JOHN LATHAM AND GEORGE YORK
John Latham, nineteen, of Mauriceville, Texas and George
York, eighteen, of Jacksonville, Florida, were headline makers in May and
June of 1961. They were among the first modern serial killers to attract
nationwide attention. Their career in murder began on May 29, 1961. Mrs.
Althea Ottavio, forty-three and Patricia Ann Hewitt, twenty-five, of
Valdosta,
Georgia, had gone to the dog races in Florida to place a "dream
bet."
Instead they encountered Latham and York, who strangled them. Over the
next twelve days, driving cars they took from a succession of victims,
York and Latham robbed and killed people in Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas
and Colorado. They killed for pocket change, never attempting to score
big as robbers do. After their arrest, they laughed and joked about their
victims and argued with each other over who was going to the electric chair
first. Latham had a tattoo on his arm that expressed the pair's attitude
perfectly: "I HATE THE WORLD." York explained their homicidal
rampage: "WE THOUGHT WE WERE DOING THEM A FAVOR BY PUTTING THEM OUT
OF THEIR MISERIES IN THIS RAT RACE." On June 22, 1965, they were both
hanged.
OTHER GEORGIA SERIAL KILLERS.
John
Williams and Clyde Manning, "The Murder Farm killings"
Lendell
Hunter
Junior
Pierce
Carlton
Gary, "The Columbus Stalking Strangler"
William
Hance, "The Forces of Evil Murders"
Wayne
Williams, "The Atlanta Child Murders"
R.L.
Hunter
James
Samuel Walraven, "The Bathtub Murderer"
John
Latham and George York
Paul
John Knowles
Henry
Lucas and Ottis Toole
Janie
Lou Gibbs
Terri
Rachals
Anjette
Lyles
Billy
Sunday Birt
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