Gregory Clepper

Timeline

• 1991 — The killings began.
• April 24, 1996 — Patricia Scott was found in a trash container behind Calumet High School.
• May 2, 1996 — Clepper was charged with strangling eight women.
• January 25, 2001 — A suspected serial killer in Chicago was expected to have most charges dropped.
• March 21, 2001 — In a plea agreement, Clepper was sentenced to 80 years in prison; prosecutors dropped 12 murder charges.

Background

Gregory Clepper was a resident of Chicago's South Side and was 28 years old when he was arrested. Police described him as preying on drug-addicted prostitutes, and he killed them after they objected to his refusal to pay for sex. Some of the victims were dumped in garbage bins around Chicago's South Side. Clepper was described as a serial killer and a sexual predator.

Clepper told detectives when he was arrested at a relative's house: "I knew it was just a matter of time. I'm glad it's over."

An acquaintance turned Clepper in after he had boasted about one of the slayings.

The offence

Clepper was charged with strangling eight women on May 2, 1996. His last victim was found stuffed in the closet of his bedroom. Police said Gregory Clepper was waiting for his mother to help him dispose of the body.

Clepper was said to have admitted to killing 40 women.

Patricia Scott, 30, was sexually assaulted and strangled and was stuffed into a garbage can in April 1996. Prosecutors later described Clepper as pleading guilty to kidnapping and killing one woman, Patricia Scott.

Investigation

Police said Clepper was waiting for his mother to help him dispose of the body when his last victim was found stuffed in the closet of his bedroom.

Assistant State's Attorney William O'Brien said Clepper remained a suspect in 15 other murders for which he had not been charged. DNA samples from those murders were being examined.

In the 12 cases that were dropped, new evidence either excluded Clepper as a suspect or pointed to other suspects.

The plea agreement would allow prosecutors to file new charges against Clepper in the 12 cases that were dropped if DNA tests implicated him.

Arrest

Clepper was arrested at a relative's house.

Trial

In a plea agreement, Clepper pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing one woman, Patricia Scott.

Sentencing

On March 21, 2001, in a plea agreement, Gregory Clepper was sentenced to 80 years in prison for one murder. Judge James Schreier sentenced him to 80 years in prison.

The plea agreement involved prosecutors dropping 12 murder charges against Clepper in exchange for admitting to killing Patricia Scott.

Clepper was described as having once bragged to police that he single-handedly killed 40 women.

The plea agreement meant Clepper would not be eligible for the death penalty for any future cases against him.

Appeals

No appeal information was included.

Outcome

Prosecutors dropped 12 murder charges against Clepper in exchange for admitting to killing Patricia Scott.

Clepper was described as being expected to have most charges dropped, with authorities saying he would face prosecution on only one murder.

Aftermath

Assistant State's Attorney William O'Brien said the state's attorney's office was looking at Clepper as a suspect in 15 other unsolved murders of women committed between 1990 and 1996.

DNA samples from those murders were being examined, and the plea agreement allowed prosecutors to file new charges in the 12 cases that were dropped if DNA tests implicated Clepper.

Other details

Victims and places

Patricia Scott was found April 24 in a trash container behind Calumet High School.

Family members and related charges

Clepper shared a home with his mother, Gladys Clepper. Gladys Clepper was charged with helping dispose of the body and was charged with one count of concealing a homicide. She was 46 years old.

Eric Henderson, 30, was charged with two counts of concealing a homicide. The material indicated that Eric witnessed the murder of an earlier victim and helped dispose of her body.

Other serial killers arrested on Chicago's South Side

With Clepper's arrest, he was described as the third serial slayer arrested on Chicago's South Side in less than a year. The other two killers, Hubert Geralds and Ralph Harris, were arrested in 1995.