Gary Heidnik

The criminal I chose for this assignment is Gary Heidnik which was found under the category of serial killers. This case occurred in the late 1980’s in Philadelphia. The case regarding Gary Heidnik is a very disturbing story. Gary Heidnik was found with five female victims chained up in his cellar to whom he was raping, killing, and eating these women.

According to what I have learned through this criminology class so far I have some assumptions regarding Mr. Heidnik. With the violence that Mr. Heidnik has displayed towards his victims I would have to say that he did not come from a stable family. More than likely Mr. Heidnik grew up in a family that was abusive, argumentative, and not very affectionate. In the article I read regarding this case it is stated that he told one of his victims, Josefina, “he told her that all he ever wanted was a large family and to that end he already fathered four children to four separate women but had lost contact with them for various reasons. He told Josefina that his plan was to get ten women and make them all pregnant so he could raise his family” (Bellamy, 2006). This statement here shows me that Mr. Heidnik growing up might not have had a large family or even a stable loving one. If Mr. Heidnik was to come from a stable family with loving parents he would have grown up seeing the love between them and towards himself from his parents. Seeing and experiencing this love might have shown him societies view of how to raise a family.

It seems that Mr. Heidnik did have somewhat of an educational background. Mr. Heidnik was very smart in the ways that he protected his home from other people entering and with his plans for the women. It also was said in the article that one of his victims noticed that Mr. Heidnik “...wore an expensive watch and jewelry and drove a luxury car.”(Bellamy, 2006). Although there are many ways that this money could have been obtained the most probable reason for the money is Mr. Heidnik having a nice job. This job more than likely was obtained from having a decent education.

This article did not state any kind of peer relations of Mr. Heidnik’s. It was said that Mr. Heidnik took one of his victim’s to his house which was in a seedy neighborhood. When Josefina almost escaped once she yelled and yelled but Mr. Heidnik was the only person who heard her scream so the neighbors couldn’t be to close together. With living in a spaced out neighborhood Mr. Heidnik more than likely did not associate very much with other people. It is shown that he did obtain social skills in the manner that he did offer Josefina a ride and take her to