Michaiah Shobek (born James Michael Shoffner; 1954 – October 19, 1976), known as The Angels of Lucifer Killer, was an American serial killer who murdered three fellow American tourists in the Bahamas from December 5, 1973, to January 26, 1974.[1][2] He was convicted in 1974 and was executed for his crimes.[3][4]
Michaiah Shobek | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | James Michael Shoffner 1954 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | October 19, 1976 (aged 22) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Other names | "The Angels of Lucifer Killer" |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Motive | The victims were "angels of Lucifer" |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 3+ |
Span of crimes | 1973–1974 |
| Country | Bahamas and possibly the United States |
Date apprehended | January 1974 |
Biography
editBorn James Michael Shoffner in Milwaukee, Shobek grew up with his mother Juanita Spencer, a cleaner at a Milwaukee school, without knowing his father. He caught a viral disease, which resulted in permanent brain damage, when he was two years old.[1] As an adult, he began working as a handyman, dreaming of one day becoming a songwriter.[5] In November 1973, the then 17-year-old moved to the Bahamas to "bum around," changing his name to Michaiah Shobek.[6]
Murders
editOn December 5, 1973, he murdered his first victim, 50-year-old Paul V. Howell, an attorney from Massillon, Ohio who was attending a convention. On Wednesday evening, Howell was in his hotel room, when he heard a knock on his door. Immediately upon opening it, he was stabbed in the chest and throat, killed instantly. Police suspected that he may have surprised burglars, and focused on that theory. Howell's body was sent off for preparation of funeral services in his native Ohio by Sunday, 9th of the same month.[6]
On January 18 the following year, Shobek murdered his second victim — 44-year-old Irvin Bernstein, an accountant from Ocean City, New Jersey. The man had arrived in Nassau from Miami through an Air Bahamas flight the previous day when Shobek spotted him and offered a ride. He drove Bernstein from the airport, faking sexual advances to distract the man from noticing that they weren't going to the hotel.[6]
When he stopped the car and pulled out his knife, Bernstein opened the door and tried to escape but was caught and stabbed to death by his assailant. His body was discovered on Yamacraw Beach the next day by an employee of the Ministry of Fisheries, wearing only socks and shoes, with multiple stab wounds. A pen and pair of sunglasses belonging to Shobek were found next to the body. A black bag found eight miles away in Paradise Island contained some of Bernstein's papers and his killer's driver's license. When he was arrested later, Shobek was found to be in possession of Bernstein's pen.[6]
On January 26, he murdered his final victim — 17-year-old student Katie Smith from Detroit, who was on a visit to the Bahamas with a group of other chaperoned students. The day before her murder, she had been seen walking with Shobek, and the following day, her body was found in a ditch by a cardboard box, apparently strangled to death.[6]
Arrest, trial and execution
editShobek, who was still 19 years of age at the time, was caught after he murdered Katie Smith. Due to a bank robbery investigation going on at the time, the preliminary hearing scheduled for February 18, 1974 was cut short.[6]
The Bahamas decided to hold a single murder trial rather than three, as the prosecution simply needed one first-degree murder conviction to permanently imprison the vacationing serial killer. Shobek and his lawyer pleaded insanity and diminished mental capacity, stating that he had murdered them by order from God. Later on, he confessed to the other murders claiming that they were "angels of Lucifer." Shobek was convicted of murdering Bernstein and given a mandatory death sentence. Although he was initially scheduled to be hanged on October 8, he was granted an indefinite stay following an appeal filed by the United States Embassy, in which it was claimed that substantial information hadn't been supplied to the court.[1][2]
During a psychiatric examination, the authorities learned that Shobek had been traveling between the US and the Bahamas for about two years. Whether he murdered other people during this period is unknown.[6]
Shobek's execution date was moved to October 19, when he was to be executed at the Fox Hill Prison.[2] The day before the hanging, a lawyer from the Legal Aid Society representing Shobek's mother had pleaded to then-president Gerald Ford to make a last-minute appeal, but her request was refused by a presidential aide. Michaiah Shobek was hanged, and his death later was confirmed by the Investigation Department Chief, Addington Darville. He was the first American to be hanged in the Bahamas in 15 years.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "American's Hanging in Bahamas Put Off". Associated Press. 7 October 1975.
- ^ a b c "Bahamas to Execute an American Today for Murder of 3 Tourists". Associated Press. 19 October 1976.
- ^ "Shobek". The Courier-News. 1976-10-19. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
- ^ Bahamianologist, The (2018-02-27). "Bahamas Serial Killers (part 2): The "Angels of Lucifer" Killer 1974 · Bahamianology". Bahamianology. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
- ^ a b "American hanged". Central Michigan Life. 20 October 1976.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Bahamas Serial Killers (part 2): The "Angels of Lucifer" Killer 1974". Bahamianology.com. 27 February 2018.