In the serene and remote beauty of the Appalachian
Trail a young couple embarked on a journey that promised both enchantment and adventure. Little did they know that amidst the breathtaking
landscapes and rugged terrain a monster lay in wait, ready to steal the very essence of
their lives and abolish the innocence of the trail itself, forever. *this is monsters* Paul David Crews was born in 1952 – I wish
that’s where this story ended. It will come as little surprise that there
is no happy childhood history for Paul. His birth parents abandoned him and his seven
siblings when Paul was just six years old. When Paul was eight he was adopted by Susan
Crews and her husband. They were a loving and devoted couple with
a strong Christian faith and they offered Paul his first taste of a stable family life. The adoption should have spelled the start
of a new chapter for Paul but the damage to his young mind was already done and he struggled
to adapt. At school he couldn’t pay attention during
classes and his only escape seemed to be through sports. He was a valuable member of the football and
wrestling teams but even that faded and his coaches noticed he became disobedient and
downright disruptive. Paul also ran away from home frequently and
by the time he was a teenager he was often in trouble with the local police. In one instance, when Paul was just 12 years
old he was brought home by officers after he was found carrying a knife on his belt. When he was 16 he completely withdrew from
all school activities and later that year he dropped out of high school altogether. By then, Susan had noticed that Paul was quick
to anger and seemed deeply troubled. However, things looked to be taking a positive
turn in his late teens when Paul returned home and finished high school before enlisting
in the marines. His adoptive parents were hopeful that military
life would provide the stability and consistency that he had struggled to find in his life. Initially, the military seemed to suit Paul
and within a year he was in a long term relationship with Teresa Ann Dunman and they were making
plans for their future. The couple married in January of 1973 and
a month later she gave birth to Paul’s first child. But the good times didn’t last long. Not long after his child was born, Paul began
to exhibit worsening signs of depression. He had always had a quiet and withdrawn side
but Teresa noticed that he began to stay in bed for days without whispering a word to
her or anyone else. Paul was already on antidepressants but his
mood wasn’t improving, in fact it seemed to be getting worse. Then, in March of 1973, Paul slashed his wrists
and he was committed to a military hospital for treatment. But rather than accept the help the military
was offering, Paul ran away. Five months later, he was declared AWOL. After that he was discharged from the marines. In 1974 Teresa filed for divorce. She never saw Paul again. By then, he was bouncing between jobs and
sleeping on friends' couches or in shelters. But he never stayed anywhere for long. He would simply not show up for work one day
and no one would ever hear from him again. It went on like that for years until 1977
when Paul turned up in Southern Indiana. He offered various names to his employers
where he continued to pick-up random cash jobs. But just like before, Paul never seemed settled
in Indiana, even after meeting and marrying his second wife Casey. That marriage was as ill-fated as the first
when Paul held a knife to his wife’s throat while she lay in bed one morning. Thankfully, Casey divorced Paul soon after
the knife attack and he was once again back on the road. In the early 80s Paul spent some time with
his biological brother, Donald, in North Carolina. Donald appeared to have the same emotional
difficulties as Paul and before long the two were hooked on cocaine and marijuana which
they would mix together with beer and whiskey. Donald’s girlfriend noticed how Paul could
be kind and passive one minute but as soon as he drank or took drugs that side of his
personality would disappear and a monster would emerge. She had seen the exact same thing with Donald
who had once shot her in the head with a sawn off shotgun after they got into an argument
when he was drinking. The attack had left her partially paralyzed. Like brother like brother? After things got violent with Donald one too
many times, Paul hit the road again. Over the coming months he made his way back
down to Florida where his biological siblings were all having a reunion. The warm climate seemed to suit Paul and he
spent more than 10 years there alternating between picking oranges in the spring and
random cash jobs in the off season. Then suddenly, it seemed as though the warmth
of Florida no longer suited Paul. In early September of 1990, he made his way
north toward the Appalachian trail. The Appalachian Trail is a renowned long-distance
hiking trail located in the eastern United States. It stretches over 2,190 miles or 3,524 kilometers
and passes through 14 states. Technically, it starts at Springer Mountain
in Georgia and ends at Mount Katahdin in Maine. But hiking from the beginning to end of the
Appalachian Trail can take five to seven months so many choose to break the route up into
smaller sections and enter and exit at various points along the trail. The trail traverses the Appalachian Mountains,
hence its name, which offers hikers incredible views of the surrounding landscapes and stunning
