Charles Jackson (serial killer)

Charles Jackson, Jr., known as The East Bay Slayer, was an American serial killer, responsible for the murders of at least 7 women and one man between 1975 and 1982. All crimes were committed in Contra Costa County, in the San Francisco Bay Area. His exposure occurred only a few years after his death, based on results from DNA profiling. Jackson is suspected of committing several more murders during the 1970s and 1980s around the Contra Costa area, in which at least 5 other serial killers also operated in that time frame. Early years: Charles Jackson, Jr. was born on February 12, 1937 in Louisiana. Shortly after birth, his family moved to Mississippi, where young Charles grew up in the countryside. He lived in a socially disadvantageous environment, as his father was an alcoholic who was aggressive towards him and other family members. Due to material difficulties, Jackson dropped out of high school in the early 1950s and started spending a lot of time on the street. He became involved with the criminal subcultures, and soon delved into crime himself. Criminal career: In 1953, at the age of 16, Jackson was first arrested and charged with theft. Subsequently, over the next 28 years, he was repeatedly arrested on charges of committing crimes such as burglary, rape, assault and molestation of minors (dates include March 2, 1962; January 11, 1965; May 15, 1967; October 1969; June 9, 1970; August 21, 1975 and May 22, 1978). The last time he was released was on September 12, 1981, after which he started work as a day laborer for some time, as well as doing other odd jobs. On January 2, 1982, Jackson attacked Joan Stewart, raping, strangling and stabbing her several times in the woodlands near Montclair. During the investigation, several eyewitnesses to the crime were found who wrote down the license plate on Jackson's car, on the basis of which he was arrested on three days later, and charged with Stewart's murder. In 1983, he was found guilty and received a sentence of life imprisonment as punishment. Implication in other killings: Charles Jackson spent the rest of his life in the Folsom State Prison, where he died in February 2002 from a heart attack. A month after his death, DNA testing of biological samples from him were carried out on samples found on the bodies of various women and girls, killed throughout Contra Costa County during the 1970s and 1980s. In 2005, based on results from the DNA research, Jackson's involvement was revealed in the following murders: Sonya Higginbotham (19), killed in June 1975 in Auckland; Ann Johnson (27), killed in August of that same year in Montclair; Cynthia Waxman (11), killed on April 22, 1978 in Moraga; Henry Villa (62) and his wife Edith (59), killed on November 22, 1981 in Albany Hill; Betty Grantzweig (37), killed on December 4, 1982 in Oakland; and finally, Gail Slocum (34), killed on December 8th of that year, also in Oakland. All of the women had been raped and strangled. Jackson's true victim count is currently unknown, since there were at least five other serial killers in the Contra Costa area during his murder spree.