Gary Duane Rardon (born September 4, 1943) is a convicted American serial killer and spree killer who killed a man in Indiana in 1962, then robbed and killed three working men in Chicago, Illinois over a four-day period in 1974.
Early life
Rardon's father was William Harley Rardon, a U.S. Air Force master sergeant. Rardon said his parents treated him well. Asked about the murders, Rardon said, "I had a perfect family. Too perfect. My father didn't drink, didn't run around, didn't neglect us. Smoking was his only vice. My mother didn't do anything wrong. But sometimes I felt I didn't live up to their expectations."
First murder
On July 7, 1962, James Homer Smith, 23, who had just left the Marines, went into a train station in Indianapolis. When he asked if anyone needed a ride east, Rardon, then 19 and an AWOL sailor, said yes. Later that day, he shot Smith twice in the head and stuffed his body in the man's car. Smith's body was found 12 days later in Washington, Pennsylvania. On December 5, 1962, Rardon was arrested and charged with first degree murder. He claimed self-defense, saying Smith had made sexual advances towards him. On April 19, 1963, Rardon pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 2 to 21 years in prison. On January 8, 1966, his father, who had visited him regularly in prison, died of a heart attack. Rardon's grandfather, who briefly took care of him as a child, visited him in prison. "He told me that my father died of a broken heart," Rardon later said. "I never forgot that. When I was young, I wanted to be an FBI man."
In 1965, a psychiatrist who examined Rardon said he was "near psychotic" and "very dangerous." However, just two years later, the same psychiatrist re-examined him and said there was a "minimal" chance he would ever be violent again. Rardon later admitted that after his first psychiatric examination, he went to work for the psychiatrist as a medical records keeper. He was released on parole on May 8, 1967. In 1969, Rardon was sentenced to 3 to 5 years in prison for robbery in Connecticut.
1974 crime spree
After his prison time, Rardon, who had divorced his first wife, remarried. He was able to get a job as a machinist earning almost $250 a week. However, Rardon became bored and eventually quit his job. He then left his wife. As his bills started to pile up, Rardon stumbled across a shotgun which belonged to his father-in-law. He sawed off the barrel.
From November 14 to November 18, 1974, Rardon killed three men in Chicago with the sawed-off shotgun during robberies. The first victim was 28-year-old Gene R. Ravenscraft, who was killed on November 14. A native of Wheeling, Illinois, Ravenscraft had been working overtime since his wife, Cynthia, was pregnant with their third child. On the night of his murder, Gene was the only man in his office working the night shift, as he had only been there a few months. Around 7 P.M., Rardon, carrying his shotgun, saw Ravenscraft alone in the office. He walked inside and shot him once in the left side of the neck, killing him. Rardon then took $23 and Ravenscraft's coat.
On November 16, Rardon killed 31-year-old cab driver Herbert Noakes of Hammond, Indiana. He was killed a week before he had planned to marry his fiancée, Catherine E. Mensing. Earlier that night, Noakes had bought a hamburger for his wife. He told her it was a slow night, but said he would stay in the city in the hope of more riders. He was eventually spotted by Rardon, who was driving a stolen Corvette. Rardon parked, hid his shotgun under his coat, and got inside the cab. He then told Noakes to hand over his money. When Noakes turned around, Rardon shot him once in the left side of the neck, killing him. He left the cab with $63.
On November 18, Rardon killed fifty-year-old Asher Gruenberg of Skokie, Illinois. Gruenberg had worked for a steel company before joining a construction business. A World War II veteran, Gruenberg had left high school to serve in the Philippines and New Guinea. He and his wife, Rena, lived with their son, Myron, and daughter, Linda. The family were faithful Jews. Myron was supposed to have his bar mitzvah on November 30, 1974.