On November 17th, 1974, Sandy Fawkes
was watching the evening news in a state of pure shock. Staring back at her from
TV was the charming and handsome man with whom she had recently had a
2-day whirlwind romantic fling. He had the same movie-star good looks and devilish
grin that had drawn her to him in the first place, and so she could see how he had earned the
nickname the media had given him - The Casanova Killer. The man she knew as Paul John Knowles
was really a vicious serial killer who had killed as many as 35 innocent men, women and children
over a 5 month period across 6 different states. Sandy now knew just how lucky she
was to have survived their encounter. Paul John Knowles was born in Florida on April
14th, 1946, and as a young boy he began getting into trouble with the law for petty crimes. After
he was caught stealing at the tender age of 9, his father was fed up and decided he wanted nothing
to do with young Paul. He was disowned and given up for adoption, and would spend the rest of his
childhood years in reformatories and foster homes. Unsurprisingly, this did little to curb his
criminal tendencies, and the young Knowles would continue to steal, vandalize and generally
get himself into trouble with the law throughout his teens. His first true arrest happened at the
age of 19, and from that point on, Knowles would spend an average of half of each year in jail
for crimes ranging from burglary to auto theft. By early 1974, Knowles was serving a prison
sentence in Florida’s Raiford Prison when he found himself a new pen pal in Angela Covic.
After exchanging letters for months, Covic had fallen head over heels for Knowles. She travelled
from California to Florida to visit him in prison, and soon the two were engaged. She used her
meager savings to hire a lawyer who was able to successfully get parole for Knowles. Upon his
release, he immediately flew from Florida to San Francisco, where two planned to marry immediately.
However, just days before the wedding was set to take place, Covic called it off - she claimed
that Knowles had an aura of evil surrounding him, and that her psychic had warned her
about a dangerous new man in her life. Angela didn’t know it at the time, but that
decision quite possibly saved her life. Knowles did not take their broken
engagement well, to say the least. He would later claim that, on the night of their
breakup, he murdered 3 people in a blind rage, although investigators were never able
to corroborate his story. What they do know for sure, though, is that Knowles
flew back to Jacksonville, Florida, where he was jailed yet again after picking a
fight in a local bar. If only that was the end of his story. Instead, on July 26th, 1974, the
veteran jailbird picked the lock on his cell and escaped from jail, setting off one of the
most brutal crime sprees in American history. The very same night that he escaped from a holding
cell in Jacksonville, Knowles broke into the home of 65 year old Alice Curtis, gagging her and
tying her up while he ransaked her home looking for cash and valuables. Sadly, Curtis choked
to death on her own dentures, making her his first confirmed murder victim. Whether or not
he intended for her to die, her death seemed to unleash something truly evil in Knowles, and
kicked off a brutal, months-long murder spree. Knowles spent a few days hiding out
in Curstis’ home with her dead body, eating her food and watching her TV. When
he saw his own mug shot on the local news he realized he needed to get far away from
Jacksonville. Shortly after stealing Curtis’ car, Knowles was driving through Jacksonville
looking for a place to drop the hot vehicle when he saw 11 year old Lilian Anderson and her 7
year old sister Mylette walking down the street. He recognized them as friends of his mother’s and,
fearing that they may be able to identify him, he kidnapped the two young girls, strangled
them both, and dumped their bodies in a swamp outside of town before hitting the open
road. He had now killed 3 innocent people, and he knew that he needed to get
out of the area as soon as possible. By the next day, Knowles was in Atlantic Beach,
Florida, where he broke into the home of Marjorie Howe. This time, he wasted no time strangling
Howe with a nylon stocking before stealing her TV and getting back on the road. As he made his way
aimlessly North, Knowles strangled a hitchhiker that he had picked up, bringing his official
total to 5 victims in just a few short days. After the murder of the hitchhiker Knowles appears
to have laid low for a few weeks, but before long, he would be back to his evil ways. On August 23rd,
1974, Knowles strangled Kathie Pierce in Musella, Georgia with a phone cord while her 3 year old
son looked on. Oddly, he left the boy unharmed. On September 3rd, 1974, Knowles met
businessman William Bates in a bar in Lima, Ohio. After drinking together for
several hours, he strangled Bates, dumped his body in the woods, and
stole his money, credit cards and car. Bates was Knowles’ first known male victim,
and his body wouldn’t be found until October. Knowles drove Bates’ stolen car all the way
to Sacramento, before making his way back East through Utah and Nevada, where he murdered
campers Emmet and Lois Johnson near Ely, Nevada on September 18th. 3 days later, Knowles assaulted
and murdered a female motorist who was stranded on the side of the road, leaving her body tangled in
a barbed wire fence. On September 23rd, Knowles met beautician Ann Dawson in Birmingham, Alabama.
The two travelled together for a few days, until Knowles grew bored of her. He killed her on
September 29th, but her body would never be found. After brutally murdering at least
10 people across 5 different states, Knowles once again laid low for a few weeks.
