Who Is Edmund Kemper? Serial Killer's Half-Brother Says Family Fears His Release

Edmund Emil Kemper III, popularly known as the “Co-ed Killer,” is an American serial killer born on Dec. 18, 1948, in California. He murdered ten people, including his paternal grandparents and mother. Kemper has also been accused of engaging in necrophilia and consuming the flesh of at least one of his victims. However, he has always denied the allegation.

Kemper moved to Montana with his abusive mother Clarnell Elizabeth Kemper at a very young age after his parents separated in 1957 before returning to California.

At the age of 14, Kemper ran away from home to stay with his father in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California. However, upon reaching his father’s house, he discovered that his father had remarried and that he also had a stepson. Refusing to stay with his father, Kemper went on to live with his paternal grandparents.

At the age of 15, he murdered his paternal grandparents and was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He was then sent to the Atascadero State Hospital and was termed as a criminally insane juvenile.

Kemper's violent behavior was reflected in his activities since he was a kid. At the age of 10, he killed one of his pet cats. He even killed another one when he was 13 years old, however, this time he hid the remains of the cat in his closet until his mother discovered them one day, according to Biography.com.

Kemper was released from the hospital on his 21^st birthday in 1969 and was sent back to stay with his mother who was then working as an administrative assistant at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Kemper who stands 6 feet 9 inches tall and has an IQ of 145, kept targeting young females in his killing spree. He would lure them into his vehicle, drive them to secluded areas and then murder them. Kemper would then take the corpses to his home, have sex with the bodies and dismember them.

He also murdered his mother and one of her friends before surrendering to the authorities. Following his trial in 1973, Kemper was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder. He received eight life sentences and has been imprisoned in the California Medical Facility, Vacaville, since then.

Last month, Kemper was denied a parole. Upon hearing this, his half-brother David Weber (a pseudonym used to protect identity) seemed to be so relieved for it’s been more than 40 years that Kemper’s family members have been living in fear that the day Kemper would be released, he would go after them.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Weber said: “He has this control over the family and there’s still anger over what he did. So many people live in fear that he could be allowed freedom, you just can’t trust what a President may decide.”

“I don’t want to live in fear, not be able to work or walk around, but other relatives are afraid to go to a restaurant or park, because of what happened, it’s still there,” he added.

Kemper’s story has been portrayed in the new Netflix original series, Mindhunter. In this series, a group of FBI special agents interview jailed serial killers to know more about cold-blooded killers such as Jerry Brudos and Richard Speck.