Editing Danny Rolling

{{short description|American serial killer (1954–2006)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name              = Danny Rolling
| image             = Danny Rolling.jpg
| caption           = Rolling in 1991
| birth_name        = Danny Harold Rolling
| alias             = The Gainesville Ripper<br>Michael Kennedy Jr.
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1954|5|26}}
| birth_place       = [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2006|10|25|1954|5|26}}
| death_place       = [[Florida State Prison]], U.S.
| victims           = 8
| country           = United States
| states            = [[Louisiana]] and [[Florida]]
| beginyear         = 1989
| endyear           = 1990
| apprehended       = September 7, 1990
| motive            = [[Hedonism]], [[childhood abuse]]
| penalty           = [[Capital punishment in Florida|Death]] by [[Execution by lethal injection|lethal injection]]
| conviction        = [[Murder in Florida|First degree murder]] (5 counts)
}}

'''Danny Harold Rolling''' (May 26, 1954 – October 25, 2006), known as '''the Gainesville Ripper''', was an American [[serial killer]] who murdered five college students in [[Gainesville, Florida]] over four days in August 1990.

He later confessed to raping several of his victims, committing a triple [[homicide]] in his home city of [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], and attempting to murder his father in May 1990. In total, Rolling confessed to killing eight people.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15446336|title=Rolling's confession to Shreveport murders|work=[[NBC News]]|date=October 27, 2006|access-date=August 7, 2016}}</ref> He was sentenced to death for the five Gainesville murders in 1994. He was executed by [[lethal injection]] in 2006.

His killing spree inspired the [[slasher film]] franchise ''[[Scream (franchise)|Scream]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=White |first=Meredith G. |title=New documentary details how Louisiana serial killer inspired the original 'Scream' movie |url=https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/life/2022/01/12/scream-movie-documentary-danny-rolling-serial-killer-gainesville-ripper-hometown-shreveport/9126171002/ |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=Shreveport Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Early years ==
Daniel "Danny" Rolling was one of two sons born in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]] to James Harold Rolling and Claudia Beatrice, who were originally from [[Columbus, Georgia]]. James was a [[Korean War]] veteran in the [[U.S. Navy]] and a Shreveport police officer. He often abused his wife and sons for frivolous things, such as breathing in a way that displeased him; he also told his son that he was unwanted from birth. In one incident, Rolling's mother went to the hospital after claiming her husband tried to make her cut herself with a razor blade. She made repeated attempts to leave her husband but always returned shortly after. James once pinned Rolling to the ground, handcuffed him, and had police take his son away because he was embarrassed by him.<ref name="Ryzuk">{{Cite book |last=Ryzuk |first=Mary S. |title=The Gainesville Ripper |date=1994 |publisher=Dutton Books |isbn=0-312-95324-0 |location=New York City}}</ref> In another story, Rolling had a dog, but James beat the dog so often that it died in his son's arms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thecinemaholic.com/who-were-danny-rollings-parents-what-happened-to-them/|title = Who Were Danny Rolling's Parents? What Happened to Them?|date = April 9, 2021}}</ref>

As a teenager and young adult, Rolling was arrested several times for robberies in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] and [[Alabama]] and was caught spying on a woman getting dressed. As an adult, he had trouble trying to assimilate into society and holding down a steady job. At one point, Rolling worked as a waiter at [[Pancho's]] restaurant in [[Bossier City, Louisiana]].

== Gainesville Murders ==
In August 1990, Rolling murdered five students (one student from [[Santa Fe College]] and four from the [[University of Florida]]) during a burglary and robbery spree in [[Gainesville, Florida|Gainesville]], Florida. He mutilated his victims' bodies, decapitating one. He then posed them, sometimes using mirrors.

=== August 24, 1990 ===
In the early morning hours, Rolling broke into the apartment shared by two university freshmen, 18-year-old Sonja Larson and 17-year-old Christina Powell. Finding Powell asleep on the downstairs couch, he stood over her briefly but did not wake her up, choosing instead to go to the upstairs bedroom where Larson was also asleep. Rolling murdered Larson, first taping her mouth shut to stifle her screams, and then stabbing her to death with a [[Ka-Bar]] knife. She died trying to fend him off.<ref name="695 So. 2d 278">''Rolling v. State'', 695 So. 2d 278.</ref>

