Carl Eugene Watts aka The Sunday Morning Slasher - Speech or Presentation Example

Therefore, learning about serial killers is a significant aspect of legal practitioners in order to separate the myths from the truths. In this case, it is important for legal practitioners to learn about different serial killers in American history. Based on the foregoing, this expose elucidates on the life and times of one of the most prolific serial killers in America known as Carl Eugene Watts, nicknamed as “The Sunday Morning Slasher.” According to Walter and White (2008), Carl Eugene Watts was born on 11 July 1953 to Richard, a private in the army, and Dorothy Mae, a kindergarten teacher, in Killeen, Texas.

However, the parents separated when Carl was less than two years old leaving him at the care of his mother. Consequently, her mother moved to Inkster, Michigan where she married a mechanic called Norman Caesar, with whom she bore two daughters. However, Bell (n.d.) noted that Carl did not like his stepfather and consequently had problems adjusting to this new lifestyle, which arose from the fear of losing his mother. During his child, Carl developed a fantasy to torture and kill girls and young women.

Indeed, he attacked a young woman aged 26 years while at the age of 15 years as he delivered newspapers (Bell, n.d.). Consequently, Carl underwent a psychiatrist evaluation whereby he talked of his strange dream. However, Hewitt, Stewart, and Cosgriff (2002) reported that Carl responded that the strange dreams and fantasies he experienced were not disturbing him and he derived satisfaction once he had these dreams and fantasies (as cited in Bell, n.d.). At school, Carl had difficulties in learning, although he excelled in baseball, due to an incident of meningitis he suffered at the age of 8 years old.

Indeed, at the age of 16 years, Carl was at third grade level of reading. However, his mother guided him and tutored him whereby he graduated from high school at the age of 19 years. Although Carl recorded poor grades in school, he excelled in sports, which was a way of releasing his aggressive behavior. Eventually, Lane College, in Jacksonville, awarded him a football scholarship although he left school after several months in school once he suffered minor leg injuries (Bell, n.d.). As earlier explained, Carl’s first encounter with the law was at the age of 15 years when he assaulted a 26 year old named Joan Gave.

Consequently, Carl underwent trial and his subsequent sentencing was to a mental facility in Detroit called Lafayette Clinic where he underwent a psychiatrist examination. During the examination, the results indicated that Carl suffered from a mild form of mental retardation with an IQ of 75 (Walter & White, 2008). However, a police officer, who interviewed Carl after arrest, indicated that Carl had an “excellent memory” and appeared to be “very intelligent” (Leung, 2004). Carl’s career as a serial killer started in 1974 at the age of 20 years whereby he kidnapped potential victims from the comfort and safety of their homes, tortured them, and finally killed these victims (Walter & White, 2008).

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (n.d.), a serial killing is “a series of three or more killings, not less than one of which was committed within the United States, having common characteristics such as to suggest