Albert Fish, whose name is enough to give chills to the bone, was one of the most barbarous serial killers in the United States. He was a serial killer, rapist, child molester, and cannibal who mainly targeted African-Americans and the disabled.
According to him, they would not be missed much by anyone. He had committed at least three child murders from July 1924 to June 1928 to quest his hunger for human flesh. Keep scrolling to read more about his background, history, murders, death, and others.
Who Is Albert Fish?
Fish was born in Washington, D.C. as the youngest child of Randall and Ellen Fish on 19 May 1870. He had two elder brothers -Walter, and Edwin, and an elder sister- Annie.
Fish’s father was seventy-five years old at the time of his birth and died after five years. After the death of his father, Fish spent most of his childhood in an orphanage where he was frequently physically abused. There, Fish realized that he began to enjoy the physical pain that beatings brought.
He remained in the orphanage until his mother secured a government job in 1880. In his teenage years, Fish began to visit public baths where he could watch other boys undress.
| Full Name | Hamilton Howard Fish |
| Net Worth | $1 million to $3 million |
| Date Of Birth | May 19, 1870 |
| Gender | Male |
| Nationality | American |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Spouse | Estella Wilcox |
| Born | May 19, 1870 |
| Died | January 16, 1936 |
| Cause Of Death | Execution By Electrocution |
| Height | 5 feet and 5 inches tall |
Albert Fish Family
The family of the Gray man has a history of mental illness. One of his brothers was imprisoned in a state mental hospital, his sister was diagnosed with mental affliction, his mother had visual hallucinations, and his uncle had mania.
In 1898, Fish’s mother arranged a marriage for him after began molesting boys younger than six years old in New York. He got married to Anna Mary Hoffman, nine years younger than him.
In 1917, Fish’s wife fled and took nearly every family possession with her lover and a handyman who boarded with the fish family- John Straube. This incident impacted him, and he began having auditory hallucinations.
Fish married another woman- Estella Wilcox, on 6 February 1930 in Waterloo, New York, despite already being married. However, they divorced after a week.
Albert Fish Physical Appearance
Albert Fish was 5 feet and 5 inches tall with thick gray hair and a drooping gray mustache. One of the witnesses described that everything about him seemed faded and gray.
Because of his physical appearances and crimes, he was known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Moon Maniac, and The BoogeyMan. There is no information available about his hair or eye color.
Albert Fish Crimes
The first recorded murder by Fish was of a 19-year-old man named Thomas Hedden. They first met each other as workers in Wilmington, Delaware. Fish took him to a secluded farm where he tortured and poured peroxide over his wounds before leaving. It was discovered from his confessions that Kedden was intellectually disabled.
In his confessions, Fish confessed that he could never scream or the look he gave him when he cut his penis.
His record shows that he murdered three innocent children but confessed to killing many more. The first documented murder was of Grace Budd, a ten-year-old girl. Albert initially planned to kill her elder brother- Edward but changed his plans when he saw Grace.
He made a story of visiting his niece’s birthday party and convincing Grace’s parents to let her accompany him to the party that evening. He took the girl to a secluded place and strangled her before performing cannibalism. No one knew what happened to Grace or about her murderer until Fish’s sent a letter to Grace’s mother confessing everything.
His other victims were Francis McDonnell and Billy Gaffney. Francis was a nine-year-old reported missing on the night of 14 July 1924 when he did not return home after playing with his friends.
Billy was a four-year-old child kidnapped by Fish on 11 February 1927. Both boys were physically tortured and murdered by Albert Fish with his tools.
Albert Fish Cause Of Death
Fish was arrested for the murder of Grace Budd and the trial began on 11 March 1935 in White Plains, New York. After many questions about whether he was sane or not, Jurors found him sane and guilty and sentenced him to death by electrocution.
Fish was executed on 16 January 1936 in the electric chair at Sung Sang when he was 65 years old. He was pronounced dead after three minutes of entering the chambers.
Albert Fish Net Worth
As per the reports, it is known that he left an estimated net worth of around $1 million to $3 million. He has made such an amount of wealth from male prosecution and various jobs. He used to do many odd jobs to get into people’s houses.
His son also used to send him money which might have contributed to his wealth. Apart from it, the money came from several crimes.
This is the story of the United States’ dangerous serial killer. There are two documentary films about Fish, one of them was The Gray Man and the other was directed by John Borowski, both released in 2007.
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