Albert Fish: Cannibal Serial Killer

Hamilton “Albert” Fish was a cannibalistic serial killer that lived from 1870 to 1936. He was a sadomasochist and suffered from mental disorders that weren’t properly diagnosed. Fish was the youngest boy of four children and lived with his parents until the age of five. When his father died, his mother brought him to an orphanage so she could find work. This is where it is believed that his masochistic behavior began. Fish was beaten at the orphanage and this psychological trauma could be one of the reasons why he later became a killer. He liked being beaten which lead to more intense searches for pain that he found pleasurable as an adult. Fish may not have finished high school since there was no evidence found to support that he did. He also seemed to have a low IQ based on the chart in Cannibal Serial Killers. It wasn’t mentioned that he had many friends at this orphanage but he did have multiple homosexual relationships before and during his marriage. When Fish was twelve he …show more content…
He targeted young children that he could easily manipulate and strangle. The time span of his crimes was unknown. He claimed to have molested children in every state but it is unsure how many of those children he kidnapped, killed, and ate. There were two victims that he admitted to killing and they were Grace Budd who was ten years old and Billy Gaffney who was four years old. His crimes were usually not planned but they were controlled killings. He didn't know Billy Gaffney but he planned out the murder of Grace Budd. He was originally going to take her brother, since he usually targeted young boys, but met her and took Grace instead. He would take kids at an open opportunity when the parents were not around. In the case of Grace Budd, Fish manipulated the parents into letting her leave with him to go to a birthday party but there was no birthday party.. He would then strangle his victims and mutilate the bodies before he cut them up and ate