She testified that in 1992, during a date, Ellwood, while under the influence of drugs, assaulted, beat and strangled her into unconsciousness. The next day Howard says they were contacted by the FBI. While he was only convicted of 1 murder (Cheryl Lewis), he is believed to killed upwards of 20 prostitutes during the 1990's. During "Clay's" call, he joked about how the only suspect the Nola police had was a black people officer. There were a few things Clay said, or the way he said them, that made me think he was making stuff up on the fly. Collins brushed off criticism of his hiring practices during a 2017 interview by stating, Ill give people a second chance sometimes. On August 4, 1997, Ellwood was arrested and jailed on drug charges, with his prison sentence lasting nearly three months. [9] During the proceedings, a number of Ellwood's former cellmates and prostitutes testified as prosecution witnesses, with the former claiming that he had confessed to the killings while the latter claimed that he had assaulted them. Suspected Stockton serial killer caught while on 'mission to kill': What we know . Another item found on Sharons bodyher shoesled to another shocking revelation. [2] In a 2016 interview with HuffPost, Major C.J. Before hanging up, the self-professed Zodiac said he would settle for Melvin Belli if Bailey could not be reached. His attorneys argued that Ellwood was not in New Orleans at the time of the murders, claiming that he had been in Ohio with some relatives. In 1991, a serial killer began claiming numerous victims in the Algiers and Treme neighborhoods of New Orleans, eventually credited with 24 murders throughout the 1990s. 1". I'm willing to confess to two cases and give you all the details when I return to Louisiana. I mean, he's a multi-millionaire and arguably the most recognized name in broadcasting, so clearly he's kind of good at his job. [2] According to the official investigation, the murders ceased following her death. Will Clay Jensen get arrested at the start of 13 Reasons Why season 3 for his involvement with Tyler's deadly plan? Again, the Macdonald triad rears its head. 10 Dennis Rader. He was exonerated of all charges, nevertheless. V C. Facebook 0 Twitter Pinterest 0 0 Likes. The guy identified himself as Clay, mentioned if he killed himself he would miss the Batman movie, says he kills with a hammer, talks about comic books. Less than a year after being hired by Collins to patrol the school, Turner exposed his penis to three more women while on duty. After doing drugs together, Ellwood beat her, but she managed to flee. With no confession or hard evidence to charge him with, detectives had no choice but to let Gant go. [2], On November 21, the body of 37-year-old Regina Oko was discovered. Ellwood was taken into custody on August 4, 1997, just a few days after the completion of the interrogations, for allegedly purchasing cocaine from an undercover police officer at his house near Sebring. The phone call starts out a bit rocky as Stern goes to the phone call and asks "Is this Ed? "Yesterday a guy called in and said that he had killed 12 prostitutes. He revealed he had sex with his victims beforehand, then killed them primarily with a hammer and strangled one. Did your mom spank you? Russell Ellwoods preferred MO was drugging his victims to the point of overdose and then dumping them in shallow bodies of water to drown. I think I just do it for the sense of power." This caller, who identified himself as "Clay," claimed to be an unidentified serial killer from the New Orleans area. Ellwood is still considered a suspect in several of the homicides, although he has not been charged in connection with any of them. [5] One of them, Stan Hill, contacted the county prosecutor's office and claimed that Ellwood had described to him in detail how he had driven the women to outlying areas of the city, offering them large quantities of drugs that caused overdoses, then strangled and dumped their bodies. [2], On July 25, the body of 33-year-old Noah Filson was found in the waters of a canal near I-55. Click here to subscribe to Be. In 1997, 'Clay' called into the show to tell Stern and Quivers he had killed 12 sex workers. Footage of the phone call. She too had been strangled, but was had no known history with either drugs or prostitution. Ed?". Camden later testified that Ellwood also confessed to him that he had killed a black girl, whose corpse he had dumped in the canal. Russell Ellwood is the man many believe to be "Clay the Serial Killer", the man who called The Howard Stern Show in 1997 and confessed to killing 12 women. By Michael Dot Scott. [2], According to investigators, the crimes began in the summer of 1991, after a young black woman informed police about an attempt on her life. Assuming this wasnt some radio prank, how else would Clay know that some of his victims were never