Rolling then went back downstairs, taped Powell's mouth shut, bound her wrists together behind her back and threatened her with the knife as he cut her clothes off. He then [[rape]]d her and forced her face-down onto the floor, where he killed her by stabbing her five times in the back. After killing Powell, Rolling went back upstairs and [[Necrophilia|raped Larson's corpse]].<ref name=Aamodt>{{cite web|title=Danny Rolling – Radford University |url=http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Rolling,%20Danny%20-%202004.pdf|author= Mike Aamodt |access-date=April 6, 2024}}</ref> He posed the bodies in sexually provocative positions and took a shower before leaving the apartment.<ref name="695 So. 2d 278"/>

=== August 25, 1990 ===
Rolling broke into the apartment of Christa Hoyt, an 18-year-old chemistry honors student at Santa Fe College,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/08/30/in-dread-and-sorrow-campus-waits-out-hunt-for-killer/e31fb8d0-88f7-4944-beca-32846ec76976/|title=Rolling's confession to Shreveport murders|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|date=August 30, 1990|access-date=August 7, 2016}}</ref> prying open a sliding glass door with a screwdriver. Finding she was not home, he waited in the living room for her to return. Between 10:30 pm and 11:00 pm Hoyt entered the apartment after playing racquetball with a friend and was surprised by Rolling, who placed her in a [[chokehold]]. After she had been subdued, he used duct tape to gag her mouth and bind her wrists together behind her back and led her into the bedroom, where he cut the clothes from her body and raped her. As in the Powell murder, he forced her to lie face-down onto the bed and stabbed her in the back, rupturing her [[aorta]]. He then flipped her body over and sliced her abdomen open from her [[pubic bone]] to her [[breastbone]]. After arriving back at his campsite, Rolling could not find his wallet. Thinking he may have lost it at the murder scene, he returned there, at which time he decapitated Hoyt, posed her body in a sitting position at the edge of her bed and placed her head on a shelf facing the corpse. He later claimed his intent was to add to the shock of whoever discovered her.<ref name="695 So. 2d 278" />

By this point, the murders had attracted widespread media attention. Many students had begun taking extra precautions, such as changing their daily routines and sleeping together in groups. Because the spree was happening so early in the fall semester, some students withdrew their enrollment or transferred to other schools.

=== August 27, 1990 ===
Tracy Paules, who was 23 years old, was living with her roommate Manny Taboada, also 23. Rolling broke into their apartment by prying open their sliding glass door with the same tools he had used previously. Rolling found Taboada asleep in one of the bedrooms and killed him after a struggle.<ref name="695 So. 2d 278" />

Hearing the commotion, Paules went down the hall to Taboada's bedroom and saw Rolling. She attempted to barricade herself in her bedroom but Rolling broke through the door. Rolling taped her mouth and wrists, cut off her clothing, and raped her before turning her over and stabbing her three times in the back. Rolling posed Paules' body but left Taboada's in the same position in which he had died.<ref name="695 So. 2d 278"/>

With the exception of Taboada, all of the victims were petite white [[Brown hair|brunettes]] with brown eyes, like Rolling's mother.

Although law enforcement initially had very few leads, police did identify two suspects. One suspect was Edward Lewis Humphrey, a 20-year-old [[University of Florida]] student who had a history of mental illness and had previously been convicted of felony assault against his grandmother; he was held in custody for five months until a [[grand jury]] refused to indict him on the murder charges, citing insufficient evidence.<ref>{{cite news |title=Humphrey is "still left in limbo' |first=Jeff |last=Testerman |date=2005-10-14 |orig-date=1991-11-16 |work=[[Tampa Bay Times]] |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1991/11/16/humphrey-is-still-left-in-limbo/ 
|access-date=2022-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226002147/https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1991/11/16/humphrey-is-still-left-in-limbo/ |archive-date=2024-02-26 |url-status=live}}</ref> Humphrey's photo was shown repeatedly by media outlets. Authorities publicly cleared him of all charges after Rolling's arrest; he started taking medication for his manic depression, graduating in 1994 from [[Eastern Florida State College|a local college]], then worked while studying part-time, graduating ''[[magna cum laude]]'' in 2000 from [[University of Central Florida]].<ref name=Graduate>{{cite news |title=Former suspect in Gainsville killings graduates from UCF |date=2009-06-05 |orig-date=2000-08-07 |work=[[The Ledger]] |url=https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2000/08/07/former-suspect-in-gainsville-killings/8026682007/ |access-date=2024-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208191558/https://eu.theledger.com/story/news/2000/08/07/former-suspect-in-gainsville-killings/8026682007/ |archive-date=2022-12-08 |url-status=live}}</ref> The other suspect was also later cleared.

