James Samuel Walraven

Serial Killer

James Samuel Walraven: The Bathtub Strangler

Overview

James Samuel Walraven was an American murderer and suspected serial killer associated with a series of attacks against young women in the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area during the spring and early summer of 1981. The crimes became known as the "bathtub murders" because each of the three victims was found inside a bathtub at an apartment complex. Walraven was convicted only of murdering 22-year-old Giselle Yvonne Clardy, but investigators considered him the principal suspect in the remarkably similar deaths of Louise DalSanto and Patricia Berry. All three victims were 22-year-old women who were strangled between April and June 1981. Their bodies were discovered in apartment bathrooms in DeKalb or Fulton County. The similarities in the victims' ages, the method of killing and the placement of their bodies led detectives to suspect that one offender was responsible. The person committing the crimes appeared able to enter apartment buildings without immediately alarming residents, possibly by using a convincing pretext.

Early Life and Troubling Behavior

James Samuel Walraven was born on May 11, 1949, in Georgia. Accounts of his upbringing described a difficult family environment involving an alcoholic and abusive father. Walraven reportedly began exhibiting emotional and psychological problems while he was still in high school. As an adult, he experienced periods of unemployment and received treatment in mental-health institutions on several occasions. Walraven frequently spent time around public tennis courts in Atlanta and DeKalb County. People who knew him described him as withdrawn, moody and emotionally unstable. He reportedly expressed deep feelings of inadequacy concerning women and his ability to form relationships. In June 1980, approximately one year before the bathtub murders, he was arrested after pointing a firearm at a tennis acquaintance named Jeff Campbell. The incident demonstrated that Walraven's instability could become threatening and violent. ...

Confirmed Victims: (1)

Giselle Clardy Age: (22), Date of Death: 1981-05-29

Suspected Victims:

Louise DelSanto Age: (22), Date of Death: 1981-04-15

Patricia Berry Age: (22), Date of Death: 1981-06-15

James Walraven - Wikipedia