Ottis Elwood Toole (1947–September 15, 1996) (Sometimes spelled Otis) was an American criminal. Though he claimed to be a serial killer and cannibal, and was the suspect in several unsolved murders, he recanted and restated a number of confessions.

Toole was twice convicted of murder, and confessed to four more murder charges before dying in prison.

He was perhaps best-known as a suspect in the murder of Adam Walsh, son of John Walsh, who created the television program America's Most Wanted, and as the reputed partner of Henry Lee Lucas.

Biography

A native of Jacksonville, Florida, his father left the family when Toole was young. He claimed his mother was a religious fanatic, and that a sister dressed him in girl's clothes. Toole also claimed his grandmother was a satanist who exposed him to various practices and rites in his youth.

Ottis ran away from home repeatedly. He claims to have started fires in abandoned homes from a young age.

Toole claimed to have committed his first murder at the age of 14. After being propositioned for sex by a traveling salesman, he ran over the salesman with his own car. This claim is unverified.

Toole's first arrest as an adult was in 1964, on a charge of loitering . Toole married briefly, but his bride reportedly left him after realizing he was homosexual.

About 1978, Toole met Henry Lee Lucas in Florida. Both would later claim to have committed many hundreds of murders, sometimes at the behest of a secret cult called "The Hand of Death." Lucas would recant his confessions, saying he made such statements only to improve his living conditions in jail. Though some authorities have argued there is significant doubt as to Lucas' guilt, Toole is still generally seen as a serial killer.

In April 1984, Toole was convicted and sentenced to death for a 1982 arson incident that killed 64-year-old George Sonnenberg in Jacksonville, Florida. Later that year, Toole was judged guilty of the 1983 murder of 19-year-old Tallahassee, Florida, resident Ada Johnson, and received a second death sentence; on appeal, however, both sentences were reduced to life in prison.

Toole plead guilty to four more murders in 1991 and received four more life sentences.

Ottis Toole died in September of 1996 in prison from cirrhosis of the liver.

Adam Walsh case

In 1983, Toole made a shocking confession. He claimed to having committed one of the most famous, unsolved crimes in recent American history, the abduction and murder of six-year-old Adam Walsh in 1981.

Walsh was abducted from a Florida Sears store, and his head was later found in a canal. The rest of his remains were never recovered.

Adam's father John became a crusader for victim's rights and was the host of America's Most Wanted.

Toole stated to many people that he had murdered Adam; he even wrote to his father and offered to show him where he buried the body for a cash reward. Toole would recant this confession, but "Lucas still firmly insists that his friend was responsible for that killing" [1], and after Toole's death, Lucas claimed Toole had shown him Walsh's body [2].

John Walsh, and many police officials, suspected Toole in Adam Walsh's murder.

It was later revealed that there were many mistakes the authorities made in their investigation. For example, Toole's car was impounded, and blood-soaked carpet was in the front seat. Toole had said he had cut Adam's head off with a machete in the front seat. This evidence was lost by the crime lab, and many have said that modern-day DNA detection could have easily convicted Toole. Toole also said that he had punched Adam in the face, and forensic examinations of Adam's skull revealed trauma consistent with such an injury. Toole had pointed out the exact department store where Adam had been abducted, a fact that was not made public.

External links

• Henry Lee Lucas / Ottis Toole Prison Artwork