Hollywood is all about who you know, and your reputation with those people. Making it in Hollywood isn’t easy – or so I’ve been told. But when you have no reputation, you’re practically invisible. And that makes it easy to get away with murder.
Harvey Murray Glatman was born on December 10th, 1927, in The Bronx, New York. He was raised in Denver, Colorado by two concerned and loving parents. But he didn’t really have a great childhood.
He was teased relentlessly by other kids and classmates, making him extremely socially awkward, and difficult to approach. However, that wasn’t what his parents were concerned about. What concerned them was that their child exhibited antisocial behaviour as well as sadomasochistic tendencies from a young age.
In Boy Scouts, Glatman learned how to properly use ropes for survival/rescue type activities. He was especially skilled at knot tying and binding. And he became obsessed with using ropes for various experiments.
His parents discovered Glatman’s fascination with ropes when he was caught using self-strangulation for sexual satisfaction when he was around 12 years old. His mother immediately took him to a doctor, but the doctor, more or less, told her that ‘boys will be boys’, and he’d eventually grow out of it. (Spoiler alert – he did not.)
In May of 1945, at 17 years old, Glatman broke into the apartment of a single woman by breaking in through the window. When he was caught, police found rope and a gun in his pockets. Glatman shrugged off his arrest, and confessed to a string of robberies he’d committed around his neighbourhood. He said he’d been doing it for years, and that this was the first time he’d been caught.
On May 21st, 1945, Harvey Glatman was charged with first degree robbery. He didn’t stay in custody for long, though. His parents were quick to post his bail. He promised not to get in trouble again. But he broke his promise.
Shortly after being released on bail, Glatman abducted teenager Maureen Laurel. He drove her out of town, tied her up with rope, molester her, and then drove her home. Maureen went to the police, told them what happened, and Glatman was arrested again. This time, he wasn’t let out on bail.
While in prison, a psychologist diagnosed Glatman with “split personality” – known today as a form of schizophrenia. The psychologist went on to describe Glatman as sullen, morose, and disrespectful. He also observed that Glatman seemed very entrenched in the thought that ‘everyone was against him’. Somehow, even after all that, Glatman was released.
This scenario would repeat itself, over and over again. Glatman would be arrested and released. He would break into apartments and houses, rob people, and sexually assault women. He spent many short stints in prison, but nothing stuck.
Tiring of Denver, Glatman moved to Albany, New York. There, he stalked a nurse and attempted to sexually assault her. She managed to escape, but Glatman was undeterred.
Glatman went around Albany attacking women and attempting to assault them. All of them escaped his grasp, and were quick to report him to police.
When police finally arrested Glatman, he, once again, confessed to every attempted assault.
In October of 1946, Harvey Glatman was convicted of sexual assault. He plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence of five to ten years at Elmira Reformatory.
While incarcerated there, another prison psychologist evaluated Glatman, and expanded upon his diagnosis. The psychologist determined that Glatman displayed ‘psychopathic personality, schizophrenic type, with sexually perverted impulses as the base of criminality’.
Shortly after the diagnosis, Glatman was transferred from Elmira to Sing Sing to finish the rest of his sentence. There, he was labelled as a model prisoner.
In 1951, Glatman was released based on the observation that he was eager to complete his prison duties, making him an ideal citizen, and he responded positively to medical exams.
Upon his release, he moved back to Denver, in the care of his mother, and worked a full-time job while under a court ordered observation period of four and a half years.
He worked well, and generally behaved himself. He even explored one of his old hobbies – photography.
In January of 1957, at 29 years of age, Glatman moved to Los Angeles, California, intent on making his photography hobby into a career. In the meantime, he paid the bills by working in a TV repair shop while living in a modest apartment.
It wasn’t long before Glatman got restless.
On August 1st, 1957, using the name ‘Johnny Glinn’, Glatman approached a modelling agency and lured 19-year-old Judy Ann Dull in with the promise of a freelance assignment.
At the time, Judy was fighting a costly custody battle with her ex-husband over their 14-month-old daughter. So, when ‘Johnny Glinn’ approached her and asked her to pose for the cover of a pulp novel, she couldn’t turn it down. ‘Johnny’ promised Judy $50 (approximately $460 today). Judy needed that money for her child.
Judy was told to wear a tight skirt, and a tight sweater. She complied. When Glatman picked her up, he took her to his apartment, rather than a studio. If she was surprised, she didn’t show it. When they arrived and Glatman pulled out a length of rope, Judy thought nothing of it.
Judy had posed in bondage before. At the time, it was common for the covers of noire type magazines to portray women tied up as damsels in distress. Judy had done this a few times before. It wasn’t until Glatman pulled out the gun and took photos of her held at gunpoint that she knew something was wrong.
