his head sideways and stared at his wife. For a moment, it was like the world stood still. But then Earl erupted into a rage so terrifying, Mary fled to a neighbor's for the night. The next day, when Mary still hadn't come home, Earl tracked her down at the school where they worked. He busted into the building, not as an employee, but as an angry madman, determined to confront his wife. But one look at Earl made Mary run as fast as she could. She sprinted down the hallway as Earl chased her

• 26:25Vanessa Richardson?

  until she finally ducked into a fellow teacher's office. The two of them locked the door and called the police. Earl banged on the door, screaming obscenities at both of the women, until finally, with police on their way, he retreated. Before he fled, his last words to his wife were, "I'll get you."

• 26:47Vanessa Richardson?

  After Earl and Mary had their big fight, she stayed behind in Palo Alto while he returned to San Francisco. Earl was furious about their separation, but even so, he didn't follow through on his threat to hurt her. Instead, he decided to hurt someone else. On May 19th, 1921, 24-year-old Earl dressed up as a plumber and went to the home of a man named Charles Summers. Earl told him he was there to fix a gas leak, and Charles believed him. Left to his own devices, Earl headed for the basement, where he came upon 12-year-old Mary Summers.

• 27:30Vanessa Richardson?

  It's unclear if Earl had gone to the home specifically looking for her, but when he saw Mary Summers, he decided to sexually assault her.

• 27:40Tristin Engels?

  Clearly, he went there with the intention of committing some kind of crime, because it was planned. He not only put thought into how he would gain access into Charles's home, and even got himself a disguise to carry that out. So because of this, I'm more inclined to believe that he did know that she was there, and that he used this disguise to gain access to her. There's gotta be a reason why he targeted that house, and I find it significant that she has the same name as his wife, whom he clearly has a lot of unresolved rage directed toward. Although Mary, obviously, is a very common name, especially back then, so it could purely be coincidental, but it doesn't change the fact that this attack was planned and intentional.

• 28:26Tristin Engels?

  Whatever the case may be, we know that sexual assault is about power and control, and that's really no different here. Mary's 12 years old. He just came from working at a school for girls. She was a vulnerable target, and he knew that. It's possible that he's directing his rage for his wife onto her, and because it feels personal. Not to mention, for the most part, serial sexual murder involves strangers, with no visible relationship between the offender and the victim. So his choice to target someone other than his wife actually tracks for what we will later learn about Earl.

• 29:01Vanessa Richardson?

  Thankfully, Charles heard the girl's screams and ran to the basement before Earl could hurt her. The two men fought until Earl ran out of the house, but he didn't get far. His description was given to the authorities, and two hours later, Earl was arrested on a trolley. When Earl's wife received the news that her husband was arrested on assault charges, she was horrified. But as a devout Christian, Mary believed in second chances. Despite everything he'd done, Mary decided to support her husband. When she visited him in the Psychological Detention Center where he was being held, she found him wearing a straitjacket and screaming at people who weren't there.

• 29:45Vanessa Richardson?

  A month later, in June 1921, 24-year-old Earl was brought before a judge, who sentenced him to the Napa State Hospital, the same place he'd escaped from several times before, and where he was eventually found, quote, "of sound mind." This time, Earl's doctors diagnosed him as a "constitutional psychopath with outbreaks of psychosis." They explained his obsession with escape as "nomadic dementia", and were determined to make sure he stayed put this time. Earl's doctors decided to treat him again for syphilis, which seemed to actually help.

• 30:26Vanessa Richardson?

  During his first year at the Napa Hospital, Earl improved so much, his doctors gave him more freedom. But it wasn't long before Earl's troubling behavior began to reemerge. About 18 months into his stay, he began refusing his medication. He acted agitated and erratic, and in November 1923, 26-year-old Earl escaped. Thankfully, it didn't take authorities long to find him, and he was brought back to the hospital. After that, the rest of his time passed uneventfully. Earl was released in March 1925, four years after his assault on Mary Summers.

• 31:09Vanessa Richardson?

  The note in his file read, "Discharged and improved." But the new doctors at Napa Hospital were dead wrong.

• 31:20Vanessa Richardson?

