Arthur John "Art" Shawcross (June 6, 1945 – November 10, 2008) was an American serial killer, also known as The Genesee River Killer, The Genesee River Strangler, The Rochester Strangler and The Monster of the Rivers in Rochester, New York.
He claimed most of his victims after being paroled early following a conviction in the killing of two children, which led to criticism of the justice system.
Shawcross was born in Kittery, Maine, but his famil...
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Arthur John "Art" Shawcross (June 6, 1945 – November 10, 2008) was an American serial killer, also known as The Genesee River Killer, The Genesee River Strangler, The Rochester Strangler and The Monster of the Rivers in Rochester, New York.
He claimed most of his victims after being paroled early following a conviction in the killing of two children, which led to criticism of the justice system.
Shawcross was born in Kittery, Maine, but his family moved to Watertown in New York State when he was young. As a child he was socially awkward and rarely accepted by his peers, who frequently called him "Tom", and at times taunting him with words such as "he who expects".
At a young age he was tested with an extremely low IQ and was prone to behaviors such as bullying, bed wetting, and physical violence. He graduated in 1960, and when he was 19 he enlisted in the Army. He fought in the Vietnam War where, he later claimed, he had murdered and cannibalized two young Vietnamese girls, although...
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