Gerald Parker

Gerald Parker (born 1955), also known as the Bedroom Basher and the Bludgeon Killer, is an American serial killer and sex offender who raped and murdered five young women and girls aged 17 to 31 in Orange County, California, from December 1978 through October 1979. During this time, he was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps stationed in Tustin. He was dishonorably discharged in 1980 after his conviction for rape, but he would not be linked to the murders until over a decade later following a DNA match.

Parker confessed and was also confirmed to have assaulted a sixth victim, who was pregnant at the time of the attack; she survived, but her child was delivered stillborn. Her husband, Kevin Lee Green, was falsely convicted of the attack and served 16 years in prison until Parker's arrest. Parker was sentenced to death in 1999 and as of is incarcerated at California Medical Facility.

Early life Parker was born in 1955 and lived with his family in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1963, his mother, Frankie Wagner Parker, died while giving birth to her 10th child and his father abandoned his family; Parker was 8 years old. He moved in with his grandmother, and during the five months he was there, he was sent to Juvenile Hall for sniffing glue. Afterwards, he and his brother went to live with his older cousin, Florence Russell, in Logan Heights. Though much of his youth was spent at Boys Republic, a private all-boys school for troubled adolescents, Russell said he never gave her any problems. In June 1971, his school presented him with a work experience reward for food preparation. The following year, he was a runner up for the Chino Rotary club's annual Crombie Allen award.

According to statements made by Parker to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Paul Blair, Parker regularly inhaled glue, paint, and paint thinner between the ages of 7 and 15. He began using marijuana at age 11, and claimed to use PCP and LSD, as well as speedballs intravenously. He also reported drinking a case of beer every day for 10 to 11 years.

Crimes Murders According to his testimony, on December 1, 1978, in Anaheim, Parker entered the apartment of 17-year-old Sandra Fry through an open bedroom window carrying a piece of wood. He hit Fry several times with the board. Parker wanted to rape her but could not get an erection, so he ejaculated on her body. When Fry's roommate returned home, she saw the condition Fry was in and police were contacted. Fry was transported to the emergency room where she was pronounced dead.

On February 13, 1984, Parker beat his roommate, David Feurtadot, while he was sleeping, at the California Correctional Institution. A correctional officer found a 24" long piece of steel, splattered with blood, on the floor of the shared room. Feurtadot received several stitches and was in the hospital for a week following the attack. On June 1, 1984, Parker was convicted in Kern County Superior Court of assault with a deadly weapon.

Arrest Since Parker was not linked to the murders in Orange County until nearly two decades later, he was known as the "Bludgeon Killer" in the area. At the time, homicide investigators relied on a profile that indicated that the Bludgeon Killer had a desire to control women and was likely unintelligent and insecure. The investigation extended into the late 1980s and a handful of suspects were looked into, but all were dismissed.

By 1996, the investigation into the Bludgeon Killer was considered a cold case; however, in June of that year DNA samples left at several of the crime scenes were matched to a sample Parker had recently given up. Parker confessed to the crimes in an interview with detectives at Corcoran State Prison, where he was serving a sentence for an unrelated assault. He also confessed to another crime not previously linked to the Bludgeon Killer; the attack on Dianna Green and subsequent death of her unborn baby. Parker gave investigators details about the crime that were not previously made public, on the basis of which Kevin Lee Green was exonerated and released from Soledad State Prison.

Trial On June 21, 1996, Parker was charged with six murders. DNA experts testified at the trial that samples taken from Parker's blood compared with evidence collected at the scenes were "indistinguishable from each other." In September, it was announced that the death penalty was being sought for Parker. On October 20, 1998, after only two hours of deliberation, Parker was convicted on six counts of first degree murder, including special circumstances, which made him eligible for the death penalty. During the sentencing phase of his trial, Parker accepted full responsibility and stated:

On November 12, 1998, the jury rendered a verdict of death. Parker was ordered to San Quentin State Prison to await execution by lethal injection.

Aftermath

Parker is currently incarcerated at California Medical Facility, awaiting execution. In 2017, his lawyers appealed for the nullification of his death sentence and for a new trial, arguing that Parker was mentally disturbed at the time of the murders, as a result of his being bullied as a child combined with abuse of drugs and alcohol. However, that appeal was rejected.

Victims Name Age Date Outcome Sandra Fry 17 December 1, 1978 Died Kimberly Rawlins 21 April 1, 1979 Died Jane Pettengill 24 July 19, 1979 Survived Marolyn Carleton 31 September 15, 1979 Died Dianna Green 20 September 30, 1979 Survived Chantal Green 0 September 30, 1979 Died Debora Kennedy 24 October 6, 1979 Died Debra Lynn Senior 17 October 20, 1979 Died Aida Demirjian ? February 2, 1980 Survived Paula S. 13 February 15, 1980 Survived David Feurtadot ? February 13, 1984 Survived