John Jamelske

John T. Jamelske (born May 9, 1935, in Fayetteville, New York) is a serial rapist- kidnapper who, from 1988 to his apprehension in 2003, kidnapped a series of women and held them captive in a concrete bunker beneath the yard of his home in De Witt, a suburb of Syracuse, New York.

Early life

Jamelske was born and raised in the DeWitt area. He graduated from Fayetteville High School in 1953. Classmates did not recall him for much other than severe acne and the unfortunate nickname of "Germs".

In September 1959, he married Dorothy Richmond, a schoolteacher, with whom he had three sons. At this time, he worked in Acme Markets and other grocery stores. Later he started working in a series of side jobs such as handyman and carpenter.

Later years

Over the years, Jamelske amassed over $1 million, which he invested in real estate in California.

Jamelske's wife Dorothy became bedridden in 1988, and then died in 1999.

Abductions

In October 1988, Jamelske abducted his first victim, 14-year-old Kirsten Howard, who is Native American. She was held captive for over two years, and had turned 17 by the time of her release. Jamelske compelled her to his will by threatening violence against her younger brother. She made no attempt to report to authorities after Jamelske released her.

In either 1995 or 1996, Jamelske abducted another 14-year-old runaway whom he lured under the premise of paying her to deliver a secret package. The girl willingly walked into the dungeon and Jamelske closed the door behind her. Eventually Jamelske put a blindfold on her and drove her to her mother's apartment and dropped her off. Although her family was also threatened, she went to the police with a description. Because of her previous drug use, they questioned the credibility of her story and dropped the investigation shortly after.

On August 31, 1997, Jamelske kidnapped a 53-year-old woman off the street. She was a foreign refugee who spoke only limited English. He forced her into his car and took her to an abandoned house where he raped her. Then he tied her to a stack of flattened cardboard boxes and drove her to his house. During her captivity she was raped daily and was also forced to fulfill various menial tasks for Jamelske. She was released on May 23, 1998 at a Greyhound bus station with $50. She reported to the police that day, but nothing came of it. She claimed that the police did not believe her, but Syracuse Police spokesman Sgt. Thomas Connellan stated that although they investigated all leads, they could not find anything out.

On May 11, 2001, a 26-year-old woman was walking home while on LSD. Jamelske offered her a ride home in his car, which the woman accepted due to the poor weather conditions. Jamelske took her back to the dungeon, where he raped her daily. When she resisted, Jamelske inflicted cigar burns on her, from which she developed an abscess on her lower back. Jamelske also manipulated her with claims that he was actually part of an underground slavery syndicate, of which the police were a part. The victim wanted to write home to her parents letting them know she was alive, and while Jamelske did agree she could only do so in stating that she was in a drug rehabilitation clinic. After her release, police investigations were complicated by this evidence. The victim also told police that he drove a tan 1974 Mercury Comet. Police searched unsuccessfully for registered Comets of this year and simply closed the case. It is noted that police failed to search any other year, as the car Jamelske drove was a 1975 Mercury Comet of the same color. Representatives from the Syracuse police appeared on Dateline and criticized the woman for providing insufficient information.

All of Jamelske's victims are of different ethnic origins: Native American, Latino, Vietnamese, black, and white.

Discovery

In October 2002, Jamelske picked up his final abductee, a 16-year-old runaway from Syracuse.

On April 3, 2003, Jamelske felt confident enough to take the girl out to karaoke at a local bar. Emboldened by this success, he then took her with him to a bottle and can redemption center, FM RETURNABLES, where she slipped away from him long enough to phone her sister. The girl's sister dialed *69 and called back the bottle return center and persuaded the worker to call 9-1-1. Police arrived after Jamelske had left, but were able to quickly track him down given descriptions from local businesses.

Jamelske pleaded guilty to five counts of first degree kidnapping.

