Background
Alfred Gaynor was born in 1967 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Alfred Gaynor was born in 1967 in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Gaynor, a former handyman and crack addict worked odd jobs in the 1990s. He met several of his victims in a mutual search for crack cocaine and robbed some for drug money after strangling and raping them. He killed 9 women between April 1995 and February 1998.
Gaynor was arrested on April 10, 1998.
He was originally convicted of murdering JoAnn C. Thomas, Loretta Daniels, Rosemary A. Downs and Joyce L. Dickerson-Peay and sentenced to life in prison on May 19, 2000. After the death of his 67-year-old mother in 2006, he admitted to the rapes and murders.
Gaynor admitted to killing Smith, while Fickling pleaded guilty to manslaughter, reducing his sentence to 19 to 20 years in prison minus the 14 he had already served. On April 30, 1998, Gaynor was caught on video being attacked in court by a victim"s son.
The son, significantly larger than Gaynor, delivered several punches and then hit Gaynor with a chair before officers were able to gain control.
In 2005, Gaynor"s art titled "A Righteous Manitoba"s Reward", depicting Jesus was offered on an online auction. In 2010, Gaynor tried to sell hair samples and a vampire drawing online. Vera East. Hallums, 45 - found tied, beaten and strangled in her apartment on April 20, 1995.
Amy Smith, 20 - found in her apartment on July 11, 1996 with her 22-month-old daughter Destiny Smith, who died of starvation and dehydration.
Jill Ann Ermellini, 34 - found in the cab of a truck in an auto body yard on June 16, 1997. Robin M. Atkins, 29 - found strangled, bound and gagged in a downtown alley on October
25, 1997. JoAnn C. Thomas, 38 - found in her home on November
1, 1997. Yvette Torres, 33 - her partially clothed body was found propped against the bathroom door of her apartment on November 15, 1997. Loretta Daniels, 38 - found in an alley on February
2, 1998. Rosemary A. Downs, 42 - found in her home on February
11, 1998. Joyce L. Dickerson-Peay, 37 - found outside an empty restaurant on March 11, 1998.