vistas unique to the trail. But hiking in the mountains is also full of
unique challenges. Firstly there’s the rugged terrain, steep
ascents and descents, rocky sections, and river crossings. Then there is the rapidly changing and wildly
unpredictable weather to contend with. Even those who attempt shorter hikes will
come up against a number of difficulties which will no doubt push their physical and mental
limits to the edge. On top of that, the trail is incredibly remote
and isolated. If something goes wrong on the trail there
is no one around to help and very limited communication options. If the weather turns bad, there are some huts
and shelters along the way but even they only offer limited protection. At certain sections along the trail it’s
not unusual for hikers to go days or even weeks without coming across another soul. But even with all these challenges in mind
the trail still manages to attract millions of visitors each year. Some do the trail for fitness, others for
the solitude and for others it's the opportunity to disconnect from the world and reconnect
with nature. It was all of these things that attracted
Geoffrey Hood and Molly LaRue to the trail in 1990. They were well aware of the challenges they
were going to face, but with Paul on the trail, the varied terrain and unpredictable weather
was the least of their worries. Geoffrey Hood was raised in Tennessee while
Molly LaRue was an Ohio native. The pair met in Kansas when they were working
at a church event for vulnerable young people and they began a fast friendship which naturally
transformed into romance. Geoff was a friendly and introspective guy
while Molly was an outgoing and energetic young woman with a talent for art. They bonded over their shared desire for helping
troubled youth and their love of the outdoors – Geoff was a rock climber and Molly combined
both passions by volunteering at a wilderness therapy course in the Arizona desert. She had also completed two Outward Bound courses
and was a qualified instructor as well as being an emergency medical technician. They both had art degrees but they often talked
about returning to college to study something that could help their goal to continue working
with troubled children. After meeting in Kansas, Geoff and Molly were
both laid off from their jobs and with little tying them to their individual lives, they
decided to take the opportunity to do something they had both dreamed of doing separately. Hike the full length of the Appalachian Trail
– except now they could do it together. For Molly it had been a dream since she was
12 years old. Both Geoffrey and Molly were relatively experienced
hikers though they hadn’t done anything as big as the AT before, so they set a realistic
goal of completing the trail in six months. They purchased new gear with Geoff buying
boots and choosing a particularly unique green pack which he had custom made to suit his
body. As with many hikers who take up a challenge
like the AT, they each chose a trail name which they used to sign the logbooks at the
shelters they would stay at along the way. Geoff went by Clevis and Molly went by Nalgene. They also started a shared journal to document
their thoughts and feelings as they traveled. In the days before Instagram, the journal
was a way to keep a record of their experience and something they could look back on in years
to come. Molly and Geoff were excited to set off on
their big adventure but their families were worried about their safety on such an isolated
trail. However, they reassured themselves that there
was safety in numbers. If one of them got hurt, the other would be
able to go for help and they knew that Geoff and Molly were pretty self-sufficient people. There was no internet or cell phones to keep
in touch with family so Geoff and Molly promised their parents they would get in touch whenever
they came across a telephone. Before setting off, their families made a
plan to meet Geoff and Molly at the halfway point, in Pennsylvania. On June 4th, 1990, the couple set off from
Mount Katahdin in Maine. They had chosen to tackle the trail in a southbound
direction which is the least common direction to hike. Starting in Maine means they would be facing
the most difficult terrain first and they would be more likely to face bad weather compared
to hiking in a northbound direction. It wasn’t long before Geoff and Molly faced
the reality of what they had signed up for. From day one, the trail was more difficult
than either of them had anticipated. In one of their early journal entries they
wrote, “We reminded one another before we started this ordeal that there would be tough
days: Days we would ask ourselves, ‘Why are we doing this?’ Well, we had one of those days. Our bodies have had almost as much as they
can take.” But despite the toll the hike was taking on
their bodies, they pushed on together. Slowly but surely the trail leveled out and
they were able to truly enjoy the adventure. Whenever they stayed at a shelter they would
use their trail names to fill out the logbook. They wrote shoutouts to trail workers, mentioned
the names of other hikers they had met on the trail and offered tips for people arriving
after them. The logbook entries also shared the abundant
joy they were feeling as they made progress along the trail. Nalgene left this poem at a shelter: Last evening I whispered “I think there’re
less bugs.”
