Ottis Toole

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Police photo by Ottis Toole (April 1983)

Ottis Elwood Toole (born March 5, 1947 in Jacksonville , Florida , † September 15, 1996 in Raiford , Florida) was an American serial killer and cannibal . He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, the eighth of nine children. Coming from a broken background, he was severely psychotic and developed a fascination for arson and the consumption of human flesh .

He allegedly committed his first murder at the age of 14 when he was picked up while hitchhiking by a traveling salesman and his partner. He experienced an argument between the two in which the driver stabbed his friend and threatened Toole. Toole jumped out of the car and a chase ensued. After Toole got behind the wheel, he crushed the agent with his own car. However, Toole's claim could not be confirmed. In 1964 he was arrested for prostitution . He was briefly married, but his wife left him because of alleged homosexuality .

In 1978 he teamed up with Henry Lee Lucas  - who was more sadistic and necrophilous - to kill several hitchhikers . The two freed Toole's niece and nephew from a youth home. A short time later, Toole and his nephew split up with Lucas and Toole's twelve-year-old niece, who stayed with Lucas. Lucas later killed her in the course of an argument and attacked her post mortem . Lucas was arrested on other grounds in 1983 and subsequently confessed to both the murder of Toole's niece and that of an 82-year-old woman. After his conviction, he confessed to hundreds of other murders that he alleged to have committed with Toole. At the same time, Toole was imprisoned in Florida for arson and murder and confirmed Lucas' statements. Apparently, Toole sometimes disguised herself as a woman. According to his own statement, this led to a higher level of interest among hitchhikers. However, Lucas later revoked most of these confessions. It is considered certain that both committed several murders. Of the hundreds of murders, however, according to some sources, many confessions can be traced back to suggestive questioning by the investigative authorities. Some of Lucas' and Toole's confessions have been specifically refuted.

In the meantime, Ottis Toole himself was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in Florida , which raised even more doubts about the confessions. His death sentence was then commuted to six consecutive life sentences . Still, Ottis Toole confessed to other murders. He claimed to have killed six-year-old Adam Walsh in 1981, whose disappearance had motivated his father, John Walsh , to produce the television series America's Most Wanted . However, he later retracted this confession; he was never charged. Ottis Toole died of liver failure on September 15, 1996 in the prison hospital. John Walsh criticized the authorities for not questioning him on his deathbed. However, Lucas later testified that Toole showed him the spot where he buried the boy's remains.

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personal data
SURNAME Toole, Ottis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Toole, Ottis Elwood (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American serial killer
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Jacksonville , Florida
DATE OF DEATH September 15, 1996
Place of death Raiford , Florida