IL IL - THORESEN, William III - possible SK

Winward1

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Shot and killed by his wife in 1970, she said he had confessed to her to personally killing two people, and successfully arranging the murder of his brother (in 1965) as well as attempting to kill his parents in 1966.

He's also now been theorized to have killed Valerie Percy (beaten and stabbed in Kenilworth, IL, 1966) and Judith Mae Andersen (dismembered in Chicago, 1957) in the new book Sympathy Vote.

He was investigated for both the Andersen and Percy crimes, his brother was killed under mysterious circumstances, and at least one of the people he confessed to killing did vanish (that person's wife issued a missing person's report on him.) However, Thoresen was never charged with murder (but a variety of crimes, some of them violent and against women...rape...assault.)

Would all of the above make him a suspected serial killer?
 
Shot and killed by his wife in 1970, she said he had confessed to her to personally killing two people, and successfully arranging the murder of his brother (in 1965) as well as attempting to kill his parents in 1966.

He's also now been theorized to have killed Valerie Percy (beaten and stabbed in Kenilworth, IL, 1966) and Judith Mae Andersen (dismembered in Chicago, 1957) in the new book Sympathy Vote.

He was investigated for both the Andersen and Percy crimes, his brother was killed under mysterious circumstances, and at least one of the people he confessed to killing did vanish (that person's wife issued a missing person's report on him.) However, Thoresen was never charged with murder (but a variety of crimes, some of them violent and against women...rape...assault.)

Would all of the above make him a suspected serial killer?
If Thoresen's wife had not killed him, he would have eventually been caught and convicted of at least one murder. He was really losing his mind there at the end and probably would have killed quite a few people, IMO. He was pretty smart, but I think his rage would have got the best of him.
 
For what it's worth, I am convinced that Thoresen DID kill Valerie Percy. Just started researching the Judith Mae Andersen murder.
 
I found a couple stories about this case, or moreover about the possibility of William Thoresen being a murderer or even a serial killer...

Valerie Percy murder: Suspect William Thoresen revealed in 1966 Kenilworth mystery (ABC, 1/23/2014)
Millionaire businessman and soon-to-be U.S. Senator Charles Percy and his family are awakened by shattering glass, then muffled groaning. Percy's daughter and campaign manager Valerie had just been struck and stabbed; her killer quickly running off toward the lakeshore. No one has ever been charged.
After his own investigation, Chicago native Glenn Wall reports in this new book numerous uncanny connections between Thoresen and the Percy case. Most significantly, authorities believe the murder weapon was a serrated bayonet. Thoresen had been arrested in Chicago and Los Angeles for aggravated assault and possessing illegal weaponry.

"He had 70 tons of weapons including everything up to Howitzers, a laundry list of weapons that he had and bayonets are in there," said Wall.


William Thoresen: Death Sealed the Door of Mystery (The Palm Beach Post, 6/14/1970)
When eight-year-old Michael Thoresen bought a toy gun a few weeks ago, his father reprimanded him: "Haven't we had enough trouble with guns?"
He [William Thoresen] also had a mysterious avocation - collecting weapons in huge quantities and of all sizes, from a 37mm cannon to tiny daggers.
Wednesday, one of his guns took his life, put his wife in jail, charged with his murder, and perhaps sealed away forever the answer to whether Thoresen's habit of amassing arsenals was merely a millionaire's obsession or served some darker purpose.
 
The spring, 2016 ID of 1969 murder victim Reet Silvia Jurvetson, said to have been stabbed up to 150 times and found on Mulholland in LA was speculated to be Manson related but sounds more like Thoresen, who often visited and had committed a rap in LA, to me.
 
Say, wasn't a poster asking genealogy questions about that surname recently?
 
Don't know. I have thought to try to find the final resting place of Thoresen and his brother. But I am no longer local to the area. Today's the 51st anniversary of the Percy murder.
 
Thanks, Richard, found it a few years ago and paid a visit.
 
Technically he can only be a "Serial Killer" if he fits the criteria - more than 2 cases, are linked to him via evidence with a cooling off period of time in between.

Could he be one? is another discussion.
 
Picture of

William was never convicted of murder. His wife shot and killed him and it is her claims that he was a serial killer that have led some to consider him a possible suspect in some cases.
 
"possibles"should be eliminated from the board until they are charged
 
"possibles"should be eliminated from the board until they are charged
I tend to agree with you on this particular guy. I have not seen any solid evidence to connect him to the crimes he is said to have committed.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of serial killers who only get convicted of one murder and once in prison on a life term, prosecutors might decline to pursue another case that they suspect was committed by the killer, since he is already locked up. This might be to save money or to focus on other cases, but it can also backfire years later when he gets released on a technicality - and due to passage of time witnesses and evidence in the unpursued case are no longer available.

Some cases just lack the required evidence to charge him - even though he is a strong suspect because the murders match closely his known MO.
 

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