Vaughn Orrin Greenwood (January 19, 1944 – December 18, 2020) was an American

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

who gained the nickname the Skid Row Slasher. He murdered eleven

vagrants Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

between November 1964 and January 1975, in addition to a failed twelfth murder that ultimately led to his capture.

Crimes

The first attacks occurred when Greenwood killed two transients in November 1964. A ten-year gap period between murders occurred due to Greenwood being convicted and sentenced due to a knifing assault in Chicago in 1966. He spent five and a half years in jail for this conviction before returning to California. Greenwood continued his murder spree in December 1974 and killed nine victims between December 1974 and February 1975. Greenwood was convicted of nine counts of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

, including eight of the "Skid Row Slasher" killings in

. The "Slasher" victims had their throats cut from ear to ear. There was evidence that the killer drank the blood of the victims."'Slasher' jury finds man guilty", The Spokesman Review, December 29, 1976 https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19761229&id=a-QRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q-0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3464,5899411 Greenwood left cups of blood and rings of salt around the corpses. The items left around the bodies have caused some to believe the murders to be linked to Satanism. This is disputed by K.V. Lanning. On 19 January 1977, Greenwood was sentenced to life imprisonment. Vaughn Greenwood died on December 18, 2020 in California Men's Colony, San Luis Obispo State Prison in California, he was 76. His cause of death is unknown.

Victims

These are the Skid Row Slasher's known victims in chronological order of attack:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Vaughn 1944 births 2020 deaths 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American murderers American male criminals American people convicted of assault American people convicted of attempted murder American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Criminals from Los Angeles Criminals from Pennsylvania People convicted of murder by California Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California Serial killers from California Serial killers who died in prison custody Vampirism (crime) Violence against men in the United States Violence against homeless people in the United States

Crimes

Victims

See also

References