“The Cannibal”

Albert Fish

Born as Hamilton Howard “Albert” Fish on May 19, 1870.His family had a history of mental illnesses. His uncle suffered

from religious mania. A brother was confined in a state mental hospital. His sister was diagnosed with a “mental affliction.” Three other relatives were diagnosed with mental illnesses and his mother had “aural and/or visual hallucinations.”

Fish’s mother put him in an orphanage where he was treated sadistically and Fish remarked, “I was there till I was 9, and that’s where I got started wrong. We were unmercifully whipped. I saw boys doing many things they should not have done.”

At the age of 12 he was removed from the orphanage and began a relationship with a young telegraph boy who introduced him to urolagnia and coprophagia (Drinking urine and eating feces).

His childhood

Throughout his life he became known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Moon Maniac, and the Boogey Man.

By 1890, Fish arrived in New York City where he became a prostitute and he also began raping young boys.

In 1898, his mother arranged a marriage for him with a woman nine year younger than himself. They had six children: Albert, Anna, Gertrude, Eugene, John, and Henry Fish.

Adult Life

From his experience in the orphanage he grew to love pain, having began to indulge in self-harm.

He would embed needles into his groin and abdomen; X-Rays later revealed at least 29 needles in his pelvic region.

He repeatedly hit himself with a nail-studded paddle and inserted wool doused with lighter fluid into his anus and set it alight.

He developed a growing obsession with cannibalism, often preparing himself a dinner consisting solely of raw meat.

After visiting a wax museum, he grew to have interest in sexual mutilation.

Sick Obsessions

He suffered from religious psychosis, believing that God was commanding him to torture and sexually mutilate children.

He later quoted saying that he liked children because they were tasty, hence why all of his victims were children.

Motives

He would strangle his victims to death and then proceed to decapitate them.

He would then cut off each limb and cut them up into little pieces.

With most of his victims, he would slice across their abdomen and proceed to drink their blood.

He’d chop up the rest of their body and cook them up over a fire, making a stew out of the meat.

Lastly he would eat the now cooked meat of his victims.

Methods

His first victims consisted of mentally handicapped and African-Americans, believing that no one would notice their absence or miss them.

Even after he took up a career in painting, he continued to molest young boys younger than the age of 6.

Profile and characteristics of victims

Fish had gone to Budd’s family wanting a job, his intention to kill Grace’s father. But when he set his eyes on 10 year old Grace his motive changed completely. He wanted to kill her. By this time he only killed his victims so he could eat them. One day he told the Budd family he had to leave early to go to his niece’s birthday party. He asked them if Grace could come and they said yes. He took her on a train to Westchester where he strangled her to death and then ate her. He then sent a letter to her family, describing how he killed her.

Grace Budd

The letter he had sent to the Budd’s had an emblem on the envelope with the letters “N.Y.P.C.B.A.” representing “New York Private Chauffeur’s Benevolent Association.” The investigators went to the address and waiting outside the room where the landlady said Fish was staying. They burst in the room and convinced Fish to come in for questioning only for him to pull out a razor blade. They disarmed him and took him in where he confessed to killing Grace Budd.

Factors that led to him getting caught

He was charged with murder and was sentenced to death.

He died January 16, 1936 from electrocution by electric chair.

Charged with and sentenced to

Pictures

X-Ray of the needles lodged in Albert’s pelvis

Albert in court

One of Albert’s murder weapons

Why are serial killers so difficult to spot/find?They look like everyday peopleThey are masters at manipulation

Explain four childhood events that seem to contribute to the development of a serial killer.AbuseRapeMental illness historyAdoption

Other questions

He married to women 3 times but was attracted to males

He actually hit his dead victims to make their meat more tender.

He chopped up his victims and made them into a stew.

Most interesting piece of info