William Wickline

William Dean Wickline Jr. (March 15, 1952 – March 30, 2004), known as The Butcher, was an American career criminal and serial killer linked to at least three violent murders committed in West Virginia and Ohio from 1979 to 1982. Convicted of killing the latter victims, whose bodies were never found, Wickline was sentenced to death and subsequently executed in 2004.

Early life William Dean Wickline Jr. was born on March 15, 1952, in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, one of several sons born to William Sr. and Irma Wickline (née Bolen). He grew up in what was described as a loving family, and during his youth, Wickline was regarded as a good student with a promising career in athletics. Despite these expectations and him being in his high school's wrestling team, Wickline's grades fell drastically and he became known as a small-time delinquent whose most egregious offense was egging his principal's car.

Wickline's first arrest came in 1971, at age 19, and until 1984, he would be arrested at least nine more times for charges ranging from burglary and dealing drugs to running a prostitution ring. Almost two years later, in December 1984, he was indicted in the Lerch case after Kemp confessed the crime to the authorities. Before he could even be officially charged, Wickline was additionally linked to the Marsh murder in West Virginia, and was proposed as a suspect in several other violent crimes involving dismemberment. However, he was nonetheless tried solely for the Lerches' murders, which began on July 30, 1985. On September 20, he was sentenced to death for Peggy's murder and to life imprisonment for Christopher's, to which he showed no emotion. While charges were filed in the Marsh murder, they were eventually dropped and the case closed due to Wickline's death sentence.

For the remainder of his life behind bars, Wickline unsuccessfully appealed to both state and federal courts, all of which rejected his appeals. His final meal consisted of an eight-ounce medium-rare filet mignon, old-fashioned potato salad, six buttered rolls, fresh strawberries, shortcake and butter pecan ice cream. He has been publicly named as a suspect in the following murders: The 1978 disappearance of gambler Tory Gainer, who vanished from Fairfield County. Informants alleged that Wickline had killed and then scattered his remains around various dumpsters. The other two murders were that of Annette Cooper and Todd Schultz, for which Cooper's stepfather, Dale Johnston, was convicted and sentenced to death, but whose guilt was questioned, in 1984. In 1990, Johnston was acquitted on appeal and released from prison. In 2008, two other men confessed and were convicted of the crime and Johnston was formally exonerated.