Larson's mother, Ada Larson, said she "hated the fact" that her daughter would be living off-campus, but all the dormitories were full. Earlier that summer, investigators learned, Ed had been kicked out of the Gatorwood apartment complex where two of the victims were killed. I just looked at God, and I said, 'God, why? The hot air folded in waves over the highway. You know, it affects my self-esteem. He stabbed a young man 30 times and cut another woman's torso from her pelvis to her chest. And he reportedly has been whispering details of the killings to a fellow inmate, who has been telling investigators. It was a nasty, turbulent, protracted parting that left Ed's mother--a devout Catholic--devastated. He is questioned and officers search his car, finding two knives under the seat. He would, for many years, remain connected to the Gainesville murders, though he played no role. The tape contained recordings of a man talking and singing, Hewitt said. In custody, he was questioned about the killings. After she failed to show up to work on the night of Aug. 26, 1990, Det. ", George Humphrey says "John" was a reference to John the Apostle. Before moving to Edward's current city of Palm Bay, FL, Edward lived in Melbourne FL and Indialantic FL. The time frame is precise in his mind. "One day, I picked up the phone, I called Crime Stoppers, and I said, 'I think there's one guy y'all need to investigate -- Danny Rolling.'". For months Edward Lewis Humphrey was the key suspect in the horrific slayings of five Gainesville students. In the aftermath of the murders, investigators discovered some highly unusual details at the scene. When she saw Rolling, she ran back to her bedroom, where she tried to lock her door. "He was just the wrong boy at the wrong place at the wrong time--with the wrong malady.". Danny Harold Rolling pleaded guilty to their murders and three other people in Gainesville in August 1990.). Ray Barber, called for backup and with more investigators on the scene, they found Powell dead on the first floor of the apartment. "Before that, I was doing awesome. "I wanted to be there in the front row if I could. They immediately made her think about a man from her Louisiana hometown church who used to spend time with her and her family. It is like a car engine launching, willy-nilly, into a 180-mph frenzy, careening wildly through narrow streets and looping turns--then just as unexpectedly sputtering to a stall. WebDescription Muster roll for Humphrey Lewis' Company from Madison County, ca. They don't go out and commit crimes like this.". A television blared. He's only given his home phone number to one--Ed Humphrey. "I feel 100 percent that the media is the main reason our country is the way it is," Ed says afterward, disgusted. Four Days, Five Murders Episode 5 The Ones Who Caught Him. Investigators had found bloodstained gloves at his home. Always," recalls Scott Bedesem, a friend since junior high school. I had to know it. "That's all I need.". Circuit Judge Theron Yawn said last week he was inclined to order a mental commitment rather than prison for Humphrey. Although they had a confession for the Gainesville murders, investigators were not able to get Rolling to admit to the Shreveport murders during their questioning. ", Mackenzie, looking pained, interrupts: "But that was before the plastic surgery. You could see [she was] in a bad position, and I just turned around and walked out," Curnutt said. As concerns of a killer on the loose mounted, police were inundated with calls from concerned parents. "That was exciting," Hewitt said. It was repeated so authoritatively and so often that the term began to lose its inherent uncertainty. "My maintenance man, unfortunately, ran down the stairs screaming, 'Oh my God,' and came out and threw up. The reports painted an eerie picture. It's going to be worse next time.' 1. Then, when Ed was about 13, his grandfather died. Watch "20/20" FRIDAYS at 9 p.m. Family trouble, mental problems and sheer coincidence seem to be the main factors that put Ed Humphrey into legal limbo. Would you like to meet him?". "Don't take a picture of me with the knife," he says. The old woman's face, Deputy Doug Hammack saw, was wet with her own blood. I had learned he had married and had a daughter. I don't want people to know who I am. "I don't want people to read about me. "Get his good side," offers Marti Mackenzie, the publicist. She briefs him before interviews; she and his attorney decide which questions he'll answer. Even though three decades had passed, I knew it wasnt going to be easy for Humphrey to talk about his darkest days; a time when his name was linked to grisly crimes. The metamorphosis seemed to happen in a matter of days. The real killer was eventually caught, confessed and was put to death. "Danny committed these crimes for one reason only -- he loved it.". There's many people that have abusive parents. Rolling wanted to address the court. I can't handle this.' And the day after Ed was arrested, an investigator interviewed Sydney McGrath, a college student who had long conversations with Ed about dissecting corpses. Then he would drop into a crouch pretending to open fire. Crime lab experts had damning evidence that semen found at the murder scene came from Rolling. There is still a court order not to discuss evidence m the case. The killer always managed to avoid being spottedby potential witnesses. said Laurie Lahey, Paules' older sister. He got out once a week--in leg chains and handcuffs--when his lawyer came, and twice a week to take a shower. I