Edward Edwards
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Edward Wayne Edwards (14 June 1933 – 7 April 2011) was an American serial killer and robber who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitive list from 1961 - 1962.
Crimes edit
Edwards was an unemployed drifter with a criminal history, including convictions for arson. In 1955 he escaped from prison, and drifted round the country robbing petrol stations. Supposedly, he never disguised himself during these robberies because he wanted to become famous. As a result he was declared one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives in 1961. He was recaptured the following year and incarcerated in Leavenworth Prison. He was released on parole in 1967.
In 2009, Edwards's daughter, April Balascio, began to investigate where her father went when he would disappear for long stretches of time. She found that he was in Concord, Wisconsin at the time of the 1980 "Sweetheart Murders", when Tim Hack and Kelly Drew were stabbed and strangled. She also found that he was in Ohio in 1977 when a couple named Billy Lavaco and Judith Straub were shot and killed. She tipped off police, who connected Edwards to the crimes via DNA evidence. He pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
While in prison Edwards confessed to the murder of his foster son Dannie Boy Edwards, claiming he killed him in order to collect insurance money. He was sentenced to death for this crime but died before he could be executed.
It has also been theorized that Edwards was responsible for the Zodiac killings and the Murder of JonBenét Ramsey, but this is unlikely.