Carl Eugene Watts was born on November 7, 1953, in Killeen, Texas to Richard Eugene Watts and Dorothy Mae Young. Carl, nicknamed Coral, began fantasizing about torturing women and young girls at the age of 12. When he was 20 years old, he started kidnapping women, torturing and murdering them. He attacked thin, white women between the ages of 14 and 44 in multiple states between 1974 and 1982.
On August 16, 1974, 16-year-old Nadine Jean O'Dell vanished from Inkster, Michigan, and has never been found. Carl is a suspect in her disappearance.
On October 25, 1974, 23-year-old Lenore Knizacky was choked into unconsciousness by Carl. She survived the attack.
On October 30, 1974, Carl stabbed 20-year-old Gloria Steele, a Western Michigan University student, 33 times in the chest.
A woman, Diane Williams, witnessed the attack and Carl then turned his attention t her. The two fought, she escaped and Carl was later identified. He was charged with assault and battery, incarcerated, and released from prison in 1976.
After his release, he moved in with his mother and father. Carl had a daughter, Nakisha, with a childhood friend, Deloris Howard. After the couple broke up, he married Valerie Goodwill. Carl would dump trash on their floors, move their furniture constantly, chop houseplants with knives, and other erratic behavior that caused the pair to split after six months of marriage.
After five women were raped and killed in the area, media outlets began to call the perpetrator the "Sunday Morning Slasher." Most of the attacks took place on Sunday mornings around 4:00 am.
On October 31, 1979, 44-year-old Jeanne Clyne, a reporter for the Detroit News, was stabbed eleven times and killed in broad daylight.
On April 20, 1980, a 17-year-old high school student was stabbed twice in the heart outside her home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
26-year-old Glenda Richmond was killed on July 13, 1980, in Ann Arbor.
Then, on September 14, 1980, 20-year-old Rebecca Huff, a University of Michigan graduate student, was horrifically stabbed 50 times in front of her home.
On November 15, 1980, Carl was pulled over by two Ann Arbor police officers who saw him stalking a woman who was walking home. They searched his vehicle and found a dictionary that belonged to Rebecca Huff, but it was insufficient evidence to arrest him for her murder.
Afterward, in the spring of 1981, Carl relocated to Columbus, Texas where he worked for an oil firm during the day and spent his evenings traveling over 70 miles to hunt for victims in Houston.
In September 1981, 22-year-old Linda Talley was drowned in her apartment swimming pool. One week later Carl stabbed 25-year-old Elizabeth Montgomery.
January 1982, 21-year-old Susan Wolf was stabbed and killed as well as 27-year-old Phyllis Tamm, who was attacked while she was jogging. Carl hung her from a tree branch.
Two days later, 25-year-old architecture student, Margret Fossi, was found deceased in the trunk of her car at Rice University. Carl told authorities he burned her personal items to "destroy her spirit" court records state.
January 16, 1982, he slit the throat of Julia Sanchez as she fixed her flat tire on a Houston highway. Although Carl thought he left Julia dead on the side of the road, she survived the brutal attack.
19-year-old Patsy Johnson was attacked on January 30, 1982, and also survived.
20-year-old Michelle Maday answered her door on May 23, 1982, for a stranger who drowned her in her own bathtub.
The same day, Carl broke into the apartment of 18-year-old Melinda Aguilar and 21-year-old Lori Lister. He choked Lori first and then began choking Melissa. She pretended to be unconscious and was able to escape. She came back with help and saved Lori, and Carl was later arrested.
Carl agreed to a plea deal of 60 years and he took authorities to the bodies of three of his victims. Michigan State tried and convicted him and sentenced him to life in prison without eligibility for parole.
He died on September 21, 2007, of prostate cancer in a Jackson, Michigan hospital.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local News
Comments / 0