  After his release from the Napa Hospital, Earl spent a short time living with his Aunt Lillian again, before tearfully convincing his estranged wife Mary to take him back. Though Earl's nomadic dementia returned, Mary tolerated his comings and goings. Eventually, he stopped coming home altogether. Mary had no idea where he'd gone, and it doesn't seem like she cared to find out. But if she knew what he was really up to, she would have been much more worried. Earl's time in the hospital hadn't helped him at all. If anything, his compulsions were even worse,

• 32:02Vanessa Richardson?

  and it wasn't long before he decided to finally act on his violent urges and transform himself into the great beast he considered himself to be.

• 32:13Tristin Engels?

  Let's talk about these diagnoses from the 1900s. Nomadic dementia is not a term that I see in regular practice, at least these days. Instead, we would likely refer to this as a dissociative fugue, or traveling fugue. And a dissociative fugue is a sudden and unexpected loss of memory and identity. It usually entails either a complete or partial loss of memory regarding their past. It entails confusion and disorientation, and that sudden, unexpected travel to a new location. This could actually explain why he would frequently leave the military only to later enlist under a different identity, since this condition is triggered by severe psychological trauma, such as abuse or war.

• 32:56Tristin Engels?

  Although, I think it's more likely that this was done intentionally, or he wouldn't be choosing different branches each time. If he was during a fugue, he would have likely forgotten which branch he had already enlisted in previously, so we would see a repeat there. Also, periods of memory loss could be better explained by his head trauma at a young age. I do see and feel that this is very much related to a form of psychosis. It's not uncommon for individuals who have a psychotic disorder to go missing like this. There is a lot to consider when it comes to Earl. The diagnosis of constitutional psychopath with outbreaks of psychosis, that's essentially antisocial personality disorder,

• 33:40Tristin Engels?

  which we have certainly seen criteria of. And he does seem to have intermittent periods of psychosis, which I already talked about, and that's separate from the antisocial personality disorder. He has been experiencing delusions and hallucinations, and Mary herself witnessed this when she observed him screaming at people who weren't there while he was institutionalized.

• 33:59Vanessa Richardson?

  Is someone able to tell between right and wrong in this kind of instance? Was Earl so far gone that he didn't realize what he was about to do?

• 34:07Tristin Engels?

  The diagnosis of dissociative fugue and psychosis are both qualifying conditions for meeting the legal standard of insanity. So it's very possible that he does not know right from wrong during these experiences or during these episodes. However, if we reflect back on the incident with Mary, I would argue that he did know right from wrong. He knew it was wrong enough that he needed to concoct a plan and obtain a believable disguise in order to gain entry into the home because he wouldn't be let in without it. And to me, that demonstrates rational thought during these acts.

• 34:46Vanessa Richardson?

  Whatever was going on in Earl's head at the time, he had a very clear objective. On February 20th, 1926, he walked up to a boarding house in San Francisco on Pierce Street. A "for rent" sign hung on the door. Earl rang the bell, and the owner, 62-year-old Clara Newman, answered. She smiled, noticing that he was well-dressed and carried a Bible tucked under his arm. Similar to his behavior before trying to attack Mary Summers, Earl presented a version of himself that put others at ease.

• 35:20Tristin Engels?

  Again, he's targeting a boarding home, knowing he will be let in if he expresses interest in the room. And if he knows what he has to do to gain the trust of a victim and can contain himself until he's inside, he has the capacity to know right from wrong.

• 35:36Vanessa Richardson?

  That is terrifying. So Clara let Earl into the house to see the space she had available. As soon as they stepped into the tiny attic apartment, Earl attacked her. He strangled Clara to death, then sexually assaulted her body and left it in the attic. Afterward, Earl quickly left the attic and tried to leave the boarding house undetected. But on his way out, he ran into Clara's nephew, Merton. Thinking fast, Earl said he was interested in renting the room, and he'd be back soon. A few hours later, Merton realized Earl wasn't coming back, and Clara was nowhere to be found. He alerted the other boarders.

• 36:19Vanessa Richardson?

  They combed the house until Merton went up to the tiny attic apartment, where he found his aunt's dead body on the floor. Horrified, Merton yelled for the boarders to call the police. An autopsy concluded that Clara's death was the result of strangulation, and that sexual assault had also occurred after death. At that moment, it was being treated as a single tragic case. But soon, it would be clear this wasn't a one-off event, because Earl was about to strike again.

