Charles Raymond Starkweather (1938–1959)

“Little Red”"The more I looked at people, the more I hated them." - Starkweather

Background• Dropped out of school at age 16 • Was bullied in school• Teachers and students mocked him for being slow• worked as a lorry loader for a local newspaper.• Lived during Great Depression, family was poor and didn’t have much• Very interested in rebellious and outlaw attitudes.• Acted like James Dean from Rebel Without a Cause because he connected with the

“bad” persona• He thought crime was his only way to make a living and a way out of poverty• Was kicked out of his house by his father• At 18 he met his 13 year old girlfriend, Caril Fugate, Who also becomes his partner in

crime.

Criminal history• Starkweather was denied credit at a gas station and he later came back and

shot the gas station clerk.• Charles then murders Caril’s parents with a rifle for not letting them be

together. He then stabbed her two-year old sister to death.• His next victim was an old friend who he murdered and stole some of his

belongings• Caril and Charles then hitch a ride with a teen couple, Carol King and Robert

Jensen.• Caril Fugate kills King, because she was jealous of he• They later killed more then 5 people.

Evidence/Sentence?• Police followed their trail of murders as people described who the killers were.• F.B.I and National Guard are put in charge of investigation• While on their way to Washington, Charles and Caril are stopped by police and

surrender on the spot. • They are both charged with first degree murder(murder that is willful and

premeditated. ) and are extradited (hand over a person accused or convicted of a crime to the jurisdiction of the foreign state in which the crime was committed.) to Nebraska to stand trial.

• Starkweather is then sentenced to death for killing 11 people, Caril Fugate is given life in prison.

Cultural references

Natural Born Killers and Badlands are both loosely based on Starkweathers and Fugils actions. Starkweather is based on Charles actual events. Other movies inspired by them are:• True Romance• Kalifornia• Murder in the Heartland

Sociological Theory• I believe Social control theory best describes Starkweather’s behavior. When he was

younger, people did not expect much from him. Classmates and teachers both thought he was slow and a bad kid. Students made fun of him because of it, so he started to act bad and more like James Dean since people thought he was bad already. He did not like people because of this. Since they all made him out to be bad, he started acting bad in small ways. He then got worse and started to kill. Since people thought he was bad he didn’t try to change peoples opinion he just went with it. His parents kicked him out later on and he did not get better from there. He then killed more people and said in a quote “The more I looked at people, the more I hated them.”