Coral Watts was a serial killer from Texas who was arrested as a teenager for attacking a woman. He had learning disabilities and dreams about killing women as a child. Watts killed over 20 victims by methods like stabbing and strangling. He targeted young Caucasian women and was classified as a thrill killer who gained adrenaline from the killings. Investigators linked Watts to the murders after finding a victim's dictionary in his car during a traffic stop. He pled guilty to one count and was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
It is important for you as death investigators / LE, to have a working knowledge of all death scenarios . You should have a basic understanding of the characteristics and/or non-characteristics of what makes a serial kill, as opposed to a mass or spree kill.
In this way you can identify the need for more expert involvement or discern if you may have a death committed by a serial killer in your area or one that has passed through.
It is important for you as death investigators / LE, to have a working knowledge of all death scenarios . You should have a basic understanding of the characteristics and/or non-characteristics of what makes a serial kill, as opposed to a mass or spree kill.
In this way you can identify the need for more expert involvement or discern if you may have a death committed by a serial killer in your area or one that has passed through.
From the Case File A Mutilation MurderThe CrimeThe New York CiJeanmarieColbert3
From the Case File A Mutilation Murder
The Crime
The New York City Police Department requested the assistance of the FBI after police detectives came to an apparent dead end in their investigation of the murder and mutilation of a twenty-six-year-old woman whose body was found on the roof of a Bronx public housing apartment building where she had lived with her parents. An investigative task force of twenty-six detectives and supervisors had interviewed more than 2,000 individuals, many of whom lived or worked in the apartment building. Record checks of known sex offenders in the area were of no assistance. The police had twenty-two “good” suspects but nothing conclusive.
A fifteen-year-old boy had discovered the victim’s wallet in the stairwell as he was leaving the building on his way to school. Upon returning home from school for lunch that afternoon, the boy had given the wallet to his father, who went to the victim’s apartment to return it. The victim’s mother then called the day care center where the victim worked to notify her daughter that her wallet had been found. At that time the victim’s mother was told her daughter had not shown up for work that morning. The mother, the victim’s sister, and a neighbor then proceeded to search the building and discovered the body. The body was located at 3:00 p.m.; the victim had left her apartment at approximately 6:15 a.m.
The victim was found nude. She had been beaten about the face and strangled with the strap of her purse. The cause of death was determined to be strangulation—first manual and then ligature. The victim’s jaw and nose had been broken, and several of her teeth were loose. She had sustained several other facial fractures. Her nipples had been cut off after death and placed on her chest. There were bite marks, which were determined to have occurred after death, on her thighs. Numerous contusions and lacerations were present on her body. “You can’t stop me” was written in ink on the inside of her thigh, and “Fuck you” was written on her abdomen. A necklace pendant she usually wore was missing and presumed taken by the killer. Her underpants had been placed on her head and pulled over her face. Her nylons had been removed and loosely tied around her wrists and ankles. Her earrings had been removed and placed symmetrically on each side of her head. An umbrella and writing pen had been forced into her vagina, and a hair comb had been placed in her pubic hair. Semen was recovered from the victim’s body; it appeared that the killer had stood over the victim and masturbated. Human feces were discovered on the roof landing and were covered with the victim’s clothing.
Key Crime Scene Characteristics
The crime did not appear to be planned. All the instruments used to perpetrate the crime were the victim’s (e.g., purse strap, umbrella, pen) except for the knife used to remove the victim’s nipples. This knife was probably small enough to have been routinely carried by the killer. He probab ...
2. Childhood
Was born in Texas, but spent time with his grandmother
when his parents got a divorce in 1955.
He had Meningitis and fevers as a child. Coral developed
learning disabilities.
He enjoyed hunting and skinning rabbits.
As a child, Coral would have dreams about women. He
would spend most of the night trying to fight the dreams or
so called “evil spirits.” In his dreams, he would end up killing
the women. One day when he was delivering a paper, he
decided to act out on one of his dreams. He was only 15 at
the time.
3. Adult life
Coral was arrested as a teen for knocking on an apartment door of
a woman, and he attacked her when she opened the door. When
the police arrested him, he told them that “He just felt like beating
someone up."
He was institutionalized in a Detroit hospital. After three months, he
was evaluated and was put on an outpatient program. On his final
review his doctor, Dr. Ainsworth, said “This patient is a paranoid
young man who is struggling for control of strong homicidal
impulses. His behavior controls are faulty, and there is a high
potential for violent acting out. This individual is considered
dangerous."
Coral finished high school after he was released from the hospital.
He was accepted to Lane College on a football scholarship, but he
could not finish his first year due to injuries.
Coral had one child with his girlfriend, Delores, but they never
married.
4. Motives
Coral Watts is categorized as a
thrill killer. A thrill killer is when
the killer loves the thrill or
experience of killing an
individual.
In some cases he would stalk
his victims. In a thrill killer, it
gives them an adrenaline rush. A
thrill killer becomes addicted to
the adrenaline rush.
5. Methods and Rituals
He used methods of
slashing, stabbing,
hanging, drowning,
asphyxiating, and
strangling his victims.
Coral would follow his
victims before he
would attack them.
6. Profile and Characteristics
of Victims
Most of his victims
were Caucasian
women with dark hair.
His victims were
normally between 17-
30 years old.
7. Getting Caught
The investigators worked on this
case for many years. After a long
search an ex-girlfriend, Valeria, told
investigators that Coral had
nightmares, was messy, and would
just act very strange.
Investigators pulled Coral over for
having an expired license and a
suspended license. They searched
his car and found a dictionary that
belonged to Rebecca Huff, a victim
that Coral murdered. It was that clue
that linked Coral to the murders.
8. Charges and Sentencing
Coral pled guilty to one count of burglary
with intent to kill. Coral bargained to
receive 60 years in a penitentiary.
Before leaving for prison, Coral told an
investigator that if he ever got out he
would kill again.
Coral ended up receiving less than 2
years for each murder.
After serving his years in prison, he was
put on parole until he died in 2006.
9. Difficult to Spot
Serial killers are normally hard to spot.
They are well dressed, polite people.
They blend in with society. Serial killers
want to gain your trust before they
attack.
They know how to prowl without being
seen, but they normally prowl on the
streets, freeways, malls, and sometimes
even lurk in churches.
10. Four types of Serial Killers
Crime Scenes
Organized Crime Scenes
1. Planned offense
2. Transports body
3. Body hidden
4. Controlled conversation
5. Demands submissive victim
6. Missing weapon or evidence
7. Victim is a targeted stranger
8. Personalizes victim
9. Crime scene reflects control
10. Restraints used
11. Aggressive acts done before death
Mixed Crime Scene
Shows characteristics from both organized and
disorganized crime scenes, could possibly be two
offenders, and the scene could possible be staged by
the offender.
11. Four types of Serial Killers
Crime Scenes
Disorganized Crime Scenes
1. Body left at death scene
2. Spontaneous offense
3. Evidence or weapon present at scene
4. Victim or location known
5. Body left in view
6. Depersonalizes victim
7. Sexual acts after death
8. Minimal conversation
9. Minimal use of restraints
10. Crime scene sloppy
11. Sudden violence to victim
Atypical Crime Scene
The crime scene cannot be classified by what
the police is given. The police will look at
previous cases to see if anything matches up.
Decomposed remains goes under this crime
scene.
12. What I Learned
I learned that you never know who can
be a serial killer. At times, they can be
“normal” and do every day things, like
attend college. I never realized that
many serial killers have something
wrong with them. It never really occurred
to me that they killed so many people
because we rarely here about it around
this area.