• 37:00Vanessa Richardson?

  With the holidays coming up, my schedule gets pretty chaotic. Between work, traveling to see family, grocery runs, and late-night errands, my house spends a lot more time empty. A neighbor down the street actually had someone break in a few weeks ago. No joke. And that was the exact moment I decided I needed real protection for my kids and my home. I love SimpliSafe because it doesn't just react to a crime after the damage is done. It prevents it. SimpliSafe uses smart, AI-powered cameras that detect suspicious activity and alert a live, US-based agent right away. In under 30 seconds, that agent can actually speak live through the outdoor camera to warn an intruder off while instantly contacting 911 if necessary. Leaving home without that constant nagging worry is priceless. And now is the absolute best time to secure your space.

• 37:45Vanessa Richardson?

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• 39:11Vanessa Richardson?

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• 39:25Speaker 02

  In 2010, a family of four in California goes missing. Investigators spend years looking for answers. Is this a family on the run or is the truth far more sinister? From ABC Audio in 2020, this is What Happened to the Mixed Days? Follow What Happened to the Mixed Days for weekly episodes wherever you get your podcasts. Or if you can't wait, the entire series is streaming now ad free for subscribers to 2020 True Crime Plus. Find 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial today.

• 39:57Vanessa Richardson?

  On February 20th, 1926, 29 year old Earl Leonard Nelson murdered his first victim, 62 year old Clara Newman. And a few weeks later, he claimed his second. On March 2nd, Earl went to another boarding house in nearby San Jose, California, where he murdered its elderly owner, Laura Beal. Laura's husband, Harvey, found her body lying on a mattress inside the apartment they had for rent. Like Clara Newman, the autopsy showed that Laura had been strangled, then sexually assaulted after she died.

• 40:38Tristin Engels?

  Let's talk about his motives. There are different motives that serial killers have, and they've been identified by the FBI as thrill, anger, financial gain, attention-seeking, power, and sexual gratification. A serial killer could have more than one motive, and to classify their motive, it should be really limited to observable behavior at the crime scene. So serial killers select a victim based on their availability, vulnerability, and desirability. So he has this method that has worked for him. He targets boarding facilities that are seeking tenants because it offers availability to a victim. The motivation in letting someone in to see the room makes them more vulnerable to an attack, and the fact that these are older women

• 41:23Tristin Engels?

  are what makes it desirable for Earl. When we think about his behavior at the crime scene, we know that he sexually assaults them after strangling them, and therefore is motivated in large part by sexual gratification, but also thrill, because he's choosing locations where he is not fully alone with the victim, because there are other people residing in these boarding homes at the time of these attacks, at least the one case. An argument could be made, he also is motivated by anger toward women, given the method in which he kills them, and also, let's not forget, the behavior he had toward his own wife and his first-attempted victim, like Little Mary Summers.

• 42:02Vanessa Richardson?

  Okay, this seems like a strange question, but it really speaks to Earl's thinking here. Why would he wait until his victims were dead before defiling their bodies as opposed to committing an act of sexual violence first?

• 42:14Tristin Engels?

  That's a great question. Individuals who engage in necrophilia do so because they want to possess an unresisting or unrejecting partner. However, I don't think Earl is necessarily motivated by a fear of rejection, but I do think he doesn't want them to be able to resist. When it comes to serial sexual murderers, there does not need to be intercourse to take place in order for it to be sexually gratifying. In fact, in most cases, and I believe this to be true for Earl, The act of murder alone is sexually arousing and gratifying. So because of that, and he also has a paraphilia disorder that drives his sexual violence. This is what motivates him to assault them after the fact.

• 42:58Tristin Engels?

  Additionally, as I mentioned, because Earl is killing them in locations where he could be caught at any given time by other residents, he needs to subdue them fully before he can assault them. If they're fighting back or if they're making any noise, then someone could intervene. This could also explain why he chooses strangulation as his method. Not only because it's silent in comparison to other methods, but because it really, realistically, it takes away their voice entirely during the act. And they are unable to yell for help or resist. He also enjoys being in control and possession of their lives and their bodies.

• 43:38Vanessa Richardson?

