Why Serial Killers Like Richard Ramirez and Larry Eyler Embraced the Pentagram

Jesse Pomeroy, who terrorized Boston in the 1870s and helped inspire Caleb Carr’s 1994 novel “The Alienist,” began his criminal career at age 11 beating and torturing younger children. At age 14, he killed and mutilated two children, ages 10 and 4 – leading to a trial where he became the youngest person convicted of first-degree murder in Massachusetts. His initial death sentence was commuted to life in solitary confinement. He died in 1932.