Workplace Killers - Chilling Stuff

[Ksyrup]

Inside the minds of workplace killers

By Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY
A choking haze filled the hallways, spreading like an impenetrable fog. Larry Hansel, a technician who'd been laid off from Elgar, a San Diego-based electronics company, shot out the company switchboard and set off homemade bombs. They were diversionary tactics. As fire scorched the walls and employees scrambled for cover, Hansel wielded a 12-gauge shotgun and searched the second-floor corridors for executives on his hit list.

		Larry Hansel is serving a life sentence for killing two in 1991 at a San Diego electronics company.

He found at least some of the victims he was looking for. Hansel shot and killed a vice president and a sales manager. Then, as stunned employees looked on, he calmly mounted his bike and pedaled away, a shotgun tucked under one arm.

That was more than 10 years ago. Today, serving a life sentence for the workplace killings, Hansel still wants to kill.

"I didn't know the two killed very well except that they were upper management," Hansel, 54, wrote in a letter to USA TODAY from California State Prison in Sacramento, where he is serving a life sentence for the two 1991 murders. "If I had the chance to do it again, I'd respond with more determination."

Hansel is, in many ways, typical of employees who turn lethal. He says his attack was justified. He planned his crime. And he was angry about an incident at work: Hansel said in his letter that he attacked because he was laid off after being told not to talk about religion or philosophy at work.

A workplace killer is likely to be a 37-year-old single man who has been with a company at least four years (about 3% of attackers are women). His attack is often a final, self-destructive act that follows personal problems in his life and at work. Often, he is the one whose temper has worried co-workers and bosses. And he doesn't kill at random. Most workplace killers harbor grudges and know exactly whom they're looking for.

These are among the findings of a USA TODAY investigation into employees who kill, an investigation that also found employers' lax attitudes toward workplace violence leave many workers at risk.

USA TODAY compiled a database of 224 fatal incidents spanning nearly 30 years, from 1975 through 2003, to track the outcomes and motivations of employees who kill.

By Shane Keyser, AP A woman reacts after learning that a loved one was shot this month at ConAgra in Kansas City.

USA TODAY also interviewed — in person, by letter or phone — 18 people in prison for killing, or trying to kill, current or former co-workers. They included employees who have bludgeoned co-workers with claw hammers, shot victims execution-style in the head and slit their own children's throats.

The research, along with interviews with survivors and employers, reveals new information about the traits shared by workplace attackers, who each week kill an average of one co-worker and leave at least 25 seriously injured.

These killers are markedly different from the typical murderer. The workplace attacker is more likely to be white, male and older than the typical murderer, according to James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston and co-author of the recently released The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder.

According to Fox's research, 73% of workplace killers are white, compared with 46% of murderers in general. More than half of workplace killers are over age 35. In the general population of murderers, only about a quarter are 35 and older.

"To the 20-year-old, losing a job isn't as critical," Fox says. "The 50-year-old will respond much differently. He'll feel life is over. He'll feel there's no hope."

Motives for workplace killings

USA TODAY's analysis found that the most common motivator behind a workplace killing is a firing, which preceded about 60 of the 224 fatal attacks. The second most likely trigger is an on-the-job argument, a fight or disagreement.

But those aren't the only catalysts. Workplace attackers are likely to turn violent after, or during, a disciplinary action, such as being written up for tardiness or poor performance. Others kill when they return to their workplaces to rob; co-workers are witnesses who then become victims.

And in some cases, the killer will single out a particular victim: a female employee, for example, who is stalked and attacked.

A killer will generally react within days or weeks of a triggering event such as a firing, although some employees have returned to kill years after being fired. Others have hunted down colleagues in their homes.

Earlier this month, at a ConAgra Foods meat-processing plant in Kansas City, Kan., Elijah Brown, 21, opened fire on his co-workers in a locker room and break area, killing five before shooting himself. Police are still trying to determine the motive for the 10-minute rampage. Co-workers have said Brown had a recent dispute with employees. Police have said the killings did not appear to be random.

