Serial Killers' Hobbies

Serial killers leave their mark on society by repeatedly committing brutal and horrendous murders. While incarcerated, some find that they have artistic talents and pursue these endeavors, creating even more controversy.

Here's a look at some of the most notorious serial killers, their crimes, and the talents they produced while living life behind bars.

Charles Manson

Charles Manson and his "family" of followers were responsible for several deaths, including the horrendous slaying of eight-month-pregnant actress Sharon Tate, who was stabbed 16 times.

Although he never personally killed anyone, Manson was put on trial along with the suspected killers, as he was the one who gave the orders to commit the murders.

He and his followers were convicted of nine murders, although police suspected there were more. Manson and his followers claimed that they had killed 35 people and buried them in the desert.

While imprisoned, Manson took up painting, and his work garnered a cult following. Interest reemerged for his artwork when Quenton Tarantino's movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was released.

However, his time in the art world doesn't stop there. After passing away, Manson's body was cremated. Some of his ashes have been used in artwork by artist Ryan Almighty, whose painting of Manson's face with his ashes used for his eyes is on display at Zac Bagan's Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.

David Berkowitz: Son of Sam

Starting as an arsonist before becoming a serial killer, David Berkowitz went on a killing spree in the New York area in the mid-1970s, murdering six people and wounding seven. He was sentenced to six 25-year-to-life sentences.

While in prison, Berkowitz found God. He began to read the Bible regularly and transitioned into a born-again Christian. He wrote about his life, time in prison, and his finding of God in a book entitled Son of Hope: The Prison Journals of David Berkowitz.

Berkowitz realizes he most likely will never get out of prison and says he's OK with that. He uses his time to help others and hopes he can further spread the word of God and Jesus.

Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker

Beginning in June 1984, Richard Ramirez spent 14 months breaking into homes, raping, torturing, and killing people in the Los Angeles area.

Captured in August 1985, Ramirez was brought to trial. In September 1989, he was found guilty of 13 counts of murder, 5 counts of attempted murder, 11 counts of sexual assault, and 14 counts of burglary.

Ramirez spent 24 years on death row before passing away from complications from B-cell lymphoma. During this time, he took up art. Ramirez had quite a fan following and received thousands of letters. He often would include drawings he made when he answered these letters.

Most of the drawings are pretty creepy and feature demonic images and frightening-looking dinosaurs, although one of his drawings is of SpongeBob SquarePants. His work can be found for sale online.

Dorothea Puenta

Dorothea Puenta lived in a charming Victorian home on a quiet tree-lined street in Sacramento, California, where she ran a boarding house for the elderly and disabled.

When some of her tenants began to mysteriously disappear, a concerned social worker connected to one of the missing tenants led to police investigating the home and finding nine bodies buried in the yard.

Altogether, Puenta was charged with murdering nine people and found guilty of killing three. She was given a life sentence and brought to Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California.

Besides being known as a serial killer, she was also known as a great cook, serving feasts to her boarders. Upon learning of her extraordinary cooking abilities, author Shane Bugbee contacted her and, over a period of time, acquired quite a few of her recipes and penned the cookbook, Cooking With a Serial Killer, Recipes From Dorothea Puenta.

Recipes included in the book:

• Potato stuffing with kielbasa and mushrooms
• Chipotle ketchup
• Tamales prison-style

Edmund Kemper: The Co-Ed Killer

Edmund Kemper began his life as a serial killer when he murdered his grandparents at the age of 15. From there, he went on to kill six female college students in the Santa Cruz area of California before murdering his mother and her friend.

He was sentenced to eight consecutive life sentences, serving time at the California Medical Facility State Prison in Vacaville, California, about an hour northeast of San Francisco.

While there, he got involved in the Blind Project, where he recorded hundreds of books on audio tape, including Flowers In the Attic, Merlin's Mirror, and Star Wars.

His efforts were so appreciated that he was awarded two trophies from his supporters and claims to feel good about the work he has done. He continues to serve time with his parole denied several times.

Jack Unterweger: Austrian Serial Killer

Jack Unterweger committed his first murder in 1974 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. While serving time, Unterweger took up writing and publishing short stories, poems, plays, and a highly successful autobiography entitled Fegefeuer Oder Die Reise Ins Zuchthaus (Purgatory or The Trip to Prison – Report of a Guilty Man).

His writing was so successful that his book was taught in school, and his children's stories were played on the radio. He became quite a celebrity, and the public was so convinced he had been rehabilitated that they rallied for him to receive an early release. It worked. After serving 15 years of a life sentence, Unterweger was released.

Not long after, a series of prostitute murders began happening. It started in Austria, spread to Central Europe, and then made its way to the United States. With his journalistic skills, Unterweger became the head journalist to cover the murders.

After a while, the police became suspicious of Unterweger because he was always in the location of the scene of the crime, even before the crime happened in some cases.

In time, they had enough evidence to arrest him, and Unterweger was found guilty of nine counts of murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but committed suicide before he could be taken to prison.

John Wayne Gacy: The Killer Clown

A well-liked building contractor who dressed up as Pogo the Clown on weekends to perform at children's parties, John Wayne Gacy committed his first murder in 1972. From there, he went on to torture and murder a total of 33 men.

After finding bodies in the crawl space of his home in Norwood Park, Illinois, his house was dismantled, looking for more evidence. In total, 27 bodies were recovered.

While in prison waiting for his execution, Gacy took up painting. Clowns were one of his favorite subjects, although he painted numerous other subjects, including birds and the Seven Dwarfs.

His work has been put on display numerous times, and today you can find some of his paintings at the Museum of Death in both New Orleans and Los Angeles, the Graveface Museum in Savannah, Georgia, and Zac Bagan's Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.

Talent Behind Bars

Although they will forever be remembered for being serial killers, some of these killers have also left a mark on society for their hidden talents.

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/crime/richard-ramirez

https://www.biography.com/crime/john-wayne-gacy

http://www.absolutecrime.com/dorothea-puente-and-the-boarding-house-of-death.html

https://neon.reviewjournal.com/kats/charles-mansons-ashes-used-in-painting-at-haunted-museum-in-las-vegas/

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/manson-family-leslie-van-houten-parole-killings-b1063884.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/23/archives/berkowitz-says-that-he-faked-tales-of-demons-gives-interview-in.html

https://www.wcvb.com/article/this-day-in-history-serial-killer-david-berkowitz-son-of-sam-arrested-1977/40856978

https://edmundkemperstories.com/blog/2019/03/09/ed-kemper-and-the-blind-project/