Wesley Harms Peery

Serial Killer

Wesley Harms Peery: Convicted Murderer and Suspected Serial Killer

Early Life and Criminal Background

Wesley Harms Peery was born on August 19, 1924, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Although he is frequently described as a serial killer, only one murder was conclusively proven against him in court. Peery later reportedly confessed to the murder of Nancy Parker and claimed responsibility for additional killings in several states. Because most of those alleged victims were never publicly identified and the confessions were not tested at trial, he is more accurately described as a convicted murderer and suspected serial killer. Peery developed an extensive criminal record involving burglary, armed robbery, abduction, sexual assault and repeated acts of violence. His history demonstrated a pattern of using firearms to control victims and committing new offenses shortly after being released from custody. By the time he was convicted of murder in the 1970s, he had spent most of his adult life in jails or prisons.

Early Violence and Imprisonment

In 1947, Peery was convicted of escaping from custody. The offense reportedly involved overpowering and robbing a jailer. The following year, he was convicted of participating in an armed robbery in which masked gunmen held up a service-station attendant and a customer. He received a ten-year prison sentence. Peery was released in 1955, but his freedom was brief. On January 15, 1956, he burglarized the Lincoln residence of E. H. Masters, an assistant chief of police, and stole a .38-caliber Colt Detective Special revolver and its holster. Six days later, on January 21, Peery used a firearm to stop a woman driving near Gretna, Nebraska. The victim, Mary Billingsley, was forced from her automobile at gunpoint and ordered into Peery's vehicle. He drove her to an isolated location and sexually assaulted her. Billingsley survived and later identified Peery. He was convicted and sentenced to ten years, although the Nebraska Supreme Court subsequently reversed the sexual-assault conviction because it found that the evidence did not satisfy the state's legal corroboration requirement. Peery's separate burglary conviction was upheld. ...

Confirmed Victims: (2)

Marianne Mitzner Age: (50), Date of Death: 1975-06-06

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