John Jamelske
Encyclopedia
John T. Jamelske is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 serial rapist
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

-kidnapper
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...

 who, from 1988 to his apprehension in 2003, kidnapped
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...

 a series of girls and women and held them captive in a concrete bunker beneath the yard of his home in DeWitt, a suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 of Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Early life

Jamelske was born and raised in the DeWitt area. He graduated from Fayetteville High School
Fayetteville-Manlius High School
Fayetteville-Manlius High School is a comprehensive New York public high school on East Seneca Turnpike in the Town of Manlius, serving grades 9-12 in the Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District. It is the only high school in the district, and is the successor to both Wellwood Middle School...

 in 1953. In September 1959, he married Dorothy Richmond, a schoolteacher, with whom he had three sons. At this time, he worked at Acme Market
Acme Market
Acme Markets is a supermarket chain in the mid-Atlantic, southern, and northeastern United States. Acme is owned by Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based corporation SuperValu. Acme has its headquarters in East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania, near Malvern, a Philadelphia suburb.Acme began in 1891, when...

 and other grocery stores. Later he started working in a series of blue-collar jobs, as a handyman
Handyman
A handyman is a person skilled at a wide range of repairs, typically around the home. These tasks include trade skills, repair work, maintenance work, both interior and exterior, and are sometimes described as "odd jobs", "fix-up tasks", and include light plumbing jobs such as fixing a leaky toilet...

 and carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

.

Later years

Over the years, Jamelske amassed over $1 million, which he invested in real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

 in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Jamelske's wife Dorothy became bedridden from disease in 1988 and died several years later.

Abductions

In October 1988, Jamelske abducted his first victim, a 14-year-old Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 girl. She was held captive for over two years, and had turned 17 by the time of her release. Jamelske compelled her to his will
Will (philosophy)
Will, in philosophical discussions, consonant with a common English usage, refers to a property of the mind, and an attribute of acts intentionally performed. Actions made according to a person's will are called "willing" or "voluntary" and sometimes pejoratively "willful"...

 by threatening violence against her younger brother. She made no attempt to report to authorities after Jamelske released her.

In either 1995 or 1996, Jamelske abducted another 14-year-old runaway whom he lured under the premise of paying her to deliver a secret package. The girl willingly walked into his bunker (which he called "the dungeon") and Jamelske closed the door behind her. Eventually Jamelske put a blindfold on her and drove her to her mother's apartment and dropped her off. Although her family was also threatened, she went to the police with a description. Because of her previous drug use, they questioned the credibility of her story and dropped the investigation shortly after.

On August 31, 1997, Jamelske kidnapped a 53-year-old woman off the street. She was a foreign refugee who spoke little English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. He forced her into his car and took her to an abandoned house, where he raped her. Then he tied her to a stack of flattened cardboard boxes and drove her to his house. During her captivity she was raped daily and was also forced to fulfill various menial tasks for Jamelske. She was released on May 23, 1998 at a Greyhound bus station with $50. She reported to the police that day, but nothing came of it. She claimed that the police did not believe her, but Syracuse Police spokesman Sgt. Thomas Connellan stated that they investigated all leads, none of which panned out.

On May 11, 2001, a 26-year-old Latino woman walking in downtown Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

 while on LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...

 was offered a ride home by Jamelske, which the woman accepted due to the poor weather. Jamelske took her back to his bunker, where he raped her daily. When she resisted, Jamelske inflicted cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...

 burns on her, from which she developed an abscess
Abscess
An abscess is a collection of pus that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue in which the pus resides due to an infectious process or other foreign materials...

 on her lower back. Jamelske also manipulated her with claims that he was actually part of an underground slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 syndicate, of which the police were a part.

The victim wanted to write home to her parents letting them know she was alive, and while Jamelske did agree she could only do so in stating that she was in a drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...

 clinic.

Controversy over investigation

After the previous victims' release, police investigations were complicated by the letter she had been forced by Jamelske to write. Further complicating the case was the rape kit test showing no evidence of sexual assault—Jamelske had no sexual contact with the victim for several days prior to releasing her.

The victim also told police that he drove a tan 1974 Mercury Comet
Mercury Comet
The Mercury Comet is an automobile produced by the Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company from 1960–1969 and 1971-1977 — variously as either a compact or an intermediate car.The Comet was based on the compact Ford Falcon and later the Ford Maverick...

. Police searched for registered vehicles matching this description in the New York area and came up with a single hit. However the lead didn't pan out due to the victim's description of the vehicle not matching with the one discovered. Due to this inconsistency, the investigating officers closed the case. It is noted that police failed to search any other year, as the car Jamelske drove was a 1975 Mercury Comet of the same color.

Representatives from the Syracuse police appeared on Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...

and criticized the woman for providing insufficient information.

