The Disturbing Origins of a Serial Killer
Patrick Kearney, a serial killer with a reported "genius IQ" of 180, first exhibited signs of a deeply disturbing personality at the age of 13. Born in 1939, he took a twisted enjoyment in slaughtering pigs behind the ear on his family's property, a practice his father initially believed might toughen him up. However, Kearney quickly mastered the technique and began to revel in the act, even wallowing in the blood and innards of the dead animals. This early exposure to violence would later foreshadow his horrific crimes against humans.
From Bullying to Brutal Murder
During his school years in Los Angeles, California, Kearney was thin, frail, and suffered relentless bullying. These experiences left deep psychological scars, fueling fantasies of murdering those who had degraded him. After completing his education, he enlisted in the Air Force in Texas, where he met David Hill. Despite Hill being married, the pair embarked on a romantic relationship. Following Kearney's honorable discharge, they relocated to California as partners, but the relationship eventually dissolved, with Hill returning to his family in 1962.
It was in that same year that Kearney's violent fantasies became a gruesome reality. In the spring, he offered a lift to a 19-year-old hitchhiker on his motorbike, taking the unsuspecting man to a secluded location. There, he shot him behind the ear, precisely mimicking the method he had used on pigs as a teenager, before sexually assaulting the corpse. Fearing the victim's cousin might have witnessed the pickup, Kearney killed him in the same manner. Another teenage victim followed soon after, marking the beginning of a killing spree that would span decades.
A Chilling Modus Operandi
Kearney's murder methods were methodical and cold-blooded. He often targeted hitchhikers, sex workers, men in pubs, and even an eight-year-old boy, with many victims resembling those who had bullied him in school. A signature technique involved driving with his left hand while shooting the victim in the head with his right hand. He would then position the corpse upright in the passenger seat to create the illusion of company, drive to a quiet spot, sexually abuse the body, dismember it with a blade, and stuff the remains into bin bags. These bags were scattered across various sites, often along highways, earning him the nicknames 'The Trash Bag Killer' and 'The Freeway Killer'.
After reuniting with Hill in 1963, Kearney did not kill again until 1968, when he murdered a friend of his lover's by firing a pistol shot between his eyes. He then hauled the corpse into a bath, sexually abused it, cut it apart, extracted the bullet from the head, and buried the remains behind a garage before calmly returning to California. When Hill left again in 1973, the killing spree resumed with at least 20 more victims over the next few years.
Capture and Confession
After 15 years of evading law enforcement, police finally caught up with Kearney in 1977 during an investigation into the death of 17-year-old John LaMay. Following his arrest, the full horror of his crimes emerged as he confessed to a staggering 35 murders. A psychiatrist who examined him reportedly claimed he had an IQ of 180, far surpassing the threshold for "genius" and even higher than Albert Einstein's estimated IQ of 160.
To avoid the death penalty, Kearney pleaded guilty and was convicted of 21 murders, as police lacked sufficient evidence for the others. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and remains incarcerated today at California's Mule Creek State Prison, a stark reminder of one of America's most notorious serial killers whose intelligence masked a deeply violent nature.