did not want that to be what I carried in my mind of her for the rest of my life," Barber said. This time, deputies couldn't just tell Ed to cool off, then file the fight away on an incident report. What fear did she have going through her mind?" The accidents left him with a rod in his leg and scars on his face, and a Lithium prescription kept him chunky and bloated-looking. They think, 'Well, there's a good chance he did it because he's on TV.' The cops came and asked for identification. Investigators narrowed their list of prime suspects to four Sunday in the grisly slayings of five students and hinted that the serial killer left ``messages of some importance.' "And honestly, they advised that he'd die much faster in Florida, and I said, 'Well, leave him there. "I'd come in and there would be books open and calculators out.". Even today, a spokesman for the new state attorney hesitates: "Is Ed Humphrey still a suspect?Well, hmmm.One would think it ought to be a simple question.". "We treat our animals in our society better than Ed Humphrey has been treated," Russo said as he tried unsuccessfully to persuade a judge to free his client. "Sometimes he would put him up against the wall the marks of his fingers would be there and he shook him a lot of and sort of scared me," Claudia Rolling said. You know I'll never, ever get over it completely. His mug shot fueled growing public speculation and drew hordes of reporters from around the country. Humphrey, a sometime University of Florida student with a history of mental problems, has been labeled a suspect in the slayings of five students near the campus in Gainesville during the last week in August. A classic film noir, it features a great cast and a great storyline. Lahey said seeing this man "who destroyed my life" made her feel "frozen to the chair.". They found that the suspect had type B blood, but Humphrey's blood was type A. Humphrey was still in police custody when investigators discovered a cold case in Shreveport, Louisiana, that had striking similarities to the murders in Gainesville. Dave Farley, a senior patrol leader, remembers hiking the Appalachian Trail with Ed, his assistant. She hadn't called us and, finally, the Powells, who lived closer, went over there.". Newspapers reported Humphrey revealed to investigators that he had an alter ego, named John, who knew the details about the crimes. His DNA didnt match the semen found at the murder scene. He looks around nervously. But Public Defender J.R. Russo said today that some hospitals rejected Humphrey outright and the only ones that would admit him would charge $600 to $1,000 a day, more than the family could afford. "It's hard for me to picture him doing anything discreetly.". Your story has never been told.. His grandfather, a retired Air Force officer, took the boys to ham radio shows and flea markets and the officers' club to play bingo and lunch with the big-wigs. Now, sitting on the beach, a breeze mussing his blond hair, having just let Eric borrow his surfboard, Ed says Eric was just trying to grab the spotlight, to make himself look good. We will prevail. The son of a police officer and an aspiring country music singer, Rolling had spent a couple years in the U.S. Air Force before beginning a career of crime. The two 23-year-olds had been close friends since high school and had just begun living together. Rolling also made it clear to investigators that he acted alone and that Ed Humphrey had no involvement in the student murders. Later, after Ed has gone, one approaches the young woman behind the counter. The lack of indictment is the result that he and I both expected.". Ed was still serving 14 months probation at the time, and drinking was a violation of his terms. (Edward Lewis Humphrey was an early suspect in the case of five grisly murders of college students in Gainesville, Fla. Daniel Rolling was eventually convicted of the killings, but Humphrey was never officially cleared by the police. Edward Lewis Humphrey, 18, of Indialantic, Fla., held in the Brevard County Jail on a charge of beating his 79-year-old grandmother, has been described by police as But that's pretty much how I feel.". A top official in the case points out the murders were methodical and elaborately planned. And so Grandma was bleeding and everything, and I got, like, a cloth and stuff and tried to help her out. All of them had been stabbed to death and some were left in sexually provocative positions. Ed's co-worker at the Humane Society, Nancy Breslin, says people sometimes look warily at Ed and say things like: Who's that guy you've got working back there? Ed looks out over the water, his face calm. He knew what was happening. Students left--some for good--and there was a run on the sale of guns, Mace and door locks. I mean, it's just a really bad feeling--knowing that wherever you go people are judging you, and they don't even know you. "Grandmother is another victim of those crimes.". Doherty said authorities later tried to show a connection between Humphrey and Danny Rolling, the Louisiana drifter who was indicted Friday in the Gainesville killings. ", "Honestly, Marti," Ed says, "that plastic surgery didn't do that great of a job.". Witnesses testified to the abuse they'd seen. Like moths to a lantern light on a summer night, the press surrounded Humphrey with flashing cameras, as he took the stand to plead, Not guilty.. The investigative records on the GainesviUe murders are filled with entries of Ed Humphrey scaring people in the final months before his arrest. He'd seen interviews