This morning, BRING ON THE SLUGS.
Through the roof of our tent I see their familiar
sludge
. The stuff that resembles butterscotch fudge.
Squish between my toes in my sandal
.
Yuck! This is something I just can’t handle. Their progress was slow and steady and many
hikers who had read Geoff and Molly’s logbook entries met and then overtook them within
a couple of days. The couple both seemed to love meeting new
people and hearing about the unique life experiences which had led them to be on the trail at the
same time. These fellow hikers often made it into the
pages of Geoff and Molly’s journal as well, with phone numbers they intended to use to
keep in touch once this part of their lives was behind them. Despite being overtaken often, the slow and
steady approach never seemed to worry the couple. Whenever people joked about their leisurely
pace they would tell them they enjoyed stopping frequently. And it wasn’t just to rest – they took
lots of photos and drew pictures of nature or watched as the various animals they saw
went about their business. By September, Molly and Geoff were making
steady progress and they had almost made it to their halfway point in Pennsylvania. On September 11th, they booked a night at
a hotel to celebrate. Staying in a hotel room was a far cry from
the trail shelters and thin tents they had been accustomed to for three months and they
wanted to make the most of the rare luxury. That night, they each called their parents
to update them about their progress. They confirmed the date and location for their
promised meet up and then settled in for a comfortable night’s sleep. The following morning they awoke full of energy
and ready to tackle the next leg of their adventure. They headed back onto the trail and made it
to Peters Mountain shelter where they stopped for the night. The next morning they set off at a leisurely
pace and by 5pm they had made it to Thelma Marks Shelter which is located near the top
of Cove Mountain in Pennsylvania. The word shelter was an overstated description
of this particular accommodation. Thelma Marks Shelter was a three-sided lean-to,
with an exposed wooden floor covered in carved out graffiti. The shelter could sleep five to six people
and it offered no running water or toilets. When Geoff and Molly arrived at Thelma Marks,
they were the only hikers using the shelter, but they were about to have some company. They both went to sleep that night, exhausted
from the day of walking but also excited about waking up to do it all again the next day. Except, waking up the following morning wouldn’t
bring Geoff or Molly any joy. It would only bring terror. Unbeknownst to them, on September 5th, Paul
had run off from his farmhand job in South Carolina and bought a one way ticket on a
northbound greyhound bus. He took various hitched rides and eventually,
after six days on the road, Paul arrived in Pennsylvania. When he arrived, Paul visited the local library
and asked for some Appalachian trail maps. The librarian thought Paul looked nothing
like a hiker. He was wearing a flannel shirt, jeans and
combat boots – none of which would offer any protection from the elements on the trail. And rather than a pack filled with supplies,
Paul carried a small rucksack and two red gym bags with Marlboro branding. On top of this lack of gear, Paul was also
noticeably grubby. His wiry beard was matted in places and his
hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks. Despite appearing unprepared for the challenge
ahead of him, Paul took the maps and set off towards the trail, just one day after Geoff
and Molly walked the same path. He made good time, and by that evening, he
had made it to the Thelma Marks Shelter. Whether he talked to Geoff and Molly that
night or went straight to bed will never be known. But by the time they all climbed into their
sleeping bags that night, Paul had anything but sleep on his mind. Early on the morning of September 13th, Paul
got out of bed and prepared to carry out a brutal and violent attack on Molly and Geoff. It turned out that inside one of Paul’s
bags, he was carrying a .22 caliber pistol. Ya know, just what you need for a long hike. Paul stood four feet away from Geoff and used
his gun to shoot him 3 times as he slept. One shot was to Geoff’s head, one was to
his back and one was through his abdomen. It took approximately eight minutes for Geoff
to bleed to death, alone on the shelter floor. Molly’s death would not come so quickly. While Geoff was bleeding out, Paul tied a
rope around Molly’s neck and bound her wrists together. He needed to ensure she couldn’t get away
or fight back while he raped her. He then pulled a three quarter inch double
edged blade out of his pack and slashed her neck, throat and back at least eight times. Molly survived for 15 minutes before bleeding
to death on the shelter floor, right next to Geoff. After murdering Geoff and Molly, Paul did
what he had always done best. He ran away. Later that day, two hikers, Cindi and Biff
made their way up to Thelma Marks Shelter. They had been close behind Geoff and Molly
for days and they hoped that they would cross paths that night. While they had never met, Cindi and Biff had
