The storyville slayer is the nickname given to the elusive serial killer who murdered 24 or possibly more women, mostly prostitutes, as if he knew no one was coming to look for them, These murders took place in the span of 5 years between 1991 and 1996. This is one of those unsolved horror stories that keep you up at night, wondering who could be the storyville slayer? It all started on 13th of august when Howard Stern got a call from a guy who claimed to kill 12 women, considering it to be a hoax, the call was forwarded for fun and laughs but it turned out to be something much more sinister.
The Howard Stern Show
The Howard Stern show is not your ordinary run of the mill radio show, It is one of the most talked about shows in America that aired from 1996-2005. It was famous for howard’s lowbrow comedy and his misogynistic humor, he managed to engage about 20 million listeners which is a lot considering this was in the 90s, Howard stern caught the attention of fcc and a total fine of 2.5 million dollars was imposed on him for indecent on air material. On 13th of august 1997, his show was airing as usual and he got a call, he used to get a lot of disturbing calls but they mostly turned out to be prank calls, but this call was off from the start, as the call went on they realized this wasn’t just an ordinary caller, they were actually talking to a serial killer.
Analysis of the call;
The original audio of the call was 17 minutes long.During the first few seconds of the call, howard manages to assess the person he’s talking to is actually legit and not a hoax, the way he gets offended over howard calling him by the wrong name and not the accusation of killing prostitutes .. is something, He went on by saying they can call him “clay” which proved his narcissistic nature.
At the first minute you can notice a pattern, the conversation shifts into more of an interrogative direction, stern starts taking his casual behavior seriously and takes a serious approach, Considering his victims are mostly prostitutes, he asked whether he engages in sexual contact which is kinda helpful for the police in looking for dna evidence if they find the bodies. Stern further asks about his way of killing which is mostly a giveaway to tell if hes actually legit or not, Clay hesitates before saying he bludgeons them to death with a hammer (most of the times ) , he hesitated which showed he wasnt lying. Because well the hesitation wasnt really long enough to make up a lie but who knows maybe he did lie.
Stern kept inquiring to get further clues to help solve the cases by asking for the location where he mainly performed the murders, and then to test his sanity he used the method called the macdonald triad, which is a test named after psychiatrist J.M. Macdonald, who proposed in a 1963 article in the American Journal of Psychiatry that future serial violence and even murder can often be predicted in children who simultaneously engage in chronic bedwetting, compulsive arson, and cruelty toward animals but it was later found that this theory was more useful in discovering childhood abuse and neglect rather than predicting future serial killers.It’s almost hilarious how many times stern and robin hint at clay to kill himself but he stays on call,almost as if he’s dying to confess to someone. Clay then calmly confesses being a serial killer… like who does that.
Notice something shift in clay’s behavior after he confirmed if he’s talking to howard? His pattern of breathing changed and his answers started getting more n more sudden as if he’s talking to someone he trusted, Stern asked questions about his first killings which could help build a case against him in the future, it was a really intellectual approach from stern. Him leaving clues sounds like he’s inspired from the “riddler” in batman, or the zodiac killer even because he wanted fame too. Its almost as if he couldn’t get the attention he wanted so he had to go on live tv to get some recognition. Later in the audio he talks about thumb painting which he saw in a comic which further proves hes a comic book fan which is a totally normal trait if you resonate with the hero but he resonated more with the villains.
Stern starts inquiring about whether he has any family which could help the police kinda single him out, Clay hesitates again then further on clay goes on to reveal something strange, that the police hadnt revealed yet, that the prime suspect in his investigation was Victor Grant who we’ll discuss later in the video.
Clay makes a reference to Jimmy Swaggart town, Jimmy Swaggart is a famous televangelist. Jimmy’s ministeries were located in Baton Rouge Louisiana at the time of the call. It’s population is over 50% black and most of Clay’s victims were black so it makes sense. Later in the clip, Clay talks about how he lets girls that he deems innocent go, which is kinda ironic, for a serial killer to kill people because they’re not innocent. Stern and robin can be seen trying to get him to reveal his job but obviously Clay’s not having it.
Its weird how despite having a family his only motivation for not killing himself is the next batman movie, even his way of killing is inspired by comics. Stern kinda gave up when he figured out he couldnt get him to change his mind. The way he just casually says “bababooey’’ just goes on to show how little regard he has for someone’s life.
Howard adds a psychologist to the line who again references the macdonald triad, but oh well. The psychologist further analysed his behaviour but there was no point, so howard cut the call.