found, unless he took special notice of their identities and the locations where he left their bodies so that he could scour media reports for their discovery later? Ellwood later claimed that a mental illness had caused him to boast, demanding that the interrogations cease and he be allowed to return to New Orleans to see his attorney and be provided with treatment. - The victims were mostly African Americans. [4] Her body had been covered with garbage, and an autopsy determined that she had been beaten and strangled. She said that she did not report the incident, due to being a prostitute with a criminal record. The second witness, Antoinette Holmes, who lived near Lewis, testified to seeing her at the Time Saver restaurant in Bridge City two weeks before she was reported missing, standing between two parked cars and talking to a cab driver. He was one of the two main suspects in a series of murders of women in New Orleans, Louisiana. He claimed he's killed 12 prostitutes in the New Orleans area. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Did a notorious-a possibly uncaught-serial killer call the most popular radio show in America? But what if that wasnt the case? In the end, Ellwood was found guilty of the murder of Cheryl Lewis. On May 1, 1995, less than 24 hours after Karen Ivesters body was found, various New Orleans police agencies formed a task force with the FBI, intent on finding the killeror killersresponsible for these horrific murders. While on probation, Ellwood relocated to Canton, Ohio, where he started working for his brother. For now, the answer to this question remains unresolved. [6] In order to determine whether he was guilty or not, Gant was ordered to submit DNA for testing to see whether they could match it to the perpetrator's saliva, which was found on a piece of chewing tobacco found near Ivester's body. Suddenly, you hear a man call in and calmly explain to the host over the course of several minutes that he is an un-apprehended serial killer. Britton had dropped out of school shortly before her death, and was last seen in a New Orleans bar next to an unknown man. A native of Massillon, Ohio, Ellwood moved to New Orleans in 1968 after graduating high school. His explanation for stopping was to apparently change the oil and repair the brake pads of his car, and willingly allowed his vehicle to be searched. 1", was presumably strangled and found not far from Britton's body. The deputies let Ellwood go although his taxi didn't have any motor oil, oil-changing tools, oil filters, or brake pads. He began killing for unclear motives, taking the life of Cheryl Lewis, his first known victim, by drugging her and drowning her in a canal on February 1-3, 1993. It was revealed that these phone calls were coming from Napa State Hospital and had been made by a young man named Eric Philips Weill. "Clay the Serial Killer" On the morning of 13 August 1997, a mysterious man called into the syndicated radio program of popular shock-jock Howard Stern. [2] Her name has never been disclosed, and she is referred to as "Brenda" in case files. She described him as a muscular, well-dressed, middle-aged black male who drove a dark-colored vehicle, possibly a Buick Regal or Chevrolet Monte Carlo. When reporters called Carver College President Robert Crummie for comment on the situation, Crummie defended Chief Collins, telling them Nobodys broken a law or committed a sinpeople are just uncomfortable about talking to strangers. When confronted with the information about Gant, Crummie finally said that he was no longer working for the Carver College Police and that he had no obligation to discuss it further. "Did your mom beat you? [2] On October 19, the skeletal remains of a woman were found in a wooded area near a highway within the limits of Bridge City. He first rendered his victims unconscious by giving them drugs, and then he killed them in a number of ways, most commonly by strangling or suffocation. This action would lead to his arrest because, in 1997, two years after the New Orleans murder task force was set up, Ellwood was named as a suspect. [2] Gant denied the accusation, stating that he had pushed her during an argument, with Robinson hitting her nose on a chair - this was contradicted by her children, who said that they had witnessed him beating their mother. Serial murder is distinguished from mass murder, in which several victims are . The caller, who went by the name Clay, phoned into the comedian's radio show back in 1997 and claimed that he was responsible for killing a dozen women in New Orleans. As a direct consequence of this, he was found guilty of the crime and given a prison term of eighty-five days in the county jail. In early 1995, a disciplinary panel and hearing to determine Gant's punishment began. What do you think ? [5] However, while investigating her death, authorities learned