By the time authorities finally caught Albert Fish on December 13, 1934, he had earned a number of nicknames in the press — the Grey Man, the Brooklyn Vampire, Moon Maniac, and the Werewolf of Wysteria, among them — for his appetite for killing and cannibalizing children. The most famous case among them that gripped the nation for years was Fish kidnapping, killing, butchering, and cooking 10-year-old Grace Budd, before gorging on her flesh. It took the police six years and self-incriminating letters from Fish himself before they were able to catch him.
The letter [via Rare] read, in part: "I took her to an empty house in Westchester I had already picked out. When we got there, I told her to remain outside. . . . When all was ready I went to the window and called her. Then I hid in a closet until she was in the room. When she saw me all naked she began to cry and tried to run down stairs. . . . I choked her to death then cut her in small pieces so I could take my meat to my rooms, cook and eat it. How sweet and tender her little a** was roasted in the oven."
