Serial Killer - Steven Brian Pennell

Steven Brian Pennell

In November of 1987, Steven Brian Pennell started a serial killing spree that shocks the small state of Delaware. He would drive up and down Route 13 and Route 40, which is located near Bear, Delaware and is known to have a high concentration of prostitutes within this corridor. This is one of the reasons he became known as the "Corridor Killer". He was able to approach a prostitute and then coerce them into his van and drive off to isolated spots, where he'd engage in torturous activities using his rape kit which was comprised of: restraints, pliers, a whip, handcuffs, needles and knives. His modus operandi varied in every murder which helped him to elude the police. Sometimes he would simply bind his victim by the hands and ankles while he raped them and beat their buttocks with his whip, other times he would hit them with a hammer until they were battered and bloody (and still alive), and in another case he used the pliers to squeeze the victim's breasts and cut off her nipples. Eventually he would show mercy by strangling them to death, then bashing in their skulls with a blunt object for good measure. Finally, the bodies would be dumped along wooded areas next to routes 40 and 13.

Of course with other serial killers there are clues to behavior in their upbringing, but it seems by all accounts Pennell had a well-adjusted childhood. He eventually ended up in Delaware and applied for numerous positions in the state police department. Up until this point he had pursued a career in criminology, having completed several semesters at the University of Delaware. All of his applications were rejected for different reasons and so he became an electrician. He married and settled in New Castle, Delaware, ironically very close to his proximity of victims. Life for Mrs. Pennell was speculated to be very controlled by her husband. Although, after her husband was arrested she tried her best to save him by insisting he was insane.

Pennell was finally caught when an undercover state police officer named Renee C. Lano posing as a prostitute on route 40, was able to gather fibers from Pennell's van and submit them to the FBI laboratory for testing (blue fibers from an automobile had been found on one of the victims). The results were a perfect match and Pennell was soon arrested. Due to the police's inexperience with serial murder, the FBI had agreed to help, mostly aided by the efforts of special agents John Douglas and Steve Mardigan (Douglas testified against Pennell at his 1989 trial). On Halloween of 1991, Steven Brian Pennell was sentenced to die by lethal injection after being convicted of two of the five murders he committed. On March 14, 1992, he was executed at age 34. He was the states first and to date only confirmed serial killer. His execution cost the state approximately $50k, which was considered