In the spring of 1981, a sense of unease settled over the Atlanta area as a series of brutal and strikingly similar murders began to unfold. The second victim in this string of terrifying crimes was Giselle Yvonne Clardy, a 22-year-old white woman who worked as the assistant manager of the Cherry Hill Apartments in Brookhaven, Georgia. On May 29, 1981, her life was cut short when she was discovered murdered in a vacant apartment within the complex she helped manage.
The grim discovery
was made after Giselle failed to show up for work. Her body was found face down in the bathtub, submerged in a few inches of water. She had been strangled, and evidence suggested a sexual assault had occurred. The shocking scene was eerily reminiscent of the murder of another 22-year-old woman, Louise DalSanto, who had been found strangled in her bathtub in nearby Clarkston just a month prior. The similarities between the two cases were undeniable, leading investigators to suspect they were dealing with a serial offender.
The investigation intensified as law enforcement connected Giselle's murder to not only the DalSanto case but also to earlier reports of assaults on women in the area. In one instance, a man posing as a maintenance worker had entered a woman's apartment and strangled her into unconsciousness. In another, a man disguised as a floral delivery person attempted to force his way into a woman's home. These prior incidents provided crucial witness descriptions that helped police develop a composite sketch of the suspect. A mechanic working in the apartment complex parking lot also reported seeing a man talking with Giselle shortly before she was killed.
The breakthrough in the case came on July 14, 1981, with the arrest of 32-year-old James Samuel Walraven, an unemployed man with a history of mental health issues and prior arrests. A witness identified Walraven from the composite sketch, linking him to Giselle's abduction from the apartment complex parking lot. During his trial in November 1981, a fellow inmate testified that Walraven had confessed to the murders. He was found guilty of Giselle Clardy's murder and initially sentenced to death.
However, the legal proceedings were not straightforward. Walraven's death sentence was overturned due to procedural errors, leading to a retrial. In 1983, he was convicted again and sentenced to life in prison. While he was only ever convicted of Giselle's murder, he remained the prime suspect in the death of Louise DalSanto and a third victim, 22-year-old Patricia Berry, who was found strangled in her bathtub in June 1981. The series of killings became known as the “Bathtub Strangler” murders. James Samuel Walraven's life behind bars came to an end in April 2004, when he died by suicide in his prison cell after serving over two decades for the murder of Giselle Clardy.
