At age 19, this Wisconsin psychopath broke into a home, tied a young baby sitter to a bed and raped her at knife point. He then shot the homeowner in the face. Sentenced to 70 years, he only served a few years. He then raped another teenager and was sentenced to only 12 years, but was again released to hone his skill as a serial killer.

Excerpts:

"Chief Deputy Larry Shadick of the Langlade County Sheriff Department likened it to hunting. He said of the killer, "He just was hunting. Like when you go hunting, he found himself a victim.""

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"Spanbauer worked the parks and the city beaches in the hot summer sun of 1972. He eyeballed the bikini-clad women lying in the sun. He just spent 13 years in prison. The half-naked women at the beach drove him mad with sexual urges. Later he told psychiatrists he did what he did out of sexual frustration, and he simply couldn't wait any longer."

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"Winneconne is a small town of the Fox valley region, not far from Spanbauer's known circle of roaming around. In the early 1990's, a band of drunken redneck teenagers called the "Winneconne Possum Kickers," prowled back roads and shined opossums with flashlights. Once the opossum froze up, they kicked the animal to death with steel-toe work boots. That was evening entertainment for the local juvenile delinquents of the area in a time when women and girls started disappearing."

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Copyright © James Card.