Investigation:
The FBI went to their studio and asked for a copy of their tape, after that howard never spoke of the call publically. After the call an investigative team was made and they had 2 prime suspects, Victor Grant & Russell Ellwood.
Victor Gant:
Victor Gant was a former police officer, He spent a lot of time at red light districts where he made acquaintances with some sex workers, drug dealers and pimps. He became roommates with Sharon Robinson, at the same time he was running racketeering operations and gained quite a reput for being corrupt. Robinson went to the police to report him for beating her, and according to her statement, Gant punched her in the face and broke her nose. Gant denied the accusation, stating that he had pushed her during an argument, with Robinson hitting her nose on a chair – this was contradicted by her children, who said that they had witnessed him beating their mother. This was backed up by the emergency room doctor, who testified that the woman’s injuries were the result of a beating.
In early 1995, a disciplinary panel and hearing to determine Gant’s punishment began. During the hearing, members of the disciplinary committee reviewed the testimony of the prosecution’s witnesses. The key witness was supposed to be Robinson, but she was found dead on May 1, 1995. According to the investigators, Gant had killed both her and her friend, Karen Ivester, in order to get rid of them. According to friends and acquaintances of the victims, Gant held a personal grudge against Ivester and had spoken negatively about her on multiple occasions. In order to determine whether he was guilty or not, Gant was ordered to submit DNA for testing to see whether they could match it to the perpetrator’s saliva, which was found on a piece of chewing tobacco found near Ivester’s body. The results were inconclusive and no charges were filed against Gant, who was dismissed from the force in August 1996.
In 1991, a woman came forward, recalling the night of her attack, saying she was attacked in “Algiers” where Gant spent his youth, she was assaulted and strangled, and left for dead. She woke up 6 hours later n found herself covered with garbage, she stated the attacker was a “clean cut, well-dressed black male with a muscular build” which is very similar to Gant’s physical appearance.
Russell Ellwood
Another suspect that matched the description of the storyville slayer was Russell Ellwood, he had no permanent profession and mostly stuck to photography and cab driving, which kinda made sense because Clay stressed how important his car was to him and without it he couldnt commit the murders. In 1994, Ellwood was apprehended by the police, he had his car parked by the side of the road where the murders of Cheryl Lewis and Delores Macks bodies were found, he was found masturbating, which matched what clay said about beating off to the murders later. He was taken in for questioning regarding the murders then he was considered a suspect.
Ellwood was informed of his rights, and within three days gave several statements recorded on tape. During the interrogations, he admitted to frequenting black prostitutes throughout his life, claiming that he knew more than 100 girls. A number of other inmates witnessed a fight between Ellwood and another inmate, during which he allegedly said “Yeah, I killed that nigger bitch. I’ll kill you too.” Another inmate also told police that Ellwood had boasted of being wanted for more than 60 murders within the state of Louisiana, and had even described to him in detail one of them.
The trial:
During the trial many witness came forth and testified as prosecution, claiming he confessed to the killings, and many other witnesses testified his violent behavior saying he would drug them, rape them and beat them but they managed to flee but couldnt report the incident because of their criminal records. A couple more said they saw Russell walking with Cheryl Lewis a few days before her disappearance but Cheryl’s mother didnt really see him before. A lot of the details of this case didnt match the description of “Clay” but all evidence pointed towards Russell being guilty. He was charged with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Discrepancies;
- If we assume clay was being honest, a lot of the details dont match, like Clay didn’t drug his victims before he had consensual sex, whereas Ellwood drugged his victims because he liked having sex with girls who werent in control of their bodies often luring them with LSD, cocaine while Clay didnt do drugs
- Clay mostly just killed out of boredom and killed straight away while Ellwood was the opposite, Clay’s methods of killing were different (hammer and once strangulation) while Ellwood used drug overdose and strangulation.
- Cheryl was a nurse while Clay’s victims were mostly prostitutes.
- Clay mentioned the words “the running game” while Ellwood liked his victims weak and helpless
- There was no mention of Ellwood setting fires in his childhood like Clay revealed
- The call was placed on 13th of August while Ellwood was detained on 4th August so there is no way he could’ve made that call behind bars
Aftermath:
It’s believed the real killer is still out there because, like we discussed before, a lot of things didn’t fit the narrative of what Clay told howard (if he’s telling the truth) , Clay could’ve been lying or not, there is no way to know, But its scary knowing there is a serial killer out there who got away with 24 or more murders. Some people say the police should do more, now that there is genotyping available but sadly, there is no talk of this case being solved.