enjoyed reading the entertaining entries the couple had left in the shelter logbooks along
the way. That night, Cindi and Biff were planning on
celebrating Biff’s birthday and they knew that having Geoff and Molly as company would
add to the fun. But instead of a joyful meeting and celebration,
they found a murder scene. As Cindi and Biff approached the hut they
thought it was strange how deathly quiet the clearing was. But the reason for the silence became abundantly
clear when they rounded the corner and found the bloodied bodies of Geoff and Molly on
the floor of the shelter. Thelma Marks Shelter would never have been
described as warm and cozy, but with the addition of two murdered hikers, its bleak atmosphere
took on an even more sinister air. Molly was lying face down in a pool of blood,
with her hands still tied behind her back. Geoff was found partially naked with a white
shirt in his hand. Blood was splattered up the three walls and
it pooled in the shapes of the carved out graffiti on the floor beneath the bodies. Despite it taking hours for Cindi and Biff
to make their way to Thelma Marks, it took them just one hour to hike back to the closest
town and notify authorities about what they had found. It took another three hours for officers to
battle their way up to the shelter on foot and confirm that this was in fact a murder
scene. Four hours later, all-terrain vehicles arrived
at Thelma Marks shelter to begin processing the evidence. By then, it had been more than 10 hours since
the chilling slayings of Molly and Geoff and this meant their killer had a massive head
start on any manhunt. While a search got underway immediately, the
investigation was up against nature itself. It almost seemed like the trail was working
against them. The expansive wilderness of the Appalachian
Trail provided countless places for a killer to hide and it meant searchers had to be in
prime physical condition themselves which limited how many officers they could dedicate
to the hunt. On top of that, there was no way to notify
other hikers on the trail about the murders or the fact that the killer was on the loose. Being that high up in the mountains meant
that radio communication was limited and all information had to be relayed manually. The only way other hikers would find out what
had happened would be if they visited a town or phoned their families. The manhunt was a high-stakes race against
time. Every hour that passed increased the likelihood
of the perpetrator evading capture for good, or worse - killing again. Over the coming days, news of the murder spread
through the tight knit community of trail hikers. That’s when people began to recall sightings
of the man who looked out of place with his combat boots and denim jeans. While the description of the man’s face
was vague there was one thing all of the reports had in common – the man was seen carrying
two red gym bags. This was the first strong lead in hopefully
identifying who the stranger was. But almost as soon as officials received the
tip off, they realized that it was a dead end. Officers who had processed the scene at Thelma
Marks had found a red gym bag. And searchers who had set off along the trail
had found a second red gym bag at a Darlington shelter which was seven miles away. As the days passed and there was no word of
an arrest, a number of fellow hikers decided to abandon their walks. They were petrified that a killer was loose
on the trail and that they might become the next victim. What was extremely concerning about the murders
was the location where it had taken place. Thelma Marks shelter is incredibly remote,
which meant authorities were looking for someone who could likely stay off the grid for extended
periods of time. This wasn’t some random attack in a busy
city and authorities feared that other hikers would soon cross his path with deadly consequences. While authorities were determined to track
the killer down, they had little information to go on. There was the description of the strange man,
but nothing definitive outside of the two red bags. There were no photos and no name, which meant
there was no way to warn anyone else on the trail. Molly and Geoff were also known as peaceful
and friendly people and it was unlikely they had done something to aggravate their killer. Which made everyone a target. Other hikers would only realize later how
close they had come to being exactly that. Immediately after killing Geoff and Molly,
Paul had continued along the trail. This time he didn’t have the two red gym
bags with him. He had a nice green pack. At some point, he exited the trail and hitchhiked
into the next county, far away from Thelma Marks. He quickly re-joined the trail and set off
in a southward direction. In the days following the murders other hikers
met a strange man on the trail. There were a couple of things they found odd. First, he was carrying an expensive brand
of pack which seemed much too big for him and they noticed that he was wearing the pack
incorrectly. But what stuck with them the most was his
story. It felt….somehow familiar. They would only realize later that the man
had given them the exact same story they had heard before, only when they heard it the
