Random Horrifying Facts Gary Heidnik, The Killer Who Inspired 'Buffalo Bill' (15 items)

(#11) One Of His Victims Was A Mentally Disabled Woman

In 1978, Heidnik signed then-girlfriend Anjeanette Davidson’s mentally disabled sister, Alberta, out of the institution she lived in full-time. Health professionals reported Alberta, 34, had the cognitive abilities of a 5-year-old. Heidnik made Alberta stay in a room in his basement and repeatedly forced himself on her.

Police arrested Heidnik for numerous charges. A psychological evaluation revealed Heidnik’s inferiority complex:

He is also psychosexually immature. He appears to be easily threatened by women whom he would consider to be equal to him either intellectually or emotionally.
(#1) He Confined Six Women In His Basement

Gary Heidnik chained six Black women to pipes at the bottom of a hole he dug into the soil beneath his Philadelphia house. In 1986, Heidnik took his first victim, a known prostitute named Josefina Rivera, who later helped him obtain several others. His second victim was a mentally disabled woman named Sandra Lindsay. His third, Lisa Thomas, was a 19-year-old single mother.

In 1987, Heidnik confined three more women: Deborah Dudley, Jacqueline Askins, also a known sex worker, and Agnes Adams. Reportedly, Heidnik intended on starting a “baby farm” with the women, whom he planned to impregnate.
(#13) He Founded His Own Church In The 1970s

In 1971, Heidnik founded his own church and made himself a bishop. His church, the United Church of the Ministers of God, was a way for him to invest his income without paying taxes on it. The church was headquartered in his own Philadelphia house, and the board consisted of one of his brothers, three other people, and himself.

In an interview, Heidnik’s next-door-neighbor maintained the church had a strong attendance, but that the majority of members were mentally disabled.

At the time of his arrest, the courts valued Heidnik's assets - including the church - at approximately half a million dollars. In 1987, victims took legal action against Heidnik’s institution for financial retribution.
(#15) He Inspired Punk And Metal Bands

Prolific Philadelphia killer Heidnik inspired several bands to release songs inspired by his offenses, some of which have named the bands after him. A Philadelphia punk band wrote the song "Gary Heidnik's House of Horrors," and a punk and hardcore band from New Jersey named themselves Heidnik Stew. Heidnik's influence on music spread as far as Europe, home to Aborted, a Belgium-based metal band who sang about Heidnik in "Cadaverous Banquet."

In 2018, industrial group Skynd collaborated with Jonathan Davis, the well-known leader of band Korn, to create a song and music video entitled “Gary Heidnik.”
(#6) He Was Violent Toward His Wife As Well

Throughout their short marriage, Heidnik repeatedly beat his wife, Betty Disto. In 1985, Heidnik and Disto married. She claimed he forced her to watch while he had sex with other women, some of which were prostitutes. Betty also alleged Heidnik regularly beat her with his fists when she was pregnant with his child.

Disto, hesitant to leave her abusive husband because she had just arrived in the United States from the Philippines, turned to the Filipino community for support. Neighbors and friends convinced her to escape, and she divorced Heidnik in 1986.

Reportedly, she attempted to file charges against him for “indecent assault, spousal rape, assault, and involuntary deviant sexual intercourse,” but the judge dropped the case when Disto didn’t appear in court.
(#4) He Subjected His Victims To Electric Shocks

Heidnik, a serial rapist, kept his captives confined in chains. The chains were either attached to the basement pipes or loosened when he put the women into his self-made basement hole. Their wrist shackles were in place at all times. Heidnik subjected them to electric shocks. He used a loosened live wire, which he held against their chains, to send volts of electricity through his victims' bodies.

He also stuck screwdrivers into their ears as a form of punishment. To drown out their screams, Heidnik played loud music or turned the television volume up.