In 1995, fired Bank One employee Jerry Hessler targeted co-workers where they lived. He kicked in the front door of a home in Columbus, Ohio, to kill employee Brian Stevens and his wife, Tracey, who also worked at the bank. He killed their 5-month-old daughter, Amanda, whom Tracey held in her arms. He also killed P. Thane Griffin, the father of a woman who rejected his advances years ago. Hessler died of a heart attack in 2003 while on death row in Ohio.

Few show mercy, often killing co-workers even as they plead for their lives. They shoot victims in the back and kill them as they cower under desks or in bathroom stalls. They tie some up first and make others lie on the floor before they're executed.

"Please, please, I won't tell on you. I promise. I won't. I promise. I promise. I promise. I swear." Those were the last words — captured on a 911 tape, along with the gunshot that silenced her — of Stephanie Guzzardo, 27. The manager at Calendar's Restaurant & Bar in Baton Rouge was shot in the chest after begging for her life, and her final words were played at trial. She and another employee were killed in 1995 by Todd Wessinger, a former dishwasher who is now on death row.

A final act of desperation

The workplace killer will typically attack with a gun, but other methods have been used. A maintenance worker used a pitchfork to stab a co-worker in the face and chest, killing him. A handyman set fire to the hotel where he worked, killing 15. A manager was convicted of first-degree murder for spiking a water cooler with cyanide, which killed a secretary, who collapsed after taking a drink.

More than half of workplace killers are white, according to an analysis of 1997-to-2001 workplace homicides done by the Department of Labor for USA TODAY. They are most likely to work in the services industry, followed by retail trade. In the cases analyzed by USA TODAY, the youngest killer was 17; the oldest was 73.

Among the killings analyzed by USA TODAY, the most people killed by gunfire in a single case was 14 in a 1986 post office shooting in Edmond, Okla.

That's unusual, however. The average workplace attacker will kill two employees. Secretaries, security guards, customers and anyone else who gets in the way can fall victim, according to the newspaper's analysis, which was based on court records and testimony, lawsuits, transcripts, published news reports and interviews with survivors, prosecutors, defense lawyers, convicted killers and family members of victims and attackers.

Killers will often plan their crimes, sometimes dressing up for the event. One attacker donned a $200 black suit, another wore a T-shirt with "Psycho" written on it as he fired at workers, and several dressed in combat fatigues. They may make hit lists, plan their escape routes, watch violent movies and, in some cases, leave behind notes or videotapes to help explain their rationales.

Some have been hospitalized for mental health issues or have been on psychiatric medications before they killed.

"They often have a paranoid personality," says Fox of Northeastern University.

Many say they're not monsters and are misunderstood. Others express scant remorse. A minority say they're sorry.

Most employees who kill will never get a chance again. Few are found not guilty by reason of insanity. Most — eight out of 10 — die at the scene, are sentenced to death or serve life in prison. Otherwise, the average sentence imposed is nearly 25 years.

Lives of loss or failure

Most workplace attackers don't kill in a rage. Survivors typically describe their attackers as dispassionate.

"I was calm. I was no longer me. Like someone else in my brain took over," James Davis, 56, said in a handwritten letter from death row in North Carolina.

In 1995, he killed three fellow employees and wounded others in a shooting spree in Asheville at toolmaker Union Butterfield. "I went from tunnel vision to total blackout. When I got my vision and my mind back, I looked and seen what had happened. I did not know who I was. In the end, I self-destructed."

Auburn Calloway, 52, tried in April 1994 to take over a Federal Express plane where he was riding in a jump seat. The off-duty flight engineer attacked the three crewmen. He severely beat at his victims with a claw hammer, cracking bone. He is serving life in prison.

The attack seemed to come out of nowhere. The pilots were talking about the scenery below when Calloway struck. The cockpit voice recorder transcript picked up the sound of a hammer hitting their heads.

"Ow."

"God."

"God, God almighty! God, God, God. ... He's going to kill us."

A fight ensued. "Sit down, sit down, get back in your seat, this is a real gun, I'll kill ya," Calloway said.