that she was last seen alive on February 2, getting into the car of an unidentified white male. Clayface in Batman turns his fist into a hammer. Of course, this does not immediately eliminate Clay as a legitimate suspect, but it does prove that he could have learned about Gant being under suspicion merely from picking up a newspaper or watching TV. Due to extreme decompisition, she too remains unidentified, and is named "Jane Doe No. On August 13, 1997, The Howard Stern Show received a call from a man who identified himself as "Clay". Photo Credit: Myotus / Wikimedia Commons. His m.o. With the 29th Pick in the NFL Draft, The Saints Select Bryan Bresee, Nate Diaz, Former UFC Fighter, Chokes Out Logan Paul Look-A-Like on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, The Worlds Largest Bounce House Heading to New Orleans April 21-23, Reopening Date Announced for Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans, 2023 New Orleans Jazz Fest is Going Cashless, Recall of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell Falls Short, Official Numbers Show, Company Behind Popular Mobile Games Opens Hub in New Orleans, Louisiana, LSU Wide Receiver Malik Nabers Arrested in New Orleans on a Weapons Charge, New Orleans, Louisiana Accounts for 5 Percent of Mass Shootings Nationwide in 2023. "Clay the Serial Killer" As he has been dubbed calls into the Howard Stern Show to admit to 12 slayings of New Orleans area prostitutes. After the call, police thought Ellwood could potentially be the "Storyville Slayer" a serial killer in New Orleans who murdered up to 24 sex workers. Eventually, Ellwood was released again, and in January 1998, he returned to New Orleans. Shortly after 2 AM on the morning of October 22, 1969, a man claiming to be the Zodiac Killer called the Oakland, California Police Department, demanding to speak with famed attorney F. Lee Bailey. Was the FBI able to get enough information from The Howard Stern Show phone call to make an arrest? The caller then goes on to say "You can call me Clay". They got him iirc. Actually nothing like that. 3". A death record for Weill notes that he was the son of a man named Sam Weillyoull recall Sam as being the name Eric asked to be called while masquerading as the Zodiac on Jim Dunbars television show. I never said my name was Ed" almost as if to say "How dare you get my name wrong". called and asked for tape of that call.". The single biggest issue, however, is thisClays self-professed favorite mode of murder was bludgeoning his victims to death with a hammer. Another of Collins hires, Carver College Police Captain Michael F. Nemard, had previously been forced out of his job as a lieutenant with the College Park Police Department after being arrested for beating his wife, and a subsequent investigation revealed that he had once shoved his gun into another ex-wifes mouth and cocked the hammer. The guy said that he was put on medication in prison and he was having nightmares and hearing all kinds of things. He then decided to become a cab driver because he couldn't afford a house and was living in his car. All Rights Reserved. was usually a hammer strike to the head, but one time via strangulation. 5" and "John Doe No. There was one that rang in to radio a while back, I think it was the 'Weepy Voiced Killer' and he confessed. [2] On February 5, 1994, skeletal remains were found in St. John the Baptist Parish, later determined to be a young woman between the ages of 25 and 35. But instead, he hesitated possibly debating in his own mind whether he should divulge more details before finally admitting he used a hammer. The Son of Sal Salvatore Perrone Department of Corrections Sometimes, its not a good fit for a particular department. While incarcerated, authorities charged him with the murders of Lewis and Mack on March 4, 1998.[5]. The call remained virtually absent from public discourseand even the internetuntil 2019, when fans of Stern began posting about the segment on Reddit, reigniting interest in the incident. Between the years of 1974 and 1991, serial killer Dennis "BTK Killer" Rader was at large. Here, Clay makes reference to Jimmy Swaggart, the famous Pentecostal Televangelist. [10] According to the testimony of Denise Sanders, who was Lewis' best friend, she had seen her with Ellwood three days prior, who was out driving his cab. After attempting to corroborate Gants alibis provided during questioning, the investigators found that Gant had lied in nearly every answer given to them during that session. It is currently unknown whether Gant is still employed by any law enforcement agency, but investigators within the New Orleans Police Department are hopeful that future advancements in DNA technology will bring conclusive answers regarding his possible involvement in the slayings of these young women.

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