Number 8: Walter C. Kaniski

A Long Beach local and Marine Corps veteran. After serving in Vietnam for two tours, Kaniski returned to the United States a much different man. After bouncing in and out of treatment for several years, he eventually had a psychotic break and started drifting the streets of Los Angeles. The number of victims that have fallen to Kaniski's actions range from at least four to as many as fifty over the past twenty years.

Due to the level of decay of many of the victims, it's difficult to ascertain whether they were actual murder victims or simply died of other, probably just as unpleasant causes. Not only that but many of people that were theoretically his victims have never been found, blurring the line between "missing persons" and "murder victims." In this day and age it's hard to keep footage of your drinking off of Facebook, much less succesfully conceal multiple murders-- especially if you're a crazed drifter.

Kaniski stalked the coasts of Southern California beginning in 1975 and culminating in his alleged death by police. Due to the fact that Kaniski has been off the grid since the early 1970's, it actually couldn't be confirmed whether the person killed by police was Kaniski or not.

Where this gets even more intriguing is that there's been a number of missing persons near his old haunts, leading some to believe that he is still alive and well (for lack of a better word).

Thanks to people like Kaniski we now have access to the rich stereotype of the Vietnam-veteran run amok. Way to make their lives even harder, Mr. Kaniski. I'm sure they didn't have enough problems to worry about before you showed up.

The legacy of Kaniski remains to this day in his home town. Rumor has it, though, if you go out to the coast on a full moon and listen hard enough on a quiet enough night, you can still hear Kaniski screaming in violent rage. Most likely it is barking seals, though. To be fair, they can be pretty mean.

James Kislingbury for Citadel Interactive © 2009 

Photo courtesy of Photodisc

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