Education
One of four children, Engleman graduated in dentistry at Washington University in Saint Louis, in 1954.
One of four children, Engleman graduated in dentistry at Washington University in Saint Louis, in 1954.
Engleman was a sociopath. He once stated that his talent was to kill without remorse and he enjoyed planning and carrying out killings and disposing of the remains, in order that it would Netto him financial rewards. Methods used to kill his victims included shooting, bludgeoning with a sledgehammer and car-bombing.
Engleman died in prison of a diabetes-related condition in 1999.
The exact number of his victims is unknown. He had been admitted under the GI Bill, having previously served in the United States Army Air Corps.
1958: Engleman is suspected of the death of James Bullock, 27, clerk. Shot near the Street Louis Art Museum.
Was married to Engleman’s ex-wife Edna Ruth, who upon Bullock’s death collected $64,000.
Struck him with a rock, pushed him down a well, and used dynamite to blow him up afterwards. He then divided the insurance proceeds with Frey"s widow. 1976: Peter J. Halm. Shot in Pacific, Missouri.
1977: Arthur and Vernita Gusewelle at their farmhouse near Edwardsville, Illinois.
Arthur shot; Vernita bashed to death. Engleman was not convicted of these three deaths, but confessed to them while in prison.
1980: Sophie Marie Barrera, owner of south Street Louis dental laboratory. Killed in car bomb explosion.
Engleman owed her over $14,000.
Engleman was married twice, first to Edna Ruth and then to Ruth Jolley, with whom he had a son, David Engleman. Corbin Bernsen played a man who resembled Engleman in Appointment for a Killing, a 1993 telemovie loosely based on the Susan Bakos book Appointment for Murder. The story was told in the episode "Deadly Dentist" on the program The Federal Bureau of Investigation Files.
The 1996 movie The Dentist was based on this story.