Chasm | 17: Glamour Girl Slayer

Harvey Glatman started his life of crime from a very early age. However, his many stints in prison did not stop him from documenting and committing some of the most heinous acts the world has seen.
This episode was written, researched and produced by Erika Gwynn
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Music:
Matt Clarke - Conspirators 
Ars Sonor - Efterdyningen
Broke For Free - Like Swimming

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This podcast contains graphic descriptions, explicitlanguage, and audio clips that may be
disturbing to some audiences. Listener discretionis advised. The Apex on the Abyss
presents The Chasm Episode seventeen, TheClamor Girl Slayer. In our last episode,

(00:28):
we discussed the horrible crimes of RussellWilliams, a man who compulsively documented
his crimes and took photographs of hisvictims. You may be shocked to know
that while Russell Williams's crimes were uniqueto him, being a sadistic voyor was
not. Harvey Glatman was born inthe Bronx on December tenth, nineteen twenty

(00:51):
seven, to Ophelia and Albert Glatman. Harvey would spend some time in Colorado
as a young boy, but eventuallyhim and his parents would move back to
New York. From an early age, his parents knew that something was off
about him. Harvey was an onlychild, so he did not have siblings
to play with. Beyond that,his parents noted that he was very antisocial.

(01:15):
As a toddler, Harvey exhibited behaviorthat was far from normal. He
was what one would call a sadomasochists, which means that Harvey found sexual
gratification from inflicting pain and or humiliationupon himself or another person. It is
alleged that when he was between theages of three and four, Harvey had

(01:38):
been seen tying a string around hisgenitals and placing the loose end of the
string within a shut drawer and leaningbackwards so that he could feel the discomfort
of his genitals being pulled. Afew years later, mister and Missus Glatman
would come home to find their sonwith a swollen and burned neck from a
rope. He had been previously caughtmasturbating while asphyxiating himself with a rope.

(02:04):
His father would bet him and throwhomophobic slurs at him for these actions.
When Harvey entered junior high, hisbehavior began to escalate to even more unhealthy
levels. Being an adolescent boy enteringpuberty, Harvey was going through what most
young adults go through, and it'stypically very awkward. He was getting taller,

(02:27):
had acne on his face, andthings of that nature. Puberty can
sometimes be quite unkind, and socan your peers. Harvey suffered from severe
facial acne and had large front teethand his ears stuck out, which caused
him to be the butt of manyjokes amongst his classmates. This bullying crushed
Harvey's self esteem and he never daredspeak to the girls he had crushes on.

(02:53):
Around this time, Harvey had begunto accumulate quite a rap sheet.
He would break into the homes andapartments of women, bind them with rope
so they couldn't move, and hewould sexually assault them. He would also
take their photographs. He was caughtin nineteen forty five, and while awaiting
trial for one case, he wouldcommit another act of burglary and molestation of

(03:15):
a woman. After this woman wentto the police, Harvey was arrested and
sent to prison for eight months.Harvey was arrested quite a few times,
and within his multiple prison stints,while still a teenager, Harvey was diagnosed
as having a split personality, anxietyand depression, and once even psychotic.
After he was released from prison again, Harvey moved to Albany, New York.

(03:38):
By nineteen forty five, he wasarrested again for robbing multiple people.
He also attempted to sexually assault anurse as well as two other women,
all of which were able to escapeand report each incident to the police.
These particular crimes landed him a sentenceof five to ten years in prison.
Within this correctional facility, he wasevaluated by the doctor and diagnosed as a

(04:00):
psychopath. Regardless of this diagnosis,Harvey did not serve his full sentence,
and he was released on good behaviorafter only serving a few years. Conditions
of his parole stated that he wasto remain under the same roof as his
parents in Denver, Colorado, hehad to get a full time job,
and he was not to commit anycrimes for an additional four years, which

(04:24):
Harvey seemed to do, or atleast he wasn't caught. Harvey's father would
die in nineteen fifty two, leavingHarvey and Ophelia alone together for a few
years. Harvey would eventually move toLos Angeles, California, in nineteen fifty
seven. When he arrived in LaHarvey began working as a television repairman to

(04:44):
make ends meet, but he alsobegan posing as a photographer. Photography had
been a hobby that Harvey would pickup off and on over the years.
Harvey would meet a nineteen year oldwoman by the name of Judy Anne dull.
He had come to her apartment underthe guys of a man named Johnny
Glynn, a model photographer. Hewas looking for one of Judy's roommates,

(05:05):
Lynn, but she wasn't home.However, this Johnny asked Judy if she
would be interested in modeling for himfor some money. Judy jumped at this
opportunity. She had recently become estrangedfrom her husband and was in the process
of divorce and was prepping to battlefor custody of their young daughter. They

(05:25):
set up to meet on August first, nineteen fifty seven, to take photographs.
When Harvey arrived at the apartment,he told Judy, who was at
home with her other roommate, Betty, that he wanted to shoot some pin
up photos, but that Judy shouldalso bring in a array of other outfits.
Allegedly, Harvey was like Judy's shadowwhile in the apartment. He was

(05:45):
lurking behind her the entire time untilthey left, something that her roommate noted
as weird. The pair would goback to Harvey's apartment, where he proceeded
to photograph and rape her. Hewould bind her hands together with rope and
then drive her out to the Californiadesert, where he led her to believe
that he was going to release her. On the way out into the desert,

(06:09):
Harvey would stop the car and rapeJudy again. He would then bind
her feet together, place a ropearound her neck, and strangle her until
she was dead. He would thenleave her body in a shallow grave.
In March of nineteen fifty eight,Harvey would pose as a man named George
Williams. He would meet a womanby the name of Shirley Bridgeford at the

(06:30):
Patty Sullivan Lonely Hearts Club. Shirleyhad recently become single and she was beginning
to date again. The pair decidedto go out dancing. While on the
drive, Harvey would pull out agun. He would take Shirley back to
his apartment and force her to undress. He would then rape her, and,
just like with Judy, he wouldtake her photograph. Harvey would then

(06:54):
drive Shirley out to the desert,where he would murder Shirley and take photographs
of her dead body before leaving thisscene of the crime. Her body was
left out in the open. Itwas attacked by animals and decomposed rapidly due
to the elements A few months later, Harvey would meet Ruth Mercado. This
time he called himself Frank Wilson.He was posing as a photographer when he

(07:15):
met Ruth. At the time,she was too under the weather to partake
in a photo shoot, so theyrescheduled it. However, Harvey would return
to her home later that night,where he held her at gunpoint and sexually
assaulted her for hours. When itwas daylight, Harvey forced Ruth out to
his car, where he took herout into the desert and murdered her in

(07:38):
the same fashion as his previous victims. Harvey would later describe his method of
killing. He has been quoted sayingwith each one, I did the same
way. After I attacked them,I knew I had to kill them,
for they could identify me and identifymy car. So I had drive into
the desert, sometimes on the pretenseof taking more pictures, sometimes with out

(08:00):
any reason. I would make themkneel down. With everyone, it was
the same with the gun on them. I would tie this five foot piece
of rope around their ankles, thenI would loop it up around their neck.
Then I would stand there and keeppulling until they quit struggling. Harvey
would also speak about Ruth during hiseventual interrogation. She was one I really

(08:20):
liked, so I told her wewere going out to a deserted spot where
we wouldn't be bothered for a whilewhile I took more pictures. We spent
most of the day out in thedesert. I took a lot more pictures
and tried and tried to figure outto keep from killing her. But I
couldn't come up with any answer.So I got out the rope and did
it the same way I did theothers. I piled some brush and debris

(08:43):
on her body and left her there. About a month later, Harvey would
meet Lorraine Vigil. He had wantedto kill the owner of a modeling agency,
but once he saw Lorraine, heset his sights on her. Harvey
attempted to abduct Lorraine, but shewas able to escape his grasp. Harvey

(09:03):
would fire and a bullet would grazeher thigh, but she was able to
grab the gun after she bit hishand and hold him at gunpoint until she
was able to alert someone to whathappened. Harvey Glatman would be arrested.
During his interrogation, Harvey quickly confessedto his crimes, not just his attempted

(09:24):
abduction of Lorraine, but the murdersof Judy Ann Dull, Shirley Bridgeford,
and Ruth Mercado. He would eventell them about his toolbox that contained the
photos of his crimes, as wellas clothing belonging to some of his victims.
When he was asked why he killedthese women, he said, the
reason I killed those girls was becausethey asked me too. They said they

(09:48):
would rather be dead than be withme. With Harvey's cooperation, they were
able to locate the bodies of hisvictims. During his trial, Harvey's mother
tried to tell people that her sonwas sick, as if he wasn't in
control of his actions. His lawyertried to do the same and presented Harvey
as a person suffering from severe mentalillness and was not responsible for his actions.

(10:11):
They were leaning towards an insanity plea. Harvey would go under a psychiatric
evaluation, but however, it concludedthat he did not suffer from any sort
of psychosis and he was fully awareof everything that he was doing. Harvey
Glatman would be found guilty of twocounts of first degree murder At this Harvey

(10:33):
would request to be sentenced to death. He did not want to spend the
rest of his life in prison.On September eighteenth, nineteen fifty nine,
Harvey Glatman's sentence was carried out.He entered the gas chamber at San Quentin
Saint Prison, where it would taketwelve minutes for him to die. Harvey
Glatman was thirty one years old atthe time of his death. After his

(10:56):
execution, Harvey Glatman was cremated itHis mother, Ophelia, never came to
claim her son's remains. His asheswere placed in a mass grave at Napa
Valley Memorial Park. Thank you forlistening to this episode of The Apex and

(11:16):
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(11:37):
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