Hamilton Howard (albert) Fish

Serial Killer

Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish: The Gray Man

Hamilton Howard Fish, better known as Albert Fish, was an American serial killer, child murderer, sexual predator and cannibal whose crimes became some of the most notorious criminal cases of the early twentieth century. Born on May 19, 1870, in Washington, D.C., Fish spent much of his adult life in New York and worked primarily as a house painter. Behind an outward appearance that witnesses often described as elderly, quiet and unremarkable, he committed a long series of assaults against children and was ultimately connected to at least three murders. Fish used several names during his lifetime, including Frank Howard, the false identity he adopted while approaching the family of his best-known victim, Grace Budd. Newspapers and later writers gave him such names as the "Gray Man," the "Boogey Man," the "Brooklyn Vampire" and the "Werewolf of Wysteria." Although Fish made extraordinary claims about the number of children he had attacked, only three murders can be firmly associated with him through confessions and other evidence: Francis McDonnell, Billy Gaffney and Grace Budd.

Early Life and Development

Fish was born Hamilton Howard Fish in Washington, D.C., to Randall and Ellen Fish. His father died while Fish was still a child, and financial difficulties eventually resulted in the young boy spending part of his childhood in an orphanage. Fish later described harsh punishment there and claimed that these experiences influenced his increasingly abnormal relationship with pain and violence. His later statements about his childhood, however, came from Fish himself and cannot always be independently verified. As an adult, Fish moved to New York City and earned a living as a house painter. He married Anna Mary Hoffman in 1898, and the couple had six children. His wife eventually left the family in 1917. Fish continued caring for the children while moving frequently and taking painting jobs. His ordinary occupation allowed him to travel through neighborhoods without immediately attracting suspicion. Fish had contact with law enforcement well before his murder cases became known. In 1903 he was convicted of grand larceny and spent time in Sing Sing Prison. During later decades he was also arrested for sending obscene correspondence and underwent psychiatric observation. By the 1920s his behavior had developed into an increasingly dangerous pattern involving children.

A Pattern of Predatory Behavior

Fish generally approached children by appearing harmless and offering food, work, money or another innocent-sounding reason for them to accompany him. His age was an advantage: rather than appearing like the stereotypical threatening stranger, he could present himself as an elderly tradesman or grandfatherly figure. Some children escaped or rejected his approaches, meaning that the murders later attributed to him represented only part of his known predatory behavior. Fish later made sweeping claims about having assaulted children in numerous places. He was also reported as claiming that his victims numbered around one hundred. Investigators were never able to substantiate such a figure, and it remains impossible to determine whether Fish was describing murders, assaults or simply exaggerating his criminal history. Modern accounts therefore generally identify three known murder victims rather than accepting his much larger claims. ...

Confirmed Victims: (3)

Francis McDonnell Age: (8), Date of Death: 1924-0715

Suspected Victims:

Thomas Kedden Age: (19), Date of Death: 1910-01

Emma Richardson Age: (5), Date of Death: 1926-10-03

Yetta Abramowitz Age: (12), Date of Death: 1927-05-14

Robin Jane Liu Age: (6), Date of Death: 1931-05-02

Mary Ellen OConnor Age: (16), Date of Death: 1932-02-15

Benjamin Collings Age: (17), Date of Death: 1932-12-15

Albert Fish - Wikipedia