Albert Fish, also known as the "Werewolf of Wysteria," was born on May 19, 1870, in Washington D.C., United States, and was executed in the electric chair on January 16, 1936. Throughout his life, Fish committed a series of atrocities and murders that earned him his sinister nickname.

 

Childhood, Sexuality, and Obsession with Pain

 

After becoming an orphan and being placed in an orphanage, Albert suffered constant abuse and mistreatment at just five years old. However, Albert did not try to escape from these punishments. On the contrary, the young boy longed for those moments. He found pleasure in each beating, even reaching orgasm. It was there that his masochistic tendencies began to emerge.

 

Albert Fish

 

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According to his psychiatric report, Albert Fish had a sadistic and masochistic personality, characterized by a tendency for castration and self-castration, homosexuality, exhibitionism, voyeurism, pedophilia, fetishism, and hyperhedonism. He found pleasure in practicing coprophagy (ingestion of feces) and cannibalism.

 

His obsession with pain led him to self-inflict punishments and mutilations. He would stick pins into his pelvis and genitals - nearly a dozen were found in an X-ray. He would roll his naked body on rose bushes full of thorns, and he was even caught masturbating in his room while striking his back with a nail-studded paddle.

 

Albert Fish's X-ray

 

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Modus Operandi

 

Fish focused on attacking and murdering children, with his main targets being those he considered "delicate." His modus operandi involved kidnapping, torturing, and ultimately killing his victims. Additionally, it was discovered that he had a preference for cannibalism, even consuming parts of his victims' bodies.

 

Grace Budd and the Budd Letter

 

One of the most notorious cases related to Albert Fish was the murder of Grace Budd, a 10-year-old girl. Fish contacted Grace's family under a false identity and managed to convince the parents to allow him to take the girl to a supposed birthday party for his young niece. However, instead of taking her to the party, Fish took her to an abandoned house where he tortured and brutally murdered her.

 

After his arrest, a letter sent by Fish to Grace Budd's mother was discovered, detailing the horrific acts he committed against the girl. The letter, known as the "Budd Letter," is extremely disturbing and has been cited as evidence of Fish's depraved and twisted behavior.

 

Grace (right) and her siblings

 

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Budd Letter

 

Six years after Grace's disappearance, the family received a letter from Albert Fish, in which he described what happened that afternoon and what he did to their daughter. His words left the mother in a state of shock, and it was her son Tedd who had to finish reading it. They handed the letter over to the police.

 

The content was terrifying:

 

"On Sunday June 3, 1928, I called on you at 406 West 15th Street, brought you pot cheese, strawberries. We had lunch. Grace sat on my lap and kissed me. I made up my mind to eat her. On the pretense of taking her to a party, you said yes, she could go. I took her to an empty house in Westchester."

 

"When we got there, I told her to remain outside. She picked wildflowers. I went upstairs and stripped all my clothes off. I knew if I did not, I would get her blood on them. When all was ready, I went to the window and called her. Then I hid in a closet until she was in the room. When she saw me all naked, she began to cry and tried to run down the stairs. I grabbed her and she said she would tell her mama."

 

"I stripped her naked. How she did kick, bite, and scratch. I choked her to death, then cut her into small pieces so I could take my meat to my rooms. Cook and eat it. How sweet and tender her little ass was roasted in the oven. It took me 9 days to eat her entire body. I did not fuck her, though I could have if I wished. She died a virgin."

 

Budd Letter

 

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Additional Confessed Crimes during his Arrest

 

He confessed to being the perpetrator of several more crimes. For example, the murder of a four-year-old boy whom he flagellated to death, cutting off his ears, nose, and eyes. He drank his blood and dismembered him to prepare a stew.

 

He also recounted what happened with a homeless boy whom he forced to engage in sadistic, masochistic, and coprophagic acts for several weeks. He stabbed the boy's buttocks to drink his blood and attempted to castrate him but stopped due to the young boy's screams.

 

During the trial, which took place on March 11, 1935, Albert Fish narrated with a smile on his lips all the depravities he had committed against around a hundred children.