== Shreveport murders and tip about Rolling ==
Louisiana police alerted Florida authorities to an unsolved triple murder in Shreveport on November 4, 1989. Detectives noted that there were similarities between the Gainesville murders and those of 55-year-old Tom Grissom, his 24-year-old daughter Julie, and his 8-year-old grandson Sean. The family had been attacked in their home as they were preparing for dinner. Afterwards, Julie Grissom's body had been mutilated, cleaned, and posed.

Don Maines, an investigator on the case with the [[Florida Department of Law Enforcement]], traveled to Shreveport in November 1990 because of similarities between the murders committed in Gainesville and murders committed in Shreveport;<ref name="abcnews-76900692">{{Cite news |last1=Ruppel |first1=Glenn |last2=Dooley |first2=Sean |last3=Rivas |first3=Anthony |date=April 8, 2021 |title=How a woman in Louisiana helped break the case of 5 student murders in Florida |language=en |work=ABCNews |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-louisiana-helped-break-case-student-murders-florida/story?id=76900692 |access-date=April 30, 2022}}</ref> these included posing of the victims, tape residue on the victims' bodies, and vinegar used to cleanse the bodies. Maines said they tested the body fluids from the perpetrator in Shreveport and found that this person also had [[Blood type|type B blood]]. He called the match to the evidence in Gainesville a "revelation" in the case.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Shortly after Maines' trip to Shreveport, a Shreveport resident, Cindy Juracich, called [[Crime Stoppers]] and reported that Danny Rolling was possibly connected to the murders in both cities.<ref name="abcnews-76900692" /> Three months earlier, in August 1990, Juracich heard a news report about a string of murders as she traveled through the [[Florida Panhandle]]. The report made her think about Rolling, whom she had met at her Louisiana hometown church, and his possible link to the murder of the Grissoms in Shreveport. Rolling had said deeply disturbing things to both her and her then-husband, Steven Dobbin. "He'd come over every night for a while, and then one night, Steven came in and he goes, 'He's got to go,{{' "}} Juracich said. She also said that Dobbin told her that Rolling had told him he had a problem. "I said, 'What kind of problem,{{' "}} Juracich said, "[and Steven said], 'He likes to stick knives into people.{{' "}} Juracich said she dismissed these comments when she heard about them because she did not want to believe Rolling could be responsible for the murders in Shreveport. Rolling had also told her, {{" '}}One day, I'm going to leave this town and I'm going to go where the girls are beautiful and I can just lay in the sun and watch beautiful women all day{{' "}}.<ref name="abcnews-76900692" />

News of the Gainesville murders haunted Juracich, so she finally contacted police in November, based on her hunch about Rolling's connection to the murders in both cities. "It would not let me rest," she said. "One day, I picked up the phone, I called Crime Stoppers, and I said, 'I think there's one guy y'all need to {{nowrap|investigate{{hsp}}{{mdash}}{{hsp}}}}Danny Rolling.{{' "}}<ref name="abcnews-76900692" />

Investigators responded to the tip and quickly found Rolling, who had been arrested on September 7, 1990, for an [[Ocala, Florida]], supermarket robbery. The robbery had been committed ten days after the bodies of Paules and Taboada were found. Rolling was being held in the [[Marion County, Florida|Marion County]] Jail 40 miles south of Gainesville. Investigators determined that Rolling had type B blood, like the suspect in both the Gainesville and Shreveport murders.

Once Florida investigators realized that Rolling had multiple convictions for [[armed robbery]], they realized he could have also been responsible for the bank robbery that occurred on the day Christa Hoyt's body was found. They returned to the evidence locker, where the gun, screwdriver, bag of money, and cassette player had been stored, and listened to the tape.<ref name="abcnews-76900692" /> They also found tools matching marks left at the Gainesville murder scenes. The small camp where he had been living was in a wooded area near apartment complexes frequented by students; investigators discovered audio diaries he had made there alluding to the crimes.

