Michael Ross

Also known as: Michael Bruce Ross

Active: 1981–1984
Region: Eastern Connecticut, USA
States: CT, NY
Kind: Serial
Status: Executed
Victims: 8

Michael Ross, a Cornell graduate and insurance salesman, raped and murdered young women and girls in eastern Connecticut and New York between 1981 and 1984. Arrested in June 1984, he confessed to eight killings. He pleaded guilty to two Connecticut murders and was sentenced to death in 1987 for four more; after the death sentences were overturned, a new jury reimposed them in 2000. He gave up his appeals and was executed by lethal injection at Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers on May 13, 2005, the first execution in New England since 1960.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Dzung Ngoc Tu, 25 · May 12, 1981
A Cornell University student from Vietnam. Her death was ruled a suicide until Ross confessed.
Tammy Williams, 17 · January 5, 1982
Paula Perrera, 16 · April 2, 1982
Debra Smith Taylor, 23 · June 15, 1982
Robin Dawn Stavinsky, 19 · November 19, 1983
April Brunais, 14 · April 22, 1984
Leslie Shelley, 14 · April 22, 1984
Wendy Baribeault, 17 · June 13, 1984

Timeline of locations

May 12, 1981
Cornell University, Ithaca (Abduction, approximate area)
Dzung Ngoc Tu was killed in Ithaca in May 1981, during Ross's senior year at Cornell. He confessed in 1987 but was never charged.
January 5, 1982
Brooklyn, Connecticut (Abduction, approximate area)
Tammy Williams was taken from Brooklyn, where Ross had grown up. In June 1984 he led police to her remains.
April 2, 1982
Wallkill, New York (Abduction, approximate area)
Paula Perrera was picked up while hitchhiking in Wallkill as Ross drove between Cornell and Connecticut.
June 15, 1982
Near Danielson (Abduction, approximate area)
Debra Smith Taylor was abducted near Danielson.
November 19, 1983
Norwich (Abduction, approximate area)
Robin Stavinsky was abducted while hitchhiking in Norwich.
April 22, 1984
Griswold (Abduction, approximate area)
April Brunais and Leslie Shelley, both 14, were taken from Griswold in April 1984, and Wendy Baribeault in June 1984. A witness's description of Ross's car near the Baribeault scene led to his arrest.
December 28, 2004
New London Superior Court (Court / trial)
Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford ruled in New London in December 2004 that Ross was competent to waive his appeals and choose execution.
May 13, 2005
Osborn Correctional Institution, Somers (Prison)
Ross was executed by lethal injection here and pronounced dead at 2:25 a.m. on May 13, 2005, after almost 18 years on death row.

Watch, listen, read

Read

The Man in the Monster (2015, Martha Elliott (Penguin Press))

Active at the same time, nearby

Richard Kuklinski · both active in 1982, 76 km apart · map both

A coincidence of time and place, not a connection. All overlaps

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.