Illustrated in 1970s California surf culture illustration style
The Very Big Boy
A Tall Tale About a Very Tall Problem
Edmund was the biggest boy anyone had ever seen. Six feet nine inches tall, nearly three hundred pounds. He had an IQ of 145 and a vocabulary that made professors blink. He was also, by the age of fifteen, a murderer. Edmund shot both his grandparents because, he said, 'I wanted to see what it felt like.' He found out.
Kemper murdered his grandparents at age 15. He stood 6'9" and had a tested IQ of 145.
The doctors said Edmund was better now and released him from the hospital. His mother, who had locked him in the basement as a child because she was afraid of him, got custody. This was like returning a lit match to a fireworks factory. But the doctors were very optimistic people.
Kemper was released from Atascadero State Hospital at 21 into his mother's custody, despite staff objections.
Edmund liked to pick up hitchhikers near the University of California at Santa Cruz. He was big and polite and drove a nice car. The college girls climbed right in. 'Where are you headed?' Edmund would ask. The answer, unfortunately, didn't matter much.
Kemper murdered six female hitchhikers in the Santa Cruz area between 1972 and 1973, known as the Co-Ed Killer.
Edmund drank beer with the police officers who were hunting the Co-Ed Killer. They liked him! He was funny and smart and always asking about the case. Edmund's favorite bar was right next to the police station. The detectives would share their frustrations about the investigation with the very man they were hunting. Edmund thought this was hilarious.
Kemper regularly socialized with police at a bar called the Jury Room, near the Santa Cruz courthouse, and pumped them for information about the case.
On Easter weekend, Edmund killed his mother with a claw hammer, then called the police from a phone booth in Colorado. 'I'm the Co-Ed Killer,' he said. They didn't believe him. He had to call back three times. 'No, really,' said the biggest, smartest, most polite serial killer in California history. And finally, reluctantly, they came to get him.
After murdering his mother, Kemper drove to Colorado and called Santa Cruz police to confess. They initially thought it was a prank. He is serving life in prison.