Serial killer Christine Falling
Mr. Mike
had any books written about her, or is she mentioned in any compilations?
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With her capture in 1982, Christine Laverne Slaughter Falling joined a select
sorority. The rarest variety of killer, Falling nonetheless killed with an
abandon that her male counterparts would have been proud of. As a child, Falling
strangled cats to "test their nine lives". As an adult, Falling took to
murdering young children and elderly invalid who came under her care, utilizing
what she called "smotheration" to meet that end. When that didn't work she
killed by blunt trauma.
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Michael D. Kelleher
The following it taken from "Murder Most Rare: The Female Serial
Killer." It is missing the table referenced in the middle because of
formatting. Hope you find it useful.
"I DON'T KNOW WHY I DONE WHAT I DONE."
By the time she began her murderous career at the age of seventeen,
Christine Falling had already experienced a full life of illness,
frustration, and misery which, in retrospect, seemed to irresistibly
impel her to escalating violence. Falling (the name of her adoptive
parents), was born Christine Laverne Slaughter on March 12, 1963, in
Perry, Florida. Her mother, Ann, was only sixteen at the time of
Falling's birth and had already given birth to an older sister. Her
father, Thomas, was a sixty-five-year-old woodsman who was inattentive
and violent by nature. Falling's early childhood years were marked by
persistent poverty and illness. She was severely developmentally
disabled, prone to obesity, epileptic, experienced bouts of aggressive
behavior, and throughout her life was never able to surpass sixth grade
vocabulary skills. Within a few years after her birth, Christine and
her older sister were adopted by the Falling family and given their
surname. However, the two girls found themselves in constant conflict
with their adoptive family and were eventually placed in a children's
home near Orlando, Florida, when Christine was only nine years old.
By the time she entered the children's home, Falling already had a
striking propensity for bizarre and violent behavior. One of her
favorite pastimes was torturing and killing cats to determine whether
they really had nine lives. Falling's caretakers at the children's home
described her as an habitual liar, a compulsive thief, and "a child who
would break rules to gain attention." Her relationships with the other
children in the refuge were horrific. Falling's obesity, poor social
skills, and intellectual deficits were a constant source of cruel
commentary from her peers.
At the age of twelve, Falling left the children's home to locate her
birth mother, eventually finding her in Blountstown, Florida. There, at
the age of fourteen, Falling met and married a local man a decade older
than she. Within six weeks of the marriage, the relationship collapsed
in a chaotic series of violent encounters and the couple permanently
separated. The failure of this relationship triggered a new era of
bizarre behavior for Falling and, over the next two years, she visited a
local hospital more than fifty times with an endless series of strange
medical conditions that could never be diagnosed. Although Falling was
thoroughly examined by physicians, she would present herself with
inexplicable and rapidly changing symptoms that invariably resulted in
her being sent home without treatment or medication.
Now in her mid-teens, Falling earned money by baby-sitting for neighbors
and friends in her mother's hometown. Despite her unsavory appearance
and obvious mental difficulties, she somehow gained a reputation as a
young woman who deeply cared for children and was reasonably reliable in
her habits. However, at the age of seventeen, Falling began to covertly
attack and murder the children who had been placed in her care (see
Table 9.1).
On February 25, 1980, Cassidy Johnson, a two-year-old girl who had been
in Falling's care was rushed to the local doctor, suffering from
life-threatening symptoms that were assumed to be caused by
encephalitis. However, when the child died three days later, an autopsy
was ordered. The examination disclosed that Johnson had actually
succumbed to blunt force trauma of the skull. The results of the autopsy
spawned an immediate investigation, and Falling was quickly interviewed
by police. She claimed that the child had toppled from her crib and
fallen unconscious to the floor when Falling was out of the room.
However, law enforcement personnel did not believe her story.
Unfortunately, there was no evidence to contradict Falling's version of
what had happened to the child, and the matter was not pursued further.
After the death of Cassidy Johnson, Falling moved to Lakeland, Florida,
and again began baby-sitting to support herself. Within a few months of
her arrival in Lakeland, a four-year-old boy who was in Falling's care
suddenly stopped breathing without any prior signs of illness. The death
of Jeffrey Davis was as suspicious as that of Cassidy Johnson, and an
autopsy was again ordered. The examination disclosed that the boy had
suffered from a condition that caused chronic heart inflammation;
however, this was deemed insufficient to be the cause of his death. The
medical examiner noted no other potential cause of death and the case
was closed.
Three days after the tragedy, the bereaved aunt and uncle of Jeffrey
Davis asked Falling to baby-sit their two-year-old son, Joseph Spring,
while they attended Davis's funeral. While his parents were at the
services, Joseph inexplicably died while taking a nap. The local
physician speculated that the young boy may have succumbed to a viral
infection and that the same mysterious disease may have also accounted
for the death of Jeffrey Davis. No investigation into the deaths of the
two young boys was ever undertaken, and once again, Falling left the
area, this time moving back to Perry, Florida.
In July 1981, Falling found a job as housekeeper to a
seventy-seven-year-old invalid by the name of William Swindle. On the
first day of Falling's new job, Swindle inexplicably died while in his
kitchen, allegedly due to a heart attack. Because of his age and poor
medical condition, local authorities did not investigate the elderly
man's death.
Soon after Swindle's death, Falling accompanied her stepsister and
eight-month-old niece, Jennifer Daniels, on some shopping errands.
Daniels's mother left the baby in her car with Falling, to make a short
stop at the local supermarket; however, when she returned, Daniels found
her baby dead and Christine Falling in a panic. According to Falling,
the girl had mysteriously stopped breathing. Once again, the death of
Jennifer Daniels was determined to be of natural causes and no
investigation ensued.
A year later, on July 2, 1982, a ten-week-old infant, Travis Coleman,
also stopped breathing while in Falling's care. Coleman's parents
cooperated with an autopsy request, and it was discovered that the
infant had died from suffocation. Falling was immediately questioned by
local law enforcement officials about the Coleman death and confessed to
murdering three children by what she described as "smotheration." She
claimed that she had heard voices ordering her to murder the children by
placing a blanket over their faces.
Based on her confession, Christine Falling received a sentence of life
imprisonment with the possibility of parole after twenty-five years. In
speaking to law enforcement officials, Falling was never able to provide
a motive for her heinous crimes, only saying: "I don't know why I done
what I done. The way I done it, I seen it done on TV shows. I had my own
way, though. Simple and easy. No one would hear them scream."
Christine Falling will be eligible for parole in the year 2007.
Mr. Mike
wrote:
>Mr. Mike:
>
>The following it taken from "Murder Most Rare: The Female Serial
>Killer." It is missing the table referenced in the middle because of
>formatting. Hope you find it useful.
Thanks for the lengthy post!
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Halle 8
>Killer." It is missing the table referenced in the middle because of
>formatting. Hope you find it useful.
>
>"I DON'T KNOW WHY I DONE WHAT I DONE."
Fascinating story, Mike. Thanks for posting it.
Halle