Edmund Kemper is an American serial killer who murdered ten people in California between 1964 and 1973, including his paternal grandparents, six young women he picked up while they were hitchhiking near Santa Cruz, his mother, and his mother’s friend. Convicted in November 1973 on eight counts of first-degree murder, he was sentenced to life in prison and remains incarcerated at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville. He is now 75 and was most recently denied parole in July 2024.
The Ten Victims and the “Co-Ed Killer” Label
Kemper became known as the “Co-Ed Killer” because most of his victims were young women, several of them college students, whom he abducted while they hitchhiked around the Santa Cruz area between May 1972 and February 1973. He stood six feet nine inches tall and was familiar enough to local police, who called him “Big Eddie,” that he drank in a bar frequented by officers without drawing suspicion during the killings.1Psychology Today. The Twisted Tale of the Co-Ed Killer
His killings bookended a nine-year span. The first two victims were his grandparents in 1964, when he was fifteen. The last two were his mother and her friend in April 1973, days before he turned himself in.
The 1964 Grandparent Shootings
Kemper was born December 18, 1948. He grew up in conflict with his mother, Clarnell Strandberg, who according to Kemper and his father belittled him and at one point made him sleep in the basement out of fear he might harm his sisters. His father later told interviewers the boy “was terrified of this place.”2Encyclopaedia Britannica. Edmund Kemper
On August 27, 1964, Kemper shot and killed his paternal grandparents, Maude and Edmund Emil Kemper, at their home. He later said he killed his grandmother “just to see what it felt like” and then killed his grandfather to keep him from discovering the body.1Psychology Today. The Twisted Tale of the Co-Ed Killer He was committed to Atascadero State Hospital for the criminally insane as a juvenile.
At Atascadero, Kemper memorized 28 psychological tests and their “suitable responses,” a fact that emerged years later at trial.3The New York Times. Coast Man Guilty in Eight Murders The hospital’s own psychiatrist opposed his release, but a parole board overruled staff objections and freed him at twenty-one. He was sent back to live with his mother.4Time. Behavior: Crackup in Mental Care On September 18, 1972, two court-appointed psychiatrists declared Kemper “no danger to society” in proceedings to seal his juvenile records. By that date, he had already killed two young women.
The Santa Cruz Murders, 1972–1973
Between May 1972 and February 1973, Kemper picked up six young women who were hitchhiking, drove them to remote locations, and killed them. He then engaged in acts of necrophilia and dismemberment. The victims were:
- Anita Mary Luchessa, 18, and Mary Ann Pesce, 18, both Fresno State students, who disappeared on May 7, 1972.
- Aiko Koo, 15, who disappeared on September 14, 1972.
- Cynthia Schall, 18, a Cabrillo College student, who disappeared on January 7, 1973.
- Rosalind Thorpe, 23, and Alice Liu, 20, both students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who disappeared on February 5, 1973.5Horror Obsessive. Mayhem, Misogyny, and Matricide From Edmund Kemper
His Mother, Her Friend, and the Surrender
On April 20, 1973, Kemper bludgeoned his mother to death with a claw hammer while she slept, decapitated her, and committed sexual acts involving her remains.2Encyclopaedia Britannica. Edmund Kemper He then invited her 59-year-old friend, Sally Hallett, to the house and strangled her.1Psychology Today. The Twisted Tale of the Co-Ed Killer
After the two killings, Kemper drove east for several days and called the Santa Cruz police from a phone booth in Pueblo, Colorado, to confess. Officers initially took the call for a prank from their acquaintance “Big Eddie,” and Kemper convinced them by describing specific details of the crimes. Once arrested, he voluntarily admitted to the six hitchhiker murders as well.6Encyclopaedia Britannica. How Was Edmund Kemper Caught
Trial and Sentence
Kemper was tried in Santa Cruz County Superior Court before Judge Harry Brauer. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and his attorney, James Jackson, described him as living in a “fantasy world” and functioning as “an 8-year-old.”3The New York Times. Coast Man Guilty in Eight Murders
Three court-appointed psychiatrists testified that Kemper was legally sane. On November 8, 1973, the jury found him guilty on all eight counts of first-degree murder.3The New York Times. Coast Man Guilty in Eight Murders The next day he was sentenced to eight concurrent terms of seven years to life.7The New York Times. Slayer of 8 Gets Life in California Kemper reportedly asked for the death penalty and was refused; a federal moratorium on capital punishment was in effect at the time.1Psychology Today. The Twisted Tale of the Co-Ed Killer
Why the FBI Studied Him
In the years after his conviction, Kemper sat for extensive interviews with FBI Special Agents John Douglas and Robert Ressler as part of the Behavioral Science Unit’s study of 36 incarcerated serial killers. Ann Burgess, a Boston College professor who consulted on the project, said Kemper’s transcripts were “expansive” and “set the tone” for the entire study, and she called him the “most articulate” of the subjects interviewed.8Oxygen. FBI Profiling Serial Killers: Ed Kemper
Data from those interviews shaped the Bureau’s formal definitions of “serial killer,” “mass murderer,” and “spree killer,” and the resulting profiles were used on active, unsolved cases. Douglas summarized the approach: “To understand the artist, you must look at the artwork. We got to go and talk to the experts. And who are the experts? The experts are the people who perpetrated these crimes.”8Oxygen. FBI Profiling Serial Killers: Ed Kemper
Where Edmund Kemper Is Now
Kemper remains at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville and has been denied parole repeatedly. His twelfth hearing, on July 9, 2024, ended in another denial. He refused to attend and refused to speak with his own attorney beforehand. Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell told the board Kemper was “completely untreated” and dangerous, and said, “He is essentially blowing this off because he doesn’t care. He doesn’t respect it.”9KSBW. Parole Denied for California Santa Cruz County Serial Killer
An April 2024 psychiatric evaluation rated him “high risk” to reoffend. The board also cited a 2022 disciplinary violation in which Kemper grabbed a staff member while being moved into his wheelchair. Confronted about it, he reportedly said, “I just wanted to change the mood. What privilege can they take away from me? I’m already here.”10Lookout Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz Serial Killer Ed Kemper Denied Parole Again
Kemper has been diagnosed with antisocial, narcissistic, and schizotypal personality disorders. He is diabetic, has coronary artery disease requiring a pacemaker, has suffered a stroke, has had a toe amputated, and uses a wheelchair.9KSBW. Parole Denied for California Santa Cruz County Serial Killer He will next be eligible for parole in 2031, at age 82.11KRON4. Santa Cruz Serial Killer Ed Kemper Denied Parole