Ripper Crew
| Ripper Crew | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Chicago Rippers The Ripper Crew |
| Born | United States |
| Killings | |
| Number of victims | 18 |
| Span of killings | May 23, 1981–October 8, 1982 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Illinois |
| Date apprehended | November 5, 1982 |
| Robin Gecht | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robin Gecht |
| Born | 1953 (age 58–59) Menard, Illinois |
| Edward Spreitzer | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edward Spreitzer |
| Born | 1958 (age 53–54) IL |
| Andrew Kokoraleis | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Andrew Kokoraleis |
| Born | 1961 |
| Died | March 16, 1999 (aged 37–38) |
| Cause of death | Execution by Lethal injection |
| Thomas Kokoraleis | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas Kokoraleis |
| Born | 1958 (age 53–54) IL |
Ripper Crew or Chicago Rippers was a satanic cult and organized crime group composed of Robin Gecht (who once worked for the serial killer John Wayne Gacy) and three associates (Edward Spreitzer with brothers Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis).[1] They were suspected in the disappearances of 18 women in Chicago, Illinois in 1981 and '82. Gecht and his gang allegedly drove around in a van looking for prostitutes to sacrifice in Gecht's apartment. They claimed to have removed one breast from each victim and eaten it as Robin read passages of The Satanic Bible. It has also been said that they, after severing the breast, took turns raping the open wound. They then proceeded to each masturbate into the flesh of the breast, chop it into pieces, and devour it.
These men were arrested in 1982 for the stabbing of a teenaged prostitute.[2] Although Gecht's associates and other witnesses implicated him in some of the deaths, investigators never had enough evidence to charge him with murder. Gecht is serving 120 years in Menard Correctional Center for mutilating and raping an 18-year-old prostitute.[2]
Edward Spreitzer and Andrew Kokoraleis were sentenced to death.[3] On March 16, 1999, 35-year-old Kokoraleis was executed by lethal injection at Tamms Correctional Center in Southern Illinois for the 1982 strangulation murder of Lorraine Borowski,[4] a 21-year-old secretary at a real estate office who had been abducted on her way to work. Her mutilated body was found in a cemetery.[3]
Defense attorneys unsuccessfully argued that Kokoraleis was coerced into confessing. They also argued that new information cast doubt on the credibility of confessions by two co-defendants who accused him. Andrew, who had been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Rose Beck Davis, was the first prisoner executed at a new super-maximum-security prison in southern Illinois.[5]
Thomas Kokoraleis was convicted of Lorraine Borowski's murder and received a life sentence. Thomas Kokoraleis does not have a life sentence[contradictory] but is scheduled to be released on September 30, 2017; he is currently in Illinois River Correctional Center.[2]
On March 7, 1999, Robin Gecht's son David and three others were charged with first-degree murder in connection with a shooting death which police believe to be gang-related.[6]
Edward Spreitzer's death sentence was commuted in George H. Ryan's last-minute commutation of all death sentences in Illinois in 2003. Incidentally, Andrew Kokoraleis' was Governor Ryan's only execution, just over two months into his administration. Kokoraleis was also the last inmate executed in Illinois, almost 12 years before Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation to abolish the death penalty on March 9, 2011, and commuted 15 death sentences to life imprisonment without parole.[7]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ramsland, Katherine. (2005) The Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation, Berkley Books, ISBN 9780425207659 p. 220.
- ^ a b c Ramsland, Katherine. "The story of Robin Gecht & the notorious Chicago Rippers". Crime Library. truTV.com/Turner Broadcasting. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/partners/chicago_rippers/index.html. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
- ^ a b Joe (2004-11-06). "The Chicago Rippers". Serial Killer Central. http://www.skcentral.com/readarticle.php?article_id=231. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
- ^ "A Chronology of Events: the Illinois death penalty experience". Center on Wrongful Convictions. Northwestern University School of Law. http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions/issues/deathpenalty/clemency/chronology.html. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
- ^ "Greek-American Executed in Illinois for 1982 Murder". Macedonian Press Agency. Hellenic Resources Network. 1999-03-17. http://www.hri.org/news/greek/mpa/1999/99-03-17.mpa.html. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
- ^ Mendoza, A. (March/April 1999). "The Morgue". Internet Crime Files. http://www.mayhem.net/Crime/morg9904.html. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
- ^ Long, Ray (March 9 2011). "Quinn signs death penalty ban, commutes 15 death row sentences to life". Chicago Tribune. http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2011/03/quinn-signs-death-penalty-ban-commutes-15-death-row-sentences-to-life.html. Retrieved 2011-03-09.