Later, a pilot asked for help. "Center, listen to me. Express 705, I've been wounded, we have an attempted takeover on board the airplane ... hurry!" One pilot landed the plane after the others wrestled Calloway to the floor. All three suffered serious injuries.

Today, in calls and letters to USA TODAY, Calloway says his trial wasn't fair. He blames his attack on a sleep-related malady.

"None of the mental health 'experts' at my trial had the requisite experience in sleep medicine pathology to have discovered the 'mental disease or defect' I labored under during my uncharacteristic behavior on board FedEx Flight 705 in 1994," he said.

Like Calloway, many workplace killers hope someday to get out of prison. In the letters, many say their sentences are unfair and that they are innocent.

And some, such as Hansel, are still angry. He killed two executives with a shotgun after setting off bombs, believing he was on a mission that's been misunderstood.

"I sacrificed myself," he wrote, "to try and change management."

Contributing: Tom Ankner

[sachmo71]

Interesting. Thanks for posting that.

[Franklinnoble]

Where's my stapler?

[TRO]

Earlier this month, at a ConAgra Foods meat-processing plant in Kansas City, Kan.,

My neighborhood, yay

[Fritz]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

A workplace killer is likely to be a 37-year-old single man who has been with a company at least four years (about 3% of attackers are women). His attack is often a final, self-destructive act that follows personal problems in his life and at work. Often, he is the one whose temper has worried co-workers and bosses. And he doesn't kill at random. Most workplace killers harbor grudges and know exactly whom they're looking for.

350 days to go...

[Ksyrup]

Until you're 37, single, or with your company at least 4 years?

Still, you don't strike me someone with a temper that would worry me...but then again, I don't work with you.

[cuervo72]

I'm guessing the first, though the second may end up taking that long...

[MizzouRah]

Wow, I NEVER want to be a manager.


Todd

[Lathum]

I just took a personality test for a job and they ask you in about 10 different ways if you have trouble controling your anger.

[judicial clerk]

The title to this thread reads like the name of two bands.

[Noop]

Yall are some crazy folks... This was very scary to read...

*Don't take my comment as racist because it is not*

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Noop

Yall are some crazy folks... This was very scary to read...

*Don't take my comment as racist because it is not*

I can't help but think if this comment was reversed that there would be a firestorm reaction.

If I was a few years older, you might be in trouble...

[Franklinnoble]

I didn't realize Noop wasn't white.

[Noop]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

I didn't realize Noop wasn't white.

*Checks* No I am not. My grammar is to bad for me to be white... although there is nothing wrong with being white....

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by Noop

*Checks* No I am not. My grammar is to bad for me to be white...

Bill Cosby left a message for you...

[Noop]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

Bill Cosby left a message for you...

I don't have an Uncle by that name....

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by Noop

I don't have an Uncle by that name....

[duckman]

I remember the Edmond post office shooting. I think I was in the third or fourth grade at the time and it was on every news show imaginable. Teachers at the school I was attending had to take personality profiles to make sure that they didn't have the next Patrick Henry Sherill teaching there.

[sachmo71]

I hate white people.

[Noop]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

I hate white people.

I like apples.

[rkmsuf]

I can tape all of your buns together

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

I can tape all of your buns together

Where'd I put that lipstick?

[rkmsuf]

What do you get in your house for spilling a can of paint in the garage?

[Noop]

Poons?

[rkmsuf]

No and if I lose my temper you're totalled

[Noop]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

No and if I lose my temper you're totalled

And if I lost mine I would be cold.

[judicial clerk]

You don't even exist here. You're invisible.

[JeeberD]

Kill whitey?

[sterlingice]

Is this really that surprising? If you're going to go to the trouble of planning a murder, sure it's going to be at your work place and with a cold, determined purpose.

If you were just pissed or wanting to end it randomly, why not drive through the Mickey D's 2 blocks away or a grocery story or something.

Then again, I guess this assumes that these people are playing with a full set of marbles which probably isn't the case.

SI

[Senator]

If I have to come in here again, I'm crackin skulls.