Edmund Kemper Stories

Documenting the Co-Ed Killer case

Category: Collectibles (Page 3 of 4)

“Budget cuts are hell” ceramic mug

June 4, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Here’s another ceramic mug that Ed Kemper made at the CMF in Vacaville in 1978. It’s a half mug. Really pretty and nice to the touch.

As written on the face of the mug, “Tony” is Tony Palmiero (also Palmerio), a film writer and producer who was in charge of making a film about Kemper in the late 1970s. Kemper was very involved with Tony in making it as close to the real story and the truth, but funding was cut to the movie. Kemper was mad and decided to make two halves of a mug stating “Budget cuts are hell” in regards to the cancelling of the film.

I don’t know if Kemper made the two halves. On the certificate of authenticity prepared by Kemper, he says that the project was not completed and that he retained the half mug until 1991 when he gave it to a friend.

This ceramic mug is part of my collection of true crime collectibles.

Ed Kemper’s ceramic art work

June 4, 2019 / / 4 Comments

“Imperfect criminal justice systems execute the innocent along with the guilty — Kemper’s case does not fit that rubric. However, Kemper’s execution would have done nothing to change the unpardonable acts of his past, while it would have precluded every decent, useful and beautiful that he has done in prison. Considering the lives of his victims, Kemper’s execution could not fairly have been called an injustice, but considering the life he has led in prison, it would have been a mistake. However, it is Kemper’s remarkable art work that, ultimately, confirmed my faith in the futility of the death penalty.

Because of powerful forces beyond his control, Edmund Kemper is too high-risk to be on the street, but in 41 years of incarceration, he has been a model prison-citizen, an effective functionary and a very interesting artist, whose ceramic designs have amazed me and astonished my friends for almost 35 years. The cup Kemp mailed to me, almost 35 years ago, continues to delight me every day.

NOTE: Above is my photograph of an amazingly intricately-glazed, slip cast cup. It was made on the dock near my home in the South of France. Below it is my photograph of Ed Kemper making that cup, in his house in California State Correctional Facility — Vacaville.“

Photographer Joey Tranchina who visited ed kemper at the cmf in vacaville in the fall of 1979

Source: Excerpt from My Life Tumbled – Photographer Joey Tranchina’s Blog on Tumblr – July 12, 2014

Ed Kemper ceramic mug

June 3, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Here is a ceramic mug made by Ed Kemper at the CMF in Vacaville. It was one of his pastime in prison and he became quite skilled at it. What makes it unique is that the handle was custom fitted to Kemper’s left hand.

Here is Kemper’s description of the mug on the certificate of authenticity he prepared: “One large wheel crafted ceramic mug, medium mottled green in color, with dark green form fitting handed handle grip. Handle was custom fitted to Kemper’s hand and worked by same. This mug was crafted in 1980.”

This ceramic mug is part of my collection of true crime collectibles.

Chartres Cathedral in France

May 19, 2019 / / 0 Comments

George Couper, an art teacher who worked at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville during the 1980s, tells of the time he spent with Ed Kemper: “I had a coffee-table book of Chartres Cathedral that Ed liked to look at. We had conversations… No, he had long conversations… Boring, really boring in an interesting way…”

Mr. Couper also discusses Cameron Britton’s portrayal of Kemper in Mindhunter: “Cameron Britton plays Ed Kemper better than Ed Kemper plays himself. The resemblance isn’t just in size and mustache… That would be easy… Make-up and props. It’s in the body language, voice modulation, movements and phrasing… The focus in those black-holes for eyes.”

Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, about 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Paris. Mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220, it stands at the site of at least five cathedrals that have occupied the site since Chartres became a bishopric in the 4th century. It is in the Gothic and Romanesque styles.

It is designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which calls it “the high point of French Gothic art” and a “masterpiece”.

Source: George Couper’s Facebook page, published October 14, 2017; Wikipedia / Photos: eBay (marilivier); Wikipedia

“I never promised you a rose garden.”

April 25, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Several years after Edmund Kemper had been incarcerated (at Atascadero), a parcel arrived at the home of psychiatrist Dr. William Schanberger, who’d been friendly with teenage Edmund. 

“I received in the mail this cup from Ed Kemper. Ed said that it took him about a year to make, and it’s very, very complex. It’s like a battered cup. And on the cup is written also: “I beg your pardon,” and on the bottom: “I never promised you a rose garden.” Meaning to be, I think, a very serious apology.”

Images from the documentary Born to Kill – The Coed Killer

Portraits of Ed Kemper

April 14, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Portraits of Ed Kemper by Nicolas Castelaux

instagram.com/nico_claux

Nicolas Castelaux, whose real name is Nicolas Claux, is a French painter, writer and collector of murderabilia.

A devotee of Satanism, he was sentenced to twelve years in prison in 1997 for murder and released in 2002.

After having written and published several books in the collection “Camion Noir”, including several biographies, such as Richard Ramirez (2009), Ted Bundy (2014), and the band Mayhem (2010), and the marking “Je tue donc je suis” (2009) resulting from his correspondence with killers (something that had never been done in France before him), among which are the infamous culinary texts by Issei Sagawa (the Japanese cannibal student), Castelaux is now the manager of the collection, related to publisher Camion Blanc.

As a painter, Castelaux notably does portraits of famous serial killers. He also illustrated with his works the famous American “Serial Killer Calendar”.

“From one word freak to another.”

April 6, 2019 / / 0 Comments

A unique piece:  “The Annotated Dracula” hardcover book, signed, dated and dedicated on the inside first page by Ed Kemper in 1992 and signed, dated and dedicated on the title page (second page) by famed author and poet Leonard Wolf in 1978. This book was Kemper’s personal copy given to him by Wolf. I blurred the names in Kemper’s note to protect their privacy.

This book is part of my collection of true crime collectibles. 

Polaroids of Ed Kemper

April 6, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Two original Polaroids of Ed Kemper and famed author and poet Leonard Wolf together at visitation in 1978 at the CMF in Vacaville. They were the property of Kemper, who has annotated and dated the bottom of both Polaroids. We can appreciate his sense of humour. Leonard Wolf was a professor at San Francisco State University and a regular visitor of Ed’s in the late 1970s.

These Polaroids are part of my collection of true crime collectibles.

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