Lesley Eugene Warren

Lesley Eugene Warren (born October 15, 1967), known as The Babyface Killer, is an American serial killer who murdered at least three women in North and South Carolina from 1989 to 1990. Convicted and sentenced to death for the murders in North Carolina, he later confessed to five additional murders, including one in New York, but was never charged with them.

Early life Lesley Eugene Warren was born on October 15, 1967, in Candler, North Carolina, the older of two sons born to Douglas Eugene Warren and Phyllis West. Reportedly, he began to exhibit signs of antisocial behavior young - as a child, he struggled with establishing emotional connections with the people around him, which worsened after the birth of his brother Laron Ray in 1970.

Following the birth of his second son, Warren's father began to struggle financially and began to physically abuse his family. In 1971, he set fire to the family's trailer, which almost killed his wife and one of the boys. After that incident, Phyllis divorced him and moved in with relatives, taking the children with her. Douglas continued to stalk and harass her, which resulted in Phyllis being awarded full custody of their two children and being granted a restraining order against her ex-husband.

In September 1974, Warren began attending the Emma Elementary School in Candler, where he often clashed with classmates and was repeatedly sent to the school's psychologist. During his school years, he had no interest in learning and did not participate in sports, which made him unpopular among his peers. By 1981, Warren started attending Erwin High School - shortly afterwards, he began arguing with his mother, further impacting his academic performance. After having several conversations with the teenager, the school psychologist suggested that Warren undergo psychotherapy.

By the end of 1981, his mental condition was deteriorating rapidly. At around the same time, Warren began spending much of his free time with petty criminals, soon engaging in burglaries, doing drugs, and threatening peers with physical violence. In January 1982, he was arrested for vandalism and expelled from school, whereupon he was placed in the Broughton Hospital for a psychological evaluation. On May 15, while on a date together and using drugs, he raped and strangled her, after which he threw the corpse into the Black River near Sackets Harbor. Her body was found floating in Lake Ontario a month later.

On February 25, 1988, Warren was apprehended by a military unit for going AWOL, for which he was incarcerated for 75 days and demoted to PFC. On April 28, he was ordered to continue military service at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, but upon learning of this, Warren left and instead went to New York City, where he spent the summer living in homeless shelters and became addicted to drugs.

On June 17, Warren was dishonorably discharged from the Army and labeled a deserter.

Carolina murders On March 10, 1989, Warren completed the training program and took on a job as a driver for Am-Can, a trucking company based in Anderson, South Carolina. Under the pretense of helping her, he lured her into his truck and drove to a nearby wooded area where he beat and strangled her to death. After this, he threw her body into Lake Bowen, where it was later found by two fishermen. The body was soon discovered by the staff, who immediately contacted the police.

Arrest On July 7, a press conference was held in which Warren was announced a suspect in at least four murders. Soon after this, police were contacted by Warren's brother, who admitted to helping Warren dispose of Hurley's corpse and showed them where it was buried. In the meantime, Warren himself was arrested without incident on July 21 at Quinby's house. Afterwards, he was extradited to North Carolina, where he stood trial on early 1995 for the murder of Hurley. Based on the incriminating evidence and his own confession, Warren was found guilty on all counts and was sentenced to death on October 6, 1995. His petition was ultimately denied, as the appellate court found that he had received a fair trial and there was no presence of racial bias that could have affected his sentencing.

In 2014, his case was covered on an episode of the true crime documentary Handsome Devils, on Investigation Discovery.

As of February 2025, Warren remains on death row and awaits execution, as he has completely exhausted his appeals.