Arthur Shawcross
Arthur Shawcross | |
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Mug shot of Shawcross | |
| Born | Arthur John Shawcross June 6, 1945 Kittery, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | November 10, 2008 (aged 63) Albany Medical Center, Sullivan Correctional Facility, Fallsburg, New York, U.S. |
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| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Convictions |
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| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment without parole (or a term amounting to 250 years) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 14 |
Span of crimes | May 7, 1972 – December 28, 1989 |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
Date apprehended | January 5, 1990 |
Arthur John Shawcross (June 6, 1945 – November 10, 2008), also known as the Genesee River Killer, was an American serial killer active in Rochester, New York, between 1972 and 1989. Shawcross's first known murders took place in his hometown of Watertown, New York, where he killed a young boy and a girl. Under the terms of a plea bargain, he was allowed to plead guilty to one charge of manslaughter, for which he served 14 years of a 25-year sentence.
Shawcross killed most of his victims in 1988 and 1989 after being granted an early parole, which later led to controversy. A food service worker, he trawled the streets of Rochester in his girlfriend's car looking for prostitutes to kill. Shawcross died on 10 November 2008, while serving a prison sentence of 250 years for his crimes, at the age of 63.
Dr. Michael H. Stone, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and an authority on violent behavior, identified Shawcross as "one of the most egregious examples of the unwarranted release of a prisoner" in his book The Anatomy of Evil.