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Killer Comparisons: John Eric Armstrong and Anthony Shore

Preying on females while prowling around in his car, making advances toward them, then things get out of control. They end up dead. And a part of him wants to be caught -- he admits as much. Wonders when this will end. Wonders what's wrong with him, what's inside of him that is so evil or twisted.

These case details remind me a lot of convicted Detroit killer John Eric Armstrong, but they're actually from the case of another convicted serial, Anthony Shore.

Armstrong
Born a decade earlier than Armstrong, Shore was originally from South Dakota. Like Armstrong, he was from a broken home, and he claimed abuse by his father (though Shore said his mother molested him, as well). Shore eventually moved to the Houston area of Texas where he did his hunting. His killings began with offering young girls a ride home when he would see them walking. He murdered his first victim in 1986. Armstrong, on the other hand, having grown up in North Carolina and having served in the Navy for several years, hunted women engaging in prostitution on Michigan Avenue in Detroit in 1999-2000. Both men were stranglers, but Armstrong by and large used his hands while Shore used a ligature / tourniquet.

Whereas Armstrong moved pretty quickly, assaulting and/or killing 10 people in Detroit in less than a year (and that's not taking into account the alleged murders he confessed to for his Navy years), Shore left years between his four known murders. The two men were arrested in a similar timeframe -- Armstrong in 2000 and Shore in 2003.

Shore
Like Armstrong, Shore was married with children, living a seemingly normal life, but Shore had a pedophilia element that Armstrong did not share (when Armstrong picked up a 17-year-old, he likely didn't  know it -- she presented as older). Shore abused his own young daughters, and that proved to be his undoing, as it led to DNA evidence surfacing. Armstrong was also done in by DNA.

After his conviction, Shore started confessing to other crimes -- many other rapes he said he had committed. Armstrong, on the other hand, has clammed up since his 2001 convictions (though he spoke freely after his April 2000 arrest -- he adopted a different stance at trial). In Texas there is that little thing called the death sentence, and Shore received it. And indeed it was carried out. Armstrong continues to serve out his multiple life sentences in Jackson, Michigan.

Shore told investigators he wondered if there was some kind of demonic force urging him to commit the crimes, describing his "fantasy" thoughts when he would pick up these young girls. It's beyond disturbing, and I have to wonder if Armstrong would say anything similar if he would talk these days about his own crimes.

To learn more about the Shore case, see the "World's Most Evil Killers" episode, where you will hear chilling audio of this killer explaining his crimes in his own words.

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Above photos:
Armstrong, from the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Shore, from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

See photos from the Armstrong case at the gallery on the WildBlue Press website.
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