Paul John Knowles (1946-1974)
Paul John Knowles, also known as the Casanova Killer, was an American serial killer who was linked to the deaths of 18 people in 1974, but claimed to have killed 35. He was born on April 17, 1946 in Orlando, Florida. His father gave him up after he was convicted of a petty crime, and Knowles ended up in a series of foster homes and reformatories. Knowles himself was incarcerated for the first time at the age of 19, and in the following years spent more time in prison. In early 1974 Knowles was serving a sentence at Raiford Prison in Florida, now known as Florida State Prison, when he started communicating with San Francisco divorcee Angela Kovic, who went to the prison to visit Knowles. After the couple got engaged, she became vital in getting Knowles released by paying for a lawyer. After he was released, Knowles flew straight to California to be with her. After being warned by a psychic of a dangerous man in her life, Covic ended the relationship and called off the wedding. Devastated by the rejection, Knowles claimed to have killed 3 people on the streets of San Francisco the night Covic ended their relationship. He returned to Jacksonville, Florida and was soon arrested after stabbing a bartender during a fight, but picked a lock in his cell and escaped on July 26, 1974.
The cross-country murder spree of Paul John Knowles started in Jacksonville the night he escaped from jail. He broke into 65-year-old Alice Curtis’s home, binding and gagging her before ransacking her house for money and valuables. Curtis choked to death on her dentures, but it is not known if this occurred before or after Knowles left. He also stole her Dodge Dart, but realised police had already connected him to the crime and were advertising him as a wanted fugitive. When he stopped to abandon the car, he saw family acquaintances, Lillian, 11, and Mylette Anderson, 11. Scared that they would identify him he kidnapped them, strangled them and buried their bodies in a nearby swamp. Not long afterwards, Knowles claimed he picked up a teenage girl who was hitchhiking and killed her – she remained unidentified for decades. On December 21, 2011, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified her as Ima Jean Sanders, 13, who had run away from Beaumont, Texas in July 1974 to Warner Robins, Georgia and then disappeared on August 1, 1974. The day after the Anderson sisters disappeared, Knowles met Marjorie Howie, 49, in Atlantic Beach, Florida. He ended up in her apartment (it is not known if she invited him or was forced to take him) where he strangled her with a nylon stocking. He stole her television set, which he would later give to a former girlfriend. Near the end of August Knowles was in Musella, Georgia, and broke into the home of Kathie Sue Pierce, who was there with her 3-year-old son. He used a telephone cord to strangle her – he did not harm the child. On September 3, 1974, Knowles entered Scott’s Inn (a roadside pub near Lima, Ohio) where he met 32-year-old accountant executive for Ohio Power Company William Bates. The bartender, who knew Bates, recalled him and a young redheaded man having several drinks and leaving together. Bates’ wife reported him missing and police realised his car was missing too. Close to the bar, police found an abandoned Dodge Dart that they traced back to Alice Curtis. In October, the naked corpse of William Bates was found – he had been strangled and dumped in the woods. Now driving Bates’ car, Knowles moved on to a campground in Ely, Nevada. It was there, on September 18, 1974, that he bound and shot 2 elderly campers, Emmett and Lois Johnson. Because this murder seemed random it was a cold case until Knowles confessed, although he did use their credit cards for a short period to pay for his expenses.
