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'{{short description|American serial killer (1959–2005}} {{other people||Michael Ross (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox serial killer | name = Michael Ross | alias = The Roadside Strangler, The Egg Man | image = Michael Bruce Ross.jpg | birth_name = Michael Bruce Ross | birth_date = {{birth date|1959|07|26}} | birth_place = [[Putnam, Connecticut]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2005|5|13|1959|7|26}} | death_place = [[Osborn Correctional Institution]], [[Somers, Connecticut]], U.S. | cause = Execution by [[lethal injection]] | victims = 8+ | country = [[United States]] | states = [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Connecticut]]<br />(possibly [[Indiana]]) | beginyear = May 12, 1981 | endyear = June 13, 1984 | apprehended = June 29, 1984 | conviction = '''Connecticut'''<br>[[Murder|Capital felony]] (x4)<br>'''New York'''<br>[[Manslaughter|First degree manslaughter]] | penalty = '''Connecticut'''<br>[[Capital punishment|Death]]<br>'''New York'''<br>8 and 1/3 to 25 years imprisonment | criminal_status = [[Executed]] | imprisoned = [[Osborn Correctional Institution]] }} '''Michael Ross''' (July 26, 1959 – May 13, 2005) was an American [[serial killer]]. In 2005, he was [[execution (legal)|executed]] by the state of [[Connecticut]]. Connecticut ended capital punishment in 2012, and the [[Connecticut Supreme Court]] ruled capital punishment unconstitutional in 2015, converting the sentences of the state's remaining death row inmates to life in prison without parole.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Mueller |first1=Benjamin |last2=Jr |first2=James C. McKinley |date=2015-08-13 |title=Connecticut Death Penalty Law Is Unconstitutional, Court Rules |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/nyregion/connecticut-death-penalty-law-is-unconstitutional-court-rules.html |access-date=2022-04-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> == Early life == Ross was born in [[Putnam, Connecticut]], on July 26, 1959, to Patricia Hilda Laine and Dan Graeme Ross. He was the oldest of four children, having two younger sisters and a younger brother. The family lived on a chicken farm in [[Brooklyn, Connecticut]]. Ross's home life was extremely [[:wikt:dysfunction|dysfunction]]al; his mother, who abandoned the family at least once, had been [[mental institution|institutionalized]] and beat all four of her children, saving the worst treatment for him. Some family and friends have suggested that he was also [[Sexual abuse#Child sexual abuse|molested]] by his teenaged uncle, who committed [[suicide]] when Ross was six.<ref>{{cite web | last = Montaldo | first = Charles | title = Profile of Serial Killer -- Michael Ross | work = About.com | url = http://crime.about.com/od/deathrow/p/michael_ross.htm | access-date = 29 April 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170105013750/http://crime.about.com/od/deathrow/p/michael_ross.htm | archive-date = 5 January 2017 | url-status = dead }}</ref> He was a bright boy who performed well in school. He graduated from [[Old Killingly High School|Killingly High School]] in [[Killingly, Connecticut]], in 1977,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.courant.com/2000-04-07/news/0003250276_1_penalty-hearing-death-penalty-penalty-since-capital-punishment|title=From Ivy Leaguer To Serial Killer|work=Hartford Courant|access-date=18 January 2015}}</ref> and graduated from [[Cornell University]] in [[Ithaca, New York]], where he studied [[economics]], in May 1981.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/24/nyregion/a-death-at-cornell-parents-belatedly-learn-a-serial-killers-name.html | title=A Death at Cornell: Parents Belatedly Learn a Serial Killer's Name | newspaper=The New York Times | date=24 January 2005 | last1=Yardley | first1=William }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cornellalumnimagazine.com/Archive/2005marapr/features/Feature2.html|title=A serial killer's pursuit of death becomes a case study in American justice.|work=cornellalumnimagazine.com|access-date=18 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516105108/http://cornellalumnimagazine.com/Archive/2005marapr/features/Feature2.html|archive-date=May 16, 2006}}</ref> He became an [[insurance]] salesman. He exhibited [[Anti-social behavior|antisocial]] behavior from a young age. Ross began [[stalking]] women in his sophomore year of college and, in his senior year, he committed his first [[rape]] followed by his first [[murder]] soon after. == Crime spree == Between 1981 and 1984, Ross murdered eight girls and women aged between 14 and 25 in Connecticut and [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref name="trutv.com">{{cite web | last = Bell | first = Rachael | title = Michael Bruce Ross: Staring Death in the Face | work = truTV Crime Library | url = http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/michael_ross/index.html }}</ref> He raped seven out of his eight murder victims. He also was alleged to have raped, but not killed, a 21-year-old woman named Vivian Dobson in 1983 and a woman name Cabdace Farris in Indiana. [[Plainfield, Connecticut|Plainfield]] police rejected the possibility that Ross had been Vivian Dobson's rapist. They did not press charges and Ross made no