  The press quickly latched on to the similarities between Earl's victims. When the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Clara and Laura's murders were nearly identical, the public dubbed the mystery man "The Dark Strangler" for his olive complexion and method of killing. Earl Shirley saw the headlines because for the next few months, he stayed under the radar. Eventually, stories about "The Dark Strangler" disappeared from the newspapers. But then, in the summer of 1926, three months after Laura's murder, 63-year-old Lillian St. Mary decided to rent two spare rooms in her large house in San Francisco, and "The Dark Strangler" returned.

• 44:23Vanessa Richardson?

  On June 10, 1926, Lillian showed one of her vacant spaces to a prospective tenant, Earl. As soon as they stepped into the furnished room, he shut the door behind him and bolted the lock. In an instant, Earl lunged at Lillian, killing her before she had the chance to cry out.

• 44:44Tristin Engels?

  Is this a coincidence? It's hard to say, but it's worth noting.

• 44:48Vanessa Richardson?

  Great point. Actually, this is the second time he's done that. And that evening, one of Lillian's boarders found her body. Once again, the autopsy indicated that she'd been killed via strangulation, then sexually assaulted.

• 45:03Vanessa Richardson?

  After the murder of Lillian St. Mary, news stories about the Dark Strangler picked up again. Police warned all single women who rented spaces to never show a man a room alone. They promised the public they'd put a stop to the killing spree quickly, but Earl was one step ahead of them. After killing Lillian St. Mary, he traveled south to Santa Barbara, California, where he met 53-year-old Ollie Russell. She and her husband owned a quaint boarding house in town. Ollie was a shrewd businesswoman. She hid her jewelry from her tenants and kept the windows locked.

• 45:43Vanessa Richardson?

  But on June 24, 1926, Earl got past her defenses. Maybe it was the Bible that he always carried under his arm, maybe it was his dark gray suit and soft-spoken nature. Whatever it was, Ollie agreed to show Earl a room in her home. That evening, one of Ollie's boarders, a fireman named William Franny, woke up from a nap to loud noises coming from the room next to his. Franny got up to see what was happening, but since he didn't have the key to the adjoining room, he had to peek through the bottom of the door that connected the two rooms. He could make out what appeared to be two lovers in the throes of passion.

• 46:27Vanessa Richardson?

  Before Franny could fully understand what he was seeing, he saw the man step away from the woman, who was lying motionless on the bed. Squinting at her form, Franny could make out Ollie's features. And just as that happened, the man zipped up his pants, put on his hat, and stepped through a different door that went out into the hall. Franny stepped away to wash his face and contemplate what to do. He didn't recognize the man, but Franny knew he wasn't Ollie's husband. Franny decided to peek once more into the room, and this time, he saw dark red stains on the mattress next to Ollie, who was still as a stone.

• 47:12Vanessa Richardson?

  Once the authorities arrived on scene, they found Ollie's body in the same state as all of the Dark Strangler's other victims. And whoever the mysterious killer was, he had vanished without a trace.

• 47:27Vanessa Richardson?

  For the next 16 months, Earl traveled across the country, claiming at least 16 victims across the Pacific Northwest, Kansas City, and Philadelphia. Earl's murders were almost always the same, victims who were mostly older women, who he strangled, then sexually assaulted.

• 47:51Tristin Engels?

  Yeah, let's talk about the personal significance of Earl's choice of victims. So far in the story, with the exception of Mary Summers, the majority of his victims were middle-aged women. That is by design. I believe that Earl had actually staked out these boarding facilities before approaching to ensure that his choice of victim was available to him. His victims in some way represent someone he knew, whether it was his wife, or his grandmother, or even the women he had been sexually active with as a teenager. He did very little to cover or conceal their bodies after the fact, which makes these attacks feel even more personal. If it wasn't personal, we would be seeing an attempt to disconnect from them

• 48:34Tristin Engels?

  by covering them, like with a blanket, at least in part. But he left them as is, and they were all discovered very quickly after as a result. The act of strangulation is quite intimate, too, which further supports this. Also, if we recall his first sexual encounters with women, they were all older sex workers at the local brothel. We talked about how your first sexual experience can shape your beliefs, ideas, expectations, and sexual desires going forward. With that in mind, he might have had a conditioned experience with sexual violence while using the brothels. And when we consider this, it makes sense why he chose to marry a woman so much older than he was,

• 49:18Tristin Engels?

  and why he would target older women as well. Now, why the boarding facilities? Well, one theory I wonder about is if these facilities felt similar to him in some way as the brothels themselves? Almost as if he's simulating those earlier experiences in some way, and feeling in control of that? Or another possibility is this: These boarding facilities are homes run primarily by their matriarchs, and that is quite telling in itself as to the personal significance, especially if he's targeting women that represent the caregivers from his own life.

