The morning of June 23, 1990 started out perfectly normal at a McDonald’s in Bellevue, Washington — until an employee went to take out the trash.
Lying near a pile of sweepings was a nude deceased woman. Although investigators saw no visible gunshot or stab wounds, they noticed something unusual – the victim’s body was deliberately posed.
The police knew they had a sadistic necrophile on their hands. What they did not expect was that they were facing a serial killer with one of the most distinctive methods of operation – George Russell.
Within the next two months, the “Charmer” claimed two more victims, both of which have been posed.
According to Dr. Robert D. Keppel, the victims “were posed in sexually degrading positions: naked, arms spread or folded over as if in deliberate repose, holding or supporting items that revealed the killer’s attitude toward them, and legs deliberately spread.”
Two weeks after the third attack, Russell was arrested while attempting to break into the residence of his fourth intended victim, Robyn Oldenburg.
In November 1991, the “Charmer” was found guilty of all three murders and was sentenced to two life imprisonment terms, plus an additional 28 years.
As of 2023, 65-year-old George Russell remains incarcerated at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center.