confession. Ross confessed to the eight murders and was convicted for the last four of them. He was [[sentenced to death]] on July 6, 1987, in Connecticut by judge [[G. Sarsfield Ford]]. In 2001, while on death row, Ross pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter for killing Paula Perrera in [[New York (state)|New York]] in 1982, and was sentenced to 8 and 1/3 to 25 years in prison. He spent almost 18 years on [[death row]] before his execution in May 2005. == Victims == # Dzung Ngoc Tu (age 25) {{dash}} May 12, 1981. Cornell University student # Tammy Williams (17) {{dash}} January 5, 1982. [[Brooklyn, Connecticut]] # Paula Perrera (16) {{dash}} March 1982. [[Wallkill, Orange County, New York|Middletown, New York]] # Debra Smith Taylor (23) {{dash}} June 15, 1982. [[Griswold, Connecticut]] # Robin Dawn Stavinsky (19) {{dash}} October 23, 1983. [[Norwich, Connecticut]] # April Brunais (14) {{dash}} April 22, 1984. Griswold, Connecticut # Leslie Shelley (14) {{dash}} April 22, 1984. Griswold, Connecticut # Wendy Baribeault (17) {{dash}} June 13, 1984. Griswold, Connecticut ==Imprisonment== During his incarceration, he met his fiancée, Susan Powers, of [[Oklahoma]]. Powers broke up with Ross in 2003 but still visited him until his death. He became a devout [[Catholic]] after his arrest in 1984, meeting regularly with two [[priest]]s through the years and praying the [[rosary]] each morning. During his time in prison, Ross translated documents into [[Braille]], acted as a mentor to other inmates, and financially sponsored a child from the [[Dominican Republic]].<ref name="JInewspaper">Haigh, Susan (January 29, 2005). "Pastoral adviser: Ross 'upset, frustrated, angry' with delay". ''Journal Inquirer''. Retrieved on January 1, 2009.</ref> == Execution == Although he opposed the [[death penalty]], Ross strongly supported his own death sentence in the last year of his life, saying that he wanted to spare his victims' families any more pain. According to Kathry Yeager, a Cornell graduate, Ross believed that he had been "forgiven by God" and that he would be going to "a better place" once he was executed. She said: "He's not being punished. He's moving on to [[Heaven|life eternal]]. That's what is ironic about the death penalty. He's looking forward to the peace."<ref name="JInewspaper"/> Yeager also said that Ross had come to believe there was no way his death sentences would be [[clemency|commuted]] without forcing the victims' families to suffer through more legal hearings; and that he knew his life would be meaningful, even behind bars: "He's had a horrible life, and he's wanted to do good."<ref name="JInewspaper"/> In spite of this, an hour before the execution was to take place in the early hours of January 26, 2005, Ross's lawyer, acting on behalf of Ross's father, obtained a two-day [[stay of execution]]. Ross was then scheduled to die by [[lethal injection]] on January 29, 2005, at 2:01&nbsp;a.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Standard Time]]. However, earlier in the day, the execution was again postponed because of doubts that Ross was mentally competent; having fought against his death sentence for 17 years, he suddenly waived his right to [[appeal]]. His attorney claimed that Ross was incompetent to waive appeals, as he was suffering from [[death row phenomenon|death row syndrome]]. In his final days, Ross became an [[Oblate (religion)|oblate]], or associate, of the Benedictine Grange, a [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[monastery|monastic community]] in [[Redding, Connecticut|West Redding, Connecticut]]. Ross was executed by lethal injection on May 13, 2005, at [[Osborn Correctional Institution]] in [[Somers, Connecticut]]. He was 45 years old. Ross did not request a special [[last meal]] before facing his execution, thereby dining on the regular prison meal of the day: turkey à la king with rice, mixed vegetables, white bread, fruit, and a beverage.<ref name="ClarkProsecutor">{{cite web | title = Michael Bruce Ross | publisher = Prosecuting Attorney Clark County Indiana | url = http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/ross966.htm | access-date = 29 April 2012}}</ref> When asked if he would like to make a last statement, he said, without opening his eyes, "No, thank you." Ross was pronounced dead at 2:25&nbsp;a.m. His remains were buried at the Benedictine Grange Cemetery in Redding, Connecticut. ==After execution== After the execution, Dr. Stuart Grassian, a [[psychiatrist]] who had argued that Ross was not competent to waive appeal, received a letter from Ross dated May 10, 2005, which read "[[Checkmate|Check, and mate]]. You never had a chance!"