George York

John LATHAM (19) of Mauriceville (TX) and George YORK (18) of Jacksonville (FL) were headline makers in May and June of 1961. They were among the first modern serial killers to attract nationwide attention. Their career in murder began on May 29, 1961. Mrs. Althea Ottavio, forty-three and Patricia Ann Hewitt, twenty-five, of Valdosta, Georgia, had gone to the dog races in Florida to place a „dream bet.“ Instead they encountered Latham and York, who strangled them. Over the next twelve days, driving cars they took from a succession of victims, York and Latham robbed and killed people in Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas and Colorado. They killed for pocket change, never attempting to score big as robbers do. After their arrest, they laughed and joked about their victims and argued with each other over who was going to the electric chair first. Latham had a tattoo on his arm that expressed the pair’s attitude perfectly: „I HATE THE WORLD.“ York explained their homicidal rampage: „WE THOUGHT WE WERE DOING THEM A FAVOR BY PUTTING THEM OUT OF THEIR MISERIES IN THIS RAT RACE.“ On June 22, 1965, they were both hanged.