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Harry Powers

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Murderer

The Resume

    (1892-March 18, 1932)
    Born in Netherlands
    Birth name is Herman Drenth
    Also known as Cornelius O. Pierson and A. R. Weaver
    Dubbed 'America's worst Bluebeard,' 'Mail-order Bluebeard,' and 'West Virginia's Bluebeard'
    Serial killer convicted of the murders of two women and three children
    Hanged in Moundsville, West Virginia (1932

Why he might be annoying:

    His MO was swindling wealthy widows he met through lonely hearts ads into marriage and then brutally killing them in short order after 'crossing the threshold.'
    He was a bigamist, married to a woman who worked as a grocery store clerk while he 'traveled on business.'
    He relied on a sound-proof lair in a garage to hang and butcher his would-be wives, reportedly deriving sexual pleasure from hearing their dying screams.
    He claimed that watching his victims die in his garage 'beat any cathouse I've ever been in.'
    He was charged with the murder of a woman and her three children, but the police found overwhelming evidence that he had killed more women.
    When they attempted to interrogate him on how many women he killed he nonchalantly replied 'you got me on five, what good would fifty do?' (it remains unknown as to how many women he killed).
    He reportedly used a claw hammer to kill the 12-year-old son of his penultimate victim.
    He admitted in his confession to locking his victims in his garage and starving them for days at a time before eventually killing them.
    He confessed to police that he had used the hammer on the boy because he screamed while witnessing his mother and sisters be hanged (Powers claimed to have made him watch them be killed).
    He was arrested, in 1928, at the behest of his business partner, who accused him of stealing merchandise, but was released (his partner would mysteriously vanish soon after).
    He was accused of gassing some of his victims, as a neighboring farmer complained about noxious odors coming from his 'garage.'
    Many politicians and journalists hijacked his case to illustrate what the kind of desperation the Depression brought people to (even though he likely started his killing spree in the 1920s).
    He was Davis Grubb's inspiration for the sociopathic preacher, Rev. Harry Powell, in 'Night of the Hunter.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    His character was portrayed by Robert Mitchum in the film version of the book (although he apparently wasn't nearly as charming).
    Ironically, before his execution, he bore more resemblance to the film's director, Charles Laughton as Quasimodo.
    Reverend Harry Powell ranked #29 in AFI's list of the Greatest Movie Villains in film history.
    In many cases, he merely robbed his prospective wives by convincing them to sign away their life savings and then abandoning them (at least leaving them alive).
    A lynch mob gathered outside the courthouse on the day of his trial demanding that he be handed over for vigilante justice, eventually having to be dispersed with tear gas.
    His letters proved that he was eloquent.
    It's small consolation that in real life (as opposed to Grubb's book), he was not a preacher, but a used furniture/sweeper salesman.
    He is dead.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 22 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 15 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 19 Votes: 42.11% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying