Antone Charles Costa

Serial Killer

Antone Charles "Tony" Costa - The Cape Cod Serial Killer

Antone Charles "Tony" Costa was an American serial killer whose crimes shocked Cape Cod, Massachusetts, during the late 1960s. Born on August 2, 1944, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Costa became closely associated with Provincetown and the neighboring town of Truro. A carpenter and handyman by trade, he was known around Provincetown as an intelligent, personable young man who moved easily among the area's artists, tourists, young counterculture followers, and drug users. Behind that outwardly approachable personality, however, was a history of violence that eventually culminated in the murders and dismemberment of young women whose remains were hidden in the secluded woods of Truro. Costa was ultimately convicted of murdering Patricia Walsh and Mary Ann Wysocki, both 23. The remains of two other young women, Sydney Monzon and Susan Perry, were recovered from the same general area associated with Costa, and investigators considered them victims of the same killer. Because Costa was never tried for the Monzon and Perry killings, the most precise description of his record is that he was convicted of two murders and strongly linked to four victims whose bodies were recovered from his burial area.

Early Life and Signs of Violence

Costa grew up primarily in the Provincetown area. As a teenager he had already demonstrated disturbing violent behavior. In November 1961, when he was 17, he broke into the home of a teenage girl and assaulted her. The incident resulted in burglary and assault charges. He received probation and a suspended sentence rather than a lengthy period of incarceration. In 1963, at the age of 18, Costa married a 14-year-old girl named Avis. They eventually had three children. The marriage deteriorated as Costa became increasingly involved with drugs and an unstable lifestyle. He spent time in California before eventually returning to Massachusetts. By 1968, he was again living around Provincetown and Truro, working at various construction, carpentry, and handyman jobs. Costa became heavily involved in the local drug culture. He used drugs himself and was known to associate with younger people who gathered around him. In the woods of Truro, near Pine Grove Cemetery, he maintained a secluded marijuana-growing area that he sometimes referred to as his garden. That isolated section of woodland would later become the central location in the investigation of several disappearances.

The Truro Woods

The burial area connected to Costa was in an isolated stretch of sandy woodland in Truro, only a short distance from Provincetown. The area was secluded enough that Costa could cultivate marijuana there without attracting much attention. He knew the woods well and had taken acquaintances into the area before the murders were discovered. When investigators eventually searched the woods, they found shallow graves containing the dismembered remains of four young women. The condition of the bodies demonstrated that the killer had spent considerable time cutting apart and concealing the remains. Some of the victims had been placed in separate graves, while portions of different bodies were buried together. The discoveries transformed what had initially been investigations into missing young women into one of the most notorious serial murder cases in New England history. ...

Confirmed Victims: (4)

Susan Perry Age: (17), Date of Death: 1968-09-08

Tony Costa - Wikipedia