On this day, Nov. 14, in 1975, police in South Carolina captured serial killer Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins, later dubbed the “Meanest Man in America.” The 5-foot-4 Gaskins killed his first victim while in prison, slashing the throat of a fellow inmate in 1953. Gaskins later escaped by hiding in the back of a garbage truck and joined a traveling carnival.
After settling in Sumter, S.C., he killed his 15-year-old niece and her 17-year-old friend.
After his arrest for two other murders, Gaskins led detectives to the bodies of eight victims. He confessed to killing 80 more people, mostly hitchhikers that he first tortured for pleasure.
Gaskins was sentenced to life in prison, but executed in 1991 for building a bomb disguised as a radio that killed another inmate.
— Scott McCabe