first time it had come from a different person, Geoff. They would come to realize that they had sat
down to dinner with a killer and he had stolen the clothes and story of his victims. While some hikers had abandoned their walks
to avoid crossing paths with a killer on the loose, others had taken it upon themselves
to try and track him down.. Many of the hikers had met Geoff and Molly
and they wanted to bring their murderer to justice. Others were pissed off that someone had dared
to desecrate the trail in such a way and many knew that the search would be limited because
of the trail conditions. They also felt that they would be able to
identify anything unusual or out of place along the trail which was an edge they had
over the police. They knew they were potentially putting themselves
in the path of a killer but the risk was justified if it got a monster off the trail. Their gamble paid off. On September 21st, a hiker who had dedicated
himself to tracking the killer down, noticed a hiker wearing the same unique pack that
Geoff was known to carry. He reported the sighting to the police and
the man was arrested at around 8pm that night as he tried to cross Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Sure enough, the pack and boots were confirmed
as belonging to Geoff as well as a watch the man was wearing. And inside Geoff’s pack were a .22 caliber
Winchester Pistol and a knife. The same weapons that had been used to murder
Geoff and Molly. While the man gave the name David “Casey”
Horn officers quickly determined that he was in fact Paul David Crews. And he was already a wanted man. It turns out that there was a warrant out
for Paul’s arrest in Florida and Geoff and Molly’s slaying was far from Paul’s first
foray into murder. Four years earlier in July of 1986, Paul had
hitchhiked with a woman by the name of Clemmie Jewel Arnold who offered him a ride home from
a bar in Bartow, Florida. What happened in the following hours will
never be known, but the next day, that same woman was found on an abandoned railroad bed. She was naked, and nearly decapitated. After murdering Clemmie, Paul stole her car
and drove to his brother's place in North Carolina. When his brother found out what he had done
he decided not to turn him in to officials. Instead, he helped Paul escape. They drove off into the country and Paul disappeared
into the bush, leaving behind his bloody clothes and the knife he had used to kill Clemmie
which the police would later discover in the back of her own car. What he didn’t know then was that he had
also left his fingerprints in her car and his DNA on her body. When Paul was arrested for Geoff and Molly’s
murder he had said little other than to offer the fake name. Any answer he gave was simply a yes or no. Still, officials believed they had enough
evidence to convict him and he was arr0ested and charged with two counts of first degree
murder. Paul’s trial got underway in May of 1991,
less than a year after Geoff and Molly’s murder. In his defense, Paul’s lawyers blamed his
actions on cocaine and alcohol. His lawyer stated “This is a brain on cocaine
and a quart of Jim Beam. He would take a quart of Jim Beam and a cigarette
pack full of powder cocaine, and that’s how he would hike.” A psychiatrist who testified in his defense
told the court that Paul had a personality disorder which was compounded by his drug
use. The psychiatrist went so far as to state that
the alcohol and cocaine he consumed that day had triggered “organic aggressive syndrome”
which he explained was “a short period of time after taking cocaine, maybe an hour or
two, when a person can become violent.” Except when one of his ex-wives testified
for the prosecution she recalled how Paul could drink two quarts of Georgia moonshine
and still shoot pool straight. Just like in his police interviews, Paul showed
very little emotion during his trial and he refused to testify. But there was plenty tying him to the killings
and the prosecution presented 60 witnesses and 158 pieces of evidence. There was the semen found on Molly’s body
which came back as a match for Paul’s DNA. There was the backpack, boots and watch Paul
was spotted with which belonged to Geoff. Then there were the weapons found in the bag
Paul was carrying when he was captured. Ballistics had matched the gun to the bullets
which had killed Geoff and the knife had traces of Molly’s DNA on it. In other words, Paul was found carrying the
murder weapons. The red gym bag he had left at the scene of
the murders also contained items that could be tied to Paul and to the tobacco farm he
had worked at in South Carolina. After hearing all of the evidence, it took
the jury just 45 minutes to deliberate. They sided with the prosecution and found
Paul guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. Paul then faced a hearing to determine whether
he should face the death penalty for his crime. The prosecution petitioned for the death penalty
by arguing that he killed Molly during the perpetration of a rape, that her killing was
committed by torture, and that he was already convicted of another murder for Geoff who
had died first. The defense argued the mitigating factors:
that Paul had no prior convictions; that he was under extreme mental or emotional disturbance
