Additional Coverage:
- Mass murderer George Banks, spared from death penalty, dies in prison 43 years after rampage (nbcnews.com)
HARRISBURG, Pa. – George Banks, one of the most infamous mass murderers in U.S. history, has died at the age of 83. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections confirmed that Banks passed away Sunday afternoon at Phoenix state prison due to complications from renal neoplasm, or kidney cancer, according to Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Janine Darby.
Banks had been incarcerated since 1982 following a horrific rampage in Wilkes-Barre where he shot 14 people, killing 13, including five of his own children. At the time, the incident was considered one of the worst mass murders in American history. He was convicted of 12 counts of first-degree murder and one count of third-degree murder.
The tragic events unfolded after Banks had been drinking at a party late one night. He then used an AR-15 rifle to begin his deadly spree at his home.
Among the victims were his children, aged 1 to 6, and four mothers of his children. Other victims were bystanders, including an 11-year-old child who frequently stayed with his family, a 7-year-old child, and a teenager who recognized Banks leaving his home armed with the rifle.
Authorities reported that Banks killed three women and five children at his residence. Dressed in green army fatigues with an ammunition bandolier, he then left the scene. Upon encountering four teenagers walking to their car from a friend’s house, he fatally shot one and wounded another, who survived.
Banks subsequently stole a car and drove to the Heather Highlands Trailer Park. There, police discovered the bodies of Banks’ son, the child’s mother, her mother, and her nephew.
From the trailer park, Banks proceeded to his mother’s house, where he reportedly told her, “I killed them. I killed them all,” as noted in court records.
The rampage concluded after a four-hour standoff at a friend’s house, where Banks eventually surrendered after police attempted to convince him that his victims had survived.
State courts ultimately prevented Banks’ execution, deeming him mentally incompetent. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2012, Jim Olson, the teenager who survived being shot by Banks, expressed his frustration that Banks had not faced execution, questioning, “What is the sense of having a death penalty if you don’t use it or enforce it?”
Defense lawyers had argued that Banks was insane at the time of the shooting spree. After his arrest, Banks, who was biracial, claimed he had killed his children to spare them from the pain of growing up in a racist society.
During his trial, he famously overruled his own lawyer on strategic decisions, asserting that prosecutors, the judge, and the mayor of Wilkes-Barre were conspiring against him. Banks also presented gory photographs of his victims to the jury, despite his lawyer having successfully moved to bar the photos as gruesome and prejudicial.