Peoria, Illinois serial killer Larry Bright, 38-years-old at the time of his arrest, was a momma's boy. He liked to watch the news with her nearly every day, and even though he became excited when the news of one of his kills was splashed across the television screen, he became nervous that his mother might detect the thrill and exhilaration that he always experienced during those mother and son moments. He worried that she might have seen the boxes of hardcore pornography that he kept hidden beneath his bed, or that she may have accidentally seen the pornographic images on his computer that depicted black women being raped and injured from his Internet downloads, but he nonetheless continued using such devices to help fuel his fantasies.
While many of the victims that he had murdered on his 15-month killing spree that began in July 2003 and lasted until late 2004 had been found along rural roads in Peoria and Tazewell Counties, which were those that were being found and shown on the nightly news, several of his victims' remains were buried in his mother's backyard after he had burned their bodies in bonfires inside a large fire pit near what would become their final resting places. In fact, Bright had spent so much time in his mother's backyard with a shovel that some of his neighbors had nicknamed him "Digger." But the victims that he had buried there had not shown up on the evening news—yet.
Larry Bright had spent time in prison in his youth for stealing cars and committing burglaries, and life behind bars seemed to have changed him for the worse. After getting out of prison, he began using cocaine and drinking in excess. He had also obtained a job with a building contractor, but he had injured his back on the job which had required a number of surgeries that had not fixed the problem and left him disabled, or so he would have people believe. Presumably physically unable to work and addicted to painkillers, Bright became depressed. Even though living at home with his mother, he began picking up prostitutes and would joke with his drinking pals that he planned on taking them home to meet his mom. Even though he took the hookers home, he never introduced them to his mother. He had already rendered them helpless with drugs and, often after sex, flew into a rage and asphyxiated them in the shed in mom's backyard. Sometimes he opted to overdose them with drugs.
Bright never remembered his victims' names, but they were identified over time as: Barbara Williams, 36; Sabrina Payne, 36; Tamara Walls, 29; Linda Neal, 40; Brenda Erving, 41; Laura Lollar, 33; Shirley Ann Trapp, 45; and Shaconda Thomas, 32. Even though he never remembered their names he did, however, keep a log of when and where he had met each of the women, and how he had disposed of their remains. Laura Lollar, a mother of five who disappeared in October 2004, was labeled in his log as one of the "specials" that he had decided to bury in his mom's backyard "where she'd be looked after." He told all of his victims that he had cash and drugs at his place which, given their habits and need for money, became too much for most to resist.
Strangely, neighbors never complained about the smell of burning flesh coming from Bright's mother's backyard. Sometimes he would leave his victims burning for up to two days before crushing what remained of their bodies; afterward, he would either carry their ashes and bones away in buckets to be disposed of in the countryside, or he would merely dump his victims' remains along a creek bed or inside a cornfield. Due to his methods of disposal, Larry Bright might not have been caught so quickly had he not become careless with regard to how he would meet his victims. Tips led detectives to at least six prostitutes who said that Bright had lured them to his home, but they had been able to escape before he was able to harm them.
"These women, these very fortunate women, told me that Bright went from being a regular 'John" to a violent act," said State District Attorney Kevin Lyons.
Eventually linked to several of the victims through Bright's DNA, the serial killer eventually cracked and took investigators on a tour of the locations where he had dumped their bodies. The cops also, of course, dug up his mother's backyard after Bright pointed out where he had buried Laura Lollar, Shirley Ann Trapp, and Shaconda Thomas. The police found hundreds of charred skull and bone fragments, all of which were small in size.
Bright attempted to plead guilty to his crimes at his preliminary hearing because he wanted to save his mother the anguish of having to sit through one or more trials. However, the judge refused to accept the guilty plea so that Bright's rights would be preserved.
"I don't want to put my mother through the agonies of a trial," Bright said. "I know I've committed some horrible and unthinkable acts. I'm sorry for the grief and heartache I've caused."
In addition to the judge's actions, Bright's mother urged him to "fight for his life" and to plead not guilty. Nonetheless, when all was said and done, Bright accepted a plea deal to avoid a possible death sentence. The agreement called for him to plead guilty to seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of drug-induced homicide. On May 30, 2006, Bright was sentenced to life in prison on each of the seven counts of first-degree murder, with each sentence to run concurrently, and to 30 years on the charge of drug-induced homicide. As part of his plea agreement, Bright waived all rights of appeal and will never walk out of prison.
"Thankfully…Bright at least will never leave prison alive," Lyons said. "His killing spree has ended. Serial killers like him cannot stop of their own accord because they are never satisfied. That's how he was apprehended. He couldn't stop until he was caught."
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