Michael Ross

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For the United States congressman from Arkansas, see Mike Ross.

Michael Bruce Ross (July 26, 1959 – May 13, 2005) was an American serial killer.

1 Early life
2 Rape and murder spree
3 Legal battles and execution
4 Trivia
5 Footnotes
6 References

[edit] Early life

Ross was born in Putnam, Connecticut to Patricia Hilda Laine and Dan Graeme Ross.^[1] He grew up on a farm in Brooklyn, Connecticut. His home life was extremely troubled; his mother, who had abandoned the family at least once and had been institutionalized, beat all four of her children, saving the worst for him. Some family and friends have suggested that he was also molested by his teenaged uncle, who committed suicide when Ross was six.

Ross attended Cornell University and studied agricultural economics. He began stalking women in his sophomore year. In his senior year, he committed his first rape, and his first murder soon after. Between 1981 and 1984, he raped and murdered eight girls and women (aged 14 to 25) in New York and Connecticut.

[edit] Rape and murder spree

His murder victims (seven of the eight were also raped) were:

Dzung Ngoc Tu, 25, a Cornell University student, killed May 12, 1981
Paula Perrera, 16, of Wallkill, New York, killed March 1982
Tammy Williams, 17, of Brooklyn, killed January 5, 1982
Debra Smith Taylor, 23, of Griswold, killed June 15, 1982
Robin Stavinksy, 19, of Norwich, killed November, 1983
April Brunias, 14, of Griswold, killed April 22, 1984
Leslie Shelley, 14, of Griswold, killed April 22, 1984
Wendy Baribeault, 17, of Griswold, killed June 13, 1984

He also raped (but did not kill):

Vivian Dobson, 21, 1983

Plainfield police rejected the possibility that Ross had been Vivian Dobson's rapist. They did not press charges and Ross made no confession.

Ross confessed to all of the murders, and was convicted of four of them. He was sentenced to death on July 6, 1987, and spent the next 17 years on death row.

[edit] Legal battles and execution

Ross strongly supported his death sentence in the last year of his life, saying that he wanted to spare his victims' families any more pain. In spite of this, an hour before the execution was due to take place in the early hours of January 29, 2005, Ross' lawyer, acting on behalf of Ross' father, got a two-day stay. Ross was then scheduled to die by lethal injection on January 31, 2005 at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5). However, earlier in the day, the execution was again postponed because of doubts that Ross was mentally competent; having fought against his death sentence for 17 years, he suddenly changed his mind and waived his right to appeal. (See also death row phenomenon)

In his final days, Ross became an Oblate, or associate, of the Benedictine Grange, a Catholic monastic community in West Redding, Connecticut.

He was executed by lethal injection on May 13, 2005. He had no last words. When asked if he would like to make a last statement, he said, without opening his eyes, "No, thank you."

Ross's remains were buried at the Grange.

After the execution, Dr. Stuart Grassian, a psychiatrist who had argued Ross was not competent to waive appeal, received a letter from Ross dated May 10, 2005, which read "Check, and mate. You never had a chance!"