with his new neighbors on the evening news, and they had said they were afraid of Ed Humphrey. He takes a slug of coffee and fidgets with an unlit cigarette. "The phone hadn't been installed yet. "Should I smile? But, his life was forever tainted. Humphrey was asked to leave the premises by Officer Smith, and he complied, but not before threatening Officer Smith that he (Humphrey) was going to cut his eyes out and send him to hell. "It didn't matter what the lyrics were or what he was saying at that point. "And he said, 'Yeah, I'm the one.'". Yet the lead prosecutor in the case continued to insist that Ed was a suspect in three of the killings, that perhaps he and Rolling had acted together. "It's hard to say what was inside my head. He had a promising future ahead of him. Many panicked. And legal experts say that even if Humphrey is innocent, he'll carry the stigma of the killings with him the rest of his days. Tell me she did not suffer.' Before he could stand trial for the murders, however, Rolling was convicted on federal bank robbery charges, Smith said. Ed Humphrey, on that August morning, had not been taking his medication for some time. "I've got feelings, too, and that stuff really hurt me. Still, Rolling has pleaded innocent--and Don Lykkebak expects Ed will be a target in the trial. "I thought it was totally unfair," Ed says. He enrolled at University of Central Florida in 1995, taking classes around part-time jobs ranging from cleaning dog kennels and swimming pools to assembling tanning beds and working in factories, according to the Orlando Sentinel. She said she thought of Rolling, who, just a few months after the murders in their community, said something deeply disturbing to her then-husband, Steven Dobbin. Although Humphreys October trial was in Brevard County, a visiting judge from Gainesville presided over it. He was convicted of armed robbery in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi for several grocery store robberies, and spent most of the 1980s in prison. He told me he had done interviews on this topic, and most of his experiences had not been pleasant. While the man had gotten away, the officer found a screwdriver at the campsite, along with the bag of money defaced by the dye and a cassette player with a tape inside. And, then, as far as newspapers go, half the things that lthey) deal with are just negative things about people. I felt bad for him. Without a response, they asked a maintenance worker at the apartment complex for help. He finally moved back to Indialantic with his mother, where things went smoothly until March 1992, when he and some buddies went on a spring break camping trip to Key West. Following the sentencing, Manny Taboada's brother, Mario Taboada, stood up and shouted, "You're going down in five. He would not be here, sharing his birthday with the media, were it not for the publicist. Spectrum reporter, 9-year-old girl among 3 victims fatally shot in Orlando, As Tampa Bay sales grow, sport bike maker Ducati plans giant dealership, Central Florida reporter, girl killed as multiple people shot near earlier slaying, Florida executes Donald Dillbeck for 1990 Tallahassee murder, Rolling of the Bulls: USF pulls off rare February four-sport sweep, Steven Lorenzo sentenced to death for 2 Tampa murders, Florida lawmakers take up plan to shield businesses from lawsuits, Tampa man tied to assassination of Haitian president, Black history lives in the present in Cheryl Heads Times Undoing, 10 big issues to watch in Floridas 2023 legislative session. Edward Lewis Humphrey became a familiar figure to law enforcement officials as he shuttled between his apartment near the University of Florida and his Brevard County home in Indialantic. Today, she called the sentence a charade of justice.. Well, they're influenced so much by what they watch and they think, 'Oh, yeah, I saw where they got the suspect.' To Christina Powell's friend, Alison Emery, said the defense's strategy was a "slap in the face. The red sun marched its way toward the horizon, whipping at my windshield as I drove back to Gainesville. Especially around his mouth, she says, the skin is much smoother and more elastic and natural-looking. But there was one major problem for investigators: Even though DNA testing technology was still in its infancy, investigators were able to determine the suspect's blood type through semen left behind at all three crime scenes. But news of the Gainesville murders haunted Juracich and, in November 1990, she decided to contact police on a hunch that Rolling was connected to the murders in both cities. The optics were not good for Humphrey. One day in April 1988--after Ed had dropped out of school for a while and gone to live with his brother, George, in Gainesville--the two were taking a drive to the beach to talk about Ed moving home. "I can only afford to fill the tank halfway," he says, settling into a window seat at an upscale downtown restaurant. The task force investigating the killings put Humphrey under surveillance, and when a police spokesman described him as "an extremely valuable suspect," the media zeroed in on him. The door opened and before me stood Ed Humphrey. "So, let's take it easy on him. So I kept on pressing the button because I wanted her to open the door. And before I knew it, I went upstairs and I told Mom, 'Mom, I probably won't see you for a long time,' because I could see what was happening.". His friends didn't understand: You really don't need that stuff they'd say. 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