Harvey Carignan, the serial killer known as ‘the Want-Ad Killer,’ has died at the age of 95. The criminal died earlier this month of natural causes in prison in Minnesota. He was serving a life sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility for the murders of two women.
Carignan, also known as ‘Harvey The Hammer,’ used to lure his victims using ‘help wanted’ ads. He then raped and murdered them using a hammer. In 1975, he was convicted of killing two women. At the trial, he pleaded insanity but was found guilty of the crimes.
Serial Killer Harvey Carignan Dies at 95
Carignan’s first kill was the murder of a 58-year-old woman named Laura Showalter in July 1949 in Alaska. He also attempted to rape her before taking her life. In September of the same year, he tried to rape another woman and was arrested. He was charged with first-degree murder and assault and revived a death sentence.
In 1951, he was given another trial on the basis that his confession was improperly obtained. His murder charge was dismissed following the new trial. He was eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison on the charge of assault. He was released on parole in 1960.
Harvey Carignan was a Repeat Offender
The criminal spent time in Alcatraz before being paroled. He was then arrested for burglary in Minnesota with his brother and returned to prison for four years before being paroled again in 1964. Carignan was later arrested for burglary and received a 15-year sentence, which he violated, and served an additional year in prison.
Harvey was suspected of murdering 19-year-old Leslie Laura Brock in 1972, but there was not enough evidence to charge him. He then raped and murdered 15-year-old Kathy Sue Miller, who responded to a job ad for his gas station. Her body was found months later. Carignan also sexually assaulted and beat 13-year-old Jerri Billings with a hammer.
He then started living with a woman named Eileen Hunley in Minnesota, but she disappeared after leaving him. Her body was found weeks later, and Carignan was suspected of murdering her. In 1974, he sexually assaulted and beat Gwen Burton, who survived the attack and reported it to the police.
The Killer was Serving a Life Sentence in Minnesota
Carignan picked up teenage girls Sally Versoi and Diane Flynn in 1974 and forced them to perform oral sex before they escaped. He was later arrested and charged with attempted murder and aggravated sodomy. He pleaded insanity, claiming it was God’s order to “kill whores and harlots.”
However, he was found guilty of both charges. Carignan was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and was later found guilty of ‘indecent liberties, sodomy upon a child, and two additional counts of aggravated sodomy.’ and was sentenced to a total of 60 years.
Carignan was also charged with the murders of Schultz and Hunley. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing the former and received a 40-year sentence. For killing Hunley, he was also convicted of first-degree murder and received a life sentence.
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