View source for Carl Panzram

Charles "Carl" Panzram (1891-1930), serial killer, executed by hanging at Leavenworth, Kansas

This page writen and copyright 2008 by Will Johnson, Professional Genealogist.  This page is locked, if you'd like to comment on it you can email me at [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com].

Charles Panzram was born 28 Jun 1891 in Minnesota, the son of Johann Gottlieb "John" Panzram and his wife Matilda Elizabeth "Lizzie", who had both immigrated from Prussia, probably around 1870-1874.

Johann's first wife Bertha Barz had a daughter from a previous marriage, and together they had three more children before her death abt Dec 1877 in Eyota, Olmstead County, Minnesota.  Four months later, Johann married on 18 Apr 1878 to Matilda Elizabeth Price a widow with two or three kids of her own, from her previous marriage.  One of the children, may have been born out-of-wedlock or else by an even earlier marriage of Matilda's.  When Charles was born, he was the youngest of this large household, but Johann and Lizzie divorced in 1898.  Neither one remarried.

<table><tr><td>http://www.panzram.com/images/Mugshot-Oregon.jpg</td><td>As to Carl's exact birthplace, although some secondary sources state the town of "Warren", I can find no reliable source that tells us.  His parents in 1880 were living in Eyota Township, Olmsted County, Minnesota.  In 1884, his father as "John Panzram" bought 160 acres in Marshall County.  A site reader informs me that this property or some property of theirs, was sold in foreclosure in the 1890s "on the courthouse steps in Crookston".  His parents divorced in 1898, and by 1900 the family is living in East Grand Forks, Polk County, Minnesota.</td></tr></table>

<table><tr><td>Charles got into trouble and was confined in a reformatory for some time.  Later he states that he traveled around the country committing various crimes.  He was arrested after burglarizing the home of former U.S. President Taft and while in custody admitting killing two boys.  While in prison, a guard Henry Lesser, befriended him and convinced him to write his life story.  After searching for a publisher for some time, the book was finally published in 1970.  The papers on which it was partly based where donated in 1980 to the University of San Diego.</td><td>http://www.panzram.com/images/panz-mug-white-border.jpg</td></tr></table>

Charles "Carl" Panzram was hanged at Leavenworth Prison 5 Sep 1930.

==Secondary Sources==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Panzram "Carl Panzram"] on Wikipedia
*[http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/panzram1/1.html "Carl Panzram"] on Crimelibrary.com

==Further Reading==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer:_A_Journal_of_Murder_%28novel%29 ''Killer:A Journal of Murder''], by [http://sites.google.com/site/countyhistorian/thomas-e-gaddis Thomas E Gaddis] (Editor), James O Long (Editor), Harold Schechter (Introduction), 1970. Macmillan.
*[http://www.amazon.com/Panzram-Journal-Murder-Thomas-Gaddis/dp/1878923145 Panzram: A Journal of Murder], by [http://sites.google.com/site/countyhistorian/thomas-e-gaddis Thomas E Gaddis] (Editor), James O Long (Editor), Harold Schechter (Introduction), 312 pages reprint 2002 by Amok Books

[[Category:Minnesota]]
[[Category:True crime]]
[[Category:Serial Killers]]
[[Category:GLBT]]