Earle Nelson

Earle Leonard Nelson, also known in the media as the Gorilla Man, the Gorilla Killer, and the Dark Strangler, was an American serial killer, rapist, and necrophile, who is considered the first known serial sex murderer of the twentieth century. Born and raised in San Francisco, California by his devoutly Pentecostal grandmother, Nelson exhibited bizarre behavior as a child, which was compounded by head injuries he sustained in a bicycling accident at age 10. After committing various minor offenses in early adulthood, he was institutionalized in Napa for a time.

12 May 1897

Born on the same birth day (12 May): Abelardo L. Rodríguez • Franz Anton Hoffmeister • Gabriel Byrne • Helene Weigel • Ian McLagan • Joachim von Sandrart • Johnny Bucyk • Joseph Beuys • Leslie Charteris • Luigi Vanvitelli • Maryam Mirzakhani • Paltiel Daykan • Rami Malek • Rupert II, Elector Palatine • Sam Nujoma

Born in the same month (May 1897): Erich Wolfgang Korngold • Frank Wise • Gene Tunney • John Frederick Coots • Malcolm Nokes • Nobel Prize in Physics • Odd Hassel • Robert Neumann (writer) • Sidney Bechet • William Joseph Browne • Zvi Sliternik