Herb Baumeister: The secret life of a notorious serial killer

Herb Baumeister was the oldest of his siblings. He was born on 7th April 1947, in Indianapolis. He was an average student and didn’t cause significant disciplinary problems until he began to stand out among his peers negatively as he grew older. Initially, he made crude jokes towards his classmates that were more terrifying than amusing. Later, he became a provocateur of fights, and his name ended up on teachers' blacklists. Herb also discovered a cruel passion: an unhealthy fascination with corpses. He would bring home animals that had been hit by cars. One day, he took a dead crow from the street and placed it on his teacher's desk.

The teenager's behaviour eventually alarmed educators and doctors, who diagnosed Herb with schizophrenia. Unfortunately, his family refused treatment. It’s important to remember that several decades ago, there were many harmful myths surrounding mental disorders and illnesses like schizophrenia, leading to societal fear and stigmatization of those affected.

He couldn’t get close to his wife

When Baumeister turned 24, he got married. His chosen one was Julie, whom he kept at a distance from the beginning, ignoring her feelings. He avoided being alone with his wife like the plague. The thought of having sex with Julie scared him the most. Therefore, he decreed that any intimate encounters could only occur in complete darkness, and under no circumstances could Julie see him naked. Initially, the woman attributed everything to Herb being shy. She was even impressed, perceiving her beloved's distance as a sign of respect.

As we learn from Ryan Green's book "Husband, Father, Strangler," which you can listen to as an audiobook on the Audioteka platform, Baumeister was a closeted homosexual. He was always attracted to men, although sex with them (Herb began cheating on his wife) did not bring him the satisfaction he dreamed of. Quite the opposite. He found the encounters frustrating as his lovers were focused solely on their own pleasure.

Baumeister became increasingly irritated by the lack of fulfilment. He needed strong stimuli, so he began using the services of male prostitutes. He treated sex with his wife as a marital chore and, as Julie later testified, in 25 years of marriage, she had only six sexual encounters with her husband. The couple had three children, who were the apple of their proud father’s eye. However, as one might easily guess, Herb approached his wife solely to conceive children.

Hunting for victims

Eventually, the man’s homosexual tendencies, untreated schizophrenia, and morbid fascination with corpses took over Herb’s life. Baumeister began looking for victims among young hitchhikers, whom he first sexually exploited under the pretence of giving them a ride and then killed. He crept near the M6 and in gay bars in Indianapolis, where he used the alias Brian Smart. He transported the bodies of his victims to his property and buried them in the garden.

The family had no idea what Herb was doing when he left the house. His wife and children were firmly convinced that their husband and father spent their time at work. The man never gave any indication of what he was truly up to.

In 1996, Julie decided to divorce her husband, who couldn’t control his increasingly explosive behaviour. It was at this time, in the absence of her now ex-husband, that she contacted the police, agreeing to a search of their property. She remembered a situation two years prior when one of Herb’s would-be victims identified him, and investigators intended to check the Baumeisters’ home.

Herb had previously refused police action, and the court did not issue a search warrant due to lack of evidence. This time was different. Officers discovered 11 male skeletons on the property. However, Baumeister never confessed to any of the murders and never faced justice for his crimes. A few days after the police action at his home, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.