Glennon Edward Engleman (1927-1999) was a United States Army veteran and a St. Louis dentist who moonlighted as a hitman, planning and carrying out at least seven murders for monetary gain over the course of 30 years. He was already serving two life sentences in a Missouri state prison when he pleaded guilty to the murder of a man and his wealthy parents in a separate contract killing, that occurred in Illinois. Engleman was a sociopath; once stating that his talent was to kill without remorse and he enjoyed planning and carrying out killings and disposing of the remains, in order that it would net him financial rewards.
Engleman would use his financial worth, sex and charm to manipulate women he was close to, ex-wives, lovers and his dental assistant, in helping him formulate and execute elaborate murder schemes. This lead to one of his lovers, Barbara Boyle being convicted as an accomplice and serving less than half of a 50 year sentence. Another accomplice, Robert Handy was also convicted and served time in prison. Methods used to kill his victims included shooting, bludgeoning with a sledgehammer and explosives. The exact number of his victims is unknown.
Author Susan Crane Bakos 1988 book "Appointment for Murder" dedicates all 286 pages in covering Engleman's murder cases. The cases against him were re-enacted in a rare, two-part episode of the crime documentary series "The FBI Files".
Video Glennon Engleman
Early life
One of four children, Engleman graduated in dentistry at Washington University in St. Louis, in 1954. He had been admitted under the GI Bill, having previously served in the US Army Air Corps.
Maps Glennon Engleman
Known victims
1958: Engleman is suspected of the death of James Stanley Bullock, 27, a clerk for Union Electric Company of Missouri and part-time student. Shot near the St. Louis Art Museum. Edna Ruth Bullock (nee Ball) and James Bullock were married on June 28, 1958, they had been married for five and half months on the date he was murdered. Edna Ruth Bullock was Engleman's ex-wife prior to her marriage with James Bullock, she collected $64,000 ($555,000 in 2018) from James Bullock's life insurance.
1963: Engleman is suspected in the murder of Eric Frey, a business associate of Engleman at Pacific Drag Strip, in which Frey and the Engleman were partners. Struck him with a rock, pushed him down a well, and used dynamite to blow him up afterwards. He then divided the insurance proceeds with Frey's widow.
1976: Peter J. Halm. Shot in Pacific, Missouri. His wife, Carmen Miranda Halm, a former dental assistant trainee who had worked for Engleman and known him since childhood, ordered the hit to collect a $60,000 policy of life insurance on Halm.
1977: Arthur and Vernita Gusewelle at their farmhouse near Edwardsville, Illinois. Arthur was shot; Vernita bashed to death. Engleman then murdered their son Ronald Gusewelle in East St. Louis, Illinois 17 months later so his widow Barbara Gusewelle Boyle could claim the millions in life insurance she had taken out on her husband, the sole heir to his parents' oil business. Boyle was convicted in her husband's murder but was acquitted of killing his parents. She was subsequently sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder of her husband. She was released from the Dwight Correctional Facility on October 10, 2009. Robert Handy, the accomplice, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit the three Gusewelle killings and was sentenced to 14 years and served his time in prison. Engleman confessed to the three killings while in prison.
1980: Sophie Marie Barrera, owner of south St Louis dental laboratory. Killed in car bomb explosion. Engleman owed her over $14,000. On 25 September 1980, a jury in federal court found Engleman guilty in the murder of Barrera. Engleman was accused of her murder to authorities by her son, Frederick Barrera.
Family and Death
Engleman was married twice, first to Edna Ruth and then to Ruth Jolley, with whom he had a son, David Engleman.
Engleman died in prison of a diabetes-related condition in 1999.
In media
Books
- Appointment for Murder - Story of the Killing Dentist (1989), by: Susan Crain Bakos, summary ISBN 074740464X, 9780747404644.
- Medical Murderers - They Were Healers Turned Killers ... (1992), by: Rose G. Mandelsberg, ISBN 1558175822, 9781558175822. The writing features twenty-five killers, including Engleman, his picture is one of the three images on the cover of the book.
- Medical Monsters Nurses and Doctors Who Kill (2016), by Robert Keller, summary. Engleman is one of twenty medical serial killers covered in the book's 162 pages.
- Blood Money The Method of Madness of Assassins (2017). by Dr. Scott Bonn, summary.
Television
- Corbin Bernsen played the part of Engleman in Beyond Suspicion, a 1993 TV movie loosely based on the Susan Crane Bakos book Appointment for Murder.
- Engleman's killings inspired the basis for the 1996 film, The Dentist.
- The story was told in a special two part episode "Deadly Dentist" (2005) on the series The FBI Files.
- The story was told in the episode "Concealed Abscess" on the Investigation Discovery series Deadly Dentists, season 1 episode 3 which aired December 8, 2017.
References
External links
- Glennon E. Engleman at Murderpedia
- Glennon E. Engelman at Find a Grave
- Annual Report of the Attorney General of the United States 1980, pg. 77 at National Criminal Justice Reference Service
Source of article : Wikipedia
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