Paul John Knowles, otherwise known as the ‘’Casanova Killer’’, began his life of crime at a young age. At just 19, he was arrested for the first time for burglary and auto-theft. During his incarceration, he began corresponding with a woman from San Francisco with whom he fell in love with and eventually got engaged to. As soon as he was released, Paul flew all the way from Florida to California to marry her, only to find out that she had changed her mind about marrying him. Back in Florida, Paul was jailed again but managed to escape. On that same fateful night, he invaded an older woman’s home, bound and gagged her, and ransacked the place for money before stealing her car. Later, she had choked to death on her dentures. By then, authorities had already linked him to the crime and plastered his face everywhere on television. in search of him. When Paul tried to drop the car off at a residential street, he spotted two young girls, aged 11 and 7, who were friends of his mother. Fearing they would recognize him, he kidnapped them both and dumped their strangled bodies in a swamp. Over the course of the next four months, Paul drifted aimlessly across the country, killing at every opportunity he could by either shooting or strangulation.
The Casanova Killer’s cross-country murder spree came to an end after an officer recognized his stolen car and pulled him over. Quickly, he managed to wrestle the officer’s pistol from him and hold him hostage. He then hijacked the police cruiser and began speeding away, using sirens to flag down another motorist and switching cars. After shooting both hostages point blank in the head, he continued to drive up until he crashed into a police roadblock and collided into a tree. From there, Paul fled on foot during an intense police chase and was ultimately subdued by an armed civilian. In custody, Paul confessed to 35 murders, although only 18 were verified. As Paul was being transferred to maximum security, he foolishly attempted to make a grab for the sheriff’s revolver and was fatally shot by FBI agent Ron Angel.
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