Clyde Carl Wilkerson

Serial Killer

Clyde Carl Wilkerson: A Serial Killer Identified Through DNA

A Trail of Sexual Violence and Murder

Clyde Carl Wilkerson was an American serial killer and sexual predator whose crimes stretched from Southern California to Oklahoma. He murdered at least three people during a known period of violence between 1965 and 1975. His victims were attacked inside residences or abducted while going about their ordinary lives. The crimes involved sexual assault, strangulation, severe beatings and attempts to conceal or escape responsibility for the violence. Wilkerson avoided prosecution for the murders for more than three decades. Evidence collected from the crime scenes remained preserved while forensic science gradually advanced. Investigators eventually used DNA recovered from that evidence to connect crimes that had previously appeared separated by geography and time. To obtain a comparison sample without alerting him, authorities collected envelopes that Wilkerson had licked and sealed. The saliva on the envelopes produced the genetic evidence that helped expose him.

Confirmed Victims

• Cheryl Burnett, 19 June 6, 1965 El Cajon, California: Burnett was attacked in her apartment, beaten with a bottle, sexually assaulted and strangled with a curtain cord. Her two-year-old son was asleep in another room during the killing.
• Louis Lafayette Mercer, 62 June 20, 1965 El Cajon, California: Mercer was attacked inside the apartment he shared with his wife, Lola. He was repeatedly struck in the head and upper body with a heavy object, reportedly a wrench, and died from massive injuries.
• Geraldine "Geri" Cornwell Martin, 28 February 5, 1975 Tulsa, Oklahoma: Martin disappeared after attending an evening class at Tulsa Junior College. She was sexually assaulted and strangled. Her body was later discovered concealed inside a vacant apartment at the Osage Hills apartment complex in North Tulsa.

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Confirmed Victims: (4)

Cheryl Burnett Age: (19), Date of Death: 1965-06-06

DNA test finds suspect in '75 killing - Tulsa World