TGF 060 Ed Kemper: The Co-Ed Killer
In this gripping and deeply unsettling episode, we explore one of the most disturbing and well-documented cases in American criminal history — the story of Edmund Emil Kemper III, better known as The Co-Ed Killer. Between 1964 and 1973, Kemper brutally murdered ten people, including his grandparents and his own mother, leaving behind a trail of horror that still haunts true crime history. But this isn’t just another serial killer story.
This is an examination of transformation — how a damaged child became a monster, how the system failed at every possible turn, and how a killer managed to hide in plain sight, even befriending the very police officers who were searching for him.The episode opens with the chilling phone call from a payphone in Pueblo, Colorado, where Ed calmly confessed to multiple murders. From there, we trace his life from the beginning — through a nightmarish childhood under the control of an abusive, alcoholic mother who locked him in a basement and convinced him he was inhuman.
We uncover early warning signs of psychopathy — from animal cruelty to violent fantasies — that went ignored until it was too late. We examine Kemper’s first murders at age fifteen, the killings of his grandparents, and his time at Atascadero State Hospital, where he learned to manipulate the mental health system and study criminal behavior from the inside.
Multiple psychiatrists later declared him rehabilitated — a catastrophic misjudgment that freed him to kill again.Kemper’s subsequent 1972–1973 killing spree targeted young women across California. We recount each victim’s story — Mary Ann Pesce, Anita Luchessa, Aiko Koo, Cindy Schall, Rosalind Thorpe, Alice Liu, Clarnell Strandberg (his mother), and Sally Hallett — restoring their names, lives, and humanity beyond the statistics.
You’ll hear how Kemper selected his victims, how he gained their trust as a gentle giant with a calm demeanor, and the unspeakable acts that followed.
We also expose his obsession with law enforcement culture — drinking with police officers at the Jury Room bar, collecting police equipment, and nearly being caught several times, always talking his way out with chilling ease.
Finally, we follow Kemper’s confession, trial, and incarceration, where he requested the death penalty but instead became a model inmate who later helped the FBI pioneer its criminal profiling techniques.Yet, at the heart of this story lies not the killer, but his victims.
This episode is a memorial to their stolen lives — a reminder of the innocence destroyed, and of the families who still live with the weight of his crimes more than fifty years later.
⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains explicit descriptions of violence, murder, and disturbing psychological themes. Listener discretion is strongly advised.