Walter E. Ellis

Walter Earl Ellis (June 24, 1960 – December 1, 2013), known as the Milwaukee North Side Strangler, was an American serial killer, rapist, and robber who raped and strangled at least seven women in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin between 1986 and 2009. Until May 2009, the killings were considered to be independent of one another, but were then linked together via DNA profiling. Ellis was arrested as a suspect on September 7, 2009, and convicted for the seven murders in February 2011, receiving seven consecutive life sentences without the chance of parole.

Early life Walter E. Ellis was born on June 24, 1960, in Milwaukee, as one of six children to LeRoy and Mattie Ellis. Beginning in early childhood, Ellis showed signs of antisocial behavior, acting impulsively and aggressively towards his peers, frequently assaulting classmates and neighboring children. For this, he earned a reputation as a local bully and was frequently disciplined. After finishing the 8th grade, he dropped out of school in 1974 due to poor academic performance and chronic absenteeism, turning towards a life of crime.

Criminal history At the age of 14, on August 10, 1974, Ellis was arrested for the first time for robbery and attempted murder; however, he was let go with a large fine as he was a minor. In the following four years, he was arrested twice more for theft and only ordered to pay a fine, but in November 1978, when he was arrested for robbery, he pled guilty and was given 4 years of probation. In May 1979, Ellis was arrested for possessing drugs, but during the investigation, he was able to prove that the drug had been sold to him by the pharmacy without a prescription, so he again only paid a fine. A statewide investigation eventually discovered that the Justice Department was missing saliva and blood samples from inmate Walter E. Ellis, which were apparently lost on the way to the forensic labs. On September 7, 2009, he was located in one of the city's motels, In addition to these killings, Ellis was suspected in the killing of 32-year-old Carron D. Kilpatrick on October 13, 1994. Aside from her, he was also a suspect in the murder of 16-year-old Jessica Payne on August 30, 1995; unlike the other victims, she had died from blood loss due to a slash to her throat; this discrepancy caused the prosecutor to not press charges against Ellis, rationalizing that he might have only raped her.

Following Ellis' arrest, doubts began to arise over the conviction of Chaunte Dean Ott, who was initially convicted of Payne's murder in 1996 based solely on witness testimony. After spending 14 years in prison, all charges against him were dropped and he was released in 2009. Similarly, in May 2010, Ellis' DNA was matched to the 1998 murder of Maryetta Griffin, for which William Avery had been convicted in 2005. After this revelation, Avery was exonerated and released, and his case declared a miscarriage of justice.

After he was charged, Ellis initially pleaded not guilty, with his trial scheduled to begin in April 2011. In February of that year, however, after consulting with his lawyer, Ellis accepted a plea agreement by the prosecutor's office, admitting his guilt and petitioning for a sentence without trial. This was accepted by the prosecutor and the victims' families, and on February 24, 2011, Ellis was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the chance of parole. Shortly after his arrival in prison, his health began to deteriorate, and he was transferred to a prison hospital, where he was diagnosed with diabetes. On December 1, 2013, Ellis died due to complications from his diabetes, aged 53.