Name Paul Stephani | Span of killings 1980–1982 Date apprehended 1982 Country U.S. | |
Full Name Paul Michael Stephani Other names The Weepy-Voiced Killer Victims 4 (Stephani only called about 3) Died June 12, 1998, Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, United States | ||
Criminal penalty 40 years in prison | ||
Weepy voiced killer don t talk just listen paul michael stephani serial killer
Paul Michael Stephani (September 8, 1944 – June 12, 1998) was an American serial killer. He was also known as the Weepy-Voiced Killer due to a series of telephone calls he made to police, anonymously reporting his crimes in a histrionic and high-pitched voice. Stephani killed three women in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area.
Contents
- Weepy voiced killer don t talk just listen paul michael stephani serial killer
- Paul Michael Stephani Natal Chart
- Killings
- Capture
- Trial
- Subsequent confessions
- References
Paul Michael Stephani Natal Chart
Killings
On December 31, 1980, Stephani beat Karen Potack in Prescott, Wisconsin, inflicting severe wounds and brain injury. Stephani himself called police at 3 a.m. to report the attack, directing police to a location where "There is a girl hurt there."
His next victim was Kimberly Compton, an 18-year-old student from Wisconsin on June 3, 1981. After killing her, he again contacted police pleading: "God damn, will you find me? I just stabbed somebody with an ice pick. I can’t stop myself. I keep killing somebody." Two days later he called police to say he was sorry for stabbing Compton and would turn himself in, but did not.
On June 6 he called to say newspaper accounts of some of the murders were inaccurate. His next call came June 11. In a whimpering, barely coherent voice he cried: "I’m sorry for what I did to Compton." His next victim was Kathleen Greening, also in St. Paul. Stephani later confessed to drowning her in her bathtub at her Roseville, MN, residence. His fourth victim (and the last victim whom he killed) was Barbara Simons, a 40-year-old nurse on the Minneapolis side of the river. The two met at the Hexagon bar, after Simons gave Stephani an extra cigarette. After spending the night at the bar with Stephani, Simons told a waitress, "He's cute, I hope he's nice, since he's giving me a ride home." Simons was found stabbed to death the next day. There were no calls after Greening’s death, but the "Weepy-Voice Killer" contacted police on the murder of Simons: "Please don’t talk, just listen... I’m sorry I killed that girl. I stabbed her 40 times. Kimberly Compton was the first one over in St. Paul."
Capture
Stephani picked up a 19-year-old woman named Denise Williams on August 21, 1982, in Minneapolis. Williams sensed something was wrong when Stephani began driving through a dark, suburban area, rather than taking her back to the city. After turning onto a dead-end road, he stabbed her several times with a screwdriver. During the attack, Williams was able to escape after she hit Stephani on the head with a glass bottle. When he returned home to his apartment, he noticed he was bleeding badly and sought medical help. The call linked him to the Williams attack. Routine investigative work later connected Stephani to the murder of Simons.
Trial
During Stephani’s trial in the Simons murder case, Stephani’s ex-wife, sister, and a woman who lived with him testified that they believed the hysterical caller revealing the attacks was Stephani. Those observations, alone, were not enough to identify Stephani as the Weepy-Voice Killer since the hysterical crying distorted the voice. Stephani was convicted of the Simons murder and of the attempted murder of Williams and was sentenced to 40 years. He died in prison in 1998 from cancer.
Subsequent confessions
Stephani’s confession in prison almost 20 years after the first slaying allowed police to officially link the slayings and calls. He confessed to (1) beating attack in 1980, (2) stabbing Kimberly Compton to death in 1981, (3) drowning Kathleen Greening in 1982, (4) stabbing Barbara Simons to death in 1982, and (5) stabbing Denise Williams in 1982.