Hi, Crime Junkeys. I'm your host Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And the story I want to tell you today is about evil that manifests young.

This particular evil has been studied quite a lot over the years. And there's a lot to be said in, you know, the whole nature versus nurture debate.

What shapes us as kids and makes us who we are and how we as humans can overcome even the worst childhood traumas.

But every once in a while, the worst circumstances don't just come from outside forces. They come from within and lead to murder.

This is the story of Ed Kemper.

On August 27, 1964, police in North Fort California get a strange phone call. On the other line is a 15 year old boy named Edmund Kemper III, who tells them something unthinkable.

Now, North Fort is this super rural area in the Sierra Mountains, sort of smack dab in the middle of the state. It's farm country, not super exciting.

And things like this don't happen here. I mean, really, as far as the police are concerned, things like a teenage boy murdering his grandparents in cold blood don't happen anywhere.

And yet, as soon as they get out to the Kemper farm, there's Edmund, who everyone calls Ed, waiting patiently to be arrested and taken to jail.

Naturally, the first question the police ask him is why he did it. Ed says that he killed them because he was mad at the world.

But he doesn't stop there. He says he also killed them because he wanted to see what it felt like to take a life. Simple as that.

Police are chilled to the bone by how calmly Ed is saying all of this, almost as if committing a double homicide is just an average part of his day.

Now, since he's already confessed, Ed keeps going and the whole terrible story unfolds. According to Ed, it started after a fight with his grandma, Mod, when his grandpa, who's also named Ed, was outrunning errands.

Now, our Ed and Mod had a tense relationship and the fight escalated when she tried to take his gun away.

That gun was a Christmas gift from his grandpa and he didn't want to give it up. So, instead of giving it to her, he wound up shooting her in the head right there in the kitchen of their farmhouse.

And then, he shoots her a couple more times in the chest just to make sure she was dead.

According to an article on Crime Library's website, Ed goes on to tell police that he killed his grandfather so he wouldn't have to find out that his wife was dead.

With Mod's body still in the kitchen, Ed went outside with his rifle and waited for his grandfather to get home.

As soon as he pulled up, Ed cocked it, took aim, and fired, finishing the grisly work that he started inside.

Even the most veteran officers in the force are shaken by the brutal murders because here's this big, strong boy.

I mean, he's nearly six foot four at just age 15. He's smart as a whip, and calm as can be while he explains the rationale behind doing something so terrible.

They arrest him right away, and since Ed is a minor, he's under the California Youth Authorities jurisdiction.

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