Author's socials
Quick facts
Background
Danny Rolling was born into violence. His police officer father, James Rolling, routinely beat his wife Claudia, who tried several times over the years to leave her abusive husband—often staying away for months—but she always came back.
The Rolling brothers were beaten by their father beginning when they were toddlers. When Danny brought home a puppy, his father beat the dog so often that it eventually died in Danny’s arms. Danny’s teenage years were marked by drug and alcohol abuse, petty crimes and attempts at running away.
After a brief stint in the U.S. Air Force, Rolling married Omatha Ann Halko, who was pregnant with his daughter, Kiley Danielle, born in 1975. The couple divorced in 1977, after which Rolling reportedly committed his first rape.
Soon, Rolling was robbing grocery stores and other businesses across the South, which landed him in a Georgia prison by 1979, followed by a stretch in Alabama. He frequently escaped from prison but was always caught and returned. By the 1980s, Rolling was traveling around the country, committing robberies and other crimes. He eventually went to prison again, this time in Mississippi, where he attempted another escape.
During his prison sentences, Rolling began lifting weights and soon developed a powerful physique. After returning to Shreveport and getting fired from a restaurant job for repeated absences in November 1989, Rolling began committing a gruesome series of crimes.
Key Events and Timeline
Two days after Rolling was fired, police in Shreveport discovered the bloody bodies of Tom Grissom, his 24-year-old daughter, Julie Grissom, and her 8-year-old nephew, Sean. All three victims had been stabbed to death, and after Julie’s murder, her body was cleaned and repositioned into a pose.
Rolling had a violent clash with his father, James, in May 1990. This time, however, James was left bleeding after his son shot him multiple times in the head and stomach. James survived the shooting but lost the use of an eye, among other injuries.
Rolling’s criminal behavior continued throughout 1990 from Louisiana to Florida, where he robbed stores, burgled homes and stole cars. By August, he had raped a woman in Sarasota, Fla., before making his way to Gainesville.
The University of Florida college semester just started, and many new freshmen were settling into their apartments, including Sonja Larson and Christina Powell. Rolling followed them home on August 24, then broke into their apartment and bound Larson’s mouth shut with duct tape while she was sleeping. He proceeded to stab her to death.
He then taped Powell’s mouth, bound her wrists, raped and stabbed her. After posing the women’s bodies in provocative positions, he took a shower and left.
The following day, Rolling hid in 18-year-old Christa Hoyt’s apartment until she arrived home. He once again bound, raped and severely mutilated his victim’s body before decapitating her and placing her head on a shelf.
On the night of August 27, Rolling broke into another apartment and found Manny Taboada asleep, then stabbed him to death. Taboada’s roommate, Tracy Paules, was next—she was bound, raped and stabbed before her body was placed into a sexually provocative position.
