Ottis Toole

Ottis Toole
Toole in a 1983 mugshot taken shortly after his arrest
Born	Ottis Elwood Toole (1947-03-05)March 5, 1947 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Died	September 15, 1996(1996-09-15) (aged 49) Raiford, Florida, U.S.
Resting place	Florida State Prison Cemetery, Starke, Florida, United States
Occupation(s)	Prostitute and vagrant
Spouse	Novella Henry
Conviction(s)	First-degree murder (6 counts) Arson
Criminal penalty	Two death sentences plus four life sentences, commuted to six life sentences without the possibility of parole (murder convictions) 20 years in prison (arson conviction)
Details
Span of crimes	1961–1983
Country	United States
State(s)	Michigan, Florida and Texas
Killed	6 convicted, 1 suspected, hundreds more claimed
Date apprehended	June 15, 1983
Imprisoned at	Florida State Prison

Ottis Elwood Toole (March 5, 1947 – September 15, 1996) was an American serial killer who was convicted of six counts of murder. Like his companion Henry Lee Lucas, Toole made confessions which resulted in murder convictions, and which he later recanted. The discrediting of the case against Lucas for crimes for which Toole had offered corroborating statements created doubts as to whether either was a genuine serial killer or, as Hugh Aynesworth suggested, both were merely compliant interviewees whom police used to clear unsolved murders from the books.

Toole received two death sentences, but on appeal, they were commuted to life imprisonment. He died in his cell from cirrhosis, at age 49. Police attributed the 1981 murder of Adam Walsh to Toole on the basis of recanted statements. Lucas had backed Toole's confession to the Walsh murder, claiming that he had been in possession of the victim's severed head, though Lucas had a reputation for false confessions.