Background
Charles Starkweather was born in 1938, in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was born into a a very poor and a very large family. He was often bullied and made fun of at school. He was laughed at for his bright red hair and his hand-me-down clothes. The children would call him "Woodpecker". Some people think that getting bullied may have ticked him off enough to start his wild killing spree. Even though Starkweather was made fun of he had a girlfriend names Caril Ann Fugate. At the time Charles was 20 and Caril was 14. Starkweather was forbidden to see Fugate. Starkweather and Fugate would later go on a crazy killing spree, killing about 11 people.
(Fugate and Starkweather)
Importance
Starkweather's first crime was on December 1st, 1957, when he robbed a service station and shot an employee in the head. On January 21st, 1958, another murder was commited. Starkweather brutally killed Caril Ann Fugate's family; including her stepfather Marion Bartlett, her mother Velda Bartlett, and Fugate's two year old baby sister. Her parents were shot in the head, and her baby sister was clubbed to death. The two of them stayed in Fugate's house with the bodies for a week. When some one would come to the house wanting to see the family Starkweather would say that the family had the flu. Starkweather and Fugate then went on to kill 7 more people in the course of a month. The couple was caught on the side of the highway, after shooting Merle Collison, a traveling salesman, in the head nine times. Joe Sprinkle pulled off of the highway to help, but was threatened. Sheriff William Romer came just in time to stop Starkweather from killing Sprinkle. Carill Ann Fugate ran to Sheriff Romer as Starkweather drove off. After a high-speed chase Starkweather was caught. In court both Starkweather and Fugate were charged with murder. Starkweather first said that he had held Fugate hostage but when Caril turned against him he changed his story by saying she was a partner. He was later sentenced to death, while Fugate was sentenced to life in prison. Charles Starkweather was executed on June 25th 1959 in the Nebraska State Penitentiary. Caril Ann Fugate was also let out of prison 18 years later, at the age of 33.
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Comments (3)
Rock said
at 4:16 pm on Sep 23, 2010
Dear Maya
I found it was very interesting that Starkweather was 20 and Fugate was only 14 when they were dating! Thats a big difference. I wonder why she still liked him after killing so many people. Do you think he had held he hostage or prisoner and told he to stay with him. They remind me of bonnie and clid. This was a very depressing topic but you did a wonderful job!
From
Madison
Brando said
at 7:18 pm on Sep 23, 2010
I thought that this was a very interesting and depressing story to hear. What I wondered was how Fugate was only 14 years old when she started killing people including her own family! The story kind of bothered me in thinking that just by bullying someone can cause them to kill others. I thought that you did a fantstic job on this wiki page!
Ho Chi Minh said
at 8:36 pm on Sep 23, 2010
Oh my goodness Maya this was so depressing! But really well written. I thought it was interesting that Fugate was only 14 when she dated Starkweather, who was 20. Thats slightly creepy. Plus he was kinda ugly so thats even more weird. Anyway, I didn't know anything about this topic until I read this article, and I thought it was very interesting. Good job!!
From
Izzie
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