Walter E. Ellis
American serial killer (1960-2013)
Walter Earl Ellis (June 24, 1960 – December 1, 2013), known as the Milwaukee North Side Strangler, was an American serial killer, rapist, and robber who raped and strangled at least seven women in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin between 1986 and 2009. Until May 2009, the killings were considered to be independent of one another, but were then linked together via DNA profiling. Ellis was arrested as a suspect on September 7, 2009, and convicted for the seven murders in February 2011, receiving seven consecutive life sentences without the chance of parole.
Early life
Walter E. Ellis was born on June 24, 1960, in Milwaukee, as one of six children to LeRoy and Mattie Ellis. Beginning in early childhood, Ellis showed signs of antisocial behavior, acting impulsively and aggressively towards his peers, frequently assaulting classmates and neighboring children. For this, he earned a reputation as a local bully and was frequently disciplined. After finishing the 8th grade, he dropped out of school in 1974 due to poor academic performance and chronic absenteeism, turning towards a life of crime.
Criminal history
At the age of 14, on August 10, 1974, Ellis was arrested for the first time for robbery and attempted murder; however, he was let go with a large fine as he was a minor. In the following four years, he was arrested twice more for theft and only ordered to pay a fine, but in November 1978, when he was arrested for robbery, he pled guilty and was given 4 years of probation. In May 1979, Ellis was arrested for possessing drugs, but during the investigation, he was able to prove that the drug had been sold to him by the pharmacy without a prescription, so he again only paid a fine.
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This entry incorporates text from “Walter E. Ellis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.