Bio

Larry Wayne White was born on March 10, 1950, in Ohio. He grew up in Lancaster, Ohio, where he experienced a challenging childhood. Not much is publicly known about his family life or specific early influences. As he grew older, he finished high school, achieving a diploma or a GED.

In the 1970s, White enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served in the Vietnam War. His experiences during the war reportedly had a significant impact on him. After returning home, he struggled with a drug habit that he claimed began during his time in Vietnam.

By the mid-1970s, he moved to Texas for work. He found a job where he did maintenance and painting in various apartment complexes. This work brought him into contact with elderly residents, including Elizabeth St. John, an elderly woman who employed him to help her after moving to her new apartment in Houston.

Throughout this period, White’s life began to take a darker turn. He had begun to demonstrate troubling behavior that would eventually lead to violent actions. His life was marked by troubled relationships, drug use, and repeated run-ins with the law. Eventually, his life of crime caught up with him, leading to his arrest in March 1977.

Murder Story

Larry Wayne White was a serial killer active in 1977. He attacked elderly women in Texas and Florida. One of his victims was Elizabeth St. John, who was 72 years old. He had been hired to paint her apartment. After working there for several days, White killed her in March. He strangled her and then stabbed her in the back with a screwdriver. He took her jewelry, tools, stereo, and clothing and placed them in her car before fleeing Texas.

White's violent behavior did not stop with St. John. He had previously attacked other elderly women, including a reported murder of an 82-year-old woman in Orlando, Florida. He was also implicated in the rape of a 91-year-old blind woman in Ohio.

Larry Wayne White was arrested three days after the murder of Elizabeth St. John. Police caught him breaking into a restaurant in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. During the arrest, officers discovered a car that belonged to St. John. Inside the vehicle were various personal items taken from her apartment.

During his police interview, White admitted to murdering St. John. He described how he had choked her and then stabbed her. White claimed that he had been drinking at the time and mentioned that she had offered him money for his work. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Texas.

Years later, after numerous legal proceedings, White was executed by lethal injection on May 22, 1997. In his last statement, he apologized for the pain he caused to his own family and the families of his victims.