Deborah Fornuto

Serial Killer

Deborah Fornuto: Six Mysterious Child Deaths and an Unsolved Murder

Deborah Fornuto, also known at different times as Deborah Anne Booe, Deborah Narbone, and Deborah Gedzius, is frequently described in true-crime accounts as a suspected serial killer. That description requires an important qualification: Fornuto was never convicted, never charged with murdering any of her children, and never charged with the murder of her estranged husband. The case against her remained circumstantial. Nevertheless, the deaths of all six of her children between 1972 and 1987 eventually became the subject of homicide investigations, and her husband's unsolved shooting in 1989 brought renewed scrutiny to the entire family history.

A Pattern of Deaths

Fornuto had six children by three different fathers. Every one of those children died before reaching the age of three. At first, the deaths appeared to be separate family tragedies. The first four were classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, commonly called SIDS, while the causes of the final two deaths were recorded as undetermined. Because Fornuto remarried, changed surnames, moved between addresses, and lived in areas covered by different police jurisdictions, authorities did not immediately recognize that the children all had the same mother. The pattern became increasingly difficult to dismiss. Investigators eventually determined that the six child deaths had occurred in Cook County, Illinois, with contemporary reporting placing three in Chicago, two in Burbank, and one in Alsip. Available reporting does not consistently identify which individual child died in each municipality, so assigning a specific city to every child would go beyond what can be reliably established.

The Children

• Denise Booe Denise was approximately five months old when she died on September 18, 1972. Her death occurred in Cook County, Illinois, and was originally attributed to SIDS. She was the first of Fornuto's six children to die.
• Jennifer Narbone Jennifer was approximately four months old when she died on May 21, 1975, in Cook County, Illinois. Her death was also initially classified as SIDS.
• Barbara Jean Narbone Barbara Jean was born on November 13, 1976, and died on December 27, 1976, making her approximately six weeks old. Some later summaries incorrectly describe her as six months old, but her reported birth and death dates establish that she lived for about six weeks. Her death occurred in Cook County and was initially classified as SIDS.
• Jason Gedzius Jason died on September 5, 1980, at approximately one year of age, reportedly only days after his first birthday. His death occurred in Cook County, Illinois. It was initially classified as SIDS, but Jason's death became an important turning point because relatives began pressing authorities to consider the earlier deaths as part of the same pattern.
• Delos Gedzius Jr. Delos Jr. was two years old when he died on February 11, 1984, in Cook County, Illinois. According to accounts of the investigation, Fornuto said that she discovered him dead after the two had been sleeping. Unlike the first four children's deaths, his death was ultimately recorded as undetermined rather than conclusively attributed to SIDS.
• Daniel "Danny" Gedzius Daniel was approximately ten weeks old when he died on March 21, 1987, in Cook County, Illinois. He had reportedly been placed on a breathing monitor because of the family's history of unexplained infant deaths. His death was also classified as undetermined.
• Delos Gedzius Sr. Fornuto's estranged husband and the father of Jason, Delos Jr., and Daniel was 33 when he was killed in April 1989. Investigators believed he may have been killed around April 21; his body was discovered on April 25, 1989, inside his apartment at 3052 W. 119th Street in Merrionette Park, Illinois. He had been shot in the left temple while apparently lying on his couch. Fornuto was investigated in connection with the killing but was never charged, and Delos Gedzius Sr. remains only a suspected victim in accounts linking his death to her.

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Confirmed Victims: (6)

Denise Booe Age: (5months), Date of Death: 1972-09-18

Suspected Victims:

Delos Gedzius Sr. Age: (33), Date of Death: 1989-04-25

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