In a Span of Four Months, the Casanova Killer Murdered 18 People — Where Is He Now?

One of his ultimate victims used to be a woman named Barbara Mabee Abel. Before letting her cross he told her that he liked her.

May 17 2024, Published 7:57 p.m. ET

Former U.S. Assistant Attorney Hale Almond were given a glimpse of Paul John Knowles' taped confessions someday earlier than they were destroyed in a flood on the Federal Courthouse in Macon, Ga., in 2004. He likened them to being a diary of varieties, excluding they recounted stories of murder in ugly detail. According to Almond, Knowles included how he killed other folks or even which weapons he used. On occasion, Knowles revealed where the bodies have been.

Knowles would later be dubbed the Casanova Killer because of his film star just right appears to be like. Unfortunately he wasn't promising his victims romance, just loss of life. Over the span of 4 months in 1974, Knowles went on a killing spree that ended within the deaths of 18 other people. For reasons we will by no means know, he let one particular person go. Where is Paul John Knowles now, and what came about to his survivor? Here's what we know.

Where is Paul John Knowles now?

On July 26, 1974, Knowles was once in a Jacksonville, Fla., jail after being arrested for a bar fight, in step with The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. He picked the lock and escaped. Hours later he was once at the house of 65-year-old Alice Curtis. Desperate for cash and transportation, Knowles tied her up and gagged her, then escaped the usage of her automobile. Curtis ended up choking to death at the gag and Knowles stuck around long enough for police to acknowledge the stolen car. His face was once quickly splashed around the local television stations.

Over the direction of 4 months, Knowles went on a killing spree that didn't encompass any patterns. Sometimes he murdered folks out of necessity as a result of he was in search of cash or any other car. Other occasions he seemed to take any person's life on a whim, like he did to "Jane Doe," a hitchhiker he picked up while heading north.

Finally on Nov. 16, 1974, a police officer recognized a stolen car Knowles was driving. The officer pulled him over however Knowles was once quicker than the younger cop, and was once ready to take him hostage. Switching to the patrol automobile, Knowles pulled over a person by way of the identify of James Meyer and took him hostage as neatly in Meyer's car. This proved to be tough, so Knowles tied them to a tree in Pulaski County, Ga., and shot them each in the head.

Hours later he busted thru a police roadblock however this resulted in Knowles crashing right into a tree. After a temporary foot chase which involved both canine and helicopters, Knowles used to be captured by way of an armed civilian on Nov. 17, 1974. While in custody Knowles claimed he murdered 35 other people but authorities could simplest test 18. The next day while being transferred to a most safety jail, he grabbed a sheriff's revolver however Knowles was shot and killed via Ron Angel, an FBI agent available for the transfer.

Barbara Mabee Abel is the one known survivor of the Casanova Killer.

Days earlier than he was once captured, Knowled broke into the house of 31-year-old Barbara Mabee Abel. She lived along with her son and twin sister Beverly, who had cerebral palsy. She instructed People that the day she was abducted, she had an eerie feeling. It was Nov. 14, 1974, and she picked up her son Dale from school. When she got house, she heard a voice say, "Don't turn around," but she did.

Knowles was once pointing a sawed off shotgun at her as Abel's son ran back into the kitchen to let her know something was unsuitable with Beverly. She was once sure and gagged in her room, and the fabric shoved in Beverly's mouth was once lined in blood. Realizing that her sister used to be bare, Abel screamed, "Did you rape her?" Laughing, Knowles said he tried then instructed Abel he used to be going to take her son. "Don't take my son," she begged. "Take me instead." So, he did.

Bending over the mattress, Abel whispered to her sister that the entirety was going to be OK. She left with Knowles and were given into her car. While using, Abel determined to be great to him within the hopes that he wouldn't kill her. "I told him he looked like Robert Redford," stated Abel. Soon they stopped at a motel in Fort Pierce, Fla. While there, he repeatedly raped her. At one point they ate at a cafe together where Abel persisted to fake she appreciated him.

Back on the motel he assaulted her once more and left to make a call, but this time he forgot to take the important thing with him. Knowles had locked himself out and upon returning realized he could not get again in. Instead of creating a scene he instructed Abel in the course of the door that he was leaving. The last thing he mentioned used to be, "I love you." Two days later, he was once useless.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbXSramam6Ses7p6wqikaKhfpa62uIyjpqGmXaC7sMPLnqpmpp%2Bs