Though Albert Fish was often referred to as the most "deranged" killer in American history, his story remained largely untold primarily because of its horrifying content and the fact that it took place in the 1920s. Allegedly the member of one of America's most eminent families, Albert Fish, christened "Hamilton," in honor of his ancestor who had been the Governor of New York in the 1850s and later the U.S. Secretary of State under the Grant Administration, Fish lived a private life of sexual deviancy. In addition to being a sadistic child killer, Fish also displayed the following sexual deviations, among others: voyeurism, exhibitionism, masochism, fetishism, pedophilia, and cannibalism.
Although it is not known for sure when Fish began killing or how many victims he murdered, it is believed that his killing began sometime in 1924 and that he may have killed as many as sixteen children. However, it was the kidnapping and murder of Grace Budd, a ten-year old New York City girl in 1928 that both changed the way a nation viewed strangers and fully exposed Fish's crime pattern when the case was finally solved six years later. On Sunday, June 3, 1928, Fish, under the alias of Frank Howard, arrived at the Budd home to follow up on a previous visit he made in regards to hiring the Budds' son Edward as a farmhand.
Although it was Edward whom Fish initially intended to kill, on his second visit, Fish noticed Edward's younger sister Gracie, whom Fish kidnapped and murdered by conning the Budds into believing he was taking her to his niece's birthday party. Ironically, it was Fish himself who sent an anonymous letter to Mrs. Budd six years later claiming responsibility for the murder of her daughter and describing in chilling detail the manner in which it took place. Indeed, it was the envelope the letter arrived in that ultimately led to his capture on December 13, 1934.
Fish recounted how he took Gracie to his cottage, known by locals in the rural section of Westchester County, New York, as "Wisteria", and strangled, decapitated, and mutilated her. Subsequent interviews by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals revealed how deviant Fish was. One such example is that X-rays taken on Fish's pelvic region to confirm his assertion that he punished himself by shoving five needles into his body revealed not five, but rather twenty-seven. Fish was found guilty on March 22, 1935, and was executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison on January 16, 1936.
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