The Serial Killer Who Killed First of His 16 Victims at Age Eight
Carroll Cole’s name would be one of many reasons for his actions.
Carroll — even with the unusual spelling does sound like a girl’s name as common usage goes. But most of us don’t get to choose our names. Our parents, also the people who choose to bring us into this world usually do the honors.
Could a name-gone-wrong be so crucial that it gives birth to one of the most horrifying serial killers in American history?
Carroll Cole was born in May 1938 to a man named LaVerne and a woman named Vesta Cole. While his father would be away fighting in World War II, his mother would frequently have affairs with other men. She had such audacity that she’d even have her son Carroll accompany her to some of these meetings. In order for him to not say anything to his father, she’d then beat him up to instill fear in him. If that wasn’t enough she’d pile on the emotional abuse too by dressing up Carroll in girl’s clothing.
Along with that came the bullying he’d go through at school for having a “girl’s name.” It would be this bullying that would unleash all the bottled-up anger in Carroll and lead to him drowning a classmate at age eight in a lake in their hometown after being teased by him. The incident would be considered an…