Glatman raped Judy, losing his virginity to her, and then forced her to cuddle him while he watched TV. Afterwards, Glatman drove her to the desert where he tied her up again, and raped her repeatedly. Then he strangled her, and left her there. He took photos before, during, and after.
In November of 1957, Glatman returned to Colorado. He told his mother that he lost his job, and his mother didn’t ask questions. It’s heavily presumed that he fled California for fear of being caught.
But no one knew who he was in California. No one knew that Harvey Glatman had murdered a woman, and that he would murder more. Harvey Glatman was invisible.
In early 1958, for whatever reason, Glatman returned to Los Angeles and rented a bungalow.
In March, Glatman targeted his next victim. He didn’t go to a modelling agency, though. Instead, he found 24-year-old Shirley Ann Bridgeford through a lonely hearts ad.
Shirley was divorced, a model, and looking for new love. Through the ad, she found Glatman. He called himself ‘George Williams’ this time.
Glatman asked Shirley to a dance. She said yes. Glatman picked her up. They didn’t go to a dance, though. Glatman took her to his bungalow. As he’d done with Judy, Glatman tied her up, raped her, drove her to the desert, raped her again, and strangled her.
A few months later, in July, Glatman went around the the modelling agencies looking for another victim. Introducing himself as under yet another alias, Glatman approached 24-year-old Ruth Mercado. When Glatman went to pick her up, Ruth was too sick to go through with the planned photoshoot. Glatman left, saying he understood, and they’d reschedule.
But Glatman returned to her house that very night. He broke in, and raped Ruth repeatedly throughout the night – using ropes as bindings. Come morning, Glatman forced her into his car, where he drove her to the desert. He tied her up, strangled her, and left her.
Glatman felt invincible. He was a ghost. No one knew his real name, and no one cared about the three missing models. Glatman was sure he could get away with it again.
In October of 1958, Lorraine Vigil, a 28-year-old model, answered a modelling ad posted by ‘Frank Johnson’. Glatman picked her up, and said they were driving to his studio. Lorraine knew something was wrong when Glatman started driving them outside of the city.
Lorraine demanded to be let go, but Glatman pulled a pistol on her. He then pulled over, and wanted to tie Lorraine’s hands to stop her struggling. She fought him off, and grabbed at the pistol. It went off, shooting her in the hip.
Wounded, she managed to get the gun out of Glatman’s hands. They both stumbled out of the car, and Lorraine held Glatman at gunpoint. A patrolman arrived on the scene shortly thereafter as he was making his rounds.
The patrolman arrested Glatman and took Lorraine’s statement. The patrolman got way more than he bargained for.
As Glatman was being arrested, he confessed not only to assaulting Lorraine, but to murdering Judy, Shirley, and Ruth as well.
He spoke openly to law enforcement about the murders. He was proud of his actions. He led them to a toolbox in his apartment, which contained photos of Judy, Shirley, and Ruth’s bodies. He also led them to their remains in the desert.
The press, who latched on to Glatman’s habit of trawling modelling agencies, were quick to dub him The Glamour Girl Slayer.
While on trial, he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. He bragged about it. And asked for the death penalty.
Harvey Glatman was sentenced to death, getting what he asked for. He wanted to die. He also attempted to stop California’s automatic appeals system, and also asked the warden at San Quentin not to do anything to save him.
On Septmber 18th, 1959, Harvey Glatman was executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison.
But Harvey Glatman’s story doesn’t end there. In 2009, he was linked to another potential murder.
In 1954, hikers found the body of a woman near Boulder, Colorado. For 55 years, no one knew who she was.
Dr. Terry Melton, of Mitotyping Technologies in State College, Pennsylvania, informed the sheriff’s office that her lab had made a match between the DNA profile of the unknown woman – whom they called ‘Boulder Jane Doe’ – and that “of a woman who thought the unidentified murder victim might be her long-lost sister”. The DNA was positively identified as that of Dorothy Gay Howard, an 18-year-old woman who’d gone missing from Phoenix, Arizona.
While it has not be conclusively determined that Harvey Glatman is her murderer, law enforcement believe this to be the case.
The Glamour Girl Slayer had no reputation and no real contacts in Hollywood. Had he kept his trap shut, he could have gotten away with three murders. But he didn’t. He bragged about it. And now, he’s been immortalized in Hollywood true crime lore.
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Sources:
Serial killer Harvey Glatman is executed – History.com
The Chilling Crimes of Harvey Glatman, ‘The Glamour Girl Slayer’ – Gabe Paoletti – All That’s Interesting
‘The Glamour Girl Slayer’ and his trail of death – Mara Bovsun – New York Daily News
Murder Minute podcast – The Glamour Girl Slayer
Harvey Glatman Wikipedia page