Robert Willard Liberty
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- Gender
- male
- Country
- USA
- Location
- California, USA
- Date of birth
- ???
- Characteristics
- history of mental illness
- Victim profile
- Marcela Landis / Thomas Astorina / Robert Irion, 53
- Method of murder
- Strangulation / Shooting
- Date(s) of murder
- 1966 / 1970
- Years active
- 1966–1970
- Date of arrest
- June 10, 1970
- Status
-
Released
Sentenced to a state hospital for treatment after the courts found him insane; released on 15 September 1969 after a panel of six psychiatrists voted him sane; later shot and killed Thomas Astorina and killed Robert Irion.
Background
Robert Willard Liberty first met Marcela Landis in an Orange County, California, mental institution. Both were confined there after failed suicide attempts.
Liberty was attracted to Landis, who was eight years older than himself. Their relationship appeared to blossom after their release, but Liberty was closer to the edge than anyone had realized.
The offence
In 1966, Liberty strangled Landis in her Westminster apartment. After strangling her, he laid her body out on the couch with a Bible on her chest and candles burning at her feet.
On 12 March 1970, in Huntington Beach, California, Liberty shot and killed his former roommate, Thomas Astorina, in an argument about a television set.
On 7 June (year not specified in the case summary), in San Diego, California, authorities found the battered corpse of Robert Irion, age 53, in his apartment. Candles were burning near his body, and a note was mounted on the closet door.
The note read: "The candlelight killer strikes again."
Investigation
Police arrived at the scene after Landis was killed. Liberty sat nearby, strumming a guitar by candlelight and humming to himself.
Authorities remained without a suspect for three months after Astorina was killed.
Investigators learned that Irion and Liberty had logged some time together in the state hospital. Investigators also determined that Liberty’s modus operandi made a positive match.
Arrest
Liberty and a female companion fled San Diego in Irion’s car.
Liberty and the female companion were captured three days later by police in Colorado Springs.
Trial
The courts found Liberty insane after the killing of Marcela Landis and packed him off to a state hospital for treatment.
Liberty was released on 15 September 1969 after a panel of six psychiatrists voted him sane, concluding there was no further menace to society.
Liberty later returned for trial for the subsequent killings, and the courts were less sympathetic on the second time around.
Other details
Liberty was described as having a “taste for candlelight.” Michael Newton was mentioned in connection with an encyclopedia entry about modern serial killers.
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