Listener, released with this episode is going to be a free fireside chat, and I'm going to

release one next episode as well. Just to give you guys a taste of what you're missing on the

Patreon that just isn't black label, because there's other stuff that gets released there, too.

If you'd like to hear more, head to patreon.com slash obscure crime podcast.

If not, just enjoy the episodes and the fireside chat.

For a time in the late 90s and early 2000s, a man stalked the streets of Jacksonville, Florida.

He stealthily dispatched of women and a manner of which he got his nickname,

The Jacksonville Strangler.

Today, we cover this man in his many crimes.

But, like with many episodes of Obscura, we're going to start from the beginning.

Welcome, listener. I'm glad you're here. Take a seat. Next to the fire.

Welcome to Obscira, where we shine a light on the dark. Paul DeRuso was born on August 10th, 1970, in Beaumont, Texas, to unwed parents.

His mother was battered by his father when she was pregnant with him.

DeRoso was severely jaundiced at birth and was held three extra days at the hospital because

of this condition.

It is written in his medical records that he experienced brain trauma in utero.

DeRuso and his older brother,

Joseph III, moved to Los Angeles to be raised by their mother and her family. As a toddler,

Deruso was in a baby stroller which tipped backwards, causing him to strike the back of his head.

Although he did not lose consciousness, he sustained a balloon-like swelling at the back of his head.

He was rushed to the hospital, and his mother was advised to monitor him for several months.

A doctor who later examined DeRuso explained that the brain which sits inside the skull could have been jarred forward within the skull from the fall, causing injury to the front part of the brain where the frontal lobes are located.

...