and that his capacity to appreciate or conform his conduct was substantially impaired. They also asserted that he acted under extreme
duress. Ummm no one was holding a gun to his head
and forcing him to shoot Geoff three times, tie up and rape Molly, slash her throat and
then steal their stuff. The jury ultimately sided with the prosecution
and Paul was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Outside the courthouse the district attorney
commented, “This guy is an animal of prey. They had something he wanted and he took advantage
of it. For that, he deserves the death sentence.” Paul immediately appealed the convictions
and his sentencing. Over the coming years he flooded the system
with appeals until 2006 when he was offered a deal. In exchange for agreeing to not bring any
future appeals his sentence was commuted from death by lethal injection to two life sentences
without the possibility of parole. At the hearing for this deal, Molly’s father
offered these words which are much kinder than Paul deserved. He said, “Paul, I am here today to offer
forgiveness for what you have done. I wish that you and I can now find peace. Molly had decided to devote her life to working
with troubled children, like you certainly were. Paul, I think it would be great if you could
pick up where Molly left off, starting with yourself. Help the Mollys of this world learn who you
are, and try to enlist the help of other inmates to help in this effort. You are a gold mine of critical information
that needs to be unearthed. Peace be with you, brother. Peace be with you.” He later commented that in order to move on
he had to believe that Molly was where she wanted to be, doing what she wanted to do,
caring about what she wanted to care about, having fun, and meeting and enjoying so many
people. He said, “To die doing something you love
is not the worst thing in this life. There are no guarantees.” However Geoff’s mother was not so forgiving
when she gave her statement. She said, “That day half my future was taken
from me. I have missed his wedding to Molly. I have missed seeing them share their lives
together. I have missed their children, who would be
my grandchildren. I consider that Geoff and Molly were murdered
in God’s cathedral. If someone were murdered in God’s cathedral,
then murder could be committed anyplace.” Soon after being sentenced for Geoff and Molly’s
murders, Paul was turned over to authorities in Florida to face justice for his first known
murder. He was later convicted of murdering Clemmie
Jewel Arnold as well. Devastatingly, the day that Paul was captured
was also the same date Molly and Geoff were due to rendezvous with their families. And the place where Paul was captured was
the very same location where they were due to meet. In a phone call just days before they were
murdered, Geoff and Molly had hinted at having some exciting news to share with their families
which they wanted to do in person. Their families suspect it was to announce
their engagement, however they will never know exactly what that news was as Geoff and
Molly were murdered before being able to tell them and no mention of the news was written
in their journal. After the trial, Molly’s father Jim, attempted
to release a book titled The Reds, the Yellows, the Blues, which Molly had written when she
was studying arts at university. It tells the story of three warring nations
who come to realize they have more in common than they realize and that there was more
to be gained by peace than by war. However, no publishers would agree to print
the work due to the nature of how Geoff and Molly had been killed. In 2018 though, Jim self-published the book
in its original format exactly how Molly had written it and began selling it on amazon
as his enduring tribute to his daughter. In June of 1992, Geoff’s sister Marla decided
to finish the couple’s hike, starting south of where they were murdered in Pennsylvania. Along the way she was joined by other hikers
who had met Geoff and Molly on the trail and by others who had simply read their logbook
entries and felt an affinity to them. They each shared memories of the energetic
and peaceful couple who found so much joy in the challenges they faced on the trail. In September of 2000, the original Thelma
Marks shelter was dismantled and the wooden planks which had made up its shape were burned
and scattered in the area. A new hut has since been constructed nearby
and the name has changed to the Cove Mountain shelter. There have been 11 murders on the Appalachian
trail since 1974. 2 to 3 hikers will die on the trail every
year mostly through falls due the rugged terrain. While most of the murders on the trail have
been solved, there are a number of death’s which remain a mystery. In July of 2022, Paul David Crews died in
the Pennsylvania prison he had been confined to since his sentencing. He was 70 years old and his death was from
natural causes. There was none of the pain or brutality he
had inflicted on his three known victims. Paul spent more time incarcerated than his
victims had been allowed to live. He never provided any explanation or apology
to his victims family’s, his final torment as a monster.
