In the late summer of 1960, Shirley Payne, a 65-year-old woman, was living in an apartment building in Los Angeles, California. Her life, of which few public records remain, was tragically and violently cut short by a man who would come to be known as "The Psycho Strangler." Her death was not an isolated incident but part of a brief, brutal spree of killings that terrorized the city.
On Sunday, September 4, 1960, Shirley encountered a 29-year-old optical technician named Henry Adolph
Busch. Busch was visiting his adoptive mother, who happened to be Shirley's neighbor. He invited Shirley on a date to a local movie theater to see Alfred Hitchcock's new thriller, "Psycho," which had been released a few months prior. She accepted the invitation for an evening out, unaware of the danger she was in.
After the movie, the pair went to Busch's apartment for a beer. According to Busch's later confession, as Shirley was preparing to leave, he was overcome by a violent impulse. He attacked her from behind and strangled her to death. In his chilling account to the police, Busch stated that Shirley prayed and pleaded for her life in her final moments. The following day, he purchased a sleeping bag, placed her body inside, and kept it in his apartment.
Shirley's murder was the second in a series of three committed by Busch in 1960. His first victim was 74-year-old Elmyra Miller, a longtime family friend, whom he had strangled in her home in May. The day after he killed Shirley, on Labor Day, Busch murdered his own adoptive aunt, 53-year-old Margaret Briggs, in her apartment.
Busch's killing spree came to an end on September 6, just two days after he murdered Shirley. He offered a ride to a female coworker, Magdalena Parra, and then attacked her in his car, attempting to strangle her. Parra bravely fought back, managed to escape, and screamed for help. Two truck drivers heard her cries and chased Busch down, holding him until police arrived.
Once in custody, Henry Adolph Busch quickly confessed to the three murders. He led officers to the bodies of his victims, including Shirley, whose body was discovered inside the sleeping bag in his apartment. Busch told investigators that he had an uncontrollable "urge to kill" and that he would have likely continued killing had he not been caught.
Busch pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but a jury found him guilty. For the murder of Shirley Payne, he was convicted of second-degree murder. He received another second-degree murder conviction for Elmyra Miller and a first-degree murder conviction for the killing of Margaret Briggs, as he had brought a knife with him to her home. The jury did not recommend mercy, and Henry Adolph Busch was sentenced to death. After his appeals failed, he was executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison on June 6, 1962.
