Diary Of Torture

Album: Murder Metal (2003)
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Songfacts®:

  • This death metal track would be lurid enough if it were not grounded solidly in fact. Subtitled "Robert Berdella," the Chicago band based it on the crimes of this little known but incredibly depraved serial killer.

    On April 2, 1988, a young man naked but for a dog collar (though not the type worn by vicars), jumped from an upper floor window of a house in Kansas City. The man who escaped from 4315 Charlotte Street had injured his foot in the fall, but his other injuries were shocking in the extreme; he had been imprisoned for weeks and had been repeatedly tortured. His appearance in such bizarre circumstances led to the arrest of Robert Andrew Berdella.

    The details of Berdella's crimes need not be spelled out here, it will suffice to say that he is known to have committed at least six murders. Although murder was capital in Kansas, Berdella escaped the death penalty, but died in prison of a heart attack in October 1992 aged 43. He did indeed keep a diary of torture. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England

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