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Living With a Serial Killer is scheduled to revisit the decades-old killings of Edward Wayne Edwards, one of America's most notorious serial killers who has recently become the talk of the internet, in its upcoming episode this Saturday, August 20, 2022, at 9 pm ET. The official synopsis of the episode titled Edward Wayne Edwards reads:
"After getting away with murder for over three decades, one of the FBI's most wanted shocks investigators when he readily admits to five murders; his son discloses a family life on the run and his attempts to step out of an evil father's shadow."
Trigger warning: This article contains information about graphic violence.
Ed Edwards, the convicted serial killer who died of natural causes on death row, confessed to five murders after his own daughter, April Balascio, tipped off authorities to zero in on her abusive father in 2009. Until then, he was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list for prison breaks, robberies, and arson cases.
When his daughter traced back his crimes to the murders that occurred decades ago, the cold cases and unexplained murders re-emerged, and this time, investigators had an indentification of the killer. It all started when April contacted authorities with disturbing details about the 1980 Wisconsin murder of two teenagers.
Read further to learn more about Edward Wayne Edwards, the theorized Zodiac Killer and alleged murderer of hundreds of others, who was on the run from law enforcement for decades and got away with murder until there was no escape left.
Edward Wayne Edwards murdered atleast five people
Ever since childhood, April had a sneaking suspicion that her handyman father, Edward Wayne Edwards, was a murderer. At the age of 50, the mother-of-three finally connected the dots, recalling the day in 1977 when her allegedly abusive father drove her to the location where he fatally shot Billy Lavaco (21) and Judith Straub (18) before leaving their bodies to rot in Norton, Ohio.
Although the Norton murders were the start of a killing spree, the confession only came after the first one-the Concord, Wisconsin, 1980 murder of teen sweethearts Tim Hack and Kelly Drew, both 19. The decades-old cold case brought him down when his daughter connected the timelines of the brutal murders that took place in Watertown within the few months their family stayed there. She was 11 years old at the time.
Edward Wayne Edwards' second confession about Lovaco and Straub's 1977 murder only came after he was charged with a double homicide at the age of 77. The idea of spending his remaining years in prison made him confess to more murders in hopes of receiving a death sentence. He was ultimately tricked into confessing to his fifth killing-the 1996 unsolved murder of Dannie Gloeckner, his 24-year-old foster son.
Over the years, true-crime investigators and theorists have connected Edwards to several other murders, like the infamous Los Angeles Black Dahlia murder case in 1947 and the 1996 case of child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey. Some even claim that Edward Wayne Edwards is the notorious Zodiac Killer, who remains unidentified to date.
However, Nell Darby, a crime historian and associate lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, refutes the idea of Ed Edwards being the Zodiac Killer. Speaking on the matter, she reportedly said,
"I'd treat the theories that he was responsible for some high-profile cases with a degree of caution."
Nell added,
"The Zodiac Killer theory is less easy to dismiss, because of his own family’s belief that he may have been responsible. However, given that many serial killers need approbation for the ‘cleverness’ of their crimes, I find it unlikely because he never admitted to it or even boasted about it later."
Only five murders were admitted to by Edward Wayne Edwards before he passed away in 2011 while on death row.
Tune in to Living With a Serial Killer on Oxygen this Saturday, August 20, 2022, at 9:00 pm ET to learn more about the high-profile case of Ed Edwards, dubbed one of the most prolific serial killers in American history.
