At the age of 95, the so-called “Want-Ad Killer,” Harvey Carignan, passed away. The felon passed away earlier this month in a Minnesota prison from natural causes. For the killings of two women, he was incarcerated for life at the Minnesota Correctional Institution.
Carignan, also known as “Harvey The Hammer,” would utilise “help wanted” advertising to entice his victims. He then used a hammer to rape and kill them. He was found guilty of murdering two people in 1975. He claimed to be insane during the trial, yet he was nevertheless convicted guilty of the crimes.
Serial Killer Harvey Carignan Dies at 95
In Alaska in July 1949, Laura Showalter, a 58-year-old lady, was the victim of Carignan’s first murder. Before killing her, he also made an attempt at raping her. He attempted to rape another woman in September of that same year and was caught. He was given a new death sentence after being charged with first-degree murder and assault.
He was awarded a second trial in 1951 on the grounds that his confession had been illegally obtained. The fresh trial resulted in the dismissal of the murder accusation. He ultimately received a 15-year prison term for the assault accusation. In 1960, he received a parole discharge.
Harvey Carignan was a Repeat Offender
Prior to being released from Alcatraz, the culprit served time there. He was subsequently detained in Minnesota together with his brother for breaking and entering, serving a four-year sentence before being released on parole once more in 1964. After being convicted of burglary, Carignan was sentenced to 15 years in jail, which he later breached, serving an additional year behind bars.
Leslie Laura Brock, 19, was allegedly murdered by Harvey in 1972, but there was insufficient proof to bring charges against him. After that, he raped and killed Kathy Sue Miller, a 15-year-old who had answered to a job posting for his gas station. Months later, her body was located. Jerri Billings, 13, was also subjected to sexual abuse by Carignan, who also hit her with a hammer.
He subsequently moved into a house in Minnesota with a woman named Eileen Hunley, but she left him soon after. When her body was discovered some weeks later, Carignan was thought to be the killer. He battered Gwen Burton and sexually attacked her in 1974. Burton survived the assault and reported it to the police.
In Minnesota, the murderer was serving a life sentence.
Sally Versoi and Diane Flynn, two teenage girls, were abducted by Carignan in 1974 and made to engage in oral sex before fleeing. He was later detained and charged with aggravated sodomy and attempted murder. He claimed he was insane and that God had given the command to “murder whores and harlots.”
He was convicted on both counts, though. After being found guilty of “indecent liberties, sodomy upon a child, and two further counts of aggravated sodomy” and receiving an antisocial personality disorder diagnosis, Carignan received a total sentence of 60 years.
Schultz and Hunley’s killings were added to Carignan’s list of alleged crimes. He was given a 40-year term after entering a guilty plea to second-degree murder in the death of the former. He was also found guilty of first-degree murder for the murder of Hunley and sentenced to life in prison.
