Testifying as the first defense witness in Ed Kemper’s trial, Allyn Kemper, 22, revealed under cross examination that both she and her mother thought Kemper might have been involved in the death of Cynthia Schall.
Allyn Kemper testified that she asked her brother directly whether he had anything to do with the killing – one of eight of which he is accused.
“No,” she quoted him in response, “but I was afraid you might be suspicious because of that cat thing. My mother has already asked me about it, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bring it up again because it will just stir things up.”
The “cat thing” Miss Kemper explained, involved an incident when the family lived in Montana and her brother decapitated the family cat with a bayonet.
Under questioning by District Attorney Peter Chang, she also related that she herself was almost killed by Kemper.
That, too, happened in Montana. Kemper, she explained, had always had an interest in guns, and one day as she walked through the living room she heard a click.
As she turned, she said, a bullet from Kemper’s .22 rifle whizzed by her ear and buried itself in a bookcase.
“Oops!” she quoted her brother. “I thought it was empty.”
Sources: “Kemper tapes relate grisly details”, The San Francisco Examiner, October 31, 1973, by Don West / Photo of Allyn Kemper (17 years old) from the Soquel High School yearbook, 1968
Ya think that could be a/the reason why he used the phrase “Murderous Butcher,” with the quotation marks, in his letter to the police, after he killed his mother and her friend? Apparently, they had discussed it previously?
Maybe it was an expression used by some media and/or police to describe him and he used it in his message.
I figured it was probably used in the papers/media at the time, especially since Herbert Mullin was also active then, and apparently their cases were a bit confused at first. It just kinda has a new meaning to me, I guess, after reading this post. Makes me wonder, anyways. Thanks for this site, by the way. I’ve been a lurker for some time now.
Thank you for your kind words!
You’re welcome! But thanks to you for continuing to cover Edmund Kemper! It’s pretty difficult to find updated/recent material on him. I know a lot of people think that an interest in True Crime/Serial Killers is weird, and maybe it is, but I’ll just be weird then. (I always hafta say this, but it’s an alleged fact that people who are interested in True Crime/Serial Killers are supposedly more intelligent, and approximately 70% better conversationalists… A nice lil tidbit for anyone dealing with constant criticism and negative reactions to being curious about this stuff!) Out of all em, Kemper fascinates me the most. I never feel like there’s enough information about him. I’ve read and watched everything I can find, and a lot of it is recycled material, honestly. I like this site, though! Thanks again!
Thanks again for your kind words. And I agree that people who are into True Crime are always interesting people to talk to!
I agree with you completely. He has fascinated me for many years. Ed Kemper and I were born in the same year. He’s now a senior citizen like me. I wonder about his memories and how he may have reconsidered his actions so many years past!! It is difficult to find current material on his life as he is now!
Hopefully Edmund has found quiet in his mind. And some joy.
Hopefully he has, but the weight of his crimes must still be heavy.
I feel horrible for the victims, and horrible for Kemper. No child deserves to be treated the way his mother treated him. Some people are born evil; some are made to be that way by society, or by the family they were born in to….
It’s a sad story all around, his mother is to blame in part, but she was a victim too…
Why do you say that she was a victim?
Kemper killed her, so she is a victim. She is in big part the cause of Kemper’s problems, but did she deserve to die for it? Was it Kemper’s only way out? That’s a good question for a debate! For a minute, I will be the devil’s advocate: other people have been through the same thing as Kemper with abusive parents and never killed anyone, never took their violence out on anyone. Kemper chose to kill girls and his mother because he saw it as a way to appease his violence and frustration. It also gave him pleasure and satisfaction. But murder was not necessary. I understand that the Kemper “community” hates Kemper’s mother, even demonizes her, but I think the reality was more complex than that. I see her both as an abuser and a victim.
That is right. A person is a person first, and then second, affected by his family; his upbringing; society; etc. There are millions of people who had terrible childhoods who succeeded in life, who have never been arrested. In fact a terrible childhood could be the exact cause that a person is good.
Indeed!
Abusers were always victims first, in their childhood. Abuse is an act of exercising power, over their initial abuser (in their mind), upon the new victim in front of them. The good person feels the feelings, even recognises the opportunity, has control of himself, and does not act.
I agree.
In the last special documentary on Edmund, they never mentioned if height bothered him. And didn’t women who got in his car first think man you’re tall? Men back then weren’t as tall as they are today, more hormones possibly in foods.
His height did bother him, especially when he was a child and teenager, as other kids would make fun of him. His height also prevented him from becoming a policeman. It was one of the reasons why he didn’t get into the police force.