August 16, 1950 - Jack Unterweger
Few cases illustrate the dangers of mistaking literary output for moral transformation as starkly as this one. Unterweger cultivated a public identity as a reformed man — playwright, journalist, voice of rehabilitation — while simultaneously resuming the killings that had defined him before his imprisonment. The advocacy that secured his release came from prominent figures who believed his writing proved his redemption, a judgment that proved catastrophically wrong across three countries.
From Wikipedia
Johann "Jack" Unterweger (16 August 1950 – 29 June 1994) was an Austrian serial killer who committed at least twelve murders in Austria, West Germany, Czechoslovakia and the United States.
Initially convicted in 1976 of a single murder, Unterweger began to write extensively while in prison. His work gained the attention of Austrian intellectuals, who interpreted it as evidence of his supposed rehabilitation. After significant lobbying, Unterweger was released on parole in 1990. Upon his release, he became a minor celebrity and worked as a playwright and journalist, but within months he resumed his killing spree. Unterweger hanged himself in prison after being convicted of nine more murders in June 1994.
- Last updated on .