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Nature or Nurture? The Identical Twins Who Turned Out Murderers
Stephen and Robert Spahalski shared even the murder gene.
We’ve all heard of stories of how certain skills and professions run in a family. Famous sportspersons have kids that end up being equally successful at the highest level. Doctor parents have doctor kids quite often.
You could explain that with a mix of genetic abilities transferred on to generations and a bit of the fact that a lot of us grow up idolizing our parents and hence follow in their footsteps.
Yet, how far could you take that explanation? How similar could two people that come from the same gene pool end up being? Physical appearances, professions, habits, preferences, that’s probably it?
How about a shared penchant for crime? That too not just any crime — but hardcore murders.
You’d think that is rather insane and so did I, until I came across the story of the Spahalski twins. Stephen and Robert Spahalski were identical twins, who ended up committing five murders between them, and got sentenced for a variety of crimes, and even on occasion shared the same prison.
Stephen Spahalski makes an early criminal start
Stephen and Robert Spahalski were identical twins who were born in 1955. They always had that twin instinct where they’d have a sense of what the other twin was doing or how they were feeling. The events of their life would indicate that they took twin instincts to a whole new level.
Stephen Spahalski was the brother who claimed the honors of being the first murderer in the Spahalski family.
At the very young age of nearly 17 in the year 1971, he committed his first murder. He killed a middle-aged local store owner, Ronald Ripley, by hitting him on the head from behind with a hammer. He then stabbed him multiple times to ensure he was absolutely dead.
When the investigators arrested him for the murder, he was quick to confess that he indeed had killed Ripley. However, he claimed that Ripley had made unwanted homosexual advances towards the underage Spahalski and he had killed him as a result.
