The Monster They Set Free: Ed Kemper’s Unthinkable Crimes After Parole
When Edmund “Ed” Kemper was just 15, he executed his grandparents in cold blood. The system locked him away in a forensic mental hospital, but shockingly, he was released on parole at 21—free to walk among unsuspecting civilians. What happened next was an 11-month bloodbath that would cement his place among America’s most horrifying serial killers.
The Early Signs of a Killer Born in California, Kemper’s childhood was marred by emotional abuse and violent tendencies. His mother berated him, forced him to sleep in the basement, and feared for the safety of his sisters. Even as a child, he displayed a morbid fascination with death—beheading his sisters’ dolls and later, real animals. By age 15, his violent fantasies became reality when he shot his grandmother, later claiming, “I just wanted to see what it felt like to kill grandma.”
Deemed to have paranoid schizophrenia, he was sent to Atascadero State Hospital, a high-security psychiatric facility. There, his high IQ (reportedly 145) and manipulative charm allowed him to convince professionals that he was rehabilitated. But instead of being “cured,” he emerged a more refined predator, having learned from fellow criminals how to avoid detection.
The Co-Ed Killer is Born Upon his release, Kemper tried to join law enforcement but was rejected due to his towering 6’9” frame. Instead, he began picking up hitchhiking female students. Between May 1972 and April 1973, he raped, mutilated, and decapitated six young women. His sick fantasies escalated when he finally turned on his mother—bludgeoning her to death, decapitating her, and using her severed head for unspeakable acts. To create a false alibi, he killed her best friend as well.
After his final murders, Kemper shockingly turned himself in. He called the police from a phone booth, calmly confessing to the slaughter. When officers first dismissed his confession as a prank, he patiently waited until they took him seriously.
How Did the System Fail? How did a man who murdered his grandparents as a teenager get a second chance? Dr. Alfred Rucci, the hospital’s acting director in 1973, admitted that psychiatric predictions of future violence were often just “educated guesses.” Experts at the time failed to recognize Kemper’s true pathology.
Today, forensic psychologists argue he never should have been in a hospital at all—he belonged in prison. Louis B. Schlesinger, a criminal psychology professor, asserts that Kemper’s crimes were not those of a paranoid schizophrenic. Instead, his violent sexual compulsions and enjoyment of murder should have made him an immediate candidate for permanent incarceration. His time in Atascadero only refined his tactics, making him a more dangerous killer upon release.
Where Is Ed Kemper Now? Kemper is currently incarcerated at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, serving life without parole. Over the years, he has been denied release multiple times, the last in 2017. With parole eligibility approaching in 2024, there remains a chilling question—could the system fail again?
His family certainly thinks so. In 2017, Kemper’s brother told the Daily Mail that his relatives live in fear of his possible release. But with a record as heinous as his, the world can only hope that this monster remains locked away—this time, forever.
