| Criminal | |
|---|---|
|
Name |
Charles Finn |
|
Alias |
|
|
Gender |
Male |
|
Family |
Annette Finn (mother; deceased) |
|
Occupation |
U.S. Army soldier (discharged) |
|
Pathology |
Serial Killer |
|
Modus Operandi |
Varied, preceded by torture |
|
No. of Victims |
67 killed |
|
Status |
Incarcerated |
|
Portrayed By |
|
"I like being the apex predator. And as the apex predator, I have to keep track of the competition."
Charles Finn, a.k.a. "The Houston Serial Killer", is a prolific serial killer, rapist, and abductor who appeared in "Hunting Ground".
Background[]
Finn was the illegitimate child of a woman named Annette and her own father Bartholomew, who was physically and sexually abusive towards her. Annette died in childbirth, leaving Finn to be raised by his grandparents. Bartholomew would physically abuse him, while Finn's grandmother Maylene would neglect and verbally abuse him, often calling him a bastard and a devil. When Finn was five, he witnessed Bartholomew kill Maylene in a drunken rage and then himself in a murder-suicide. Afterwards, he was sent to live with his aunt Susan and her husband Richard. The two tried to raise him lovingly, but Finn had developed psychopathic tendencies by that point and began exhibiting alarming behavior. When he was eight, he intimidated Susan with a knife, and when he was twelve, he began killing pets in the neighborhood. When Finn turned fifteen, Susan became pregnant with Richard's child, and the two were forced to give Finn away for the baby's safety. Finn was left in a foster home run by Natalie Baldwin, who frequently abused him and the other children in the home.
Eventually, Finn killed Natalie and successfully covered up her death in a house fire. After attending and later dropping out of college, he served in the U.S. Army, but was dishonorably discharged after assaulting a fellow soldier at Fort Hood. He then found a job as a construction worker, but was eventually fired for his disturbing behavior towards female clients. After being fired, Finn founded his own construction company and took up a number of jobs in the Greater Houston area. He also took a side-job as a tow-truck driver. Later in life, Finn, wanting to learn of his parentage, accessed his birth records and found that his father was listed as unknown. When he visited Susan in an attempt to seek answers, Susan instead rejected him and inadvertently said that he was like Bartholomew, causing him to deduce that his grandfather was also his father. Outraged by the revelation, Finn began serial killing in 1985, selecting victims who reminded him of Susan. In the middle of his killings, he noticed the emergence of two other serial killers operating in the same area as him. Finn began to keep track of them, hoping to use this information to his advantage if he were ever to be caught.
Hunting Ground[]
To be added
Modus Operandi[]
Finn targeted Caucasian, blonde, female college students, aged in their late-teens to mid-twenties, who reminded him of his aunt. He was usually active in the Greater Houston area, but also operated in other Texan cities and even out of state. He would lure them to his car by seducing them or with a ruse of some sort, such as feigning an injury or disability. Once they were near his car, he would incapacitate them by drugging them, stuff them in the trunk of the car, and drive to a secondary location. There, in a span of days, Finn would rape them and torture them in a variety of ways, such as burning, electrocution, and cutting. Finally, he killed them in a variety of ways, such as stabbing, strangulation, and bludgeoning. Finn would then dispose of their bodies by either burying them or burning them inside their own cars, which he would acquire through his job as a tow-truck driver. He would also take a souvenir of some kind from the victims, such as a piece of clothing, a credit card, or jewelry, and keep it as a trophy.
Profile[]
Finn was profiled as a sadistic psychopath who craved control and dominance and would jump at every chance to establish it during a situation. He chose his victims because they reminded him of his aunt, and by torturing, raping, and finally killing them, he was exacting revenge over her for rejecting him twice in his life. Whether or not he is genuine about his knowledge of two other active serial killers, this confession is his one last gambit at controlling a situation.
Real-Life Comparison[]
Finn is based on Randy Kraft, one of the Freeway Killers who provided inspiration for the Houston Serial Killer, and also nicknamed "The Scorecard Killer". Both were sadists who drugged their victims to incapacitate them before torturing them in a variety ways, raping them, and killing them with various methods (which also included stabbing, strangulation, and bludgeoning). Both also served in the U.S. military before being discharged, and were usually active in one state but also killed some victims in two other states. Kraft also became acquainted with William Bonin, another Freeway Killer, just like how Finn became acquainted with M.E. Andrew Wilkins, another HSK.
Finn also seems to have elements in common with Ted Bundy. Both were manipulative psychopaths who lured their victims in with their charms or by using ruses, such as feigning an injury or disability. Their motivations to kill also stemmed from being rejected by a female relative and having a troubled childhood in which their maternal grandfathers were abusive. Finn being fathered by his grandfather also seems to be a reference to a theory that Bundy may have been the child of his own grandfather. In addition, one of the states both were active in was Washington.
Known Victims[]
- July 11, 1974, Houston, Texas: Natalie Baldwin (his foster mother; killed by unknown causes and covered up her death in a house fire)
- September 6, 1978, Killeen, Texas: Unnamed soldier (assaulted)
- January 19, 1985, Houston, Texas: Trudy Sparks (bludgeoned; burned her in her car post-mortem)
- Unspecified dates from 1986 to 2015 (all killed by various causes and buried or burned in their cars post-mortem):
- Texas:
- Greater Houston: Twenty-six victims. They are:
- Sarah Cox
- Paula Peterson
- Lori Cook
- Brenda Brooks
- Cynthia Jackson
- Jane Rogers
- Mary Cooper
- Sharon Wood
- Irene Foster
- Jacqueline King
- Debra Collins
- Christine Simmons
- Tammy White
- Deborah Bell
- Ashley Moore
- Louise Richardson
- Joan Gray
- Janet Martin
- Bonnie Richardson
- Janice Taylor
- Nancy Mitchell
- Christina Thompson
- Cheryl Griffin
- Ruby Stewart
- Susan Bailey
- Joyce Price
- Dallas: Thirteen unnamed victims
- Fort Worth: Ten unnamed victims
- Austin: Ten unnamed victims
- Greater Houston: Twenty-six victims. They are:
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Five unnamed victims
- Seattle, Washington: Unnamed victim
- Texas:
- June 29, 2015, Houston, Texas: Kimberly Peters (abducted and intended to rape, torture, and kill; was rescued)