Later it was discovered that on August 5, 1990, Rolling broke into the home of Janet Frake in [[Sarasota, Florida]]. He bound and gagged her with duct tape while he sexually assaulted her, but did not kill her.<ref>{{Cite web |last=COX |first=BILLY |title=Sarasota victim: Rolling was 'pure evil' |url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2006/10/25/sarasota-victim-rolling-was-pure-evil/28508396007/ |access-date=July 7, 2022 |website=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Charges and trial ==
In November 1991, Rolling was charged with five counts of murder. He was brought to trial nearly four years after the murders. He claimed his motive was to become a "superstar" similar to [[Ted Bundy]]. In 1994, before his trial could get underway, Rolling unexpectedly pleaded guilty to all charges. Subsequently, State Attorney Rod Smith presented the penalty phase of the prosecution. During his trial, [[Court TV]] conducted an interview with Rolling's mother from her home, during which his father could be heard shouting off-camera.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

On April 20, 1994, Rolling was sentenced to death.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Palombo|first1=Bernadette J.|last2=Joiner|first2=Gary D.|last3=Hale|first3=W. Chris|last4=White|first4=Cheryl H.|date=March 4, 2012|title=Wicked Shreveport|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tHt2CQAAQBAJ|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1614233664}}</ref> Rolling was diagnosed with [[antisocial personality disorder]], [[borderline personality disorder]], and [[paraphilia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Steel |first=Fiona |title=Danny Rolling, the Gainesville Ripper |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/rolling/20.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016062810/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/rolling/20.html |archive-date=October 16, 2012 |website=[[TruTV]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Leusner |first=Jim |date=March 18, 1994 |title=Danny Rolling, Serial Killer |work=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1994/03/18/identity-crisis-gets-the-blame-for-danny-rollings-behavior/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AbocAAAAIBAJ&pg=5162,281052|title=Psychologist Says Rolling Suffers From Disorders|newspaper=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]]|date=March 16, 1994}}</ref>

== Execution==
Shortly before he was executed in Florida for the series of killings in Gainesville, Rolling claimed responsibility for the Shreveport murders, handing his spiritual adviser Reverend Mike Hudspeth and Florida police a handwritten confession and apology.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kamm |first=Grayson |date=October 27, 2006 |title=Rolling Confessed to Shreveport Killings Before Execution |work=[[WJXX|First Coast News]] |url=http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/news-article.aspx?storyid=67772 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130123032912/http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=67772 |archive-date=January 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rolling |first=Danny |date=October 25, 2006 |title=Handwritten Letter |publisher=[[Gannett Company]] |url=http://download.gannett.edgesuite.net/wtlv/docs//d9475181027.pdf |url-status=dead |access-date=April 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717170310/http://download.gannett.edgesuite.net/wtlv/docs//d9475181027.pdf |archive-date=July 17, 2011}}</ref> Rolling had a [[last meal]] of lobster tail. He sang a [[gospel hymn]], but made no statement immediately before his execution, which was witnessed by many of his victims' relatives.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fisher |first=Lise |date=October 27, 2006 |title=Danny Rolling executed for five student murders |work=The Gainesville Sun |url=https://www.gainesville.com/article/20061026/news/604169997 |access-date=August 7, 2016 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Serial killer Danny Rolling executed in Florida |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15417276 |access-date=8 November 2023 |agency=NBC News |date=October 25, 2006}}</ref>

Rolling was executed by [[lethal injection]] at [[Florida State Prison]] on October 25, 2006, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch appeal. He was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m EDT.

== In media ==
{{More citations needed|section|date=November 2022}}
[[File:UF-34thStreetMemorial.jpg|right|thumb|Memorial to the five students on the [[34th Street Wall]] in Gainesville, first painted in 1990]]

Rolling has been the subject of several written works. His crime spree inspired screenwriter [[Kevin Williamson (screenwriter)|Kevin Williamson]] to pen the script of the 1996 [[slasher film]] ''[[Scream (1996 film)|Scream]]'', which became a successful horror [[Scream (franchise)|franchise]].

[[Sondra London]] collaborated with Rolling on ''The Making of a Serial Killer: The True Story of the Gainesville Murders in the Killer's Own Words.''<ref>{{YouTube|hDiVAUz5Jyo|Serial Killer Danny Rolling Defends Sondra London}}</ref> Rolling's relationship with London, which developed while he was behind bars, was the focus of an episode of Errol Morris' ''First Person''. Rolling and London became romantically involved, eventually even becoming engaged. The series overviewed their romance, his artwork, and his supposed feelings of remorse over the crimes he committed. It also included a segment of Rolling using one of his hearings as an opportunity to publicly display his affection, serenading London in the courtroom.

