Adolph Theodore Laudenberg: The Santa Strangler
Early Life
Adolph Theodore Laudenberg was born on June 13, 1926, in Lexington, Kentucky. He grew up with his German immigrant father after his mother passed away a few years after his birth. Laudenberg served in the naval construction battalion during World War II and later moved to California, where he worked as a security guard and cab driver.
Crimes
Laudenberg, known as "The Santa Strangler," committed a series of heinous crimes between 1972 and 1975. Using his job as a cab driver, he targeted lonely, alcoholic, or ill women who reminded him of his ex-wife. He would bind, rape, and strangle his victims, leaving little evidence behind.
Victims
- Lois Petrie (43) - Last seen at a San Pedro bar on Christmas Day in 1972. Found strangled in her apartment's bedroom the following day.
- Catherine Medina (50) - Discovered in a local San Pedro bar on August 18, 1974. Her naked body was found beside some bushes in Harbor Lake Recreational Park the next day.
- Anna Felch (54) - Raped and strangled in September 1974.
- Leah Griffin (60) - Killed in her Powell Street apartment in San Francisco in March 1975.
- Irene Hind (55) - Attacked on March 12, 1974, as she closed up her bar, Irene's Domar Club, in San Francisco.
- Maude Burgess (83) - Found strangled in her Hyde Street apartment in San Francisco on October 15, 1974.
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