But it was only a matter of time before the urge to kill became unbearable. On
October 19th in Woodford Virginia, Knowles shot 53 year old Doris Hovey in her home
with her husband’s rifle. This time, he did not assault or even rob Hovey. Clearly, his lust
for blood was all that mattered to Knowles, now. Shortly after the murder of Hovey, Knowles
picked up 2 more hitchhikers. He planned to kill the pair, but before he could he was stopped
by police in a stolen car for a routine traffic violation. The careless cop let him off with
a warning, but the experience rattled Knowles. After dropping off the hitchhikers he
contacted a lawyer and confessed to his crimes. The lawyer recommended that Knowles
turn himself in, but he refused. Instead, he allegedly taped a confession and handed it over
to the lawyer before skipping town once again. He instructed the lawyer to make the
tape public in the event of his death, and insisted that any proceeds
from his story go to his mother. Despite his close call, Knowles was unable to stop
himself from continuing to kill. On November 6th, in Macon, Georgia, he met and befriended Carswell
Carr. Carr took pity on Knowles, who he took for a drifter, and invited him to spend the night
at his home. Over drinks, Knowles stabbed Carr to death and then strangled Carr’s 15 year old
daughter. After fleeing this murder, Knowles may have killed hitchhikers Edward Hilliard and
Debbie Griffen, but their bodies were never found. On November 8th, Knowles was bar hopping in
Atlanta, Georgia, when he met British journalist Sandy Fawkes. Fawkes recalls being infatuated with
Knowles’ gaunt good looks and his resemblance to movie star Robert Redford. The two spent the night
together, although Knowles was unable to do the deed, so to speak. Over the next 2 days, after
repeated failed attempts at intimate relations, the pair separated on good terms on November
10th. Fawkes had no idea at the time just how lucky she was to escape with her life, but she
would later say that she suspects that he let her live because, as a writer, she would be able
to spread his story and increase his notoriety. The day after separating from Fawkes, Knowles
made his first big mistake. He attempted to kidnap Susan MacKenzie, a friend of Fawkes’,
and assaulted her at gunpoint. Amazingly, she escaped and reported Knowles to the police.
Officers now had a name to link to the rash of mysterious killings, and tracked Knowles down and
pulled him over. Knowles was prepared, though, and he managed to escape by brandishing
a sawed-off shotgun. Days later, Knowles was back in Florida. After murdering Beverly
Mabee in West Palm Beach, he abducted Mabee’s sister and stole her car. The next night, he
released Mabee in Fort Pierce, Florida unharmed. On November 16th, 1974, a Florida State Trooper
recognized the stolen car that Knowles was driving and pulled him over. However, Knowles was ready
for him - he took the officer hostage at gunpoint, put him in the back of the police car,
and took off in the stolen cruiser. Realizing that a stolen police car was
incredibly obvious, Knowles used the cruiser to pull over another innocent motorist.
After kidnapping the driver, James Meyer, he put both hostages in the back of Meyers’ vehicle,
and drove out into the woods of Pulaski County, Georgia. There, he handcuffed the men to a tree
and shot them both in the head at close range. The blatant murder of a police officer would
spell the beginning of the end for Knowles. Just hours later, Knowles approached a police
roadblock that had been erected to capture him. With no other options, Knowles crashed
his stolen car through the barrier, lost control of the vehicle
and crashed into a tree. An injured Knowles then escaped on foot into the
woods, firing shots at officers as he fled. Knowles was pursued by officers from several
agencies armed with dogs and a helicopter, but in the end he would meet his downfall at the
hands of a civilian. 27-year old David Clark, a Vietnam veteran and avid hunter, spotted Knowles
in the woods several miles away from the official search area on November 17th. Seeing that
Knowles was bleeding from a wound on his head, the suspicious hunter cornered Knowles with
his shotgun and held him at a neighbor’s home until police arrived, finally putting
an end to his vicious murder spree. Once in custody, Knowles claimed to have murdered
more than 35 people between July and November of 1974, though police were only able to verify 18
of his murders. On November 18th, the day after his capture, Knowles was being transferred to a
maximum security facility when he made one last desperate bid for freedom. He made a grab for
the sheriff’s revolver, which went off during the scuffle, prompting FBI agent Ron Angel to
shoot Knowles 3 times at point blank range, killing him instantly. The Casanova Killer
had met his own brutal and final end. Even after Knowles’ death, the police and
the public remained fascinated by his crimes. His movie-star good looks, charisma and devilish
smirk endeared him to his victims and earned him his nickname, the Casanova Killer. His
constant movement criss-crossing the country and the fact that he murdered victims in 6
different states made it harder for police to link his various murders to a single killer.
There appeared to be no pattern to his victims, and he indiscriminately killed men
and women, children and adults. Knowles also had no consistent M.O., stabbing some
victims, strangling others and shooting the rest. Some were assaulted and robbed, while others were
simply killed for no apparent reason. By the time police connected the seemingly random crimes to
a single killer, it was too late for his victims. His death in custody at the hands of the FBI
meant Knowles would never have to explain the motivations for his crimes in court. The taped
confession he had left with his lawyer may have been the key to unlocking the Casanova Killer’s
motives, but sadly, the tapes were allegedly destroyed when the courtroom where they were being
stored was damaged by a flood. The lawyer who received the tapes from Knowles claims not to have
listened to them before they were destroyed, and refuses to speculate on Knowles motives, standing
by his commitment to client confidentiality. Perhaps his traumatic childhood and his father’s
abandonment set the stage for Knowles to go on to become a killer. Maybe the heartbreak of his
broken engagement prompted him to graduate from petty crime to vicious murder. Or, maybe, his
motive was simply to gain notoriety and fame for his brutal crimes. The fact that he let
journalist Sandy Fawkes go free and unharmed, and the fact that his murders seemed
to be crimes of opportunity rather than targeted killings, appear
to add credence to this theory, but we’ll never know for sure why
Paul John Knowles was driven to kill. If you thought serial killers from the 70s
were bad, be sure and check out this video, called “Why This Generation Will Have
More Serial Killers Than Ever”. Or, perhaps this other video will
be a little less unnerving.