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/14/rossexecution.letter.ap/index.html |title=Serial killer sent taunting note before execution |date=June 14, 2005 |location=Hartford, Connecticut |agency=AP |publisher=CNN |access-date=February 16, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050616003937/http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/14/rossexecution.letter.ap/index.html |archive-date = June 16, 2005}}</ref> Ross's execution was the first in Connecticut and in all of New England since 1960. It was also the first and only execution in Connecticut administered by lethal injection. As of June 2020, Ross is the last inmate executed in Connecticut; the death penalty was abolished in Connecticut on April 25, 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57421262/connecticut-repeals-death-penalty/|title=Connecticut governor signs death penalty repeal|publisher=CBS News|date=April 25, 2012|access-date=April 25, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-death-sentence-reversed-santiago-0605-20120604,0,2934944.story |title=Death Sentence Reversed In Snowmobile Murder-For-Hire Case |last=Griffin |first=Alaine |publisher=Courant.com |date=2012-06-04 |access-date=2012-06-11}}</ref> Vivian Dobson, whom Ross was alleged to have raped, became a vocal opponent of the death penalty in an effort to save Ross's life. The execution of Ross was the first in Connecticut in 2005, the first [[Capital punishment in Connecticut|execution in Connecticut]] since 1960, the 22nd execution in the United States in 2005, and the 966th execution in the United States since 1976.<ref name="ClarkProsecutor"/> Ross was a suspect in rapes and murders in the state of Indiana. Candace Farris while vacationing in Indiana was allegedly taken at gunpoint and raped yet managed to escape was later found by her friends without clothing hysterical in a nearby cornfield. Her friends had seen her driving off with a man that fit Michael Bruce Ross' description. ==Popular culture== Michael Ross appeared in a British television series about serial killers in 1995. The filmmakers who produced the segment gave him the nickname "The Roadside Strangler" because the other killers in the series had nicknames. One of the producers of the series said the name may have been the result of a brainstorming session at a motel bar. Ross was not called "The Roadside Strangler" by the Connecticut media or by local law enforcement while he was alive.<ref>{{cite web | last = Mahoney | first = Edmund H. | title = How Did Michael Ross Become 'The Roadside Strangler'? | work = courant.com | publisher = Hartford Courant | date = 23 May 2010 | url =http://articles.courant.com/2010-05-23/news/hc-hc-roadside-strangler-0524-20100523_1_serial-killer-district-judge-robert-chatigny-nickname }}</ref> In 2015, ''The Man in the Monster: An Intimate Portrait of a Serial Killer'', a detailed account of Ross's killing spree, capture, trial, time in prison and execution, was published by Penguin Press.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The man in the monster : an intimate portrait of a serial killer |last=Elliott |first=Martha J. H. |year=2015 |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=9781594204906 |location=New York, New York |oclc=914350685}}</ref> Written by former [[Columbia School of Journalism]] professor Martha Elliott, the book documents the ten-year telephone and prison visit relationship that developed between the author and her subject. Generally well received, the book garnered positive reviews by ''[[Library Journal]]'', ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]'', ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', ''[[Booklist]]'' and ''The National Book Review''. Elliott's experience with Ross was featured on ''Criminal'', a [[Radiotopia]] podcast on crime, in Episode 34: The Stay.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Episode 34: The Stay (1.8.2016) {{!}} Criminal|url = http://thisiscriminal.com/episode-34-the-stay-1-8-2016/|website = thisiscriminal.com|access-date = 2016-01-08}}</ref> === Podcasts === * ''Murderous States Of Mind'' – Episode #6 and #7: Michael Ross AKA The Roadside Strangler pt. 1 & 2 https://msomindpod.buzzsprout.com/ * ''Serial Killers – The Roadside Strangler'' Michael Bruce Ross pt. 1 & 2 == See also == {{Portal|Biography|Connecticut}} * [[List of most recent executions by jurisdiction]] * [[List of people executed in Connecticut]] * [[List of people executed in the United States in 2005]] * [[List of serial killers in the United States]] == References == {{Reflist}} == External links == * [http://www.trutv.com/graphics/photos/serial_killers/predators/michael_ross/ (dead link) 8-2-Lethal-injection-table.jpg Photograph of Connecticut Lethal Injection Table] * {{Find a Grave|10990343}} * [http://www.wholeearth.com/issue/2098/article/88/it%27s.time.for.me.to.die ''It's Time for Me to Die'' By Michael B. Ross], in [[Whole Earth Review]], Fall 1999 {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Michael Bruce}} [[Category:1959 births]] [[Category:2005 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American criminals]] [[Category:21st-century executions by Connecticut]] [[Category:21st-century executions of American people]] [[Category:American murderers of children]] [[Category:American people convicted of murder]] [[Category:American serial killers]] [[Category:American prisoners sentenced to death]] [[Category:American rapists]] [[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism]] [[Category:Cornell University alumni]] [[Category:Executed American serial killers]] [[Category:Executed people from Connecticut]] [[Category:Male serial killers]] [[Category:People convicted of murder by Connecticut]] [[Category:People executed by Connecticut by lethal injection]] [[Category:People from Putnam, Connecticut]] [[Category:People from Brooklyn, Connecticut]] [[Category:Catholics from Connecticut]] [[Category:People executed for murder]] [[Category:Crimes in Connecticut]]'