As the world’s only university bilingual in American Sign Language, Gallaudet University has strived to create a deep sense of belonging among its deaf and hard of hearing students.
But the close-knit campus was shaken on Sept. 28, 2000 when freshman Eric Plunkett was found beaten and strangled to death inside his dorm room. Months later, student Benjamin Varner suffered a similar fate, deepening fear across campus as it became clear a killer was hiding in their midst, according to Oxygen’s The Killer Among Us.
Who Was Eric Plunkett?
Plunkett, a native of Burnsville, Minn., was eager for the next chapter of his life to begin when he arrived at Gallaudet University in the fall of 2000.
Plunkett was born with cerebral palsy and could be unsteady on his feet and also had profound hearing loss—but those challenges never slowed him down…