8 Cities In South Carolina Where Completely Insane People Were Born
By Gwen Tennille|Published October 23, 2015
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Gwen Tennille
Author
Gwen is an author, artist, illustrator, graphic designer, mother, wife, and part-time super hero. She loves to tackle her dreams head on and takes life by storm. Coffee is her best friend and a good book cannot be beat! When does she have the time, you ask? Well...do you really need that much sleep?
Serial killers and murderers come from all walks of life and from every corner of the world. There’s not one place that can say they’ve never had someone born there who didn’t grow up to be a killer. It happens. Whether a person is born that way or whether they become a person capable of murder through life experiences, no one knows for certian. South Carolina, unfortunately, can claim to be the stomping ground of one of the most prolific serial killers that the South has ever seen. So, with that being said, below you will find 8 cities where the most notoriously insane people were born in South Carolina.
Columbia has seen a lot of devastation however, the two most insane people that were born here were Richard Evonitz and Dylann Roof. Richard Evonitz, as you may or may not know,is the man who kidnapped, raped, and killed three girls in Spotsylvania County, Virginia as well as abducted and raped a 15-year-old from Richland County. He has been suspected of many other murders, but before that could be figured out he told his sister a number of his crimes and then committed suicide in 2002. Dylann Roof, on the other hand, is still on the forefront of everyone's minds these days as the young man who is responsible for killing 9 people during a prayer service.
Timothy Ray Jones, Jr was born in Lexington. If you don't know who he may be because he was in and out of the media extremely fast, he is the father who murdered his children and dumped their bodies by the side of a road in Alabama. He was then collected into custody when he arrived in Mississippi at his parent's home by police officers who then transported him back to SC to await trial.
Henry Wallace was born here although you may not hear that name often. I have to say that I raised just 15 minutes from there and didn't know who he was growing up to be. Henry Wallace is also known as the "Taco Bell Strangler", killed 10 people spanning 4 years in Charlotte, NC and is still awaiting his time on death row in Raleigh, NC.
Unfortunately, that's the best I could do for Paul David Crews who was born Paul David Horne. He was adopted and his last name was changed. There's no place online where you can find his exact birth place. However, he left an indelible mark in history on the Appalachian Trail, South Carolina, and the nation as well. Paul Crews killed a couple in Pennsylvania, but that wasn't his first time. It was also discovered that he had killed much earlier in his life; a woman in 1986. He very nearly decapitated his first victim.
Gaffney is where Lee Roy Martin was born. You may know him better as the "Gaffney Strangler". He murdered four girls between the years of 1967-1968. During that time the people of Gaffney lived their lives in fear. He was caught in 1968 and he was killed in prison in 1972 by another inmate. Today, people still remember who he is. This incident didn't happen so long ago that there aren't people who lived through that nightmare.
Myrtle Beach gets a lot of attention, some of it good and some bad. That's the nature of a tourist city. This is where Johnnie Kenneth Register was born. Ken, as he was called by most people who knew him, had kidnapped, raped, and killed Crystal Faye Todd. She was found on the morning of November 17, 1991 with approximately 30 or more stab wounds to her body as well as her throat. Register is currently serving his life sentence and is up for parole in the year 2022.
Susan Smith was born in Union. I don't think anyone will ever forget her. She left a wound on all of our lives that will never be completely healed. For those of you who may not know or who may not remember, Susan Smith is the woman who killed her two boys by pushing her car into John D. Long Lake. They had been strapped into the car seats, unable to get out. Susan had tried to say that the car had been hijacked, but a short investigation cleared up her story and she is now serving a 30 year sentence for two counts of murder.
Pee Wee Gaskins, the most infamous and prolific serial killer of the South, was born here. People still tell stories of him and most of them knew him firsthand. That's just creepy. Pee Wee Gaskins' story is a long and involved one (which I believe most people in Florence could tell you word for word). It is said that he may have killed more than 110 victims. He has been dubbed "The Meanest Man in America" as he even managed to kill while on death row. Pee Wee was given death by electric chair on September 6, 1991 in Columbia, SC.
It is not where they were born that makes them the way they are/were or makes them do what they do; that is just the luck of the draw. However, we must not forget that people like this are around us every single day. Sometimes they are just a bare inch from us as we walk down the street. Be diligent in your surroundings. Don’t take your safety for granted even if you’re surrounded by people or in full daylight. Just be safe so that you won’t become a statistic like so many others have.
I also have to point out that this list is not an exhaustive list of SC murderers, these are the most notorious. That doesn’t mean that what the others have done are any less violent nor are their crimes against man any more forgettable.
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