On September 21, 1974, Knowles’ killing spree continued in Seguin, Texas, where he encountered strangled motorcyclist Charlynn Hicks. He abducted and raped her before strangling her with her own pantyhose. He dragged her body through a barbed-wire fence – it was discovered 4 days later. He then travelled to Birmingham, Alabama, where he met beautician Ann Dawson on September 23. It isn’t known whether he abducted her or she travelled with him willingly, but she did pay the bills while they travelled together until he killed her on September 29. Knowles claimed to have dumped her corpse in the Mississippi River, but it was never found. Knowles arrived in Marlborough, Connecticut in mid-October 1974, where his serial killings. He entered the house of Karen Wine and her daughter Dawn, 16, on October 16, where he bound and raped them before killing them with a nylon stocking. The only thing missing from the home seemed to be a tape recorder. By October 18, Knowles had travelled to Woodford, Virginia, where he broke into the house of Doris Hosey, 53, and shot her with her husband’s rifle before wiping the prints from the gun and placing it next to her body. Police found no signs of robbery to indicate a motive in the case. Still driving William Bates’ car, Knowles picked up 2 hitchhikers in Key West, Florida. He intended to kill them both but his plan went wrong when a police officer stopped him for a traffic violation. Not recognising Knowles, the officer let him off with a warning. Shaken, he dropped his potential victims off in Miami, Florida, and soon afterwards contacted his lawyer, who suggested Knowles surrender. He rejected this idea, but arranged a meeting with him that lasted just long enough to hand over a taped confession (made on the tape recorder stolen from Karen Wine’s home). He then left town before police noticed he was there. On November 6 in Milledgeville, Georgia, Knowles met Carswell Carr and was invited back to his home to spend the night. While sharing a drink, Knowles stabbed Carr to death and then strangled his 15-year-old daughter. After killing her, Knowles tried to have sex with her corpse, but was unsuccessful. After fleeing from Macon, Knowles was also suspected of the November 2 murder of hitchhiker Edward Hilliard, who was found in nearby woods, and his friend Debbie Griffin, whose body has never been found.
On November 8, while bar-hopping in Atlanta, Knowles met Sandy Fawkes, a British journalist – she was impressed by his “gaunt good looks”. The pair spent the night together, but according to Fawkes, he was repeatedly unable to perform when they tried to have sex. This suggests impotence when it came to willing companions. The 2 parted on November 10, but the next day Susan Mackenzie, an acquaintance of Fawkes’, was picked up by Knowles and he demanded sex from her at gunpoint. She escaped and reported the incident to police, but when patrolmen attempted to stop him, Knowles threatened them with a sawn-off shotgun and escaped. Days later, in West Palm Beach, Florida, Knowles broke into the home of disabled woman Beverly Mabee. He abducted her sister and stole their car. From there, he travelled to Fort Pierce, Florida and for reasons never discovered, he released his hostage unharmed. On the morning of November 17, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Eugene Campbell recognised the stolen car near Perry and tried to make an arrest, but after Knowles was pulled over he managed to wrestle the officer’s gun away from him. He took Campbell hostage and drove away in his patrol car, later using the sirens to stop James Meyer, a motorist, in order to ditch the Highway Patrol vehicle and continue his journey in a less noticeable one. Now with 2 hostages, Knowles took the men to a remote wooded area in Pulaski County, Georgia and handcuffed them to a tree. He shot each of them in the head at close range. Shortly afterwards Knowles tried to drive through a police roadblock in Henry County, Georgia, but lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. He escaped on foot and shot at officers pursuing on foot. A chaotic chase ensued, with Knowles being followed by dogs, law enforcement officers from multiple agencies, and helicopters. Knowles was finally cornered by an armed civilian with a shotgun a few miles from the search area, who took Knowles to a nearby home where he called police. Knowles was outside the perimeter given for the manhunt and would have escaped without the actions of this man. Once in custody, Knowles claimed responsibility for 35 murders, but only 20 were ever confirmed.
On December 18, 1974, Sheriff Earl Lee and Agent Ronnie Angel from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation were driving down Interstate 20 with Knowles handcuffed in the back. They were en route to Henry County, Georgia, where Knowles had admitted to ditching a handgun he had taken from Florida State Trooper Charles Eugene Campbell, later killing him with it. The SBI reported: “Knowles grabbed Lee’s handgun, discharging it through the holster in the process and while Lee was struggling with Knowles and attempting to keep control of the vehicle, Angel fired three shots into Knowles’ chest, killing him instantly.”