A 2007 independent feature film titled ''The Gainesville Ripper'', based on accounts of the killings, was shot in the Gainesville and [[Jacksonville]], Florida areas. In the film, Rolling is portrayed by Zachary Memos.<ref>{{IMDb name|2470508|Zachary Memos}}</ref>

Rolling was also the subject of an episode of ''Body of Evidence: From the Case Files of [[Dayle Hinman]]'', a [[Court TV]] show (transmitted as ''Crime Scene USA: Body of Evidence'' on [[Discovery Channel]] in the UK) and an episode of ''[[Forensic Factor]]'' titled ''Killing Spree'', which originally aired on [[Discovery Channel Canada]] and was rebroadcast in America on the [[Science Channel]].

Rolling was the subject of a 2010 episode of ''[[Cold Blood (TV series)|Cold Blood]]'', and briefly was mentioned in a 2012 episode of ''Motives and Murders'' titled "Not Again". He was featured in a 2015 episode of ''[[Nightmare Next Door]]''.

In 2013, TV documentary series ''[[The Real Story (TV series)|The Real Story]]'' aired an episode profiling the movie ''Scream''. It aired July 28, 2013, and tells the story of Rolling's murders in graphic detail.

An episode of ''Murder Made Me Famous'', which aired November 24, 2018, chronicled the case.<ref>{{cite web|title=Murder Made Me Famous 'The Gainesville Ripper'|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8638080/reference|website=IMDB|access-date=November 27, 2018}}</ref>

The premiere episode of ''[[Mark of a Killer]]'', titled "Posed to Kill", documented the case.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Mark of a Killer 'Danny Rolling: The Gainesville Ripper'|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9150186/reference|website=IMDB|access-date=January 26, 2019}}</ref>

In 2020, [[WUFT (TV)|WUFT]] News released a television special and podcast special chronicling thoughts on the case 30 years later, titled Four Days, Five Murders.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Brien |first=Chris |title=Four Days, Five Murders: A WUFT-TV Special |url=https://www.wuft.org/news/2020/09/04/four-days-five-murders-a-wuft-tv-special/ |access-date=October 6, 2022 |website=WUFT News |date=September 4, 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=4 Days, 5 Murders |url=https://www.wuft.org/news/4-days-5-murders/ |access-date=October 6, 2022 |website=WUFT News |language=en-US |archive-date=October 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006181657/https://www.wuft.org/news/4-days-5-murders/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2021, an episode of the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] primetime true crime television series ''[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]'' aired the murder case.

On January 14, 2022, Discovery+ premiered the paranormal documentary ''Scream: The True Story'', starring [[Prozak (rapper)|Steve Shippy]] and Cindy Kaza. Shippy and Kaza conduct a paranormal investigation in Rolling's childhood home in Shreveport, Louisiana.

== See also ==
* [[2022 University of Idaho killings]], four university roommates killed in Idaho
*[[Ted Bundy#Florida|Ted Bundy]], killed university sorority house roommates in Florida
*[[Ma Jiajue]], killed four university roommates in China
*[[Elliot Rodger]], stabbed to death roommates near university in California
*[[Nathaniel Code]], another serial killer from Shreveport with eight victims
* [[List of people executed in Florida]]
* [[List of people executed in the United States in 2006]]
* [[List of serial killers in the United States]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150209235117/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/rolling/gain_1.html Danny Rolling, Gainesville Ripper]. ''Crime Library''. Retrieved on November 14, 2007.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160105010934/http://crime.about.com/od/serial/fl/Daniel-Harold-Rolling.htm Profile of Daniel Harold Rolling] at [[About.com]]
*{{IMDb title|988858|The Gainesville Ripper}}
*[https://archive.today/20121224093838/http://www.dc.state.fl.us/InmateReleases/Detail.asp?Bookmark=1&From=list&SessionID=912575887 Inmate Release Information Detail - Inmate 521178]. ''[[Florida Department of Corrections]]''.

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:1989 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:1990 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American criminals]]
[[Category:21st-century executions by Florida]]
[[Category:21st-century executions of American people]]
[[Category:American male criminals]]
[[Category:American murderers of children]]
[[Category:American rapists]]
[[Category:Crime in Florida]]
[[Category:Executed American serial killers]]
[[Category:Executed people from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Family murders in the United States]]
[[Category:Necrophiles]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by Florida]]
[[Category:People executed by Florida by lethal injection]]
[[Category:People from Shreveport, Louisiana]]
[[Category:People with antisocial personality disorder]]
[[Category:People with borderline personality disorder]]
[[Category:Serial killers from Florida]]
[[Category:Serial killers from Louisiana]]