After the discovery of the dungeon, police also found several video recorded entries with at least one woman on the tape. In the tapes, the viewer can see Jamelske dancing, singing, and also exercising with said woman. Jamelske often told his captives that he was a part of the New York Police Department and had shown a fake badge he had found on the street years earlier, as well as telling them that he was under certain bosses that were making him do this. He told his victims under this story that the easier the daily rapes could occur the faster his bosses might let the girls out. In the video tape police found, the viewer can see the victim pleading with the potential "bosses" that it would be better if she were home.

Jamelske prefaced each rape with a Bible study, in which after a review of a certain passage and discussion he would then begin to rape the victim.

After Discovery

Jamelske is currently serving a term of 18 years to life. Part of his guilty plea agreement was that his assets would be sold off and divided among his victims. In a prison interview with MSNBC, Jamelske said that he should not be punished for what he did and that, once arrested, he had thought he would at the most spend a couple of days in jail, pay a fine, or perform community service. He said that his lawyers had to spend many days after his arrest to make it clear to him that taking women and holding them in a dungeon is kidnapping.

In 2004, MSNBC produced Episode 12 of their MSNBC Reports series subtitled Sex Bunker on the Jamelske case, periodically rebroadcast several times a year as part of their "doc block" documentary marathons.

The case is also covered in the book True Stories of Law & Order: SVU by Kevin Dwyer and Juré Fiorillo. (Berkley, 2007. ISBN-10: 0425217353)

The dungeon

The bunker in which Jamelske kept his victims was eight feet high, 24 feet long and 12 feet wide. Jamelske would tie his victims up with a chain that connected to an ankle bracelet. One reached "the dungeon" by first moving a storage shelf he used in his basement, then move a steel door behind that, then crawl on one's knees a few feet until they reached another steel door, which opened up into the hidden room. The entry was a small box located just under the top of the room, so the person entering had to turn around and step down into the room via a small three rung ladder.

The dungeon had many things written on the wall, most notably religious phrases as well as numerous peace symbols. When the police had found the dungeon they had contacted one of the known victims to link Jamelske to her testimony by asking what three words were written on the wall. She correctly responded "Wall of Thugs". A crucifix hung by the door, next to "PEACE TO ALL WHO ENTER HERE", as well as the words "HATE", "READY TO RUCUSS, SO BRING ON THE PAIN" in deep crimson.

In the center of the room was a stained bathtub sat on top of a raised wooden deck. It was here that the victims were forced to bathe using a garden hose. There was a drain plug but no plumbing. When the tub was drained, the water had nowhere to go but on the cement floor of the dungeon where it remained until it evaporated, making the room damp and moldy. An aluminum frame chair with no seat was positioned over a pail; a crude toilet that was used to further degrade the captives. A clock radio sat on top of a filthy portable refrigerator. Next to a yellow extension cord which ran out from a hole in the top of the walls was an eight inch aluminum hose that pumped warm air from the house furnace.

There was also a calendar in which the victims had to mark each day. Noted was the letters "B", "S", and "T" written on the dates. Investigators later discovered these letters were made by the victims who were made to record each date they had sex (S), bathed (B) or brushed their teeth (T).

During the mid-1980s, he was actually assisted by his son Brian in constructing the inexpensive wooden framework used for it. The room was constructed under the concept of a novelty addition to the house. Sandra Badgley, Brian's girlfriend during the 90's, even let her two daughters hold a sleepover in there during 1996. When interviewed, one of the daughters stated that it had been referred to as a bomb shelter.

Brian Jamelske later drove his father and one of his victims to an airport. Jamelske allegedly told his son that the blindfolded girl had a weight problem and that her parents had asked Jamelske to keep her at his home until she lost weight.

Similar cases

External links

Syracuse.com's gateway to Jamelske coverage
Oprah.com's index page for her episode on Jamelsky
Larry King interview with victims and Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh
2003 CNN article
2003 USA Today article
Court TV: Slavemaster Detailed account as well as pictures of dungeon, house, and neighborhood.