In another interview on the program Cold Case Files
Cold Case Files
Cold Case Files is documentary television series on the cable channel A&E Network hosted by Bill Kurtis that documents the investigation of various long-unsolved murders through the use of modern forensic science , and criminal psychology, in addition to recent breakthroughs in the...

, an Onondaga
Onondaga County, New York
Onondaga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 467,026. The county seat is Syracuse.Onondaga County is part of the Syracuse, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area....

 Sheriff's Department detective stated:
The victim claimed during the same program:
Concerning the letter written by the victim to her family, the detective again stated:

Discovery

In October 2002, Jamelske picked up his final abductee, a 16-year-old African American runaway from Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

.

On April 3, 2003, Jamelske felt confident enough to take the girl out to karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...

 at a local bar. Emboldened by this success, he then took her on another public outing, where she slipped away from him long enough to phone her sister. The girl's sister checked the caller ID and dialed the number back, which turned out to be a bottle return center located in Manlius
Manlius (town), New York
Manlius is a town in Onondaga County, east of the city of Syracuse, New York, United States. The population was 32,370 at the 2010 census, making it the third largest suburb in metropolitan Syracuse...

. The older sister persuaded the employee who answered the phone to call 9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...

. The employee in turn called her boss, who was working at a local pet store several blocks away, telling him that Jamelske—who was scheduled to visit him at the store shortly—had apparently kidnapped a young girl and had been raping her. After Jamelske and the girl had made their visit and left, the boss immediately called the police; Jamelske was tracked down and arrested shortly thereafter.

After discovery

Jamelske pleaded guilty to five counts of first degree kidnapping, and is currently serving a term of 18 years to life
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...

. Part of his guilty plea agreement was that his assets would be sold off and divided among his victims. In a prison interview with MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...

, Jamelske said that he should not be punished for what he did and that, once arrested, he had thought he would at the most spend a couple of days in jail, pay a fine, or perform community service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....

. He said that his lawyers had to spend many days after his arrest to make it clear to him that taking women and holding them in a dungeon is kidnapping.

In 2004, MSNBC produced episode 12 of their MSNBC Reports series subtitled "Sex Bunker" on the Jamelske case, periodically rebroadcast several times a year as part of their "doc block" documentary marathons.

The case is also covered in the book True Stories of Law & Order: SVU: The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Hit TV Show by Kevin Dwyer and Juré Fiorillo.

The dungeon

Police found Jamelske's residence to be systematically filled with miscellaneous items of little or no value: newspapers, magazines, beer bottles, receipts spanning two decades, etc.

Further down into the basement, behind a storage shelf, police discovered the bunker in which Jamelske kept his victims: a steel door leading to an eight-foot-long tunnel which had to be traversed on hands and knees, leading to yet another steel door, which finally led to an 8 feet (2.4 m) high, 24 feet (7.3 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) wide room. The entry was a small box located just under the top of the room, so the person entering had to turn around and step down into the room via a small three rung ladder. Jamelske would tie his victims up with a chain that connected to an ankle bracelet.

The dungeon had many things written on the wall, most notably religious phrases as well as numerous peace symbols. When the police had found the dungeon they had contacted one of the known victims to link Jamelske to her testimony by asking what three words were written on the wall. She correctly responded "Wall of Thugs". A crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....

 hung by the door, next to "PEACE TO ALL WHO ENTER HERE", as well as the words "HATE", "READY TO RUCUSS [sic], SO BRING ON THE PAIN" in deep crimson.

In the center of the room was a stained bathtub on top of a raised wooden deck. It was here that the victims were forced to bathe using a garden hose. There was a drain plug but no plumbing. When the tub was drained, the water had nowhere to go but on the cement floor of the dungeon where it remained until it evaporated, making the room damp and moldy. An aluminum frame chair with no seat was positioned over a pail; a crude toilet that was used to further degrade the captives. A clock radio sat on top of a filthy portable refrigerator. Next to a yellow extension cord which ran out from a hole in the top of the walls was an eight inch (203 mm) aluminum hose that pumped warm air from the house furnace.

There was also a series of calendars in which the victims systematically had to mark each day. Noted was the letters "B", "S", and "T" written on the dates. Investigators later discovered these letters were made by the victims who were made to record each date they had sex (S), bathed (B), or brushed their teeth (T). The collective timespan of the calendars covered 15 years.

Police found several video recorded entries with at least one woman on the tape. In the tapes, the viewer can see Jamelske dancing, singing, and also exercising with said woman. Jamelske often told his captives that he was a part of the Onondaga County Sheriff's Department and had shown a fake badge he had found on the street years earlier, as well as telling them that he was under certain bosses that were making him do this. He told his victims under this story that the easier the daily rapes could occur the faster his bosses might let the girls out. In the video tape police found, the viewer can see the victim pleading with the potential "bosses" that it would be better if she were home.

All of Jamelske's victims were of different ethnic origins: Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

, Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...

, Vietnamese
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...

, black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...

, and white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

. The district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

 who prosecuted Jamelske stated:

External links

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