• 49:54Vanessa Richardson?

  By the spring of 1927, 29-year-old Earl had killed 20 victims: 19 women and one infant boy who was caught in the crossfire of one of his crimes. And despite this long string of murders, police still had no idea who the Dark Strangler was. But still, Earl must have felt like staying in the US was a gamble. He hadn't seen his wife in months and probably didn't think she would help him if he went back to her. So on June 8, 1927, he fled to Canada. That day, he arrived in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He took a trolley to Main Street and traded his loafers, sweater, and cap for a handful

• 50:39Vanessa Richardson?

  of second-hand clothing at a local thrift shop. After that, he went in search of accommodations. He decided to stay at a boarding house run by an older woman named Catherine Hill. Presumably, she didn't know about the Dark Strangler and rented Earl a room. Thankfully, he didn't try to attack her. But Earl was interested in other victims.

• 51:03Vanessa Richardson?

  The next morning, Earl woke up early and told Catherine he was going to look for work. As he made his way through downtown Winnipeg, he encountered 14-year-old Lola Cowan, selling paper flowers to help her parents earn some extra money. It's not clear what happened next, but Earl somehow convinced Lola to come back to his room. She didn't fit the typical profile of Earl's victims, but Lola was an easy target for him. The next day, while Earl was out, his landlady Catherine noticed a foul smell coming from his room. When she peeked in, all she saw was neatly folded clothes, so she drew up the blinds

• 51:46Vanessa Richardson?

  to air out the room and shut the door. She had no idea Lola Cowan's body was hidden under the bed. And Earl had already claimed another victim. By that time, Earl had killed 23-year-old Emily Patterson, whom he had met after running from Catherine's boarding house. On June 10, 1927, two days after arriving in Winnipeg, Earl somehow convinced Emily to let him into her house. And later that evening, her husband found her dead body when he came home.

• 52:22Tristin Engels?

  Let's talk about this escalation and this change. Serial killers have common traits, and among them is sensation-seeking, impulsivity, and a need for control. They are driven by instinct and a desire to kill. It's not uncommon for a serial killer's behavior to evolve as they become more comfortable in their killing and their methods, and they can become habituated to the act over time, meaning they're getting less of a reaction or a response than they had when they first started. And this causes them to become more impulsive and compulsive as they continue to chase that same sensation again.

• 53:01Vanessa Richardson?

  Whatever was driving Earl to kill, he wasn't showing any signs of stopping, and before the police could realize the Dark Strangler was in their city, Earl was already in the process of changing his appearance. He bought clothes from another thrift shop and went for a haircut and a shave. However, Earl hadn't cleaned up well enough. The barber noticed blood caked in his hair near his scalp, along with some deep scratches. As soon as Earl was gone, the barber called the police. For the first time, the authorities had a real lead on the Dark Strangler. And they wouldn't stop until they had him in custody.

• 53:55Vanessa Richardson?

  Thanks so much for listening. Come back next time for a deep dive into the mind of another murderer.

• 54:01Tristin Engels?

  Killer Minds is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on all social media @CrimeHouse. And don't forget to rate, review, and follow Killer Minds wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference.

• 54:23Vanessa Richardson?

  And to enhance your listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode of Killer Minds ad-free, along with early access to each thrilling two-part series and exciting bonus content.

• 54:39Vanessa Richardson?

  Killer Minds is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson, and Dr. Tristin Engels, and is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. This episode was brought to life by the Killer Minds team: Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Laurie Marinelli, Stacy Warrenker, Sarah Camp, Meredith Allen, Sarah Tardif, and Carrie Murphy. Thank you for listening.

• 55:08Vanessa Richardson?

  If you're looking for your next podcast, check out What the Fact with Connor Tomlinson from Netflix's Love on the Spectrum and Carter Roy. Every week, they take three unbelievable true facts from history and tell you the full story behind them. Follow What the Fact wherever you listen or subscribe on YouTube at What the Fact Pod.