Arthur John Shawcross, a notorious American serial killer, who gained notoriety by earning the moniker "Genesee River Killer", committed a series of heinous and atrocious crimes across Rochester, New York, spanning a period of approximately 17 long and grueling years, from 1972 to 1989.
The early years of his notorious criminal career unfolded in his hometown of Watertown, New York, where a series of despicable acts of violence would eventually come to define his malevolent reputation. It was here, amidst the quiet streets and familiar faces of his childhood, that he would commit the first of his known heinous crimes, leaving in his wake a trail of devastation and heartbreak that would haunt the community for years to come.
The victims of his first known atrocity were a young boy and a girl, innocent and unsuspecting souls whose lives were brutally cut short by his senseless and merciless hand. The circumstances of their deaths would forever be etched in the memories of those who knew them, a grim reminder of the devastating consequences of his actions.
As the details of his crimes began to emerge, the people of Watertown were left reeling in shock and horror, struggling to comprehend the depths of depravity to which their former neighbor had sunk. The boy and the girl, whose lives were extinguished by his hand, were reduced to mere statistics, their names and faces becoming synonymous with tragedy and loss.
In the aftermath of his first known crime, the people of Watertown were left to pick up the pieces and try to make sense of the senseless. But the memory of the young boy and girl would never be forgotten, their lives forever lost to the cruel and capricious whims of a monster who would go on to commit many more atrocities in the years to come.
