Albert Fish

Albert H. Fish (May 19, 1870 – January 16, 1936) was an American serial killer and cannibal. He was also known as the Moon Maniac, the Gray Man, and the Brooklyn Vampire.

Trial and execution

At his trial, which opened on March 11, 1935, Fish pleaded insanity. He claimed to have heard voices from God telling him to kill children. Several psychiatrists took the stand to talk of Fish's many sexual fetishes, including coprophilia, urophilia, pedophilia and masochism, but there was disagreement as to whether these activities necessarily meant someone was insane. The defense's chief expert witness was Frederic Wertham, a psychiatrist with a focus on child development who conducted psychiatric examinations for the New York criminal courts; Wertham stated flatly that Fish was insane.

Related Topics:
March 11 - 1935 - Insanity - Psychiatrist - Fetish - Coprophilia - Urophilia - Pedophilia - Masochism - Insane - Frederic Wertham

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The trial lasted for ten days. The jury found Fish to be sane and guilty, and the judge pronounced the death sentence.

Related Topics:
Sane - Death sentence

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Fish was executed on January 16, 1936, in the electric chair at Sing Sing. He spoke of the prospect of electrocution as the "supreme thrill" and even helped the executioners fasten the straps that held his body in place. A Daily News reporter who covered the trial wrote that Fish's "watery eyes gleamed at the thought of being burned by a heat more intense than the flames with which he often seared his flesh to gratify his lust." It was reported that the first jolt of electricity did not kill him, and that a second jolt was needed.

Related Topics:
January 16 - 1936 - Electric chair - Sing Sing - Electrocution - Lust

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A few wrote, facetiously, that the 27 needles Fish had inserted into his body over the years had caused a short circuit.

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Fish's crimes are recounted in Harold Schecter's Deranged. He is mentioned in Stephen King's novel Black House, and some of his letters are quoted. In Rob Zombie's horror movie House of 1000 Corpses, he has a vocal appearance and one as a puppet. Marilyn Manson's guitarist, Ginger Fish, is named after him.

Related Topics:
Harold Schecter - Stephen King - Black House - Rob Zombie - House of 1000 Corpses - Puppet

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