53 Facts About Albert Fish

Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish was an American serial killer, rapist, child molester, and cannibal who committed at least three child murders from July 1924 to June 1928.

Albert Fish was known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Moon Maniac, and The Boogey Man.

Albert Fish confessed to three murders that police were able to trace to a known homicide, and he confessed to stabbing at least two other people.

Albert Fish once boasted that he "had children in every state", and at one time stated his number of victims was about 100.

Albert Fish was apprehended on December 13,1934, and put on trial for the kidnapping and murder of Grace Budd.

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Albert Fish was convicted and executed by electric chair on January 16,1936, at the age of 65.

Albert Fish's father was American, of English ancestry, and his mother was Scots-Irish American.

Albert Fish's father was forty-three years older than his mother and aged 75 at the time of his birth.

Albert Fish was the youngest child and had three living siblings: Walter, Annie, and Edwin.

Albert Fish's uncle had mania, one of his brothers was confined in a state mental hospital, and his sister Annie was diagnosed with a "mental affliction".

Albert Fish began to enjoy the physical pain that the beatings brought.

Albert Fish began visiting public baths where he could watch other boys undress, spending a great portion of his weekends on these visits.

In 1898, Albert Fish's mother arranged a marriage for him with Anna Mary Hoffman, who was nine years his junior.

In 1903, Albert Fish was arrested for grand larceny, convicted, and incarcerated in Sing Sing.

Several years later, around 1910, Albert Fish was working in Wilmington, Delaware, when he met a 19-year-old man named Thomas Kedden.

Albert Fish took Kedden to where he was staying and the two began a sadomasochistic relationship; it is unclear whether or not Fish forced Kedden to do these things, but his confession implies that Kedden was intellectually disabled.

Albert Fish eventually tied Kedden up and cut off half of his penis.

Albert Fish originally intended to kill Kedden, cut up his body, and take it home, but he feared the hot weather would draw attention to him; instead, Fish poured peroxide over the wound, wrapped it in a Vaseline-covered handkerchief, left a $10 bill, kissed Kedden goodbye, and left.

In January 1917, Albert Fish's wife left him for John Straube, a handyman who boarded with the Albert Fish family.

Albert Fish began to have auditory hallucinations; he once wrapped himself in a carpet, saying that he was following the instructions of John the Apostle.

Albert Fish hit himself repeatedly with a nail-studded paddle, and inserted wool doused with lighter fluid into his anus and set it alight.

Around 1919, Albert Fish stabbed an intellectually disabled boy in Georgetown.

Albert Fish chose people who were either mentally disabled or African-American as his victims, later explaining that he assumed these people would not be missed when killed.

Albert Fish tortured, mutilated, and murdered young children with his "implements of Hell": a meat cleaver, a butcher knife, and a small handsaw.

On July 11,1924, Albert Fish found eight-year-old Beatrice Kiel playing alone on her parents' farm on Staten Island, New York.

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Albert Fish offered her money to come and help him look for rhubarb.

Albert Fish was about to leave the farm when her mother chased Fish away.

Albert Fish left but returned later to the Kiels' barn, where he tried to sleep but was discovered by Beatrice's father and forced to leave.

Shortly before his abduction of Grace Budd, Albert Fish attempted to test his "implements of Hell" on a child he had been molesting named Cyril Quinn.

Albert Fish introduced himself as Frank Howard, a farmer from Farmingdale, New York.

Albert Fish promised to hire Budd and his friend Willie, and said he would send for them in a few days.

Albert Fish failed to show up, but he sent a telegram to the Budd family apologizing and set a later date.

Albert Fish apparently shifted his amorous intentions toward Grace and quickly made up a story about having to attend his niece's birthday party.

Albert Fish convinced the parents, Delia Flanagan and Albert Budd I, to let Grace accompany him to the party that evening.

Albert Fish subsequently took Grace to an abandoned house he had previously picked out to use for the murder of his next victim, "Wisteria Cottage" at 359 Mountain Road, located in the East Irvington neighborhood of Irvington, New York.

Albert Fish was roasted in the oven, boiled, broiled, fried, stewed.

Albert Fish told me so often how good human flesh was I made up my mind to taste it.

Albert Fish said that Fish's son sent him money and he asked her to hold his next check for him.

Albert Fish agreed to go to headquarters for questioning, then brandished a razor blade.

Albert Fish made no attempt to deny the murder of Grace Budd, saying that he meant to go to the house to kill her brother Edward.

Albert Fish refused to claim responsibility for this, although he later stated that he intended to castrate the boy but fled when he heard someone approaching the area.

Detectives of the Manhattan Missing Persons Bureau were able to establish that Albert Fish was employed as a house painter by a Brooklyn real estate company during February 1927, and that on the day of Gaffney's disappearance he was working at a location a few miles from where the boy was abducted.

Gaffney's mother Elizabeth visited Albert Fish in Sing Sing, accompanied by Detective King and two other men.

Albert Fish wanted to ask him about her son's death, but Fish refused to speak to her.

Albert Fish was still unconvinced that Fish was her son's killer.

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Albert Fish pleaded insanity, and claimed to have heard voices from God telling him to kill children.

Wertham said that Albert Fish believed that similarly "sacrificing" a boy would be penance for his own sins and that even if the act itself was wrong, angels would prevent it if God did not approve.

Albert Fish attempted the sacrifice once before but was thwarted when a car drove past.

Albert Fish responded that he did know but that it was a perverted knowledge based on his opinions of sin, atonement, and religion and thus was an "insane knowledge".

Albert Fish described how Fish taught her and her brothers and sisters several games involving overtones of masochism and child molestation.

None of the jurors doubted that Albert Fish was insane, but ultimately, as one later explained, they felt he should be executed anyway.

Albert Fish arrived at prison in March 1935, and was executed on January 16,1936 in the electric chair at Sing Sing.

Albert Fish is said to have helped the executioner position the electrodes on his body.