Joseph Douglas Ball (January 7, 1896
– September 24, 1938)
was an American murderer and suspected
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
, sometimes referred to as the "Alligator Man",
the "Butcher of Elmendorf"
and the "Bluebeard
of South Texas". He is known to have killed two and is said to have killed as many as 20 women in the 1930s. His existence was long believed to be
apocrypha
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
l, but he is a familiar figure in Texas
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...
.
Background
Ball was the great-great-grandson of
John Hart Crenshaw, a notorious
illegal slave trader,
kidnapper
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
, and
illegal slave breeder in
Gallatin County, Illinois
Gallatin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 4,828, making it the third-least populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Shawneetown. It is located in the southern ...
. After serving on the frontlines in Europe during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, Ball started his career as a
bootlegger, providing illegal liquor to those who could pay for it. After the end of
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...
, he opened a saloon called the Sociable Inn in
Elmendorf, Texas
Elmendorf is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States. It is part of the San Antonio—New Braunfels metropolitan statistical area. Its population was 1,862 at the 2020 census. It was founded in 1885, and named after Henry Elmendorf, a former ...
. He built a pond that contained six
alligator
An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additional ...
s because he misunderstood the term ''
corpus delicti
(Latin for "body of the crime"; plural: ), in Western law, is the principle that a crime must be proved to have occurred before a person can be convicted of committing that crime.
For example, a person cannot be tried for larceny unless it ca ...
'', believing that a
murder conviction without a body
It is possible to convict someone of murder without the purported victim's body in evidence. However, cases of this type have historically been hard to prove, often forcing the prosecution to rely on circumstantial evidence, and in England the ...
would be impossible. He charged people to view them, especially during feeding time; the food consisted mostly of live cats and dogs.
Murders
After a while, women in the area were reported missing, including barmaids, former girlfriends, and his wife. When two
Bexar County
Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio.
As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Brau ...
deputy sheriffs went to question him in 1938, Ball pulled a handgun from his cash register and killed himself with a bullet through the heart (as noted on his death certificate by the coroner, but some sources report that he shot himself in the head).
A handyman who conspired with Ball, Clifford Wheeler, admitted to helping Ball dispose of the bodies of two of the women he had killed.
Wheeler led them to the remains of Hazel Brown and Minnie Gotthard.
Few written sources from the era could verify Ball's crimes. Newspaper editor Michael Hall investigated the story in depth in 2002 and wrote on his findings for ''
Texas Monthly
''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...
''.
In popular culture
The film ''
Eaten Alive
''Eaten Alive'' (known under various alternate titles, including ''Death Trap'', ''Horror Hotel'', and ''Starlight Slaughter'', and stylized on the poster as ''Eaten Alive!'') is a 1976 American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, and written ...
'' by
Tobe Hooper
Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work in the horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror fi ...
was inspired by Ball. The film features a man named Judd, a serial killer who runs a hotel and disposes of his victims' bodies by feeding them to a
Nile crocodile
The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern, ...
.
Ball was referenced in ''
Bones
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...
'' in the fifth episode of season eight, "The Method in the Madness".
Macabre wrote a song called "Joe Ball Was His Name" which can be found on
Carnival of Killers.
See also
*
List of serial killers in the United States
A serial killer is typically a person who kills three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder a ...
*
List of serial killers by number of victims
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, in two or more separate events over a period of time, for primarily psychological reasons.A serial killer is most commonly defined as a person who kills three or more peo ...
References
External links
CrimeLibrary.com article on Joe BallJoe Ball – The Butcher of Elmendorf (documentary)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Joe
1896 births
1938 suicides
20th-century American criminals
American bootleggers
Criminals from Texas
Military personnel from San Antonio
Suicides by firearm in Texas
Suspected serial killers
United States Army personnel of World War I